September 17, 2013

Let me just call this one "Stuff"

Today I want to do a recap of our past two dinners (caramelized sausage and onion pasta and chicken pot pie turnovers), and also show you what I bought at Trader Joes on Monday when I unexpectedly got off of work early!

Yesterday I made the caramelized sausage and onion pasta. This was something that I made up randomly, and when I get an idea in my head that I think will be great it makes a very strong presence there until I try it! The results were satisfying. It was simple, pretty quick to make, and tasty to eat. My first proof of it's simplicity will be the following picture.

 What you see here is all the ingredients to make this dish (except the bit of olive oil I drizzled on at the last minute). I like it when you can make a delicious meal with so few things! Here is the process (which is my second proof of simplicity):
-Heat a large skillet over medium heat (I used stainless steel). Remove sausage from casings and cook until browned. Transfer sausage onto a plate with a paper towel or two, but leave excess fat in the pan. Sauté the onions in the fat. When the onions have become translucent add the sausage back to the pan. It may stick and that is fine. When the sausage and onions have become very brown and caramelized add the rosemary and garlic. Give a quick stir and pour in ¼ cup of Marsala to deglaze the pan. Once you have deglazed the pan and the Marsala is gone add your pasta (which should be not quite finished cooking when you add it to the pan). Pour over an additional ½ cup of Marsala and give a good stir. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow the wine to reduce down until almost completely gone. This process will allow the pasta to finish cooking, and it should pick up the wine flavor. Drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil and serve. 
So basically saute, saute, saute, serve. This was the result. 


I served it with roasted brussel sprouts and leftover hamburger buns that became garlic bread. I hope it sounded simple because it really was. 

Onto the next topic. Trader Joes has become one of my favorite grocery stores. What I love about it is that they have such great prices on things that would normally be expensive and/or hard to find. Such as brussel sprouts, bell peppers, figs, ground turkey, wine, fancy cheeses, and I can't leave out natural peanut butter. And that is just a few examples that I decided to mention. Anyway, moving on. I walked in on Monday planning to get peanut butter and white wine for a couple of recipes coming up. I always plan to "spend more than expected" when I go there. I love picking up little surprises I find along the way. Today was no exception.


Most exciting? MY FIRST PUMPKIN OF THE SEASON!!!

Just in case you didn't see it....here it is : )


Now I just need to manage to make a decision on what fabulous pumpkin recipe I should start with. The good news is that I should probably get 3-4 cups out of this, so I can do a healthy pumpkin muffin experiment AND make one of the anticipated favorites!

Onto the chicken pot pie turnovers. No pictures this time though. I had a bit of trouble with these because there was too much liquid and because I didn't let the chicken mixture cool enough before starting to form the turnovers. My dough was getting soft way too quickly and I needed to stop and wait for the mixture to cool before making them. Marshall helped me a lot as I was getting frustrated and not coming up with a solution. In the end (thanks to Marshall!) we had beautiful pies! We both enjoyed them, but I think next time I will do more of a traditional pot pie (individual size though) because the filling can be more soupy that way. 

And just for fun I wanted to share one of my new favorite songs. Please listen : )

No comments:

Post a Comment