Pasta with Sausage and Gruyere sauce

Since my children were drawn to the free samples at the grocery store, we purchased some roasted garlic and gruyere cheese chicken sausage. I really couldn't decide what to do with it. I was leaning towards grilling it but what sides should I serve. In the end, I decided to make a pasta dish. It is always obvious when my daughter likes something since she will even eat it the next day. This recipe is one of those meals.

Pasta with sausage and Gruyere sauce
1 lb. shell pasta
12 oz. sausage
1 garlic, minced
1 cup spinach
1/8 cup red bell pepper, chopped small
1 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
4 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded
Topping parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Boil the pasta until al dente.
2. In a large skillet, brown the sausage.
3. With a slotted spoon, remove the sausage onto a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.
4. Add the garlic, spinach, and red bell pepper. Saute for 1 minute.
5. Sprinkle the flour over the spinach mixture. Stir gently for 1 minute.
6. Whisk in the 2 cups of milk and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
7. Stir in the Gruyere cheese.
8. Once the cheese has melted, add the pasta and sausage. 
9. Mix to combine and allow to cook for one minute.
10. Top with parsley and serve.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago.............................I made BLT with aioli.

Did you already know.............
-General stores began with a clerk retrieving the desired products for customers.
-In the 1920s, the grocery store chains began to open.
-The first supermarket opened in the 1930s.

Ham, Cheese, & Fried Egg Panini

As a kid, did you look through the toy catalog and want all the toys? Did you care if it was a doll or a truck? I didn't. My mom would tell us we could only pick one or two items out of the catalog. I thought that was the most impossible task. 

As an adult, I have the same problem but with the William-Sonoma catalog. I would like one of these or two of those. Once in a while, I will break down if the price is right and purchase something like a lunch box with cookie cutters for $10. I thought that was a pretty good deal. My son thought it was great since it was for him. I do actually look at the recipes in the catalogs. Since I have an underutilized panini press, I decided to make this recipe. My family said this was a must make again meal.

Ham, Cheese, & Fried Egg Panini
yields: 4 sandwiches
1/2 tsp minced shallot
1/2 tsp honey
1 tsp Champagne vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
12 oz. Black Forest ham, thinly sliced
4 baguette rolls, sliced horizontally
6 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated
1 Tbsp mayonnaise/ Dijon mustard (optional)
1 cup mixed salad greens
4 eggs 
2 Tbsp chives, chopped

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix the shallot, honey, vinegar, and olive oil.  Set aside.
2. Preheat the electric panini press.
3. In a large skillet on medium heat, add 1 tsp vegetable oil. 
4. Working in batches, brown the ham slices about 1 minute per side. 
5. Transfer the ham on top of the open baguette rolls.
6. One the other side of the baguette rolls, brush with mayonnaise/mustard or the shallot oil mixture.
7. Add the salad greens to the shallot oil bowl and toss to coat the salad. 
8. Top the ham with about 1 oz. Gruyere cheese per a sandwich.
9. Cover the cheese with the other side of the baguette roll.
10. Place 2 sandwiches at a time in the panini press and close the lid.
11. Cook the sandwich about 4 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 
12. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining sandwiches.
13. In the large skillet used for the ham over medium-low heat, add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil.
14. Crack one egg into the skillet; cook the egg until the whites turn opaque.
15. Flip the egg over and cook about 1 minute or until desired doneness.
16. Open the sandwich and add the egg on top of the sandwich. 
17. Top the egg with the mix salad greens and sprinkle chives on top.
18. Close the sandwich and serve.

Source adapted from William-Sonoma January 2012 catalog.

Did you already know........
-Panini means sandwich.

-If you don't have a panini press, use a handheld grill press, brick covered with tinfoil, waffle iron, or a heavy skillet placed on top of the sandwich (or my oldest daughter's suggest use a clothes iron).

-In the early 1960s, Panini sandwiches could be found in sandwich shops around Italy.

Cheesy Potato Gratin

I have an evasive teenager. I bring out the camera and she disappears. My mother is the same way so I am unsure if it a learned behavior or an inherited one. There are probably more photos of Bigfoot than my daughter as a teenager. I guess I could hide and wait for her to go by. A lot of the photos of my teenager, she thinks she is a movie star and holds up her hand so the photo can not be used or sold. 

My children especially my teenager likes to help in the kitchen. For some reason, my phone seems to ring when I'm cooking. I hear a lot of "Mom, it is important. The person on the phone wants to talk to you." When I pick up the phone, the call could have waited. You are probably wondering why we don't have a cordless phone. We do but it is always missing. Bigfoot probably is using it somewhere.

I saw this recipe and wanted to try it before Thanksgiving. It didn't happen but I am glad I made it this weekend. It is very, good especially with leftover Turkey.

Cheesy Potato Gratin


1 Tbsp butter, unsalted
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 Tbsp flour, all purpose
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
3 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
3. Add the chopped shallot and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the flour and stir. Cook for about 1 minute.
5. Slowly, stir in the chicken stock and cream.
6. Add the Gruyere cheese and thyme. Stir until the cheese has melted.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Add the potatoes and gently stir to coat the potatoes with the cheese mixture.
9. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
10. Remove the lid and transfer the potatoes to a oven safe dish.
11. Sprinkle the Parmigiano cheese on top.
12. Cook uncovered for about 30 to 35 minutes until the edges are bubbling.
13. Let cool for 15 minutes

Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma.  

 Did you already know.................
-There are Bigfoot Field Researchers.
-Another name for Bigfoot is sasquatch which means "wild man".
-Bigfoot is purportedly to be native to the Pacific Northwest of North
America.
-The scientific community have no evidence of the existence of Bigfoot, sasquatch, or Yeti sightings.