I received a sample pack of Venison Sausage with Merlot and Blueberries and was asked to come up with an original recipe. Venison? With Merlot and Blueberries?
Generally, when I think of sausage, my first thought is Italian pork sausage and peppers. My mind went all over the place…a risotto? bangers and a mash of some sort? a savory pie? Don’t ask me how, but it landed in the Far East.
This menu is so CRAZY, I’m fairly confident it’s original! It’s all about “marrying the flavors”, a term we cooks and food bloggers use increasingly often. Stay tuned till the end for recipes and an honest review. But, for now, follow me to the ‘wedding ceremony’.
Hmmm, let’s see, we have sausage with merlot and blueberries...I started by pouring myself a glass of merlot. Good start, right? Truth be told, this is the way I usually start preparing dinner. Next I put some blueberries on the stove to start breaking down for the glaze.
Sausage & Peppers with Blueberry-Rice Vinegar Glaze
The blueberry glaze which also included a splash of merlot took care of ‘marrying’ the protein to the glaze (and the beverage).
Chinese Black Rice with Red & Yellow Pepper Coulis
Used about a third of the red and a yellow pepper that had been roasted alongside the sausage for the coulis; thereby ‘marrying’ the sausage to the rice by way of the peppers.
Stir Fry of Bok Choy with Oyster & Shitake Mushrooms
Temporary road block. I wanted vegetables, but I’m going for a menage a trois here so how do I marry the meat and rice to the stir fry? Would the drizzle of spicy sesame oil I planned as a finishing touch do it? I thought so and, if not, I reasoned the rice and stir fry were already ‘married’ by way of their Asian origins.
Product/Menu Review: While the whole menu, collectively and independently, was very tasty…the Venison Sausage with Merlot & Blueberries was so good, it didn’t necessarily need all the accouterments and arranged marriages. I wisely didn’t add any seasonings because I didn’t know how they were seasoned. These sausage are beautifully-seasoned and a little spicy. Because there’s not much fat, if any, they held their shape perfectly and had a nice bite. I served the glaze on the side so that we’d have the opportunity to try the sausage in its purest form. Now that I know their taste and texture, I don’t know that I’d do anything differently. They stood very well on their own. The aromatic Chinese Black Rice requires more cooking time than suggested…at least 40 minutes and, at that, it’s still chewy. This is not Uncle Ben’s. Adding a drizzle of spicy sesame oil to everything ‘married the flavors’ and added an additional nuttiness.
RECIPES:
Venison Sausage and Red & Yellow Peppers
Bake sausage and peppers in a oven-ready pan with a drizzle of olive oil at 350 for about a half-hour.
Blueberry Glaze
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar, a splash of Merlot (why not?), 1 packet of Splenda and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Bring to a boil and then simmer till blueberries start to break down and the juice coats a spoon.
Bok Choy & Chinese Mushrooms
I love bok choy. It has a very mustard-like taste when eaten raw; cooked it’s sublime. I steamed the bok choy in chicken broth (to save a few calories). Just before it was tender enough, I added the mushrooms. Afterwards, I drained any remaining liquid, added 1 chopped scallion, and tossed it with a mixture of olive oil, Rice Vinegar and a spicy sesame oil (just enough to coat it).
Chinese Black Rice & Red/Yellow Pepper Coulis
• I started the rice off with a little olive oil and a clove of garlic in the pot.
• Follow cooking directions (note it takes longer than the suggested 25 minutes.)
• Add a few splashes of Soy Sauce.
• Finishing Touch: I threw a handful of cilantro in and tossed it.
Pepper Coulis
Pulse roasted peppers (separately) with a few drops of olive oil and a splash of Rice Vinegar.
Note: Marx Foods is an online purveyor of fine and exotic foods. They had once before sent me samples of Himalayan Red Rice and Chinese Black Rice. I used the red rice for our Culinary Tour Around the World stop in Mongolia. I had yet to use the black rice and was happy to have this occasion to do so. The sausage, rice, and lots of other delectables are available on their website.
Yes, I know the month is not over, but it’s close enough. First of all, you’re all doing great work! I knew when I changed this event from once a week to once a month it was going to make narrowing the field down to one very difficult. So, until I can muster up the discipline to do just that, I have to give a shout out to a few others for their originality and great execution. I’ve made a mental note to try each of these one day.
Kalofagas: Parsley Salad
But the one that really sung out to me and that I know I will try (in some form or another) is Vegan Yum-Yum’s Rustic Bread-Eggplant-Lasagne. What can I tell you? I’m just a sucker for carbs, especially Italian ones!
• • • End of Public Service Announcement • • •
Isn’t it great when you get invited somewhere and get to take a doggie bag home (assuming the food was worth carting away)?
I was invited to a lunch my son prepared over the weekend and everything he served was worth carting away! It was a seemingly simple but delicious menu because it was all seasoned and cooked to perfection…grilled chicken breast, pasta salad with a fresh pesto sauce and an assortment of grilled veggies: eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini, onions and eggplant.
My doggie bag included the yellow peppers, zucchini and eggplant. I also had about 6-8 tomatoes at home that were ‘just’ ripe so today I decided to slow roast them with a couple of cloves of garlic.
Time for lunch.
How about eggplant, roasted tomato and Wasa toasts spread with hummus and a squeeze of roasted garlic? Oh, yeah!
Ooh…is it dinner time already?
Well, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to insert pasta somewhere in this…did you? This started out as a spaghetti fritatta but, as kitchen mishaps go, it kind of stuck to the pan and didn’t flip well…so let’s just call it scrambled egg pasta and zucchini or something like that. The important thing is it could not have been tastier!
Recipe for fritatta (serves 2)
1-1/2 pre-grilled zucchini cut up
2 roasted garlic cloves squeezed out
3 quartered marinated artichokes chopped
handful parsley
3 eggs (you may want to add another)
4 ozs spaghetti
1/2 cup mixed shredded Italian cheese (mozzarella, fontina, parmesan, etc.)
a generous amount of grated fresh parmesan
S&P (lots of black pepper)
• Cook spaghetti and drain.
• Heat zucchini, garlic, artichokes and parsley in a little olive oil in a skillet.
• Add spaghetti.
• Add eggs and cheese and mix thoroughly.
• Cook over medium heat (or as you normally cook an omelet or fritatta).
Note: Invert on plate and turn over back into pan for finishing or put in oven.
Serve with whole roasted tomato, another sprinkle of parmesan and a grind of black pepper.
I try to keep a low-fat kitchen and I love to make breakfast interesting, but I don’t generally count calories. I just work at two things: purchasing the right products when I’m at the market and keeping a variety of options at hand.
I’ve made this breakfast (or something similar) many times…it’s easy and pleasing to the eye and palate. And I always thought it was healthy, but today I decided to put it to the calorie test and document it.
2 EGGO NutriGrain waffles 140 calories
1/2 apple stewed in water with a cinnamon stick 27 calories
1 tablespoon no-fat sour cream 12 calories
1 walnut half 14 calories
2 dates 40 calories
Total calories: 233
I’m a little disappointed that the little sucker of a date holds so many calories (1 serving of 5-6 = 120 calories) and I’ll be more judicious of their use in the future. If I hadn’t thrown them in the pot with the apple (and they really weren’t needed), this breakfast would have come in under 200 calories.
Just some food for thought.
It’s raining. It’s pouring. The old man is snoring. Do you remember that little jingle from your childhood? It was the inspiration for this dinner. It was raining. It was pouring. There was no old man snoring. Otherwise, I would have woken him up and sent him to the market!
Instead, I ferreted through the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. I mixed. I matched. I re-purposed. And each step (noted below) brought me closer to the ‘kitchen magic’ that we foodies love so much.
I pulled out the container of pulled pork from the carnitas my son made for our tortilla food challenge last week.
- My mind immediately went to a pulled pork sandwich and simultaneously to a fresh tasting salad to go with it.
- First came the idea of a red cabbage slaw (because that’s what I had).
- Since I already was on a Latin path, I thought to make it tropical with toasted coconut and a citrus dressing.
- Then, I remembered I had squirreled away a couple pieces of plantain (maduros – the sweet ones) that were leftover from a prior meal.
- Aha, I had it!
I would make a tropical slaw dressed with a plantain vinaigrette. It would add crunch, freshness, acidity from the citrus and a little sweetness from the plaintain — in fact, it was a perfect complement to the savory pork. It truly was kitchen magic!
Tropical Slaw
Shredded red cabbage, shredded carrot, fresh cilantro, toasted coconut and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Plantain Salsa
Pulsed 3 small slices of baked plantain with juice of 2 limes, 1/2 large lemon and olive oil. It was more the consistency of a salsa than a vinaigrette so I mixed a little through the slaw and then topped it with a dollop.
The Moral of this Tale
NEVER throw leftovers away, especially if they’re 3 measly pieces of plantain. This was unplanned but flavor-popping delicious…so much so, that the dishes are the table, the pans are in the sink, and I rushed off to the computer to tell you all about it.
I’m very happy it rained today.
Ben of What’s Cooking? issued a challenge to food bloggers to make tortillas. And, I issued a challenge to my team…let’s collectively make the tortillas and individually make a filling and topping. [I'm not a fan of dough-related recipes. I like to eat them, but I just don't have the temperament to make them. So, "collectively" means I issue ideas (I had a few), Jim does the actual work, and Cassie plays games on his I-phone.]
Ay, caramba! Qué pasó? Every recipe I saw said “masa harina” so I bought masa harina. While harina is the literal Spanish translation for flour, ‘masa harina’ as sold in our supermarkets is corn meal and not the right product. Did I know? When it became obvious things were going badly, I rushed out to pick up ready-made tortillas so we could at least have dinner and not waste all the delicious fillings and toppings. And, there, on a lower shelf all by itself, I saw Maseca corn FLOUR so I bought it figuring we’d (Jim) would give it another shot and if it failed again, we’d be ready to eat anyway with the store-bought tortillas.
1. obviously not working; 2. in the garbage; 3. the back-up plan
Blast Off. We didn’t have to abort and were able to successfully complete the mission and add our culinary points-of-view to the actual tortillas, the fillings and the toppings.
We used the standard tortilla recipe (easy with the right product) and made them ‘ours’ by pressing cilantro leaves into the dough (left); mixing in Sazon seasoning with achiote (center); and blending the dough with squid ink (right).
Jim made carnitas with a slow-cooked pork butt and pickled onions which we paired with the achiote tortilla; Cassie wanted to make a “salad” filling and chopped lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, olives etc. and served it with a citrus vinaigrette and we paired that with the cilantro tortilla; and I made a shrimp ceviche which I had planned to serve with the squid-ink infused tortilla. (Note: While none of the tortillas really took on the flavor of the infusions, they did make for a nice visual.)
Toppings. I made a salsa of black beans and crumbled Mexican cheese with cilantro, red onions, and a sherry vinaigrette. Jim shaved a few ears of corn and dressed the niblets in a bright and delicious citrus vinaigrette. He also made pickled onions. Cassie made a fresh guacamole to go along with her salad but we were so hungry, we just started eating it with blue corn chips and it never made it to the photography table.
After a disastrous start, we got our stride and created the meal I envisioned – and it was muy delicioso - so I’d like to thank Ben for coming up with the idea. I would have never thought to make my own tortillas! Visit Jim’s Our Family Food Fight for his take on the challenge, the pork recipe and more photos.
Recipe for ceviche:
16 jumbo shrimp
3 limes
1 lemon
1/2 cup Naranja Agria (sour orange juice) or use fresh squeezed orange
salt to taste
splash of hot sauce
red onion sliced very thinly
handful of cilantro
Marinate well in refrigerator for several hours (at least) until shrimp take on color.
Fava beans are a seasonal ingredient that I don’t have any experience with. I’ve seen a few bloggers writing about them recently so when I spotted them in my local Whole Foods, I decided to experiment.
My kitchen credo is…when in doubt, make pasta and so I did. Fa-va-Va-voom! (That means it was delicious.) I never follow a recipe, most particularly with pasta, and just use what is available. For this one, with the exception of the fava beans, everything else was waiting for me at home.
Ingredients:
small-shaped pasta
fava beans
grape tomatoes
crushed red pepper
chicken broth
S&P
olive oil
crumbled gorgonzola cheese
parmigiano reggiano
• cook shelled fava beans in chicken broth for about 10 minutes; add grape tomatoes, fresh garlic and crushed red pepper. Let simmer till beans are tender and tomatoes have started to break down. Add additional chicken broth if needed.
• Drizzle a little olive oil and add a small amount of crumbled bacon (about 1 teaspoon per serving).
To Plate
Spoon gorgonzola cheese on bottom, add pasta and top with sauce. Toss.
Finishing Touch
Grated parmigiano reggiano and a quick sprinkle of Sicilian sea salt with orange essence (optional).
Final Note
I must tell you that this is my favorite type of cooking…spontaneously adding layer after layer of flavor. Simple, bold, and pop-in-your mouth tasty.
Yes, I know the month is not over, but it’s close enough. First of all, you’re all doing great work! I knew when I changed this event from once a week to once a month it was going to make narrowing the field down to one very difficult. So, until I can muster up the discipline to do just that, I have to give a shout out to a few others for their originality and great execution. I’ve made a mental note to try each of these one day.
Ben of What’s Cooking? issued a challenge to food bloggers to make tortillas. And, I issued a challenge to my team…let’s collectively make the tortillas and individually make a filling and topping. [I'm not a fan of dough-related recipes. I like to eat them, but I just don't have the temperament to make them. So, "collectively" means I issue ideas (I had a few), Jim does the actual work, and Cassie plays games on his I-phone.]
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