Karmelized Kielbasa on Stuffing with Fresh Apple

Kielbasa is a Polish smoked sausage, found pre-cooked and vacuum wrapped at the supermarket. Most folks have it grilled in the summertime, or with sauerkraut in the winter, but can't really think of much else to do with it. I've gotten a little more creative with it, since it is an easy meat to keep on hand, It keeps well in the freezer and even refrigerated has a long shelf-life. So it's a really good back-up to keep on hand for those nights when the groceries in the house have gotten low, or a winter storm is keeping you in. It's on sale just about every other week, usually as a buy one get one, or last week as a buy one get two free. Yay! So it's great for a cheap, easy meal.

Another item I keep on hand is stuffing, or “dressing” as some folks call it. It keeps forever in the pantry cabinet and makes a quick, tasty, filling side dish for just about any meal. Today though, it will play a more central role. I used pork stuffing for this recipe, but if you only have on hand a box or two of herb stuffing, maybe cornbread stuffing, I would still give it a whirl. Heck, even chicken stuffing might work. I'm a stuffing junkie, as most people are, so I made two boxes. Prepare according to package instructions, which are simple as can be. Stick of butter, measure of water, bring to a boil, fold in the stuffing mix, remove from heat, and cover.

Let's do a little box redux here though. When you add in the stuffing mix, we are also going to add in a big handful or two of raisins, and crushed nuts. The only nuts I had on hand were almonds, but I would really like to try this again with pecans, or walnuts. I busted up the almonds myself, but not too small, you don't really want them crushed too fine at all. You want nice big broken pieces. Sliced almonds would work too. Standard raisins were great, but if you have some golden raisins or dried cranberries to throw in, that could be tasty too.

Now we come to the kielbasa. It is pre-cooked, but we're still going to go ahead and toss it in a pan, with just a little bit of butter to keep it from sticking as we brown the skin. You should have it cut into segments, maybe about three inches or so. Once it is browned, deglaze the pan with some water, then add a nice big squirt of barbecue sauce. A hickory or mesquite perhaps, I used some Jack Daniels barbecue sauce. Cover and allow to simmer for a minute or two, so that the steam can finish heating the sausage all the way through and really get all the juices going. It will be smelling nice and smokey, perfect for a chilly Autumn evening. Continue cooking, reducing the sauce until finally it has turned into a sticky, caramelized glaze, smothering the skin of the kielbasa.

Serve on a bed of stuffing, alongside fresh sliced apple. Dig in with a spoon in one hand to shovel in the stuffing, and a fork in the other to stab a hunk of meat or apple, and alternate the bites. Quick and easy with a real medieval feasting appeal. As with most meals, I usually serve a green-leafy salad beforehand, and did the same here.

At the store you should pick up: Kielbasa, boxed stuffing (pork flavor), raisins, nuts, barbecue sauce, butter

REVISION:

I made this again the other night and had only enough butter for the stuffing. So, rather than browning the sausage at the start, I put some water in the pan, covered, brought the meat up to temp, then let the water steam off uncovered. I let the meat keep cooking in the pan and browned without any butter to keep it from sticking, but some fats from the sausage had already come out into the pan. Again though, I deglazed with a little water, and added the BBQ sauce. Cooked until the sauce became a glaze over the meat.

Grilled Cheese Pizzaiola

I recently went on a kick making a variety of different grilled cheese sandwiches after finding myself with more bread on hand that I would normally ever eat in a week. Cheese is obviously a big part of Italian cuisine, and being such a fan of Italian food, of course I had to come up with an Italian version of the grilled cheese sandwhich. This version is inspired by a dish from Naples called steak pizzaiola, which is basically a cut of beef simmered in a “pizza” sauce.

We start with two pieces of sliced Italian bread, seeded or unseeded at your pleasure. A nice sourdough bread would also be tasty no doubt. Each slice is going to get a smear of tomato sauce.

You should choose a thick, robust sauce for this, not a watery or plain sauce. Jarred or canned pizza sauces would work, as pizza sauces tend to be more robustly seasoned and thicker in consistency than some other tomato sauces for pasta. I had a jar of Emeril's kicked-up garlic that I used a bit of this last time, but any bold sauce like a fra diavolo should be just fine. Consider reducing the sauce in a pan for a while to make it thicker. If all you have is a plain sauce on hand, simmer and reduce, adding extra seasonings, oregano, heavy on the garlic, some black and crushed red pepper. You won't need much sauce for this though, so you can refrigerate the rest for use some other time.

Now lay down a nice thick slice of provolone cheese onto a slice of bread. Mild rather than a sharp or “picante” would be best, nice and creamy. At the deli I ask them to always slice the cheese thick, as it stays in one piece better when you try to peel a slice off the top, and is better for sandwiches such as this one. Meats on the other hand, I always like as thin as possible. A regular sandwich I would sort of “ripple” or “fluff” several slices of meat for a thicker sandwich, but for this application, one thin slice of roast beef will be plenty. The cheese is really the star of the show, and the beef an accent. I used regular rare roast beef, but some delis have Italian-style roast beef that might be put to good use here with its bold flavor. Again though, one thin slice should do. Now top with one more thick round of provolone.

I tried this sandwich using store-bought packaged mozzarella, and it did not work out well at all. Far too rubbery, the whole chunk of cheese just came sliding out when I bit into it. Some fresh mozzarella might work out though, as it is creamier but not as dense as the packaged stuff. I have yet to give that a try myself though. Besides, a nice provolone will really give you a lot of flavor anyhow.

Now go ahead and lay the other slice of bread on top, sauced side down, to complete the assembly. But on the top side, we will put a nice smear of softened butter all the way to the edges. Not too thick, but cover the slice completely.

In a pan, melt another pat of butter so that it is coated nicely. Keep the heat low. When the butter is melted and bubbling some, lay the sandwich in dry side down, and let it sop up the butter in the pan. Keep the heat low. You can't rush a good grilled cheese. We don't want it to burn before the cheese has had a chance to melt. Keeping an eye on the edges of the bread, the residue in the pan, and by sense of smell, I can usually guess when it has gotten to be a perfect golden brown. I lift it and take a peek through a slotted turner. If it is perfect, go ahead and flip it onto the other side that was buttered beforehand.

When it is done, you should be left with a crispy, buttery crust on the outside, with a gooey, cheesy, robustly flavored filling.

Serve with a crisp, cool, green leafy salad for a light meal.

A more standard but still Italian flavored version of the grilled cheese sandwich could also be made by omitting the sauce and slice of roast beef. Instead, just use a slice or two of the cheese and sprinkle the inside with a bit of garlic powder and oregano. Cook the same way, to a nice golden brown with the cheese melted well. Serve as a sandwich, or perhaps in place of plain or regular garlic bread with your favorite Italian meal. It would also go well with a number of soups. You could also cut the sandwich into strips with a pizza wheel and serve the zesty sauce on the side for dipping, as an appetizer, or fun snack for kids.

Olive oil is not usually used when cooking in a pan, because of its low boiling temperature, it begins to smoke and burn rather quickly. But a good grilled cheese should be made at very low heat anyway so it might be worth a try here in place of the butter. It would be in keeping with traditional Italian flavors and just a bit more healthy, if one could really consider a grilled cheese sandwich healthy, lol.

The shopping list is simple: Sliced Italian-style bread, provolone cheese sliced thick, roast beef sliced thin, pizza sauce, butter.

Classic Grilled Cheese

Sometimes it's the simple things, done to perfection, that give us the most pleasure. A grilled cheese sandwich is one of those things. So let's make it a double shall we?

We'll start with four pieces of white bread. The sliced "old-fashioned" sort works excellent, a little thicker, and a little drier than a standard loaf, which will make for great texture when it is done. Lighter and crispier rather than pasty and flimsy. "Day old" bread works great too, being a bit dried out.

Cheese. Nothing more classic than yellow American cheese of course, but Double Gloucester is a similar but tasty alternative.The choice is yours of course. What you should do though, is get it fresh sliced from your local deli rather than using the more plastic-like plastic-wrapped slices in the cooler section. Ask them to slice it extra thick. American cheese is a rather soft cheese which tends to break easily when trying to pull a slice off, especially when sliced thin. Thick slices will help make it easier to handle, and perfect for sandwiches. Slap down a nice thick slab onto two of your four slices of bread, or perhaps two slices if you are stuck with thinner sliced or packaged cheese. Top with the other slices of bread, so that you now have two assembled  sandwiches.

Put a frying pan on the burner and turn on the heat very low. Melt about a tablespoon of butter in the pan. While the butter is melting there, smear the topside of your two sandwiches with softened butter completely, but just a thin coating.

When the butter in the pan is melted, go ahead and lay your sandwiches in, dry side down. The key here is to get just the right temperature in the pan, and maintain that temp. Most folks make the mistake of using too much heat and cooking the sandwich too fast. Low and slow is how to do it best. Just a very little bit of bubbling and crackling as the bread soaks up the melted butter in the pan. Watch the edges of the bread and the color of the butter in the pan, use your sense of smell to help guide you to the perfect crispy golden-brown crust, the color of caramel. Use a slotted spatula to so that you can pick up the sandwich out of the pan and have a look at the color. If it's not quite there yet, lay it back in. When it's perfect, go ahead and flip to do the same to the other side, already lightly buttered.

Cooked slowly, the outside of the sandwich will have the perfect, crispy, deep golden crust. Buttery but not greasy. While inside, that rich golden cheese has melted into a gooey sauce poached in fluffy bread. That contrast is why a drier, thicker, less doughy bread works best.

Now let's go ahead and make a meal out of it shall we? A basic tossed salad, cool green and leafy on one side. And on the other, the most classic accessory to a grilled cheese, Campbell's tomato soup. Simplicity, perfect for dipping and slurping. Of course, you could go with a more hearty, complex, tomato soup, but there is nothing more classic than that red and white can of simple goodness we all grew up with.

Here is your simple shopping list:

Bread, cheese, butter

Can of tomato soup.

Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, dressing. (Avoid a thick creamy dressing, to keep the contrast of your meal.)

Southwest Beef

Now some folks might just call this chili. But real authentic Texas chili only has meat and sauce, and on the opposite end mainstream chili is more like a soup or a stew. Both are slow cooked for hours usually. This recipe is a bit different from either, cooks much faster, and can be used in several different applications. I first used it for home-made sloppy joes that blew the doors off the canned stuff. It has become my regular filling for tacos and burritos, tastes great in a grilled cheese melt, I even used it as a topping for pizza last night. Try it on hotdogs, as a topper for a bowl of mac n' cheese or Spanish rice. And of course, you could even use it as a stand-alone quick chili bowl. Depending on your intended use though, some slight variations might be in order for consistency.

I usually cook this in my electric frying pan, but my flat bottomed wok would probably work too. For this batch, we'll set the ratio mark for the ingredients based on about three pounds of ground beef. 85% lean beef is probably best. 80% you will have to drain a bit, but you don't want to go too lean either, you should have some fats in there for rich flavor and consistency. Of course, if you want your final product a little more “dry,” a leaner mix isn't going to hurt anyone. You might want it drier for taco filling, or more “soupy” for a bowl of chili. But more on that later.

Let's start with some chopped onion. I use about half of a large onion, or one smaller onion, well chopped. Toss that in the pan to fry a little with some cooking oil. I'm a canola guy these days for general use. Little healthier and more buttery tasting than vegetable oil. While the onion is getting some sizzle, I go ahead and chop up some red and green pepper. About half of each pepper. Slice into thin strips by halving the half, halve those again, and one more time or two. Then dice those strips off lengthwise so you have nice well chopped little squares. Of course, if you have a food processor, that would make quick work of it. I like the onion cooked more than the peppers, but you could get away with throwing them all in together then giving them some high heat sizzle.

They don't need to be thoroughly cooked, but get them softened up a little and then throw the meat in to brown. I slide all the peppers and onion off to one side, then incorporate into the meat a little each time I give it a stir. If you are going to drain off any of the fats, do it now that the meat is browned, and bring it down to a simmer.

Now we are going to season, and season well. Big spoonful of minced garlic. You could throw this in earlier, but I wait so as not to overpower the other flavors or burn the garlic. Next we are going to really go at it with dried seasonings. A thorough dusting of garlic powder and onion powder, like a little snowstorm just popped up over the pan. Don't go too insane though. You can always add more if you need it but the only way to fix over seasoning is to add more meat. We're going to do a second round of seasoning in a moment anyway. Finish off this first round with a thorough dusting of chili powder, and a bit of fresh ground black pepper. Go easy on the black pepper though, it can be bitter if you use too much, and there is no need for salt in this recipe. Store brand chili powder is just fine but you could use your own personal blend if you prefer, of course.

Incorporate all of that seasoning into the meat as you continue to mix on simmer. For most applications, I like the meat broken up well rather than in big chunks. Continue simmering and break out a big bottle of ketchup. For this, I really do recommend Heinz. Sometimes you can get away with generic stuff, but here, the Heinz really does make a good show. Give the meat a nice squirt and coat it from one side of the pan to the other, up and down, back and forth. Mix it all in, continue to simmer for a few more minutes.

Now we are going to fold in some small red beans. Half a can to a can, depending on your preferred bean to meat ration. Be careful stirring now though, don't want to break up the beans too much, and canned beans can be pretty soft. We're almost done now, so give it a taste. Wow, careful, dont burn yourself. Let the spoonful cool down enough, so you can taste it properly. Chances are, you are going to need a second good round of seasoning. Use all the same as above. If you want to add some herbs, like parsley or cilantro, now would be the time. Adding herbs too early only burns them and loses the potency of their flavors.

And with that, once you have it fine-tuned the seasoning it's all set to be used in whatever preparation you have in mind.

On a few occasions I have been without fresh garlic or onion and got away with just the powdered seasoning just fine. In fact, in competition chili cook-offs, many competitors prefer powdered. It's easier to keep on hand and easier to measure in order to get an exact flavor each time. The red and green peppers though, I won't bother to make this if I don't have them. You could skip the small red beans, but they do add a nice flavor and texture element, and help to stretch your protein dollar, being a lot cheaper than ground beef. Some folks prefer larger kidney beans, or milder pinto beans. Black beans might work well for a south of the border version, maybe with some shoepeg corn tossed in for added sweetness.

If you want to really put the sloppy in sloppy joe, use more ketchup. For a taco, you probably want a little less sloppy and more meaty, so ease back on the ketchup. Adjusting the ketchup levels will affect your seasoning though too, keep that in mind. If you're going to serve it as a bowl of chili, maybe with a little melted shredded cheese on top, you might add some hand crushed canned tomatoes to make it a little more soupy, and go with a more course chop on your veggies for rustic heartiness.

If you come up with any variations or uses that you think others might enjoy, go ahead and drop me an email, or post right here below in the comments box.


Here's your shopping list:

Ground beef, red beans, red and green pepper, onion, garlic, ketchup, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and a wee bit of cooking oil.

(Revised, 2/2011)

Easy Italian Dinner

There's nothing quite as good as “Sunday Gravy,” the nice slow simmered meat-sauce that has made Italian cuisine famous the world over. Unfortunately, I am like most people today and rarely have six to eight hours in a single day to stand in the kitchen stirring a pot of sauce. So tonight we will take a big shortcut. Traditional Italian folk would see it as a culinary sin to have jarred sauce violating their pantry shelf, but I usually keep a few jars on hand for this dinner idea.

Let's chop up a small onion, or half of a larger onion. I like white onions for their milder, cleaner flavor. Take out some mushrooms, rinse. If you don't buy them sliced, go ahead and slice them up now. Smash and mince enough garlic for about a tablespoon's worth, unless you have a jar of minced already on hand.

We'll start to fry the onions on high heat with a little butter. Next we'll throw some ground beef in the pan. A pound or so of 80-85% is best, you don't want it to be too lean. If you only have very lean ground beef, make sure you have some extra butter on hand to toss in there in a bit. Once the meat is mostly browned, go ahead and toss your mushrooms in there, along with your garlic. A little salt and pepper too. Once the meat is browned, and the mushrooms have taken in some of the juices, go ahead and add your tomato sauce.

Tonight I had two 16 oz. Jars of some expensive stuff that I got on clearance at half price. But here's the trick with jarred sauce. You don't have to buy the expensive small-batch private-label stuff, but don't go middle of the road either with the corporate name-brand ones that wind up in the circular every other week. Mainline jarred sauces are usually too salty and way over-seasoned. Go right for a generic. Try a few different ones until you find one you like, but the nice thing about the generic labels is that they are mostly tomato and rather bland. That's what you want, so it will take on the flavors of the meat you now have simmering.

Kick the heat back up a little and keep stirring, so that the sauce actually begins to fry a little in the meat fats. You didn't drain that meat now did you? Don't be scared of a little fat, that's the flavor, and that's what gives it the velvety texture of gravy. If you only had lean meat, go ahead and toss in a chunk of butter now. Keep on stirring. I can still hear Ray Liotta in everyone's favorite gangster movie, “Don't let the sauce stick.” You're gonna be stirring for a good ten minutes or so, but it beats six hours of it. You want all the fats to really incorporate into the sauce and for the tomato to “ripen” a little more in the pan. The sauce will have a nice sheen but the fats should not be pooled on the top.

Go ahead and pull the sauce off the heat and cover or keep on a very low simmer, while we cook the pasta. I prefer ziti or penne, but small shells, orecchiette, or elbows work nice too. Go with what you like. I usually stay away from long cuts of pasta for this though, like spaghetti or fettuccine. Don't fully cook the pasta. Drain, but reserve some of the starchy water, or don't fully drain.

Return the pasta to the pan and pour in your meatsauce, along with your starchy water if you held some aside. It will help the sauce stick to the pasta now. Bring up the heat and stir it all together. The pasta should finish cooking right there in the sauce, so it absorbs some of the tomato. This works better with smaller cuts of pasta, which is why I don't use the long cuts like spaghetti. Much easier to stir and incorporate with the sauce. If I only have spaghetti on hand, I usually fully cook it, and serve the sauce on top. That also works better with fresh, good quality pasta rather than the box stuff.

So that's your main course. Serve the pasta in a nice deep dish plate or wide shallow bowl. Sprinkle with some grated parmesan and/or romano. If you like, maybe a little dried oregano or crushed hot red pepper. Some also like a dollup of ricotta cheese. 

But we did say this was gonna be a meal. So before you serve the pasta, you should serve a salad, which can be made up ahead of time. Tear up the lettuce by hand. Chopping it will cause the edges to brown and that really is just not attractive. Next we'll go ahead and peel the skin from some cucumber. Then I cut down into it lengthwise about a third of the way, one way and then intersecting, so there is a cross pattern if you look at it from the end. Now go ahead and slice it so that each slice falls out into four wedges. Of course, you can go ahead and chop it up any way you like. Some prefer to leave the skin on for added nutrition. Slice up some radish nice and thin. Then we need some tomato. Don't buy garbage tomatos. Spend the extra money, get at least some middle of the road tomatos. I usually get a pint of some cherry tomats, and then halve them or slice into rounds. Toss with a few green and/or black pitted olives. Nice simple green salad, dress with Italian dressing, or your own favorite. I actually like a nice Vermont honey-French that you can find in the supermarket.

And of course to round out an Italian meal like this you need garlic bread. Italian bread is obviously first choice, but you can use rolls, sliced bread, whatever ya got. Smear the face with butter. Of course you want it softened to room temperature, if you pull it right out of the fridge you'll rip the bread apart. Now a lot of people have gotten into using fresh garlic on their garlic bread. Frankly, I don't like it that way. I still prefer to sprinkle it over nicely with garlic powder. Sprinkle with just a bit of grated cheese too if you like, but keep your guests in mind too. Some folks have an aversion to grated cheese. Throw it in the oven or toaster oven, and keep an eye right on it. You want to get it nice and toasty, golden brown, but in a flash it will go too far and burn, so really keep an eye on it. Finish with a dash of dried oregano or herb blend. Serve with your main course, and maybe a small piece alongside your salad.

Now to top it all off, go ahead and serve some ice cream or sorbet for dessert. I Like a little dish of mint chocolate chip ice cream. After a heavy meal like this, the mint is nice and refreshing, not too heavy like some other flavors. I don't bother with any heavy topping either, but a few maraschino cherries and a little bit of the juice over the ice cream seem to really hit well with the chocolate in there. I don't like to go endorsing brands too much, but the Turkey Hill brand really is the best mint ice cream, because they sort of shave the chocolate in so it melts in your mouth right along with the ice cream. Other mint ice cream the chips are almost like plastic in your mouth, I don't like that much. Edy's is putting out limited quantities of Spumoni ice cream lately, an Italian favorite. A scoop of lemon sorbet served in a martini glass with a sprig of fresh mint would also be really classy and refreshing, without much fuss.

So there ya go, a nice Italian meal that you can serve any night of the week without too much fuss or hassle.

Here is your grocery list:

For the salad you will need lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radish, olives, and dressing.

For your main course you will need pasta, jarred sauce, ground beef, onion, garlic, butter, bread, herbs/spices and cheeses.

 And don't forget dessert!