Monday, April 16, 2012

Sausage And Peppers Recipe Is One Of The Most Famous Of All The Pork Recipes

As we know, sausage is a sort of prepared meat that is processed using ground pork meat such as fatback with herbs, salt and many spices. Sometimes, they are also available in the pre-cooked form and sometimes as raw sausages. Sausage making is actually a meat preservation technique, that is done using several food preservation techniques like drying, curing and smoking of sausages. Other than pork, sausages are also made using chicken, turkey and other sorts of meats.

There are several traditional meat recipes that are almost incomplete without the sausages, like German sausage recipes and Italian sausage and pepper recipes! They are found in almost every block party, family reunion and country fair as they are the ultimate form of divine foods that a person can have! Yes, I am stating this completely in my senses and if you want to find out why, here is the easy and delicious sausage and peppers recipe!

Easy Recipe

Ingredients

9 Italian sausages

2 bell peppers chopped in strips

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 vinegar peppers, chopped in strips

½ onion (yellow or red) chopped in strips

½ cup red wine

1 garlic clove, diced

2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped

Procedure

Heat a large skillet over medium flame and add olive oil in it. Add sausages and stir until brown from all sides. Gently remove the sausages and add garlic in the pan, only to cook it for about 20 seconds. Now add pepper and onion strips in it and cook for two minutes. Add red wine and bring the mixture to boil. Simmer it and add sausages to it and cover the pan. Simmer it for 15 minutes, with cover and 5 minutes without cover. Add oregano at the last moment and serve it hot with a tasty crusty bread.

Crock Pot

Ingredients

2 lbs Italian turkey sausage

2 chopped onions (yellow)

2 bell peppers (red and green), cut to 2 inch pieces

4 minced garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

14 oz canned tomatoes, drained and diced

6 oz tomato paste

½ dry red wine

½ teaspoon dried leaves each of basil and oregano

1 tablespoon dried leaves of parsley

White pepper and salt to taste

Procedure

Brown cook the sausages in a heavy skillet. Take a 3-4 quart crock pot and layer its base with half of the onion strips. Then put a layer of half of the pepper strips. Put a layer of the browned sausages and remaining of the peppers and onions. Take a bowl and put drained tomatoes, red wine and tomato sauce in it and mix well, until blended. Spread this mixture over the mixture in the crock pot. Cover the crock pot and cook for at least 6 hours. Before the last one hour, open the lid of the crock pot and mix the oregano, basil and parsley leaves in it, along with white pepper and salt. Cook until the vegetables are tender and sausage is cooked thoroughly. It serves 8 and can be one of the best sausage and peppers recipe for a crowd.

Baked

Ingredients

1¼ lb chicken sausages

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 bell peppers (red, yellow and green), cut into ¼" slices

1 thinly slices fennel bulb

2 large onions, halved and cut into ¼" slices

4 sliced garlic cloves

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

Procedure

Put olive oil in the baking pan and put it in oven at 425 degree F. Put onions, peppers, garlic, fennel, black pepper and salt in the pan and bake over same heat for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown the sausages in it for 5 to 10 minutes and cut into pieces. Remove the baking pan from the oven, reduce the heat to 375 degree F and add the pieces of sausage to it. Cook it well, until the sausages are cooked thoroughly.

Classic Grilled

Ingredients

3 oz Italian sausage links

1 lb red potatoes, cut in quarters

5 minced garlic cloves

1 peeled and halved red onion

2 yellow and 4 red bell peppers, quartered

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced

Black pepper and salt, divided to taste!

Procedure

Take piece of a heavy duty foil and put garlic and potatoes in it. Sprinkle it with half of the pepper and salt on it and fold the foil to seal the edges tightly. Put this foil pouch on prepared grill rack (prepared by coating it with cooking spray) and grill for about 25 to 30 minutes. Put a light coat of cooking spray on the peppers and onions and sprinkle them with salt and black pepper and put onions on the grill. By turning the sides of the onions add the sausages and peppers on the grill. Keep on grilling from all sides, until the sausages are done. Now, slice peppers, potatoes and onions and put them in a large bowl. Add the garlic pulp, parsley and oregano. Toss the mixture well. Serve pieces of sausage links with this mixture!

There are numerous cooking methods that take us to the heavenly delicious and tempting sausage and peppers recipe! The above mentioned recipes are very easy to make, and I am sure you are dying to make some of them on your own! Enjoy.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Delicious And Wonderfully Aromatic Pumpkin Pie Spice Cake

The fall and winter months herald the pumpkin season, and thus pumpkin desserts begin to appear on our dinner tables especially during. Among them, pumpkin pie spice cake is a favorite all over America. This rich lovely orange cake is a confluence of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice ingredients; ginger, cinnamon and cloves. This unique double layered cake, when crowned with frosting, is truly a feast. Pumpkin spice cake with brown butter frosting or cream cheese icing are just few of the grand options. Making a pumpkin spice cake used to be a time-consuming and tedious process, but with the advent of good canned pumpkin puree, the task has been made much easier.


Pumpkin Pie Spice Cake with...

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

¼ tsp ground cloves

2½ cups of light brown sugar

½ tsp ginger

4 large eggs

½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups of fresh or canned pure pumpkin

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp baking soda

4 cups sifted cake flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 cup buttermilk at room temperature

1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts/pecans for garnishing

For Cream Cheese Frosting

4 cups of confectioners' icing sugar, sifted

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

4 tbsp pure maple syrup

½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

Directions

The first step for making this pumpkin spice cake is to preheat the oven to 350 ºF. Grease four 8'' cake pans and dust the pans with flour. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer, till they turn light and fluffy. Break one egg at a time into this mixture and mix well after each addition. Pour in the pumpkin puree and vanilla and blend some more. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a separate bowl and sieve. Then, spoon this mixture and buttermilk alternately into the pumpkin batter. Distribute the batter equally between all pans. Place them in the oven and bake for approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Slide a toothpick into the center of each cake to check, and when it comes out clean, your cake is ready. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove the cakes from their pans. They must be completely cool before frosting.

For the frosting, blend the cream cheese and butter in your food processor/mixer till smooth. Add maple syrup and confectioners' sugar and continue to blend. You may need to adjust the amounts to achieve the right consistency. Now, take two of the cakes and coat the top of the cake with a layer of icing. Place the other two cakes upside down over the first ones and then frost the top and sides of each cake. Sprinkle chopped nuts on the cakes. Refrigerate if required but serve at room temperature.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Recipe

Ingredients

1 tsp ground nutmeg

8 tsp powdered cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

4 tsp powdered ginger

For homemade pumpkin pie spice equivalent, mix together the above ingredients and store.
If you really want to make the pumpkin pie recipe from scratch, you can follow the pumpkin pie spice mix recipe and make your own spice mix and also your own homemade puree. While store bought pumpkin puree works well while making a pumpkin pie spice cake, if you want to make it yourself, you must use the smaller pumpkin varieties. To prepare the puree, slice the pumpkin lengthwise, deseed and remove the fibers and then place on a greased baking sheet, cut side down. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 ºF. Baking time may extend to an hour and 15 minutes for a big pumpkin. Take out from oven and allow to cool, then scoop out the pulp and blend in a food processor. For thin pulp, place puree in cheesecloth lined strainer and strain.