Bari Red Sauce with Italian Sausage & Roasted Red Pepper (Phasing Out Name "Massi's Pasta")

I just posted what Noelle had once given me as directions for Massi's delicious pasta. Last night, in attempts to use the Italian sausage in my refrigerator, I combined Massi's recipe with another that I found in an Italian cookbook. I looked to Massi's when I realized that I didn't have all the ingredients which the book's recipe called for. The combination came out wonderful! VERY GOOD! Additional Ingredients: 1-1 1/2 lbs. Italian sausage 1/4-1/3 cup. roasted pepper (which I used from a store-bought jar) Directions.

1. Begin to make Massi's tomato sauce as directed; hold on starting the pasta, and DO NOT ADD basil at the end of the 1st 15 minutes (as directed in Massi's recipe).
2. Simultaneously, cook the Italian sausage in a separate pan. I cooked the sausage as about 3 inch links...do what you think depending on how you buy it. Poke the sausages several times with a fork as it cooks to allow for drainage. Try to time it so that the sausage is finished cooking as the tomato sauce finishes cooking. Also, when the links look like they are cooked pretty well, cut them down into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces.
3. After the 15 minutes in which both things are done cooking, turn off the heat for both. Drain the sausage grease, and return sausage AND tomato mixture to the sausage pan.
4. Stir in the roasted peppers, and then bring to a low heat/simmer for another 20 minutes. I kept the cover off, but you could keep the cover on for more moisture. Stir occasionally.
5. Don't forget to add the basil (about 2 tbsp. if dried) in the last 3 cooking minutes.
6. In the last 10 minutes, cook the pasta (use Massi's directions).
7. Drain the pasta, and place in serving bowl; top with the tomato/pepper/sausage mixture! Yum!

Dijon Mustard Chicken

1-2 lbs. chicken breast
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half & half
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Directions:
1. Cook or bake chicken how you'd like (I used the baked chicken method on this blog); keep on an oven safe dish, and keep in a warm oven while you make the Dijon sauce. If you cook the chicken on the stove top, do so in butter (the amount above), and continue making the sauce in the butter/chicken pan--in the leftovers--after you place the chicken in the oven.
2. Stir flour into the butter/chicken drips (if you baked the chicken, just add 2-3 tbsp. butter to a pan). Stir quickly, until a paste is created, and the texture throughout seems fairly consistent.
3. Add broth and, again, stir well; add the cream, stir well.
4. Simmer this mixture for about 10 minutes, and stir in the mustard, until heated through; remove from heat.
5. Pour the mustard sauce over the warmed chicken and serve.

Best served over rice (chicken on rice, then pour sauce on top), and tastes good with pineapple. In my opinion it then needed salt and pepper, but this is probably done best on a personal opinion basis!

Ham Pop-Ins

These yummy ham sandwiches are so named because you just pop them from the freezer to the oven.

1/2 lb butter
1 1/2 T mustard
1 T poppyseed
1/2 t Worchestershire sauce
1 lb shaved ham
4 oz shaved swiss cheese
1 dozen potato rolls

1. Mix first 5 ingredients and use to butter the rolls. Make sandwiches with ham and cheese
2. Freeze in individual plastic baggies.

When ready to eat, take out of freezer and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutess.

Gorgonzola & Yellow Pepper Pasta (Phasing out the name "Austrian pasta")

This is what I call an ex-recipe. Olive oil 2-3 cloves garlic 3 yellow bell peppers roughly chopped chili powder garlic salt pepper oregano 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes heavy whipping cream (or double cream if you're british) 8 oz gorgonzola 1/2 c shredded parmesan 1 bunch scallions chopped 1. Gently heat olive oil and toss in garlic, heating until soft (do not let brown or sizzle in oil or it will lose flavor.) 2. Add peppers, stirring into oil. Heat through for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally 3. Add the next four spices on the recipe list... its up to what flavors you want but I use more of everything as the cream and tomatoes dilute their flavor a little. 4. Stir in tomatoes into mixture. Then add a little cream at a time until your mixture is a pinkish color... taste and add more cream or seasoning, to your preference. Heat gently for 20 minutes... the cream should not bubble or it will diminish flavor. 5. Cook pasta in the meantime and drain. 6. To the PASTA, add the gorgonzola, parmesan and scallions. The pour over the tomato sauce and stir all together.

Best Beef Barley soup

This one looks longer than it is but half is done in the slow cooker so its quite easy. In the a.m., put the following into a crockpot

2-3 lb piece of beef roast (cheap kind works well with this)
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1 envelope au jus gravy (or beef gravy) mix
1 c water.

Put on low for 6 hours... at the end, discard any excess fat and shred... its really good in sandwiches but even better in the soup. Anywho...turn off slow cooker after this so that the juices doign evaporate.

1 hour before dinner, start the soup.

2 leeks, chopped
3 carrots shredded or 1 and 1/2 cup if using preshredded ones
1 c barley
4 T olive oil
1 c fresh parsley
1 bayleaf
salt & pepper
7 c water

In a large stock pot, gently heat the 4 T olive oil. Add the barley and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and heat to barely a simmer for 45 minutes.

Combine beef with the soup.

Grandma Dougoveto's Mint Stick Brownies

4 squares chocolate
1 cup oleo
1/2 tsp. peppermint flavoring
1 cup flour
4 eggs beaten
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
(Nuts, optional)

Directions:
Melt chocolate and butter over hot water. Cool and add remainder. Bake in 9x13" pan at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Frost with the following:

4 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. cream
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. peppermint flavoring
green food coloring

After this hardens, glaze topping.

2 squares chocolate
2 tbsp. butter

Dribble over green icing.

Russian Tea

Makes 6 qt.

1 (9 oz.) jar Tang instant breakfast drink
1/2 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Instant Tea
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground Cloves
1 pkg. instant Lemonade

Grandma Dougoveto's Chicken & Dumplings

Can be made with either leftover chicken or turkey.

Stew Directions:

Cut 4-5 carrots diagonally in chunks. Cook in about an inch of water until tender (20-30 minutes).

Add pieces of chicken or turkey and one can of cream of chicken soup. Rinse out can with water and add to mixture if desired (more water can always be added as wanted).

Bring to a boil and drop dumplings on top. Put cover on, set to a low simmer, and cook 6 minutes. The stew should boil so as to steam dumplings, but try NOT to burn the bottom of the dumplings.

Dumplings (to be dropped by the tbsp.-full onto the stew):
3/4 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt ("perhaps")
1 tbsp. melted Butter
"about" 1/3 cup Milk ("I often use evaporated milk.")

Mix together. Add milk as needed so that is the correct consistency for sticking together.

Basic Baked Chicken

This simply served with rice makes for a great meal! Also, try slicing the baked chicken into strips for yummy chicken salads. This is what I use for the baked chicken in my burritos (and then I cook the cubed, baked chicken with a taco seasoning packet), as well. MULTI-USE!!!!

Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Olive Oil
Season Salt
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Basil
Parsley Flakes

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Lay the chicken breasts in a glass baking dish; drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the chicken with the 5 spices listed, then flip and repeat the oil/spice steps. Pour a little water on the bottom of the pan (optional, for moisture purposes). Cook for at least 30 min., and then as needed until fully cooked. Enjoy!

Spring Rolls

One of my students from the Philippines made these last year and they were to die for! Here's his family recipe. You will have to convert kg to pounds...

Filling
1/4 kg ground pork
1/8 kg shrimp, chopped (optional)
1/4 c finely chopped carrot
1/4 c finely chopped celery (stalks are ok, just chop really fine)
1/4 c finely chopped parsely
1 garlic clove minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 T chopped white onions
1 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
1 pinch pepper

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 t cornstarch
2/3 c water (or substitute pineapple juice)
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar (plain vinegar works also)
2 t fish sauce

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients for spring roll filling.
2. Wrap in egg wrapper, in long thing shape (approx 1 T per sheet of wrapper)
3. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown
4. Drain
5. Prepare Sweet and Sour Sauce:
6. Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and whisk until sugar and corn starch are dissolved, boil over high heat and reduce to preferred thickness.
8. Serve with Spring rolls

Noelle's Neapolitan Pizza

Pizza Dough
Yields 2, 10 inch pizza crusts

It is impossible to imitate a true Neapolitan pizza crust without the proper flour (only available in Italy). I have scoured the internet and tested several recipes and this is the closest I could get. If you don't have cake flour, substitute by taking 2 T out of the measured regular flour. If you're feeling lazy, just try the sauce/toppings on a pre-made crust.

1 t. active dry yeast
1 1/4 c. warm water
1 c. cake flour (not self rising)
2 1/2 to 3 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. salt
Olive Oil

1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Let stand 1 minute or until creamy. Stir until yeast dissolves.

2. In large bowl, combine cake flour, 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir until dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour as necessary. Work until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

3. Lightly coat large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in a bowl, turning to coat the top. Cover with plastic. Place in a warm, draft-free place and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours) or let rise slowly overnight in refrigerator.

4. Flatten dough with fist and cut into 2 pieces. Shape pieces into balls and dust with flour.

5. Place balls on floured work surface and cover each with plastic wrap allowing room for the dough to expand. Let rise 60-90 minutes (or until doubled).

6. Preheat oven to Max temp. (500 degrees on conventional ovens). Coat pizza pan lightly with olive oil. Before rolling out crust it helps to stretch the crust out over your fists. Work crust like this until thin enough to be laid on pizza pan. Roll the crust as thin as possible eliminating air bubbles as you do this.

7. Top with sauce and cheese and Bake 8-10 minutes or until cheese begins to brown or crust bubbles.

Pizza Sauce
Sauce also doubles as a pasta sauce.

Olive Oil
2-3 cloves garlic (whole)
1 can whole tomatoes
1/4 c. chopped, fresh basil
5-8 chunks fresh mozzarella cheese
2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
5-6 fresh, whole basil leaves
Salt to taste

1. Coat the bottom of a deep pan in olive oil and warm on medium - low heat. Add garlic cloves and heat until they turn brown. Discard cloves. While cloves are heating, pour canned tomatoes in a bowl and beat with a fork until chunky. Add a pinch of salt to tomato mixture.

2. Pour canned tomatoes in heated oil and boil on medium to medium high, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped basil to the sauce by rubbing between hands. This releases flavor. Taste and add salt as necessary.

3. Boil for 30-45 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.

4. While sauce is boiling, toss cherry tomato halves in olive oil and a dash of salt. Set aside.

5. Pour the sauce on the crust. Add chunks of mozzarella. Drizzle olive oil over entire pizza. Put in the oven on bottom rack.

6. Halfway through, pull the pizza out and top with cherry tomato mixture. Bake until crust is bubbled or cheese begins to brown. Remove from oven and top with whole basil pieces. Allow pizza to sit for 1 minute before serving to allow cheese to set.

Monica's Sweet n Sour Bean Dip

Sweet n Sour Bean Dip
Yields 3 cups

1. In a saucepan, mix the following ingredients. Heat until they boil. Let cool.
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. cider vinegar
1 T water
1/4 c. oil

2. While above ingredients are boiling, mix the following in separate bowl:
8 oz can black eyed peas (drain and rinse)
8 oz can pinto beans (drain and rinse)
1 small jar pimentos (optional - or substitute diced red pepper)
8 oz can white shoepeg corn (drain and rinse)
1 small onion diced
1 green pepper diced

3. When the boiled mixture is completely cooled, pour over your bean mixture in bowl. Cover and allow to marinate overnight in the fridge.