Honey Mustard Sausage Bites

One of the things that I find about the summer months is that some days you just don't feel like having 'proper' meals, especially on warm days when the hammock is calling to me - those are the days that we more often than not end up snacking most of the day or having something like these little mouthfuls on hand to nibble on with a cold can of beer :o)

Honey Mustard Sausage Bites
makes 20

1/2 pack puff pastry (1 square)
1/4 cup honey mustard sauce
1 cup grated cheese (I used a Tex Mex mix)
4 hot dogs (I had these all beef wieners in the fridge)

• preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• on a floured surface roll out the puff pastry to a sheet approximately 12" x 10"
• brush the pastry all over with the honey mustard sauce.
• sprinkle the cheese evenly over the surface and using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the pastry into quarters.
• roll each hot dog tightly in a quarter of the pastry.
• cut each 'rolled' sausage into five even pieces and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet.
• brush lightly with either egg wash or milk and bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown.

Honey Mustard Sausage Bites ingredients.

roll out the pastry to approximately 12" x 10" square

brush the honey mustard sauce evenly over the pastry sheet

sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and with a sharp knife cut the pastry into quarters.

roll each sausage tightly in the pastry quarters....

....overlapping the edges.

cut each 'rolled' sausage into five pieces and....

space apart on a baking sheet.

bake for 15-17 minutes until gold brown and puffed.

I had to sacrifice one, purely for taste-testing purposes of course :o)

Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I met a good friend of ours for dinner at a local restaurant that we hadn't been to before called the Fluid Bar & Grill.  We'd had a couple of good reviews from other friends, so when the opportunity arose, this was a good choice for us.  Now I'm a very indecisive person when it comes to menus - hubby often jokes that even if there were only three things on a menu, I'd still be the last one to decide what to have.  Of course, if there were only three things, I'd probably order all three just so I wouldn't miss out on anything.  Unfortunately I can't do that in most places - although I'm sure they wouldn't object as long as I paid for them - I think hubby might have an issue with that though,don't you :o).

Anyway, in the end I ordered a delicious bowl of smoked chicken fettuccine alfredo, and I have to admit it was one of the best pasta dishes that I'd ever had at a restaurant.  I don't usually order pasta when I'm out, basically because I just can't comprehend the cost of them most of the time, knowing how economical they can be to make at home, but that particular night the alfredo dish just kept leaping out at me from the page.

Ever since then, I've had a hankering for that rich, creamy, cheesy decadence again, but we haven't had an opportunity to get back to the restaurant, so tonight I thought I'd reproduce it at home - albeit without the smoked chicken (we had some deli turkey sausages that I used instead) - it came out pretty good too, if the wiped clean bowls were any indication!

Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo
serves 2-4 (depending on appetite!)

8oz  fettuccine pasta
4oz  (1/2 brick) cream cheese
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried basil
pinch salt & pepper
1-2 deli, cooked turkey sausages (or other sausage / roast chicken - your choice)

• bring a large pan of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta as package instructions.
• meanwhile, combine all other ingredients, except the sausages, in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat and stir until smooth and creamy.
• add the sausage to the sauce for a couple of minutes to heat through completely.
• drain the pasta.  Add it to the sauce and combine well.
• serve in deep bowls to catch the sauce, with a little grated parmesan over the top if desired.

 Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo ingredients.

it's such an easy sauce to make - just throw everything in together and heat.

we had these flavourful turkey sausages from our local deli - slightly smoky, so a really nice undertone to the dish, but use anything you have or even nothing - the sauce and pasta are delicious on there own.

once the sauce is smooth and creamy, add the sausages (you can just make them out poking through the sauce).

mmmmmmmm.......

Zucchini-Sausage Casserole

I love the concept of 'one-dish' cooking (that's probably why I have not one, but two slow cookers in my cupboard!), so when I saw a magazine by Better Homes and Gardens entitled 'One-Pan Recipes' at the grocery store the other day, you can bet I was leaning over my trolley to grab it from that shelf they put deliberately alongside the till, just for that impulse buyer (ie: me :o)

I do have one small criticism about this first recipe that I tried from the magazine, although maybe that's my own pre-conceived notions about what 'one-pan' really means.  For me, like most of my slow cooker recipes, I just want to throw everything into the dish, pop on the lid, turn it on, and leave it - and ultimately (apart from the plates/dishes I serve it in), I only have the one dish to wash up.  With this zucchini dish, aside from the dish I baked it in, I also had another two bowls and a skillet - that's just me though!! :o)

I altered the quantities of ingredients just a little and added garlic (only because I use garlic in as many dishes as I can), just for my own personal taste.

Zucchini-Sausage Casserole
serves 4

500g sausage meat (I used italian sausage, and just took the meat out of the skins)
1 tsp dried garlic (or 1 large clove, chopped)
1 medium zucchini
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed chicken soup
3 Tbs sour cream
salt and pepper
1 package Stove-Top stuffing mix
1 Tbs butter, melted

• preheat oven to 350 F.
• lightly grease a 13" x 8" deep dish and set aside.
• in a bowl, empty the stuffing mix and mix with the melted butter until well combined; set aside.
• in a large skillet, cook the sausage and garlic over medium heat until the meat is browned; drain off any fat.
• meanwhile, half the zucchini lengthwise and slice crosswise into 1/4 inch pieces.
• add the zucchini to the sausage in the skillet, and fry slightly until beginning to colour.
• in a small bowl combine the chicken soup and sour cream; stir into the sausage mixture.
• spoon half of the stuffing mixture into the prepared baking dish.
• spread sausage mixture over the stuffing in the dish, and spoon the remaining stuffing mix evenly over the top.
• cover with foil and bake until heated through - about 30 minutes.

 Zucchini-Sausage Casserole ingredients

 greased baking dish, stuffing topping and chicken soup mix.

I didn't have any bulk sausage meat, but just take the skins off of your favourite sausage and that works great.

don't slice the zucchini too thinly - you want them to still have a little 'bite' to them once they're cooked.

I didn't saute the zucchinis for very long, just enough to get a little colour.

add the chicken soup/sour cream mixture

spread half of the stuffing mix on the bottom, then the sausage and then remainder of the stuffing to make a crispy topping.

I popped a quick dish of roasted tomatoes in the oven alongside.

(just half some cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and italian seasoning - roast at the same temperature and same time as the zucchini-sausage casserole.)

 simple and tasty.

Pizza Dough

One thing that we missed when we first moved into our little cottage in the country was pizza on those nights when we just didn't have time or inclination to cook - we're pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, way too far from any takeout delivery routes.  After a lot of trial and error (too bland, too dry, too yeasty), I've finally settled on the perfect pizza dough for us.  Mixing it in the bread machine on the dough cycle, makes things really easy, but if you don't have one, using a stand mixer or even by hand and kneading will work fine too.  Once you've got the dough bases sorted out the skies the limit as to what toppings you want - my hubby and I are definite meat lovers but this recipe produces either dough to make two large rectangular pizzas (that's what we tend to do), or at least six smaller individual pizzas so you can all have whatever toppings you want :)

Pizza Dough
enough for 2 large rectangular or 6 small circular bases.

1 1/3 cups warm water
3 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

• in a bread machine pan add the ingredients in the above order and set on the dough cycle.
• when the cycle finishes, remove dough from the pan onto a lightly floured surface. 
• divide the dough into however many pizzas you are going to make and using a rolling pin, roll out to approximate 1/4 inch thickness.
• transfer to baking sheets covered in parchment paper or silicone sheets, and pierce holes all over using a fork.
• let the pizza bases rise slightly for 20-30 minutes, then brush with olive oil and bake in a 400 F for 5-7 minutes.
• reduce heat to 350 F.
• cover with whatever sauce, vegetables, meat or other toppings that you want and bake for 15-20 minutes or until toppings are to personal preference.

 pizza dough ingredients.

I LOVE my bread machine :)

we usually make two large rectangular pizzas - evening meal and at least two days of lunch leftovers!!!

we're both meat lovers, hence the beef cooked sausage and lots and lots of peppered salami - yummy!

one had jalapeno peppers - that's for my hubby - he likes things a little hotter :)

 

Sausage Pasta Bake

This is one of those 'go to' dishes that I've changed so much over the years from it's original recipe and really depends on what you have on hand at the time that I feel a bit of a fraud for posting it - I remember it started out as a recipe on the inside of a condensed chicken soup label and I think that and pasta is about the only two ingredients that I still use from that original recipe.  So quite frankly throw whatever you want into this one - if you like something go for it.  Worse case scenario, put more cheese on top (lets face it, everythings better with cheese) and everything will be fine.

The quantities that I've stated usually comes out to 8-10 servings depending on everyones appetite, but even though there's only my husband and I in our household, I always make this amount because it's great as a cold pasta for the next day or two lunches and it also freezes pretty good - if I'm going to freeze it I don't put any extra cheese on top or bake it beforehand.

Sausage Pasta Bake
Yields 8-10 servings

200-250g dried pasta
1 Tbs olive oil (I sometimes use garlic flavoured)
4-5 mixed colour peppers, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, minced OR 1 tsp dried
1 can (369ml) diced tomatoes including juice
1 can (284ml) condenced chicken OR mushroom soup (I had chicken this time)
1 soup can of water
1-1 1/2 cups grated cheese
6-8 cooked sausages of choice, diced (anything from hotdog to gourmet works)
a few splashes of Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper

• preheat oven to 400 F.
• cook the pasta to slightly UNDER al dente - it will be cooking more in the oven later.
• while the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet on medium to high heat fry the peppers, onion and garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes, soup and 1/2 a can of water until bubbling.
• add half of the cheese and stir until melted, then add the diced sausages.
• at this stage if you think the sauce is too thick (you'll be adding the pasta next so you'll need it a little on the liquid stage), then you can add the other half of the water.
• season with salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to personal taste, and simmer everything for a couple of minutes.
• add the drained cooked pasta and stir until all is combined.
• ladle into 2 or 3 casserole dishes (depending on size), sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes until casserole is bubbling and cheese is golden.
• if you're going to freeze some of it, let it cool in the skillet completely before you ladle into freezable containers and label.

 These are precooked beef weiners that I had in the fridge.

Pasta cooking on the back burner, a colour explosion on the front.

If you don't put the drained pasta in the sauce immediately,

toss it with a little olive oil just so that it doesn't stick together.

Brown, bubbling and bodacious!!!

Yummy, crunchy cheese topping - life is gooooood :o)