Fennel Broccoli And Sausage Pasta Recipe

Fun loving pasta eaters, rejoice! The fennel, garlic and broccoli go very well with sliced sauteed sausage and freshly grated parmesan cheese along with the crumbled goat cheese - ciao bella! Quick and easy meal to help sneak in some veggies to unsuspecting teenagers and hubbys everywhere!

Ingredients:

2 or 3 each hot and sweet sausage links, semi-frozen
2 small crowns of fresh broccoli
3-6 cloves of fresh garlic
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1 or 2 bulbs fennel with their fawns

Olive Oil
Large pot of boiling water for pasta - try rotitini or penne
One large deep skillet, enough that when after cooking sausages and veggies, you can also throw pasta in.
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
A couple shakes of dried red pepper flakes
Freshly cracked pepper
Salt

Directions:

Put pot on to boil for pasta
Take out sausage from freezer, and slice links into 1/3 inch slices
Put skillet onto stove, add small drizzle of olive oil and put sliced sausages in.
Add red chili flakes and fresh cracked pepper - the heat from the skillet opens up their flavors.
While the sausage cooks, mince up garlic and set aside.
Rinse and break apart broccoli into small bite size pieces and set aside.
Cut off frawns from fennel, and with the remaining bulb, slice thin and break apart to resemble onion slices. Set aside frawns for now.
Once water has started to boil, add good amount of salt to water and a bit of olive oil.
To cooking sausage slices, add sliced fennel and broccoli to skillet.
Continue cooking broccoli, sausages and fennel allowing the fennel to caramelize along with sliced sausages.
Mince up two tablespoons fawns from the fennel and grate up your cheese.
Drain pasta when just al dente, but try and reserve up to 1 cup of pasta water.
Add drained cooked pasta to deep skillet and add freshly minced garlic to the mix.
Add 1/2 of the cheese and up to 1/2 cup pasta water and stir till all are combined. Continue cooking for one to 4 minutes. Add crumbled goat cheese.

Serve up on plates, sprinkle a little of the minced fennel frawns and extra grated cheese. Ciao Bella! Mangia Mangia pronto!

Pork Chops With Apples in Port Wine Reduction Sauce Recipe

Easy quick dinner made up in a flash, serve this up with a veggie or salad. Healthy, tender and oh so good tasting, I was surprised how quickly it all came together. Double recipe for a family of four.

Ingredients

1-2 pork chops per person 3/4 inch thick - at near room temperature
1 large apple - use a granny smith or red delicious
salt and pepper
1 large onion sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup port wine (I used Sandeman's)
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon 'better than bullion paste' chicken flavor (optional)
1 teaspoon freshly dried thyme
olive oil and a little butter
1 skillet
1 bowl

Directions

Sprinkle freshly cracked pepper on one side of pork chops and a little of the thyme and set aside on a plate.
Slice onion thinly while skillet heats up on medium heat.
Drizzle maybe 1 tablespoon olive oil into hot skillet and add onions.
Cook for 4-6 minutes, stirring frequently.
While onions cooking, mince up garlic and set aside.
Once onions are cooked and slightly browned, take out of skillet and put in bowl and set aside.
Put skillet back on heat, add a little olive oil and a teeny amount of butter and place your pork chops (spiced side down into hot skillet. Cook 3 minutes on each side.
If you chops are thicker than 3/4 inches, you will have to cook them longer.
Chops are done when they have just lost their pinkish color. They will continue to cook a bit once out of the skillet.
Sprinkle salt, pepper and additional thyme on the other side of unseasoned chops.
While chops are cooking, peel and slice thinly your apple.
Turn chops and let brown on the other side.
Remove chops onto a plate.
Add apple to skillet and let brown, stirring frequently, let cook for 3-5 minutes, add a little butter if you have to. Add garlic and let cook ONE minute only, you do not wish to burn the garlic.
Add port wine carefully to skillet, scrape bottom to remove brown bits. Add onions back to skillet. Let cook for two more minutes.
Add bullion paste, and water and let reduce by a half. Add one small pat of butter to remaining sauce...taste for any need of salt or pepper.
Pour mixture over your pork chops and dinner is ready.
I was in such a hurry to eat this amazing dinner, I didn't take a photo which is unusual for me.... :-) - photo is from deliaonline, but looks very close to what my dinner looked like before I chowed down.

Leahs Coconut Jerked Shrimp

Now if you haven’t yet made your own coconut shrimp, this recipe couldn’t be easier. I adore coconut shrimp, and since it is so easy to make at home, I can save my money on something else with the way prices are soring these days from everything like eggs to gas. This is great to make as a party appetizer as well!

Ingredients:

4-6 shrimp per person- deveined, cleaned, shells removed, tails intact
2 large eggs
1/8 cup corn starch
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 good shakes of red chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons jerk seasonings
1 teaspoon freshly cracked tri-colored pepper
1/4 to1/2 cup water
1-2 cups of shredded coconut, spread out in shallow pan
Vegetable oil to fry shrimp in
wax paper and plate or plater that can go into freezer
paper towels for draining shrimp after cooking
Fresh lemon wedges to serve with shrimp
Dipping sauce of your choosing – I used my ‘Best Homemade Tartar Sauce’ (already posted)

Directions:

After cleaning shrimp, drain and place on paper towels to pat shrimp dry.
In Bowl, put all other ingredients except coconut to make batter, With whisk, stir till all well combined. Let sit for five minutes so ingredients can ‘get to know’ one another. If batter is too thick, you may add more water to thin it out, it should be less thick than pancake batter, yet not thin like crepe batter.
Line your plate or platter that will go into freezer with wax paper and place next to bowl with coconut.
Dip shrimp holding to tail into batter, let excess drip off, then place battered shrimp into coconut. Flip over once, so that coconut has coated shrimp. Use fingers to gently throw coconut onto batter on shrimp to coat.
Next place shrimp onto waxed paper. Continue with all other shrimp.
Once compete, place coated shrimp that is sitting on platter with wax paper into freezer to ‘set up’ for one hour or more.
I used my wok to fry the shrimp since it would allow me to fry six at a time – have at least 1/2 inch of oil.
Heat up oil to 350 degrees – or to test if oil is hot enough, place a small cube of bread in, and see that it browns quickly.
Cooking times may vary depending upon size of shrimp you are using.
So add shrimp carefully to hot oil, and let cook for about 4 minutes on each side depending upon the size of your shrimp – the shrimp I cooked were the colossal sized ones and extra huge, so you may want to adjust the time accordingly.
Once each shrimp is done, using tongs or slotted spoon, take out of hot oil, let drain a bit and then place on paper towels on a plate to further drain.
Serve your shrimp up with fresh lemon wedges and your dipping sauces could be anything from a mustard apricot jam concoction, to my tarter sauce (already posted) which is what I did. This dish I served last night also includes with Notyourmomma’s Garlic French Fries with added rosemary and Leah’s French Fried Onion Circles (just posted) as photo shows.