Polenta with Sausage Ragout

Well, I've done my shopping (thanks to coupons and bargains, I managed to get all this food for about $60) and now I will share with you what we're having for dinner this week (or 2 weeks, if I can stretch it) in the Yerrick household.

In the month of August we spent nearly $450 on eating out. FOUR HUNDRED & FIFTY DOLLARS! There are only TWO of us. That's a LOT of money.

I know what you're thinking...Aren't you in culinary school? Aren't you supposed to cook?

I do! I do cook! I cook all day at school...then I cook all night at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is cook some more. But I'm going to do it. I will, and Paul has agreed to help me. The Yerrick's are eating in. No more dining out...Okay, not no more, but less. Far less. About $400 dollars less.


I love polenta. Have you had it? Have you heard of it? It's delicious. What is it? It's basically just boiled cornmeal. Gross, right? Nope. It really is scrumptious. It's scrumptious when you add loads of parmesan cheese and butter, and salt (3 of my favorite foods!). It has a wonderful smooth and creamy texture, and it's super rich and satisfying. It's kind of like mashed potatoes, but, dare I say...better. And a lot simpler.

Well, I've been craving it lately...and I had all the ingredients, so I made it last night. And then I ate it. Sooo, I decided to make it again tonight, and tonight I made it with sausage ragout (rag-goo). Don't be afraid, ragout sounds fancy but it's basically just a hearty stew (or sauce, in this case) with vegetables and seasonings. Kind of like Ragu spaghetti sauce....Hmm, I wonder where they came up with their name.

Anyways, I ate polenta again. But this time, I took some pictures to share with you. Without further adieu, I present:


Polenta Cakes with Sausage Ragout


For the polenta you will need:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (not the quick kind)
4 cups water
1 teapoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3/4 grated parmesan cheese

(you're going to have it grate it yourself, the stuff in a jar just wont work.)

Firstly, bring the water, along with the salt and pepper, to a boil in a medium saucepan. 

Once the water is boiling, slowly add the cornmeal, whisking constantly. Don't add more cornmeal until the stuff already in the pan is mixed in, this will prevent lumps. You don't want lumps. It's not like lumpy potatoes that are good. In polenta, lumps = gross.

When all the cornmeal is added, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until thickened. Make sure you keep an eye on it and stir it about every minute or so. It should look about like this:

Once it looks like that, stir in the parmesan cheese and butter until both are melted.

Now, you could eat it just like this. Straight from the pot to the table. It's scrumptious this way, this is the way I ate it last night. But tonight, I did something a little bit different.

Pour the polenta into a 9x9 pan, and put it in the refrigerator. Ideally, you should let it cool a bit before refrigerating, but if you're hungry like I was, you're going to put it in right away.

While the polenta is cooling, you can make the ragout. For the ragout you will need:

1 small onion, chopped.
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
6 mushrooms, halved then sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb italian sausage
2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a large skillet, brown the sausage. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and italian seasoning.

Add the onions, wait one minute, then add the red pepper. Wait another minute, then add the zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Once the vegetables are tender, add the spaghetti sauce. Reduce heat to low, and set aside so the flavors mingle.

The polenta should be cold and firm now, so pull it and slice it into 9 or 16 slices, depending on your preference.

Heat a small skillet until hot hot hot. Add a drop of olive oil (or butter), then add your polenta squares. Saute them until both sides are golden brown and crispy.

Remove them onto a plate with paper towel (to absorb the oil, of course.)

Serve the polenta squares on a plate with the sausage ragout spooned over them. Garnish them with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

I promise you, you cannot go wrong with this dinner. Paul has had 3 1/2 servings today, he just can't get enough.


Now, we're off to try to make our own ice cream--I'll let you know how that goes!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Last weekend I was able to FINALLY visit my best-best-best friend Claire and her family in Texas. Paul had a "business" trip to Texas, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get out of here and go visit my bestie.

Claire's husband, Stephen is in the Army and althought they are from Michigan (like me!) they are stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. I had so much fun visiting Claire, Stephen, and their precious 16 month old, Rylee--and also got to learn all about Army, Army life, and Army lingo. Unfortunately, the only pictures I managed to snag of Claire were of her picking wedgies--so I'll save her the embarrassment of posting those.

While visiting, Claire treated me to one of my absolute most favorite dinners from our childhood, Chicken Tetrazzini. Claire's mom always made THE BEST chicken tetrazzini, but she only made it when someone died or for birthdays, so it was always a rare, special treat. Until last weekend, it had been more than five years since I had had this delectable dinner--but it's amazingness was not forgotten by me.

So, without further adeau, I present to you:

Chicken Tetrazzini recipe adapted from Marilee Ludwick

What you'll need:
1 lb spaghetti noodles
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 ounces sour cream
2-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Boil your pasta and your chicken

Meanwhile:

Mix the chicken soup and sour cream in a bowl. We also added a small can of mushrooms--your choice. You could even add peas, beans, asparagus, or any other vegetables you like.

What a mooch!

Banana's. Yummy!

Oh. Sorry. Distractions. 

Back to the food!

Strain your s'ghetti

(WHAT? A man in the kitchen?)

Shred your chicken.

Add it all to the bowl, along with your seasonings, and stir until combined.

Dump it into a 9x13 baking dish, and top with the shredded parmesan.

Then, just pop it in the oven at 350˚ uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and brown...

Like this!

YUM. 

You WILL NOT be disappointed with this dinner.

I PROMISE. 

So good.

SO so good.

Yum.

Chicken Chilaquiles!

Chicken Chila-what-ees? Chicken chilaquiles, I say. (Chee-lah-key-lays)

In light of my current trip, (I'm in TEXAS, visiting my best friend, everrr!) I've decided to give you a nice spicy, Mexican recipe.


This. Is. One. Of. My. Favorite. Dinners. (Paul's too!)

This meal, chicken chilaquiles (let's see how many times I can say it in one post!), is delicious. What are chilaquiles you might ask? Chilaquiles are a Mexican dish, traditionally with corn tortillas and a tomato-ey sauce with cheeeeese.

My recipe-bestie, Martha (yep, we're on a first name basis), does a yummy spin on this traditional Mexican dish that's spicy, warm, filling, satisfying, and authentic tasting--we could eat it every day of the week here at the Yerrick house. I a million-billion times recommend trying this recipe--you won't regret it, and you'll crave it daily. Also, you can make a big batch like I do and freeze the left-over's for later!

First, let me say that I LOVE this cookbook. It's by far my favorite cookbook right now.

It has pretty little pictures of every recipes--and the recipes are always divine. I have yet to make a bad dish from this book. My favorite part is that it's divided into seasons and uses ingredients that are easily found that time of year.

Now, to begin this divine experience...The cast of characters:

The original recipe calls for rotisserie chicken--but I just boil chicken and shred it. You can do whatever you prefer.

Anyways, you'll need 3 chicken breasts. Boil them, let them cool a bit. Shred them, then set them aside.


Next, you'll need a red onion. A beautiful, delicious, juicy red onion.

Cut the top and the bottom off, then cut it in halt from top to bottom.  Then, cut it in half again--also from top to bottom. Turn it on its side, then slice it very thinly. Set aside.

Chop up some garlic. I use 6-ish cloves--depending on my mood. I'm a huge garlic fan. Anywhere from 4-8 cloves of garlic will suffice, depending on your taste. 

Heat some oil in a stock pot on medium high heat and saute the onions, until tender, then the garlic, until fragrant.

Heres a quick tip about garlic...If you want the garlic flavor to stand out, then add the garlic at the end. If you want it to be more subtle, saute the garlic near the beginning. 

Next, add in your can of tomatoes. You can really pick any can of tomatoes you want. The original recipe calls for whole peeled tomatoes, I don't really like using these because I don't like big chunks of tomatoes in my food. This time I chose to use crushed tomatoes, but sometimes I use diced tomatoes. It really doesn't matter, canned tomatoes are canned tomatoes. 

After your tomatoes, stir in your tomato puree--about half the can. 

Yay! Now it's time for my favorite part. The chipotles. Where do you buy chipotles, you ask? Well--they are in the ethnic foods aisle, by the Mexican food. They come in a little can like this:

There are other brands, so your can may not look identical to this one--but you get the idea, right?

These bad boys are SPICY. They pack some punch. Be wary if you heat them by themselves. You. Will. Choke. And cough. And gasp for air. One time, I made chipotle burgers and it was bad bad news for everyone in the room--but that's a whole different post. (By the way, while typing this I spelled 'news' 'noos' because I was sounding it out in my head...yeah, long day.) 

Anyways, back to the wonderful can of chipotles. Chop up one, two, or three chipotles (depending on the level of spiciness you desire, I went with 2.)

Add them to the pot. These will add a delicious smoky and spicy flavor to the dish. One of my favorite kitchen ingredients. 

Get a few of teaspoons of the adobo sauce that the chipotles are in and add that to the pot too--things are about to get crazy in here. 

You can easily transfer the remaining chipotles and their sauce to a different container and store them in the fridge for later use. 

After the chipotles, add a cup of chicken broth.

Then a tablespoon-ish of salt (this should be adjusted to your liking).

Add 2 tablespoons of cumin.

Then add pepper, oregano, chipotle powder (optional), cayenne, chili powder, and a dash of garlic powder. 

Rinse and drain 1 can of black beans. Add it to the pot.

And finally, add your shredded chicken to the pot.

To heat to medium low, and let everything simmer for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, grate some monterrey jack cheese and chop up some cilantro. (I like to grate my own cheese as opposed to buying pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in flour and gives things a different texture--it leaves a gritty feel behind. When you grate your own cheese it tastes creamier and it also melts better. Plus, it's less expensive!)

After 15 minutes, stir in cilantro. 

To prepare your bowls, line a bowl with corn tortilla chips. Ladle chicken mixture on top of chips, then top with a dollop of sour cream, grated cheese, and fresh chopped cilantro. 

You will NOT be disappointed with this heaven.

Chicken Chilaquiles recipe adapted from Martha Stewart. 

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

4-8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 cups shredded chicken

1 teaspoon oil (vegetable...olive...butter...whatever you have, really)

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato puree or tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, finely chopped (reserve sauce)

1 can black beans, drained

2 cups low sodium chicken broth broth

1 jalepeno, finely chopped (optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

4 T cumin

1 T dried oregano

1 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t chipotle powder

1 t chili powder

1 T garlic powder

1 T coriander 

1/2 c cilantro, chopped

Corn tortilla chips

Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Sour cream

1) Heat oil in pan and saute onions until soft. Add garlic (and jalepeno) and saute until fragrant. 

2) Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato puree, chipotle chilis, 2 T adobo sauce (from chipotle can), chicken stock, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cayenne, chipotle, chili powder, and garlic powder and 1/4 cup cilantro. Stir in shredded chicken and black beans.

3) Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

4) Serve with corn tortilla chips and topped with sour cream, Monterrey Jack cheese, and fresh cilantro. 

Enjoy!