Bangers and Mash

I made this for St. Patrick's day instead of corned beef and cabbage, I prefer not to eat corned beef. This is an awesome alternative. Irish pub meal must. So I received a lot of confusion when I posed to my facebook. Whats a banger, well the name 'bangers' originated the use of cheap sausages, created using an excessive amount of water, which caused them to explode inside their casings if not prepared the right way... 'bang'. Today it is important to use high quality sausages. If you can find Irish Cumberland sausages use these. but I fund a English banger made by Isernio's, They have the best sausages ever. I highly recommend them.

Ingredients
2 13oz package of Cumberland Sausage (4 links each)
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion
1 can Guinness
2 pounds potatoes
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups beef stock
4 tablespoons cream
2 ounces butter
Salt and pepper

Method

Peel and dice potatoes. Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, add salt and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prick sausages with a fork, heat a skillet and brown the sausage in 1 tablespoon oil. Cook until brown and pour beef into pan and cook until deglazed. Slice the onion.  and add the onion to the pan. Cook the onions until soft, remove sausage from pan. Then add 2 tablespoons flour, cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and return the sausage to the pan, cooking it through for about 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure you have a nice thick onion gravy.

Drain the potatoes and mash, add the cream, butter,  Season with salt and pepper. Serve bangers and gravy on top of mashed potatoes.

Sausage and Roasted Vegetable Penne

My boss found this recipe from Melissa d'Arabian. We have made it twice and it is so Yummy. I hate zucchini but here I will gobble it down. I think a very important part is the sausage that you choose. We really love the Isernio's chicken sausage. It makes a huge difference. Try this one the kids love it too!

Ingredients
1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
1 medium zucchini sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
1 red bell pepper cheeks removed
1/2 pound mushrooms stemmed
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes washed and dried
1 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage
1/4c white wine
12 ounces whole-grain penne, cooked according to package instructions, 1/2 cup pasta water reserved
Freshly grated Parmesan

Method

Preheat the oven to 400° In a bowl, toss all the vegetables, except the tomatoes, with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange on a baking sheet and roast, until caramelized, about 30 minutes, turning vegetables halfway through the cooking time. In a small bowl, add the tomatoes and the remaining olive oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add to the baking sheet, at the halfway point of cooking, to caramelize. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add the sausage and saute until cooked through. Turn up the heat and deglaze with white wine. Once the vegetables are cooked, cool slightly, then coarsely chop. Add the vegetables and any pan juices to the sausage in the skillet. Toss in the cooked penne, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to moisten. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve in bowls topped with Parmesan.

Enchilada Pasta

I look for new recipes all the time. I found this one from another blogspot. But I changed the recipe drastically so this one is my own. This was so good. Who would think Mexican and pasta mixed, no really it was good! I will make it over and over...

Ingredients 
1 box penne pasta
2tbsp olive oil
1 onion diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 red pepper, diced
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
1tsp cumin
2tsp chili powder
1/2tsp garlic salt
2tbsp chopped cilantro
2 10-oz cans green chili enchilada sauce
1 15oz can black beans, drained
2c shredded cheese
1c sour cream
Toppings are so yummy chopped avocados, green onions, black olives, diced tomatoes, sour cream, chopped cilantro

Directions
Boil pasta to al dente   heat the olive oil in large skillet and cook onions for about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, cilantro, enchilada sauces and black beans. Let sauce simmer for about 8-10 minutes.  Add cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and heated through. Add sour cream and while cooking on low heat, stir constantly until sour cream is well mixed and heated through, without letting it boil. Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well.

Red Beans and Rice

 

I swear my mother made this meal quite a bit when we were kids. I love it its such a simple and cheap but amazing dinner. She learned the recipe from her mother. I really love it. I made it the other day and the kids loved it! 

Ingredients
1 bag red kidney beans
1 ham bone
1 pkg bacon, cut up
1 onion chopped
1/2 tbsp garlic salt

3c long grain rice
3tbsp oil
51/2c water

Method
Soak beans overnight
In a saucepan fry bacon with onion till a little browned and tender. Pour into crock pot grease and all. Add hambone, beans and fill with water, add plenty of salt. cook on high all day until beans are tender, soft melt in your mouth. make sure you have enough salt now.

Rice
In a large sauce/soup pan heat oil, add rice and coat rice in oil. Cook rice stirring constantly until golden brown, add water to pan cook until boiling, reduce heat to low and cover simmer until rice is tender. Serve beans over rice. I love to add Tabasco sauce to my bowl

Creamy Chicken Enchilada's

So my Aunt Celeste made this for me once when I went to visit my cousins. I fell in... with this recipe. I made it on my own, a short while after, I wasn't as enamored by it. I know exactly why, I really do not like cream of chicken soup by Campbell's. Maybe if you use an organic kind, I don't know all I know is I made my own cream of chicken soup just to make this recipe. If you use my soup recipe puree the soup so there are no chunks. When I tried it with my soup base it was as good as I remember it! I think I may have tweaked the recipe a little. But I think I did it almost practically the same. Its really easy and yummy!

Ingredients
2c cream of chicken soup
1 can green enchilada sauce
1 can diced green chile's
8oz sour cream
1 onion chopped
1 8oz pkg shredded pepperjack
1 8oz pkg shredded cheddar
2chicken breasts cooked and shredded
8 8" flour tortillas

Method
For the sauce, in a saucepan cook pureed soup, add enchilada sauce chile's and sour cream. Pour some sauce into bottom of an 9x12' pryex pan. Put some onions, chicken, sauce and cheese in tortillas and roll them up and place next to each other in pan pour left over sauce on enchiladas and top with more cheese. Bake in the oven at 350° until hot melted and bubbly approx 15-30 min.

Cream of Chicken Soup

 So I made this soup because I wanted to make a recipe that called for cream of chicken soup, but I cant stand that canned soup its just wrong! So my meal planning had this included in my week. It was amazing! Try it freeze it so you can have it on hand.

Ingredients
1/2c butter
1 medium onion chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
3 medium carrots chopped
1/2c flour
7c chicken broth
3 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 or 4 chicken breasts cubed
1/2c heavy cream
2 1/2 teaspoons dry white wine
1tbsp garlic salt

Method
Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the veggies and onion and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for a couple minutes more. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley sprigs, thyme together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the soup Add the bay leaf and dry wine as well. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the chicken and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Whisk in the cream and salt into the soup and season with pepper to taste. Remove and discard the herb bundle.

Chili

Um yes I love chili. I make it a lot. I never follow a recipe I make it by taste. For you I made it the other day and recorded the proportions in the pot. I must say I tried something different and it came out amazing! I also recommend using 2 different types of chili powder. Most people make chili with hamburger. I make mine with chunks of tender beef. Both are great but really good beef is the best way. I also love my chili with toppings, sour cream cheese and Frito's. Yum don't eat it without it!


Ingredients
1 onion
2 cans of crushed or diced tomatoes
2 cans chili beans
2 cans kidney beans
1tbsp smoked paprika
2tbsp cumin
2tbsp chili powder
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
1/4tsp dry mustard powder
1tsp vinegar
1-2c of corn
Garlic Salt &P

Method
Saute onions until tender. Add all other ingredients except corn. Cook to simmer, then reduce heat and cook as long as possible you could even transport it to a crock pot and slow cook the heck out of it. Add corn before you serve. Top with cheese, sour cream, and Frito's!