Homemade sausage

So, we had breakfast for dinner. Nothing special, except I made my own breakfast sausage (using pork from the half pig we purchased from A Joyful Noise Farm http://www.ajoyfulnoisefarm.com/. No pictures to share (it's sausage) but since it turned out yummy, I will share next time. I did use a store bought seasoning, though, and it was delish.

http://www.savoryspiceshop.com/blends/fryingpan.html

The Savory Spice Shop is awesome (and you can order online!)

Cold and Snowy Night

Today I had an MRI done, so I was home this afternoon and had time to try my hand at making my own sweet Italian sausage. I attempted to add a little heat but it turned out to be more sweet than hot sausage (which is good since I have a 7 year old pallet to deal with as well.)

I used this spice:

And added garlic, red wine vinegar, and some actual red wine. I mixed and let it sit in the "walk-in" for about 2 hours.

I sweated onions and shallots, then browned my sausage.

 Once I had some nice fond in my pan, I deglazed it using our very own Italian Merlot blend.

Here is the wine...it is still pretty young but I think the strawberry component to this wine brought out the sweetness of the paprika in my seasoning.

 Deglazing.

Once the wine cooked off (no more cooking wine smell), I added a box of my favorite chopped tomatoes. Now, I this recipe actually only calls for about half the box. But since I did not have bell peppers in my pantry or fridge, I had to improvise.

I simmered and kept stirring to avoid having it burn on the bottom.

I served with al dente pasta, parsley, and parm cheese. It was quite yummy and went well with the wine!

Keep Calm and Drink More Wine

I believe this label says it all.

Chicken Pot Pie and Labels

So, tonight I took my left over lemon rosemary chicken, peas, and carrots and made a pot pie. I was under the weather today, so instead of making a pie crust from scratch, I used crescent roll dough. The result was yummy!

I did not make a roux, which I would have preferred to do...instead, to add moisture and fat to the chicken mixture, I added sharp cheddar cheese and dabs of butter.

I topped it with the crescent rolls and baked it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

The result was a tasty comfort food with very little effort on my part. It was bubbly and the sharp cheddar was a lovely contrast to the sweetness the peas and carrots brought forth.

I also messed around with another attempt at making my own wine labels. Below are the two I currently have created for our Italian Merlot.

I don't like the white accents on the two bigger labels but I like the background. I am going to mess with that background a little more and see if I can develop a label I like.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken with a Crock Pot

So, I adopted a nice recipe from a chef I know to accommodate my lengthy commute. No need to stand over the stove cooking this down...I busted out my trusty crock pot (one of four.)

I cooked 6 chicken breasts with carrots, onions, rosemary, and thyme (plus salt and pepper) on low for 10 hours. I also added chicken broth (low sodium) and vegetable broth to cover, plus I squeezed two lemons and dropped them in as well to cook with the chicken.

I arrived at home to a great smelling kitchen and fall apart chicken. I pulled it out of the crock pot to let it rest while I fried up the potatoes.

I then combined the two with more chicken broth and broth from the crock pot with its lemon yumminess.

I served this with the carrots from the crock pot and some spring peas I cooked as well while frying my potatoes. I realized that the meal was best served altogether, like a pot pie without the pie.

So, I set the leftovers aside to make that pot pie (I will figure out a way to make it GF or at least Paleo friendly as well.)

More to follow soon!