Italian Sausage and Fontina Biscuit Sandwiches

I'm feeling rather uninspired today, on this, my Friday morning "off" from my regular life. I've been feeling a bit like I lost myself in the bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived season of birthing and raising my 3 children and my husband and I are on a quest to get me back to thriving. One thing we've identified as essential is that I get some time to myself. Like totally alone. Nobody asking nothing of me. So that's what Friday mornings usually have in store for me lately. Frankly, it's weird. After having little voices and limbs demanding something of me every millisecond of every day for 6 straight years, the silence feels unnatural.

Maybe that's because it isn't exactly silent in here. Before you get some crazy idea in your head that I'm in a spa somewhere, feet up, typing while having my back massaged, let me assure you - it's not quite that glamorous. Actually, I'm sitting in a grocery store coffee shop on a busy highway while I wait for my luxury vehicle (ahem, minivan) to get itself a shiny new set of wheels. Also, did I mention there is a lady in here on her cell phone with not just a singular file folder but her entire filing system which she is pushing around in a giant shopping cart? She's anxiously shrieking into her phone about some real estate something or other that went haywire, all the while multitasking and yelling random things across the entire coffee shop to the other couple in her party. She keeps saying stuff like "I can't hear anything in here" and let me say aloud what the rest of us patrons are all thinking: "NEITHER CAN WE, LADY!!" Yikes. It makes me hope Graham and I never made a scene quite this big win our home purchase nearly went down the tubes.

Anyway, I feel like I'm in a bit of a cooking funk lately. It's probably mostly because my priorities right now are fast and easy and the recipes I gravitate toward don't usually fall into either of those categories. It's my spiritual gift - making uncomplicated things excruciatingly complicated. I was lamenting to my husband the other night "I need to start cooking something good again" to which he is supposed to respond "Oh honey, everything you cook is good!" Well, he didn't say that. Which is so totally crazy. Because, who in their right mind doesn't like eating wet, slippery pesto made out of shards of zucchini instead of basil? Umm. Everyone in our entire family, I guess. (That was a first for my pasta-loving crew!) Instead, he just kept quietly eating whatever slop I'd placed in front of him, one forkful after the other.

But school has started for two of my kids which means I have recently stumbled upon this thing called margins in my life. And they have magical powers like making me feel rested, less stressed, and more excited about cooking. More excited about most things, actually. Now that I'm no longer in survival mode 100% of the time, I think (hope!) I'm coming out of this cooking funk as I'm pretty sure a couple of the items I prepared this week were tasty. (Ask my family - they are my true jury). Unfortunately I didn't photograph them which is why I'm here posting a recipe I haven't made for like a year. Because it's been about that long since the cooking was exciting over here. But I promise this one is good. Like really good.

Although the title technically refers to it as a "sandwich," you're definitely going to want a fork and knife to eat it as it isn't the kind you can safely pick up. Unless you prefer all the fillings crumbled in your crotch. For some reason, this recipe always sounds good to me on Sunday nights. My husband grew up eating Sunday night scone dinners and this tradition has carried over on occasion into our married life (though not often enough if you ask me!) Sometimes I like this more hearty alternative because it provides protein and even a smidge of veggies along with the yummy scone-like biscuit, leaving me satisfied all around. I typically use jarred roasted peppers to make this a quicker Sunday night option. If you're hoping for seconds, definitely make a double batch of the biscuit portion. There always seems to be plenty of filling but never enough biscuit for the carb lovers over here.

Hopefully some more recent recipe success stories will be headed your way soon, but in the mean time, make these and pardon me as I work on amping up my cooking game.

Italian Sausage and Fontina Biscuit Sandwiches
(adapted slightly from Food and Wine Magazine)

For the filling:
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound hot Italian sausages, pricked with a fork
1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and minced
6 scallions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the biscuits:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the sausages, cover and cook over moderate heat until nicely browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Drain the sausages and cut into 1/2-inch chunks.

Transfer the sausage to a microwave-safe bowl. Add the roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, olives, Parmesan and 1/4 cup of the Fontina to the sausage and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently stir in the buttermilk until almost incorporated. Using your hands, gently mix the dough until blended.

On a lightly floured work surface, form the dough into a square. Roll or pat the square into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half and cut each half in half again to make 4 biscuits; transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the cream and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
Bake the biscuits in the upper third of the oven for 10 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400° and bake for about 10 minutes longer, until the biscuits are pale golden and just cooked through. Let cool slightly.

Rewarm the sausage filling in the microwave. Split the warm biscuits and fill with the remaining 1/2 cup of Fontina and the sausage filling. Close the sandwiches and serve.

Serves 4

Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber and Feta

(I originally authored this post nearly a year ago now, back when we were homeless and living with my in-laws while deep in our house hunt. The recipe was an instant hit but alas, the photo I took before we devoured the soup was not. And so I had to wait a year for my next crop of tomatoes to come full circle so I could make the soup again and snag a better picture. I made this soup with my tomato bounty tonight. Yowser. It's just as good this year as last. If not even better. The ripe tomatoes produced such a natural sweetness in the soup that my husband asked if it was made out of watermelon after taking his first bite. So without further adieu....read on for last year's post and the recipe):

I have already mentioned our Tomato Conundrum. When we moved in with my in-laws back in June, we brought more than just boxes of our belongings. We also brought my patio garden which we added to the plot that was already here. So between all of our tomato plants, fresh tomatoes are piling up almost as rapidly as my 5-year-olds unanswered questions.

This week's menu-planning was easy. Our September Food and Wine Magazine arrived and it's as if they'd peaked over the fence and spied our tomato problem. The issue was plum full of tomato recipes so I dog-eared every one and have great aspirations of catching up with the ripening fruit in the days ahead. I wasn't expecting to have a post-worthy success so early on but this soup struck gold and so I couldn't help but share.

I never would have expected raw pureed tomatoes to taste so amazing but when they are ripened on the vine in your very own garden, there is no comparison. If you don't have a Tomato Conundrum, I'm sure you can find some ripe beauties at the farmer's market that will do just as well. This recipe is fast and easy and I had it ready to serve in the time it took my husband to whip up a tower of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. Make sure you use large tomatoes - I used 6 medium-sized Romas and felt like 3-4 more would have better achieved the volume I was shooting for. The tomatoes are first chopped and then pureed in a blender with a drizzle of honey. The soup is topped with red onions and that are lightly caramelized and olives and then tossed with red wine vinegar for a slightly sweet yet tangy contrast to the smooth soup. If olives aren't your thing, leave them out. I have made the soup both ways and the results are lovely. Cucumbers add crunch and feta cheese provides a delicious finish to this late summer hit.

Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber and Feta
(adapted from Food and Wine Magazine)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1 small red onion, thinly sliced 
3/4 cup pitted Kalmata olives 
2 tablespoons oregano leaves or 1 tsp dried oregano
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar 
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt 
1 small cucumber, peeled and chopped into small cubes 
1 tablespoon honey 
6 large tomatoes, chopped 
Freshly ground black pepper 
4 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved 
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup) 

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, olives and oregano and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vinegars. Season with salt. Cool to room temperature. 

Meanwhile, in a bowl, toss the cucumber with 1/2 tablespoon of the honey and season with salt.

In a blender, puree the chopped tomatoes with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of honey and season generously with salt and pepper. 

Pour the soup into shallow bowls. Top with the onion-olive mixture, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and feta.

Serves 4

Mixed Greens with Cara Cara Orange, Avocado and Olives

We have a slight obsession going on with Cara Cara oranges over here. I don't know if it's the orange itself or it's name, really. How fun is it to say something so rhymy when you're 3? It usually comes out something like "I want a Cara Cara Cara Cara Cara Cara Cara Cara Cara (is that enough Caras yet?) orange please?" I've been buying them by the dozen and they evaporate like candy, usually eaten just plain. But I'm far from plain when it comes to food, as I'm sure you are well aware if you have read even two of my posts, and so of course I have been trying to get a little creative with our oranges.

Despite popular belief, my kids don't really eat salad. Or at least the green parts of it. Usually there's enough goodies and toppings in my salads for them to pick at that it provides the illusion that they are actually eating salad but now you know my dirty little secret. A few weeks ago, I had a winter citrus fest going on in my produce drawer and I was inspired to make use of both my grapefruits and Cara Cara oranges together in one fell swoop. The results were divine and I must confess that I was pretty proud of my creation. It was so delicious I made the exact same salad the following day.

If you have been intimidated by making your own salad dressings, it's high time you get over it. I promise it is worth it and doable and you won't go back, at least very often. Invest in some sort of sealed glass bottle - I use the Korken Bottle with stopper from Ikea - and then you have an easy mixing vehicle for you creations. I like to make a big batch of dressing and keep it in the pantry so I always have some on hand. In a pinch, a large jar with a well-sealed lid also works great. The basics are this: 1 part vinegar to 2-3 parts oil. If you can remember even that much, you're golden. Then you can add herbs, a sweetener if needed (sugar, honey, maple syrup), Dijon and/or seasonings. Go haywire and use what's in your fridge and get creative! Taste often and adjust. I recommend following recipes at the beginning until you feel more confident and then venture out and experiment on your own - have fun with it! If you're still doubtful, know that it took me approximately 30 years and 179 days to gain enough confidence to attempt a dressing by myself and hey, look at me now! If I can figure it out, so can you.

Mixed Greens with Cara Cara Orange, Avocado and Olive and a Grapefruit Vinaigrette
(recipe created by yours truly)

Salad:
1 (5 oz) bag mixed greens
2 Cara Cara oranges, peeled and segmented, pith removed
1 avocado, sliced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
Drizzle of chili oil, to serve

White Balsamic Grapefruit Vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon Cara Cara orange zest
2 Tablespoons fresh grapefruit juice
2 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 teaspoons brown sugar (to taste)
Fresh ground pepper
Kosher Salt

Combine first 4 salad ingredients (mixed greens through olives) in a large bowl.

To prepare dressing, combine zest, grapefruit juice, balsamic, olive oil and brown sugar in a sealed glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper and salt. Shake vigorously to mix.

Gently toss salad with vinaigrette and drizzle with chili oil to serve.

Serves 6