Skillet Suppers-Italian Sausage Skillet

It's Saturday and I'm sharing another Skillet Supper. I received a few questions this week about cast iron skillets. Hands down they are my favorites but I do understand that not everyone feels the same way. These skillet recipes are intended to be one-pan creations. If you choose another type of skillet, that is fine!

Italian Sausage Skillet
(Printable Version)

1 lb Italian sausage (either hot or mild)
1 large chopped onion
3-5 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
5-6 chopped Roma tomatoes
1 lb sliced mushrooms
1-1/2 lbs small zucchini, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 (6 ounce) package sliced provolone cheese

Remove sausage from the casings and cook fully until browned in a large skillet, breaking up the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Remove from heat, drain off any grease, and blot with paper towels. Return to medium heat and add chopped onion, garlic, green pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, and spices. Simmer until vegetable are as tender as you desire. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Place provolone cheese on top and allow to melt. Served with garlic bread or served over pasta.
Serves 6.








Served with crusty bread...YUM!!

Editing to include in Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday. Thank you Lisa for hosting this fun event each week.....check out all the wonderful recipes shared there.

Mosaic Monday - Coffee & Chocolate

I haven't posted to Mosaic Monday in several weeks although I always stop by to see what everyone has created. Work is busy...very busy (I work for an accounting firm)! Tax season is upon us and I am looking forward to April 15th...in the meantime, I am leaning on my dear friends, coffee & chocolate or is that chocolate & coffee, lol. And doing double time on the treadmill!!

Happy Monday and thanks to Mary for hosting!

Skillet Suppers-Cilantro Chicken Skillet

I’ve posted about *skillet* suppers before. I love them. My reasons for loving them are many. Firstly, I love using cast iron skillets…..they are the perfect pan. When you make a skillet supper, you are using minimal prep dishes and pots & pans…less mess. Ingredients too are minimal and most recipes use ordinary pantry ingredients which brings us to the fact that they are economical to make. And a bunch of side dishes just are not required. I usually serve with some bread and a salad or fruit. So, all those reasons considered, I’ve deemed the skillet supper perfect for week nights or any other evening you are rushed.



Cilantro Chicken Skillet
(Printable Version)

1 c uncooked long grain rice
3 Tbsp butter
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp fine chopped fresh garlic
1 onion (1/2 c), chopped
1 (15-ounce) can red beans, drained and rinsed well

Cook rice according to package directions; keep warm. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch skillet until sizzling; add chicken, cilantro and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink (9 to 10 minutes). Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. Melt remaining butter in same skillet; add onion. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened (3 to 4 minutes). Stir in beans and cooked rice. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until heated through (2 to 3 minutes). To serve, spoon rice and bean mixture onto serving platter; top with chicken. Garnish with additional chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve with hot pepper sauce.

Sharing at Michael Lee's, Design's by Gollum, Foodie Friday. It is her 1 Year Blog Anniversary. Thanks for hosting Michael and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

In A Pickle.....

Today for Coloradolady's Vintage Thingie Thursday, I thought I would share one of my MANY collections.....Vintage Pickle Dishes!

I started collecting vintage pickle dishes shortly after I learned how to can...actually more specifically, pickle. My first dish came from my grandmother-in-law. She encouraged me to bring out my pickled goods and serve them to company and for special occasions. Then I started noticing these pretty little dishes when I frequented garage sales and thrift stores. Most of the ones I have are from depression era to the 1960's, when the pickle or relish dish pretty much fell out of vogue...probably about the same time as home canning became a thing of the past. I have never given more than a couple dollars for a dish. Some are divided and some are not. Some were originally giveaway items in boxes of detergent and when you filled your car with gasoline. Some are small and others quite large. While you can find them in all colors and patterns, I am especially fond of the clear glass ones. I have to say that a pickle dish almost always is recieved with wide grins and a story of what wonderful pickles someone made or a sweet memory.

A vintage pickling booklet.

A pickle dish ready for serving

A sampling of my collection (the one from Grandma is in the middle)

3 compartments..I love the pattern on this one

I have this same dish is both a 3-compartment and 4-compartment

A sweet clover shaped dish

A sunburst pattern

A nice medium-sized dish

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

This is my favorite go-to recipe for cheesecake. I love cheesecake and I love chocolate. I served this at a catered event on Saturday night and not only was it all gone, but it seemed someone scraped my serving plate……clean, lol. Wish there had been a piece left over for me. Don’t feel too badly for me though…Dear Son #2 made me Crepes w/Strawberries & Whipped for Valentine’s Day. He’s a gem!!

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

1 package (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Chocolate Genache, for topping

Preheat oven to 325° degrees. Assemble a 9-inch springform pan with the raised side of the bottom facing down.

In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground. Add butter, and pulse to moisten. Transfer to prepared pan, and press crumbs firmly and evenly into the bottom. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet; bake 10 minutes, and set aside.

Wipe out bowl and blade of food processor. Add cream cheese, sugar, and salt; blend until smooth. With motor running, add eggs, then sour cream, and finally chocolate; blend filling until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Pour filling onto crust, and bake just until set, 1 hour. Turn oven off, and let cheesecake sit 1 hour in oven, without opening (this helps prevent cracking).

Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan (this helps prevent cracking, too); leave in pan, and cool completely on wire rack. Cover loosely and refrigerate, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.

Prepare Chocolate Genache. Unmold cheesecake. Spread ganache in center of cheesecake; let set before serving.

Chocolate Genache
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate

In a small saucepan, bring cream to boil. Remove from the heat, stir in chocolate. Stir unitl melted, then set aside until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes.

I'm posting to the Tuesday Foodie Events....Thanks to Jen, Lisa & Cole from Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday,Tasty Tuesday , and Tuesdays at the Table.

My favorite valentine....

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Chicken Piccata

The menu for our dinner party (see previous post for table setting) was:

Dinner:
Chicken Piccata
Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes
Haricot Vert (French Green Beans) with Garlic and Sliced Almonds
Homemade Rolls

Dessert:
Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
Coffee (Seattle's Best Columbian--my current favorite)



Chicken Piccata
(Printable Version)

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Additional all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1/4 cup drained capers
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Lemon slices for garnish

Place chicken between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Using meat pounder or rolling pin, lightly pound chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Mix 1 tablespoon butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons flour in small bowl until smooth. Place additional flour in shallow baking dish. Dip chicken into flour to coat; shake off excess.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 heavy large skillets. Add 2 chicken breasts to each skillet and cook until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to platter; tent with foil to keep warm.

Bring wine, lemon juice and broth to boil in 1 skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in butter-flour mixture and boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in capers, parsley and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and serve. Garnish with lemon slices.
Serves 4.

Posting to Foodie Friday at Michael Lee's Designs by Gollum. Join in the fun!!

It's Thursday...Tablescape & Vintage Thingie!

I'm sharing at both Tablescape Thursday @ BNOTP and Coloradolady's Vintage Thingie Thursday. Thank you ladies for hosting these lovely events each week!



I wanted to share my RED tablescape from a dinner party for 8 last week. Although it isn’t very Valentine-ish, it is my favorite….RED. The tablecloth came from K-mart. I spied it on their site when someone was showing off some napkin rings from there on their blog (sorry, I don’t remember what blog that was), the dishes are a mix of 2 different sets from TJMaxx manufactured by Queen. I bought a set for 8 of each but really like the look of mixing them together. The flatware is my everyday stuff. The big tall glasses came from Dollar Tree. The votives are from my catering goodies. The vintage goodies in the middle of the table (oil lamp, Bakelite topped S&P’s and nesting hens) are all from various sources…mostly junking. The lamp was my Great-Grandmother Jessie Eavenson’s. I’ll post my menu for Foodie Friday!

Gooseberry Patch & Just Perfect Sloppy Joes

Forgive my absence....we had some computer problems and I solved the problem by getting a NEW computer.

I LOVE Gooseberry Patch. I have been blessed to have many recipes included in their lovely cookbooks over the years. I follow them on Facebook and my ears perked up when I heard they were offering a free cookbook today. The catch, you need to submit a picture of you and one of the Gooseberry Patch Cookbook recipes all prepared and the book it came from. Well, lots of their recipes are on our favorites list, so this was easy-peasy. Well, I hate to have my picture done but dear son #2 helped me out and although he is not the photographer in the family, the process was pretty painless. If you are interested in entering the details are here.


So, son #2 loves Sloppy Joes. Always has and I assume he always will. We used to make another recipe but when I got my Church Suppers book from Gooseberry Patch, I was very intrigued by the name of this recipe submitted to GBP by Amy Wrightsel from Louisville, KY...Just Perfect Sloppy Joes. I tried them out and we've never returned to our old recipe. Very YUMMY and as the name states, Just Perfect!!

Just Perfect Sloppy Joes
(Printable Version)

3lbs ground beef, browned and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, chopped (we use ½ green & ½ red)
28-oz can tomato sauce
¾ c catsup
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
8 sandwich buns, split

Combine all ingredients except sandwich buns in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours (we also will just make them on top of the stove if I haven’t planned ahead). Serve in sandwich buns (we always top with a tad of shredded cheese). Serves 8.

I'm posting to the Tuesday Foodie Events....Thanks to Jen, Lisa & Cole from Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, and Tuesdays at the Table.


I'm editing to include this post with Debbie's Crock Pot Wednesday. Thanks for hosting Debbie!