Easy Homemade Turkey Sausage

I discovered this on Goop-- Gwyneth Paltrow's blog-thing that I doubted the authenticity of for a while and now have decided it is legit.

Anyway, we've been making this a LOT. One, it is easy. Two, it is cheap. Three, is is healthier than regular sausage. Four, it is GOOD. Five, my husband is loopy-crazy for breakfast meat. (This is our slightly adapted version)



SERVES: 4
TIME: 15 minutes

* 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
* pinch of hot chili flakes
* pinch of cayenne pepper
* pinch of dried rosemary
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
* 1/2 pound ground turkey
* 2 teaspoons real Vermont maple syrup
* 2 tablespoons olive oil

Using a mortar and pestle or mini food processor, bash the fennel seeds, chili, cayenne, salts and black pepper together. Combine this spice mixture with the sage, turkey and maple syrup in a bowl until thoroughly combined.

Form the mixture into 12 small, thin patties. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausages for about a minute and a half on each side, pressing down with your spatula to really brown them and keep them thin. Serve warm.

not your usual (nor quick and easy) lasagna bolognese

but oh so worth the time for a sunday dinner or something special. i'm generally not a big fan of lasagna BUT some close friends of ours in germany made this for us several years ago and i've never looked back. john and i have made this several times over the last few years and are never disappointed.

p.s. - i am not a huge fan of pancetta, so often leave it out but some of you out there might really enjoy it.

Lasagna Bolognese (Slow and Delicious)

Ingredients:

Bolognese Sauce:

2 oz. diced pancetta, finely chopped

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

11 oz ground beef

4 oz ground pork (I've used ground turkey on occasion and have been happy with it)

4 oz ground italian sausage (I've used veal in place of the sausage or the beef)

1 freshly ground clove

dash of cinnamon

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 lb peeled and chopped tomatoes (or 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, packed in water)

1 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp sea salt

Bechamel Sauce:

2 cups whole milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup cake flour (use all-purpose if you don't have cake flour on hand - no need to make a special purchase)

freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Lasagna:

About 16 sheets of an Italian brand of lasagna noodles (enough to make four layers in a 13x9 inch backing pan)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

The Process:

The Bolognese:

(Can be made a day or two ahead of time - keep in the refrigerator in an air tight container)

1. Make the soffritto - combine pancetta, onion, celery and carrots in a saute pan with butter and cook over medium heat until onion turns pale.

2. Add the beef, sausage and pork to the soffritt0 and increase the heat to high; cook until browned. Sprinkle with spices: clove, cinnamon and pepper.

3. Stir in the tomatoes, bring to a simmer and reduce heat to medium. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. If using whole canned tomatoes, break them up as you add them to the sauce.

4. Add milk and season with sea salt. Then turn down heat and simmer for 2 and 1/2 hours. Stir at least every 20 minutes. (If possible, definitely give the sauce the full 2 and 1/2 hours - the sauce changes quite a bit as it simmers.)

The Bechamel:

5. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. In a separate pan melt the butter with the flour over low heat. Stir rapidly with a spoon. Cook this for 1 minute and then remove from the heat.

6. Slowly add half the hot milk to your butter and flour mixture. During this process stir constantly.

7. Return the milk, butter, flour mixture to low heat until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the remaining milk slowly while stirring - working it into the thickened sauce. Continue to stir until it comes to a boil

8. Season with some salt and grated nutmeg. Continue stirring until the right consistency has developed (until it coats a spoon thickly). Remove from heat.

The Lasagna:

9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the lasagna noodles according to the instructions (I've used the non-boil kind and it worked out fine). Drain boiled lasagna noodles and rinse in cold water. Lay the individual noodles on kitchen towels, not touching, so they do not stick together.

10. Spread a little olive oil around the inside of the baking pan. Only use pyrex or stainless steel. Aluminum pans don't mix well with the sauce and will case it to taste very acidic. Put a layer of lasagna down first. Layer on a third of the bolognese sauce, then a third of the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Repeat two more times. Top with a final layer of noodles and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

11. Put lasagna on the middle rack of the pre-heated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the top begins to get lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Mmmmmm, mmmm good.

slow-cooked sauerkraut pork chops

My mom put this together in my crockpot for us this week, and boy did she deliver! The pork chops were so tender they just about fell apart. Even if you aren't a big fan of sauerkraut, you will like these chops...

4 thick (1") or 6 thin pork chops (can be on-the-bone)

brown these in a skillet however you like (with or without being dredged in flour). set aside & add a little water to the drippings in the pan to loosen.

2 lbs. sauerkraut, drained a little (keep some of the liquid with the kraut)
1 sliced apple (preferrably Granny Smith, but whatever kind you like that's good for baking)

in a small bowl, combine:

1 pkg. onion soup mix
1/4 c. brown sugar

layer the chops, kraut, apple & dry soup mixture in your crockpot, and pour the pork chop drippings over the top. you can also add 1/4 c. water to keep things moist as it cooks. cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 6 hours. serve it up with some crusty rolls. smile. rub belly. crack open some good German beer.

Chicken with Leeks

I like cooking with wine because it is a good excuse to drink it while preparing dinner. Here's a very quick and easy meal:

1 leek, discard tough green part and slice the rest into 1/4 inch pieces and separate them
1ish lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders
salt and pepper
2 T. olive oil
1 c. dry white wine

Heat large skillet over med-high heat. Season chicken with s/p generously. Add oil and chicken and brown (3-4 minutes per side) Transfer to plate. Add a bit more oil and add leeks. Saute 5 minutes until soft. Add wine and nest chicken in pan. Reduce heat and simmer 5-7 minutes more. Serve with a potato dish or just crusty bread.

Meatballs

Darby requested freezer meals to ease the transition into mommahood. Thought I'd post this recipe. I make a big batch of these, cook them and then freeze them. I reheat them to use in meatball subs or pasta dishes or lunches for my kiddos. Oh, and I should mention, my Dad found this recipe in the newspaper of all places and it is the best meatball recipe ever.

2 lbs. hamburger
1 c. bread crumbs
2/3 c. grated Romano cheese
2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. parsley chopped
4 eggs

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (kinda gross) Shape into 1 in. diameter balls. Line them up on a roasting pan. Bake at 375 for about 20 or 25 mintues. (I bake them on a roasting pan so the fat drips thru. Cool and freeze.

Turkey Burgers with Grated Zucchini and Carrot

I opened up the most current issue of Real Simple yesterday and decided to try this recipe. It was SO GOOD. I used a full lb. of turkey, which I think would work better than what the recipe called for.

I'd highly recommend this. It was fast and great for kids (my kids anyway) because you can hide veggies in burgers and cover them with ketchup.

Marinade that rocks.

One thing I am not good at cooking is plain meat. You know, like a roast or something. For one, (though I'm not a vegetarian) I HATE touching raw meat and for two, I always over cook it and for three, I generally think meat is a boring thing to eat by itself. However, despite all this, sometimes I have a hankerin' for some plain meat. Hence, this great marinade recipe for pork chops. We used it tonight and have used it a lot in the past.

I make a few changes: I always half this recipe-- it makes way too much. Often I leave out the ginger and always the Lee Kum Kee black-bean chile sauce because I don't know what it is.