Sausage Bread - Homemade By Jim

Our kitchen is a Working Kitchen, and today, Jim made homemade Italian Sausage Bread.  It was his very first attempt.  We both have fond memories of our early years in our marriage, and we would have sausage bread, along with some other wonderful things from the neighborhood Italian Deli.

This recipe come from the Blog:  Proud Italian Cook.  Marie writes at her site:

"This recipe connects me to my childhood, I remember my mom use to make this for special holidays and occasions. When I was a kid I thought making this was such a big ordeal, but when I got married and started making it on my own I realized just how simple it was to put together."

I loved munching away on Sunday's with our friend, on all these wonderful foods.  Here's a picture of Jim's Bread.  I am so proud of him!!

Marie writes in her post:  "You’ll also need the best Italian sausage you can find, I like using hot, it adds so much flavor and honestly rolled up in all that bread dough you can hardly taste the heat."    We used some great Italian Sausage that we purchased from a site called Goldbely.com.  We chose some sausage from Esposito's Sausage, in NYC.  Hand made since 1933.  It is really really good.  So there you go.  The link to this recipe is here.

Egg Bhurji

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This recipe came from The Domestic Man Blog.  I've made this at least a half-dozen times, and it is really good.  You can get the recipe here.

An excerpt from his site:

Egg Bhurji is a recent favorite, as it combines exotic South Asian flavors with an egg scramble for delicious effect. All it takes is a bit of prep to chop and soften the vegetables before adding in the eggs; it’s definitely worth that extra few minutes of effort.

Here's my pic of this mornings Breakfast:

Egg Bhurji (Gluten-free, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Whole30)

It took a few times for Jim to get used to the Tumeric, but he now enjoys it.  And it's a great brunch dish.

Homemade Italian Salad Dressing

This recipe is from Cook's Country, and under a subscription to review.  It is well worth the money to join the Cook's Illustrated site, and make all of their great recipes.  I've been making this recipe, and I haven't bought store dressing in months.

Italian Dressing

Each batch of dressing makes about 1/2 cup, enough to dress 16 cups of greens and serve 6 to 8 people. Leftover dressing can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Dry Mix (1 Cup, or 10 Batches)

1/4 cup powdered lemonade mix

3 tablespoons dehydrated minced onion

3 tablespoons dehydrated minced garlic

3 tablespoons pectin (Sure-Jell)

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon salt

Whisk all ingredients in bowl until well combined. Store in airtight container for up to 3 months. 

To make salad dressing:  

whisk in a bowl:

1 1/2 tablespoons Dry Mix

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon water 

Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until garlic and onion are just softened, about 15 seconds. Cool to room temperature, then slowly whisk in 6 tablespoons (if doubling 12 Tbs equals 3/4 C)  olive oil.

Making Your Own Thai Red Curry Paste

This recipe comes from the Blog:  The Domestic Man.  I've made this Curry Paste once before.  It is excellent and not too spicy at all (I make it with a Jalapeno, see recipe choices below).  What is nice about this recipe is that I double it.  I then fill the paste into an ice cube tray, freeze it, and dump the cubes into a ziplock bag.  When I want to have this dish, it takes 2 cubes to equal the 1/4 cup called for in the recipe.

The last time I made this I used Anaheim dried peppers, but today I am using New Mexico.  I removed 1/4 cup and put it in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner, when I'll make it.  I'm going to try making it with lean beef.  I've always used boneless chicken thighs in the past.  The rest I put in the ice cube tray and it fit perfectly.  As you can see I will get 8 meals out of one tray.  Remember:  I double the recipe!

Thai Red Curry (Paleo, Primal, Whole30, Gluten-Free, Perfect Health Diet)

• Servings: 4
• Time: 20 minutes plus time to soak chiles
• Difficulty: Easy

Red Curry Paste (makes 1/2 cup, enough for 2 curries):
4 large dried red chile peppers (Anaheim, Guajillo, or New Mexico), seeds and tops removed
2 dried or fresh Thai (Bird’s Eye) chiles, seeds, tops, and ribs removed (or 1 Jalapeño chili)
10 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp shrimp paste (or 2 tsp fish sauce)
1 tbsp white peppercorns
3 shallots
grated zest of 1/2 lime
1″ fresh galangal or ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced
small handful of fresh cilantro stems

2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
2 lbs lean steak, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or shrimp, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 (14 oz) can full-fat coconut milk, divided
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
juice of 1/2 lime (1 tbsp)
small handful of Thai basil leaves

sliced Thai chiles to garnish
lime wedges to garnish
fresh cilantro to garnish

1. Soak the dried chiles in warm water for 30 minutes. Place the soaked chiles, 1/4 cup of the water in which you soaked them, and the rest of the curry paste ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding chile water if needed to help the blending process, then set aside.

2. Warm the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the steak, chicken, or shrimp. Stir-fry until browned and cooked through, in batches if needed, 1 minute for shrimp, 3 minutes for steak, or 6 minutes for chicken. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

3. Reduce the heat to medium and add 1/4 cup of the curry paste to the skillet. Bring to a simmer and sauté until aromatic and darkened, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes.

4. Add half of the coconut milk and stir to incorporate. Simmer until thick and darkened, about 8 minutes, then stir in the steak, chicken, or shrimp and any accumulated juices. Stir in the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, and bell pepper and cook until the pepper starts to soften, about 1 minute, then add the lime juice and Thai basil leaves. Taste and add salt if needed, then serve, garnished with sliced Thai chiles, lime wedges, and cilantro.

** The curry paste can be kept in the fridge for a month, and freezes really well. Make a double (or triple) batch, separate it into 1/4 cup portions, and freeze it for easy meals – just be sure to use it within six months or so.

** If you’re not up for making your own curry paste, I recommend using the Maesri or Mae Ploy pre-made pastes. The Maesri version has added sugar, but otherwise they both have very clean ingredients lists (but beware that they are a bit spicier than my paste above).

I have become a big fan of his site and have made other recipes as well. Here is the link:
https://thedomesticman.com/2015/12/01/thai-red-curry/#more-12769