Penne with Mushrooms and Sausage

I try once a week to have an experiment night for dinner.  I love looking through recipes and cookbooks and deciding what I want to try next.  Last night I made a really good pasta dish from one of my favorite cookbooks, Weeknight Fresh and Fast.  I adapted the recipe a bit for the sake of convenience but I really liked it.  Here is how I made the recipe:

Source and original recipe

Penne with Mushrooms and Sausage

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. onion, finely diced
3/4 lb. hot Italian sausage
12 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 c. white wine
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
12 oz. penne pasta ( I used gluten free pasta and it turned out great)
1 c. freshly grated parmesan

In a large frying pan heat the olive oil.  Add the onions and saute about 5 minutes.  Remove the casings from the sausages and add to the pan, breaking up into smaller chunks with a fork.  Cook until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.  Spoon out the excess oil, otherwise there will be too much grease.  Add the mushrooms, rosemary, and salt and pepper.  Stir and cook about 5 minutes more.  Add the wine and bay leaf and cook until the liquid has all evaporated, about 4 minutes.  Add the broth and simmer, stirring occasionally until the sauce begins to thicken and becomes syrupy, about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile boil the pasta.  Add the sauce to the pasta and stir to combine.  Stir in the parmesan and serve immediately. 

Pomengranate Frozen Yogurt

1 cup pomegranate juice 4 cups Greek yogurt (large container from Costco 2/3 cup sugar 2/3 cup grenadine or strawberry flavored syrup like Torrino's • In a large bowl, combine yogurt, sugar, pomegranate juice, and grenadine, whisking well until sugar dissolves, approximately 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to an airtight container, and refrigerate until cold, approximately 2 hours. • Transfer mixture to an electric ice-cream maker, and prepare according to manufacturer’s instructions. If desired, return to an airtight container, and freeze for a firmer texture.

Gluten Free Hush Puppies

Ingredients 1 cup (5 ounces) gluten-free cornmeal 3/4 cup (3 ounces) white rice flour 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon seasoned salt or regular salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 2 quarts vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or 1 small onion, finely chopped) 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic, minced) 1/2 cup milk 1 large egg, beaten Procedures 1 In medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, white rice flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and xanthan gum. 2 Heat oil in a Dutch oven over high heat to 350°F and adjust flame to maintain temperature. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. 3 In a medium bowl, whisk together onion, garlic, milk, and egg. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir together until smooth but some lumps remain. Drop batter, about 2 teaspoons at a time into hot oil until you have a dozen hush puppies. Fry for two minutes and then turn the hush puppies. Fry until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Remove hush puppies from the oil with a skimmer. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm.

Lindsey's Yummy Rolls

Lindsey wrote this recipe down for me back when we were seniors in high school and I was collecting recipes for one of my personal progress goals.  This recipe is, hands down, the best roll recipe I have ever made, and I have tried quite a few different recipes.  Not because I was looking for something better but because I kept misplacing this recipe card and I would search futilely for a suitable replacement.  The last time I lost this recipe was a few months ago.  I searched through every one of my cookbooks, of which I have several, to see if I had slipped it in one of them.  I couldn't find it.  I tried not to panic until we had moved to our house thinking that I would certainly find it when we had moved everything and cleaned.  I still didn't find it.  So I searched through all of my cookbooks again.  Still nothing.  I gave up, heart broken,  not just because my favorite roll recipe was gone but because one of the last things I have of my dear friend was gone. It has been about a month since I gave up hope on ever seeing this recipe again when I suddenly found it.  I opened up my cookie and candy cookbook to get ready to bake cookies for Eric's work for Christmas.  The first page opened and out fell this recipe card.  I had searched through every page of that cookbook at least twice, probably more and never seen it and it had been in the first page all along.  I was over joyed.  And I decided immediately that I needed to post this online so that I will always have a copy of it somewhere.  I have also decided that I should probably laminate the thing, as she wrote the recipe in pencil and parts of it are already smudged and getting hard to read. 

So, without further ado:

Lindsey's Yummy Rolls

2 cakes (I don't know what cakes are) or Tablespoons yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. warm water.
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 heaping teaspoon salt

Combine yeast and sugar in water.  Melt butter with milk in a small sauce pan.  Cool.  Combine flour, salt, and 1/4 c. sugar.  When butter and milk are cooled combine with the beaten eggs and yeast.  Stir, then gradually sift the flour mixture into the liquid.  The dough is very sticky but do not add more flour.  Let this rise for 1 hour then roll out.  You will need flour on every surface.  Cut the rolls into circles and fold in half.  I always put butter on each circle before folding in half.  Place on a baking sheet with the sides touching.  Let rise 20 minutes and bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees.  Enjoy these AMAZING rolls!

Lime Coconut Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice

I tried this recipe this week and loved it.   It was really good and Eric has said it's a keeper.  I found the recipe on Pinterest.  I made a few little alterations so here is my version:

Picture from original recipe

Lime Coconut Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice


2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 tbsp oil
zest of 2 lime
 2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbs. ground coriander
 4 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs. kosher salt
4 Tbs. sugar
 4 tsp curry powder
1 cup coconut milk
 1 tsp. cayenne
 2 small fresh hot chilies, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Fresh limes, cut into wedges

Trim fat from chicken breasts. I like to slice my chicken breasts in half lengthwise to have thinner pieces of meat.  It seems to make the chicken go farther, cook faster, and have more flavor throughout.  The original recipe has you nearly slice through the chicken and then pound each breast to an even thickness.  I did not do this, I was too lazy. 
In a bowl or zip lock bag mix all ingredients except the cilantro and limes.
Add chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for up to two hours.
This chicken would be great grilled but I just cooked it in a skillet with a bit of oil.  Place the breasts in the pan and cook, saving the marinade.  Flip the chicken over when the chicken is golden and cook on the other side.
With the remaining marinade, (I made extra marinade than the original recipe because I just love adding sauce and we served this with rice and saucy rice is one of the best things.) pour into a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.  Boil for at least 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

While the chicken was cooking I made some cilantro lime rice.

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. lime juice
zest of 1 lime
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Cook rice in a rice cooker with water and butter.  When the rice is done stir in the lime juice, zest, and cilantro.  Add salt to taste.

When the chicken and rice were done I served the chicken on a bed of rice with the sauce poured over and cilantro and lime juice added.  It was so good and I am excited to make it again.