Comfort Foods

To me, food is love. I love my family enough to cook good food (except for tonight, when we're getting good pizza) and hopefully they'll love to eat my cooking! When Jason and I were first married, I was on a mission to impress him with my cooking. I went to my local library and checked out every Rachael Ray book I could get my hands on. I'm busy- I don't have time for real cooking- only Rachael Ray! I checked out a bunch of books, copied a TON of recipes, and only found a few that we all really liked. Thankfully, we found this one: Quick Cassoulet Stuffed Bread Melts. Jason loves Italian Sausage, so I was desperately seeking recipes that made it taste good to me, and I definitely love this dish. For us, it's a big bunch of goodness that you put in bread and cover with cheese- how can you go wrong?



(The pictures aren't the most flattering... trust me- It's good.)

Quick Cassoulet Stuffed Bread Melts

• 1 loaf of bread- not sliced bread, but Italian or a baguette. We always use Italian.
• 1/2 lb of sausage (I buy the uncased Mild Sausage.. much easier and less messy.)
• 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 t of dried thyme
• 1 can on cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of white wine or chicken stock
• cheese- we use swiss, but you could use Gruyere, gouda, fontina, or whatever strikes your fancy

1. Preheat the oven to 200 F.

2. Crisp the bread in the oven, remove and cut into pieces, then cutting out the center of the bread to make a boat. You can do it length wise, or just chunk it like I did (check out the pictures.)

3. Add the EVOO to a skillet over medium high heat and brown the sausage. If you are using cased sausage, uncase them and break the sausage into small bits. Kind of like ground beef.

4. Add the carrots, onions, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme- cook for about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.

5. Add the beans and stir to combine.

6. Season with salt and pepper- I always add more thyme as well.

7. Deglaze the pan with the stock or wine- scrape all the good sausage bits off the bottom.

8. Reduce heat and let it simmer over low heat. Rachael suggests just letting it simmer for a mere 2-3 minutes. I'm a busy woman, Rachael, and I've got things to take care of, so I'm gonna let this simmer for anywhere from 5-25 minutes. That's right.

9. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more wine or stock.. I like it a little juicy..it makes it better for heating up the next day.

10. Turn your oven to broiler. Take your bread boats on a cookie sheet (or broiler sheet) and fill them with the cassoulet. Cover the deliciousness with your choice of cheese, and put the sheet in the broiler. Let the cheese melt under the broiler and enjoy. Depending on how crisp your bread is, you may need a knife and a fork.

I will confess that every dinner I make must last for two days. We're too busy and have way too many children to be cooking a fresh meal every night. So, I double this recipe and double my pleasure. Though there are a lot of steps, it really is quite simple, and after you make it the first time, it gets easier every single time. Enjoy!

Things that make you go mmmmmmmmm.....

You ever have one of those dishes that just feels like a big pan of love? This is one of those dishes for me. It started quite simply. Lindsey (Jason's mom) would talk about visiting Colorado and her sister prepared this Potato Basil Frittata. Now would be a good time to introduce you to the woman who created this dish for us. I like to call her my soulmate, but most people just call her the Barefoot Contessa. If you haven't heard of her, you haven't lived. This dish contained many ingredients that I was clueless about near the beginning of my marriage... Gruyere? Fresh Basil? And more than that, I'm going to bake eggs? But Jason and I made this dish together the first time we tried the recipe, almost three years ago, and we're still loving the goodness out of it. And as far as frittatas go, it's fairly easy. Everything takes a little bit of time, but if you're a planner like me, I'm sure you'll have all the ingredients waiting in the fridge for showtime.

I served my frittata with sautéed zucchini as a side dish, but you could do anything from a salad to some sausage. Or, even better, make these delicious hashed browns which are also featured in BFC's book, Family Style. (If you're really daring, buy the book and make the blueberry muffins. Oh.my.god. Or just wait until I make them and post the recipe!)

Potato Basil Frittata

Ingredients

-8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
-2 cups peeled and 1/2-inch diced boiling potatoes (4 potatoes)
-8 extra-large eggs
-15 ounces ricotta cheese
-3/4 pound Gruyere cheese, grated
-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
-3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
-1/3 cup flour
-3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and fry them until cooked through, turning often, about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small dish in the microwave.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, Gruyere, melted butter, salt, pepper, and basil. I use about 1/2 fresh and 1/2 dried basil. It's all up to you and your preferences, but be sure that if you're using dried basil, use less than 3/4 a cup- dried basil packs more of a punch than fresh. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and stir into the egg mixture.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake the frittata until it is browned and puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will be rounded and firm in the middle and a knife inserted in the frittata should come out clean. Serve hot.

Fresh basil, Jason's favorite

Whatever you do, don't pronounce this gooey-air.
That makes French people cry.

piepiepiepiepie

I've never been very daring in a culinary manner. Growing up, we ate what my husband lovingly refers to as geriatric food, which is food completely devoid of any sort of flavor. Honestly, I didn't know what basil was until college, and even then it came from a bottle. It seems completely appropriate, then, that I would marry someone who enjoys, nay, requires massive amounts of flavor on all his food. The first year of our marriage was tough- we tried to find a happy medium, but I will admit, he won out. We are a flavor loving house now, but rest assured, I put up a good fight.

Jason came home a couple weeks ago with the story of a coworker, Jill, who had visited the Webb City Farmer's Market. She stopped at a booth and purchased an onion pie for lunch. When she sat down to dine on her pie, she found the pie had bacon on top, and since she was a vegetarian, she couldn't eat it. Jason told me this story and two things crossed my mind: 1.) Poor Jill. 2.) What in the heck is an onion pie? So, I did some research, and I found a delicious recipe... and just to make someone's day, I prepared an onion pie for Jill as well (hold the bacon.)

Onion Pie

Ingredients

• Crust:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup cold all-vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • Cold water
  
  Filling:


• 1/4 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 pounds Vidalia onions, thinly sliced
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated Parmesan
• a few slices of bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbly. I use pepper bacon, for extra flavor.

Directions

For the crust:

• All ingredients should be cold. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and butter. Using a pastry blender cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  
• Drop by drop, add cold water. Mix in with the fingertips, not with the hands as the palms will warm the dough. Continue mixing water in until the dough begins to hold together without being sticky but not crumbly.


• Place dough in plastic wrap. Fold over plastic wrap and press down to form a disk. This will make rolling out easier after chilling. Finish wrapping in plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.


• Lightly spray a deep 9-inch pie pan or an 8 1/2-inch fluted flan pan. Roll out dough and place in pie plate. Return to the refrigerator until filling is ready. Makes pastry for a 9-inch single crust pie.


• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

For the filling:

• Brush egg wash on the inside of pie crust. Return to refrigerator until filling is ready.
• Over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and saute until translucent. Do not brown.
• Combine eggs, sour cream and flour. Add onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper and pour into chilled pie crust.
• Top with Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Add crumbled bacon on top of pie.Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F for the last 25 minutes or until center is set.

This is a fantastic summer meal with a fresh salad on the side. I hope you love it as much as I do!