Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne with Red Cat Cream Sauce

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bell peppers, comfort food, dinner, entree, food, foodie, lunch, orange bell peppers, orange peppers, pasta, penne, pepper, postaday2011, recipe, sausage, turkey sausage

I made a similar sausage penne dish a few months ago. This time I wanted to make it a cream sauce to go with it. And Red Cat… okay, so I was drinking some Red Cat and impulsively poured some in the pan, but I love cooking with Red Cat. I also wanted to use red bell peppers, but the orange bell pepper were on sale, and looked much more fresh. I took the picture with really harsh lighting late last night, so my photo isn’t the best.

Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey sausage, 1 lb. penne, 1 shallot (minced), 2 diced yellow bell peppers, 1 c. Red Cat wine,  1 pint heavy cream, 1/3 c. flour, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Cook penne according to package. Drop sausage by the spoonful into pan of shallow water and simmer until meat is done (water should be gone, if not drain water). Remove sausage from pan then add wine and deglaze pan.  Toss in shallots, salt and Red Cat and simmer. Add heavy cream and flour and whisk together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Toss together sausage, penne and pepper and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with pepper. Top penne with cream sauce and bake for about 25 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread and fresh grated pecorino romano.

This is a great meal to make ahead and freeze, simply defrost and bake.

What’s for dinner tonight?

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Grilled Pound Cake with Crème Fraîche, Tangerine & Pomegranate

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autumn breakfast, autumn brunch, beverage, beverage recipe, breakfast, brunch, brunch recipe, chinese apple, comfort food, crème fraîche, crème fraîche substitute, dessert, easy meal, fall breakfast, fall brunch, favorite foods, food, foodie, gourmet brunch, grilles, grilling, holiday breakfast, holiday brunch, meal, mimosa, pomegranate, pomegranate seeds, postaday2011, pound cake, recipe, seasonal food, tangerine, tangerine pomegranate, vegetarian recipe, winter breakfast, winter brunch

Grilled Pound Cake with Crème Fraîche, Tangerines & Pomegranate

Yesterday morning we started off our New Year with something sweet… grilled pound cake. We only consumed one loaf, so today I wanted to play around with a new idea and use part of the other loaf. Use butter rum pound cake recipe or almond pound cake recipe. Crème fraîche is impossible to get here and when it is available, it cost a fortune. I however didn’t have time to make crème fraîche, so I made a quick and easy substitute.

Ingredients:
butter rum pound cake, crème fraîche, 3 tangerines, 1 pomegranate

Directions:
Heat grill pan over medium heat. Use a bread knife to slice the pound cake. Lightly butter each side of cake, place on hot pan and grill  for about 30 seconds before flipping. Remove promptly from heat. Spread crème fraîche on one slice of pound cake and top with another slice. Peal tangerines and break into segments, remove any seeds. Add 1/2 a tangerine to each plate and sprinkle on the pomegranate seeds.

Crème Fraîche Substitute:
Whip together 1/2 c. sour cream and 1/2 a c. of sweet whipped cream (homemade, not out of a tub or can). You’re supposed to let it stand just like you would making true crème fraîche, but then it’s not any faster. Make and let it sit awhile with you mix the pound cake batter.

*Garnish with a sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar if desired.

Yesterday Hubster walked to the store to get orange juice and instead returned with an orange, pineapple, apple… I thought this would be a tasty variation for a mimosa…

What was on your breakfast plate?

Spanakopita Triangles

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appetizer, comfort food, dinner, ethnic cooking, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, Greek, Greek dishes, Greek food, party appetizer, recipe, snack, snack recipe

It have been very busy with work, the HS musical and Leo Club; several nights a week I’m still at school at 10 pm. I actually had to buy lunch this week, not just once, but three times! I’ve deprived Hubster of hearty home cooked meals. Don’t worry, he’s not widdling away. Finally Friday, and I am going to indulge in some hot and savory Spanakopita. It may sounds like a strange craving to have, but this Greek dish is a comfort food for me.

Spanakopita

Ingredients:
1 pk frozen* spinach (thawed), 8 oz. crumbled Feta cheese, 1 small onion (minced), 1 Tbs. parsley, olive oil, about 10 Phyllo sheets, 2 eggs, 3 Tbs. flour

Directions:
Sauté onions in olive oil until opaque, drain excess oil and transfer to mixing bowl. Toss in spinach, Feta, eggs, flour and parsley. Taking one Phyllo sheet at a time, fold in half lengthwise and brush with olive oil. Place a portion of spinach mixture at bottom corner. Slowly fold Phyllo into a triangle (like a paper football). Repeat with remaining mixture. Brush the outside of the triangles with olive oil. Bake on an oiled tray at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.

Spanakopta Triangles

Remember, the spanakopita triangles will swell and puff a bit.

*Yes, I actually prefer frozen spinach for this recipe. However, if you use fresh spinach make sure it’s washed, dried and de-stemmed before you sauté it.

Some people substitute ricotta cheese for half of the Feta cheese. I do not prefer this method, but you may.

What is your unusual comfort food?