Sausage and Spinach Dip

We had just come home from an evening of errands, popcorn, and ice cream. We needed something hot for a light dinner and I was thinking snack foods. I took my favorite spinach dip recipe and went from there. We ate it with peppers and some dipping chips and went to bed happy. This is a one-pot meal.

Sausage and Spinach Dip:
6 links Italian sausage, casings removed or 1 lb of loose Italian sausage
1 generous cup cooked, chopped spinach
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
crushed red pepper
3 cups shredded cheese
3 packages of cream cheese
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped

In a large oven-proof skillet, cook sausage with shallot. Drain excess oil. Chop briefly in food processor if it doesn't break apart. Before adding sausage, wilt spinach in pan. Pre-heat oven to 400. Add garlic, sausage and crushed red pepper (to taste), with spinach allow to cook 1-2 minutes. Add cream cheese a little at a time and stir. Add chives and shredded cheese. Allow cheeses to melt and combine well. Place in oven for 10 minutes on 400, serve with crudites or crackers. This makes a ton, so you might even reheat it for lunch the next day and it can most certainly be made ahead. Enjoy.

Purple Loaded Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Grill

When I picked up my CSA share a few weeks ago, I did notice the potatoes looked dark, but I just thought they were a little wet. It rained heavily on our pick up day and I set them in a colander on the counter to dry. They were put in a bag for another day. So when I was planning a meal for a dinner guest, I decided that potatoes would make a nice side but it wasn't until the actual meal prep that I noticed: The potatoes were purple! I have had fingerling purple potatoes but I couldn't remember if they retained their color when boiled. I told our guest I had a surprise for him when he arrived. They were beautiful to look at and tasted great, really no different from a white potato at all. Had I been paying closer attention I would have thought more about it, but I love little unexpected changes from the usual.

The meal includes marinaded steak tips, chicken and Italian sausage with Cilantro-Parsley Pesto (also used for the chicken marinade) and Loaded Mashed Potatoes. It included cilantro, potatoes, peppers, and chives from my share.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes:
10-12 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 sticks butter
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 cup bacon, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, or a favorite blend)
1/2 c sour cream
salt
pepper

Boil potatoes until they are easily pierced by fork. Drain. Add butter, and partially mash. Add rest of ingredients, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to mash to desired consistency. Allow to stand about 3-5 minutes, to melt cheese and butter completely. Stir to finish mixing and serve.

Cilantro Parsley Pesto:
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 bunch cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch green onions
3-4 cherry peppers, seeded
1/2 cup olive oil
juice from 1 lime
salt
pepper

In a food processor, process parsley, cilantro, garlic and peppers. I had to do the parsley alone, first to make room. Add green onions, and pulse to a fine grind, adding olive oil and lime juice slowly through the pouring hole in the lid. Season with salt and pepper to taste and blend again.

Can be used as a condiment or a marinade for chicken. We really liked it on the chicken.

Steak Marinade #3:
3 tbsp honey
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup tamari
1/4 c olive oil
salt
pepper

Mix all ingredients together well and marinate steak overnight. Tamari can be salty, I added a little more salt in proportion to the amount of meat, so salt carefully.

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart with Almond Crust

This is what happens when you are up late and have a sudden urge to bake! Thanks to a coupon I had for a huge tub of mascarpone cheese, believe me those don't come by every day, and I had been worrying about how I was going to use it all up. If you haven't had mascarpone it is like a light, subtly sweet cream cheese.

For the shell, I use this recipe, which I did completely in my food processor. I did have very cold butter straight from the fridge and once I had it in the tart pan I put it in the freezer until the oven preheated. I baked it for 20 minutes on 400.

After the crust had cooled for about 20 minutes, I made a filling: 14oz mascarpone, 2/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons heavy cream whipped together in a mixer. I decide the crust was cool enough so I spread it in the tart shell and added sliced strawberries on top. I also glazed it with 2 tablespoons lemon juice mixed with powdered sugar, I don't have a measurement for that but I just added sugar until it looked like a glaze and brushed it on.

As it was pretty late, I covered it and put it in the fridge. I worried a little the the crust would get soggy but it wasn't, every bite was delicious. I can't wait to make it again over the summer.

Mascarpone Saffron Risotto with Mushrooms and Ragout of Chicken Thighs

I made this entirely of ingredients I had on hand without any planning. The chicken can be made ahead of time, even 2-3 days. My friend got me a good deal on Saffron and this is the result of experimentation. My portions usually include enough to feed all of us, plus leftovers for lunches, if they seem huge.
 
Chicken:
12 bone in chicken thighs, skin on
2 onions, halved and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, sliced
salt
pepper
chicken stock

You can really do this two ways, the best way is to cook the onions in a pan for 3-5 minutes, set aside and then brown the chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper. Working in batches it takes about 4 minutes per side, and then they can be transferred into  a roasting pan with a lid or a crock pot. You should also de-glaze the pan with a bit of chicken stock or white wine and add it to the pot but if you are low on time, there is a second method: Throw everything into the crock pot and cook on high for 7 hours. The first way tastes better, but the second was is great if you are short on time. When the chicken is in the pot or pan, add tomatoes, garlic and enough reserved broth to fill it up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. You can braise it in the oven on 325 until it is tender or cook it in the crock pot on low or high until it shreds easily. Allow it to cool once it is tender, strain tomatoes and onions, set aside liquid. Shred chicken, adding tomatoes and onion and a small amount of reserved liquid if necessary. You can freeze any remaining liquid and use it for another sauce or stock.

Risotto:
10-12 mushrooms, sliced, cooked in 2 tbsp butter and set aside
1 cup arborio rice
2 tbsp butter
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp mascarpone cheese
1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 tsp saffron powder (optional)
 2 tbsp chives, chopped
salt
pepper

Cook onions in butter, 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add rice, and cook until translucent. Adding 1 cup of stock at a time, cook and stir rice frequently to proper texture. Add cheeses, cream, and saffron powder, when rice is nearly done, adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Add mushrooms and chives. Serve with chicken thigh ragout.

Cheese Stuffed Baby Sweet Peppers

We ran a lot of errands today and while we have great CSA share, we all crave different veggies at times, even when they are not in season. We try to eat low carb as much as possible, and sometimes a guy needs something other than salad. My whole family loves peppers. We picked up some of those cute baby peppers from Costco and stuffed them and had a baby lettuce salad on the side. The salad had the usual suspects that I use when I make a quick salad: dried cranberries, almonds, apples, and crumbled goat cheese.  We had pretty much the same thing a few days ago, but try it: dried fruit, nuts, apples, and a soft cheese (any cheese that is not mozzarella or cheddar) on a salad are pretty much awesome, with a nice acidic dressing of course.

Ingredients:
20 baby peppers, top cut off and seeded
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheese (a blend, cheddar, pepperjack, whatever you have)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Steam peppers about 8 minutes to soften. Allow peppers to cool. Put other ingredients in food processor or mixer and mix well. Stuff peppers and bake at 425 until peppers are blistered. Serve as an appetizer, or with a salad.

These went fast, I didn't get a picture until they were almost gone, I should have added an egg. This recipe didn't have one. Don't be like me, add the egg. It binds.