A healthy breakfast sausage

In an effort to eat more healthily (...you're laughing, aren't you?) our family usually opts for poultry and seafood rather than beef or pork. But one item that has been difficult to do without is breakfast sausage. On Monday through Friday, we dutifully toast whole-grain bread and/or pour skim milk on whole-grain cereals. And truthfully, we're always in a hurry so toast or cereal works for us. But on the weekend, we would like to eat a more leisurely breakfast. In the past, we would enjoy eggs and potatoes with bacon or sausage, but we recognize that those aren't really healthy options. (Sigh!).

I can forgo the fried potatoes (although unwillingly). And actually, eggs are not a bad dietary choice. But what about the "meat"? OK, bacon is out. We occasionally cook "turkey bacon", but honestly, it's not even CLOSE to being bacon, is it?

So what about sausage? Full of fat and guilt. But I think we can change that.

Here is a recipe for homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage that has found a place in our diets, and we hope that you will like it too:

Turkey Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients

• 1 cup quick oats
• 3/4 cup spicy V-8 (or you could use Bloody Mary mix)
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 teaspoon  ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon  salt
• 1/2 teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

1. Soak oats in juice for 15 minutes in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix until very well blended. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log. Wrap and freeze until firm enough to slice, about 1.5 to 2 hours. (Do NOT freeze solid).
2. Cut into 32 slices (about 3/8 inch thick). Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and store in a zip-lock bag for up to 3 months.
3. To cook, pan fry for 8-10 minutes--no need to thaw.

Yukon Gold Potato Pizza

Do you surf the internet? What are your favorite sites? One of my daughters loves Pinterest and pins ideas on home décor, crafts, and gardening. My older daughter likes video games, trains, and anything "Disney". My husband likes cars and websites about travel.

I look at recipes.

I've noticed a recent trend in "potato pizza". OK, I think that could be pretty tasty. I LOVE potatoes. But potatoes on top of a bread crust?  I have also seen recipes for pizza made with a puff pastry crust. Why not combine the two?

Photo Credit: Image by Markus Spiske from Pixabay 

Potato Pizza

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a 17.3-oz. pkg Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets, (1 sheet), thawed
• 3 medium (about 1 lb.) Yukon Gold (waxy) potatoes
• 2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 jar Alfredo pasta sauce
• 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, shaved (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 cup fresh arugula

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14x12-inch rectangle. Place the pastry onto a baking sheet. Brush the edges of the pastry with water. Fold over the edges 1/2 inch on all sides, crimping with a fork to form a rim. Prick the center of the pastry thoroughly with a fork. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. While the pastry is chilling, prepare the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Fill a large pot with the potato slices. Add enough water to cover the potatoes. Add two teaspoons of salt to the water and place the pot over a high flame. Once the water boils, reduce the heat to medium and cover. Check the potatoes after about 5 minutes--you want them to be crisp-tender because they will cook on top of the pizza.
4. Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat; sauté the onions until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rosemary. Cook and stir for 5 minutes.
5. Spoon the onion mixture onto the pastry. Cover it with the potato slices, then drizzle with the Alfredo sauce.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with the shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Let the pastry cool on the

Copycat Recipes - Olive Garden's Cheese-Filled Soffatelli

First, let me state that I do not have a fear of dining in restaurants. 

My family has (finally) grown accustomed to my desire to create everything and anything related to food in our kitchen. While others watch an advertisement for a local restaurant and say "Mmmm, that sounds good. Let's go there to eat", I always say "Mmmm, that sounds good. I'll bet I can make that."

Such is the case with a 2011 television commercial for Olive Garden's cheese-filled soffatelli. I have no problem with the folks who operate Olive Garden. I've eaten there many times and have enjoyed every meal. But..... I also enjoy cooking, enjoy finding ways of making new things, and enjoy Italian food. So, why not try to replicate a recipe from a place I hold dear in my heart?

Well, I never tasted the soffatelli at Olive Garden. And it is no longer on the menu. So, I'm exercising a tremendous amount of ego to offer this recipe, and, if you use it, you are taking a giant leap of faith in my culinary skills. Let's jump off that cliff together, OK?

Olive Garden's Cheese-Filled Soffatelli

Ingredients

• 1 17.3 oz package puff pastry sheet, thawed
• 1 package Stouffer's Spinach Souffle (see note below)
• cooking spray
• One 8-oz packageSargento Fancy Shredded 6 Cheese Italian Cheese
• 2 whole fresh lemons
• 1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Puff pastry sheets are typically found in the frozen food section at your grocers. Unwrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to thaw. There are two sheets in each package. Unfold them, and cut each into 4 pieces, to make 8 squares total.
3. Remove the spinach souffle from its package. Lift one corner of the plastic wrap to vent; cook on full power in the microwave for 5 minutes. Remove, stir and return to the microwave. Cook for another 2 minutes. The mixture will be almost firm but not fully cooked. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
4. Divide the spinach souffle mixture into 8 equal pieces. Place one piece on each puff pastry square. Top each spinach souffle mound with 1 tablespoon of Italian cheese.
5. Bring the corners of each puff pastry up to the center—pinch together and seal the sides to form square "envelopes".
6. Lightly coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place spinach/cheese-filled puff pastry envelopes on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees F. for about 20 minutes, or until well-browned and puffed.
7. While the puffs are baking, prepare the sauce.
8. Using a zester, remove the yellow portion only of the lemon rind (don't cut into the white pith--it's bitter) and set aside. Mince the parsley until you have about 3/4 cup.
9. Heat the butter and olive oil over low heat. Add the minced garlic and lemon rind; cook until the garlic and lemon are fragrant and then remove from heat. Stir in the minced parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Divide the sauce among 8 serving plates and place one baked soffatelli on top of each.

NOTE: What if you don't have/can't find Stouffer's spinach souffle? You can make your own. Here's the recipe:

Substitution for Stouffers Spinach Souffle

• 9 cups fresh spinach, lightly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Wash spinach leaves. Place in a large (5-6 quart) pan. Cover and cook, stirring several times, until leaves are wilted. Pour leaves into a colander set in a bowl; let drain. When cool to the touch, squeeze excess liquid from the spinach with your hands. Reserve liquid.

In a food processor or blender, puree spinach with 3 tablespoons of the reserved liquid, eggs, flour, garlic, and lemon peel. Add salt to taste.

Retro Recipe to Remember Mom

I'm thinking about my mom today, born in 1908 in rural Montana. She was the youngest of six, a first-generation American. She and her family were sugarbeet sharecroppers and lived in a railroad boxcar. Humble beginnings. 

English was her second language, and she dropped out of school in the 6th grade. But, she was a phenomenal baker. These rolls were her specialty. 

Mom started baking these sweet rolls when they appeared in a Pillsbury bake-off cookbook as a 1955 Grand Prize Winner. Pillsbury has updated the recipe, and the link for that is here. However, I'm going to share the original with you below.

Photo Credit: Pillsbury

Ingredients

• 2 packets of active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup hot scalded milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 unbeaten eggs
• 4 to 4 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• nut filling (below)

Instructions

1. Soften the yeast in warm water; set aside.
2. Combine the butter and scalded milk in a large mixing bowl. Cool to lukewarm.
3. Add the yeast/water, sugar, salt, and eggs.
4. Stir in the flour to form a stiff dough. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Prepare the nut filling.
6. Roll out dough on a floured surface to a 22x12-inch rectangle. Cover half of the dough, along the long side, with the filling. Fold the remaining dough over the filling.
7. Cut crosswise into 1-inch strips. Twist each strip 4 or 5 times. Then hold one end down on a greased baking sheet and begin to wind into a spiral. Tuck the end under. Repeat with the remaining strips. 
8. Cover and let rise in a warm place until light and doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. 

Nut filling - Cream 1/3 cup butter. Blend in 1 cup of sifted confectioners sugar. Add 1 cup walnuts, ground or chopped very fine.

How to Make Herb-Infused Oil

"Sometimes less is more." —Robert Browning

Browning penned that phrase in his 1855 poem "The Faultless Painter", a melancholy verse of love and loss. It was repeated again by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in describing post World War II architectural style.

And it also could describe our relationship with fresh herbs.

• Some recipes cry out for huge handfuls of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. But other times, we need something a bit less assertive. Something more subtle and nuanced.
• Then again, sometimes we find ourselves with a dearth of fresh herbs to use up (before they perish), and what to do?

Both of these dilemmas cry out for the same resolution--the creation of herb-infused oil.

I love rosemary-infused oil—a drizzle on hot cooked pasta is absolutely heavenly. Tarragon oil is wonderful as a finishing touch on a chicken salad, and basil oil on a slice of artisanal bread is almost like being in Tuscany.

Making your own herb-infused oil is easy—just be sure to always use sterilized jars and bottles and make sure that your fresh herbs are clean, dry, and free of any chemicals.

Herb-Infused Oil

Equipment you will need

• Slow cooker (crockpot)
• Small mixing bowl
• Fine-mesh strainer
• Funnel
• Clean bottles or jars with air-tight lids

Ingredients (for each infusion)

• 1 cup mild olive oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup packed chopped fresh herbs (reduce to 1/4 cup if infusing rosemary)

Instructions

Place the oil and herbs in the crockpot. Leave uncovered and cook at 'High' for one hour.

• Turn off the heat and allow the oil and herbs to cool for about 1/2 hour.
• Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl.
• Allow to cool completely and then decant into bottles using the funnel to avoid drips and spills.
• Store in the refrigerator for up to one week. (Note that olive oil becomes cloudy under refrigeration but will be clear again once at room temperature).

How to Use Herb-Oils

Basil, originally native to India, has been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years. Depending on the species and cultivar, the leaves of basil may taste somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, often sweet smell.

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) is often featured in Italian cuisine. Thai basil (O. basilicum var. thysiflora) plays a major role in the cuisine of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Taiwan.

Basil oil is wonderful as:

• A dip for crusty French or Italian bread
• Drizzled over fresh tomatoes
• The oil in which to sauté bread cubed for croutons
• The oil in which to prepare an omelet

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is an aromatic evergreen shrub with pine-like needles and white, pink blue, or purple flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean area, but hardy in most cool climates.

Rosemary oil can be used to:

• Drizzle over cooked pasta
• Sauté shrimp
• Add to mashed potatoes

Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) has narrow, pointed gray-green leaves with distinctive anise or licorice flavor and is one of the 4 fines herbes of French cooking.

Tarragon oil can be:

• Drizzled over cooked, roasted asparagus or cooked carrots
• Used to garnish fresh pea soup
• Stirred into chicken salad
• Used to sauté fish fillets

Chives (allium schoenoprasum) are a member of the onion family—a perennial plant native to Europe, Asia, and North America. Unlike other "onions," you do not harvest by pulling the bulb from the ground. Simply snip off the green tops and leave the bulb in the ground. They will regrow year after year. In fact, they will multiply. The pink blossoms are also edible. My favorite way to use them is as a pretty garnish on a salad.

You can use chive oil to:

• Make an omelet
• Sauté bread cubes for croutons
• Garnish soups
• Brush on any grilled meat or fish

Is Spinach Quiche an Oxymoron?

In 1982 Bruce Feirstein authored "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche", a bestselling book satirizing stereotypes of masculinity.  It popularized the term quiche-eater, meaning a man who is a dilettante, a trend-chaser, an over-anxious conformist to fashionable forms of 'lifestyle', and socially correct behaviors and opinions, one who eschews (or merely lacks) the traditional masculine virtue of tough self-assurance.

A 'traditional' male might enjoy egg-and-bacon pie if his wife served it to him; a quiche-eater or Sensitive Guy would make the dish himself, call it by its French name quiche, and serve it to his female life partner to demonstrate his empathy with the Women's Movement. And then he would wash the dishes.

The antithesis of "quiche-eater"? Well, it's Popeye, of course. Long before Superman, Batman, or even Captain Marvel there was Popeye--a squint-eyed cartoon-character sailor with enormous forearms. Despite his grumpy-looking exterior, he was kind of heart and engaged in fighting only when forced into righting a wrong. And, he gained his super strength from eating spinach.

So, is spinach quiche an oxymoron?

Photo Credit: Image by hcdeharder from Pixabay 

Speedy Spinach Quiche

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained well
• 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup low-fat or non-fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 

Instructions

Melt the butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add spinach and stir until spinach is dry, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Sprinkle both cheeses over the bottom of the unbaked pastry shell. Top with spinach mixture. Beat eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a large bowl to blend. Pour over spinach. Bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve.

Perfect Rhubarb Crumble Pie

I love rhubarb--tart, tangy ruby-red rhubarb. It's one of the first plants to pop up in my Springtime garden. Actually, it's the only food crop that appears in my garden at any time of year. I live in "deer country".

Bambi and company don't just wander through occasionally. They live here. In the morning they munch on the salal, at noon they frolic through the flower beds after a short nap on the back lawn, and in the evening they bed down under the cedars.

Nothing is off-limits to our four-hooved friends....nothing, that is, except for the rhubarb.

Spring in our part of the world is cool and rainy. I'm thankful that we are not blanketed with snow, but the days can seem rather dreary; at times the gray skies are a bit depressing. However those cool rains reward us with a fresh new crop of rhubarb just begging to be picked, so today I gathered a few plump stalks and decided to prepare one of my family's favorites -- rhubarb crumble pie.

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pastry shell
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 5 teaspoon cornstarch
• 4 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

Instructions

1. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Add rhubarb slices and toss until all slices are covered with the sugar-cornstarch mixture. Set aside for about 10 minutes or until sugar appears moist.
2. Place the rhubarb-sugar-cornstarch mixture in the unbaked pastry shell.
3. Place flour, butter or margarine, and brown sugar in another mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour and sugar with a pastry blender until the mixture has the appearance of coarse crumbs. Place this crumble mixture atop the rhubarb in the pastry shell, spreading to evenly cover the rhubarb.
4. Chill the prepared pie in the refrigerator for one hour. (This resting time will allow the cornstarch to begin to thicken the pie filling).
5. After one hour, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake pie in preheated oven for 50 minutes or until crumble topping and pastry edges appear golden brown.

New Recipe - Barley RIsotto

A Different Type of Risotto

Risotto is an Italian dish—rice slowly cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. Yes, it takes a bit of time (about 30 minutes) but is really quite easy.

I found barley on sale today at my local grocery store and so we're taking a slight detour from tradition. In fact, I'm not sure we can even accurately call this "risotto" because it's made with barley instead of rice. However, both rice and barley are grasses and the techniques used to cook them are very similar.

What are the Health Benefits of Barley?

Barley is truly a super-food. Not only does it taste great (nutty and chewy); but it's also high in fiber. That fiber makes it an excellent choice for lowering blood cholesterol levels, protecting against atherosclerosis, ischemic stroke, diabetes, insulin resistance, and obesity, and lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Cook Time

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 45 min

Ready in: 1 hour

Yields: 4 servings

Barley Risotto

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon or turkey bacon
• 3 tsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup onion, minced
• 1 cup barley
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Place chopped bacon and 1 tsp. olive oil in a sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Bring broth and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
3. Place the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil, sliced mushrooms, and minced onion in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mushrooms begin to give off their liquid and brown, and onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
4. Add barley and stir so that all grains are coated with olive oil.
5. Add 1/2 cup wine to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is mostly evaporated.
6. Turn the heat to low. Add 1/2 cup broth to the pan and cook until most of the broth is absorbed.
7. Continue to add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and cook until barley is cooked through; about 35 to 45 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and reserved cooked bacon.