Food experiment #3: Sausage & Peppers Versions 1 & 2; Sauteed Fennel & Sweet Onions

G and I have had a whirlwind couple of weeks. We left on the night of Tue 12.22.09 to start the drive to his hometown for Christmas, completing the journey at around dinnertime on Wed the 23rd, after a quick visit with my dear friends Sansev and Kate (and their significant others, a couples meal, how cute and grown-up!). Some of the activities we did during the following week included: a big upstairs-family Christmas Eve, Christmas Mass and Christmas dinner (aka lunch) the next day, dinner at Mills Tavern in Providence with the family on Saturday the 26th, A Christmas Carol at Trinity followed by dinner at Hemenway's in Providence on Sunday, and then shopping on Monday, followed by a home-cooked-by-me meal for G and his parents. Plus, we went to the local slots-only Twin Rivers casino for a couple of hours that night, and visited G's friends and their adorable 16-month-old daughter and teeny-tiny 3-week old son on Tuesday evening. And of course, the 9-hour, 2-break drive back home on Wednesday the 30th. Whew, lots of activity packed into not a lot of days!

But anyway, let's get back to the home-cooked meal.

I regularly make some variation of sausage and peppers with pasta for G and me. I figured G's parents would appreciate this homey, hearty dish, too, accompanied by sauteed fennel and onions, with a simple strawberry shortcake for dessert. I also figured it would be a relatively easy meal to prepare, given the potential limitations of the local Stop'n'Shop and the definite limitations of the old-fashioned kitchen. Long story short, the Stop'n'Shop hot Italian sausage was surprisingly delicious, and the meal was a huge hit. Now for the recipe:

Sausage & Peppers 1.0 [6 servings]
This is the original version, with minimal sauce.

1 lb short pasta, like rotini
1.5 lb hot Italian sausages (usually I use turkey sausages, but pork sausages will work, too)
3 green bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp garlic, minced
crushed red pepper, to taste
1 small can tomato paste
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat water and cook pasta, according to box directions, while cooking the sausage & peppers sauce. When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside, reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.

Remove sausages from casings, slice into small chunks, and add to a large pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil. (Usually, I just tear off small chunks right into the pan.) Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the sausages begin to brown, add pepper and onion slices. When the onion becomes translucent, add the garlic. Continue to cook over medium heat until sausage is cooked through. Add reserved pasta cooking water, starting with 1/4 cup and adding additional liquid as needed, and tomato paste. Add crushed red pepper, if desired. Allow to simmer for a few minutes. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add reserved pasta to the pan and combine with the sausage and peppers mixture, then serve.

Sausage & Peppers, 2.0 [6 servings]
This is the new version, with a lot of sauce.

1 lb short pasta, like rotini
1.5 lb hot Italian sausages (usually I use turkey sausages, but pork sausages will work, too)
3 green bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes, no salt added
crushed red pepper, to taste
1 small can tomato paste
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat water and cook pasta, according to box directions, while cooking the sausage & peppers sauce. When pasta is cooked, drain and reserve.

Remove sausages from casings, slice into small chunks, and add to a large skillet with about a tablespoon of olive oil. (Usually, I just tear off small chunks right into the pan.) Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the sausages begin to brown, add pepper and onion slices. When the onion becomes translucent, add the garlic. Continue to cook over medium heat until sausage is cooked through. Add diced tomatoes, with liquid. Add crushed red pepper, if desired. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, then add tomato paste to thicken. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Serve sausage & peppers sauce over pasta.

Sauteed Fennel and Sweet Onions [4 servings]
Adapted from Chris Sanseverino's "recipe"

1 large fennel/anise bulb
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Using just the white bulbous part of the fennel, core the bulb and remove the outer layer as needed, then thinly slice the bulb. Thoroughly wash and drain.

In a large skillet, heat olive over medium-high heat, then add the fennel and onion slices. Saute, stirring occasionally, until well-caramelized and browned. Add salt and a little black pepper, to taste.

Big snow

The DC area was hit by a very big snowstorm - a blizzard, in fact - this weekend, starting Friday evening and lasting all day yesterday. The storm yielded an official DC/Reagan National Airport total of around 15.7 inches (and an unofficial our-backyard total of at least five inches more), making it one of the top 10 storms on record for the area and the most snow ever recorded for a single December day. So yeah, it was big snow. So big that even our relatives in Korea called to make sure we were all right after hearing about it on the news over there. Needless to say, we were housebound all day yesterday, until Dad and I finally ventured outside in the evening to dig out the cars. Luckily, that turned out to be a less daunting task than expected, because the snow was all in the form of powder - nice and light and easy to shovel. Here are some photos from throughout the storm.

Food experiment #2: Meatballs & Spaghetti

A lot of my cooking seems to involve pasta. I don't particularly mind, because I adore pasta. It's quick, it's easy, it's versatile - and it's delicious, to boot! This dish was a last-minute addition to the week's list of daily menus, prompted by the impending snowstorm. A trip to the Magruder's grocery store the afternoon before the blizzard yielded slim pickings in the meat department, so I had to substitute all ground beef for the veal-pork-beef mixture recommended on the smitten kitchen blog. Here's what I did:


Meatballs and Spaghetti [6 servings]
Adapted from smitten kitchen

Meatballs
1.5 lb 80% lean ground beef
1 C bread crumbs
1/4 C grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 to 4 Tbsp heavy cream

Sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp each dried basil, parsley, oregano, dried red pepper flakes
1/2 C red wine
1 large (28oz) can peeled plum tomatoes
1 small (14oz) can peeled plum tomatoes
1 can (6oz) tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp heavy cream
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 lb spaghetti, boxed

Make the meatballs: Combine all ingredients very lightly. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2- to 3-inch meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large pot to cover bottom. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil, being careful not to crowd them, and brown them well on all sides over medium to medium-low heat, turning carefully. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels. Discard the oil but don’t clean the pan.

Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs, and red pepper flakes, and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until most of the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper. After simmering a few minutes, add tomato paste.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.

Serve hot on cooked spaghetti with some grated Parmesan.

Cranberry sauce with oranges

Since we spent Thanksgiving with all of the relatives at Aunt Teresa's, we ended up coming home with bags of midnight-Black-Friday shopping and without bags of turkey-day leftovers. So, we decided that we would need a Turkey Day, part 2. I cooked a turkey breast, along with some fixin's, including gravy, dressing, Brussels sprouts with mushrooms, mashed potatoes (there was a slight mishap that resulted in store-bought and then doctored refrigerated mashed potatoes), and of course, cranberry sauce.

Since we didn't have any Grand Marnier in the house to make my usual recipe, I had to improvise. I ended up with a sauce that I liked a great deal and that will be my go-to recipe next year. (With the addition of the Grand Marnier, of course!)

Cranberry Sauce with Oranges
Inspired by the Bon Appetit recipe

1 (12oz) package fresh cranberries
1 C sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
1 orange's worth of peeled orange slices, chopped
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier liqueur

Preheat oven to 325°F. Place cranberries in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle sugar and orange juice over, then mix. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until juices form and cranberries are very soft, about 1 hour. Uncover; mix in liqueur. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, about 4 hours. Mix in orange bits. Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.