Tag: gluten free

Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy

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I don’t know about you, but after the third turkey leftover meal, I am about done with turkey for a while.  It’s time to change things up come December and I’ve got a special treat to kick things off.  Nothing says good old American ‘stick to your ribs’ comfort good like Pot Roast!  And with my recipe for Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy, it’s a one pot meal you will be sure to keep in your Sunday dinner arsenal.

Start by clipping some bacon into a dutch oven. I am using my Pampered Chef Roc Crock Dutch Oven.

Cook bacon until crisp and set aside. Reserve the bacon fat in the pan.

I am using a 3lb. Boneless Chuck Roast for this recipe.

Use a good kosher salt in this recipe.

Spread the salt evenly on all sides of the meat. You can do this ahead of time if you like. Doing it up to 8 hours ahead of time allows the salt to really get into the meat.

Dredge all sides of the meat in flour.

Shake off the excess.

Place meat in the heated bacon grease on med/high heat.

It’s o.k. for this process to take time, you really can’t rush it. The more patience you have during this step in the process, the more flavor you will have in your dish.

Peel and cut carrots into 2″-3″ segments.

These are little red potatoes, the largest is probably 2″ in diameter.

Add carrots in over the potatoes.

Over the carrots and potatoes add in a couple stems each of rosemary and thyme.

Next, place the meat on top of the potatoes and carrots. Then spread frozen pearl onions on top of that.

Add in red wine.

Cover and place in a preheated oven at 275°F for about 3 hours.

AAA

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You can use any type of domestic or portabella mushroom in this or really whichever kind you like. These white button mushrooms were on sale this week, so that’s what I used here. You want to brush them clean, no water and cut off any really blackened ends.

Quarter the mushrooms. I like quartering in this instance because I like more of a chunck to this gravy. If you like them smaller, by all means chop them up however you see fit. If you don’t happen to care for mushrooms, you can of course omit them.

Now it’s time for your reserved crispy bacon.

Melt a half a stick of butter into your pan. Remember you poured your liquid into another container for now, so your pot should look like this one.

Grab one large clove of garlic.

Slice it up pretty thinly.

Saute garlic, mushrooms and bacon in the butter.

I am using flour to thicken the gravy. If you are doing this in a gluten free mannor, swap out the flour for cornstarch.

Spread the flour over the contentts of then pan. Mix it around and cook for a minute or two.

Now add in your reserved cooking liquid.

Bring the liquid up to a boil for about one minute, then shut off and serve in a gravy boat.

Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

3lb. Chuck Roast

1 cup flour or corn flour

2 Tbs. kosher salt

Olive oil for frying.

4 medium carrot

9 small red potatoes

1 cup pearl onions

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

3 slices of bacon

1-1 1/2 cups red wine 

Directions:

Salt all sides of the meat. Dredge in flour and shake off ane excess. Fry up the chopped bacon, remove bacon and set aside for gravy, reserve fat in pan.  While on med/high, sear all sides of beef.  remove and set aside to build pot.  Place potatoes in bottom of pan, then top with carrots, rosemary and thyme.  Place beef on vegetables and top with pearl onions. Add in 1-1/1/2 cups of red wine.

For gravy:

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup flour or corn starch

6 mushrooms, quartered

1 garlic clove, sliced

reserved bacon bits

1 1 1/2- 2  cups reserved liquid from roast

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt butter into the pot where the roast was made.  Add in garlic, bacon and mushroom, saute.  Once mushrooms are tender add in flour.  Cook flour for about a minute or two while stirring.  Add in reserved cooking broth.  Bring to a boil for about one minute or so.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

*By switching from flour to corn flour and corn starch, this recipe can easily become gluten-free.

Roasted Pumpkin Pie Tarts

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No dessert says the holidays like Pumpkin Pie… For years I made my pumpkin pies like most everyone else in America, with a can stuffed with pureed pumpkin.  Until I started wondering why I was tossing out all my Halloween pumpkins and going to the grocery store to buy what I just threw out!  I had to stop the madness!  So, I started roasting my own pumpkin and mashing it up myself.  What I discovered was that the taste of a roasted pumpkin simply does not come in a can! Who would have thought???

It did take a little trial and error at first, this was before the days of Pinterest after all.  So what I learned was that you don’t want water-logged pumpkin pie, pumpkin requires a little draining, no biggie.  A pumpkin, even a small one is more than enough for one or even two pumpkin pies, so freezing the remaining pulp is a great idea.  And low and behold, one does not need condensed milk to make pumpkin pie! Go figure!

This is a super flavorful and healthy pumpkin pie recipe that can be made into single serving size tarts like I show here, or into a full size pie! Just use your favorite pie crust, either one you are making yourself or right out of the box, either way, this filling is amazing!  Just two simple extra steps and you get to utilize those Halloween pumpkins for more than Roasted Pumpkin Seeds and forget about using bland canned pie filling forever!

This pumpkin pie starts with a pumpkin… crazy I know!

Cut your small pumpkin in half.

Scoop out the pumpkin seeds and set aside for roasting!

Once your pumpkin is hallowed out, it’s time to roast it.

Spray a parchment lined cookie sheet with some non-stick cooking spray.

Roast for about 1 1/2 -2 hours until the skin buckles when touched.

This is what it looks like when roasted.

Scoop the flesh out from the skin.

Discard the skin. (this is great for your compost pile if you have one)

Place the flesh directly into a strainer set over a bowl. You want to drain any excess liquid.

Here is the liquid that came out of my pumpkin after a few hours of draining. I likely would have gotten a bit more had i done this over night.

Now mash the pumpkin and scoop out two cups full.

Place your two measured cups of roasted mashed pumpkin in a mixing bowl and store the rest for another pie or soup… this freezes well.

Add in 1/2 cup of half and half.

Some raw honey.

Cinnamon

Ground ginger.

Add in some fresh nutmeg… please do not replace the fresh nutmeg with the jarred stuff, it is not the same at all and will significantly change the flavor of your pie. If you do not have fresh nutmeg, simply omit the ingredient.

Add in two eggs.

Salt.

Mix.

Add in sugar.

Mix again.

This is the Pampered Chef Brownie Pan, it’s great for making small tarts and single portion foods.

Roll out your favorite pie crust.

Cut into square pieces to match the tart tray.

Spray with non-stick cooking spray and start forming your shells.

Once they are all formed you are ready to start filling.

I am using the large Pampered Chef Cookie scoop here.

Fill each shell.

Once they are all filled, they are ready for the oven.

Once they are all filled, they are ready for the oven.

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Roasted Pumpkin Pie Tarts

Serves 18

Ingredients:

1 small (3-4lb.) pumpkin

1/2 cup half and half

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 heaping Tbs. raw honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

8-10 grates of nutmeg

2 pie crusts

cooking spray

Directions:

To prepare Roasted Pumpkin:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.  Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and place both halves cut side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Roast for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until tender.  Allow to cool.  Remove flesh from skin and place in a strainer set over a bowl to drain for a few hours.

To make tarts:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Mash drained pumpkin.  Measure 2 cups of mashed pumpkin and place in a mixing bowl.  Add in all ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Cut and fit crust into pie plates or tart pans.  Fill with mixture and Bake for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown on top.

Allow to cool, enjoy!

*Gluten-free when using a gluten free pie crust.

Semi-Homemade Cherry Cheesecake Pie

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Each and every winter holiday HAS to include my Cherry Cheesecake Pie! It’s a must.  My dad and uncles ask for it each and every year and would be terribly disappointed if it didn’t make it’s way onto the dessert table! My mom used to make this growing up for every winter occasion and over time the responsibility got transferred to me, gladly.  This recipe is so easy.  It’s so easy in fact that it wasn’t until very recently that I ever really made a real actual cheese cake!

This pie hits all the flavor notes you look for in a cheesecake and it’s creamy and velvety to boot.  This could quite possibly be the easiest cheesecake recipe you will ever find! Half the ingredients are ready-made, which makes it a piece of cake, or pie as it were.  And the filling itself is a grand total of 4 ingredients!  With the pre-made pie crust and pre-made topping, that’s 6 ingredients!  So, if you have been asked to bring desert and you are looking for something quick and easy that will please a crowd, I highly suggest giving this recipe a try!

On this specific night, I made a cheesecake pie for dessert at my book club.  Normally, I make two of these babies and put topping on one and leave the other plain.  But, my book club is made up of a small group of ladies and so one was just fine.  The only issue was that neither of my sisters like cherry topping, they prefer their cheesecake pie plain.  So, I solved the issue by leaving the pie naked and serving the topping in a bowl on the side.  Which worked out great because I got to have extra topping! Haha!

Let me show you how I do it!

Start by adding two bars of room temperature cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Mix for about 2 minutes on high.

Add in one egg and scrape down the sides. Beat on high another minute until egg is fully combined.

Add in sugar.

And vanilla.

Unwrap a pre-made graham cracker pie crust.

Add mixture to the crust.

Smooth it out. Pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes or so at 350°F.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes until you start to see golden brown spots on top. When it comes out of the oven, it will be a bit puffy and have some cracks in it. This is normal.

The puff will fall, the cracks will remain.

Grab a can of pre-made pie filling, if you don’t like cherry, you could use blueberry or strawberry, heck even peach if you like.

Cover the top of the pie with the filling or dish it out individually like this. Place the pie slice on a plate and keep the filling in a bowl for people to help themselves.

Then each person can put as much or as little as they like.

Then each person can put as much or as little as they like.

Semi-Homemade Cherry Cheesecake Pie

 Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 bars cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. real vanilla extract

1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust

1 can cherry pie filling

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add in 2 bars of cream cheese and beat on high for about 2 minutes until it is completely smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in egg and beat on high for another minute until completely incorporated.  Scrape down the sides again and add in sugar and vanilla and beat again until completely incorporated.

Pour mixture into the pre-made pie crust and smooth out.  Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown spots start to form on top.  Allow to cool and add topping as desired.

*When using a gluten-free cookie base, this recipe is easily made into a gluten-free recipe.  The filling is gluten-free. Check can ingredients for the topping.

Roasted Chouriço & Potatoes (Batatas Assadas com Chouiço)

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The holiday’s are a special time.  It’s a time of year that all the traditional family recipes really shine!  Each year my sister prepares Roasted Chouriço and Potatoes for Thanksgiving because this is her favorite dish.  And I can’t say I blame her.

With the delicious traditional Portuguese flavors in full swing, these potatoes become tender and velvety.  And if you slice up a piece of the chouriço with some of the potato on your fork you end up with magic in your mouth!

If you are Portuguese, this recipe (or your family’s version of this recipe) may already be on your table.  If not, you might be looking for a new and interesting side dish to serve alongside your green bean casserole.  You may have guests that don’t care for turkey and would appreciate a different protein being offered.  Or hey, maybe you are going as a guest and want to offer to bring something you will enjoy and can impress the host with something unique.  Any way you slice it, this recipe fits the bill!  And if you have vegetarians among you, this recipe can easily be made without the chouriço!

Start with a clean bowl. This one is the Pampered Chef Small Batter Bowl, I love it because it’s like a giant measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring (and its oven and microwave safe!).

Open a small can of tomato sauce.

I used the Pampered Chef Can Opener to do this and so I have no sharp edges.

Pour sauce into bowl.

Add in Portuguese All Spice. If you don’t have this available to you locally, I posted the recipe for it at the bottom of my Beef Stew recipe, just take a look.

Add spice into sauce.

Add in a few spoon fulls of Portuguese Ground Red Pepper.

Add in half a beer (about 3/4 cup.

Add in kosher salt.

Crush a couple cloves of fresh garlic.

Dice it up and add it into the sauce.

Add in garlic and give the sauce a good stir.

Thinly slice half a large onion.

Place potatoes in baking dish. I am using the Pampered Chef Square Baker stone.

Cut up your chouriço into chunks.

Place in dish with potatoes.

Spread onions over top.

Pour sauce over top. Be sure to coat each potato.

Once all your potatoes are covered with sauce, cover with foil.

Once pan is covered in foil, place in a 375°F oven for 2-21/2 hours until potatoes are fork tender.

When potatoes are fork tender, remove foil and turn all the potatoes again coating them with sauce and roast another 1/2 hour or so.

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Roasted Chouriço & Potatoes

Serves 6-9

Ingredients:

8-9 medium potatoes, peeled

1/2 lb. chouriço, sliced into 9 chunks

1/2 onion, sliced thinly

1 small can tomato sauce

1/2 beer (about 3/4 cup)

3 Tbs. Portuguese Ground Red Pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. Portuguese All Spice

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.

In a medium mixing bowl add in sauce, beer, All Spice, garlic, salt and pepper.  Arrange potatoes, chouriço and onions in a baking dish.  Pour sauce over the potatoes, chouriço and onions being sure to coat each potato.  Cover with foil and roast for 2-2 1/2 hours until potatoes are fork tender.  Once potatoes are tender, remove foil and turn potatoes so they get again coated with sauce, roast for an additional 1/2 hour uncovered.  Serve hot. Enjoy!

*this is a gluten-free recipe.

Roasted Chicken

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done1Ah the roasted chicken.  One of life’s culinary treasures.  A perfectly roasted chicken is a gem in any cook’s repertoire.  This recipe is a simple lemon herb roasted chicken and lends itself to a delicious gravy with a roasting rack made up of onions, lemons, carrots, garlic and compound butter and a lovely white wine.

I am forever surprised at just how many people have never made a whole roasted chicken either because they think it is too much work or they are intimidated by the prospect of cleaning and dressing the chicken.  Well rest assured, this recipe includes no giblets, no twine and minimal cleaning.  In fact this recipe is one of the easiest roasted chicken recipes you’ll find, you don’t even need a special pan.

This week, I am starting with your run of them mill roasting chicken.

The first step is to find a pan that will adequately fit your chicken… This Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker looks just about right.

I remove the inside and toss them… Many people use these contents in gravy or stuffing, not me.

I then start to build a rack in the bottom of my pan. I suppose I could use a pan with a rack, but this is a delicious solution to not having a rack!

Crush up some garlic.

Add the garlic in.

Add on olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

I know a lot of people say you don’t need to wash your chicken, but I always do, and then I dry it up. The next few steps require the skin to be dry.

Next we will work on stuffing the chicken. Now, you really shouldn’t use actual stuffing to stuff your chicken as it will take you double time to cook it and the outter limbs of the chicken will be over cooked while the breast stays raw…. My point is it leads to uneven cooking and the stuffing rarely will get cooked all the way through. But I do like to put some things in that have moister and flavor.

So I start with some onions. Just a couple.

Then some lemon slices.

Again, we don’t want to over stuff, but some liquid in the cavity will help to keep the chicken moist.

Then take some more of that crushed garlic and pop it in there.

Add those lemons to the bottom rack too.

I like to keep fresh herbs on my windowsill. I find this to be much more economical than buying them each time I need them. Not to mention they are pretty.

So we will need Rosemary and Tyme.

Don’t forget that everything you do to the bottom cavity needs to also be done in the neck cavity.

Next step is to prepare a compound butter.  Compound butters are a great way to impart flavor right in with the fat.

My thyme is young and so the stems are not woody and they can get chopped without de-stemming. But, the rosemary stem is pretty woody and so leaves should be removed before chopping.
Mince up the herbs.
Slice up 3/4 of a stick of unsalted butter.
Add the herbs in.
Then add in kosher salt. At this point you can add whatever flavor you like… pepper, corriander, ginger etc. For this basic recipe, I am keeping it simple.
With a fork, mashe the salt and herbs in with the butter.

I have a pretty large chicken and so I will use this entire amount. But if you want to prepare this ahead of time to use with your Thanksgiving turkey or just so you don’t have to repeat this stem… you can just roll it into a log, wrap in wax paper and freeze, then use what you like. Compound butter is great on steak, veggies, egg noodles, you name it!

I will start by putting some in each cavity.

Then the best way to really infuse the flavor into the meat of the chicken, your best bet is to go in under the skin. Gently lift the skin and you may need to gently separate the skin from the breast with your fingers. (be aware of rings you may have on)

And then take some butter and work it up under the skin.

Continue spreading the skin as you add it in... Then once it is in, it can be smooshed around from the outside of the skin.

Continue spreading the skin as you add it in… Then once it is in, it can be smooshed around from the outside of the skin.

Next, I fold in the winds.

You want to pin it down behind the bird.

You want to pin it down behind the bird.

This helps with even cooking. Some people like to also tie up the legs, I find that leads to longer cooking time.

This helps with even cooking. Some people like to also tie up the legs, I find that leads to longer cooking time.

Add in some of the compound butter to the rack.

Add in some of the compound butter to the rack.

Once you have butter under the skin, its time to slather it all over the outside. This is why it is really important to have dry chicken. Butter won’t stick to water.

Place your chicken on your rack and add in your last addition. There is a lot of moisture with the onions and lemon, but that isn't enough. The last addition is some dry white wine. Be sure the wine you use is a decent drinking wine. This will flavor your chicken as well as keeping it moist.

Place your chicken on your rack and add in your last addition. There is a lot of moisture with the onions and lemon, but that isn’t enough. The last addition is some dry white wine. Be sure the wine you use is a decent drinking wine. This will flavor your chicken as well as keeping it moist.

I like to cover with some foil… but in order to do that and not have it stick, I spray my foil with cooking spray.

I am covering lightly as you can see. I like the hot air circulating. Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking to brown skin.

Baste chicken throughout the cooking process. When the temperature in the deepest part of the breast comes to between 160°F – 165°F, you are ready to take the chicken out of the oven and cover immediately with foil for 15 minutes or so.

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Roasted Chicken

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 6-8lb. roasting chicken

2 carrots, largely chopped

2 onions, quartered

1 lemon, sliced

3/4 stick unsalted butter, sliced rm temp

4-5 cloves garlic, crushed

4 sprigs rosemary, stripped, divided

6 sprigs thyme, divided

kosher salt

olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

cooking spray

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  Make compound butter: add chopped rosemary and thyme to softened butter with a tsp. kosher salt, mash together.  Remove giblets bag from cavity of chicken.  Wash and dry chicken and place on a washable mat.  Find a roasting pan large enough to accommodate chicken and vegetables.

Create rack for chicken:  in the bottom of your roasting pan add in chopped carrots, one onion diced into eighthed cubes, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 2-3 slices of lemon a sprinkle of salt (about 1 tsp) and a swig of olive oil (about 2 Tbs.) and 2-3 Tbs. of compound butter.  Add in 1/2 cup dry white wine.

In the cavities of the chicken add in a couple cubes of onion, a couple slices of lemon, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 sprig of rosemary and 1 sprig of thyme.  Be careful not to over stuff the cavities of the chicken.  Add in 1 Tbs. compound butter to the cavities.

Then making sure the skin of the chicken is dry, place chicken on your vegetable rack in the roasting pan and slather with remaining compound butter.  Spray foil with cooking spray.  Cover loosely with foil.

Place in 375°F oven for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F for 30 minutes and baste throughout cooking.  At this point check temp of chicken breast… overall cooking times will vary, but for planning, plan about 12-15 minutes per pound of chicken.  So for an 8lb. chicken you are looking at roughly 2 hours of roasting time.  When you are nearing the end of cooking, remove foil for the last 30 minutes or so.

*This is a gluten-free recipe.

 

Basic Mashed Potatoes

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November is here!  It is officially time to start thinking about holiday menus and gathering recipes old and new.  On our Thanksgiving table we always have some classics, some family favorites that are now tradition and I always look for one or two recipes that can liven things up a bit.

One of my family’s old staples is of course a big bowl of old-fashioned Basic Mashed Potatoes.  The mashed potato is one of the simplest tastes there can be with one of the biggest impacts on your table.  If they are done incorrectly it could potentially ruin the whole meal.  It’s a good thing that they are pretty easy to make!

There are companies out there who have made millions on that powdered stuff that is supposed to pass for mashed potatoes.  I never quite understood how or why anyone would go through all the work of making those fake mashed potatoes when the real thing takes about 5 minutes longer to make with basically the same cost or even less.  To me the pay off of that 5 minutes is immeasurable.  When you bite into a creamy, hearty, buttery bite of simple mashed potato, you’ve really got something special.  A good mashed potato is meant to be a back drop for all the other wonderful savory food you have on your table.

So whether it is along side your Thanksgiving turkey, meatloaf, steak, pork roast or any number of different dishes, please take the extra 5 minutes to peel up some potatoes.  I promise it will be worth every bite!

Let me show you how I do it…

I either use all-purpose white potatoes or Yukon Gold… they are both good, it depends on what I have on hand at the time.

I like a smaller dice on my potatoes so they cook faster, but remember the smaller you dice, the less starch there will be. Put your potatoes in cold water to start, add a good pinch of salt and boil until fork tender.

Salted butter. I slice it just so it melts in quicker.

Drain water from pot and add in the salted butter.

Fresh cracked black pepper is key.

Heavy cream. Sometimes if I just have 1/2 and 1/2 I use that, but anything with a lower fat content than that makes for a not so creamy mash.

Kosher salt to taste.

I use a good old-fashioned masher. I am not a fan of the masher with the grid, I like this one with the zig zag lines. You could whip your potatoes in the mixer, but then you would have whipped potatoes, not mashed.

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Basic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 stick salted butter, sliced

1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste

6 cracks fresh black pepper

8 qts. cold water

Directions:

In a pot that will accommodate your water and potatoes leaving room to boil place potatoes, then cover with about 1/2″ -1″ cold water.  Add in a good pinch of salt.  Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Remove from heat and drain once potatoes are fork tender (about 20 minutes).

Add in butter, cream, salt and pepper.  Mash well with a potato masher.

Serve hot, enjoy!

*note – this is a completely gluten-free recipe.

Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake

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My husband often works pretty late and on occasion, I will have a meeting to get to late into the evening as well.  On nights like that I am thankful to have the support of my parents who adore my children.  And my kids love going over to Vavó and Vavô’s house!  But, my mom also works all day, so when they will be there up until bed time and the kid’s need supper, I like to bring by something ready to put in the oven when I can.  something easy and portable is this “Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake”!

Of course if I am making this and bringing it to my parent’s house, then that leaves my husband to fend for himself, not to mention a hungry me when I get home… So, what I decided to do to solve that issue was to make one big batch and divide it among two smaller baking dishes, which was more than enough to feed both homes! (Of course you could make this recipe and freeze half too! – just freeze before the final step of popping it in the oven)

This recipe is great for kids because it has a fun cork screw pasta, cheese and it’s not spicy at all… Of course you could kick it up by using a spicy sausage and spicing up the sauce a bit, but my kids love this version and since Mom and Dad were out working late, the kids win.  It’s got all the same ingredients of a lasagna, but it’s got some semi-homemade ingredients like an easy jarred marinara and it takes about 20 minutes tops to prepare! Then, just pop it in the oven and serve!

This meal is easy enough to be a week night meal, pack away as a freezer meal or serve to a crowd! Let me show you how I did it…

Pick a fun tubular pasta with ridges… I like Cavatappi, it looks like a cork screw. Start this boiling before you do anything else so it can be ready when you finish with the other steps.

Take one package (5-6 links) of Italian Sausage, sweet or hot and take the casings off… Today, I went with sweet because it’s meant to feed the kids. Place in a large skillet over medium heat. I like using sausage in this because it cuts down on some of your work be providing flavor right off the bat, plus my husband loves Italian Sausage.  But, if you wanted to use some ground beef or turkey, that would be fine too! You could even make the sauce without any meat at all!

Dice up an onion.

Add the onions right in with the sausage and add just a splash of olive oil right on top to help them get going.

You want to render out the fat from the sausage and bring everything to a golden brown color. If you have some extra fat in the pan you can either drain it or leave it… I didn’t have much fat left in my pan at all.

Now here is the “Easy” in “Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake”… Add in one jar of your favorite ready-made Marinara Sauce.

For some additional moisture and body add in one can of diced tomatoes… If your family is not a fan of chunks of tomatoes in their food, you should still add in one can of tomato sauce.

Add the tomatoes right in, you want them to cook down a bit.

Add in about 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper.

Place two cups of ricotta cheese in a bowl.

Add two eggs in with the ricotta.

Here is another “easy” ingredient… Add in 1/2 cup of pre-grated parmesan cheese.

Stir together making sure to really work those eggs in.

Next, add in some shredded mozzarella cheese.

Once you have a smooth consistency, add in some Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Once your pasta is drained, add in cheese.

Stir together.

Either divide among two baking dishes like I did, or use one 9″x13″ baking dish.

This is a block of mozzarella… You can find it right in the regular dairy case.

For this recipe, you can dice up about half the block.

Dot the top of cheesy pasta with half of your cubed mozzarella.

Pour the sauce on top.

Spread the sauce.

Dot the top with the remaining cubed mozzarella and some additional shredded mozzarella. Then add on a dash of grated parmesan. Now you are ready to wrap this and pop in the fridge for later or bake.  Whenever you are ready to bake, just place in a 350°F oven for 30 mins.

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Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

1 box Cavatappi Pasta, cooked to al dente

For the sauce:

5-6 links Italian Sausage, casing removed

1 onion, diced

1 tsp. olive oil

1 jar marinara sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tsp. Italian seasoning mix

salt and pepper to taste

For cheese mixture:

2 cups Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup shredded 3. cheese

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 dash salt

1 dash pepper

For topping:

8 oz. block mozzarella, cubed

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

1 Tbs. grated parmesan

Directions:

Cook off pasta to one minute less than the package ingredients, drain.

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage while chopping it into smaller bits with a wooden spoon.  Add in onions and oil.  Render the fat out of the sausage and drain if needed.  Once sausage and onions are brown, add in jarred marinara and can of diced tomatoes.  To the sauce add in Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine ricotta, grated parmesan, eggs, shredded mozzarella, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Add cheese mixture to drained pasta.  Place in a baking dish.  Directly on the cheesy pasta add on 1/2 the cubed mozzarella, then sauce.  Now dot the top with remaining cubed mozzarella, shredded mozzarella and parmesan.

Bake in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes.  Serve, enjoy!

*Note: If making this recipe gluten-free, just use a gluten-free pasta and follow all instructions.

 

Lisa’s Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

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Today is a very special day! It’s my 100th post here on thePortugueseAmericanMom.com! So in honor of that I thought I would highlight one of my very favorite party aps to celebrate! One of my very best girlfriend’s, Lisa, makes these for me whenever there is a party to be had.  She came over last Sunday with her husband Carlos and her daughter Kaedence for the football game and we had our selves some good old-fashioned “home-gating”.  And I asked, that instead of her making these for me at home, she make them here so I could document the process and share it with you all! And so she did!

They are a super simple and incredibly flavorful and delicious naturally gluten-free appetizer made with just 5 ingredients! One thing that Lisa asked that I stress and I will stress it in the tutorial as well is to please be sure to have surgical gloves before attempting this recipe.  You will be working with very hot peppers and will need to protect yourself from the oils in the pepper.  Once done and the peppers are in the oven, remove the gloves directly into the trash and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water to ensure you got it all.

Let me show you how she does it!

Here are all your ingredients! Yep, that's it, just 4! (plus olive oil for the pan, so five if we are technical)

Here are all your ingredients! Yep, that’s it, just 4! (plus olive oil for the pan, so five if we are technical)

Mince your onion.

Mince your onion.

Heat up some olive oil over medium heat.

Sautée the onions.

Split each Italian Sausage so you can remove the casing.  Lisa uses hot Italian sausage and we all love them that way… but if you want to reduce the heat due to the already super hot jalapeño peppers, you could use mild Italian sausage here.

Remove the casing.

Remove the casing.

This is what they look like without the casing.

Add in the sausage.

Lisa asked me for not only a wooden spoon to mix, but also a potato masher to make sure it all gets broken down!

Brown up all of the sausage meat.

Strain out any grease. There wasn’t too much in this batch.

Return the sausage to the skillet and add in a bar of room temperature cream cheese.

Then work the cream cheese into the sausage meat.

Once most of the cream cheese it distributed, you can continue to work it with a wooden spoon.

Once the cream cheese is all distributed well, turn off the burner and let cool for a minute or two.

Preparing the peppers: You should have time to prepare the peppers while the sausage is cooking, but to keep things simple, I am keeping that separate…

Before we get into the pepper part, I need to mention these handy-dandy surgical gloves again… Lisa says, if you don’t have these, don’t make this dish! So, I would gather they are imperative.

Split the peppers all in half.

Split the peppers all in half.

Place them into a bowl as you go.

You need to remove the seeds and connective tissue from the inside of each pepper. This is Lisa's technique. Hold firmly an scrape from the top down with your thumb.

You need to remove the seeds and connective tissue from the inside of each pepper. This is Lisa’s technique. Hold firmly and scrape from the top down with your thumb.

Lisa mentioned that the you should look for fatter peppers so they have more stuffing room.

You want to try to get as many of the seeds out to start off with as possible, but you have to go through 18-20 peppers, so you don’t want to spend too much time on it.

Now the peppers need to be washed, but this is more of a technique to get the remaining seeds out.

Fill the bowl with water and let the seeds float around in the water.

Then let them all just flow out in the water. Repeat this process a couple of times until you are satisfied.

Next, take a teaspoon and stuff each.

You want to firmly press in, but build up a little mound at the same time.

This is what you should have.

Line them on a parchment lined rimmed cookie sheet. Pop them in the oven at 350°F for about 30-50 mins or so… but check in on them every 10 mins or so after that first 30 mins.  The cooking time will depend on how big your peppers are.

This is what you need to see before you take them out of the oven… They are all a nice golden brown with some crispiness on top.

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Lisa’s Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

Serving size: 10

18-20 plump jalapeños, halved and seeded

1 bar cream cheese, room temperature

1 medium onion, minced

1 package hot Italian Sausage, casing removed

1-2 Tbs. olive oil

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Sautée the onion in olive oil in a skillet set over medium heat.  Add in the sausage.  With a wooden spoon and a potato masher, work the meat down into the onions and brown.  Once browned, drain fat.  Return meat to skillet and add in cream cheese.  Again, work in the cream cheese using a wooden spoon and potato masher.  Once the cream cheese is worked in, turn off heat and set aside to cool for a moment or two.

Stuff the ingredients into the prepared peppers.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet or baking dish with parchment paper and line up the stuffed peppers, stuffing facing up.  Bake for 30-50 minutes, check on them every 10 minutes after the 30 minutes.  They will be done when they are golden brown. Allow to cool on pan for about 10 minutes before moving to a serving tray. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

*Note – This is a gluten-free recipe, but as always, check your ingredients in the Italian Sausage.

*Note – This is a low-carb recipe

Portuguese Bean Soup (Molho de Feijão)

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This amazingly creamy and hearty soup was one of my Vavó Olinda’s specialties! She would always make a batch of this at the same time as she made a batch of Feijão Assado (Portuguese Baked Beans). The soup would always get eaten up first and then all week long, the baked beans were there to enjoy… I’ve never been able to decide which one I prefer more, but I can tell you I love them both. My Vavó passed away in 2007, she was 93 years old and sharp as a whip and not a day goes by that I don’t miss her and think about all the wonderful time we had together shopping and cooking, eating and talking, and just spending quality time with one another.  I was truly blessed to have the special connection I had with my Vavó and this is one of those recipes that brings her right back to me.  Funny how food does that.

My Vavó always referred to this soup as Molho de Feijão although many refer to it as Sopa de Feijão.  Whatever you like to call it, it’s a simple recipe really.  Under 10 ingredients, no soaking of beans, no special tools needed.  The creaminess comes from the combination of the pasta, potatoes and beans, no milk at all. A bowl of this soup and a nice fresh Portuguese Pop-seco bread roll is all you need for a hearty lunch or even dinner.  It freezes beautifully, so I highly suggest making the full batch even if it is too much for your size family.

Here is your bag of beans. Any white bean will do it, but my Vavó always prefered the smallest bean available.

I wash the beans twice… The first rinse in a strainer just to get out any dirt that might be left behind.

Then I get a pot going with some water…

Pour the beans in…

and agitate them with my hand to reveal any stray pebbles or bad beans, I pick them out and carefully pour the water out leaving the beans in the pot… The water usually takes with it anything I missed in the first rinsing.

Then I fill the pot again with water and set over high heat on the stove.

While the pot is starting to heat up on the stove, I chop up one onion into a fairly small dice.

Add that onion into the pot.

Crush, peel and mince two cloves of garlic.

Crush, peel and mince two cloves of garlic.

Then add that into the pot.

Bring the water to a boil and cover and turn the flame down to the point where the water is at a gentle boil. DO NOT ADD SALT.

While the pot is set to simmer for a couple of hours you can prepare your ingredients… 5-6 potatoes.

Peeled and washed.

Peeled and washed.

Diced into a relatively small dice.

1/2 lb. of chouriço. This is hot Portuguese Chouriço.

Peel and slice.

After a couple of hours on the stove, this is what you get… Do not stop boiling until your beans are to this point of tenderness. If you look closely you will see many of them are starting to bust open.

At this point you can add salt.

Add in your potatoes.

Add in your chouriço.

Add in a couple of tablesspoons of ground red pepper. BE CAREFUL here. I put in a couple of tablespoons because as you can see, my pepper is mostly lacking seeds, if you have a spicier version of this pepper, reduce the amount, more can always be added at the end, but once it’s there, you can’t take it away. Stir this all together and cook for about a half hour until the potatoes are fork tender.

Now add in your pasta and stir. My Vavó loved the small shells in this soup, and so that is what I am using today. However, you could also use a Dilatini. Something short and hearty, but still fine. An elbow is a bit too much.

You want to over cook the pasta here… this is not a place for al-dente… After about another half an hour, this is what you should see…

Add in half a small can of tomato sauce. Taste for salt and you are done.

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Portuguese Bean Soup (Molho de Feijão)

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

1 16oz. package dry white Navy Beans, rinsed and picked through

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves, garlic, crushed and minced

1/2 lb. Hot Portuguese Chouriço, peeled and sliced

5-6 medium potatoes, peeled, diced

1/2 package small shells pasta

1/2 8oz. can tomato sauce

2 Tbs. ground red pepper (wet)

1 Tbs. kosher salt, plus more to taste

Directions:

Fill a large pot about 3/4 with water.  Add in dry beans, onion and garlic.  Bring to a boil, cover and cook for about 1 1/2 -2 hours until beans are very tender.  Most of your water will have evaporated, refill the water.  Add in chouriço, potatoes salt and red pepper.  Bring back to a boil and cover,  cook for about 30 more minutes until potatoes are good and tender.  Add in pasta, cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Add in tomato sauce and taste for salt.  Serve with  fresh bread… Enjoy!

*Note – a gluten free adjustement for this recipe is to either simly omit the pasta or use a gluten free pasta, it will be just as delicious!

5 Bean CrockPot Chili

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If you’re looking for something to feed a crowd, won’t break the bank and is easy to prepare, but will still get people super excited this Sunday, 5 Bean CrockPot Chili is the way to go!  The weather is cooling down and people are starting their Sunday ritual of gathering around that screen.  In homes across America kitchen counter tops start filling with bowls of chips, platters of bite size food and CrockPots full of delicious comfort foods. Chili is at the top of the list in many a home… Afterall football and chili go hand in hand.

Whether you are taking this over to a friend’s house for the game, packing it up for tailgating or serving it up on a snow day this winter… you need to remember to always pick up some fixin’s to add on top!  No good chili is complete without the fixin’s…

Let’s get started!

Here is just about everything you will need for this yummy Chili.

Here is just about everything you will need for this yummy Chili.

Start off by adding the full bottle of beer into your slow cooker. If you can’t have beer, substitute with some beef stock… one 12oz. can will do it.

Salt and pepper! On the left you see kosher salt. On the right one dry Ancho Chili. This gives the chili a real depth of flavor.

Open up your ancho and remove some of the seeds, it has a lot of seeds, they aren't all needed here.

Open up your Ancho and remove some of the seeds, it has a lot of seeds, they aren’t all needed here.

You want to rehydrate the pepper in the beer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Here are your dry spices… You are going to add these in with your Ancho so that they can also have a couple minutes to rehydrate.

These measurements don’t need to be exact… although I will list exact measurements in the recipe down below… Here is your cumin.

Cayenne pepper… I put in just a big pinch of this because of cooking for a mixed crowd. With chili I would prefer to supply hot sauce as a topping than have someone not be able to enjoy it because it is too hot for their palate, including my kids.

Smoked paprika is really nice here. (sorry for the fuzziness, don’t know what happened there!)

And last but definitely not least, the chili powder… necessary for any chili!

So your pot should look like this…

Turn your slow cooker to high.

Turn your slow cooker to high.

I made Shepard’s pie earlier in the week and browned up a bunch of ground beef… set half of it aside and made less work for myself on this particular Sunday… If you have one of those cool slow cookers that allows you to brown meat or you use my method of having pre-cooked ground beef, then this meal becomes a one pot meal! If not, you should brown up some ground beef in a skillet and add it in here.

Add in some kosher salt.

Mix everything in together and move on to preparing your fresh ingredients.

Dice up your onions.

In this method, it is not necessary to pre cook your onions, however if you are browning your meat same day, it would not hurt to add these into your skillet… But as you can see, I did not turn on my stove for this recipe.

Here is where you control the heat in this dish… You can choose to leave the seeds in your pepper which will significantly increase the heat level in this dish… I was making the chili for a mixed crowd, so I decided to keep the heat low and remove the seeds.

Peel some garlic… no need to chop.

Add in jalapeno and garlic.

I found this bell pepper, isn’t he cute? You’ll want to cut it in half, remove the seeds and stem and chop it up.

From here on you are literally just dumping ingredients in till your slow cooker is all filled up! Two cans of diced tomatoes.

Get a good strainer set over a sink and pour each can of beans in one at a time.

Start by rinsing your Pinto Beans.

Next your cannellini… And this is meant to go in no particular order. Also, you can use whichever beans you like… I chose the ones I chose for a couple of reasons though… I like the creaminess of Pinto and Cannellini… I also like the variety in color.

Black beans are chosen for both color and flavor and they are a very traditional addition to Mexican foods of all kinds.

Add all these into the slow cooker. (It’s already starting to look pretty!)

We are using two kinds of kidney beans, both for color and tradition.

I also like the large red kidney beans here.

Add the kidney beans in and that’s the final addition!

Now we mix… So pretty!

Once everything is well mixed in, cover and cook on high for 8 hours… That’s it.

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At this point, check for salt and spice… Add more kosher salt if needed. If you feel it needs more spice add in either a few dashes of hot sauce or cayenne pepper.I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the necessary toppings to this warm bowl of goodness!

You need to have some sour cream at the ready, some cheddar cheese, and some tortilla chips... I also like to have chopped scallions and hot sauce available for peopele.

You need to have some sour cream at the ready, some cheddar cheese, and some tortilla chips… I also like to have chopped scallions and hot sauce available for people.

And there you have it, Enjoy!

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I know my husband did!

Brian

5 Bean CrockPot Chili

(serves 8-10 or more – great for a party)

1 1/4 lbs ground beef, browned

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can Pinto beans

1 can Cannellini beans

1 can Black beans

1 can Small Red Kidney beans

1 can Large Red Kidney beans

2 medium onions, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

1 dry Ancho chili pepper, seeded

1 bottle Mexican beer

1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled

1 Tbs. kosher salt, plus more to taste

2 Tbs. Chili powder

2 Tbs. Smoked Paprika

1 Tbs. Cumin

1 tsp. Cayenne pepper

Directions:

Soak dry spices including Ancho chili pepper in beer in the slow cooker.  Add in all other ingredients.  Mix and turn on high for 8 hours.

Fixin’s:

Sour Cream

Tortilla chips

shredded cheddar cheese

chopped scallions (optional)

sliced black olives (optional)

hot sauce

*note – With the swap out of beer for either gluten-free beer or beef stock, this is a completely gluten-free recipe.