NEW RECIPE!!!
I have decided to put up at least one recipe a week so here is the first installment. A small disclaimer, these recipes are not going to be super in depth but more along the lines of dishes that are awesome enough to show off but will not kill you with difficulty. So further without further ado...
Recipe to Impress Without Stress # 1!
Sausage Pepperonata in a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
(For 4 servings, but if you want a more intimate setting, cut the recipe in half)
When growing up almost every kid got SUPER excited when macaroni and cheese was on the menu, even if it was nothing more than the Blue Box. There is no denying that we have grown up and so have our tastes, but still, who doesn't crave that cheesy goodness that brings back all of the nostalgia of childhood. Well here is an adult version for our now discerning tastes that adds even more cheese, sausage, and even BACON! If you want to take it a step further, I can throw in some help to make some Italian bread from scratch and even hand form the pasta, but for now we will stick with the simplified version. Here is what you will need:
1 Link of Italian Sausage or Polska Kielbasa
1 Box of farfalle (go with Dreamfield's pasta if you want to reduce carbs)
1/2 Yellow onion, diced
2 halfs of bell peppers, sliced (Yellow and Red for color)
1 egg
6 oz Havarti cheese
4 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons bacon fat (reserved from cooking the bacon)
2 tablespoons Flour
1 pint heavy cream
4 oz Romano cheese
1 oz Gorgonzola cheese (in chunks if possible)
1 teaspoon fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch of paprika
Water for boiling
Salt and pepper
The trick to preparing any awesome dish is have your mis en place all ready before you start cooking (mis en place is a fancy French way of saying all of your prep ready to cook). Anytime you have a pasta dish where the pasta is premade, get some water in your favorite stock pot and over a flame so it is boiling when you need it. Also make sure anything you don't have to prepare, like already shredded cheese, flour, seasonings, etc are within arm reach for ease of cooking.
Next, dice your onion to the size of a finger nail and place to the side.
(You can do this by slicing the onion in half, peeling off the skin, making cuts towards the stem working from the flat side to the top, turning the onion towards you, slicing from side to side, rotating back, and slicing straight up and down towards the stem creating a uniform dice.)
Next, julienne, or cut into matchsticks, your bell peppers to give your dish textural difference and visual appeal. Take these cuts and place them to the side as well.
Next, chop up your fresh herbs until aromatic and place to the side.
Reach over and crack that egg into a small bowl and whip it up with a fork to get some oxygen into the yolk. We will not be using this for a moment so just put to the side but it is an important part of this dish.
Now slice your sausage link and throw it in a heated sauce pan. This step is good to do here just in case you purchased a raw sausage product. After the sausage has puffed up slightly and has an internal temperature over 155 F, place to the side. Most sausages you would use for this dish are pre-cooked so you do not have to worry about raw product sitting by as you complete the dish. Make sure to put the sausage on a paper towel to soak up the extra grease for a sexier final product.
OKAY, bacon time! Slice your bacon into 1" x 1" cuts, about the size of a postage stamp, and toss it in the same sauce pan. Cook that bacon until your desired crispiness. Traditionally, the bacon is for snacking while cooking, call it a treat for the chef, but if you want to be nice, go ahead and save it for later to crumble on top. This is a true test of how much you like the person you are cooking this for.
Remove the bacon carefully leaving the 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan still simmering. Go ahead and toss in your onions, peppers, and the dry mustard. Cook these for about 2-3 minutes, until translucent, aromatic, and soft. At this point, add the flour to start making a roux. (A roux is used as a thickening agent for most cream sauces and comes from some kind of fat/butter and flour.) You want to stir frequently as the roux cooks, making sure it turns light brown and has the consistency of cookie dough. Once you have your roux to the color you like, start slowly adding the cream, stirring in a circular motion until thick. Continue adding more cream until you have the consistency of a thin cream sauce and bring to a simmer.
Go ahead and drop your pasta in that boiling water! We're almost there!
Go back to your cream sauce, adding the paprika, fresh herbs, and pepper. Avoid adding the salt for right now.
Okay, things are about to get tricky for a second so pay close attention. This next step can be skipped but you come out with a much better product if you do this one extra thing. We are going to temper in an egg to the cream sauce. The trick to tempering in an egg is slowly adding hot liquid to the room temperature egg we put to the side earlier to thicken it but not turn it into scrambled eggs. So taking a spoon, add a spoonful at a time of the cream sauce into the egg then stirring quickly to move it around. Repeat until the egg mixture is thick and smooth and slowly pour it into the cream sauce, stirring quickly once again to incorporate.
YOU DID IT! We are past the hard part and now comes the fun, the cheese and sausage. Re-add the sausage you had resting on the side and slowly add the Havarti and Romano. You want your sauce to be rich and creamy, not firm, so if it starts to appear too thick, add a touch more cream. Taste as you go because the Romano has salty properties, thus why we didn't add any prior to adding the cheese. Right before you are about to take the sauce off the burner, add in the Gorgonzola for that pungent yet taste bud pleasing flavor (if you add it too soon, it will overpower the dish).
Drain your pasta, toss to coat with some sauce, and serve it up with a little extra Gorgonzola on top if you want that bite and, my personal favorite, a touch more of fresh basil. (And bacon if you really like the person)
So there you go, the first "Recipe to Impress Without Stress" in hopefully a long line of dishes. If you want to know how to make the pasta from scratch, let me know. Also, if there are any dishes you want me to teach you how to make, I am always up for a challenge!
Happy Eating, I'm off to find sunshine in a shot glass!
- Chef Two Dice
I have decided to put up at least one recipe a week so here is the first installment. A small disclaimer, these recipes are not going to be super in depth but more along the lines of dishes that are awesome enough to show off but will not kill you with difficulty. So further without further ado...
Recipe to Impress Without Stress # 1!
Sausage Pepperonata in a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
(For 4 servings, but if you want a more intimate setting, cut the recipe in half)
When growing up almost every kid got SUPER excited when macaroni and cheese was on the menu, even if it was nothing more than the Blue Box. There is no denying that we have grown up and so have our tastes, but still, who doesn't crave that cheesy goodness that brings back all of the nostalgia of childhood. Well here is an adult version for our now discerning tastes that adds even more cheese, sausage, and even BACON! If you want to take it a step further, I can throw in some help to make some Italian bread from scratch and even hand form the pasta, but for now we will stick with the simplified version. Here is what you will need:
1 Link of Italian Sausage or Polska Kielbasa
1 Box of farfalle (go with Dreamfield's pasta if you want to reduce carbs)
1/2 Yellow onion, diced
2 halfs of bell peppers, sliced (Yellow and Red for color)
1 egg
6 oz Havarti cheese
4 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons bacon fat (reserved from cooking the bacon)
2 tablespoons Flour
1 pint heavy cream
4 oz Romano cheese
1 oz Gorgonzola cheese (in chunks if possible)
1 teaspoon fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch of paprika
Water for boiling
Salt and pepper
The trick to preparing any awesome dish is have your mis en place all ready before you start cooking (mis en place is a fancy French way of saying all of your prep ready to cook). Anytime you have a pasta dish where the pasta is premade, get some water in your favorite stock pot and over a flame so it is boiling when you need it. Also make sure anything you don't have to prepare, like already shredded cheese, flour, seasonings, etc are within arm reach for ease of cooking.
Next, dice your onion to the size of a finger nail and place to the side.
(You can do this by slicing the onion in half, peeling off the skin, making cuts towards the stem working from the flat side to the top, turning the onion towards you, slicing from side to side, rotating back, and slicing straight up and down towards the stem creating a uniform dice.)
Next, julienne, or cut into matchsticks, your bell peppers to give your dish textural difference and visual appeal. Take these cuts and place them to the side as well.
Next, chop up your fresh herbs until aromatic and place to the side.
Reach over and crack that egg into a small bowl and whip it up with a fork to get some oxygen into the yolk. We will not be using this for a moment so just put to the side but it is an important part of this dish.
Now slice your sausage link and throw it in a heated sauce pan. This step is good to do here just in case you purchased a raw sausage product. After the sausage has puffed up slightly and has an internal temperature over 155 F, place to the side. Most sausages you would use for this dish are pre-cooked so you do not have to worry about raw product sitting by as you complete the dish. Make sure to put the sausage on a paper towel to soak up the extra grease for a sexier final product.
OKAY, bacon time! Slice your bacon into 1" x 1" cuts, about the size of a postage stamp, and toss it in the same sauce pan. Cook that bacon until your desired crispiness. Traditionally, the bacon is for snacking while cooking, call it a treat for the chef, but if you want to be nice, go ahead and save it for later to crumble on top. This is a true test of how much you like the person you are cooking this for.
Remove the bacon carefully leaving the 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan still simmering. Go ahead and toss in your onions, peppers, and the dry mustard. Cook these for about 2-3 minutes, until translucent, aromatic, and soft. At this point, add the flour to start making a roux. (A roux is used as a thickening agent for most cream sauces and comes from some kind of fat/butter and flour.) You want to stir frequently as the roux cooks, making sure it turns light brown and has the consistency of cookie dough. Once you have your roux to the color you like, start slowly adding the cream, stirring in a circular motion until thick. Continue adding more cream until you have the consistency of a thin cream sauce and bring to a simmer.
Go ahead and drop your pasta in that boiling water! We're almost there!
Go back to your cream sauce, adding the paprika, fresh herbs, and pepper. Avoid adding the salt for right now.
Okay, things are about to get tricky for a second so pay close attention. This next step can be skipped but you come out with a much better product if you do this one extra thing. We are going to temper in an egg to the cream sauce. The trick to tempering in an egg is slowly adding hot liquid to the room temperature egg we put to the side earlier to thicken it but not turn it into scrambled eggs. So taking a spoon, add a spoonful at a time of the cream sauce into the egg then stirring quickly to move it around. Repeat until the egg mixture is thick and smooth and slowly pour it into the cream sauce, stirring quickly once again to incorporate.
YOU DID IT! We are past the hard part and now comes the fun, the cheese and sausage. Re-add the sausage you had resting on the side and slowly add the Havarti and Romano. You want your sauce to be rich and creamy, not firm, so if it starts to appear too thick, add a touch more cream. Taste as you go because the Romano has salty properties, thus why we didn't add any prior to adding the cheese. Right before you are about to take the sauce off the burner, add in the Gorgonzola for that pungent yet taste bud pleasing flavor (if you add it too soon, it will overpower the dish).
Drain your pasta, toss to coat with some sauce, and serve it up with a little extra Gorgonzola on top if you want that bite and, my personal favorite, a touch more of fresh basil. (And bacon if you really like the person)
So there you go, the first "Recipe to Impress Without Stress" in hopefully a long line of dishes. If you want to know how to make the pasta from scratch, let me know. Also, if there are any dishes you want me to teach you how to make, I am always up for a challenge!
Happy Eating, I'm off to find sunshine in a shot glass!
- Chef Two Dice
But really, that sounds delicious!