OK… once again, I got off track on publishing a new recipe every week. I’m trying to get this done, perhaps the second part of 2010 is when it will really happen! 
So, here is my latest thrown together meal recipe, a turkey kielbasa recipe and couscous recipe rolled into one… I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and me did.
| Turkey Kielbasa Couscous |
| Ingredients: |
1 pkg turkey kielbasa
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 cup frozen peas
1.25 cups chicken broth
1/2 onion, minced
6 or 7 mushrooms, roughly chopped |
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cumin, coriander to taste
Thyme to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil spray
White wine |
| Directions:
Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. When hot, spray with a small amount of olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and cook till softened, then add the mushrooms and continue cooking till tender. Slice the kielbasa into 1/2″ slices and add to the pan. Season with all the spices and seasonings, and cook till browned.
When kielbasa and veggies are done, slosh some white wine into the pan, enough to cover the bottom. Stir and scrape up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Cook till wine is reduced. Next, add the couscous and stir to coat and mix with the other ingredients. Then add the chicken broth and stir in the peas.
Cover and remove from the heat. Let sit for 5 minutes or so. Uncover, stir to fluff and correct the seasonings, if needed. |
For variations on this recipe, see this page. You can also find more great sausage recipes or enter our monthly recipe contest with one of your own special recipes.
Enjoy!
Tags: couscous recipes, turkey kielbasa recipe
Risotto is an Italian form of rice that is simply delicious. You might have heard that it’s hard to make, but that’s not really true. It does take precision and time, however. It’s not a meal you can just start on the stove and then forget about for a half hour. It needs pretty much constant attention. But the efforts are SO worth it! Delicious, flexible, useful either as a side dish or the foundation of a delicious one-pot dish, risotto recipes can be whatever you want them to be!
Risotto comes to us from the Italian culture. Basically, risotto is just an Italian method of cooking a specific type of rice, called arborio rice. Arborio rice is an Italian short-grain rice that is named after the town of Arborio in the Po Valley in Italy, where it is grown. When cooked, the rounded grains are firm, creamy, and chewy, due to the higher amylopectin starch content of this rice. It has a starchy taste of its own, yet blends well with other flavors in a variety of risotto recipes.
Besides arborio rice, risotto recipes are crafted from broth, wine, onions/garlic and Parmesan cheese. Slow, steady cooking is the key.
Here are a few of the possible variations of the basic recipe:
- Roasted red pepper risotto
- Mushroom sage risotto
- Bell pepper risotto
- Artichoke and roasted almond risotto
You’ll find the instructions for those recipes and even more at my risotto recipes page on my main Thrown Together Meals website.
Enjoy!
Tags: recipe of the week, risotto recipes
OK… I’m billing this blog as my “Recipe of the Week” blog, but I haven’t been very good at posting a new recipe every week. In fact, this is the first time in January I’ve posted at all. Sigh…
I plan to do better from now on. Problem is, I’m webmaster for several sites and I’ve let the other ones take priority of late. No more. While I get together the next recipe, you might take a look at the cookbook reviews I’ve posted on the site recently:
From the Heart apron
Oh, and have you seen my recipe contest? All you have to do is submit a recipe that fits the theme for the month and you can win a handcrafted apron from SewHappyCreations at Etsy.com. This month’s apron is pictured at the right. There aren’t too many entries yet, so if you submit one, you have a great chance of winning! Submit your recipe here.
Tags: free apron, recipe contest, recipe of the week
Just wanted to wish all my readers a wonderfully happy holiday season. I’ll be on hiatus until January. Hope you have a Happy New Year! Until 2010… happy cooking!
Win an apron like this one!
Sharing recipes is one of the great joys of being a cook. (Unless you’re one of those who doesn’t like to give up your secrets, that is!) So, I thought it would be fun to run a monthly recipe contest on my main Thrown-Together-Meals.com website. Each month we’ll have a different theme and I’ll be giving away prizes, including handcrafted, original aprons, recipe card software, e-cookbooks and more.
To find out about November’s contest, you can visit this page:
November Recipe Contest (think turkey!)
If you don’t want to enter the contest, but would still like the share a recipe or two (or more), you can visit our Share Your Recipe page…
I look forward to seeing your contributions!
Happy cooking,
Kathi
Tags: recipe contest, share recipes, turkey recipes
