Sausage & Peppers Pasta

This is a very simple pasta dish that is perfect for a quick meal. My mom used to make this all the time and it was always one of my favorites. Of course I stole the recipe from her whenever I moved out and decided to make it a little more spicy with the addition of the Diced Tomatoes and Chilies and the Pepper Jack. If you want a more mild version instead of using the pepper jack, use 1 1/2 cups of a mozzarella and parmesan blend and use regular diced tomatoes.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

• 3 Cups wheat Rigatoni
• Italian Sausage, Sliced
• 1 green, yellow & red pepper, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, diced
• 1 (14.5 oz) can Diced Tomatoes and Chilies
• 3/4 cup Mozzarella, shredded
• 3/4 cup Pepper Jack, shredded
• Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook Pasta as per box directions.

While pasta is cooking, cook sausage in a large saute pan over medium heat for 10 min. Add sliced peppers and and garlic and cook for an addition 7 min.  Stir in tomatoes and cook for an additional 2 min. Drain pasta, add it in the saucepan with other ingredients and top with mozzarella and pepper jack , cover to melt the cheese. Plate and garnish with Parmesan.

Deep Dish Pizza

Probably about a year ago, I made my first trip to Chicago with my girlfriend to see Flogging Molly perform (it was an awesome concert). Being the pizza connoisseur I am, one of the first things I had to do was try the famous deep dish pizza. I still don't remember what place we got it from, just that the hotel we were staying a recommended them. It was definitely in the top 3, maybe even the best, pizza I have ever had. The crust had such an amazing texture, both crunchy and soft. The sauce...don't make me think about the sauce....it was spectacular. It was everything pizza sauce should be. Full flavor with tomato and herbs with a kick of sweetness at the end. Ever since then, I've been wanting to make my own deep dish pizza. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 ½ cups of warm water
• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup semolina flour
• ½ cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tsp to grease bowl
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
•  ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, coarsely crushed
• 1 Tablespoon dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For Pizza:

• 1 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
•  4 ounces pepperoni
•  2 cups diced green pepper
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• ½ pound crumbled hot Italian sausage
• 1 cup grated parmesan

**Note: You can add whatever toppings you want.**

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the semolina, 1/2 cup of the oil, and the salt, mixing by hand until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, working the dough after each addition, until all the flour is incorporated but the dough is still slightly sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth but still slightly tacky, 3 to 5 minutes. Oil a large mixing bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil.

Place the dough in the bowl and turn to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

While the dough is rising, make the tomato sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the herbs, seeds, salt, and black and red peppers, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, wine and sugar, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Oil deep-dish pizza pan with the extra-virgin olive oil. Press dough into pan, pressing to the edge and stretching about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Dough Pressed in Pan

Filled with Cheese, Meats & Toppings

Topped with Sauce & Parmesan

Layer the mozzarella cheese all over the bottom of the pies. Top with the pepperoni, green pepper, black olives and sausage. Ladle the sauce evenly over the pizza and top with Parmesan.

Bake until the top is golden and the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a cooling rack and let rest for about 10 min, slice and serve hot.

Additional Equipment

This equipment is not necessary but this is a nice little deep dish pizza kit that UNO Chicago Grill makes. It is only $20 through amazon and you get a quality deep dish pan, spatula and recipe book. If you don't want to spend the money I've seen other deep dish pizza recipes where people use spring form pans or cast iron skillets. Do your research and make an informed decision before starting the recipe...remember from my buffalo nuggets recipe....MISE EN PLACE!!!!

Prices Subject to Change

**Note: I am only including items on the grocery list that I deem an expense. I'm assuming most people will already have things like salt & pepper**

 Kitchen Word of the Day

Proofing (also called proving), as the term is used by professional bakers, is the final dough-rise step before baking, and refers to a specific rest period within the more generalized process known as fermentation. Fermentation is a step in creating yeast breads and baked goods where the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough.

Fermentation rest periods are not often explicitly named, and normally appear in recipes as "Allow dough to rise."

In a less-specific sense with usage reminiscent to fermentation, proofing refers to yeasts' feeding on some type of sugar. As the term is used in some cookbooks intended for home use, it refers to testing the viability of one's yeast by mixing it with a small amount of warm water and sugar, and waiting until the mixture becomes foamy by the action of the yeast. Typically, using US customary units, ¼ cup water at 105–115 °F and ½ teaspoon of sugar are used. While this sugar may be sucrose, instead it may be glucose, typically enzyme-derived from starch.

Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon

As most of you know, this has been a very emotionally draining week in Happy Valley. So what better way to lift our spirits than some soul food! Food that no matter what is going wrong in our life will make us forget for a brief amount of time what's going on in the outside world. This is definitely one of those dishes. A beautiful piece of filet mignon, wrapped in bacon, nestled in creamy smoked cheddar grits, topped with a spicy cajun hollandaise sauce. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

For the Grits

• 3 cups Water
• Salt
• 3/4 cups quick cooking or old-fashioned grits (not instant!)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 ounces grated smoked white Cheddar
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the Filet Mignon

• 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 2 Filet Mignons (4-6 ounces); at room temperature
• Salt, Pepper & Garlic Powder to taste
• 2 Slices of bacon

For Cajun Hollandaise Sauce

• 2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
• 2 teaspoons New mexican chile powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon chile de arbol
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, clarified and melted
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F

In a saucepan bring the water to a boil. Add a generous teaspoon of salt and the grits and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. When grits thicken, add the milk, cream and butter and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover the sauce pan and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until grits are very tender, smooth, and creamy-thick. Add the Cheddar, season with black pepper, and stir until cheese is melted.

While your Smoked Cheddar Grits are simmering, heat 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil in a medium sauté pan. Generously season your filet mignon with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Next we want to wrap the strips of bacon around the outside of the filets. You want to wrap the bacon fairly snug around the filet in order to give the it a nice cylinder shape. The ends of the bacon should over lap and adhere to each other enough that it won’t come apart. If the bacon doesn’t stick together, slide a tooth pick in or wrap a piece of butchers twine around to keep it in place. Once your oil is nice and hot, we want to sear both sides of the filet until it’s nice and caramelized, about 2 min per side. Place steaks on a broiler pan and bake until internal temperature is 130° (Medium Rare). Please, for the love of god, don’t cook these beautiful pieces of meat to well done.

Filet's brought to Room Temperature

Filet's seasoned and wrapped in bacon

Filet's post sear

Stir together the paprika, chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, chile de arbol, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Place the egg yolks and lemon juice in a medium stainless steel bowl, set over a pot of simmering water not touching the bottom of the bowl. Whisk the yolks until pale yellow and fluffy. Slowly add the clarified melted butter, a few tablespoons at a time and whisk until thickened. Season the sauce with 2 teaspoons of the spice mixture, salt, and pepper, and a dash Worcestershire sauce. Keep warm until ready to use. Hollandaise Sauce is a challenging sauce to make and does take some practice. If you are having trouble, refer to this video to aid in visualizing the techniques: Hollandaise Sauce Video

Kitchen Word of the Day

Tempering:  To bring to a desired consistency, texture, hardness, or other physical condition by or as if by blending, admixing, or kneading. 

In the case of this recipe we are talking about the temperature of the Filet Mignon. In general, tempering is very important when cooking any meat. Before we sear, bake, broil, sauté, fry any meat it is important that we bring it to room temperature. Think about it, in every cooking method we are setting the device to a certain temperature. If we add a cold or frozen piece of meat to that pre-heated device, we will in fact lower the temperature. Tempering your meat before cooking aids in lowering the cooking time and cooking your protein evenly.