Not Very Pretty To Look At... But Delish Nonetheless!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I did! It was a celebratory weekend as a matter of fact. :D The biopsy I had a couple weeks ago came back negative, but I was duped. For five months my doctor and I have been talking about lymph nodes but come to find out, he DIDN'T take a biopsy of the nodes, he took a biopsy of my bronchial tubes. He never said he was going to do that. So when I thought my ordeal was over at my last office visit, I found out that the nodes were still a huge issue and I had to have a PET scan. Well I found out on Friday morning that my PET scan came back negative! No lung cancer. :D So now that that's FINALLY over, and I'm not stressing over the "what ifs" anymore, I'm even more committed to getting healthy. This recipe I'm about to share is a Weight Watchers recipe, it serves 4 and only has 5 WW points per serving. It's incredibly easy to put together (have no idea why the recipe says it's of "moderate" difficulty) and you only dirty one bowl, a knife, a peeler and a micro-plane grater. THAT'S IT. You cook these in parchment paper in the oven or foil bundles on the grill. We went with the grill. The taste was amazing and the pork was fork tender - all in under 30 minutes. The only disappointment of this recipe is how it looks.. not very eye catching at all. And with a name like "Caribbean Pork Medallions" you'd think there'd be more color, yes? We both enjoyed this so much that it'll be made often this summer- and I will be adding more vegetables for color to make it as pretty as it is tasty. Enjoy! Caribbean Pork Medalions Serves 4 Prep Time: 15 min. (it only took me 5 min. to peel/slice the veggies) Cook Time: 20 min. Level of difficulty: Moderate (Easy.. trust me, it's way easy) WW points per serving: 5 1 large sweet potato, peeled & thinly sliced 1 small apple, cored and thinly sliced 2 TBS. dark brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup apple juice 1 tsp ginger root, peeled and grated 1/4 tsp table salt 1/4 tsp ground allspice (not a fan, didn't use) 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 3/4 pound(s) lean pork tenderloin, trimmed of all visible fat and cut into twelve half-inch slices 2 medium scallion(s), sliced Preheat oven or grill to 400 °F. Tear off four 12-inch squares of parchment paper or foil. I had a much bigger roll of foil, so mine were like 18" x 12" rectangles. In a medium bowl, mix sweet potato, apple and brown sugar; spoon onto center of each paper or foil square. **My husband doesn't like cinnamon in savory dishes, so after coating the apples & potatoes with the dark brown sugar, I put his portion aside, and added the cinnamon to the other 3 portions, instead of later in the "marinade". In same bowl, mix apple juice, ginger, salt, allspice and cinnamon. With heel of your hand, press pork slices to 1/4-inch thickness; add to spice mixture and toss to coat. Place pork over sweet potatoes; sprinkle with sliced scallions. At this point I had left over marinade, so I just drizzled it equally over the 4 packets. Bring bottom and top sides of parchment (or foil) together over pork. Starting at center of each square, make a series of tight overlapping folds, then fold up open ends to seal packets. Place on a baking sheet, or on top rack of grill; bake until pork is no longer pink and sweet potatoes are tender, about 18 minutes. Open packets carefully when testing for doneness, as steam will escape. Serve, drizzled with any juices and garnished with chopped scallions. xoxo

Honey-Gingered Pork Tenderloin

Hi! I apologize (again) for the lack of posts lately.. I'd like to blame it entirely on the upper respiratory infarction I was dealing with for a couple weeks, but alas, I can not. I just haven't been inspired much to cook new and exciting(to me) things lately.. I've got the culinary blahs. *sigh* Hubbs has become the chef and chief bottle washer of late and he's made some interesting dinners. He even attempted a "Dorie"! Unfortunately the crust got burned and that took away from the rest of the cake, but I give him a BIG A+ for effort! You have to give the man credit, he's terrified of baking and doesn't attempt it often. God love him. ;) In case you're wondering, it was his own creation of Dorie's Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte and her Quick Classic Berry Tart or Dorie's Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Classic Berry Tart-Torte. Mmm hmm.. Yeah, he wanted cheesecake and I wanted the berries I had bought to be used up.. so there ya have it. =) Slightly burnt but lovely none-the-less ;) Moving along.. Last night I decided to give him a break and got my arse in my lil kitchen. And although I have a huge fear of pork (yes, my dislike of most cuts of pork has turned into an all-out-terror because of this lil gem that about made me hurl.) I had pork tenderloin hanging out in the freezer so I figured I should use it up. After perusing Recipezaar, I found exactly what I was looking for - something sweet and savory with a lil Asian kick to it. This recipe boasts that it tastes like the lil BBQ ribs that many Asian restaurants serve. The author didn't lie. The sauce is very reminiscent of those BBQ ribs. And I even took a major shortcut by not marinating the tenderloin. I just seared the meat and threw it into the oven to finish cooking, while I made the sauce seperately so that I could spoon it over the tender pork medallions. I can just imagine how even more flavorful this dish would have been had I the time to marinate. So the good news is, if you don't have the time to marinate the pork you'll still end up with quite a delicious dinner. Honey Gingered Pork Tenderloin Courtesy of "FlemishMinx" and Recipezaar.com The recipe below reflects my changes. 2 (3/4 lb.) pork tenderloins Salt & Pepper 2 tsp. vegetable oil 1/4 c. honey 1/4 c. soy sauce 1/4 c. oyster sauce 2 TBS. packed brown sugar 1 TBS. fresh minced ginger 1 TBS. minced garlic 1 TBS. ketchup 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/3 c. chicken stock 1 TBS. cornstarch (or enough as needed) (optional) Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400º F. Sprinkle tenderloins evenly with salt and pepper; rub seasoning into meat. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Place both tenderloins in skillet; cook until well browned, 3 minutes. Using tongs, rotate tenderloins 1/4 turn; cook until well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat until all sides are browned. Transfer tenderloins to rimmed baking sheet and place in oven (reserve skillet if making pan sauce); roast until internal temperature registers 135º to 140º on instant-read thermometer, 10 to 16 minutes. Once out of the oven, cover loosely with a foil tent and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. In still hot skillet, combine the first 9 sauce ingredients with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the chicken stock and cornstarch (if using). Continue to simmer until desired thickness. Slice well rested tenderloin into 1/4 to 1/2 inch medallions and arrange on plate. Drizzle sauce over medallions before serving. If serving this dish to guests, keep in mind the sauce is quite strong and might be best to be served on the side. My Notes: If you are going to marinate the tenderloin first - place pork into a large ziplock bag or a shallow baking dish, whisk together first 9 sauce ingredients in a bowl, and pour over pork. Close bag or cover dish and place in refrigerator to marinate at least 8 hours, but 24 is better. Turn at least twice during this time. When ready to cook, continue on with recipe as instructed above, using reserved marinade for sauce. No no!! Don't go anywhere yet, I'm not done! I need just another minute or two of your time to show off the bestest Valentine's Day card I've ever received before. Ya'll know how I love home made cards, right? Well feast your eyes on this masterpiece: @}`~,~~., My sweet friend and fellow monthly baking clubber (uhh girls? We really need to decide on that name), Brilynn, made me this V-day card, ya'll!! I cropped the top of it where she writes that this card should get her into the dork club (Which I am President, CEO and Queen of) - which made me chuckle and also confused me a bit.. As I had inducted her MONTHS ago and made her Vice President of All That Is Dorky - apparently she didn't get the memo. huh. Thank you, Bril! I heart my hearty homemade card! :D

Pork Medallions with Port Wine & Mustard Sauce

I don't recall if I've ever mentioned my most favorite restaurant in alla world? It was a small place that looked like any other small restaurant/bar - I don't really recall anything that special about the atmosphere. But the food? Oh dear sweet Jebus. It was fantastic. Unfortunately, the owner couldn't keep the place open - which shocked the hell outta me as it was ALWAYS packed. Rumors were the owners of the building upped his rent and he couldn't afford it.. other rumors were he got into a lil tax/money trouble.. whatever - the bottom line was I didn't have my favorite place to eat anymore and I was more than a lil sad. =( Their signature dish was pork tenderloin medallions in a port wine & mustard sauce. not only did they give you TWO pork tenderloins (I ate for days!) but this sauce that was poured over them was amazing. So amazing that in all the years we went there - I never had anything but the pork medallions. I just couldn't imagine anything else being as good. Wayne, my Mom and some friends always ordered different items and never was there a complaint, but for me.. it was that damn sauce. It's been a good 4 years or so since the restaurant closed. I've tried to recreate this sauce twice now. The first time was kind of close - but it called for pears. There were no pears in the original, but I thought what the hell and tried it. It was good.. very good. And then I lost the recipe. Mmm hmm.. so I tried again just this week. Not even close, quite frankly. I decided to just dump and pour and hope for the best. Well I didn't get the sauce I was hoping for, but I did get quite a fantastic sweet & tangy sauce that really went well with the pork. The first thing you'll notice when you taste is it's sweetness, but then you'll taste the mustard's tang and the port wine is very nice in the background. I think the only thing I'll change the next time I make this is to cut down on the brown sugar a bit. Hubbs didn't work that day so he wanted to contribute to the meal. I asked him to find a good side dish, preferably potatoes. He decided on an Onion and Potato Casserole that was quite nice, although probably not the best accompaniment for the medallions. Next time something lighter to offset the richness of the sauce might be better. But I'm including this recipe as it was very tasty and would be a fantastic side dish for just about any meat prepared a different way. Port Wine & Mustard Sauce 1 c. Port wine 1/4 c. dijon mustard 3/4 - 1 c. beef stock 1/4 c. brown sugar 1 TBS. butter Pan drippings After you've roasted your pork (I roasted mine in the same skillet I used to sear it in and then carefully made the sauce in the same skillet - keeping a thick kitchen towel over the handle at all times to remind my dork arse that it was searing hot) remove it to a dish and cover with foil to keep warm. In the skillet add the 1 c. of port wine sauce, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula to lift off the lil brown bits of goodness. Simmer the wine until it reduces by half. Add the mustard and about 1/2 c. of beef broth and continue to simmer until this has reduced by 1/2. Finally add the brown sugar and more broth depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. I don't think I added much more the second time - maybe a 1/4 cup or so? Anyhoo, simmer this slowly until you've reached the consistency you'd like then add the butter and stir until your sauce becomes silky. Drizzle over medallions and serve. Onion and Potato Casserole 3 c. sliced onions (2 large onions) 2 TBS butter 1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed cream of celery soup 1/2 c. water salt and pepper to taste 1/4 tsp. dried thyme 6 med. potatoes, sliced thin and parboiled 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese Preheat oven to 350º F. In a skillet, cook onions in butter until lightly browned. Add soup and water, season with salt and pepper and thyme. Arrange potatoes and 1/2 c. of the cheese in a buttered 2 quart casserole. Pour onion mixture over potatoes & cheese and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned. Serves 4 My Note: The only thing thing he did differently was cut the recipe in half.

Simple is Sometimes Incredibly Good!

This was last week - so tired after work and didn't want to mess in the kitchen for long. I knew it was going to be a hectic day when I woke up so I took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer - they are so flavorful and easy to cook. Well then I forgot about it.. and didn't think about dinner again until about 10 minutes before leaving work for the day. I did a quick search on recipezaar and allrecipes - and to be truthful, even though it's only been a week, I can't think of which site I found this on! I do know that it was the first recipe I found that didn't call for marinating for hours. The recipe is super easy, quick and only has 5 ingredients. At that point, all I wanted to do was get home, get in my jammies and make a cup of tea, so I didn't really care that it probably wouldn't be a great recipe. Like I said, the pork tenderloin is so flavorful and tender anyway - you really can't screw one up. After an hour or so of unwinding, I looked at the recipe again and realized I had no fresh tomatoes - so I opened a can of diced tomatoes, the kind with the onions and garlic added. I couldn't even be bothered with peeling and mincing cloves of garlic, so I used 2 tsps. of the minced garlic in a bottle. I just had no gumption whatsoever that evening. As long as it was edible and hot, I didn't care. Ever have days like that? Well was I happily surprised 30 minutes after I put this dish together. The diced tomatoes and garlic roasted in the oven as you place them next to the pork in a large roasting pan, instead of on or under the pork.. the pork was tender, juicy and had lots of flavor after seasoning it with salt, pepper and a lil garlic rubbed in. Combine the two and we had one of the tastiest, quick pork tenderloin dinners I've ever had. It was fabulous!! I had put more energy and time into the smashed potatoes that went with the pork - and they didn't turn out nearly as good! ha! Quick night.. tired as hell.. no energy whatsoever? Try this recipe. You will NOT be disappointed. Super Easy and Amazingly Tasty Pork Tenderloin Serves 2 1 pork tenderloin 1 can (14 oz? 10 oz? the regular size) of diced tomatoes with garlic and onion added 2 tsp. minced garlic Salt & Pepper to taste olive oil 12 oz. fresh mushrooms (I didn't have them so I omitted them) Preheat oven to 425º F. In a rather large roasting pan, combine the tomatoes and garlic, season with S&P - spread in an even layer on one side of the pan, then drizzle a lil olive oil over the top. Place the tenderloin, also seasoned with S&P and a lil garlic, next to the tomatoes on the other side of the roasting pan. Place in preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 160º F.

Comforting Irish

Wow.. talk about a month for comforting foods! I think, other than the scallops, we've ate pretty much nothing BUT comforting foods so far this November. November is a kick-ass month! =) One of my most favorite dinners in alla world is my Mom's Irish Boil. Her side of the family is predominantly Irish, but I don't recall many Irish recipes made by her other than two different types of "boils". Without doing much research, as I am a lazy bugger, I'm guessing that these two recipes are take-offs of what many Irish mother's would make for their family that was relatively cheap, convenient and used what was probably staples in their households. I'm sure the meat has changed from those boiling pots in Ireland to the boiling pots here in the US, but the concept is probably the same. The first type of boil is basically one or two small cottage hams, a head of cabbage and a bunch of potatoes seasoned and covered in water - then brought to a boil and simmered for hours until the meat and cabbage were tender. Delicious. The boil she made yesterday was the one she called her Irish Boil. It consists of either bone in or boneless western style pork ribs, several potatoes, a couple cans each of green beans and sweet corn. All seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper, then covered in water and boiled. A few hours later, the ribs are melt in your mouth tender, the potatoes have soaked up the juice of the ribs and the vegetables are not mushy at all. A big bowl, a fork and a piece of good, crusty bread is all that's needed for a delicious and filling dinner that is the perfect ending to a cold day. Beware! This type of dinner is NOT camera friendly. Do not be turned off by the looks.. as the taste is truly magnificent. =) Mom's Irish Boil 3 lbs. western style pork ribs 7-8 russet potatoes, peeled 2 cans cut green beans (fresh can always be used) 2 cans sweet corn salt and pepper to taste enough water to cover all ingredients by at least an inch or two In a large soup pan, over medium-high heat, brown the ribs that have been seasoned with salt and pepper. Once browned, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a medium-low and simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally and checking to make sure water has not evaporated too much. If it has, just add more. Depending on how fatty your pork ribs are, you may need to skim the fat off the top - but we usually don't see that too often. That's it.. simple, but tasty! :D

Michelle's Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Jus

Michelle? I heart you! This is the first, of which I hope to be many, of Michelle's Je Mange la Ville recipes that I've tried. Yesterday, I spent the whole day baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book: BAKING: From My House To Yours (reviews coming soon!) and watching scary/Halloweenie type movies and then preparing this amazing dinner for the two of us.. all the while the house rocked to some severe winds. Which was quite mild to Saturday's weather in which we encountered gray skies, wicked winds, hail, freezing rain and even a smattering of snow while we both cowered under the blankets all day. Gah. Yesterday was definitely a fantastic day in comparison. =) I only changed one part of her recipe (imagine that!) in which I did not roast my tenderloin with the rosemary, only because Hubbs isn't a fan. But the rest of the recipe was followed to the T and it was fanfarkintabulous! I was a little shocked when I first tasted the jus for seasoning as it was very concentrated after it had reduced - it was pretty sweet but also very tart (and my cheeks are puckerin' as I type this). But when paired with the tender and salty pork it was amazing! Apples and pork go so well together, but I rarely cook with apples so we don't get this flavor combo often. I've cooked a pork tenderloin in a pear/port wine/mustard sauce before and that was fantastic as well, but nothing like this jus that I agree with Michelle, could be drank with a freakin' straw it's so good. I'll include my picture of last night's wonderful dinner.. but will direct you to Michelle's site for the recipe and to see her step by step instructions (including photos!) on how to make this meal. It's the perfect Autumn dinner and I really recommend trying it. =) Michelle's Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider Jus Copied verbatim from Michelle's Je Mange la Ville 2 cups apple cider 1 cup low-salt chicken broth 3/4 cup chopped onion 6 whole allspice 3 large fresh thyme sprigs (or a big rosemary sprig, which is what I used) 2 cinnamon sticks 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp unsalted butter 1 12-ounce pork tenderloins, well trimmed Olive oil 2 Rosemary sprigs 2 cloves garlic, minced salt & pepper Mix first eight ingredients in medium saucepan. Boil until mixture is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 30-40 minutes. Strain, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids. Return liquid to saucepan and boil until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the butter and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slather pork with olive oil, salt and pepper generously and coat with the minced garlic and rosemary. Brown on all sides in a oven-proof pan. Finish roasting in the preheated oven, 20-22 minutes or until the pork reaches 145 degrees. Cover with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Pour any pork drippings from the rested meat into the cider sauce. Then slice and serve with the sauce drizzled over the top. Deee-licious. He wasn't in the mood for any other veggies I had on hand, so we just went with carmelized roasted sweet potatoes - simply made by tossing the diced potatoes with a little kosher salt and olive oil, then roasting alongside the tenderloin. I flipped them half way through, and when the tenderloin was done and sitting on my counter for 10 minutes to rest, I sprinkled the potatoes with a little brown sugar and put them back in the oven until the sugar melted (about 10 min.).. yum! :D

Honey-Hoisin Pork Chops

Finally.. the last of the pork. *happy sigh* I think I might have mentioned it once before.. way back in April, Hubbs and I went to the local wholesale place to stock up on some items for him to take back with him to Arkansas. While checking out their meat section, Hubbs found a ginormous hunk o'pork. This loin was easily 16-20 pounds. But it was on sale! We can't pass up a damn sale! So it ended up in our cart.. and then ended up all over my kitchen by the time I cut that sucker up into chops and roasts. Ended up being a damn good hunk o'pork - very flavorful. But I'm not a huge pork fan so getting through all of it took, what? Close to 6 months! This was even after I sent back with him probably a good 8 lbs. of roasts and chops to Arkansas. heee! Anyhoo.. 4 lil chops left so I cooked 'em up last night. Got out the trusty Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2006 and found a quick and easy marinated/bbq'd recipe for chops. Honey and Hoisin were the main ingredients along with garlic, soy and onions. Quick marinade of 30 minutes and then a quick sear to be followed by a quick 20 minutes in the oven.. they came out juicy and very flavorful and all less than 1 hour from start to finish. Not bad at all ;) Especially when it was Grey's Anatomy season opener last night.. everything had to be done no later than 7:55!! Yeah.. hadda watch the lil special they aired first - any chance to drool over McDreamy, yanno. Although this might have been a mistake - hard to eat your dinner when you are crying and sniveling over Denny's death - AGAIN. He's been dead for like 5 months and I was still a puddle of tears by the time the actual first episode came on. Oh and then when Miranda said her goodbye to him I about exploded with grief. Sheesh. Where the hell was I? *sniff* Yes the chops.. quick, easy and mighty tasty.. give it a shot some night ;) Forgive me for the more than usual crap pictures.. I was inna hurry. Honey-Hoisin Pork Chops Courtesy of Cooking Light's Annual Recipes 2006 2 TBS. sliced green onions (Still out - so I used 1/4 c. Vidalia) 2 TBS. hoisin sauce 2 TBS. soy sauce (Recipe called for low-sodium but I only have the high-test) 2 TBS. sage honey (I used clover honey) 1 TBS. hot water 2 garlic cloves, minced 4 boneless pork chops, about 1" thick 1/4 tsp. salt Cooking spray 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds Combine first 6 ingredents in a small bowl. Pour 1/4 c. honey mixture into a large zip top plastic bag; reserve remaining honey mixture. Add pork to bag, seal and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning bag occasionally. Preheat oven to 400º F. Remove pork from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle pork with salt. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork; cook 2 minutes, browning on both sides. Brush 1 TBS. reserved honey mixture over pork; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place skillet in oven. Bake at 400º for 15-20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160º (slightly pink) or until desired degree of doneness. Place pork on platter, let stand 5 minutes. Drizzle with remaining honey mixture. Yield 4 servings.

Paprika Pork Chops

Here's another example of what a dork I am. I've always liked pork.. mostly. About the only cut I really am not fond of is your basic pork roast - and that's because I've never had one that wasn't dry. But give me a good chop or tenderloin and I'm pretty happy. Until. Until Hubbs and I hit the local wholesale club back in February, and found they had these giant pork loins on sale. He immediately grabbed one and said it was too good to pass up. After we got home, I cut it up into, Oh.. I dunno.. maybe a gazillion chops? Seriously, this fakkin thing was HUGE! So I've had this mountain of pork in my freezer for many, many months and every time I look at the bags and bags of pork chops, I turn my nose up at them. I have no freakin' idea why. Maybe because there is so much of it?? I dunno.. As I was leaving for work yesterday morning I realized I hadn't taken anything out for dinner. "F*ck!" I'm really starting to hate figuring out what the hell to make for dinner these days. So I ran back into the house and opened up our chest freezer and just grabbed the first thing I saw.. pork chops. I wasn't thrilled, but I was also late for work, so pork chops it hadda be. I never thought about them again all day, until we were sitting on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather after work. I had no idea how to prepare them.. I didn't want to just grill or pan fry them (I really just didn't want them) and I didn't feel like making this awesome pork chop bake recipe I have because that would mean I'd have to grate potatoes and that was just too much work. hehe So I left the deck, came back to the office and checked out my go-to website, All Recipes. After perusing quite a few recipes that didn't really thrill me, I came upon this recipe for Paprika Pork Chops and thought I'd give it a go as I had all the ingredients on hand and what goes better with pork than sauerkraut? A friend of ours, Larry, happened to stop by so I invited him to stay for dinner with the warning that I was making an unknown recipe so he'd be taking his chances on how good it'd be. As if that would deter him.. free dinner? Meat? He was all over it. hehe When I started to prepare the chops, I doubled the kraut mixture because the boys love their kraut, and found this recipe very easy and quick to make. I baked a few Yukon Gold potatoes and made a quick salad of garden fresh tomatoes, onions and cucumbers (that I couldn't have *sob*) to go with the chops. I gotta tell ya kids.. there are many good recipe resources out there, but damn, when ya find a 5 star recipe on All Recipes you can pretty much assure yourself of a tasty dinner. These chops were fanfarkintastic! The ingredients really didn't sound like they'd be good together, but in the description of the recipe, the author said to over look that. I'm glad I did.. because Wow. Seriously. Wow. The kraut, carmelized onions, paprika and sour cream topping was out of this world. Not too heavy with just the right amount of zing to go with the perfectly seasoned chops. The recipe calls for broiling of the chops, but since I had the potatoes baking, I decided to pan fry them and I'm glad I did because of the carmelization of the chops.. so tasty! Hubbs is part Polish and part German and he gave me the biggest compliment I think I've ever heard from him concering my cooking (And seriously? He lays the compliments thick when I cook.. cooking for him is a major component of the pleasure I receive from my time in the kitchen, just knowing that he'll be so appreciative once he tastes.) which was how this dish reminded him of a dish his mother use to make. He's never said that before.. I was really pleased. Thanks DRLMCOBB! =) Paprika Pork Chops Courtesy of DRLMCOBB and All Recipes 4 teaspoons butter 1 onion, thinly sliced (I only had 1/2 onion so I added 3 shallots) 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika 1/3 cup sauerkraut, drained (I doubled this and the sour cream) 1/3 cup sour cream 4 boneless pork chops 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon garlic salt Melt 2 tsp. of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in onions, and cook until soft and golden. In a bowl, stir together 1/2 teaspoon paprika, sauerkraut, onions, and sour cream. Season pork chops with pepper, garlic salt, and 1 teaspoon paprika. Once onions are carmelized, add them to the sauerkraut mixture. Pre-heat the broiler. In the same skillet add the other 2 tsp. of butter and the pork chops. Fry for 5-6 minutes on each side until pork is just about done. Transfer the chops to a broiling pan or cookie rack placed inside a jelly-roll pan. *Spread sauerkraut and onion mixture over pork chops, and broil 1 or 2 minutes or until the topping is goldeny brown. *Note: Since I doubled the kraut mixture, there was no "spreading", I heaped a large amount of the stuff on the chops so after the topping browned, I turned off the broiler and let them sit in the hot oven for another minute or two to assure the topping was heated through.

4th of July with a Lil Asian Twist

We had a loverly 4th of July this year, as I hope all of you did! This year we decided that because of work the next day (ugh) that dinner with the Cleavers would be the perfect way to celebrate the holiday. =) Yes.. the Cleavers. One of my closest friends in alla world, Mindy, has been dubbed June Cleaver. Her fabulous husband Dan, also known as Ward, and their beautiful little girl, Lily - better known as the "Beavette" are my Cleaver family. When Mindy and Dan first started dating they were so funny together as Mindy would ask Dan for a favor and Dan would always reply, "Yes, Dear." At first I thought it was for my benefit, but soon found out that this was Dan's (Ward's) constant reply to June, err, Mindy! They are the perfect couple ('kay they fight light cats and dogs, just like the rest of us) with the perfect child (she's 7, amazingly beautiful, and she's got a knack of getting herself in some predicaments, that end up being quite funny - such as, yesterday she accidentally slammed her finger in our slider door and howled as if she chopped the the damn thing off.. June took her to the bathroom for some first aid and when they made it back out to the kitchen Lily was still quite upset until she noticed me slicing the London Broil with my electric knife - she instantly stopped crying and in a very serious tone, commented that the knife was quite a nifty gadget.) So yes, we had dinner with the Cleavers and it was a fabulous day. =) For munchies before dinner, I prepared Mindy's Guacamole which I served in hollowed out cherry tomato halves such as Ilva of Lucullian Delights created with her Avocados & Cucumbers Thanks Ilva! :D Along with melon wrapped in prosciutto and these fabulous little wonton snackers, that everyone enjoyed, even the very picky Beavette =) I found the recipe on Recipzaar a few weeks ago and thought they'd be a nice addition to my appetizer repertoire. They were easy to make and delicious served with both sweet & sour and plum sauces. I was a little nervous while frying them as the wonton browned quickly, too quickly I thought, for the pork filling to cook completely - but I left them in the hot oil and happily saw that the wonton only got a bit more goldeny brown while the pork filling cooked completely. I had intended to make a dipping sauce of rice wine vinegar, freshly grated ginger and soy sauce, but somehow ended up not making it.. guess I had too much fun chit chatting with June, eh? =) Regardless, these were the perfect little snackers for just about any occasion. Chinese Wontons Courtesy of Cocoa and Recipezaar 1 lb. ground pork 3 cloves chopped garlic 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 3 carrots, finely diced 3 stalks celery, finely diced 6 green onions, finely diced 1 package wonton wrappers water oil (for deep frying) your favorite sweet and sour sauce or plum sauce Combine pork, garlic, ginger, soysauce, and vegetables in a bowl. Separate wonton skins. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of the wonton. Brush water on 2 borders of the skin, covering 1/4" from the edge. Fold skin over to form a triangle, sealing edges. Pinch the two long outside points together. Heat oil to 350 degrees and fry 4 to 5 at a time until golden. Drain and serve with sauce.

Jack Daniels' Glazed Ribs

So Sunday turned out much differently than we expected. All but one of Hubbs' crew ditched him. Can ya believe it? Finally, around 2:30 one of the guys showed up.. but by then Hubbs had pretty much one whole side (the longest and most important side) done - by himself. Poor guy. I felt bad for him, but maybe it was a girl thing? He didn't seem upset at all and I think he was actually enjoying himself because he wouldn't let me help him. Maybe the whole, "I built it myself with pride" thing? I don't know - but that man worked his arse off yesterday and today I've got two sides to our fence done, and done beautifully. The back is still unfinished as they ran across major roots when trying to dig the holes for posts on Saturday, but as soon as Hubbs can figure out how to set posts back there, he'll be able to knock out filling the fence in quickly. At least now, the ugly neighbor's house is no longer an eye sore and the yard is essentially completely fenced in so we don't have to worry about Chloe & Nigel getting out to wander the streets. As for my big "Thank you - you guys rock!" second dinner? I froze it.. tee heee! The good thing is we're having a few people over for 4th of July and most of my prep is done and in the freezer just waiting to be thawed and grilled :D I simply threw the London Broil and the marinade in the freezer and after making 60 wantons, I froze them on a baking sheet and then put them in a freezer bag once they were frozen. Regarding the Jack Daniels glazed ribs, Ilva asked in comments about whether she could use an Irish whiskey instead of Jack Daniels rye whiskey. Personally, I think this glaze is simply named after the Jack Daniels company because they came up with it? It's definitely not named Jack Daniels because you can taste the rye.. after this glaze cooks, you can taste no alcohol whatsoever. I think if you left the whiskey out completely, you'd never be able to tell a difference. This glaze became popular at a chain restaurant called TGIFriday's. I first had it about 8 years ago over their pork chops and I was instantly addicted. It's a sweet glaze with a nice zing that goes well with chicken, pork or beef. The main ingredients are dark brown sugar and pineapple juice with a small amount (surprising, eh?) of cayenne pepper to give it a kick that doesn't really hit you until you've had a few bites. I found the recipe on a copy-cat site that rocks, Top Secret Recipes, and they cloned this recipe to the T. It's not a hard glaze to make, but there are a lot of ingredients. Here's the thing though.. the following recipe is suppose to yield 1 cup of the glaze. But you must cook it for hours to get it to thicken up, therefore you don't get 1 full cup. I always double or triple the recipe. Saturday while it was cooking on my stovetop I noticed how much it had cooked down and panicked a little bit thinking I wouldn't have enough for the mountain of ribs I had to glaze, so I took it off the heat too soon which gave me a very thin glaze. I ended up serving some on the side for dipping because of it. If I were thinking, which I wasn't, I would have added a tablespoon of cornstarch to the teriyaki sauce before adding it.. which I think I'm going to do from here on out. So keep that in mind if you try it ;) Jack Daniels' Glazed Ribs Yields 1 cup 1 head garlic 1 TBS. olive oil 2/3 c. water 1 c. pineapple juice 1/4 c. teriyaki sauce 1 TBS. soy sauce 1 1/3 c. dark brown sugar 3 TBS. lemon juice 3 TBS. minced white onion 1 TBS. Jack Daniels Rye 1 TBS. crushed pineapple 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper Preheat oven to 325º F. Cut about 1/2" off of top of garlic. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove the papery skin from garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together. Put garlic in small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle olive oil over it and cover with a lid or foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove garlic and let it cool until you can handle it. Combine water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce & brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat. Stir occasionally until mixture boils, then reduce heat until mixture is just simmering. Squeeze the sides of the head of garlic until the pasty roasted garlic is removed. Mash garlic with fork and then measure out 2 TBS. into the saucepan and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to pan and stir. Let mixture simmer for 40-50 minutes or until the glaze has reduced by about 1/2 and is thick and syrupy. Make sure it doesn't boil over. My Note: Again.. think about thickening with a slurry of cornstarch with the teriyaki. I believe you'll get more glaze.

What to do before things go bad

You make baked penne of course! I had a situation last night. Hubbs went out to farm land last week to visit his brother. On his way back he stopped in at his favorite butcher out in those parts and bought 3 pounds of the best sweet italian sausage in alla world. Made from an Amish man ;) When he got home he froze 2 packages and left one in the fridge as a subtle hint, I guess. hehee What he forgot to tell me was that it was in there. I discovered it yesterday morning and realized I needed to come up with something pretty quick before it went bad. Normally we use this delicious sausage on my pizzas, but there was no time yesterday morning to whip up a batch of dough and sauce.. so I went to the dungeon thinking about what I could do with it. Apparently my cravings haven't caught up with summer yet, because the only thing that sounded really good was some sort of baked pasta dish - yanno.. something hearty that sticks to your ribs and warms you up after a freezing day of Ohio blizzard? Oh well.. making the baked pasta dish would help me to use up a good amount of cheese that I had laying in the dairy drawer of the fridge as well as the sausage. Although not a light summery dinner.. this was fabulous and has become a definite keeper. Not only was it extremely tasty but it's one of those dishes that I just threw stuff in and hoped for the best. When those dinners turn out excellent, I get happy happy! I love when I don't use a recipe.. and I don't know why I don't do that more often. Well I guess it's mainly because there are sooooo many spectacular recipes out there that I just need to try, eh?! :) Alrighty then.. I was thinking layered lasagna like.. but I wanted to use up some of the Penne in the pasta cupboard. I wanted to incorporate some of my fresh herbs and I had just enough of my marinara thawed out waiting to be used up. Perfect! The fresh basil added the freshness and herbiness I was looking for, the penne was cooked al dente for that bite I was going for, the sausage - oh yeah, the sausage - well the sausage wasn't sweet italian as I had expected! Dear Hubbs, apparently was in a rush when purchasing and didn't realize he had bought your basic pork sausage with no seasonings. hehee! It was still the best sausage I've had, I just got to use up more of my herbies from my pot along with some dried herb. I added fresh basil & parsley and dried oregano. Turned out great! I had a loaf of french bread that I was allowing to go stale for Panzanella this weekend, but decided to heat it up in the oven the last 10 minutes of baking time and I had oven fresh bread slathered in creamy Amish butter to go with.. serious Yum! :D Baked Penne & Sausage 8 oz. penne 1.5 lbs. sweet italian sausage* 2 TBS. + 2 tsp. fresh basil, rough chopped and divided 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 small or 1/2 of a large vidalia onion, small diced 15 oz. pkg. of ricotta cheese 2 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped 1 tsp. dried oregano 2-2 1/2 c. marinara sauce 2 c. shredded cheese (I used a four cheese italian "crumble" mix) Preheat oven to 350º F. In a large skillet start to brown the sausage, when it's almost done, drain excess grease and add onions and garlic; continue to cook until sausage is browned, onions are almost translucent and garlic is fragrant. About 5 more minutes. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, salt well. Add Penne and cook for about 7 minutes or until al dente. Drain. Chop the basil roughly and set aside. Mix the 2 tsp. of basil, 1 tsp. parsley and 1 tsp. of dried oregano with the ricotta cheese, set aside. Once the penne and sausage are cooked, start your layering by first covering the bottom of an 8" x 8" Pyrex baking dish with the 1/3 of the marinara. Then add 1/2 of the basil. Follow with 1/2 of the sausage and a few good dollops of 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture. Spread the cheese over the sausage. Finally sprinkle 1 cup of the shredded cheese on top. Continue layering in this manner once more, excluding the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese and 1/3 c. of remaining marinara. Over the last layer of the ricotta mixture, spread the remaining marinara. Sprinkle with remaining basil and shredded cheese. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and turns golden brown. Serve with a nice salad and good crunchy italian or french bread. *To give the plain pork sausage an italian taste, I added 1 TBS. fresh basil, 1 TBS. fresh parsley and 1 tsp. dried oregano along with the onions and garlic.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my Cuisine at Home mags? Have I mentioned this about 89 kazillion times? Well I do, dammit! I'm even kind of feeling guilty for not going to all of my cookbooks for new recipes anymore.. I've got some serious change invested in them and mostly they are dust collectors because I'm so damn addicted to these cooking mags. Sheesh. Cuisine at Home has a section called 1-2-3 Weeknight, where they feature quick and easy recipes for the tired cook after putting their 8 in the dungeon, bless them. :D I chose this pork tenderloin recipe because of the rub. It has cayenne pepper in it, folks! Yessssssss I took a ride on the wild side last night! Okay well not really, the recipe called for 1/2 tsp. and I kinda only used about 1/4 tsp. small steps, people.. small steps! The rub was very good.. I could feel the heat on the back of my tongue, but it was actually pleasant and didn't make me want to run to my mommie. Now anyone else probably wouldn't even know it was there, but for me it was pretty damn good! The tenderloin was succulent, juicy and melt in your mouth tender. Yum! The zucchini was fabulous.. such a loverly lil summer squash (lurve you lil zucchinis!). I want to thank BNA of Peanut Butter and Purple Onions for reminding me of my grill pan sitting in my cupboard being neglected =) With all the rain we've been getting, firing up the big grill outside just wasn't gonna happen for me so remembering my grill pan came in very handy! Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Zucchini For the Pork 3 TBS. brown sugar 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1/2 tsp. cayenne 2 pork tenderloins, trimmed (This rub was barely enough for 1 tenderloin, so I suggest doubling it if you are making 2) Preheat grill to medium Combine brown sugar, salt and cayenne; rub mixture over tenderloins. Lightly coat each with nonstick spray. Grill tenderloins about 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145º F., turning to brown all sides. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. For the Zucchini 1 medium zucchini 1 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. pepper Olive oil for drizzling Cut your zucchini into coins. Drizzle a little of the oil on the grill pan (You want to start your squash about 10 minutes after the tenderloin went on) and place the zucchini in a single layer, salt & pepper and drizzle a little more oil over the top. Grill for about 2 minutes and flip, salt & peppering the other side. Grill for about another 2 minutes or until they are as tender as you like them. *Note: I have one of those large, cast iron, grill pans that sits over 2 burners on the stove, so I could grill my zucchini and tenderloin all at once. If you have a smaller grillpan, grill your zucchini after the tenderloin is done cooking.. while it's resting.

I made breakfast!

Normally, I'm not a big breakfast eater. Well not traditional breakfast, anyway. I'm one to grab a cup of coffee and croissant or bring yogurt and a banana to work. I have the time each morning to make breakfast as I get up at the crack of dawn (ugh!) but I'm usually not hungry until later in the morning - which is at work and there's no making eggs and bacon there! Remember those 3 recipes from Cuisine at Home that I wanted to make this week? I didn't think I'd be able to make all 3 because of my pooches and their unfortunate tummy problems, but everyone seems to be on the mend today! Yay! I'm not going to get too excited, as I thought I was done with all the nastiness on Friday night. No nastiness meant cooking sounded good again! But Saturday morning brought more nastiness, with Chloe catching whatever it was Nigel had. *sigh* Luckily, I called the Vet straight away and got her on antibiotics within an hour, so I'm thinking we may have nipped her tummy problems in the bud =) KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED PUH-LEASE! Okay, so this morning breakfast sounded damn good and since Ali wouldn't send me any of her pancakes. :P I had to make my own. These are not your ordinary pancakes as they are made with ham and cornmeal, but let me just tell ya.. they are divine! The flavors of salty ham and the sweet syrup with pineapple went so well together. The texture of the cornmeal in the pancakes and the flavor of the corn was perfect. My addition to the syrup was right on as well. I definitely knocked one out of the park with this find and I'm so happy my favorite magazine gave me another great recipe to add to my repertoire. =) Cornmeal "Hamcakes" with Pineapple Maple Syrup 2 TBS. unsalted butter, divided 1 c. ham, cubed 1 c. fresh pineapple, chopped *I didn't have fresh, so I used canned 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 c. pure maple syrup *See note below 1/2 c. yellow cornmeal 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 2 TBS. sugar 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda Pinch of salt 1 c. buttermilk *I had it on my shopping list and forgot it! Subbed with 1 c. sour cream *dork* 2 eggs 3 TBS. unsalted butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 c. pecans, toasted and chopped (optional) Melt 1 TBS. butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ham, saute until lightly browned, then remove. Add 1 TBS. butter, pineapple and cinnamon to the pan. Saute until fruit is lightly browned. Off heat, stir in syrup; set aside. *Note: I only had 3/4 c. of pure maple syrup, so I added 1/4 c. of the sauce that went with the apple cake I made last week - buttery and cinnamony (word?) it was a perfect addition* Preheat pancake griddle to 400º F. or a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Lightly coat with nonstick spray. Bleh, I used butter :D Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Blend buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla in another bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry, stirring until just evenly moistened. Fold sauteed ham into batter. Pour 1/4 c. batter onto hot griddle for each pancake. Cook until brown on the bottom and bubbles form around the edges, then carefully flip and cook until done, 1-2 minutes. Serve with pineapple syrup and optional toasted pecans.

Mom's birthday - delish dinner for three...

For weeks I have been thinking about what to make for her birthday dinner. I wanted it to be something special but different from the norm. I came across a couple things that gave me some ideas but nothing that excited me.. until I saw Marianne's recipes for Mushroom Soup and Tenderloin "in Crosta". I immediately invisioned dunking a crispy, herbed bread paired with a tender and juicy slice of savory pork into a hearty broth then barely making it to my mouth before a single drop could hit my plate. My gawd.. it sounded just way too good. Tenderloin "in Crosta" Copied verbatim from Marianne's The Unemployed Chef serves 3-4 For the herb garlic rub: small handfull fresh rosemary leaves slightly larger hadfull fresh sage leaves zest of one lemon (this is my addition, I recommend it) 4-5 cloves garlic small handfull sea salt Chop all ingredients together until very, very fine--I actually grated the zest and garlic on a microplane and combined it with everything else. Spread out on a large dinner plate and leave out until dry--1 or 2 days. Once dry, you can store this for a week or two in a tightly sealed jar. Lebovitz recommends this for any number of purposes, including mixing it with olive oil and using it as a dipping sauce for bread. For the tenderloin: one smallish pork tenderloin 1 french batard (like a fatter baguette) herb garlic rub olive oil Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat some olive oil in a skillet over high heat and sear the pork quickly on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Slice the batard lengthwise and drizzle each half generously with some olive oil. Sprinkle with the herb garlic rub--be careful to not use too much or the bread will be too salty. Sandwich the browned tenderloin between the two slices and wrap tightly with aluminum foil. Cook directly on the oven rack for about an hour and fifteen minutes (the meat should reach 160 degrees and still be pink in the center. Yes, it is done enough). Remove from oven and let sit, wrapped in foil, for 5 minutes. Slice and serve. Mushroom Soup serves 2 2 Tbsp butter olive oil 1 medium shallot, finely chopped 1 8-oz. package button mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced 1 6-oz. package cremini (baby Bella) mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced 1 c. homemade chicken stock* 1 c. vegetable stock .5 c. dry white wine 1 beef bouillion cube fresh parsley, coarsely chopped fresh tarragon, coarsely chopped sea salt fresh ground pepper *The chicken stock I made was pretty thick and viscous, so I chose to mix it with some boxed vegetable stock I had on hand. Feel free to use 2 cups of whatever stock you have instead. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat until foamy. Add mushrooms and saute until the excess moisture evaporates and they are golden brown. Mushrooms love to soak up oil, but they do release it, so fight the temptation to add more. Spoon into a bowl and set aside. I followed Marianne's recipes almost to the T. The only changes I made were cooking the pork until well done, because I know my mother.. she will not put a piece of pink pork near her lips! hehe Then, I couldn't find a french batard, so I chose an artisan roasted garlic bread, which was fabulous and I really think added to the herb/lemon/garlic rub. And finally, just doubling the recipe for the soup because there were 3 of us and I knew I'd want leftovers =) The tenderloin came out as tender as Marianne promised. The rub for the bread was well worth starting this recipe two nights before the "main event", as my mom and sister can attest to. I had to push them away from my counter where it was resting so that there would actually be some bread to go with the tenderloin. They wouldn't stop tearing off pieces and shoving it into their mouths! And the soup.. it was just so flavorful and EASY and QUICK! I know there are a lot of soups out there that you can whip up in a jiff.. but this soup tasted as if it had been simmering all day long. And wow.. it really did pair well with that tenderloin - dunking the bread along with the meat into the soup was every bit as good as the way I'd imagined it! I added a simple side dish of roasted new red potatoes and zucchini. Slice the veggies then throw 'em onto a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over them along with a good sprinkle of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and snipped chives then toss them with the tips of your fingers before situating them in a single layer. Place the baking sheet on the rack below your tenderloin "in crosta" for the last 40 minutes of baking time, flipping them over once mid-way. Kids.. run. Do not walk to your kitchen to create these fabulous recipes for yourselves.. your lips will thank you!

Soup's On!

I haven't posted much as of yet.. hubbs has been out of town and I thought I'd still be cooking quite a bit, but eh.. hasn't happened so much. I found cooking for 1 is kind of a buttpain after putting in my 8 every day with no one else home to appreciate it, ugh. I did bake again this weekend.. a recipe I found somewhere on the internet called "Chewy Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies" - well they need to keep that recipe secret a while longer. I didn't even bother taking pictures, I could tell the minute they came out of the oven they were going to be drier than the Mojave. The description was something about someone's Grandmother made these and they were the most moist, chewy, wonderful chocolate chip cookies of all time.. blech. I am on a quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie.. I want the chewiness! I want the moistness! I want to stick my hand in the jar 2 days later and still have chewy, moist goodness! Is that too much to ask? I think not. Anyhoo.. I WILL be cooking up a storm this weekend for Wayne! Other than taking my mommie out to dinner on Friday night, I've promised him good home cooked meals. I started my promise last night and made him some soup. It's a recipe I've had in my recipe box for many, many years - but never made it! When I had originally found it, I thought it was like the sausage soup that Olive Garden serves, which my mom loves. It's not.. not even close. This is a beef/tomato base, where their soup is more of a cream and no tomato base. Regardless, this soup turned out to be the BEST soup I've ever had. Seriously. And I like soup, so I've tried quite a few of them. This was easy to prepare and quick to make. I did make a few changes in the recipe and I'll note them below. Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed (I just used bulk sausage) 1 c. chopped onion 4 cloves garlic, minced 6+ c. beef stock 1/2 c. water 1/2 c. red wine 2 regular size cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes with the juice 1 c. thinly sliced carrots 1 c. diced yellow bell pepper 1 (1 lb.) bag of baby spinach 1 TBS. packed fresh basil leaves, chiffonade 1 tsp. dried oregano 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce 1 1/2 c. sliced zucchini or 1 1/2 c. celery - leaves and all Salt & Pepper to taste 1 lb. fresh tortellini pasta 3 TBS. chopped, fresh parsley *I bought it but didn't use it.. went with more basil* 1/8 c. soy sauce (Optional - *See Note) Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved In a 5 qt. Dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage & drain, reserving 1 TBS. of drippings. Saute onions & garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, all the veggies, basil, oregano, tomato sauce & sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini, tortellini and parsley. If the tortellini are fresh, add them in the last 10 min. of simmering. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. *This would be the hour mark and I still felt it needed more saltiness and flavor - so I added 1/8 c. soy sauce* Sprinkle with shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on top of each serving. I also served (har! to myself) this with crunchy garlic bread - which is simply sliced italian bread with a compound garlic butter spread on top and then grated romano cheese sprinkled over that and broiled until golden brown and delicious. =) The cheese won't melt, but instead creates a crunchy topping.