Potato Kielbasa Skillet

Last weekend we did some grocery shopping intending to make three meals at home. We made two. However, this meal that we saved for later has all the kind of ingredients that have a great shelf life. The main reason I didn't make this earlier is that it includes cooked bacon which would mean it takes longer. So last week we had breakfast for dinner, made the bacon and saved some slices for this meal so that it would be fast. This meal really took a total of 15 minutes. I only made one change and it probably wasn't necessary. This dish is delicious! Even though I ate a full portion and am not really hungry this 'eat more' food makes my mouth water for more! I plan to eat the rest tomorrow!!

Ingredients:

1 pound red potatoes, cubed

3 T water
3/4 pound Polish sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 T brown sugar
2 T cider vinegar1 T apple cider
1 T spicy brown mustard
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t pepper
salt to taste
4 cups fresh baby spinach
5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
optional: One apple, chopped (we didn't use this but I think it would be a great addition)

Directions:

1. Place the cubed potatoes in a microwaveable dish and add 3 T of water. Cover with plastic wrap and cook on high for 4 minutes in the microwave

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil. Add the onion and sausage and cook 3-5 minutes until browned. Add potatoes and apples if using and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir together the sugar, vinegar, apple cider, mustard, thyme, pepper and salt with a fork. Add this mixture to the skillet and bring to a boil (this was immediate for me). Simmer 2 minutes.

4. Add bacon and spinach and cook until spinach wilts. Serve warm.

You know what would be good with this? Cheddar Biscuits!

Sauteed Chicken Sausage and Apples

I bet I have 15 different similar recipes on this blog of sauteed chicken sausage & apples because it is one of the fastest and most satisfying recipes in my repertoire and it is never exactly the same.  Today we took a field trip to Trader Joe's - a store we don't love as much as everyone else.  After browsing the rather crowded store (that they were stocking at the worst possible time!) we were still at a loss for dinner. I grabbed some sweet chicken & apple sausages and an apple and called it a day.

Ingredients
2 apple chicken sausages, sliced into coins
1 large apple, thinly sliced (the thinner you slice them the less time it takes)
1/8 t cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1 T olive oil
1/4 C apple cider

Directions
1. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sausages and brown 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to plate.
2. Toss apples with cinnamon and nutmeg and add to the hot pan. Pour over cider (it may pop and splatter!)
3. Cook apples 10 minutes or until soft. Add sausage back in and toss together. Serve with bread on the side.

Baked Italian Sausage

Sometimes when we go to our favorite pizza parlor and we don't want pizza, Joey orders their Italian Sausage dinner. It's basically Italian sausage covered in sauce and cheese and baked in a hot oven. I've tried to replicate this recipe more than once but this time I think I could've been close--but I strayed and Joey noticed right away. On the other hand, I thought this was delicious if you weren't comparing it to Dino's.

If you want this to be more like Dino's do the following:

Use regular Italian sausage, use regular mozzarella, and add a little parmesan

Ingredients:

1 Package Italian Chicken Sausage (I got that new Open Nature brand from Vons that comes in a pack of 4)

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 T olive oil

8oz fresh mozzarella, sliced

2 t dried oregano

salt to taste

Pasta for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In an oven proof skillet heat, rub smashed garlic all over the pan, then throw the pieces in there. Add the olive oil and heat over med-high heat.

2. Add the sausages and brown all sides. Turn off the heat.

3. Pour in the entire can of crushed tomatoes, salt and oregano. Top with the cheese.

4. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

5. Serve with pasta

Bratwurst & Apples

Don't you just hate how hot dogs & buns don't come in the same size packages? Even ballpark buns made by the same brand that packages the dogs refuses to put the same number of dogs as buns in a package. Someone needs to get on that and change the world.

So last week we had hotdogs, we bought buns. Then we had leftover buns when the hotdogs were gone. So, I brought some bratwurst. Bratwurst, to be totally annoying, comes in packs of 5. So now all of a sudden we happened to have the perfect amount of buns for the bratwurst. Then, I was grilling up 2 bratwurst and I looked at the buns to put them on the grill and discovered they were moldy. So we ate bratwurst sans buns that night, but we still had two brats left! There was no point in buying more buns.

So tonight I decided to make a little apple/bratwurst saute. I accidentally cooked the apples too long so it was more like bratwurst and apple mash, but I thought the flavors were good and perfect with the steamed aka roasted potatoes.

There's not much to the recipe but I'll lay it out here in case you find yourself in a similar situation on buns.

2 bratwurst (or whatever sausage you have on hand), sliced into coins

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t chili powder

3-4 small apples, cut into equal chunks

1/4 C chicken broth

1. Heat the broth over medium heat. Add apples and cook for 3 minutes or until starting to soften and brown. Add spices to taste and stir with apples. If the apples are cooked try to push them to the side a bit.

2. Add sausage and cook until browned on all sides and cooked through. Add more spice to taste. Serve warm.

Beer-Braised Sausage & Warm Potato Salad

Tonight for dinner I made this recipe which can be found on Martha's site and also in one of the recent Everyday Food magazines. The recipe didn't take long to make and was distinctly autumn. However, it didn't have that much flavor. The sausages tasted like Italian sausage without sauce and the potatoes--even when drowned in the sauce and a little oil & vinegar were bland. I probably won't make this again, but if I do, I'd add some seasoning, use bratwurst or apple sausage, add some apples to the pot and cook as directed.

Slightly disappointing, but it made the house smell great!

Hash Browns with Sausages and Roasted Tomatoes

As with any good bed and breakfast, a hot breakfast is provided to their guests each morning. My parent's departure was today and I wanted to send them off with something filling and hot.

We received a cookbook from Joey's Aunt Trisha for our wedding entitled Easy Breakfast and Brunch and I was excited to have a chance to use it. I looked through the recipes until something caught my fancy and landed on Hash Browns with Sausages and Roasted Tomatoes. This breakfast turns out to take a lot of time but luckily I did a little planning ahead. Leave at least 40 minutes to make this unless you have either a helper or prep early.

I served this breakfast with fried eggs which were a pretty good accompaniment. I recommend serving this with some kind of egg.

Hash Browns with Sausages and Roasted Tomatoes
Serves 4 barely
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, diced
4 T butter
1 L onion, finely chopped
12 premium breakfast sausages
2 T olive oil
20 cherry tomatoes, on the vine (or a whole basket from the farmer's market)
1 T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions:
NIGHT BEFORE:
While making dinner, boil potatoes for 10-12 minutes until just tender. Store in a tupperware container in the refrigerator until morning.
Finely chop onion and place in a bag or tupperware in the refrigerator
MORNING OF:
Preheat oven to 400
1. Melt 4 T butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Add onions and saute 15 minutes until soft and golden.
2. While the onions are cooking, place the sausages on a roasting pan (although I just used a jellyroll pan). Toss with 1 T olive oil.
3. Spray another jellyroll pan with cooking spray. Toss the tomatoes on the prepared pan with the remaining olive oil
4. Mash potatoes slightly and season with salt and pepper. Add potatoes to the onions and cook 15-20 minutes until crispy
5. Meanwhile, put the sausages in the oven on the bottom shelf, cook 20 minutes, turning once.
6. After 5 minutes of cooking the sausages, place the tomatoes on the top shelf and roast 15 minutes.
7. Remove sausages from oven and let rest.
8. Remove tomatoes from oven and toss with balsamic vinegar. Put the tomatoes back in the oven and roast 5 minutes more.
9. Serve potatoes, sausages and tomatoes with their juices together with eggs.


(don't you love that spoon wearing the ladle hat? I wonder if my parents did that on purpose)

Chicken Sausage with Pasta

Have you seen those flavored fully cooked chicken sausages near the breakfast meats in the grocery store? I have had them a couple of times and always a different flavor. The other night I decided on the pesto chicken sausage which I would use in some sort of pasta dish. I also grabbed a can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings and some whole wheat rotini pasta. My choices led to a quick and easy weeknight dinner. To make it a complete meal, I steamed some asparagus over the boiling pasta in the last 2 minutes of cooking and whipped up a quick fruit salad with seasonal berries.

Chicken Sausage with Pesto Pasta

Ingredients
1 10.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings
4 chicken sausages with Pesto, sliced into 1 inch thick circles
1 T Herbs de Provance
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 box pasta of your choice

Boil water as directed on the box
Mix the herbs, salt and pepper into the can of tomatoes (you can just add them to the can, no need to dirty a bowl)
Add sausage chips and tomato mixture to a nonstick pan and saute over medium heat for 8-10 minutes
Cook pasta in bowling water simultaneously and they will be ready together
Drain pasta
Serve sauce over pasta