January-February Daring Cooks' Challenge - Sausage

I don't know if you noticed, but there was no Daring Cooks' post last month. It's not that I skipped a month - it's that the challenge had an option of being so involved, of requiring a significant amount of time, that we were given two months to complete it.

For the January-February 2013 Daring Cooks’ Challenge, Carol, one of our talented non-blogging members and Jenni, one of our talented bloggers who writes The Gingered Whisk, have challenged us to make homemade sausage and/or cured, dried meats in celebration of the release of the book Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn! We were given two months for this challenge and the opportunity to make delicious Salumi in our own kitchens!

I am not going to lie. This challenge scared me. A lot.

I have never made sausage. I don't have the proper equipment to grind meat or to stuff sausage. In fact, I didn't even know where to find sausage casings.

But I couldn't sit it out. So I had to get over it and just... try!

The process of preparing the meat actually went much more smoothly than I'd expected.  I took one pound of boneless pork sirloin and one pound of boneless chicken breast and cut them into cubes.  I froze the pieces for about half an hour so that they wouldn't be too soft, then began grinding the meat in small batches in the mini food processor attachment of my immersion blender.

It took a while, but it worked - I soon had two pounds of nicely ground mixed chicken and pork!

The next step was spicing.  From everything that I'd read, it seems that there's a general guideline of about a tablespoon and a half of spice for each pound of meat, so I created a spice mix, using salt, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary and prepared Italian seasonings to equal three tablespoons.

Then I had some expert help stirring it all together.

Once the seasonings were mixed into the meat, I let the whole thing rest in the fridge while I prepared myself mentally for the next step.

Stuffing.

I was able to find casings at a local butcher shop.

Apparently that little bag contains enough casing to make 30 pounds of sausage. Hopefully that would be enough for my inexpert fumblings...

The casings are packed in salt to keep them preserved, so they need to be rinsed and soaked in order to be used. 

Now, I waited until little man was napping to get started, to ensure that I would have both of my hands free for the stuffing process. Unfortunately, this means that I don't have any pictures.  But let me just say, it was... definitely an experience. As I mentioned, I don't have the proper equipment to stuff sausages. Several people on the forums had indicated that they'd had success stuffing their sausages using piping bags. So I tried using zip-top bags with a corner snipped... I burst two bags. I tried waxed paper. I tried parchment paper. I tried using a spoon. Oh, man, it was comical. I ripped more than one casing.

After just over an hour, I'd used only half of the prepared meat, and had only four sausage links.

I decided that the rest would be made into patties, and hoped that I would get points for effort.

The results, though, were pretty good. I think my spice mixture needs some tweaking - it was too salty and I think it needed a slightly better balance, but I was honestly really proud of how it turned out.  On a roll with peppers, onions and a slice of provolone, it made a delicious dinner.

Carol, Jenni, thank you so much for pushing me so far outside of my comfort zone. I am not sure how often I will repeat this in the future, but I am really proud of myself for trying.  And I am amazingly impressed with the results of the other participants this month - check them out here.

And if you are interested in trying your hand at making sausage, check out the challenge recipes here. If I find a spice mix that works for us, I'll be sure to share it.

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October Daring Cooks' Challenge - Brazilian Feijoada

Rachel Dana was our October 2012 Daring Cooks' Challenge hostess! Rachel brought Brazil into our lives by challenging us to make Feijoada and Farofa along with some other yummy side dishes traditionally served with Feijoada, which is a delicious black bean and pork stew.

I am not at all familiar with Brazilian food, and the amount of information contained within this challenge, not to mention the number of components... well... it was overwhelming.

It took many re-readings of the recipes and a bunch of discussions with Jenni and my sister... but I finally managed to wrap my head around all of the recipes, and I formulated a plan.

Feijoada is a Brazilian black bean stew, traditionally made with a variety of pork products.  Rachel challenged us to not only make the stew, but to make an entire meal of it, including collard greens and another traditional Brazilian dish called Farofa, a dish that reminds me a lot of breakfast, but that Rachel likes to include in her Feijoada feasts.

All in all, there were seven recipes included in his challenge. See? overwhelming. Until you break it down and realize... hey... this is actually not too bad!

I started with the two recipes that were easiest to make ahead of time. The first was an onion/garlic base (which is just a puree of onions and garlic - simply puree and stick it in the fridge until you need it!), which is used to flavor most of the dishes of this meal. The second is what is called a vinagrete - which is basically a "salsa" of sorts - a mixture of chopped pepper, onion and tomato, dressed with vinegar, olive oil and spices. Again, I simply mixed this up the day before and popped it in the fridge.

The next component was the feijoada itself. As it's a bean stew, it all begins with beans. I chose to make my stew in the crock pot. So the night before, I set the dried beans right in the crock pot, covered them with water and let them soak overnight.

The next morning, I added a bit of fresh water, set the crock pot to low and let it start cooking. I also threw in a couple of smoked turkey legs once it started cooking to begin flavoring the beans.

After a few hours, it was time to add the rest of the stew's ingredients - bacon and smoked sausage, both of which were cooked in a pan prior to being added, and also a few tablespoons of the onion-garlic base.

Another few hours later, I simply removed the turkey legs, shredded the meat and added it back into the stew, discarding the bones and skin.

While the crock pot finished its job with the feijoada, I got to work on the other components of the meal - the vegetable and the farofa.

I was worried about how I would get everything done simultaneously, but, when it came down to it, it actually works out really well. I go all of the prep work done and had everything ready to go. For the farofa, I chopped onion and measured out my bread crumbs.  And for the vegetable, I prepared the collard greens as the recipe indicated, slicing them into ribbons to be cooked just prior to the meal.

The farofa cooks up pretty quickly. I actually set aside the pan that I'd used earlier to cook the bacon and sausages and used that to add extra flavor to my farofa. To that pan, I added butter and diced onions. Once the onions cook, simple crack eggs over them, let them cook briefly, add some bacon crumbles, bread crumbs and, as Rachel recommended, slices of banana. I promise, it's a lot easier and quicker than it seems.

Then the collards are quickly cooked (in more of the onion-garlic base) and the meal is ready to go! Served with rice (which I just had cooking on a back burner during the end of this process) and we had a full feast all ready to go.

I also made the hot sauce that is included in the recipes, but daddy was the only one brave enough to try it. Regardless, there was so much flavor on this plate, and so much deliciousness packed into this mea.

I can't believe I almost skipped this. We all loved it and I know I will be making each of these recipes again.  Rachel, thank you so much for introducing me to delicious Brazilian fare, and for sharing these delicious recipes with us!

To see the other delicious Brazilian feasts prepared in the Daring Kitchen this month, check them out here.


I am including here all of the recipes that were included in the challenge. Jenni graciously share her own transcription of them with me, and I have adapted them for the modifications that I made when I made them.  I have them listed here in the order in which I made them, to give an idea as to how I organized the execution of this feast. Even though it looks like a lot, I promise, it comes together pretty simply and is totally worth all the steps!

To see the recipes exactly as Rachel presented them, check them out here.

Vinagrete
1 large bell pepper, diced
1 large tomato, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons water
2-4 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Chop all the vegetables and parsley.
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
Press down on the veggies to release some liquid, and ensure everything is immersed.
Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. (I made this the day before and let it rest in the fridge until the meal.)


Onion-Garlic Base
2 medium white onions
4 large cloves of garlic
1 TBSP salt

Roughly chop the onions and garlic.
Place everything in a food processor and blend until smooth.
(I made this the day before and put it in the fridge until I needed it.)


Feijoada
2 cups dried black beans
18 ounces bacon (12 for this, 6 for later for the forofa, but might as well prep it all now) (I used only one pound, 16 ounces, of bacon total. Close enough...)
2 pounds mixed meats (typically an array of pork - sausages, ribs, ham, etc) cut into 1" cubes or 1/2" slices (I used two smoked turkey legs and 14 oz of turkey smoked sausage)
4 bay leaves
3 TBSP onion-garlic base (recipe above)
1/4 cup bacon grease or vegetable oil

Wash the beans thoroughly and place into your crock pot. Soak beans overnight. In the morning, add additional water to cover the beans by an inch and set crock pot to low.

Place the oil/grease in a large frying pan.
Fry all the meat in the hot grease until well browned and cooked through (cook each type of meat separately, but you can use the same pan/grease).
Drain the meat on paper towels to remove excess grease.

Once the beans begin to soften, add 3 tablespoons of the onion-garlic base, 4 bay leaves, and the cooked meats (remember to reserve half of the bacon for later).
Adjust the water to make sure everything is covered.
Continue cooking until the beans are done (about 8-10 hours total).


Rice
(I prepared my rice, brown basmati, using the traditional method. Following is the Brazilian method that Rachel shared with us for the challenge)
1.5 cups long grain white rice
4.5 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons onion-garlic base
boiling water

Wash your rice in a sieve and let it dry.
Heat the oil in a pan.
Cook the onion-garlic paste for 1 minute, until it starts to soften.
Add the dried rice and stir fry for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the pot and burn.
Add enough boiling water so the water comes 2 fingers over the rice.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat.
Fluff with a fork, cover, and let rest for another 10 minutes.


Hot Sauce
1 spoonful of your favorite hot sauce
a few spoonfuls of the liquid from the completed feijoada
1 spoonful of the vinagrete

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix to incorporate.


Farofa
1/4 cup butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 ounces fresh bacon, fried (set aside previously from the feijoada)
1/2 cup fine ground cornmeal or dry breadcrumbs
1 banana, sliced into 1/2" - 1" slices

Melt half of the butter over medium-high heat.
Add the onions and cook for a few minutes, until they start to soften.
Crack the eggs into the pan and lightly break the yolks and spread around (don't break it up too much).
When the egg is almost fully cooked, break them up into med-large pieces.
The onions will brown quite a bit under the eggs, but its ok!
Add the cooked bacon and stir.
Add the rest of the butter and stir to melt.
Lower the heat to medium, toss in the cornmeal or breadcrumbs and banana and stir well.
Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper (to taste) and keep stirring, until the cornmeal has clumped together nicely and become golden, about 3-5 minutes.
Be careful not to let it burn! Keep tasting it until it tastes toasty.


Collard Greens
4 collard greens
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon onion-garlic base

Wash the greens, cut out the stem, and cut in half.
Stack all of the leaves on top of each other and roll them up tightly into a log.
Holding the tube tightly, slice off thin slices of the greens.
When you are almost ready to eat, heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
Add the 1 tablespoon of the onion-garlic base and let it soften for a minute.
Add all the collards at once, and stir to coat with oil.
You can add a pinch of salt and pepper if you want.
Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, so they just start to soften.
Remove and serve.

Enjoy!

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September Daring Bakers' Challenge - Empanada

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

Well wouldn't you know, empanadas have been on my "hmm... I should try those one day!" list for a while! Now, I always thought of empanadas as, well, kind of like hand pies - small, individually sized meat, well, hand pies! Turns out, the empanadas that Patri shared with us were family-sized, made with yeasted dough, and filled with just about anything that you can imagine.

So the first decision came in trying to decide what I'd use as my filling. Me being me, all of my first thoughts were dessert. But then inspiration hit when I looked at my meal plan. The week after the challenge was announced, the first thing on the meal plan was Italian sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches. As I started pulling out the yeast and flour to make the rolls, I thought - hey! I could do the same meal, just in empanada form! So that's what I did.

Instead of making rolls, I used my yeast and flour to pull together the very simple empanada dough.  The dough calls for paprika. Taking inspiration from my filling, I used garlic powder instead.

As the dough rested, I prepped my filling - chopping onions and peppers and removing the casings from some sausages.

I then cooked up the filling in a large skillet...

...and constructed the empanada. About half of the dough is rolled out nice and thin and placed onto (and over the edges) of a baking sheet. The dough is then covered with the cooked filling. I topped half of the filling with thickly sliced provolone cheese, too, for some extra ooey-gooey goodness.

The other half of the dough is then rolled out and placed over top. The edges are sealed (I tried for a crimped pattern...). The top is then both decorated and vented.

And then it bakes!  The dough gets nice and golden, and the whole thing looks pretty fun.

And makes for a pretty tasty dinner!

But, me being me, I couldn't let the idea of a dessert empanada go.  All along, I'd been wanting to try an apple-pie inspired version, but the month kept slipping away from me. So I finally went for it last night. You heard me. Mere hours before this post had to go live.

The dough came together just as easily, though this time I used cinnamon as my spice of choice, and added in a touch of sugar to sweeten things up.

And for my filling? I wanted to go caramel-y with my apples. So I started with butter and brown sugar.

Yum.

And then I set to peeling and slicing these.

And cooking them down in that delicious, caramel-y goodness.

Unfortunately, my four apples and one pear were not enough to fill my empanada. Which I didn't realized until all of my dough was rolled out and I was to the point of, well, filling it up. So I quickly had to peel and cut and ooey-gooey caramelize a few more apples and pears. But after that...

...we were good. And for the decoration this time?

I went with little miss's favorite - my old fairy design (remember that? from here? and here?). She requested that I add hair. And a face. The face didn't show up so well, but when it came out of the oven, she declared it a success, so that's all I could ask for.

Well, I could ask for a little more than that, but then she told me she loved it, and that answered that question. And it really is delicious - yummy fall goodness encased in flaky deliciousness.

I have to say - I was so pleased with this challenge. The dough was simple, but flaky and delicious, the possibilities are endless for delicious fillings, and it's fun to make and decorate, and share with family and friends!

Patri, thank you so much for sharing your family's dish with us and for being such a wonderful host!

To see the amazing, creative and gorgeous empanadas baked up in the kitchen this month, check them out here.

Empanada Dough

(a recipe using wheat flour from “La Empanada Gallega” as provided in the challenge)

3½ cups all-purpose or bread flour

1 cup warm water

½ cup less 1 tablespoon of liquid fat (I used canola oil)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sweet paprika (or garlic powder or cinnamon - depending on your filling!)

Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the middle and add all the ingredients.

Mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients have been incorporated

Turn dough onto your counter and knead for 8 minutes

Make a ball and allow to rise covered with a cloth for about half an hour before using.

The rest of the steps are the same as with the first recipe.

You can also use knead this dough in a stand mixer - just reduce the kneading time to 5 minutes.


Prepare a filling of your choice.

When you are ready to prepare the empanada, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Divide the dough roughly in half.
Roll the larger piece on parchment paper to just-larger than a baking sheet. Place the dough, still on the parchment, onto the baking sheet. the dough will hang over the edges a bit.
Layer your prepared (and cooled) topping over the rolled out dough.

Take the other half of the dough and spread it out to approximately the same thinness of the base. You can use a piece of parchment paper for this, too. Take into account that this “top” dough needs to be smaller around than the bottom, as it only needs to cover the filling.
Carefully transfer the top to the pan cover the filling by carefully moving the parchment to the pan, turning it over, then gently peeling off the wax paper.
Using your fingers, join bottom and top dough, when you have gone all the way around, start pinching top and bottom together with your thumb and index finger and turning them half way in, that way you end up with a rope-like border.
When you are finished, make a 1 inch hole in the middle of the top layer (or otherwise vent the top to go with whatever design you choose to make...) This will help hot air exit the empanada while it’s baking without breaking the cover.
You can use left-over dough to decorate the empanada, using rounds, bows, lines… let your imagination flow and make it pretty!
Bake the completed empanada for 45 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Italian Sausage, Pepper and Onion Strata

So, after seeing this past month's Daring Bakers' Challenge, have you tried making your own challah yet? I hope so!

The only "problem" (and I use term loosely...) is what to do with the leftovers.

There are tons and tons of possibilities... slice it for sandwiches. Make French toast. Make bread pudding. Make croutons or bread-crumbs. 

I admit - for me, leftover bread (especially challah!) usually turns into breakfast (French toast) or dessert (bread pudding).

But, as a part of this month's challenge, I wanted to try something new.

Then, perusing a cookbook that I'd borrowed from the library, I saw the answer - strata.

What is a strata? 

It's a savory bread pudding.

Same bready, eggy goodness that you're used to for dessert, but instead of sugar and cinnamon and desserty/breakfasty goodness, go for savory, dinnery fillings and spices.

I used the cookbook's "basic" recipe and used a favorite standby for flavor - Italian sausage, peppers and onions.

But it all started with the challah. I used the big, huge round one that you saw on my last post and cut it into cubes.

It's a good think I cut some extra, because some people who shall remain nameless had a hard time keeping their hands out of the pan...

Once the bread was cut and set aside, it was time to work on the filling.  I diced up one sweet onion and several of these adorable, multicolored mini bell peppers.

I would up using eight of those peppers, and strove to keep a nice rainbow variety of colors.

I started by sauteeing the peppers and onions in a pan, then, after removing the veggies, I browned up about a pound of mild Italian sausage (casings removed) until it was just done (no more pink).

Add the veggies back in to finish everything up...

...and I was ready to build.

Half of the bread cubes into a 9" x 13" pan, topped with half of the sausage and veggie mix, then sprinkled with some diced up provolone cheese. Then these layers were repeated.

Once the base was prepared, it was time to hold it all together. Five eggs, some milk and a sprinkling of spices were whisked together...

...and poured on top.

About 45 minutes later, the house smelled amazing, and, when I opened the oven, I was greeted with this:

Okay, I admit, the crust pieces looked dark, which had me concerned, but those aside, it looked bright and colorful and fresh and delicious, and even ooey and gooey from the cheese.

And it tasted even better than it looked.

Oh no, bread puddings will no longer be saved for dessert.

I can't wait to try other ingredients, flavor combinations and fillings - the strata is definitely here to stay!


Italian Sausage, Pepper and Onion Strata
(inspired by a recipe in Ready when you are by Martha Rose Shulman)

1/2 pound bread, slightly stle if possible, cut into cubes (about 5-6 cups of bread cubes, enough to fill a 9" x 13" baking dish without overflowing it)
1 pound Italian sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 mini bell peppers, assorted colors (or 1-2 large bell peppers - whatever you have available!)
1 sweet (Vidalia) onion
1/4 pound provolone cheese, grated or cut into small pieces (mine was pre-sliced, so I just cut it into small squares)
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1% because it was what we had)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Dice the onion and peppers and remove the casings from the Italian sausage.
In a large frying pan, sautee the onion and peppers in the olive oil (I always sprinkle my veggies with a pinch of salt to help them along as they sautee...). Set the vegetables aside. In the same pan, brown the sausage, crumbling it as it cooks, until it is cooked through (no more pink). Add the vegetables back into the pan, toss everything together, and then remove the pan from the heat.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9" x 13" baking pan.
Spread half of the bread cube in the prepared baking pan, then top with half of the sausage, pepper and onion mixture. Sprinkle with half of the cheese.
Repeat your layers - bread cubes, sausage and veggies, then top with remaining cheese.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and spices. Slowly and carefully, pour the egg mixture over the prepared casserole, trying to coat all of the bread (and meat and veggies...) evenly.
Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, until puffed and browned.
Can be served right away (hot) or warm, after waiting a bit.

Enjoy!

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Magic Soup

Remember how I recently mentioned that we've been trying a new soup every week? And then remember how I mentioned that I'd made my sourdough tortellini specifically for a new soup? Amazing when ideas follow through, isn't it?

When I'd first mentioned my idea of trying new soups on a regular basis, daddy went through and found a whole bunch of ideas, and e-mailed me a whole slew of links, ranked in order of how much he wanted me to try them.

First on the list was something called "Magic Soup." With a name like that, I had to check it out. And after reading through the recipe, it definitely looked like fun!

So last week, once the tortellini were shaped and set aside to dry, I set to preparing the magic.

The soup is basically a vegetable soup with sausage. So the first step was to do a whole lot of chopping.

First came the broccoli, cut into florets.

Then came the zucchini, which proceeded from the rounds you see here to become bite-sized cubes.


The other veggies called for in the recipe were corn and spinach, for which I used frozen, because it was what I had. But, because I happened to have them in my fridge, and I thought the color would look really nice added into the mix, I roughly chopped a few carrots to add in.


Once the vegetables were chopped and set aside, it was time to work on the sausage. Easy work, but messy. The sausage had to be removed from its casing, cut (broken) into bite-sized chunks and browned.


Then it was finally time to put everything together. And, seriously, it was just as easy as putting everything into the pot, pouring in some beef broth and water, and letting the whole thing simmer.

I cooked the tortellini separately so that it wouldn't overcook, and also so that the extra flour I'd used in rolling the pasta wouldn't thicken the soup.

The result was a nice, hearty, very healthy looking but delicious tasting dinner.

As suggested in the recipe, we served ours with some grated mozzarella sprinkled on top.

While I am not sure I would go so far as calling the soup magical, I would absolutely call it tasty, and highly recommend giving it a try.

Magic Soup (aka Tortellini Sausage Soup)

(slightly adapted from Suzie the Foodie)

1 1/4 pounds sweet Italian sausage

1 10-ounce box frozen, chopped spinach

4 cups beef broth

4 cups water

1 9-ounce package frozen cheese tortellini (or one batch as made in previous post)

1 (large) zucchini, cut into chunks

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup corn kernels

1 cup (approximately) carrots (I used four medium sized ones), cut into chunks

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

salt and pepper to taste

shredded mozzarella cheese for serving

In a medium skillet, cook the sausage for about 10 minutes, until well browned. Drain well.

In soup pot, mix together sausage, spinach, broth, water, broccoli, corn, carrots and Italian seasonings.

Bring mixture to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer, with pot partially covered, for 25-30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

While soup simmers, cook tortellini in a separate pot (if using frozen, follow package directions).

After soup has simmered, season to taste with salt and pepper (I didn't need to adjust the seasoning very much - the sausage and broth were pretty flavorful).

To serve, spoon several tortellini into each bowl and spoon soup on top. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese on top.

Enjoy!

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