(Cast-) Iron Man

If I ever write my own cookbook, the above will also be its title. Until then, apologies for not contributing of late. Here are the remainders from the farm's summer selection. Eliese was frustrated at the thought of dinner so I came up with (and made) this:

1 1/2 zucchini, ends trimmed & 1/4" coins
2 frying peppers (ours were red), seeded and cut into strips (I prefer to halve each strip lengthwise as well)
4 HOT Italian Sausages, casing removed, pulled into 1" chunks
1/2 yellow onion, cut in strips
1/2 lb. ditalini or other pasta you have in your cuphoard
salt/pepper
Olive Oil

1. On medium heat, cook sausage in cast-iron. Remove when browned, keep that delicious rendered fat for your veggies.
2. Salt a pot of water, bring to boil. Don't add ditalini until you are ready to cook veggies.
3. Add veggies to cast-iron on medium-low heat, salt and pepper generously. If onion carmelizes before peppers and zucchini soften, add olive oil.
4. Drain pasta, toss with veggies, add sausage. Drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on top.

*I am putting an asterisk on this whole recipe because you should feel free to invent your own cupboard masterpiece. I can say that this one, having been tested, tastes delicious.

Pork and Peaches (Moving Day, the Mother of Invention)

My family has been living in two places simultaneously for the past month. We've been painting and moving small things (read: books) since late July. Between moving the majority of our furniture last weekend during a tropical New Jersey monsoon and moving the remaining furniture (read: bookshelves) this weekend - as well as a three full day orientation at the Archdiocese for my new job- , there hasn't been much time to do any thoughtful cooking. Or anything else. However, yesterday after finishing the move, we decided to go with husband's parents to the orchard and do some light apple- and peach/nectarine-picking.

I returned to the old apartment in the evening to clean the bathroom and try to move some straggling items (read: mainly books) over to the new place. After such an evening, one wants to cook with as much on hand as possible and spend minimum time in the grocery store and kitchen. So one brief run to the store later, I improvised the following meal using our fresh peaches and nectarines, with inspiration from Angela's pairing of the pork chops and sauteed peaches:

1. Sauteed chopped shallots in olive oil for a couple minutes. Added some fresh thyme and salt. Then added about 2 cups chicken stock, brought to boil; added 1.5 cups couscous, stir. Covered and took off heat, let sit undisturbed about 15 minutes.
2. In cast iron: in a little olive oil, cooked four Italian sausages, cut into pieces. Once browned, added one peeled sliced peach and one peeled sliced nectarine (I maybe would have used two peaches instead of a nectarine, but I used the fruits which had been bruised during picking). I let these soften and get a little caramelized, then I added some roughly chopped spinach only long enough to wilt.
3. Fluffed the couscous and served as a bed for sausage-fruit-spinach mixture. Great with a few generous squeezes of lemon.

As we ate dinner, we watched Iron Chef, Battle: Suckling Pig (I have cable now, for the first time in my life). I felt pretty proud of myself when one of the chefs did a speck and peach pairing: hey, pork and peaches! I did not, however, make a scrambled egg/pig brain snack, or anything with trotters; although husband and I have devised the most brilliant (seriously) idea for a restaurant that involves offal and would be a huge hit in Manhattan. I decline to elaborate here, suffice to say it would be titled Simply Offal.

Did I mention I love my new kitchen? 'Cause I do. Counter space and cabinet space are a novelty.

"Stout" Sausages

A quick one, improvised by some leftover stout and the acquisition of a hefty farmer's market onion (I wanted to play with its taste rather than lose it in a larger meal):

1 lb. Italian Sausage
2 peppers [sliced] (either green, red, or yellow--I like at least one green to balance the meal's color)
1 onion [sliced]
6 garlic cloves [roughly chopped]
3/4 c. stout (or experiment with another beer--Yuengling has worked well in other manifestations)
3 dashes of red pepper flakes

1. Heat oven to 400º.
1. In cast-iron heat sausages on medium-high heat, 10 mins. Remove.
2. Add garlic. When flavor released, add peppers & onion, sprinkle with salt to taste and red pep. flakes, 8 mins.
3. Add sausages & beer. When boils, put in oven, 25 mins.
4. Serve on rolls, plain or with Dijon mustard.

Sausage and Pepper Rigatoni

*This recipe is from Jenny M--many thanks!

I have to admit, this was a little scary at first.  My husband saw it in passing on the local tv show called the 'Valley Dish'.  He said "MMMM, I wish we were having that for supper!"  So I decided to be adventurous and look up the recipe a few days later.  To my ultimate delight, he loved it and it wasn't that hard!  A few side notes:  I didn't know what fennel was, looked for it at Fry's and couldn't find it, so I never used it.  We didn't know the difference :).  Second, I used all dried herbs (cut amounts in half).  I just didn't have the fresh ones on hand and it was still delicious!

Ingredients...

12 oz ground Italian sausage (not spicy)

1 red bell pepper

1 small onion

3rd of a bulb of fennel

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

6 cloves fresh garlic

3/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 cup your favorite tomato sauce

1 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley

1 Tbsp fresh basil

1/2 grated Romano cheese

21 oz cooked rigatoni pasta

1.  Slice onions, fennel, and peppers.  Mince the garlic and chop all the herbs.

2.  In a large saute pan, heat the oil until it's at the smoking point (between 365-400 degrees Fahrenheit), add sausage meat.  Make sure it's spread out so meat covers the full surface of the pan.

3.  Add oregano, thyme, garlic, and vegetables.  Brown all slightly.  Add wine and chicken stock and reduce by half.

4.  Add tomato sauce and bring to a quick boil.

5.  Heat pasta and toss with the sauce mix.  Then mix in basil, parsley and Romano cheese. 

Enjoy!