oh, no, backlog! earlier this week, i was totally going to upload some of these photos, because i actually cooked things earlier this week! like, during the week! i know! such progress! BUT the night that i finally didnt have broomball, and brought my computer home...i passed out quite promptly after getting in, instead of even opening my computer. and things got busy and busy and busy and its friday night and i havent posted anything. and so i combine two posts into one.
chronologically, i'd like to mention that i cooked kale this week. it was my first time. it was exciting. and delicious. i am a fan of kale. nice and simple, but a tasty green, that one is. yesterday when i was looking through epicurious, i came across a recipe for kale chips...it sounds delicious. i will have to make them the next time i have kale. mmm. kale. much more delicious than swiss chard, which i need to get through this week.
anyway. back to the subject of this post, and the initial photo: this week, i decided to cook up some sausage, to go with some peppers and onions that i made over the weekend. and so we get to the sad truth: i am incompetent at cooking meat. "but jenn, what about that amazing pork dish you made a few weeks back for that dinner party?" you'll say. and "but jenn, how about that taleggio-stuffed, proscuitto-wrapped chicken you baked at that dinner party a while ago?" ...sure, sure, i have occasionally cooked meat quite nicely. for dinner parties. when i am cooking a specific recipe, for a decent amount of people. but cooking meat during the week? for a regular old dinner? with only 1-3 servings of leftovers? oooh i suck at that. i am almost always terrified that i am not cooking meat thoroughly enough. don't know why, i dont think i have ever actually undercooked meat, but i always *worry* that i will.
so i stopped in whole foods the other day, to pick up some sausage. snagged the last sweet italian sausage, as well as a garlic-y one, and decided to cook them up tuesday night. now, i never know the best way to cook sausage. always worried about it being cooked through. but smaller pieces, those should cook faster, right? so if i cut up the sausages with scissors into 1-inch chunks, should cook through nice and fast, right? yeah...doesn't quuuuiiiiite work like that. so then, instead of being worried about cooking through 2 big sausages, you're worried about cooking into the centers of 20 tiny little sausage pieces. which you end up burning/charring in an effort to cook thoroughly. yep.
terrible at cooking meat.
but edible! and nicely balanced with some kale, potatoes, and delicata squash.
I usually take the whole foods sausage, open the lining, and crumble up the sausage meat. I then toss that with some vegetables I've been sautéing - easier to get the meat evenly cooked.
ReplyDeleteI really like throwing all that in a parmesan or mozzarella cream sauce with some pasta. mmmmmmmmmm