Sourdough and Provolone and Sausage...OH MY!

A friend's mom posted a link to this recipe on Facebook recently and I couldn't help trying it out on some friends today. I think it got a couple of thumbs up, but not sure due to them stuffing their faces.

Super easy and super editable. Any combination of ingredients can be used - whatever your taste. Experiment and let me know your results! It's great for an appetizer or snack. Not waist friendly, but definitely tastebud friendly!!

Sauteeing mushrooms and thyme

 

Sourdough bread before

 

Sourdough bread sliced

 

Final Results!!

Pull Apart Bread

Prep Time: 25 minutes          Cook Time: 25 minutes          Serves: 6-8

1 package Jimmy Dean Sausage
12 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread
12 ounces provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup finely diced green onion

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook sausage in skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
3. Cook mushrooms with 1 tsp butter in same pan as sausage until tender, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and cook another 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
4. Slice sourdough lengthwise and then widthwise, approx in 1 inch apart. DO NOT slice to bottom of loaf.
5. Place bread on foil lined baking sheet. Place cheese, sausage and mushroom mixture in between the slices. You can push ingredients towards bottom of loaf.
6. Combine melted butter and onions and then drizzle over top of loaf.
7. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and then bake for additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Almost Totally Homemade Apple Pie

Easter weekend was a fun-filled event with friends and family. Derek and I went to Ashe on Friday and Saturday to be with his family and then spent Easter Sunday with my parents. My mom made the traditional ham, roast potatoes and green beans, but we went casual on Saturday and I made two different types of chili and my very first attempts at apple pie.

I started using a recipe from Allrecipes.com and then modified to become the finished product below; the only change I would make from my original recipe is larger slices of apple. The original endeavor called for thinly sliced apples, which layered really well, but didn't seem to give the pie enough substance when I tasted. Let me know what you think if you try it out!

Hints:

• Prepare lattice ahead of starting recipe and refridgerate.
• Place foil or baking sheet on bottom of oven to catch spills.
• Use glass-style pie dish.
• Tent pie with foil if needed to cook longer so as not to burn top.

Not too shabby for my first attempt!

Almost Totally Homemade Apple Pie

Prep Time: 30 minutes       Cook Time: 60-75 minutes       Serves: 8       WW Points: 17         

Ingredients:

1 9 inch double crust pie dough
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp each - cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves, nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 egg white

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place one layer of dough into 9-inch glass pie dish.
3. Brush bottom of crust with egg white to keep from getting soggy. Refridgerate.
4. Prepare a lattice design with second layer of dough for top of pie. Refridgerate.
5. Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour and cornstarch to form a paste.
6. Add water, white and brown sugar, spices and vanilla. Bring to a boil. Reduce temperature. Should become a syrup.
7. Move rapidly through next steps as syrup will stiffen quickly. 
8. Reserve a couple of tablespoons of the syrup for topping - keep warm.
9. Mix apples into larger amount of syrup. Place in bottom of dough. Mound slighty. Cover with lattice-styled dough.
10. Pour reserved syrup over top crust slowly so there is no run off.
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-75 minutes until apples are soft.

Cool and Spicy Dip

Easiest dip you will ever make. I love to use it when I need to eat my carrots or other vegetables. Great with chips or crackers. I recently tried it on a baked potato. You can adjust the heat according to what you like, but be forewarned that the heat builds with every bite. So if you don't like a lot of spiciness then start with adding half the amount of picante listed in the recipe and add from there. You can also change the picante sauce to one you prefer. Tapatio can be located in the international aisle of your supermarket.

Finished product.

Cool and Spicy Dip

Prep Time: 5 minutes          Cook Time: 0 minutes          Serves: 4          WW Points: 1

Ingredients:

8 tbsp light sour cream

2 tbsp Tapatio Salsa Picante Hot Sauce

Directions:

1. Combine sour cream and picante sauce in a bowl until incorporated.

2. Chill.

3. Enjoy and laugh at how easy it is to make.

Sirloin Steak with Baked Potato and Buffalo-Style Green Beans

I have had a hankering for some real red meat for awhile. Not sure if my body is telling me I need iron or what but I offered to make dinner for Derek tonight. Decided on pan-broiled sirloin with mushrooms, a baked potato topped with my favorite Cool & Spicy Dip and a side of Buffalo-Style green beans.

The green bean recipe is actually a Weight Watchers recipe (2 pts per serving) and had a little bit of a kick to it. Baked potato was not actually baked but cooked in the microwave for 15 minutes (for two potatoes, 7-8 minutes for one).

The steak is sirloin that I placed in a oil-heated (2 tbsp) cast-iron pan and seared for apporx 5 minutes per side on medium to med-high heat and then placed in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes, flipping once. Then I sauteed the `shrooms in the pan while the meat rested.

Below is the recipe for the green beans.You can make the day ahead and warm to room temperature before serving to maximize the flavor.






Diced plum tomatoes



Everyone in the pot!



Dressing for the beans

Now there is a pretty sight!



The finished dish!



Buffalo-Style Green Beans

Prep Time: 15 minutes          Cook Time: 10 minutes          Serves: 4          WW Points: 2

Ingredients:

4 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp hot pepper sauce

2 medium fresh tomatoes, plum, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 pound uncooked green beans, trimmed and cooked until crisp-tender

1 tbsp basil, chopped

1/8 tsp black pepper - or to taste

1/8 tsp table salt - or to taste

Directions:

1. Whisk together oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and pepper sauce in a large bowl.

2. Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat. Chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.