Sausage and Peppers Pasta

Last year when we received the first batch of mini sweet peppers from our CSA Matt made me sausage & peppers. Can you believe I'd never had it before?! (It's probably because I spent a good deal of my life under the misconception that I don't like peppers.) Anyway, it was a big hit with me. This week, when I was putting our menu together, I suggested we have it again since we have a big bag of mini sweets in the fridge. Matt thought it might be interesting to do a different take on it & make the sausage & peppers into a sauce for pasta.

Wow, was this good! I could have eaten seconds & thirds of this pasta. There is a nice mild sweetness from the peppers & sherry with just a hint of heat at the back from the crushed red pepper. (If you want it a little spicier use hot Italian sausage or add a few hot peppers to the pepper mix.) Despite the fact there is no cream in it the dish has a creamy texture to it, probably from the added pasta cooking water. To top it off, this meal was so quick & easy to put together. This could easily become a dish that works its way often into our menu.

Sausage & Peppers Pasta

olive oil
6 - 7 oz bulk Italian sausage
1 medium yellow onion, sliced (about 1 cup)
2 c sweet peppers, seeded & sliced
1/4 c sherry
2 T tomato paste
1 T red wine vinegar
dash of red pepper flakes
4 oz pasta, medium shells
1/4 c reserved pasta cooking water
grated Parmesan (optional)

Coat the bottom of a large skillet with a little olive oil & heat over medium-high heat. Add the sausage & brown until cooked. Add the onions & cook until starting to soften. Stir in the peppers, sherry, tomato paste, vinegar & red pepper flakes. Cover & turn the heat down to low. Let cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the directions. Drain the pasta reserving 1/4 cup of the water. Mix the pasta & water into the sausage & peppers. Top each serving with grated Parmesan if desired.

Serves 2

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

New Scenic Cafe and Weekly Menu 10/19 - 10/24

Last week's snow melted & gave way to a lovely fall weekend. We took advantage of it by taking a trip up the north shore of Lake Superior to enjoy the fall colors.

(Split Rock Lighthouse)

On the way back home we decided to get some dinner at the New Scenic Cafe. A lot of the talk about North Shore restaurants these days is centered around Nokomis but my sister told us she really prefers the New Scenic. We didn't have a reservation but only ended up waiting 40 minutes for a table, we enjoyed that time though sitting with a glass of wine watching the sun set over the lake. It was really worth the wait though as the meal was fabulous! Matt & I were very impressed by the imaginative menu & had a hard time choosing what to eat. We started with an Tuna Sashimi Tacos served with an Asian peanut slaw.

(Excuse the quality of these photos I was being polite & not using the flash, candlelight isn't the best for photos)

The tuna was wonderful & paired perfectly with the smooth slices of avocado. We really liked the use of the wonton wrapper as a taco shell. Matt couldn't get enough of the slaw.

Matt had the adobo pork as his main dish. It was served with masa & what we think was a jalapeno flan. He loved it, really the Latin flavors were right up his alley.

I had the seared duck with strawberries, apricot, curry & pistachio served with a creamed leek tart. The strawberries were such a tasty surprise with this dish & I could have eaten a whole plate of the cream leek tart.

We shared a dessert of a blackberry cream cheese tart which was good enough to wish I had a whole one to myself. We both loved the cream cheese flavor & mouth feel to it. The blackberries' sweetness was wonderful against that tartness & the crust was perfectly flaky. This was a dessert that was probably actually quite simple but adding more would have just messed it up.
I highly recommend if you find yourself in Duluth, MN area that you stop in & enjoy a meal at the New Scenic, I know we'll be back.

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Sausage & Peppers Pasta

Turkey Chili

Butternut Squash Curry

Moroccan Lamb Patties with Couscous

Apple Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Roast Chicken

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Crock Pot Ribs

I'm currently on a mission to use all the meat we have in our freezer. We tend to stock up when we see a sale & now both freezers are full. This week I used frozen meatballs, pork chops & this half rack of ribs.

Its been rather cold & wet (if not snowy) here in Minneapolis so we didn't really have any desire to use the grill or the smoker. Then Matt mentioned seeing Slow Cooker Ribs on Dough See Dough. I have to admit I was a little hesitant about how ribs in a crock pot would turn out but since I've been really loving the easy of crock pot cooking lately I decided to give it a chance. We stuck pretty close to Dough See Dough's method of cooking the ribs but didn't use her recipe for the sauce.

These ribs were surprisingly good. The meat is super tender, falling right off the bone. Of course, they don't taste anything like our smoked ribs but they are a great winter option for us. Part of the reason they tasted so good was the barbecue sauce we used. Recently, some friends of our gave us a couple bottles of Howling Wolf barbecue sauce made by their family in Wisconsin.

(photo from Howling Wolf)

We used the Cranberry Orange Sauce on this batch of ribs, the mixture of cranberry & orange just seems right for fall. It has such a wonderful sweet & tangy flavor with just the right amount of heat. We love that fact the these sauces contain no high fructose corn syrup as we are trying to avoid eating foods containing it. We're excited to try their original sauce next. You can buy these sauces through the Howling Wolf store on Etsy.

Crock Pot Ribs
(This recipe is for a half rack of ribs which we find the perfect serving for two of us. If you want to make more ribs increase the sauce mixture so you have enough to almost cover the ribs.)

1/2 rack baby back ribs
dry barbecue rub of choice
1 c barbecue sauce (we used Howling Wolf Cranberry Orange)
1/2 c dark beer (we used Sessions Black)
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut the ribs to separate them. Massage with dry barbecue rub. Place on a baking sheet & bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the barbecue sauce, beer & Worcestershire sauce together. Pour into the crock pot. Take the ribs out of the oven & place into the crock pot. Turn to coat all side.

Cook on low in the crock pot for 6 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Turn once during cooking time.


Serves 2

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Roast Vegetable Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

Each of our CSA boxes comes with a newsletter that explains a little about each item in the box & gives a few recipe ideas. In this past newsletter they mentioned making a roast vegetable salad with the squash & peppers. I love a good roast vegetable salad & realized I hadn't made one in forever. I especially like them with goat cheese on them so I decided to try frying up the goat cheese like you often get in restaurants.

For the roasted vegetables I used butternut squash, UV roaster peppers & leeks but really this salad can be made with whatever vegetables you like & have on hand. I've used potatoes, beets, onions, beans & cauliflower in this type of salad in the past. Because I roast the vegetables with a little olive oil & balsamic the finished salad doesn't need any dressing. The goat cheese is fabulous as it melts & blends in with everything as well. You really don't even need to fry it as it will melt when it hits the warm vegetables but I really love cutting open that golden brown disc to get to the warm cheese.

Frying the cheese was easier than I thought. I had some problems getting the breading to stick especially where my fingers touched it. Those few holes in the breading didn't seem to cause any problems while cooking though & the the cheese stayed together nicely.

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Fried Goat Cheese

2 c butternut squash, peeled & cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 c red pepper, seeded & cut into strips
1/2 c leeks, cleaned & sliced
1 1/2 T olive oil
1/2 T balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
plain goat cheese log
1/2 c flour
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 c bread crumbs
salad greens (we used a mix of spinach & arugula)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the cheese log in the freezer.

Put the squash, peppers & leeks in a small roasting pan. Add the olive oil, vinegar & a good pinch or two of salt. Stir to coat the vegetables. Roast in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until everything is turning brown & is tender (especially the squash).

During the last few minutes of cooking the vegetables make the fried cheese. Coat the bottom of a skillet with a little olive oil & heat over medium heat. Remove the cheese log from the freezer & cut into 1/4-inch slices (we got 9 from our log). Place the flour, egg & bread crumb in 3 different bowls. Dip the cheese in the flour, then egg & finally the breadcrumbs. Place carefully into the hot skillet. Let cook about 2 minutes until brown on the bottom, carefully flip over & cook the other side another 2 minutes.

Divide the salad green between two plates. Top with the roasted vegetables & then the fried cheese.

Serves 2

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

A Tale of Two Sides

The other night we made a Pot Roast in our crock pot which was very nice but to me it was the Fall sides that really stood out in this meal.

Brussel Sprouts often get a bad wrap & I'll admit I was never a fan of them myself. Then one year I went to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival & tried these amazing sprouts cooked until brown & tender with bacon & garlic & I was sold. Cooked right, brussel sprouts might just be one of my favorite vegetables now. Even Matt who told me he was not a fan of them ate these happily.

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Garlic

1 slice bacon, chopped
1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 c brussel sprouts, halved or quartered depending on their size.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon & cook until begins to render some of its fat. Add the olive oil, garlic & brussel sprouts. Cook for a minute or two. Cover & turn heat down to low. Let cook for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the brussel sprouts are tender & browning.

Serves 2

Celeriac or celery root will never win any vegetable beauty contests but flavor-wise it's certainly a winner. Its wonderful in soups & I hear makes a great fritter but I decided to try this gratin I found in Jamie at Home.

I do have to say this recipe was not edited very well in the cookbook, with ingredients that never get used & some ingredients added twice in the recipe. I was able to figure it out because I've made gratins before but for a newer cook it would be pretty frustrating. Luckily, the finished result was very tasty & a great pairing with beef. I used buttermilk instead of the typical cream to add a little extra tang. I also used thyme instead of the called for sage because I was using thyme in my beef as well.

Potato & Celeriac Buttermilk Gratin
(adapted from Jamie at Home)

1 lb potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 lb celeriac, peeled & cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 c buttermilk
2 T fresh thyme, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 oz Parmesan, grated
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Put the potatoes & celeriac into a pot of cold water. Salt & bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Drain & let sit a minute or two. Return to the pot & mix with the buttermilk, thyme, garlic & half of the cheese. Season with salt & pepper.

Layer into a butter baking dish (I used a 6 x 8 glass baking dish). Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes until brown & bubbly.

Serves 3 - 4

You can make this earlier in the day & refrigerate it until ready to bake.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski