{Party} Fettuccine with Sausage and Summer Savory

15 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by Karen B. in Drink, Entertaining, Food, Simple Meals for the Avid Cook

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Happy Monday my blogland friends.

I’m currently in the hot spot of the nation, Arizona, closing my parents house…my mom passed away a year ago and my dad passed one year later. In any event, not fun stuff, but the home sold with little effort, which is a good thing.

As a result, I’m passing along a very simple, delicious recipe that I’ve had in my files for years. (I believe I got it from Carla and she got it from a cooking class she took one summer). It’s very yummy and very easy, and I thought you might enjoy serving it to your family and/or friends one of these summer evenings. It’s great with some warm, crusty bread and butter and a simple green salad with a Dijon vinaigrette. I like to pour a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of Australia…Kim Crawford is a favorite. Enjoy!

Image via Heirloom Philisophy

-OR-

I’ll be back Wednesday with a fun post on toile. I look forward to chatting with you then.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon summer savory
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
8 sundried tomatoes (I used roasted grape tomatoes, cut in half)
1 lb. Italian sausage (I used ½ spicy, ½ regular)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
¾ lb. fettuccine, or any other pasta you like
Parmesan cheese

Preparation Instructions

Cream butter and beat in savory, cover and refrigerate overnight (I didn’t do this step). Remove sausage from casings and brown in a large skillet until cooked through, add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and add the savory butter (or savory and butter). Simmer another 10 minutes and serve over cooked pasta. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4-6

Stay cool this week and celebrate each of the last days of summer!

Easy, tasty chicken recipe

04 Friday Feb 2011

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Food, Simple Meals for the Avid Cook

≈ 5 Comments

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recipe

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe and come to think of it, I may have posted this one before. The thing is, every time I prepare this and serve it I think how delicious and relatively easy it is; and it always gets compliments. So…I like to share and this yummy goodness will make any of you who try the recipe very happy!

Happy Friday!

image via internet

I’ve posted this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, Pioneer Woman’s site and it will make printing the recipe infinitely easier.

Go HERE to print recipe. Note, I took out the word “-Stuffed” in this post due to the increasing difficulty I have in finding boneless chicken breasts with skin—the herb mixture tastes just as tasty using skinless but originally they ask you to stuff the herb mixture under the skin.

Green Chili and Herb Chicken

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, divided

1/4 cup fresh parsley

8 fresh jalapeno chilies, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced

2 teaspoons kosher salt

12 half chicken breasts, boneless

2/3 cup dry vermouth

1/2 teaspoon grated zest

2 teaspoons coarsely ground pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic

Marinade for the chicken:

Mix 1/3 cup lemon juice, parsley, chilies, rosemary, thyme, garlic and 2 teaspoons salt in medium bowl. Place all ingredients in the baking dish, place chicken breasts in marinade and turn once *half way through marinating time. Arrange chicken in single layer in large baking pan. Sprinkle with vermouth, remaining 1/3 cup of lemon juice, lemon peel, remaining 2 teaspoons of salt and pepper to taste. Turn chicken to coat.

Marinate overnight, turning once (I turn it in the morning of the day I’m going to grill)

Grill chicken over medium coals until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes

New Years Eve party assignment…easy recipe

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Food

≈ 8 Comments

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New Years Eve, recipe

About 6 or 7 years ago a group of friends in the neighborhood decided to start celebrating New Years Eve together. We had so much fun at that first dinner, which we made “progressive” style dinner (a course is served at each person’s house i.e. appetizer/house 1; salad-soup/house 2; main course/house 3 and dessert/house 4), we have made New Years a tradition.

In fact, this group is one of those unique, dynamic groups where everyone enjoys each others company, that we have started celebrating St. Valentine’s Day, 4^th of July, onset of fall, and New Years Eve, with the occasional get-together thrown in for good measure!

{Note, the four couples share a great history of our respective children (adult children now) all growing up together and we’ve been connected with the same schools and community for 20+ years}

Our New Years Eve dinners are now hosted by one of the couples and we all bring a course. My course this year is appetizer. I have one recipe in mind and need maybe one or two more. I thought I’d share the recipe for this easy, scrumptious appetizer in case you need an appetizer for a dinner.

Bacon Pinwheels

Makes 18 to 20 appetizer servings.

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 (17.3 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed *

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 (6.5ounce) container spreadable light cheese with herbs *

1 cup crumbled cooked bacon

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a clean, flat surface, sprinkle cornmeal.

Unfold pastry on cornmeal.

Spread mustard lightly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around sides.

Spread cheese over mustard.

Sprinkle with bacon.

Roll up pastry, jelly-roll fashion, and slice into 1/2-inch pieces.

Place pinwheels, cut side down, 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.

Brush each pinwheel with olive oil.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm

*In this recipe the cooks used Pepperidge Farm pastry and Alouette cheese.

What are you doing this New Years Eve?

Busy turkey-day planning…easy recipe

12 Friday Nov 2010

Posted by Karen B. in Food, Party Planning, Simple Meals for the Avid Cook

≈ 2 Comments

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planning, recipe, Thanksgiving

Summer in Southern California was unusually cool this year and we’re now in our typical fall mode…days of rain have been followed by a Santa Ana condition (dry, windy, warm).

This image sums up the season nicely.

{Image via Censational Girl}

Pioneer Woman has been busy in her kitchen for some time now perfecting recipes for Thanksgiving dinner. When I read that I thought, Thanksgiving is ages away—then I realized that there is only about 2 weeks until the great turkey (or whatever you enjoy for that special day of thanks) feast!

Image via Martha Stewart

Tasks that are currently on my list in anticipation of Thanksgiving:

Doesn't this look delicious, presentation is important. We eat with our eyes first.

{Image via Country Living}

Start searching food sites and magazines for new possibilities for the feast. As I mentioned last week, we are going to our good friend’s house and we will share the planning and cooking duty.

I love the natural decorations that represent the fall season so well.

Image via the talented Jermaine, host of French Kissed. She has beautiful ideas for every season!

So, in light of the planning, racing around and probably even looking towards the gift-buying time of year I thought I’d leave you with this super easy, very delicious recipe from Trader Joe’s.

Easy and yummy. Perfect for the hectic days of holiday racing around.

Trader Joe’s Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients

1 12-ounce jar fire roasted chili salsa
1 pint heavy cream (or for less calories, half and half) I’ve not tried this with low fat milk.
2 tablespoons butter
1 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
½ package frozen corn
1 32-ounce chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese, grated (for top)
Tortilla chips, crushed (for top)

Preparation Instructions

Sauté onion in butter until soft; add zucchini to cook al dente. Add salsa, chicken broth, and frozen corn and allow to heat through. Stir in cream and serve topped with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

Serves 4-6