Italian Sausage Strata

Italian Sausage Strata Recipe

• 1/2 lb italian sausage
  
• 1/2 c chopped green pepper
  
• 1/2 c chopped onion
  
• 1 can tomatoes, drained
  
• 1/2 loaf italian bread
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 2 1/2 c milk
  
• salt
  
• parmesan
  
• garlic powder
  

1. Brown sausage for ten minutes.
   
2. Add veggies and cook for five minutes.
   
3. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook for fifteen minutes.
   
4. Slice bread and put half the slices in the bottom of the buttered pan.
   
5. Spread meat mixture on the slices of bread.
   
6. Top with remaining slices of bread.
   
7. Beat eggs in a bowl and add milk and salt.
   
8. Pour egg mixture over bread.
   
9. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
   
10. Refrigerate for one hour or overnight.
    
11. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees.
    

Experience
This recipe definitely turned out differently than intended. For starters, smoked sausage was used instead of italian sausage. So instead of browning the sausage for ten minutes, I boiled it for 10-12 minutes, cut it up into slices, then added it to the veggies, and continued with the recipe as normal from there. I ran out of time when it came to cooling the dish for an hour in the fridge. Since I was short on time, I improvised by putting it in the freezer for about twenty minutes. I also substituted garlic powder with garlic salt since I did not have any powder. I'm not sure how much of a difference the garlic salt and freezing instead of refrigerating made since I have never eaten this dish before. For this recipe, I did not even have a picture to go off of. I am curious how different this dish would be if it had italian sausage in it instead of smoked sausage. I can say this is the first dish I had throughout this blogging experience that I did not care for. The bottom layer of bread got soggy, and I did not care for the egg mixture in it as well.

Origins: Strata
Strata is an American-made dish with "strata" meaning "many layers." It became popular around World War 2 when many women were going to work, and they needed food that could be prepared ahead of time. However, it can be made in one day or prepped ahead of time. Information from: http://almostitalian.com/strata/

French Toast

French Toast Recipe

French toast

Experience

This week's recipe was a fairly easy recipe to put together. I made a small change to the recipe and added ground cinnamon to it. I didn't add an exact measurement; it was more of adding cinnamon until the top of the egg mixture was covered. My dad has told me before to put lots of cinnamon in your mixture because bread soaks it up. Some of the pieces I could have cooked a little bit longer, but it was still delicious overall.

Origins: French Toast

French toast was discovered in the first century by the Ancient Romans. Soon, many European cooks were making this dish. It was generally known as a poor-man's dish since it used many common ingredients and was discovered as a way to revive old, dry bread. However, it did not stay an average person's dish. Many high-end breads and expensive spices were used to make this recipe. In that time, only the wealthy people were able to read, so only the wealthy could decipher what ingredients went into making french toast unless they had figured out for themselves that the egg and milk mixture could revive old bread. In France, french toast is called, "pain perdu" which translates to "lost bread."

Traditional Cuban Picadillo

This recipe has two parts. A sauce called Sofrito needs to be made in order to complete the Picadillo.

Recipes

Sofrito

• 2 T. Cilantro
  
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
  
• 2 green peppers, unseeded
  
• 1 C. Onion, chopped
  
• 2 T. garlic, minced
  

Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree. Picadillo

• 2lbs ground beef
  
• 1/2 cup olive oil
  
• 3 C. Sofrito
  
• 6 whole bay leaves
  
• 1/2 C. apple cider vinegar
  
• 2 T. oregano
  
• 2 T. cumin
  
• salt, to taste
  
• 1 packet Sazon Goya seasoning
  
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 large potato, sliced and quartered
  
• optional: capers, green olives, and raisins
  

Brown the ground beef in a large pan and drain the excess fat. Stir in the olive oil, sofrito, vinegar, bay leaves, oregano, cumin, salt, Sazon Goya Seasoning, water, and any optional ingredients you choose with the ground beef. Bring the picadillo to a simmer. Allow it to simmer until it reduces to a stew-like consistency when stirred. Add the potatoes and cover. Continue to simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, adding additional water if necessary to prevent the picadillo from reducing too quickly. Once the potatoes are cooked through, remove the lid and allow the picadillo's sauce to thicken enough to where the beef and potatoes are coated, but the sauce is not runny when stirred. Remove the bay leaves. Serve over a bed of white rice. Experience Making this recipe was an entirely new experience for me. I've never made anything Cuban before, and I had absolutely no idea what cumin, Sazon Goya seasoning, or capers were. I was very uncertain if I would enjoy this dish or not. Turns out, I did. It was drier than I pictured it to be, but still enjoyable. While making the sofrito, I learned how to use cilantro. I had never worked with it before so I had no idea what part or parts of it to use. I also learned how to know when potatoes are done cooking. I had guessed before, and it usually turned out to be decent. Its good to know how to actually check for completion though. When I saw raisins and green olives on the optional list for ingredients, I thought that was an odd combination, but I had to try them in the recipe anyway. The olives definitely added a great salty component to the recipe. The raisins, however, didn't make that much of an impact. I ended up halving the recipe since I knew I would be the only one eating it, and that worked out well. I also substituted white distilled vinegar for apple cider vinegar. It didn't seem to make a difference. My roommate and I discovered that the sofrito is not only useful for making picadillo, but it makes a great chip dip. Origins: Picadillo Picadillo is a Spanish dish that is found today in many Latin American countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. One of the first times it was served was in 1821 in Mexico. What makes Cuban Picadillo different from regular picadillo is the use of olives in the recipe.

Pumpkin Roll

Libby's Pumpkin Roll

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/32372/LIBBYS-Pumpkin-Roll/detail.aspx

Experience

I was nervous about putting this recipe together. It seemed complicated with all the rolling of the bread involved, plus I had this recipe once before at a friend's place. It had tasted absolutely amazing, and I didn't want to tarnish the memory of this scrumptious dessert. As I started getting things ready, I realized my roommates and I did not possess any wax paper. After looking over the recipe again, I realized I also needed ground cloves. So a quick trip to the grocery store was in order. Next time, I need to not assume we have things and actually check to see if we do have them. I only had one other problem throughout the process of making the roll. I didn't use enough flour on the baking pan or enough powdered sugar on the kitchen towel so the cake stuck. Thankfully, the cake broke loose fairly easily, so not much damage was acquired. One thing I learned from this experience is what a jelly-roll pan is. It is a cookie sheet with higher edges.

Origins: Pumpkin

Pumpkins come from the Cucurbitacae family. This family also includes cucumbers and various kinds of squashes. The first known pumpkins were from Mexico over 9000 years ago. They were also very much used in Egypt. The New World also relied heavily on this family for subsistence. That's why pumpkin is heavily associated with Thanksgiving.

Chicken Casserole

Chicken Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:

• 6 large potatoes, cooked and sliced (fried potatoes work best)
  
• 4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
  
• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped
  
• 4 tbsp. flour
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
  
• 4 tbsp. vinegar
  
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
  
• 3 tbsp butter
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Butter a large baking dish and arrange the cooked potatoes in the bottom of the dish. Top the potatoes with the cubed chicken. In a large skillet, melt the quarter cup of butter and cook the chopped onion until it is tender. Add the flour and whisk together, stirring continually for at least a minute or two. Add the chicken broth and vinegar to the onion mixture. Stir together with a whisk until thick. Lower the heat to simmer and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Pour the onion mixture over the potatoes and chicken. Sprinkle evenly with the bread crumbs and drizzle the three tablespoons of melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes.

Experience
This recipe turned out to be a lot more work than I had anticipated it to be. Frying the potatoes took the longest. Overall, it took me an hour and a half to get from start to finish. I could have saved myself time by realizing that the sauce needed to simmer for 15 minutes. I had made the potatoes and chicken before starting the sauce. If I had made the sauce then worked on the potatoes and chicken, that would have saved at least fifteen minutes. Another thing I would do differently if I make this again would be to cut the potato slices in half. I had just sliced the potatoes and left the pieces in circles. Those proved to be difficult to eat. Overall, the chicken casserole tasted great and makes a lot! I was left with plenty of leftovers.

Origins: Casserole
The casserole started as a french dish consisting of rice and a chicken or bread mixture. It became part of the English repertoire in the early 18th century. Over time, the dish evolved to include noodles or potatoes instead of rice and any cut of meat. A defining feature of the casserole is that it is served in the same dish it is made in. The casserole became popular during the Great Depression because it is a cheap dish that feeds many people.