Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A couple of recipes....just to shake things up

One of the things I love to do is to cook and those I've cooked for say I do it pretty well. So I thought I might share with you a soup recipe I made up a couple of nights ago. I've also put in a pretty basic recipe for making Roasted Garlic Bread to go along with it. As with any recipe, change it up to suit your likes/needs:

Sausage & Mushroom Soup
INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. Sweet Italian Sausage (loose, not in casings)
1 lb. Fresh mushrooms, wiped with a damp towel to remove any dirt (any kind you like, I happened to use Button because that's what I had and suspect it would be even better with Bellas)
2 Onions (Peeled and coarsely diced)
2 cloves Garlic (smashed with the flat end of a knife and chopped up a little)
2 Tbls. Olive Oil
2 Cans Red Kidney Beans - drained and rinsed
2 Cups (or more if you like) cooked rice (I used Jasmine but I bet Wild Grain would be FAB)
6 Cups reduced-sodium Chicken Broth
1 Large Can of diced tomatoes

EQUIPMENT:
Big ole heavy bottomed stew pot with a lid
Cutting Board
Good Sharp Knife (preferably with a wide blade)
Dampened paper towels
Rice Cooker or a good 2-quart, heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid
Can Opener

PREP TIME: 15 Minutes
COOK TIME: One Hour but that hour is made up of segments where you need to do something so it's not a 'set the timer for an hour and go away' type of soup.

In heavy bottomed stew pot, heat Olive Oil over medium heat until just before it starts to smoke. Add onion, saute for 3 - 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute just until you can smell the garlic cooking. Remove pot from the heat temporarily so the garlic doesn't burn.

Add Sausage and return to heat but turn it down a little. Stir onions, garlic and sausage together occasionally until the sausage is lightly/moderately browned.

While the sausage is browning, in the 2 quart pan, cook the rice according to directions on the package. The entire process for the rice should take no more than 20 or 25 minutes and you'll want it to finish at (basically) the same time the sausage is browned.

Once browned, drain the fat from the sausage/onion/garlic mix and return to the heat. Add in the kidney beans and let them heat through over medium low heat, stirring once in awhile.

In the meantime, coarsely slice the mushrooms (coarsely, to me, is roughly half inch thick slices - you want them to stand up to the sausage, not disappear) and add them to the Sausage and bean mixture. Give it all a good stir, cover and leave it for 3 or 4 minutes on medium low heat. This lets all of the flavors get to know each other.

Add in the Chicken Broth and Diced Tomatoes. Give it all a good stir, cover it and set a timer for about 15 minutes.

This makes a pretty solid ten servings.

I served it with Roasted Garlic Sticks(recipe below):

INGREDIENTS:
1 head of garlic (A good head of garlic should have several firm cloves and no green growth showing at the top)
16 Dinner Rolls of your choice (I used the Italian sticks that come 8 to a package)
1 stick (1/2 cup) Salted Butter, softened.
2 Tbls. Olive Oil

EQUIPMENT:
Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
Cookie Sheet or Jelly Roll Pan
Small Bowl
Cutting Board
Fork
Sharp knife

Prep Time - 30 minutes
Bake Time - 10 minutes

ROASTING THE GARLIC (You can do this part as much as several days ahead of time):
Preheat Oven to 425 F
Peel as much of the loose, dried outer skin off the Garlic as you can easily but there shouldn't be any 'naked' cloves. Then, with sharp knife, holding the head of garlic firmly on its side on the cutting board, slice off the very top of as many of the upper cloves as you can (don't worry about getting all of them). Using about a 9" square of aluminum foil, form it in to a cup that the head of garlic will fit in to. Put the garlic in, pulling the sides of foil up and drizzle the olive oil over the tops of the garlic cloves. Pull the foil together over the top of the garlic and smush/twist it closed. Place directly on the oven rack and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven to a heat proof surface where it can sweat for a few minutes (I just let it sit on the potholder I used to take it out of the oven). If you're going to make the bread sticks immediately, after removing the garlic, just lower the oven heat to 375.

MAKING THE ROASTED GARLIC BUTTER:
Open the foil packet and remove the garlic. Once it's cooled a little bit, you should be able to squeeze the roasted cloves of garlic right out of the skins and in to the small bowl without burning your fingers. They should be somewhere between a medium and light brown and sort of squishy. Using the back of the fork, smash the all of the garlic until it's sort of a lumpy, very thick paste. Add the softened butter and, again using the fork, mix it thoroughly. Set aside for immediate use or, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. It'll keep for several days that way.

MAKING THE ROASTED GARLIC BREAD:
Preheat to 375 F. Using a butter knife, spread the softened Roasted Garlic Butter evenly over the tops of the bread sticks. Place them, butter side up on the cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until they're golden on top.

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