Sausage with Peppers and Onions

First, thank you to everyone who has written and asked about Minnie.  She is doing wonderfully.  She is starting to play a little bit and exploring the house more.  She is still afraid of people but is becoming used to us and has stopped shaking when she is with us.  She is walking great on a leash although stairs and door jams are still hard for her.  She will be having surgery in May to fix her eye and to spay her so that is our next big hurdle.  Zippy is being a great  brother and helping her along.  Here she is (she’s afraid of the camera):

Baseball season finally started on the 1st and even though I root for a perennial loser and a perennial winner, I always get excited when the season starts.  So, in honor of baseball season, I made some baseball park food ~ sausage and peppers and hot dogs.

The sausage recipe came from Food.com and I have made it a few times for get-togethers.   It always goes over big and everyone wants the recipe.  It was originally posted by yooper and it’s a winner.  I add the onion and leave off the cheese ~ just personal preference.

Sausage with Peppers and Onions

3 green bell peppers
3 medium onions, sliced into rings
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lb hot Italian sausage, I cut them to make 2 or 3 inch pieces
1/3 cup red wine

Preheat your oven to 350º.

Remove stems and seeds from the green peppers and cut into large chunks and slice onions into rings.

In an ovenproof baking dish that can also be used on top of the stove, saute green peppers and onions in the olive oil until they are soft then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Remove vegetables from the pan and set aside.

Brown sausage in the same dish.

When sausage is browned, add the red wine.

Cover with lid or foil and bake about 40 minutes.

Uncover baking dish and add cooked green peppers and onions.

Bake an additional 30 minutes.

Place sausage and peppers and onions in a hoagie roll and if you like cheese on it, add cheese and stick under the broiler for a few minutes until melted.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Happy Cooking!

Versatile Steak Marinade

Versatile in that you can use it for any kind of steak you want.  This has a semi-teriyaki flavor to it and we loved it.  It would be great served with fried rice.

I cut the recipe in half and marinated two rib eye steaks all day in the fridge.  Just double up the amounts listed if you have alot of beef to marinate.  I got this recipe out of Parade magazine in the newspaper but I don’t have any idea when and I adapted it to suit my fancy.

I think this would make a great OAMC recipe, put the marinade and steak in a ziplock, label and freeze ~ couldn’t be easier!

Versatile Steak Marinade

1/3 cup red wine
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley
black pepper, to taste
2-3 rib eye steaks or similar cuts or your favorite cut

Combine all ingredients, except steak, in a zip lock bag. Add steaks and place in the fridge to marinate as long as overnight. Rearrange the bag every so often so that all the meat is nicely marinated.

Grill or broil the steaks to your desired degree of doneness.

Serving size depends on the steaks you use.

Happy Cooking!

Greek-Style Grilled Chicken

Super easy to make using ingredients you probably have in your pantry right now.  Tastes delish, too!

Greek-Style Grilled Chicken

Marinade:
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 tbsps chopped fresh basil or 1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint or 1 tsp dried mint
3 tbps olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs chicken pieces
1 can Kalamata olives or ripe olives, drained, optional

Make the marinade in a ziplock bag, add cleaned chicken pieces and marinate in the refrigerator for several hours.

Grill chicken for 55-60 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked and no pink remains.

Makes 4 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken Enchiladas with my Famous Sangria

First off, I am putting two new recipes up in Try This so check it out. I also posted a new cookbook on my other blog The World on a Plate

So, here is my recipe for Chicken Enchiladas ~ I think it came from Southern Living but I could be wrong about that. It’s easy to make and tastes great although it is far from authentic enchiladas. I am one of those people for whom cilantro tastes like soap so I omit it or sub fresh chopped parsley. The parsley does not taste the same but it does add a freshness to the filling. I like to serve these with my guacamole (which I will post in the future).

Chicken Enchiladas

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained (fire roasted chilies are very good in this)

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

8 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream

1 (8 ounce) jar salsa

Stir together the first 5 ingredients. Spoon this mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla and roll up. Arrange, seam side down in a lightly greased 13×9 pan. Coat tortillas with cooking spray.

Bake at 350º for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Stir together the sour cream and salsa. Spoon over hot enchiladas. Sprinkle with your favorite toppings such as chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions, olives, cilantro, etc.

My famous sangria is not really my recipe ~ I got it off an old AOL food board and I have no idea who posted it. It is a winner! It’s fairly potent, too. It’s only famous because of the amount of requests I get for it, LOL! I always make it ahead, up to the point of adding the club soda.  Thank you to whoever posted this recipe ~ it’s a keeper!

My Famous Sangria

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups dry red wine
1/4 cup brandy
7 ounces club soda, chilled
1 cup sliced fruit

Into a large pitcher, pour lemon juice, orange juice, and sugar, stir to dissolve. Stir in remaining ingredients.

To Serve: Pour into glasses, making sure that each person gets some fruit. Serve chilled.

Red Wine Marinara

A simple sauce that is so good. I like to serve it over a pasta with ridges so that the sauce really sticks to the pasta. I also use my stick blender instead of putting the tomatoes in the food processor.

Red Wine Marinara

1 29 oz can whole tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/3 cup red wine
1 shallot, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch of salt
generous dash of freshly ground pepper

Crush tomatoes in a food processor or blender. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until bubbly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve over your favorite pasta such as angel hair, spaghetti or linguine.

I found this recipe on http://www.stephskitchen.com ~ which is a great site for down to earth recipes.