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Sausage & Sauerkraut Skillet Dinner

May 24, 2010 By Kate 12 Comments

Growing up, I believed everyone had a deep and abiding love for sauerkraut like I did. (I guess it’s kind of a given when you’re raised in a Polish family.) It wasn’t until much later in life, namely when it came to my own kids, that I realized sauerkraut was definitely an acquired taste.

So, I make a concentrated effort to insure that they actually acquire that taste someday. It hasn’t worked with our 10 year old or 5 year old just yet, but the 4 and 3 year olds practically licked their plates clean when I served this dinner. I suppose a 50% success rate isn’t too bad. Although I am determined to see that percentage hit 100 someday.

For the Sausage & Sauerkraut Skillet Dinner, I cut the bitterness of the sauerkraut with some brown sugar, which also provided a nice caramelization of the sausage. It still tasted traditional, just with less of a bite.

Sausage & Sauerkraut Skillet Dinner

  • 5 T. butter or margarine
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1 lb. smoked or Polish sausage, sliced
  • 1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 15 oz. can sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 t. black pepper
  • 1/4 t. salt

1. Melt the butter or margarine in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add the sausage and carrots and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes. Serve immediately or cover and simmer over low heat until dinner time.

My original intention with this dinner was to make it a complete, all-in-one skillet meal with the addition of some potatoes. Unfortunately, some little hands got in my pantry and spilled water all over my bag of potatoes, leaving them completely unusable. So we had some noodles on the side instead.

If you want to make this a complete meal, slice or cube 3-4 potatoes and add with the onions in step 1. Cook as directed.

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Spicy Sausage Spaghetti

March 28, 2010 By Kate Leave a Comment

A surprising thing happens when you throw a bunch of food together in a skillet because you think it sounds good. Sometimes, it turns out horrible and you wonder what in the world you were thinking. And then other times, it turns out so good you wonder why you hadn’t thought of it sooner.

In fact, I find the latter happens more often than not, at least in our house. I’m combining ingredients and flavors that I already know my family enjoys. When you start with those two key components, I think you’re almost always guaranteed success.

Here’s a perfect example of just such a dish in our family.

Spicy Sausage Spaghetti

  • 1 1/2 T. oil
  • 1 lb. Polish or smoked sausage, sliced
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 c. fully cooked from dried beans)
  • 1/2 lb. frozen, chopped spinach
  • 1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
  • 1 – 2 t. Cajun/blackening seasoning (or other spicy seasoning blend, such as Emeril’s Essence)
  • 1/2 – 1 lb. spaghetti, fully cooked and drained

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add sausage, onion and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for about 5-8 minutes, until sausage starts to brown. Stir in garbanzo beans and spinach.

2. Add petite diced tomatoes and Cajun/blackening seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add cooked spaghetti noodles into the skillet and toss to coat. Simmer until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Tomorrow I’ll get caught up on our kitchen. Until then, check out what Jen and Toni have been up to in their kitchens.

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Handheld Breakfast Pies

March 22, 2010 By Kate 29 Comments

I mentioned last week that I spent a good portion of a Sunday working on a new idea. It needed a little tweaking before meeting the oh-so-high standards of this family. But, I’m not complaining. I’m actually glad they have high standards. It gives me more confidence when I post my recipes.

This recipe is one that I’m so excited about. I’ve been concocting it in my head for a long time and finally decided to just go for it. The overall concept was inspired by a similar boxed frozen breakfast product. And trust me, if you like those, you will LOVE these.

To be fair though, I should warn you they are quite a bit of work to put together. But I got over 2 dozen with this recipe, so there are plenty for future breakfasts. I also think the process will get much quicker with practice.

Handheld Breakfast Pies

For the pie crust:

  • 5 c. flour
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 2 t. salt
  • 1 1/4 c. butter
  • 1/2 – 3/4 c. ice cold water

1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

2. Cut butter into small chunks and add to flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture comes together in about pea-sized clumps. (I’ve learned that the trick to flaky pie crust is to leave the butter pieces bigger rather than smaller.) Slowly add just as much ice cold water as needed until the dough is smooth.

3. Place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before rolling out.

For the filling:

  • 1 T. butter
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/4 c. milk
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage
  • 3 T. flour
  • 1 1/2 c. milk
  • 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 t. each – salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika (adjust to taste)

1. Melt butter in a large skillet. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and 1/4 c. milk. Pour into skillet, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until scrambled. Remove to a large bowl with a slotted spoon.

2. Cook sausage in the same skillet until done. Add to the eggs, using a slotted spoon.

3. Stir flour into drippings in skillet and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a slow boil and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese and seasonings. Stir until melted. Pour into eggs and sausage and stir to combine. Let cool.

To assemble:

1. Working with a small section of pie crust dough at a time, roll out on a floured surface. Using a glass or biscuit cutter, cut dough into circles. Spoon some of the filling into the center of half the circles. Cover each circle with another circle of dough and seal the edges with a fork.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

To freeze, cool completely and then flash freeze on cookie sheets for about an hour. Transfer to plastic freezer bags.

These reheat best in the oven, but the microwave will work in a pinch.

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