Apple Butter Spicy Sausage Sandwich + Roasted Tomato Soup

As some of you may know, I consult as a project manager for Despaña, a wholesale, distributor and retailer of Spanish food products.  From time to time my posts contain links to some the amazing products they offer.  With so many wonderful items in the store (and online) I find tons of inspiration and ways to incorporate them into a few of my recipes. 

However, this recipe harkens back to a few years back, when at the store, we were looking for ways to help promote some apple marmalade.  It was autumn in New York and apples were ripe for the picking.  I thought the perfect combination would be to highlight apples two ways; preserved  and crisp fresh. Since it would be used for a special promotion, the offering of a small sandwich featuring the marmalade along with fresh apples, some smoky cheese and Despaña’s own brand of spicy sausage called Chistorra seemed like a good union. The sandwich was popular at the time and served the purpose of showcasing the apple marmalade.

Well, it is again autumn in New York, a spectacular time of year with trees flaming bursts of color that make rainbows seems dull.  Take a moment of Ahhh here.

Given the season, I thought I would revive and recreate my original sandwich but swap out a few items.  Apples are in full glory now and hopefully you had the chance to go pick a few or just grab some at the market so you can try this recipe out.  

Photo credit: John Lifrieri

Photo credit: John Lifrieri

Photo credit: John Lifrieri

Behold, the sandwich featuring apples both cooked and fresh. When served along with a roasted tomato soup, it's perfect for a chilly Saturday afternoon... or any afternoon. 

APPLE BUTTER SPICY SAUSAGE  SANDWICH

INGREDIENTS

Chistorra*, or a spicy chorizo or even a salami  
Smoky Cheese of your choice like Smoked Gouda
(originally I used Ahumado de Pria*, a Spanish smoky cow's milk cheese.  A sharp Cheddar would also work nicely)
Apple Butter** (or Apple Marmalade)
Apple slices (I like the sourness of a green apple, but use what you like)
Baguette

**Apple butter recipe is at the bottom of this post.

INSTRUCTIONS

This is an assembly and grilling of a panino style sandwich than more anything else. Grill the Chistorra sausage and cut them lengthwise so they lay nicely in the sandwich.  Spread some apple butter on both sides of the bread. 

Layer the cheese, apple slices and sausage.  Close ‘er up and grill in a Panini press or as I do, use a cast iron pan and put something heavy on top.

Getting crispy in a cast iron skillet

This combination has sweet and tart, spicy and smoky, crunchy and gooey.  Seriously, how can you not love all those adjectives.   And for the vegetarians, just remove the sausage, add more apples and more cheese.  Now, that can't be bad!

Apple Butter Spicy Sausage Sandwich, beautifully toasted on both sides

Now to take this to the ultimate pairing level, you'll want to add the roasted tomato soup.  I know you are going to say, “what’s your fascination with tomatoes?”  But if you have tried roasting them as I have suggested you will understand why there is no need to answer that question.  Plus, given that I suggested you make a boat load of roasted tomatoes, it's in my best interest to continue finding ways to use them.  This round -  Make soup! 

TOMATO SOUP - OVEN ROASTED OF COURSE

Drizzled with the oil from the roasting pan and chunks of cheese dropped in the middle.

16-18 roasted tomatoes
1 carrot, diced
¼ c diced onion
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1  quart vegetable or chicken stock, or water
cream, optional

Sauté the carrots, garlic and onion until tender.  Add the liquid and let warm through.  If you have just made the roasted tomatoes then you can add those once the liquid is warm ensuring that you pour in the oil from the pan. (Reserve a little to drizzle on the top for serving.)  If you are defrosting them from your frozen stock (He he) then put those in with the liquid and then let everything warm through together.   

Using an emulsion blender, or a regular blender, puree it all up until you get the consistency you like.  Now if you want a little decadence, before blending it up, lower the heat and stir in some cream and warm through. Although, I don't think it needs it.  I much prefer drizzling a  little of the roasting oil and adding a few chunks of cheese. Serve up a bowl with your sandwich and peer through your window and listen to the rustle of the leaves. 
Enjoy autumn.

APPLE BUTTER

This flavored butter is made simply by cutting apples into small pieces and stewing them with some honey and a squeeze of lemon. Slowly cook until they are super soft.   Let cool and work into a whole stick of room temperature, softened butter.  Put in an airtight container and store in fridge until ready to use.

 2 cups of chopped apples

Add apples to saucepan with 1 T honey, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Final Apple Butter using 3/4 of cooked apple mixture

 *Please note: If you are interested in buying Chistorra and Ahumado de Pria from Despaña order by phone  at 888.779.8617.  After Nov. 11, you will be able to order online at www.despanabrandfoods.com

Salad Baby: Little Lettuces Fresh & Crisp

In my last post on Osso Buco I mentioned that I served a salad.  The look of it seemed to appeal to a few readers who have requested a reposting with more info.  So by popular demand, this will be a quick and easy one.  

When I was planning that birthday meal for my parents I knew that the Osso Buco would be rich, the pasta would be filling and the vegetables sweet from oven roasting.  Therefore, I wanted to have a salad that would be crisp, clean and simple with only a few ingredients.  We have a lovely Italian market near our home and they offer up beautiful baby lettuces.  I gravitated toward the two different colors and textures and knew these would be a winner.

Lola Rossa Lettuce

Tango Baby Lettuce

Baby Romaine 

Ingredients

Lola Rossa baby lettuce
Baby Romaine
Tango Baby Lettuce
Persian cucumbers, sliced thinly
Celery stalks, sliced thinly
(Amounts you can determine depending on the size salad you need.  I used 1 each of Lola Rossa & Baby Romaine, 2 Tango Baby, 4 Persian cucs, 3 celery for 10 people.)

I cut the baby lettuces carefully into mouth sized pieces and began arranging them to highlight their stunning colors.   After I placed the Lola Rossa and Baby Romaine around the sides of the bowl, I placed all the Tango Baby lettuces in the middle ensuring that the ones on top would be standing straight up in the middle.  I then sprinkled the sliced cucumber and celery around the center to create a moat, if you will.

The dressing was equally simple.  

Juice of a lemon*
juice of 1/2 lime*
2/3 c Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
1/4 t whole grain mustard
* Note: start with this amount of citrus and taste.  Depending on the size you use will determine if you need to add more acid.  Remember, taste, taste, taste.  You can follow a recipe but your taste buds are your truest guide.  Learn to use them and trust them.  You are your own best judge.

Whisk them together until they are beautifully combined and pour over the salad.  This will be crisp and light and pair perfectly with any rich meal.

Oh So Yummy Osso Buco

I know there are carnivores out there who have been reading my blog.  Thank you for your patience.  I can only imagine how you have been waiting, maybe a bit anxiously, wondering when some meat dishes might appear as you lovingly, shifted through and endured dozens of veggie and fish dishes.  I see you gingerly raising your hand. I hear you asking, 'Where's the Beef?'  And my answer is: Go big or go home. Which is why I am starting off with a hearty meat dish like Osso Buco.  Don't be afraid.  This is not a difficult meal to create. In fact, it's a one pot wonder, but it does take some cooking time.  This dish is perfect for this time of year, plus it's the ideal, plentiful dish to serve during the holidays.  Usually when we make this in our house it's for a special occasion or just to make my mom and dad feel as special as they truly are. Such was the case as we celebrated both their birthdays last week.  Typically, my husband JC, is in charge of making it.  Not because I won't or can't, but simply because I'm usually making a dozen other dishes. So again, thanks for your patience. And now, the MEAT.

These are pork shanks.  Traditional Osso Buco is made with veal but both are equally good. (Photo credit: asithappens.me)

Ingredients

8 pieces Osso Buco shanks (Veal or Pork)
4 yellow onions, quartered
4-5 small carrots (Keep 2 whole, rest diced)
2 celery stalks, thick slices
6-8 cloves garlic, smashed & minced
4 whole plum tomatoes (roasted or fresh)
Fresh thyme, 8-10 whole sprigs
1/2 bottle white wine
8 oz. water
Magic 3 (oil, salt, pepper)
 

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees, making sure that you have removed or moved the racks to accommodate the size of the pot.  In a dutch oven or large stock pot, sauté vegetables for about 15 minutes under tender.  Add salt and pepper.  (We use a large Le Creuset which is ideal for holding in the heat for slow cooking.)

Photo credit: asithappens.me

The preparing of any protein is important in order to achieve the best cooking results.  So it goes without saying that these shanks will need a little love.  Rinse them in cold water and completely pat dry.  All protein should always be as dry as possible prior to cooking.  

Photo credit: asithappens.me

Then oil the shanks and place them in the dutch oven standing upright and pushing the vegetables out to the sides and also placing on top.  

Photo credit: asithappens.me

Then lovingly but with gusto add the wine and water.  Turn the heat on the stove up and bring the pot to a boil.   Once at a boil, turn off the heat, put the lid on and place the entire pot in the oven.  

Photo credit: asithappens.me

Cook for approximately 4 hours.  Check at the 2 hour mark to make sure there is enough liquid.  Only if it is really dry should you add a glass of water since the goal is to cook this slowly so the meat falls off the bone. This requires liquid.

And how do you know when it's done?  The sides of the pot are brown, the meat falls off, the vegetables are soft and beautifully broken down into the sauce.  I guarantee you that as this cooks it will fragrant your entire home with the sweet vegetable aromas that will have your guests running to the table. 

Photo credit: asithappens.me

With tongs, carefully remove the shanks and place onto a serving platter, pouring all the good stuff around and on top. Serve this with polenta, or pasta, as we did.  Pour an earthy glass of Barolo and share the love.  We also offered up oven roasted carrots, asparagus and crisp green salad with Persian cucumbers and celery. 

(This cooking technique can be used with a variety of other types of meats.  Spare ribs, short ribs, rabbit. Pretty much anything you want to fall off the bone and mingle in with the sweet liquified vegetables.  Please wear a bib!)

Did I say serve it with pasta?  Heck, yeah and guess what kind of tomatoes those are?  I know you all know the answer... Oven Roasted.  Photo credit: Tom Nadolski

 Photo credit: Tom Nadolski

 Photo credit: Tom Nadolski

Garlic Rice with Sautéd Zucchini & Tomatoes

I adore starch of any kind. So it should come as no surprise that I love rice.  All kinds of rice. Depending on what I am serving usually informs how I serve up the rice.  For this particular dinner party I wanted something warm and cozy.  In my world that usually means pasta but in this instance I had my heart set on rice, so the I chose a short grain grain to be sautéd with garlic.  I also needed to serve a vegetable and in keeping with the warm and cozy theme, I immediately thought of zucchini and roasted tomatoes.  All those flavors together make me think of diving into a soft, sweet dish of yum.

Our stars of the evening.

This set up should come as no surprise to you. Roasted tomatoes are versatile little jewels.

Ingredients

2-3 Zucchini, cut in small pieces
2 Yellow Squash, cut in small pieces
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
cherry tomatoes
Short grain rice, either paella rice or aborio
1 shallot, chopped
7-8 cloves garlic, 3-4 thinly slices, the rest for roasting whole
Magic 3 (oil, salt, pepper)

Instructions

Roast the tomatoes, as I know you know how to do by now.  But if you need a little recall, click here.

While the tomatoes are roasting, cook your rice according the package, making the amount you need.  I have been loving this paella rice.  I pick up several bags at Despaña so my cupboard is always stocked.

While the rice is cooking, prep your vegetables.

Once you have everything chopped, sauté the onions and shallots until soft then add the zucchini, squash, salt and pepper.   The goal is to not make them too mushy but to get a nice caramelization going.

After the zucchini is cooked and removed from the pan, use the same pan to sauté the rice.   Add a generous amount of oil and sauté the garlic until lightly browned, add salt and pepper to release the aromas. Then add the rice and toss until coated.  Finally, plate your entire dish.   This is how I presented it, but certainly you can serve in separate platters or find your presentation style.

This was exactly what I hoped it would be... warm and cozy, sweet and savory.  It paired beautifully with arugula and warm mushroom salad and fish that was served.  It's rustic with a tad of elegant.  Oh who cares about that, it tasted delicious.

Printable Recipe Version

Kale, Potato, Lentil, Cauliflower... Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup

This is a little story of what happens when I decide to pull everything out of my refrigerator and start cooking.  Yesterday was just such a day, as the chill of autumn has descended upon us, I thought I would make soup.  Since I had cauliflower I was figuring on making my old standby (and very first blog post) Faux Creamy Cauliflower Soup.  Alas, and I will say thankfully,  I opted to go back to my roots of not repeating recipes too often but instead exploring new territories.  

As I've said before, when I go shopping I buy what looks fresh without necessarily having a plan for how to cook them. Such was the case during last week's shop.  As I took these ingredients out and placed them on my board, my first thought was to make separate dishes with each.

Here's what I found: Cauliflower, Kale, French Lentils, Fingerling Potatoes, Red Onion and Garlic

And because the original plan was individual dishes and use the cauliflower for soup, that soup idea grabbed a hold of me and wouldn't let go.  It was just then when the it dawned on me that EVERYTHING I had could indeed be SOUP. Now here's the triple play of culinary delights:  
I didn't have to make separate dishes.
I was still sticking to my original idea of soup.
Plus the big bonus of throwing it all together...  ONE POT!

I had to think this one through to make sure that I cooked this one in the correct stages without having to switch pots.  Also fair warning for this recipe, I won't be giving amounts as this one really harkens back to my something from nothing style.  Use what you have in the quantities you have.

ingredients

Cauliflower
Kale (chopped)
French Lentils
Fingerling Potatoes (cut in bite size pieces)
Red onion (cut in small pieces)
Garlic
Magic 3 (Oil, Salt, Pepper)

Instructions

I started out as if I were making the cauliflower soup (click on the link for recipe reference) but cut the onions small since these were not going to be blended up but in fact be a supporting player in the soup.

When the cauliflower was about cooked about ¾ done, I added the potatoes pieces and lentils. 

Once everything was tender, I pulled out about half of the cauliflower because I didn’t think the soup needed that much cauliflower.  I figured I would blend up the removed portion and still have faux creamy cauliflower soup.   Then I realized that adding some of that back into this soup would add thickness and richness. (But by that time I ate some I only had about 2/3 cup to add to the main soup. Add as much or as little as you want to achieve a 'creaminess' level of your liking.)

 I then added the kale, checked for seasoning and turned the heat off.  The soup is warm enough at this point to wilt the kale.

This came out hearty and earthy and a really lovely blend of a handful of odd and ends from my fridge.  So, let’s recap.  You can follow this recipe as I stated.  Or you can look through your kitchen and create a soup out of what you have.  Here are some ideas for replacement options for the ones I used.

other potential leading characters

Kale = spinach, escarole, mustard greens
Cauliflower =  broccoli, cabbage
Potato = sweet potato, turnip, yucca
Lentil =  chick peas, cannellini beans

Well, you get the idea.  Try my version or play around with any of the above suggestions to make your own version of the “Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup”.  Falling into the crispness of this season isn’t so bad when you can be warmed by a soup like this.  

Footnote:  As you can see this made a nice big pot of soup which left enough for the next day.  I made jasmine rice and added it to the day old soup.  Yup, it made it even yummier.