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.

Pumpkin Waffles

I made these waffles for breakfast this morning and David is proclaiming them to be his favorite waffles now. I think they're pretty incredible too. I followed a recipe on Epicurious with a few changes. In fact, as I typed in this recipe with my changes, I realized that I used almost twice as much pumpkin as the original recipe specified. I really liked them this way. I might try them with less pumpkin for comparison, but these were so creamy and pumpkiny on the inside. So, sometimes mistakes work out really well.

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoons nutmeg

4 large eggs, separated

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup whole milk

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in the butter. Whisk in the brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the pumpkin. Gradually whisk in the milk and buttermilk.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.  Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter.

Cook in a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

Cajun Mac and Cheese

This is so easy and delicious. The most time-consuming part is chopping the scallions and peppers, but it's worth a bit of chopping. We love this. My version of this recipe is based on one from Food Network Magazine.

12 ounces wagon-wheel pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

7-8 ounces uncured, cooked ham, cut into small cubes

2 bunches scallions, white and lighter green parts only, sliced

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cajun spice blend

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk

8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Stir in the scallions and peppers and cook until vegetables are slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the cajun seasoning and flour, stirring for 2 more minutes. Gradually stir in the milk and continue to stir until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes more.

Add the pasta, cheese, and about 3/4 cup of the cooking water to the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, tossing to coat the pasta in the sauce and melt the cheese, about a minute or two.

Makes about 4 large servings.

Roasted Pineapple

A little over a month ago I decided that I was a little out of control in my ice cream consumption. So, I've been looking to fruit-based desserts to satisfy my sweet tooth. This is sufficiently sweet and makes me feel just a little fancy as I eat it. It's based on this recipe from bon appetit.

1 medium ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges and slices

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons honey

coarsely chopped pistachios

mascarpone cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the pineapple on the baking sheet. Roast on a lower rack in the oven for 10 minutes. Turn over the pineapple and roast again on the bottom rack of the oven for 12 minutes.

Whisk together the brown sugar, orange juice, and honey. Divide the pineapple among four plates. Pour sauce over the pineapple and sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the pineapple. Add a spoonful of mascarpone cheese and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Swedish Meatballs

It's possible that I might be addicted to these meatballs. I rarely go back for more meat during a meal, but when I make these, I keep going back for more.

About seven or eight months ago I made the switch to grass-fed, free-range beef and free-range, all-natural chicken. I think both taste better than supermarket meats. They are more costly too, but I think it's worth it.

Back to the swedish meatballs... I didn't make huge changes to this recipe that I found in Food Network Magazine. The first change was in the meat. I wanted to try these, but I didn't have ground pork and I only had a 1-pound pack of ground beef, so that's all I used. Since we enjoyed them so much, I decided that this was how I would always make them. I also just use a whole small onion instead of trying to measure it. It's more than 1/3 cup and that's ok. Another change is in the amount of cream in the sauce. I accidentally measured out 1/3 cup of cream instead of the specified 1/4. So, I've stuck with my mistake. My final change is not refrigerating the meatballs before cooking them. It might be better to do it, but it's a lot faster to not bother.

Meatballs

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 pound lean grass-fed, free-range beef

1 egg and 1 egg white, beaten

Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef stock

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup heavy cream

fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, allspice, salt, and about 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the milk and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Pour the milk mixture over the breadcrumbs and stir to make a thick paste. Let cool slightly. Add the beef , egg, and egg white and mix until combined. (I generally just use my hands.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll the meat mixture into approximately 1-inch balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the meatballs until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, whisking, until smooth. Whisk in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Add the cream and meatballs. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with minced parsley (optional).

Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I really like brussels sprouts, but David doesn't like them that much. I got all excited when I saw really nice brussels sprouts at Trader Joe's last week. They were on the stalk and looked beautiful. They had a recipe attached to them for a more complicated roasting which involved maple syrup. So I took the idea of using maple syrup and came up with this quick and easy way to roast them. And, perhaps those that aren't crazy about brussels sprouts might enjoy them too!

1 - 1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed and quartered lengthwise

coarsely ground sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper over the brussels sprouts. Whisk the maple syrup and olive oil together and drizzle it over the sprouts. Gently toss the sprouts so they are evenly coated. Roast for 20-25 minutes until sprouts are tender and slightly caramelized. Makes about 4 servings.