Pasta with Sausages, Cream and Tomato

From Peg Cochran

Looks like we've got an Italian theme going here--Sheila's minestrone yesterday and a pasta dish from me today!  If you've had your fill of turkey/mashed potatoes/stuffing, a pasta dish is a delicious palate cleanser!

This recipe is from Marcella Hazan's "Marcella's Italian Kitchen."  I used this cookbook so many times that it fell apart.  I was lucky enough to find a pristine replacement at a library book sale for very little money.  Come to think of it, most of my beloved cookbooks are falling apart--The Joy of Cooking, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a volume by James Beard, two New York Times Cookbooks...funny but all my "diet" cookbooks seems to be in admirable shape!

I've adapted this recipe slightly to make a little more sauce (I know from experience that Italians eat their pasta with less sauce than Americans.  A lot of people would have found my grandmother's lasagna "dry," but we thought it was perfect.)  I've also used less cream--just enough to turn the sauce pink and give it the right consistency.  Also, the dish calls for "ruote di carro" or wagon wheel shaped pasta.  Now that I live in the land where pasta and tomato sauce are shelved in the "international foods" section of the grocery store, I can't easily come by that shape.  I've found farfalle to be a perfect substitute.

1/2 pound breakfast or other mild sausage (NOT maple flavored)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or less)
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (original recipe calls for 2/3 cup of whole tomatoes)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (I find this optional but a nice touch)
1 pound cartwheels or farfalle or shape of your choice
Freshly grated parmesa

Slice the sausages into 1/4 thick rounds.  Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic.  When the garlic is a pale gold, saute the sausages until nicely browned on all sides.  Add the tomatoes, stir, and cook at a simmer for 20 minutes (15 will do if you're in a hurry.)

Add the cream (up to half a cup) and stir, simmering for several minutes to heat.  Add salt, pepper and off heat stir in the parsley.

Serve over pasta with plenty of freshly grated parmesan.

Buon Appetito!

Use farfalle or whatever shape you prefer

Slice sausages into small rounds

Saute until golden brown

Add tomatoes

Add cream

Buon Appetito!

 This is a meal that my character, Lucille Mazzarella, might serve her family for Sunday dinner.  Follow the adventures of Flo and Lucille in CONFESSION IS MURDER out now for all e-book readers from Beyond the Page Publishing.

 Join me on Facebook or visit my website or at @pegcochran

 Out now in my Gourmet De-Lite series:  Allergic to Death and Steamed to Death.  Coming in March 2014:  ICED TO DEATH

Coming March 2014

Bread as Good as You Get in a Bakery -- Even A French One!

Out now!

Coming March 2014

Available as an ebook

By Peg Cochran

We have several "no knead" bread recipes already posted on the MLK.  Krista has posted two of them--one for white bread and one for rye.  Both are delicious!  I found this similar "Dutch oven" bread, as it is alternatively known, that calls for half white whole wheat flour.  White whole wheat flour is just as healthy as whole wheat--it is whole flour including the bran germ and endosperm--made from white wheat or "albino" wheat where the bran is lighter in color and milder in flavor.  

This bread has a nice chewy texture and a wonderfully crisp crust.  And it's terribly impressive when you serve it to friends.  We enjoyed ours with my chicken liver pate, a selection of cheeses and a nice bottle of red wine.  And it's really easy to make even for a bread "novice."

1 1/2 cups bread flour  (bread flour gives you a crisper crust)

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 3/4 tsp. kosher salt (regular salt also works just fine)

1/2 tsp RAPID RISE yeast (Rapid Rise or Instant yeast does not need to be "proofed."

1 1/2 tablespoons of honey

Extra flour for dusting

Whisk together the flours, salt and yeast.  Add the honey and warm water (follow directions on yeast package--water should be around 120 degrees).

Stir.  (You can even use your hands!)  Dough will be "shaggy."  Place in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place for 18 to 24 hours.  Dough will double or triple in size.

Dust your work surface with flour and dump out your dough.  It will be on the sticky side.  You can gather it into a ball or flatten it slightly and fold in thirds like a letter.  Dust a kitchen towel with flour and place your dough on it seam side down.  Cover with another towel and let rise for around two hours.

Meanwhile heat your oven to 475 degrees.  When it reaches that temperature, place a Dutch oven (including cover) on the rack.  My Le Creuset Dutch oven is from the 1970s so I'm not sure my knob is heat proof.  I just unscrew it for making the bread.  Later versions are supposedly safe up to 500 degrees.  Heat for 45 minutes and be really careful.  The pot will be HOT.

Remove pot and place dough seam side up.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the cover and bake another 10 to 15 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and crisp.  My oven runs hot so the bread is usually done in 30 minutes.  If you're not sure about your oven, invest in a thermometer.  

CAREFULLY remove the bread from the hot oven, cool slightly and enjoy! 

White whole wheat and bread flour combo

Whisk flours together

Dough will be "shaggy"

Preheat your Dutch oven--remove knob if not heat proof

Add dough seam side down

The delicious, crusty results!

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Book Club Week - Steamed to Death by Peg Cochran

I hope you have been enjoying our Book Club Week!  I know I have.  And now it’s my turn.  I’m setting the table with my prettiest plates and napkins and looking forward to the ladies arriving for tonight’s discussion.

Tonight we’re discussing Steamed to Death, the second book in my Gourmet De-Lite series.  My protagonist, Gigi Fitzgerald, provides catered diet gourmet meals to a select group of clients.  In Steamed to Death, she has snared Felicity Davenport, star of the daytime soap For Better, Or For Worse.  Felicity is on the wrong side of forty and has a younger co-star nipping at her heels and just dying to fill Felicity’s shoes.  Felicity is determined to lose some weight, get a complete make-over, and reappear after the hiatus as a new person.  Unfortunately, someone has it in for Felicity, and she winds up dead.  Gigi’s best friend is the most logical suspect, and it’s up to Gigi to prove the police wrong.

Some questions to consider for your discussion:

Should Gigi stick with Detective Bill Mertz, a strong, solid, dependable kind of guy or give in to her attraction to bad boy Declan McQuaid? 

How about you?  Do you go for the reliable type or are you attracted to the bad boys?

Felicity is concerned about her appearance now that she is hitting middle-age.  Do you feel women are discriminated against when they get older? 

If you would like to see how I envision the characters and setting in Steamed to Death, check out my Pinterest board.

Tonight I’m serving some desserts to sweeten our book discussion including a lime tart.  I’m offering another fruity dessert as well—peach kuchen.  And for something a little savory, I’m putting together a cheese tray to go with my chicken liver mousse.  

Fresh Lime Tart

1.5 cups Graham Cracker crumbs (approx. 1 sleeve plus 4 crackers)

1/4 cup butter, melted (approx. 2 minutes on half power in micro)

3 TBL sugar

1 14-oz can sweetened, condensed milk

1 8-oz package cream cheese

1/3 cup fresh lime juice (approx. 1 lime)

1 TBL grated lime peel

Fresh fruit for decoration

Mix Graham Cracker crumbs (I ground them in my food processor) with the sugar then stir in melted butter.  It will look like wet sand.  Press into the bottoms and sides of a tart pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake 5 minutes at 350 degrees and remove from oven.

Beat sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese until smooth.  Stir in lime juice and zest.  Pour over crust and smooth top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 28 to 30 minutes until filling is set.  Cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least two hours.

Remove from refrigerator before serving and decorate top with sliced berries or other cut-up fruit.

You can also substitute lemon juice and zest for the lime for an equally refreshing dessert.

Grated lime zest

Melt butter in microwave

Finely ground Graham Crackers

Graham Cracker crumbs mixed with melted butter

Press Graham cracker crumbs into prepared tart pan

Beat cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth

Pour into shell

Bon Appetit!

The perfect napkins for our book club!

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Lemon Meringue Pie

by Peg Cochran

Out Now!

I’m sure there are tons of recipes out there for lemon meringue pie—each slightly different.  This one comes from my husband’s mother and is one of his favorite desserts.  I made it for him today because I’m trying to seduce him into putting a curtain rod up for me.  I’ll let you know if it works!

Lemon meringue pies are actually easier than they look—especially if you have a counter top mixer although a hand mixer would work just fine and would give your arm, or at least one arm, a workout (I suppose you could switch hands halfway through!)

Filling:

1.5 cups sugar (I used more like 1.25 cups because we like it a little tarter)

5 1/3 tablespoons corn starch (why the 1/3 I have no idea)

1.5 cups hot water

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

Mix together the sugar and cornstarch in a pan.  Gradually stir in the hot water.  Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil one minute and remove from heat.

Beat a little of the hot mixture into the eggs yolks (this will keep them from scrambling)  then add to the rest of the mixture.  Return to heat, boil one minute, stirring.  Remove from heat and stir until smooth.

Blend in:

3 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons lemon juice (about one good-sized lemon)

1.5 tablespoons grated lemon peel

Pour hot filling into baked shell.  Cover with meringue (below)

3 egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tartar

6 tablespoons sugar

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Beat until stiff and glossy.

Cover pie with meringue and bake 5 to 8 minutes at 400 degrees.  Cool at room temperature.

Note: I break my eggs into a small cup one at a time before adding eggs whites to mixer bowl.  You don’t want even a speck of yolk in the whites or they won’t whip.

Sugar, water and corn starch thickening nicely

Eggs whites are almost stiff

The finished product

Catch up with me on my website: www.pegcochran.com.  I sometimes post recipes there as well.  And come like me on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/pegcochran.  @pegcochran

Coming on July 2nd!  (Meg London is my pen name for the Sweet Nothings Lingerie Series.)

Roasted Chickpeas

by Peg Cochran

Here is a recipe that Gigi Fitzgerald from my Gourmet De-Lite series would approve of!  It’s a super healthy snack that will satisfy your urge for something crunchy and salty while providing amazing health benefits.  Chickpeas, or garbanzos as they are also known, are a member of the legume family and are a great source of zinc, folate, protein and masses of fiber.  Chickpeas are one of the earliest cultivated legumes—as far back as 7500 years ago!

The recipe is super easy and open to endless variations.

 2 cans (3 cups) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 TBL olive oil
½ tsp salt (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Line a rimmed baking sheet (or cookie sheet) with foil for ease of clean up.
Rinse the chickpeas and dry thoroughly on paper towels.

 You can either put the chick peas in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt and any spices you are using or put them on the cookie sheet, add the olive oil, salt and spices and mix them around to coat them.

Bake for 15 minutes, toss the chickpeas around, then bake another 15 minutes or until crunchy.  Mine took quite a bit longer, but I think my oven is a bit off.  The important thing is to keep checking so you don't burn them!

Add more salt and/or spices if necessary.

Along with the salt you can add:

Indian flavor: curry powder & garam Masala
Garlic powder
Mexican flavor:  cumin & chili powder
Cayenne for spice
Paprika—try smoked Spanish paprika

Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans. Dont' know why the picture is fuzzy. Maybe my camera has cataracts?

Rinse well

Dry on paper towels.  It helps to do this on your cookie sheet so you don't have chickpeas rolling all over the kitchen!

I decided to live dangerously and not line the pan with foil.  Nothing stuck! 

Okay, I take lousy pictures.  But at least I'm funny, right?  Right?

Bon Appetit!

 The second in my Gourmet De-Lite series just came out—Steamed to Death—and it contains healthy and delicious recipes including a “magic omelet”!

 Stop by and visit me at www.pegcochran.com or on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pegcochran.  You’ll find me on twitter, too @pegcochran.

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Lemon Cake

 By Peg Cochran

We’ve never had a “traditional” Easter dessert the way we have at Christmas (Buche de Noel), and every year I seem to make something different.  I wanted a dessert that was light with a spring feel to it (desperately trying to channel spring here—for a moment it looked as if we would have a white Easter when we didn’t have a white Christmas!)  I remembered that my mother used to make a cake that involved pudding and a tube pan.  Some searching on-line brought up this recipe.  Her cake was pink so I’m guessing she used a berry flavored pudding.  I decided to go with lemon becomes it seems so fresh.

My mother never frosted her cake in any way (we weren’t big dessert eaters) but this recipe came with the suggestion of a lemon glaze so I decided to try that to dress it up a bit.

Right now my husband and daughter are trying to convince me that we need to cut a piece of this cake for this blog!  I'm trying to tell them we need to save it for Easter dinner.  Stay tuned--we shall see who wins!

Lemon Cake

4 eggs
1 package white or lemon cake mix
¾ cup oil
1 package instant lemon pudding mix
¾ cup water

Mix and beat well.  Bake in a greased and floured pan (I used a tube pan but you could use a 9x13 inch pan) at 350 degrees.  (Approximately 45 minutes for the tube pan and 30 minutes for the other.)

While the cake is still hot, poke holes in the top with an ice pick or large fork.  Pour glaze over cake (see below) and let it seep in.  Can be served as is or with whipped cream or ice cream.

Glaze

Combine:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup lemon juice

Pour your batter into a greased tube pan

Bake until nice and browned

Finished product complete with glaze!

  

Coming June 2013!

 

Pina Colada Cake

by Peg Cochran

Okay, I’m DESPERATE for a vacation!  On a beach somewhere with warm sun, soft sand, delicious breezes, blue water… and pina coladas delivered straight to my chaise longue by bow-tied waiters.  Since that’s not going to happen anytime soon, I decided to create a pina colada cake!

This recipe is all over the Internet and Pinterest—mix a box of angel food cake mix with a can of crushed pineapple and ta da!—a cake.  I decided to add some shredded coconut and some rum extract to create a non-alcoholic piece of pina colada heaven!

I used pineapple in its own juice, and angel food cake is naturally low fat, so the caloric hit of this little delicious piece of the Caribbean isn’t all that bad.  You can add a dollop of whipped topping if you’d like…or top with one of those drink umbrellas!

Ingredients:

1 16 ounce box Angel food cake mix

1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice

1 tsp rum extract

1 cup shredded coconut

Cake can be made with only two ingredients but you can add extras to make it really special!

I let hubby lick the bowl and he said it was DELICIOUS!

Finished product. Slice in the pan and serve with whipped topping if desired.

A taste of the Caribbean to get you through the winter!

Place all of the above in a bowl and mix on medium speed for one minute.  Pour into 9 x 13 greased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.  Slice in pan and serve with whipped topping if desired. Enjoy!  Doing the limbo is optional.

Coming June 2013!

Slow Cooker Chilupe

by Peg Cochran

Following is a recipe for slow cooker chilupe which was a finalist in Good Morning America’s Slow Cooker Challenge.  I have googled and googled but didn’t come up with any Mexican dishes called chilupe…but it doesn’t matter.  This was delicious!  It made quite a bit so I have leftovers ready to use in tacos, enchiladas or burritos.  My only change to the recipe was adding half a chipotle chili (smoked jalapeno) because I like the smoky taste.  It’s completely optional.  The recipe also called for chili flakes—I had no idea what those were so I just left them out.  It was still yummy and a big hit!  It can easily be put together in the morning and be ready by the time you get home from work.

Beans and spices  in the crockpot

Yummy spices!

Place meat on top

Slow-Cooker Chilupe by Penny Lippold

3 lb. pork shoulder roast (bone-in or boneless)\

1 lb. dry pinto beans, cleaned and sorted

3 cloves pressed garlic

2 TBL chili powder

1 TBL cumin

1 tsp. oregano, rubbed between your palms

1 4 oz can diced green chilies, undrained

Chicken broth to cover roast—approximately 4 to 5 cups)

Put dry beans in the bottom of your crockpot, add garlic, chili powder, cumin powder, oregano, diced green chilies.  Mix well.  Trim fat from roast and place on top of beans and spices.  Add broth to cover. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 12 hours.

When roast and beans are tender, remove roast and shred with two forks, removing any extra fat.  Drain beans, reserving liquid.  Add as much liquid as necessary to mash beans.  Add meat to beans and more liquid to moisten if desired.  Return to crockpot to keep warm.

Choose your favorite toppings!

Bon appétit!

Toppings:  Serve with your choice of tortilla chips, shredded lettuce, sour cream, chopped red onion, avocado slices, olives, salsa, shredded cheddar cheese.

Coming in June!