Dinners

Cauliflower Steak with Jalapeno Creamed Spinach

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Cauliflower Ingredients

  • 1 or 2 heads cauliflower, 3 pounds
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup pepitas – optional

Jalapeno Creamed Spinach Ingredients

  • 16 oz. fresh spinach
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove outer leaves from the cauliflower and trim stem, leave the core. Turn cauliflower heads core side down. Cut cauliflower vertically into 1-inch thick steaks.
  2. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add cauliflower steaks and cook 4-6 minutes until brown, turning once. Sprinkle with salt, cumin and pepper. Put the pan into the oven and bake 15-20 minutes or until tender. Remove cauliflower from Dutch oven and cover to keep warm. Carefully wipe out Dutch oven.
  3. In the Dutch oven cook the spinach in two batches until wilted. (I add a little butter). Put into a colander and squeeze out the access liquid. Add the oil to the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and jalapeno pepper and cook until tender, about 5 minutes, stir occasionally. Stir in heavy cream and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until cream starts to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. (If you want it thicker add a little of the cream into a teaspoon of flour or cornstarch, mix until dissolved and then add to the Dutch oven, add more if needed). Stir in spinach and simmer until desired consistency is reached.
  4. Spoon the creamed spinach onto a plate and place the cauliflower steak on top. Sprinkle with pepitas if desired.

If you want a little more flavor I would go heavier on the seasoning. Some parmesan cheese might be good on top, too. Also, this jalapeno creamed spinach was not very spicy at all. So if you like spicy I would add another pepper.

Slightly altered from Better Homes & Gardens

Venison Tips in Mushroom-Onion Gravy

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Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/4 pounds venison meat – comparable to a beef sirloin, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • salt and pepper
  • 10 ounces sliced mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cups beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 lb. package egg noodles
  • chopped parsley for garnish

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Season the venison with salt and pepper to taste. (You can also season with a little creole seasoning)
  2. Place the meat in the Dutch oven in a single layer. Cook 3-4 minutes per side until browned. Remove from pan, cover to keep warm.
  3. Melt butter in the Dutch oven. Add mushrooms and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5-6 minutes or until tender and golden brown. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
  4. Add flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowly add beef broth. Whisk until smooth. Bring to a simmer and cook 2-3 minutes until thickened. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. (for thicker sauce, add a little more flour)
  5. Add the venison back into the Dutch oven. Toss to coat and cook another minute or two, or until venison is heated through.
  6. Serve over egg noodles (cook according to package directions) and sprinkle with parsley.

Venison has such a pungent flavor! When looking for a wine, I needed something that could stand up to it. I went with a Pinot Noir – Robert Mondavi Private Selection. Yum.

In the pictures there are also Ricotta Bread and Butterbeer Cupcakes

Spaghetti with Sausage

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Ok, so this is an original recipe so I’m sorry if I am all over the place. 😉

Ingredients

  • 1 box spaghetti – or whatever your favorite pasta is
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • dried basil
  • butter
  • 1 jar of your favorite sauce or homemade sauce – for this we used “Cleveland’s Own Little Italy Pasta Sauce” (I have a “recipe” for homemade sauce, but that is for another post)
  • a blend of your favorite sausage, 5 links total, sliced – we used Johnsonville Italian sausage: cheese blend and hot
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 pound mini sweet peppers, seeded and chopped – or you could use bell peppers
  • 1 package sliced brown mushrooms
  • sprinkle of salt
  • sprinkle of pepper
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • cheese for topping – we used mozzarella and goat cheese

Directions

  1. Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil into a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, salt, pepper and italian seasoning. Add peppers about 4 minutes after onions. Cook until onions are translucent. Add mushrooms and cook until they start to get dark and shrink up a little bit. Add minced garlic and cook a couple more minutes.
  2. Add sauce and stir. Taste to see if you would like more seasoning. Reduce heat to low and simmer.
  3. Add sausage links to a saute pan. Fill the pan with water until the links are half-way covered. Saute over medium heat until the water level gets low and the sausage is almost cooked through. Keep adding water if you need to. When they are almost cooked through start adding olive oil instead. When finished, remove from pan and slice into bite size pieces.
  4. Add the sliced sausage to the sauce and continue to lightly simmer.
  5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a sprinkle of salt, a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a tablespoon of dried basil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain pasta and return to pot. Coat with butter.
  6. Place pasta in a bowl. Top with mozzarella cheese. Cover with sauce and sausage mixture. Top with goat cheese (or whichever cheese you prefer).

Suggestions

Wine. I love wine. I can’t even eat anything Italian without wine. Ha! With this we had Duckhorn Merlot. (Duckhorn Chardonnay is really scrumptious by the way.)

Serve with garlic toast. We were feeling lazy so we got the freezer stuff for this, but I can post homemade garlic toast later on.

Yes – goat cheese. We are obsessed! It adds a creaminess to it that is pretty awesome! I feel like goat cheese is one of those things you either love or hate, it can be an acquired taste, but oh man was it good in this. 🙂

Yes, we always put basil in with our pasta water. A bunch of it will stick to the pasta. We also butter our noodles before putting the sauce on. We have a butter obsession, too. And we don’t seem to notice any issues with the sauce sticking or not sticking with the butter on there.

My husband claims that if you slightly cut the spicy italian sausage and cook it that way, it makes it taste better. I have no idea if there is any truth to that. LOL!

Also, if you are ever in Cleveland, Mia Bella in Little Italy is the best Italian place to go – make sure you make a reservation first. 😉

Buffalo Chicken/Jackfruit Stuffed Peppers

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In these pictures I used jackfruit.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium multicolored peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded chicken, or jackfruit
  • 1/2 cup plain whole milk greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup shredded low moisture part-skim mozzarella
  • 1/4 cup hot sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped scallions
  • 3 tablespoons blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Brush all sides of bell peppers with oil. Arrange cut sides down. Bake until slightly softened, about 10 minutes.
  2. Stir chicken or jackfruit, yogurt, mozzarella, hot sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne and 2 tablespoons scallions in a large bowl.
  3. Remove peppers from oven, pour off remaining juices. Flip peppers. Spoon chicken/jackfruit mixture evenly into peppers (about 1/3 cup each). Bake until tender and heated through, about 15 minutes. Drizzle with dressing and scallions.