Toad in the Hole

I can’t believe I’ve never presented this recipe for Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. According to my computer search, I’ve referred to it in passing many times, but never as a complete recipe. But it’s quick and easy (and crunchy and a little salty greasy and all those good things), and I’ve made it countless times over the past decades.

The ingredient list comes from a cookbook I’ve had since before I was married, one that contains several of my all-time favorite recipes, including lamb stew (which I can now make in my sleep), Bubble and Squeak, and Toad in the Hole. (You can tell it’s been well-used from the state of the cover).


But somewhere along the line I made one important change in the recipe. The original called for a square baking dish (no material mentioned), but long ago I discovered it came out more crispy if I simply baked it in the cast-iron skillet I used to fry the sausages. Straight from stove-top to oven.

There are only a couple of important factors to remember: (1) a hot oven, (2) a hot skillet, and (3) enough grease. (I learned the last point the hard way, when my husband tried to drain off the grease before adding the batter and putting it in the oven—it came out like a thick pancake after baking. You really do need the grease, whether it comes from fatty sausages or as in this case with the bangers—yes, again—you have to add a tablespoon or two if you want it to puff up and be crunchy.)


Toad in the Hole

Ingredients:

1 pound small pork sausages (see note above: if all pork, cook them long enough so that the fat renders; if less fatty, add some cooking oil to the pan)
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1 Tblsp butter, melted

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a cast iron skillet, saute the sausages until they’re lightly browned. (Another note: the actual number of sausages is not critical, and will depend on their size and the number of people you want to serve—just don’t crowd them in the pan because the batter needs room to expand).

In a food processor or blender, place all the other ingredients and blend about 1 minute until the mixture is very smooth.

Pour the batter over the sausages in the hot pan, then cook uncovered in the oven for 30 minutes. The batter will puff up and become crisp and golden brown.

Look! It's rising!

The toads have come out of their holes!

Eat immediately—this dish doesn’t keep well.

Murder at the Mansion is still clinging to the top 15 books on Pub Alley Fiction Mystery Bestsellers!

For more information and buy links, see my website at www.sheilaconnolly.com

GOT ZUCCHINI?

by Peg Cochran

 

 

 

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

This recipe came about because:

1) someone in the office gave me a GIANT zucchini from their garden 2) I had a few turkey sausages I wanted to use up and 3) I already had a jar of tomato sauce in the pantry.  I much prefer making my own tomato sauce, and rarely use the jarred variety but by cooking the sauce with the onions, garlic and sausage, the flavor is greatly enhanced.  If you have homemade sauce, you can probably skip simmering the mixture for the 15 minutes.  You will already have a great flavor.

I used three sausages because that’s what I had in the freezer—feel free to increase the quantity for a meatier dish.  And feel free to experiment--add chopped mushrooms or fresh herbs, use different sausages, top with Colby Jack cheese instead of mozzarella.  It's a great "clean out the fridge" recipe for anyone who has a garden blossoming with zucchini!

Someone in my office must have a small farm because the other day they brought in a garbage bag filled with green beans,  one of lettuce and another with more zucchini!  I am happy to help make good use of the fresh produce.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 extra large zucchini or several small, cut in half lengthwise

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove minced

3 turkey sausages

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Grated parmesan cheese

Cut zucchini(s) in half lengthwise and scoop out the interior flesh leaving a shell.  Chop scooped out zucchini bits and set aside.

If zucchini are very large, microwave on high for 1 to 3 minutes until zucchini begins to soften.  This will cut down on baking time.  If zucchini are small and very tender, this is probably not necessary.

Heat olive oil in sauté pan and add chopped onion and garlic.  Saute until onion begins to soften.  Add sausage links and cook, stirring, until sausage cooks.  Add chopped zucchini and cook, stirring, until zucchini begins to yield its fluid.  Pour off excess fluid if necessary.

Add tomato sauce and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes to meld flavors.  Spoon mixture into hollowed out zucchini shells and top with shredded mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 to 45 minutes until zucchini is tender.

Any leftover meat/sauce can be tossed with some pasta for a side dish.

 

 Saute onion, garlic and sausage

 Hollow out zucchini to create "boats."  I cut the zucchini in half horizontally as well 

because they were so big.

 Add tomato sauce and simmer.

 Put shells in baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

 Top with grated cheese and Parmesan

 

Bake until zucchini is tender and cheese is melted.

 

 Serve with side of pasta if desired.   

Book three in my Gourmet De-Lite series.

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Visit me on my web site, Facebook page or @pegcochran.

#Thanksgiving Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: 

Hurray for Thanksgiving week on the MLK blog, where we share some of our favorite holiday recipes. I called stuffing!

I was interviewed for a podcast earlier this month--after hearing about my books and food and Key West, the interviewer wanted to know what kind of food I loved the most. I was a little torn--would it be disappointing to hear from a culinary mystery writer that her favorite dish is something children love?? In the end, I told the truth: I almost always order macaroni and cheese when I see it on a menu.

All that to say, that you won't be surprised to hear about my favorite Thanksgiving stuffing recipe either, featuring cornbread and sausage. I've made oyster stuffing--it was special and fantastic, but this is my preference--and no one turns their nose up at it!


1 pound bulk sausage, crumbled and fried
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 sticks celery, chopped fine
4 tablespoons butter
1 recipe cornbread, crumbled (make this a day ahead)
2-3 cups cubed whole grain bread, stale is good!
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
Chicken broth 


Cook the sausage until well done, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Drain the sausage well on a plate covered with paper towels. Wipe the frying pan clean and melt the butter. 









 
Add onions and celery and sauté several minutes until soft. If you have some fresh sage leaves, you may cut those into slivers and add them at the end.






 

Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they give up their liquid. (I used baby bella for a little more color and flavor.)










 








 Now crumble the cornbread and mix it with the cubed bread. Use any recipe you like for the cornbread--I often cook something like chili a night or two before Thanksgiving and then steal a couple squares to have with it.


Mix everything together and turn this into a buttered dish. Moisten with chicken broth until you reach the consistency you prefer. I no longer stuff the turkey itself--I bake this for 30 minutes at 350, once the turkey comes out of the over and while I'm making gravy.  

And happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your holiday be chock full of friends, family, and amazing food! xoxo Lucy

And here's some breaking news: I have one galley copy of Murder with Ganache to give to one of our wonderful MLK readers. Here's the way to enter the drawing: Share this post, using Pinterest or Twitter or Facebook or ???, then let me know in a comment that you've shared it. That's it! Good luck!

Lucy Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries. MURDER WITH GANACHE will be out in February, but you can pre-order it now.

Follow Lucy on Facebook, or Twitter, or Pinterest! She loves it when you pin her stuff:)

Corn, Potato, and Sausage Chowder

 
LUCY BURDETTE: On days when I have a lot of words to write--or if I'm imagining I'm on staff at the Key West Police Department (right), I need a fast dinner--but yummy of course! My stepmother used to make a corn chowder recipe that involved sausage, butter, and creamed corn, and probably some heavy cream too. It was delicious, but the kind of thing I always felt a little guilty eating. Over the years I've streamlined her recipe and we still love it. It's easy as cherry pie from a can and hearty enough to serve as supper. Tonight we're having it with a nice green salad, topped with avocado and pepper slices.

INGREDIENTS

 32 oz box of chicken broth (organic if you prefer)
1 12-16 oz roll of pork sausage (or use 6 or so links of chicken sausage)
1 large onion, chopped
2 large Idaho potatoes, chopped into thin slices
12 oz bag of frozen corn (of course, if it's corn season, feel free to use fresh!) I prefer the white shoepeg corn, but it wasn't available this time.

Fry up the sausage until brown, breaking up the roll into bite-sized pieces as it cooks. Drain these well on a plate lined with paper towels.

In the same pan, with almost all of the grease drained off, saute the onions until brown. Pour the broth into a large stockpot, add the cooked sausage, the cooked onions, and the raw potato slices. Bring this to a simmer and cook until the potatoes start to get soft. (Maybe 15 minutes?) Add the corn and simmer another five minutes. You could add a dash of milk or cream at the end, but we like it just as it is. Maybe garnish with a couple of cranks of cracked pepper--and enjoy!

I'm afraid this recipe has nothing to do with Key West, but man and woman cannot live by Key Lime pie alone, right? Although I went to a book launch party last night for David Sloan's THE ULTIMATE KEY LIME PIE COOKBOOK--and he seems to think Key Lime goes with about everything! And it certainly would make a nice dessert after you've eaten a healthy soup and salad for supper...

Meanwhile, don't forget that TOPPED CHEF will be out in May! But you can pre-order the book today. And then please follow Lucy on Twitter,  Facebook, and Pinterest too.  

Sausage Stroganoff

by Sheila Connolly

I cannot believe that I haven't posted this recipe before.  This was one of the staple dishes from my starving student days, from the mother of one of my roommates (the same mother who gave me the Apple Goodie recipe, for which I will be forever grateful!).  It was quick and inexpensive, and it tastes good.  We added it to our rotation of kielbasa dishes (kielbasa with noodles, kielbasa with potatoes, kielbasa with rice, kielbasa with cabbage, and so on…hey, kielbasa was cheap!).

We used to make it with those white pizza mushrooms, which was about all you could get back then.  You can use more exotic ones these days, but any delicate ones will be pretty much drowned out by the rest of the dish.

SAUSAGE STROGANOFF

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms

1 lb. ground sausage

3 Tblsp lemon juice

3 Tblsp white wine

1 can beef broth

1 tsp salt

Pepper

1/4 lb. medium egg noodles (about two cups)

1 cup sour cream

Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms.  Add sausage and cook, stirring, until the red color of the meat has disappeared (this is not critical, since the dish will cook for half an hour after this step).  Add the lemon juice, wine, broth, salt and pepper.  Simmer gently, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Stir in the uncooked noodles.  Cover and continue to simmer until the noodles are tender (approx. 15 min.)

Mix in the sour cream.  Heat quickly but do not boil (that would curdle the sour cream).

Serves 4

Coming in only four days:  Buried in a Bog!

Fiesta Quiche

by Sheila Connolly

My thanks to Sisters in Crime New England member Sharon Daynard who generously shared this recipe.

It's party season, with lots of pot-luck events, right?  Here's a dish that you can make ahead, or make more than one of, so you'll have something tasty to take along. Plus it looks Christmas-y, with all the red and green ingredients.

 

One added bonus: you can make this as mild or as spicy as your guests and family like.  I've added the spicy ingredients in red (for hot!).

Ingredients:

 
1 frozen 9" deep dish pie shell
1½ cups grated cheddar or jack cheese/habanero or pepper jack cheese
3 eggs
¾ cup light cream
½ pkg. (4 oz.) sausage/hot sausage
¼ cup finely chopped onions
¼ cup chopped red pepper
¼ cup chopped green pepper/chopped jalapeno pepper
½ tsp red pepper flakes
Ground cayenne pepper (to your taste)

 

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Thaw the pie shell and score, then bake 10 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside.

Crumble the sausage into a large fry pan and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Brown and drain.

 

 

Spread the warm sausage on the bottom of the pie shell, and top with the grated cheese.

Sprinkle the chopped peppers and onion evenly over sausage and cheese.

Beat the eggs, light cream and a few dashes of cayenne pepper until 

blended. Pour slowly and evenly over the ingredients in the pie shell. (You may notice that there is no salt added, but the cheese and the sausage will provide enough.)

 

Ready for oven

Bake on cookie sheet 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

 

 

Let cool for 5-10 minutes before you cut it.

 

Lucy Burdette's Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pasta

LUCY BURDETTE: It's a cold and rainy day in Connecticut--the kind of day that calls out for something hot and hearty for supper. And it's also the season for broccoli rabe (aka rapini) which is, for those not familiar, related to the mustard family with a slightly bitter taste. The heads resemble tiny broccoli bunches and the stems are eaten right along with the green leafy parts.

Broccoli rabe calls out to be paired with sausage, though I've gotten to the point where I feel guilty when I eat it. However, I spotted some Aidell's Italian-style chicken sausage in the local market and snapped that up. This dinner is quick--maybe half an hour start to finish if you remember to start your pasta water boiling early.




Ingredients:

1 bunch broccoli rabe, washed and chopped into one-inch pieces (discard tough ends and any yellow leaves
1 package Aidell's Italian chicken sausage (4 links) or other to your taste
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 box sturdy pasta such as ziti or rotelli
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Slice the sausage into rounds and fry it in olive oil (1-2 Tbsp) until brown and crispy. Remove to a bowl. Saute the garlic in the same pan for 45 seconds, then add the chopped broccoli rabe and the chicken broth. Steam until bright green but still a little crunchy. Add the sausage back in and heat. Hot pepper flakes could be added here if you like a little more zip.

Serve over pasta with  lots and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.





(For dessert, we are having chunks of pineapple and strawberries with a couple of Wendy's buttery shortbread cookies. If you haven't tried them, delicious!)




PS Tonight, Saturday April 28, we'll find out the Agatha Award winners at the Malice Domestic convention for the celebration of the traditional mystery. Best of luck to Krista Davis for her Best Novel nomination! And we hope one of the MLK nominees (Krista, Avery, or Lucy) comes home with the teapot for best short story!

Lucy Burdette is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, including AN APPETITE FOR MURDER and, coming in September, DEATH IN FOUR COURSES. The new cover knocks her socks off! You can "like" her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter, or check out her new obsession, Pinterest!