Roasted Sausages with Red Grapes

This recipe is called Roasted Sausages with Red Grapes, but I like to think of it as Orangette wins again.  It seems a little random, but it's so good.  Especially with potato/celery root puree and roasted broccoli.  This is a bit of a winter-time meal, but maybe you can sneak it in one more time before the weather turns for good, or save it for next winter.  I made this with some German venison beer sausage from the my dad's deer last fall, but Orangette advises that you can make this with any mild flavored chicken or pork sausage.



To make the potato/celery root puree, it's just like mashed potatoes, but with the addition of celery root.  You just peel and chop the celery root, and add it to the boiling water with the potatoes.  Once tender, drain, mash, and add milk/butter/salt/pepper to taste.  We also tend to just roast broccoli at 425 for 10-15 minutes, with some olive oil, salt/pepper, and maybe coriander, like this recipe, only without shrimp.

Also, this recipe scales easily.  I think I usually make it with 6 sausages, or whatever comes in a pack, and then just eat leftovers for lunches, or depending on how many people you're feeding for dinner.

Roasted Sausages with Red Grapes, originally from Orangette:

2 sausages
1/2 lb red seedless grapes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt

Preheat the oven to 475.  Brown the sausages on the stovetop, turning once, for about 4 minutes per side, or 8 total.  While the sausages are cooking, rinse and de-stem the grapes.
Once browned, place the sausages in a baking dish, dump the grapes on top, and sprinkle the olive oil over. Bake the dish for 25 minutes in your hot oven, turning the sausages once after about 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, place the sausages aside, and dump the grapes and any juices into a small saucepan. Season with a pinch of salt and then cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the juices are syrupy.  Remove from heat, stir in the vinegar, and then pour over the sausages.

Quinoa Chard Bowl

I haven't been cooking much lately, but after Megan did the heavy lifting of cooking bibimbap while I was out of town, I figured I had better help out.  Inspired by this recent post and this old one, and by the vegetables piling up in the crisper drawer, I decided to make a grain and greens bowl, throwing together whatever we had in the house that needed to be used.  With that objective in mind, you should feel free to substitute to your heart's content.  I have written below what I did, but this is a dish to throw in whatever you like.  Don't like chickpeas?  Black beans would be delicious too, or the beans could be omitted entirely if you don't think you need the protein or want to substitute an egg instead.  Any kind of winter greens would work in this dish, whether you have chard, kale, or spinach on hand.  You can also play around with the grain, using rice, farro  quinoa, polenta, whatever.  Also, we topped ours off with Yumm sauce and Chalula hot sauce, since we usually have some sitting in the fridge, but you could just as easily whip up the quick tahini sauce from this recipe instead.



Quinoa Chard Bowl

1 cup quinoa
2 cups broth (or water)
2 pinches of salt

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 bunch rainbow chard, ribs chopped small and leaves chopped
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Yumm sauce and hot sauce to taste

Rinse quinoa and put in small saucepan/pot with broth (or water) and salt.  Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Pull off the heat and cover for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, chop your vegetables.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet/fry pan, then add onion and spices cooking for a few minutes to fry the spices.  Add carrots, celery, and chard ribs and stir to mix, cooking for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.  (You can add a little bit of water if you pan gets too dry.)  After about 10 minutes total, or when you vegetables are cooked to your liking, add the chard leaves and chickpeas, stir to mix and cook for just another minute or two to wilt the chard and warm the chickpeas through.

Serve over quinoa with Yumm sauce and hot sauce to taste.

Winter Vegetables

I've been craving warm winter vegetables in the cold weather, and after not cooking much in the last couple of weeks, I finally buckled down and made a couple big dishes to eat on this week.

This savoy cabbage gratin is so so good. While it may not be much to look at, I always get so many compliments. I've made it with a bunch of different kinds of cheese too, so don't worry too much if you can't find a triple-cream cheese.

Savoy Cabbage Gratin, from Orangette (originally from Molly Stevens, All About Braising):

This was the first time that I made these roasted root vegetables, but I love the flexibility in the recipe to use whatever you have rolling around in your pantry or fridge. I didn't happen to have any beets on hand, so mine weren't quite as colorful, but I used a delicata squash and some sweet potatoes, in addition to the carrots, parsnips, and celery root, to add some color back in.

Roasted Root Vegetables, from Tea & Cookies:

My mom's family always gets together on Christmas eve to celebrate. Since she's one of six, and there are now 15 grandchildren, it's quite a crew. To make it less burdensome on whoever is hosting, we all bring a dish, and this year I was tasked with bringing creamed corn. While I had to make it from frozen corn (since it currently isn't in season) and triple the recipe to make enough for the whole family, it turned out really well. (I also added some butter, with the olive oil in the first step.)

Creamed Corn, from Design Sponge (originally from Harold Dieterle):

Images from 1, 2, 3