What We're Eating - A Food & Recipe Blog » sausage

Knorr Homestyle Stock Chicken, Andouille & Tasso Ham Gumbo

Amanda — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 01:04:57 +0000

So good it'll make you wanna slap yo' mama!

We’re eating hearty chicken, andouille sausage & tasso ham gumbo thickened with dark roux and okra, served over white rice with a garnish of sliced green onions and a healthy dose of hot sauce.

Hellooooo football season! Every January once the bowl games have ended and the NFL season is wrapping up, I start counting down the days until the first game I really care about. (LSU, duh.) As September gets closer I’ve even been known to count the hours or seconds even until kickoff. It should come as no surprise then, that since I learned to love football while taking the long road through my undergrad at LSU, cajun tailgating food is near and dear to my heart! This month the recipes I’m developing using Knorr Homestyle Stock are tailgating themed. There was no way that I was gonna pass up the opportunity to make a pot of gumbo just in time for LSU’s opening game against Oregon!!! GEAUX TIGERS! The tigers pulled off a big victory over the #3 ranked team in the nation and I pulled off a hella good pot of gumbo. Pretty sure this was the best gumbo I’ve ever made. Ever. And this biatch has made some gumbo. As always, with soups or stews (or anything braised) it’s better if you make it at least a day in advance… which is perfect for tailgating. All you have to do on game day is heat up the pot, crack a beer and you’re GTG!

*Side note: As I mention in the footer of the recipe below – don’t stress out if you can’t find tasso ham or andouille sausage. You can simply substitute any smoked ham steak or any smoked sausage of your choice. It’ll still be delicious. I swear.

*I am a professional recipe developer being paid by Knorr as part of the Knorr 4 promotion. While Knorr is footing the bill, all content and opinions comes directly from my (sometimes offbeat and slightly cheesy) brain.

Recipes in this post:

Knorr Homestyle Stock Chicken, Andouille Sausage & Tasso Ham Gumbo

Holiday Recipes: Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing

Amanda — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:00:11 +0000

Stuffing or Dressing? Call it what you will - it's damn good!

Mmmmmm mmmmm who doesn’t love stuffing(aka dressing)?!? Stuffing has to be one of my all-time favorite parts of any holiday meal. Moist, carbalicious, frequently involving some kind of pork product – honestly, what’s not to love?!? We happen to love stuffing so much, that for our pre-holiday gorge-fest Nicole and I made two different versions. I went for a southern classic: good ol’ cornbread stuffing. My stuffing was made with day old cornbread, garlic sausage, sauteed onions, celery, leeks, garlic and peppers. The outcome – a moist, savory sausage cornbread delight perfect for drenching with gravy! (Did I mention that’s one of my favorite things about stuffing? Eating it with lots of gravy!)

Nicole made a sourdough, apple & bacon stuffing that was also out of this world! I was surprised at exactly how much I loved the flavor that the sourdough added to the stuffing. I shouldn’t have been surprised considering how much I love sourdough and bacon, but I’m kind of dense. Perhaps we should start a new tradition of having two different stuffings at every holiday meal! Even if there are only two people in attendance.

*In case anyone hasn’t been to What We’re Eating in a while, this is part of a special Holiday series featuring recipes that Nicole, from Pinch My Salt, Tyler and I cooked and feasted on together! Here’s a list of all the dishes in the series so far:

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Wrapped in Prosciutto
Extra Creamy Mashed Potato Casserole
Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls
Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
Sourdough, Bacon & Apple Stuffing
Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing (your reading it!)

Recipes in this post:

Pesto & Homemade Sausage & Buffalo Mozzarella, Oh My

Us — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:55:46 +0000

Oh my word.

Let the sausage making begin! Using our newly acquired meat grinder we’ve made our first sausage – and used it to top a pizza. Our pizza consisted of a thin crispy crust layered with homemade basil pesto, caramelized onions, sauteed portobello mushrooms, browned and crumbled homemade sausage, buffalo mozzarella, and a light sprinkling of of tomato basil feta. After baking we garnished the pizza with torn leaves of basil to add a level of freshness.

T: it’s so exciting that you’re making sausage these days! Can’t wait till the next batch.
A: hmm… well it’s definitely exciting that i made sausage! but i’ve only done it once now. i’m really looking forward to the next batch. just think of all the spice combinations i can try! ooo wee!
T: you know what would be really good? Italian sausage. What’d you think of that?
A: i think you’re right on. i totally dig some italian sausage. did you think this particular batch of sausage reminded you at all of italian sausage?
T: no not particularly. Was it supposed to?
A: not really, although it had the fennel kicking like italian sausage does. that’s pretty much the main similarity.

T: Ok, so we’ve talked about the sausage, but the pizza as a whole really stole the show. That pizza was goood. Mmmm. I love pesto. I give the pizza a 4.7/5. If I still had the stomach of a 25 year old I would have eaten every piece of it.
A: hehehe wow. your stomach must have really deteriorated in the past year!… you are only 26 you know!?!
T: yeah, sadly, my stomach has indeed gone downhill since my younger days. Damn coffee. It’s some harsh stuff, yet oh so necessary.
A: true dat. i could have really used some of that this afternoon! but i think i could use a slice of this pizza even more… i am sooo hungry. i give the pizza as a whole a 4.68/5. it was freaking good. the crust came out nice and thin and crispy. the buffalo mozzarella added a nice flavor. frankly, it was all good. i could seriously go for a couple of slices! why god?!? why can’t i just have pizza magically appear at my command?!?
T: it’s going to take at least half an hour to have pizza magically appear. And it’s going to suck compared to this pizza. I would suggest fantasizing about something else, such as winning american idol or something.
A: or making more and different sausages!
T: yes. much better idea. forget what I said.

Jambalaya with… Summer Sausage?

Us — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:56:38 +0000

Jumbled-laya

Sometimes you get a hankering for food you just can’t purchase in your area, that’s when you have to make due with what you can whip up in the kitchen. We’re eating a take on the louisiana classic – jambalaya. My rice dish featured summer sausage instead of smoked or andouille sausage, chicken breast meat, and fire roasted tomatoes. It was also seasoned with something a little out of the normal – rosemary.

Here’s to rice!T: This jambalaya was actually pretty darn good, but when I first saw it I was worried it would taste little like the real thing. It tasted exactly like jambalaya should, though. What was really surprising was how well the summer sausage went with it. I would have been the first one to scoff at using summer sausage instead of “real” sausage, so it was a pleasant surprise.
A: summer sausage is inherently tasty… and when you are shopping at the local corner store for ingredients, you’ll take what you can get. it was either summer sausage, pepperoni, soppersata, or salami. i had to go with the summer sausage. even going into making the meal, i didn’t know how close to the real thing it was going to taste…and actually, i didn’t really care. my focus was on producing something that was tasty! especially since i was making so much of it!
T: I like your focus! Well, I give this one a 4.3/5. It was very tasty, and I enjoyed being surprised by the summer sausage. You probably have some room to improve the dish (since you’ve barely made any jambalaya at all), but I give it props. It was certainly way better than many other jambalaya’s that I’ve had.
A: even though i’m sure i’ve not had nearly as many versions of jambalaya as you (since i only lived in louisiana for 7 years) i thought it was pretty darn good. i guess it’s easy to appease yourself when you’re the one seasoning the dish! i give the meal a 4.44/5. i know it’s wrong, but i could eat this frequently. i love rice… and rice-y things.
T: dude, look who you’re talking to… I love rice. You can’t go wrong with rice. Mmmm… pour some gravy over it or whatever.
A: you’re showing your southern roots! rice and gravy…
T: how about all that Indian food we eat? That’s pretty much rice and gravy, eh? I guess it depends on how you define gravy, but I generally like anything moist mixed in with rice. Get your mind out of the gutter.
A: hehehe it’s a good thing you said that, because i was about to make a lewd comment. fortunately for you, you caught me. so, i’m taking baby steps towards making paella. if only i had the right pan and a decent burner that was more than 5 inches in diameter.
T: I know, we need to get you some decent tools up in here! In time, darling… in time. (we don’t need insurance anyway)
A: one day we’ll be able to have both health insurance and a decent set of tools!
T: I know where you can find a tool…

Recipes in this post:

Chicken and Summer Sausage Jambalaya

National Meatloaf Day: Better Than Presidents Day.

Us — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:30:36 +0000

Stuffed meatloaf

In honor of National Meatloaf Appreciation Day, October 18th, Serious Eats is holding a meatloaf event that we couldn’t resist being a part of. We’ve concocted a meatloaf made with a mix of ground beef and hot italian sausage and stuffed with a ricotta, goat cheese, and fresh herb filling. The meatloaf was served with roasted brussels sprouts and whipped goat cheese and herb potatoes. Rock on meatloaf… we appreciate you!

The whole mealA: what is more american and needing of an appreciation day than meatloaf i ask you! what?!?
T: mmm… i don’t know. I’m really trying to think of something clever here, but everything I think of was invented in germany.
A: germany?
T: hot dogs were the first thing that came to mind. then hamburgers. Pretty sure there from germany, ~~although i’m not sure, and apparently am too lazy to put together the 10-second google search it would take to find the answer~~. (looked it up. I was so right.) Let’s just say that meatloaf is about as american as it gets.
A: and it for sure is deserving of appreciation. i love meatloaf. i’ve never made a stuffed meatloaf before… or one that used italian sausage in the meaty mix. i really dug this version, but it was a far cry from the meatloaf my mom made growing up.
T: yeah, it was a far cry from my grandmother Ghee’s version too, which was pretty classic- ketchup on the top, etc. But, I gotta tell ya, that meatloaf has been done a zillion times. I was excited to try something a little different, and this delivered, sister, it delivered. Mmmm mmm that ricotta in the middle was goood. And I loved the flavor of the italian sausage in there. I’d say this could be good enough to eat over and over. It rocked.
A: why thank ya T! like i said, i totally dug it too. i normally pay tribute to the classic style of meatloafing and do a tomato topping and everything…. but for appreciation days you’s gotsta think outside the box. the goat cheese and fresh herbs were really able to shine with the ricotta and bring out the flavors of the beef and sausage. while eating this meal i was really into getting a bite that consisted of a little bit of meat, filling, potatoes, and a brussels sprout. while that sounds like a big bite (it was!) the flavors just worked soooooo well together.
T: I was not so ambitious with my forking maneuvers. I did enjoy mixing the potatoes with the brussels sprouts, but I was happy to eat the meatloaf by itself. It was gOOd.
A: so, now that we’ve paid tribute to the mighty meatloaf, you got a rating for this bisnatch?
T: I give it a 4.76/5. Pretty damn good stuff, woman. You done good. What do you think?
A: i think i’m going to give it a 4.58/5. it was great. i’ve been on a really rich kick as far as cooking goes… maybe we’ll see a salad or something in the future, but for tonight i’m happy that there is leftover meatloaf for us to munch on!
T: hell yeah, me too. Although I’ve eaten so much rich food lately that a salad is starting to sound pretty damn good. I guess i’m hungry now too, so that could have something to do with it.
A: how about a meatloaf salad?
T: I don’t think I’d want to adulterate the meatloaf by mixing it with salad. A salad with the meatloaf would be good though.
A: alright! enough of this! a little less talk and a lot more action. let’s heat up some leftovers.
T: that sounds fantastic. it’s tough blogging on an empty stomach. Hasta luego!

Recipes in this post:

Roasted Garlic and Ricotta Stuffed Meatloaf

Chicken loves sausage under its skin

Us — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:56:39 +0000

Moist & delicious

Even though it’s summer, we can’t seem to get away from roasted chicken! For dinner we’re eating chicken with hot italian sausage stuffed under its skin and rosemary in its cavity. The chicken was seasoned with kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, garlic, cayenne, and paprika. To accompany the roast bird we served roughly chopped onions, celery, carrots, and russet potatoes that were tossed with garlic, salt, and pepper then roasted beneath the chicken allowing all the succulent pan juices to give them an incredible flavor.

Mmm… sausage
T: You make the best roasted chicken. That I’ve had. It’s always moist and damn delicious.
A: you know, it’s really hard to screw up a roasted chicken… as long as you season it well enough and don’t over cook it. hmmm, i guess under cooking it would screw it up too. or at least make your fellow diners dislike you if you made them sick.
T: So cook it right and season it right. Do you have any quick tips for how to accomplish that?
A: sure, i think most people’s gut instincts would keep them from seasoning it as much as it needs. i rub my seasoning under the skin of the bird, in the cavity, and on top of the skin…
T: how do you get the seasoning under the skin? I’m imagining a show I watched about botox injections.
A: hehehehe no injections here my friend. i just run my fingers under the skin to open up a pocket, pour season in, rub it around, and make sure every inch has been seasoned. also, chicken is really easy to remember how long to cook too. Cook a chicken for 18-20 minutes for every pound, start it at a high temp (450 degrees F) for 15-20 minutes then drop it to 350 for the rest of the cooking time. that ensures a crispy, golden skin.
T: sounds relatively easy. It certainly tastes awesome. I really liked the sausage that you put in this chicken, too. Chicken stuffed with sausage just really works.
A: yeah, unless your a vegetarian, meat stuffed with meat is generally a great thing.
T: and if you’re a vegetarian you can always mold your soy product into the shape of a chicken, then stuff it with a soy product in the shape of sausage. It’s really great for everyone. The potatoes and carrots were great in this dish too.
A: anytime a “veggie” (i don’t think of potatoes as veggies, i consider them a starch) is cooked in animal fat (confit-ed) it’s a great thing. and it’s super easy when you’re roasting a chicken to just throw some lightly seasoned veggies beneath the bird and not have to make anything else for the meal.
T: mmm… yeah. cooking veggies in the same pan as a roasting chicken. me likey. I give this meal a 4.52/5. The onion was really tasty, the sausage was awesome, the chicken was absurdly good as all of your roasted chickens are. Potatoes and carrots aren’t my favorite of all the veggies, but they were rocking in this dish. What’s your rating?
A: i agree this was a tasty meal. i am partial to roasted chicken though, it’s one of my all time comfort foods. this particular chicky was great. i’ve never used sausage under the skin before and i thought the sausage juices gave the bird a great flavor. i give it a 4.67/5. it toats for sho hit the spot for me. unfortunately we can’t eat this meal everyday or else we may have early onset of high cholesterol, but hey! we’re still young.
T: At least I am.
A: you a-hole

Quinoa: Not Just for Cold Salads

Us — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 12:42:45 +0000

Hot, super-hearty, not a salad

Even though it’s mid-summer, sometimes you just feel like a hearty meal. That was our case for this particular dinner. We’re eating a crunchy quinoa dish packed full of goodies such as fresh hot italian sausage, crumbled feta, sauteed local young green beans, yellow grape tomatoes, and diced maui onions that were deglazed with balsamic and sherry vinegars creating the “pan sauce” for the dish.

A: man, i have to say, i loved this take on quinoa. it was some how more… i dunno, hearty. it seems like every quinoa salad i make tastes pretty similar. don’t get me wrong, i totally love my normal quinoa salads, but still… it’s easy to get bored, ya know?
T: yeah, I agree… not that I was bored with your other quinoa dishes, but that this one was different- in a good way. It tasted less like something that you would find cold in a cafe counter and more like something that you would be served… I don’t know, somewhere other than a cafe… a real restaurant.
A: hehehe you are so eloquent with your descriptions. ;-P and articulate! but i know what you mean… i too seem to be unable to find the right way to really get at what made this dish different. i guess for one, it wasn’t a “salad” at all…
T: yeah, it was a hot meal, and it wasn’t as citrusy as a lot of your grain salads have been. It had a more robust flavor… it would have gone well with an amber beer rather than a light beer.
A: uh, t? i think most people are looking for wine pairings to go with these meals… not so much beer pairings! we need to think outside of what we drink.
T: I can only offer what I know, and that’s beer. Mainly Natty Light at that.
A: woah now! we keep it real by buying tasty dark and potent beers on a regular basis…. mmmm, like arrogant bastard for instance, my current fave.
T: True. One Arrogant Bastard for every 12 Natty’s.
A: i think arrogant bastard would have gone lovely with this meal.
T: oooh you’re right that would have been good. Mmmm… So, do you have a rating for this one?
A: the arrogant bastard or the meal?!? i’m gonna have to give this meal a 4.3/5. It was totally tasty. The hot italian sausage was particularly good and went really well with the feta, quinoa, and veggies. I also thought that the sherry and balsamic vinegars took the dish to a great place. there was no citrus in this quinoa dish and i’ll be the first to admit i have a problem there: until now, virtually every grain salad..er, dish… i’ve made has had a citrus vinaigrette base, but i think i’ve seen the light.
T: I was seeing the light while I was eating this. I give it a 4.73/5. It was absurdly tasty… the sausage was great (it’s awesome that we can buy it half a block away), the yellow tomatoes were excellent, and to top it off the entire dish was based around the super grain, quinoa. Oooooh wee. Plus, it was a significant deviation from your previous quinoas, so I give you props for finding some fresh inspiration.
A: well said pepita brittle, well said.
T: I thought I had escaped that name. I thought we had laid it to rest. Damn you Mandy.
A: muhahahahhahah! you’ll neeeeever escape the name pepita brittle… never… never…Never!!!! (and, btw, i’m just going to ignore that mandy jab)
T: This blog session is over.

Recipes in this post:

Quinoa with Hot Italian Sausage & Feta

Ultra Cheesy Homemade Pizza

Us — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:39:47 +0000

Sausage in an ocean of cheese

Fresh crusty dough was topped with fire-roasted tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fig goat cheese, parmigiana reggiano, roasted red peppers, spicy italian sausage, and red onions. The outcome: a crispy thin crust with ooey gooey cheesy deliciousness.

Crispy, soft, cheesy, sausagyT: I’ll tell you what I liked about this pizza…
A: da…
T: all the cheese on it!!
A: wooo hoo! cheezy pizza! yeah. i had lots of cheeses to use up. fresh mozzarella, fig goat cheese, parmegiano reggiano. mmm. i also dug the spicy italian sausage.
T: I was about to say exactly that. That sausage kicked ass. This was a great pizza. I could have probably had some kind of spicy pepper on it since I’m addicted to spicy peppers on everything I eat. It was a delish pizza though.
A: i definitely thought about throwing some banana peppers or jalapenos on there, but i feel like everything i make has jalapenos in it!
T: everything you make has salt. Everything you make has meat and/or cheese and/or a vegetable. So, what’s wrong with everything having a spicy peppah?
A: hehehe absolutely nothing! i’m a mega spice nut. i could eat things that hurt for every meal and be happy… i just like to give a sister some options.
T: what sister are you giving options to? I’m confused.
A: the sisters who be reading this here thing. not everyone likes heat like you and i do! sometimes you gotta tone it down a bit.
T: What!? Those crazy hoes out there in internetland aren’t eating this stuff! We are. Try giving a brother some options here.
A: shit, i do! here’s your options: eat what i put in front of you or go get some damn take out!
T: Oh you love to hold that over me don’t you… dammit. So true. I’m a dependent.
A: only a food dependent. and you know i’m just kidding. i do think this could have used some peppers. but considering it didn’t have any heat, i still thought it was quite tasty. the second pizza that came out was a little better than the first… crispier, you know. i miss my pizza stone very much! it’s so much easier to achieve the crispy crust with the stone.
T: Yeah, it’s just a shame the oven is too small to fit your pizza stone… or any pizza stone for that matter.
A: you know, we could always go pick up a couple ceramic tiles and use them rather than a piece of ceramic made for baking. then we could at least fit a little stone in there! hmmm. i think this might be the first homemade pizza we’ve ever blogged about!
T: really, wow. Hard to believe. I give it a 4.4/5. It was super-good. It’s got some room for improvement though. What did you think?
A: i agree with you. it was tasty… but definitely room for growth. i thought the whole thing need a little sodium, too. the second pie was far superior to the first (and the left overs were great). I give it a 4.1/5. we’ll be seeing home made pizza again before too long, and i can guarantee that it will be better than this little ditty!
T: ahhh yeah, that’s the kind of confidence I like to hear. I believe you, too. Back to what you said about the leftovers being great. Are you talking about the little stuffed bread you made from the leftover ingredients? Because that was definitely tasty.
A: actually i was talking about the two slices of leftover pizza that i ate for breakfast the past couple of days! the stuffed bread was really good, imho. better than the pizza even!
T: I actually agree with you there. I would have given the stuffed bread a 4.55/5.
A: i would have given it similar! it’s a shame we didn’t get photos of it for the blizog.
T: ahhh, sadly so much of what you make escapes without a single photo.
A: one day we’ll have the time and energy to do it all!
T: yeah when we start taking speed.
A: or retire