Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Creamy Onion Beef Sandwiches

I have been busy lately and haven't had much time to do a lot of cooking, but I found this quick sandwich is a great way to treat yourself without taking a lot of time.




Get your broiler pre-heated and lets gather some ingredients.




I used a regular deli roll, you can use whatever bread you like.




You need some delicious horseradish.




The recipe calls for sour cream but I had some creme fraiche so I used that instead. If you have never used this, it is like a mix between sour cream and cream cheese. So, essentially, it is creamy deliciousness.




Some onion soup mix or your favorite seasoning mix. I used Penzey's Fox Point seasoning.




Some cheese.




And some beef.




Stack the meat and cheese on the bottom of the roll and get it on the broiler pan and let it broil for 2-4 minutes. While that cooks, make the spread.




Combine your sour cream, horseradish, and your seasoning...




Give it a stir!




Spread it on the bread and wait for the bottom half.




Stick the two halves together and you are ready to eat! Serve it with some chips or veggies. This is a quick, but hot meal that will fill you up and get you out of the kitchen in a hurry.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Pasta with Sausage, Mustard and Caramelized Onions

I love pasta and I have recently discovered how versatile and useful sausage can be. I purchased a grill pack recently because of the amazing price and ended up with 4 pork sausages. I have used them all and will definitely add that to my shopping list from now on. The following recipe serves 2 and is from Nigel Slaters Real Fast Food cookbook.








Get some water boiling and lets gather some ingredients.




I am using regular onion instead of my usual favorite, shallots.




Slice up the sausage and the onion.




Measure out some chicken broth.




You need a pasta of your choosing, I am using bowtie pasta.




You also need some whole grain mustard.




I have beautiful parsley from my Aerogarden. Now we have everything so lets get cooking.




Fry up the sausage for about five minutes. You want it just browned.




Throw in the onions and get them covered with the oil and pork fat. yum.




Drop the pasta in the water and throw the lid on your onions and sausage. Let that stuff go for about 15 minutes. Check the onions to see if they need a drop or 2 more of oil as they cook.




When the onions look like this, you are ready to add the broth.




Scrape up all the good stuff from the bottom of the pan.




When you use fresh herbs, you always want to add them last so you don't cook all of their flavor out. Add in the parsley and the mustard and give it a good stir. Stir in the pasta as well and you are ready to eat!




This was so simple and so delicious. You could substitute chicken if you are not a sausage fan or if you just don't eat pork.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Catfish in a Fresh Herb and Lime Crust

Fish is so good for you and this recipe is so easy to prepare. You can have this as a weekday meal after a hard day because its a no-brainer. I used my gorgeous fresh herbs from my Aerogarden but dried herbs would work fine too. I generally use half of the amount called for if I am replacing fresh with dried herbs in a recipe.








Lets gather some ingredients and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.




Some beautiful Dill.




Some Thyme.




Strip the Dill and Thyme off the stalks and give it a rough mince.




You need some bread crumbs. These come from the Italian Deli in the little town in PA where I grew up. My sister got me these because she is the best.




Pour the bread crumbs in with the herbs and mix it up. Add some salt as well.




You need some lime juice and the zest of the lime.




I used one of my favorite gadgets, my MicroPlane grater, to zest the lime. The zest goes into the bread crumb mixture.




Rinse your fish and pat it dry. I used catfish but you can use any mild white fish you can get your hands on.




Press the fish into the herb mixture. Let it hang for a minute so we can make the sauce.




Grab your butter.




Melt it in a pan and add the juice of the lime you just zested.




Put the fish on a baking tray and pour the sauce over it. Pop it in the oven for 6-10 minutes.




Serve it up with your favorite side dish. I chose some rice and quinoa. The fish has such a fresh and bright flavor, and it only took a few minutes to prepare.

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks again for stopping by and reading.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Chicken Marsala with Garlic Rice and Quinoa

Tonight I am sharing a popular Italian dish that is so easy to make at home. I always order this when I am out and I was so glad to find an easy recipe to recreate it at home.








The recipe comes from Nigel Slater's cook book, Real Fast Food. This book has a lot of recipes for 2 servings so I really like it. Lets gather some ingredients.




Next time, I will use REAL Marsala, not this store brand junk. The sauce was good, but could have been better and this was the culprit!




Flour for dredging the chicken.




The chicken. An actual breast this time, not a thigh for once.




Heavy Cream.




Real Butter.




My side dish! This stuff was delicious and cooked in 90 seconds in the microwave.




This is another recipe where you get to smash up some food. Use a mallet, a rolling pin or a heavy pan to flatten the chicken.




It is so fun and a great way to relieve stress!




Pour out the glass of wine so you have it ready.




Once your chicken is flattened, dredge it in the flower and put it in the pan with some (a lot) of melted butter.




Brown it on both sides for about 3 minutes then remove it from the pan and put it in some foil to stay warm.




Add in the wine and scrape up all the yummy chicken pieces from the bottom. Also do not pay attention to my dirty stove top.




When half of the marsala is gone, stir in the cream. Don't forget to also season with a little salt and pepper.




Add the chicken back in to the pan and cook for about another minute.




Plate with your side dish and pour the delicious sauce over the chicken. You can also add mushrooms to the sauce if you'd like as I have seen Chicken Marsala served that way many times. I enjoyed this and its a great weeknight meal that looks like it took a lot longer than it does.