Showing posts with label pluots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pluots. Show all posts

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Italian Sausage Sandwiches

Menu
Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil
Fresh Pluots with Mint
Strawberries and Blueberries
Italian Sausage Sandwiches
Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

We had a nice casual dinner with my in-laws tonight and we had Stella as our entertainment.  I could just sit and watch her play all day long. Her facial expressions are priceless.  I just wish I knew what she was trying to say as she babbles all day long.

We received a ton of fresh fruit today so I thought I would serve some with dinner.  I just plated some sliced pluots with a little chopped mint on one small plate and some sliced strawberries and blueberries on another.



We also received a nice ripe heirloom tomato. I simply sliced it, added a little salt and pepper and sprinkled it with a little chopped fresh basil.



Italian Sausage Sandwiches
My husband picked up 5 nice size mild Italian sausages from Lemon Tree Grocer; they make all of their own  sausage.  Typically I use their homemade giardiniera and mozzarella sausage for this recipe but they were sold out.

In a dutch oven, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive and 2 minced garlic cloves.  Add the sausage and brown on each side.  Once the sausage is browned, add a splash of dry red wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan and lift all of the browned bits.  Remove the sausage temporarily onto a plate.  Add slices of one green bell pepper, one red bell pepper and a half of cubanelle pepper. I also used a medium red onion cut into small chunks.  Let the onions and peppers cook for a few minutes.


Then add a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, stir well and add back in the Italian sausage links. Place the top on the dutch oven and cook on a medium-low heat.  Stir occasionally.  Let cook for approximately 20 minutes.  Heat up a grill pan on the stove top (or fire up the grill), place the sausage links on the grill just long enough to brown up the outside. Return to the dutch oven until you are ready to serve. To plate place a sausage link on a sausage bun with a little of the pepper and onion mixture on top.


Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette
Boil red potatoes until ready (you want to make sure they stay whole because you will be slicing them), drain and run under cool water.  Slice the potatoes with about 1/4 inch thick slices.  In a separate bowl make a vinaigrette by whisking together 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of stone ground mustard, approximately 3 tablespoons of good olive oil and the juice and a half of lemon.  Season with salt and pepper and a little thyme.  Mix well.  Cover the potatoes with the vinaigrette.  Top the potato salad with chopped chives and fresh parsley.  Place in fridge to cool.




This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Challah French Toast Stuffed with Mascarpone

Apparently this was the weekend to re-create dishes from Father's Day.  I used my recipe from Father's Day Breakfast as my inspiration and made a few tweaks, delicious tweaks at that.  This morning I made Challah French toast stuffed with Mascarpone topped with fresh fruit.

 















Ingredients
  • a loaf of Challah bread
  • Mascarpone Cheese
  • 3 eggs
  • Skim milk (1/4 cup)
  • Nutmeg
  • Cinnamon stick
  • Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
  • Apricots, Pluots and Blueberries
  • Powdered Sugar

I used the Challah bread from Trader Joes again and also picked up the TJ brand of Mascarpone cheese.  Because I was using two slices of bread this time, I tried to slice them a little thinner than 1 inch.  In a bowl whisk together 3 eggs and approximately 1/4 cup milk. To the egg mixture add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Grate fresh nutmeg and fresh cinnamon into mixture.

I put a tiny bit of butter in the pan before cooking the french toast.  Spread some mascarpone on 1 side of each slice of bread. Put the slices together like a sandwich with the Mascarpone in the middle and dip the bread into the egg mixture. Be sure both sides are covered.  Let excess drip off back into bowl. Cook in pan until slightly browned on both sides.  Cover with fresh blueberries and slices of fresh apricots and pluots. Top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears


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