Fusilli with Leeks and Hot Italian Sausage

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground to a powder

salt and freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup dry wine wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 pound hot italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled

splash of sherry vinegar

1 pound fusilli

1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley

1 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the leeks, ground fennel seed, and salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon salt). Saute until the leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock, cove, and cook 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, warm the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy frying pan over medium high heat. Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon. Cook until well browned, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour off most of the fat and add a splash of sherry vinegar.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of the cooking water.

Add the sausage to the saute pan with the leeks and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the pasta and about 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water. Add additional cooking water if it seems dry. Adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a large shallow bowl. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, the parsley, and romano cheese and stir to combine.

Makes about 6 servings.

Bran Flax Muffins

One day in the grocery store I happened to pick up a bag of Bob's Red Mill flaxseed meal, looked at the bag and saw two things that interested me. 1) A delicious looking recipe for Bran Flax Muffins. 2) That you can use flaxseed meal combined with water as an egg substitute. I eat eggs and so does my whole family, but there are others that can't eat eggs, so I'm going to experiment with another recipe to see if I can eliminate the eggs.

Anyway, back to the muffins. I barely changed anything from the recipe on the back of the bag. I reduced the amount of sugar, added a little more cinnamon, and reduced the amount of nuts.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill flaxseed meal

3/4 cup oat bran

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 3-4)

2 macintosh apples, peeled, cored and shredded

1/2 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, flaxseed meal, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the carrots, apples, raisins, and pecans. In another bowl whisk the eggs and brown sugar until sugar dissolves. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Divide evenly into 18 greased muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Optional: I don't give Adeline (my one year old) raisins or nuts yet, so I mix everything together but the raisins and nuts. I fill three muffin cups with the non-raisin and non-nut batter, then I stir in the raisins and nuts and fill the rest of the muffin cups.