More Potatoes & Sausage

I am finally using up all those potatoes that I have been complaining about for weeks.  I want to thank Lia Hotchkiss for giving me an idea of how to use them, along with some of the packs of sausage that have been lurking in my freezer.  While this isn't exactly the idea she gave me, she gave me a good basis.  I can smell it simmering on the stove and it smells wonderful. Oh, and Lia, thanks for the idea for the ale.  It pulls all of the flavors together nicely!

Rustic Sausage & Potato Soup

• 6 Tbsp olive oil, split
• Water
• 2 lbs red-skin potatoes split*
• 1 large onion*
• 1 medium green pepper*
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
• ½ lb pork sausage*
• ½ lb Italian sausage*
• 4 cups chicken stock
• “Dollop” of Bell’s Best Brown Ale (by dollop, I mean 1 cup)
• Seasonings to taste (salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic & herbs)

1) Wash potatoes, green pepper and mushrooms.  Peel 1 lb of the potatoes and cover with water to 1 inch above.  Place these on the stove, cover and boil until potatoes are cooked (knife pierces potatoes easily).  Allow to cool and then blend until smooth with an immersion blender.

2) Preheat oven to 450F.  Dice remaining potatoes to 1/2" cubes.  Peel and dice onion to same size cubes.  Place all in a ziploc bag.  Pour in 3 Tbsp olive oil and garlic & herbs to taste.  Seal bag and shake until all vegetables are coated.  Pour vegetables onto a prepared cookie sheet and spread to a single layer.  Cook at 450F for 25 minutes, stirring once.

3) Dice green peppers and slice mushrooms.  Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add peppers and mushrooms.  Saute until peppers are starting to become soft.  Add sausages and cook, breaking up as you stir, until the sausages are no longer pink.

4) Combine pureed potatoes and roasted vegetables with sausage and peppers in the Dutch oven.  Add chicken stock, ale and salt & pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until flavors blend.  makes 12 1-cup servings.

*CSA ingredients

Potatoes & Sausage

My husband brought a yam with him when he came to visit this weekend.  I had cooked them for him last weekend and he thought they would make good carbs for his 5K race this morning.  Because the yam was so big, I decided to take some of that, along with potato and sausage and make a quick hash.

Two Potato Sausage Hash

• 1/3 cup cooked yam, diced*
• 1 small redskin potato, finely diced*
• 2 oz pork sausage*
• 1 large egg*
• salt & pepper to taste

 Spray a medium skillet with cooking spray and heat over med-high heat.  Add potato, yam and sausage.  Cook until sausage is no longer pink.  Break egg over top of mixture; cover and cook, about 5 minutes, until egg is cooked but yolk is still runny. Makes 1 serving.

  *CSA ingredients

Pork Loin

As I was researching recipes for ideas of what to do with a small pork tenderloin, I was interested to read a long thread with arguments about whether you could cook a pork loin in a slow-cooker or not.  The people arguing against it claimed that since the loin doesn't have enough fat, it would end up dry and stringy.  The people arguing for it all claimed to have done it with great results.  I have never found a meat that I couldn't cook in my slow-cooker.  I especially like it for Boston butt and whole chickens, but I have only cooked 2 pork loins in my lifetime and both were the prepackaged, pre-marinated types that you really can't mess up.  This is a local pork loin that I received in my CSA this summer.  Since it came to me frozen, I put it in my freezer until I could figure out what to do with it.  I found it today as I was straightening up my freezer and decided to give it a try.  It is is my slow-cooker as I type and I used a recipe I found on www.foodnetwork.com:

Slow-Cooker Parmesan Pork Loin

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/slow-cooker-parmesan-sage-pork-loin-watercress-salad-sliced-pears-goat-cheese-toasted-pine-nuts-recipe/index.html

• 2 pounds diced yukin gold potatoes*
• 1 cup chopped candy-stripe beets*
• 1 cup chopped baby carrots 
• 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 
• 1/2 cup Shock-Top raspberry wheat beer
• 1 (2-pound) pork loin*
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt-free garlic and herb seasoning
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Romano

1. Place diced vegetables into base of slow-cooker. Pour broth and beer over vegetables.

2. Season pork loin with pepper and garlic and herb seasoning.  Place on top of the vegetables.  Sprinkle with grated Romano; press into surface of pork loin.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.  Remove pork from cooker and place on a cutting board; temper the meat for 5 minutes.  Slice pork crosswise into 1/2" slices.  Serve with vegetables.

*CSA ingredients.

As you can see, the meat was very, very well-done.  I cooked this overnight (about 8 hours) and that probably was a bit too long.  The meat is tender and moist, but it fell apart as I tried to cook it.  The other sad thing was the fact that the beets lost all their color in the cooking.  They actually kind of look like turnips now that they are cooked, however, they definitely taste like beets.  This is a very tasty dish, but I would keep the cooking time down to 6 hours the next time I tried it.

Beets

Here is yet another vegetable I have never had before. If you have followed my blog, you know I love beets. In the past, I have used red and golden beets. These were given to us as candy-stripe beets. When I got them, they were bright red on the outside, so, I assumed they were just more golden beets (golden beets have scarlet red skin). When I cut them, however, this is what I saw. These are beautiful beets and I would guess they would make a very pretty salad. I, however,  am using them in a different recipe. Stay tuned!

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Boston Butt

It is patently obvious that we are into the winter CSA. In the first week, we received a 5 lb Boston Butt.  This week, we received a whole free-range chicken, 1 1/2 lbs chorizo and 1 lb of ground beef.  We definitely get our money's worth with all the meat that we receive in the winter.  I used my crockpot to roast my Boston Butt this past week and have been using the pulled pork to make sandwiches, etc all week.  Roasting in a crockpot is so easy:

Slow-cooker Roast Boston Butt

• 1 5lb bone-in Boston Butt (also known as pork shoulder)*
• salt & pepper, to taste

Season roast with salt and pepper to taste.  Place in crock of your slow-cooker and cook on LOW 8-10 hours.  The meat should easily fall apart with a fork.  Remove crock from slow cooker and allow to cool until the roast can be handled with bare hands.  Using two forks, pull the meat apart.  

Some ideas for using your pulled pork include making bbq sandwhiches, making a pork ragu with your favorite tomato sauce, pork omelets, the list could go on and on.  I made bbq pork sandwiches using a barbeque sauce that we received during the summer CSA from Clark Pope catering company.  But you can use your favorite sauce or make one from scratch!

 

Watermelon Radishes

This week we had a choice between braising greens and something called watermelon radishes.  Since I have gotten 5 bags of braising greens in the last few weeks, and I have never even heard of watermelon radishes, I decided to get them.  Watermelon radishes are related to daikon radishes and horseradish.  They are bulbous and about 2-3 times larger than the red radishes that you are used to seeing.  They have white skin, but when you cut them open, you get a surprise.  They are almost hot pink inside.  I opted to bring them to my husband to include in his lunches because I have had reactions to raw radishes.  But they can be pickled (like beets) or cooked (like turnips).  John took a bite and said they sweeter than normal radishes and he is very excited to have them for lunch today.

Pie Pumpkins

Today I roasted a pie pumpkin that I received a couple weeks ago.  This is a very easy procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Remove stem and cut pumpkin in half.

2) Remove seeds and pulp from center of pumpkin; set aside.

3) Place pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a prepared baking sheet, prick in several places with a fork, and bake at 350F until a fork easily pierces the skin and flesh (about 45 minutes for a small to medium pumpkin; longer for bigger pumpkins)

4) Turn pumpkin halves over to cool.  When cool enough to handle, scoop flesh out into a fine sieve and gently turn over to drain excess fluid (the pumpkin I roasted did not have excess fluid and was quite thick.

5) Place flesh into blender and blend until smooth (add liquid if necessary).  And viola!

Now, the flesh is not the only treat from pie pumpkins!  You can also clean and toast the pumpkin seeds!

1) Separate the seeds from the pulp; rinse well and drain in a colander.

2) Spread the seeds out on paper towels to dry.

3) When dry, preheat oven to 325F.  Spread the seeds on a prepared baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt (and other seasoning as you see fit: i.e. chili powder, cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, etc.)

4) Bake until browned, about 25 minutes, checking and stirring at 10 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container.