I mentioned a few posts back that I like to keep puff pastry on hand. The kind I buy has two sheets in the package. I used one sheet to make these cinnamon rolls. The other sheet was used to make something delicious and savory!
I started by letting the pastry thaw out, until I could easily unfold it and roll it out a little bit. Once the pastry was ready, I decided on what I would use in my rolls – prosciutto, Swiss gruyere cheese and gouda cheese. I found these three ingredients at my local Aldi’s.
I started by layering on the prosciutto until the puff pastry was covered side to side, almost touching the edges.
I then sprinkled on the cheeses. I didn’t measure, but I would guess that I used between 1/4 – 1/3 cup of each cheese, give or take.
I then rolled the pastry up into somewhat of a log and then cut into 8 rolls. I then placed them on parchment paper, on a baking sheet.
They were baked in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes (until they were golden brown).
The flakiness of the pastry, coupled with the savory cheeses and prosciutto were a great combination.
These would make great appetizers for your holiday gathering (or even just a snack). They would also be great for brunch! They reheated nicely, as well.
What do you do when you forget to put something in the refrigerator to thaw for dinner? Often times, for me, I look to make something using a rope of smoked sausage – such was the case this evening.
I like to have a rope of smoked sausage on hand for evenings just like this. I’ve used it to make a delicious sausage, broccoli and red pepper pasta using this sausage. I thought of doing another pasta, but decided that I’d do a potato hash, instead.
I started by dicing 5-6 red potatoes.
In addition to the potatoes, I sliced the sausage and 2 onions.
I sprayed the hot wok (I used my wok because it is big and cast iron) with avocado oil, and added in the onions and the seasonings. After cooking a few minutes, I also added in the garlic.
After the onions have started to soften, add in the potatoes and sausage – add one at a time, allowing each to get a little brown (if you use a hot cast iron skillet or wok, this will be easy!).
After the potatoes and sausage get a little brown, pour in the water – stir through and cover. Stir occasionally to keep the potatoes from sticking.
Once the potatoes have softened, you’re good to go!
Smoked Sausage and Potato Hash
1 rope of smoked sausage, sliced 5-6 red potatoes, diced 2 onions, sliced thin 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 tbsp Cavender’s Greek Seasoning 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tsp black pepper 1 tsp salt 1 cup water Avocado oil spray
Dice potatoes
Slice smoked sausage
Slice onions
Add avocado oil to a large skillet or wok
Add in onions and seasonings and cook until the onions start to soften
Add in the garlic and cook for 3-5 min
Add in the potatoes and, finally, the sausage
After allowing the sausage and vegetables to get a little brown, add in the cup of water
Cover skillet and cook until potatoes are done (stir occasionally)
First things first, I promise that there wasn’t an intentional abandonment of this blog – but, you know, life sometimes gets in the way. But, I’m back!!
This afternoon, after working on some redecorating in the morning (and not getting breakfast, unless you count coffee) – I decided that I wanted some sausage gravy and biscuits for brunch. I decided to keep it simple and just use canned biscuits – let’s be honest, the sausage gravy is really the star anyway!
So, canned biscuits in the oven and onto the gravy.
I started by browning a 1 pound chub of Jimmy Dean’s breakfast sausage (don’t drain). To the sausage, I added in 3/4 cup of flour (1/4 at a time) and let the flour start to cook with the sausage – when you don’t see any raw flour, add the next 1/4 cup, until you’ve put the full 3/4 cup in.
The next part is to add in 3 cups of milk and stir everything through. Once it starts to thicken, reduce the flame to simmer. Keep stirring as it thickens.
Finally, because we like our gravy to have lots of black pepper, I added in 1 whole tsp of black pepper, along with 3/4 tsp of salt.
This recipe comes together pretty quickly, so make sure you time it right with your biscuits.
It’s so simple, that I’m not writing up a recipe – but you should be able to make it easily enough from the information here!
I woke up this morning wanting something hearty for breakfast. I decided I would make a breakfast skillet – but, I decided to use my cast iron wok.
The dish consisted of russet potatoes, an onion, 1/2 rope of smoked sausage, parmesan cheese and seasonings. I used salt, pepper umami seasoning, Italian seasoning and fresh basil.
I started by dicing the potatoes and onions – obviously, the smaller you chop your vegetables, the quicker it will cook. I actually cut my potatoes a little larger – which allowed for a ‘bite’ to them when the dish was done. It was delicious!
Then I sliced up half of a rope of smoked sausage – feel free to add more if you like more protein in your meal. In hindsight, I almost wish I had used the whole thing – not for me, but I think my family would have enjoyed it more with a bit more protein.
I put the potatoes in the wok and added about 1/3 cup of water (I know that seems odd, but I thought I’d try to cook the potatoes a bit before adding everything else and it worked out well). Basically, I tossed the potatoes around until the water had evaporated. About half way through, I added 1 tbsp of butter and allowed it to melt through. I also added the salt, pepper and umami seasoning at this time.
After cooking the potatoes for about 10 minutes, I removed them from the pan. I then added in 1 tbsp of butter and let it melt.
I then added in the onions and cooked them until they started to soften.
The next thing to go in the wok were the sliced pieces of sausage. The sausage is done, so I just cooked enough to warm through.
I then added the potatoes back in the wok and cooked, stirring frequently, for another 15 minutes. I turned the flame off at this time.
Finally I topped the mixture with grated parmesan cheese and allowed the cheese to melt, as well as a little bit of fresh basil. Even though the flame is off, with my cast iron wok, it was more than warm enough for the cheese to melt.
Breakfast Skillet (Wok) – serves 4
4 russet potatoes, cubed 1 onion, chopped 1/2 rope smoked sausage 1/2 tbsp umami seasoning 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp Italian seasoning 2 tbsp butter 1/3 cup grated parmesan 1/3 cup water fresh basil to garnish
Chop potatoes and onion
Slice sausage
In hot skillet, add water and then the potatoes – cook until potatoes are fork tender, at end add 1 tbsp butter, salt, pepper and umami seasoning and stir through
Remove potatoes from pan
Add remainging tbsp of butter and let melt
Add in onions and cook until they start to soften
Add in the sausages and warm through
Add the potatoes back into the wok
Season with the Italian seasoning and cook for about 15 mintues – stirring frequently
Turn off flame and then top the hash with parmesan cheese and allow to melt
I’ve never made a pork loin roast – well, not until now. But, I’ve always wanted to. I’m still on a big apple kick and I think that apples pair well with pork, so that was a no brainer. Then I remembered that I had some peach jam in the pantry, so I decided to mix the two with this roast.
I started by putting pepper and spicy brown mustard all over the pork. I let it rest while I started the other prep.
In a dutch oven, I heated some olive oil – and then browned all sides of the pork.
I sliced an onion pretty thinly. I also sliced some apples (I had a mixture of honey crisp and whatever ‘baking apples’ that Walmart had in a big bag this week).
After all sides of the pork were brownish – I removed it from the pan – adding a tiny bit more oil and added in the onions. And let them soften a bit.
I then added in some stock (I had to get all the yumminess off the bottom of the pan!) and stirred to pull the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
I added in the thinly sliced apples and brought the stock to a boil.
I added the roast back into the dutch oven, spooning some of the apple and onion mixture on top of the roast and sprinkling with the thyme. Then it went into a 400 degree oven, for about an hour (this roast was pretty thick – and it took an hour to bring the internal temperature up to 145 degrees). Don’t over cook – check it, and take it out when the thickest part is 145 degrees (145 is considered medium rare – but, it is so much more flavorful and juicy at this temperature).
While the pork was in the oven, I put together somewhat of a chutney – using apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, butter and some delicious peach jam.
I just added the items to a small sauce pan, letting everything melt – then allowed it to simmer for about 30 minutes.
When the pork was almost done (around 45 minutes in), I poured the chutney over the pork and let it cook the remainder of the time.
Once I took the pork out of the oven, I let it rest for about 10 or 15 minutes, prior to removing it and cutting.
This pork was deliciously tender and so flavorful!
Michelle Can Cook! 