Mediterranean Couscous Cabbage Rolls

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Did you know Couscous is basically pasta? However it's twice as good for you as pasta is because it's pure grain and water instead of egg, grain, and water like pasta.

"Like macaroni and spaghetti, couscous is made from semolina flour, but rather than mixing the semolina with a prescribed amount of water and/or egg into a dough, couscous is made by rubbing the semolina between moistened hands until the flour combines with just enough water to form hundreds of tiny grains" Link

Quinoa Kale Bites Appetizer

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One of our favorite things about the holidays is reconnecting with friends. Recently we had a couple of friends over for dinner where we served these appetizer bites. They were a huge hit and are so tasty!
We made them about 2-3 inches in diameter and got about 10-12 bites. We topped them with tzatziki sauce and a fresh tomato salsa on the others. They were the perfect vehicle for the toppings.

Both Quinoa and kale are superfoods and they are packed with nutrients. Our guest gobbled them up.

TGFB Cookie Swap: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite blogs posted a few weeks ago about the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! I absolutely love the idea of getting packages of delicious goodies in the mail (who doesn't?) so I of course joined in on the fun!

We each were supposed to bake 3 dozen of the same cookie and ship one dozen to 3 other bloggers that we were matched with. In return we get three dozen different cookie packages back! It's a win-win!!

I looked through a lot of cookie recipes and decided to do one I've never done before. I also look through the blogs of my matches to check out there style and taste. I settled on a Southern Living cookie recipe and added my own twists.

They really came out great and were perfect for shipping. If you have relatives in far places and you want to bake some love to send to them, this is a keeper! The oatmeal in these wasn't over powering it  was mainly there for a bit of texture and chewiness.

This oatmeal cookie also had no raisins. I not a fan of raisins in my cookies and neither was one of my matches so that worked out great. The chocolate chips instead of raisins was a great swap and was just delicious in this oatmeal cookie!

Pin it, bookmark it, but definitely bake it! They were outstanding!

Cannellini Bean “Meatballs” with Tomato Sauce

We are constantly on the look out for delicious vegetarian cuisine. While both The Other Williams and I love meat, we do try to have 1-3 vegetarian dinners a week. We like our vegetarian meals to make us feel like we're eating meat.

Texture plays a big part in making a good vegetarian dish great. We added mushrooms to the original recipe to give us a little firmer texture. The meatballs are outstanding and the red pepper really makes these balls pop.

Whenever we make meatballs of any kind we make a full batch and freeze the rest. These bean balls were no different. They froze beautifully. You could certainly freeze them with or without the tomato sauce.

Homemade Italian Link Sausage

Recently we tried our hand at sausage making. It was very successful and a lot of fun. We did purchase a meat grinder and stuffer for this process and this is not a complete guide to sausage making. We used this post on Simply Recipes as a guide. It’s very informative and easy to follow.

Some of you might be thinking that we’re crazy but grinding your own meat and making your own sausage has two excellent benefits

1) You save money.
Pork shoulder, which is the meat we chose to use, cost around $1.50 a pound. Already made Italian Sausage was $2.50 a pound. It’s a $1 savings for each pound. We did purchase our pork at Costco and it weighted about 15lbs. You might could even find it cheaper on sale.

2) You get to customize it. 
You have control over how much of each ingredient you add and which ones you want to exclude. We added no artificial crap to ours and no preservatives outside of salt. We did a lot of experimenting this time around with just basic Italian sausage recipes. We had two batches going and added a little of this and a little of that, then we’d cook up a small patty to taste-test it.

We made roughly 5lbs of Hot Italian Sausage and 3lbs of Breakfast Sausage. The rest of the shoulder went into the freezer for another sausage making session later. We did use natural hog casings for the Italian sausage and created links. We also pulled out about a pound for bulk.

We spent a good bit of time on this project but that was because we were doing a lot of testing. I imagine we’ll probably spend a lot less time on the next batch. If it’s your first time making sausage plan at least a good half-day on just this project. We actually had a lot of fun but we’re a little strange like that.

Lessons we learned

1. The colder the meat and equipment are the better the quality stays
2. Sausage has a lot of salt but it’s important to the flavor
3. You will have some left over in the stuffing tube and grinder. Pull it out and set it aside for bulk.
4. Feeding the casings onto the feeding tube is much easier when there is a little sausage poking out of the tube. It softens the edge of the tube.
5. Work in 2-3lb batches unless you have a really giant bowl
6. Heat WILL grow, so careful with the red pepper!
7. It’s much easier with two people

If you’ve never thought about doing this or if you have, I highly recommend it. We had a blast and now have 5lbs of custom made sausage links in our freezer! See our recipe below.

Easy Homemade Focaccia Bread

Focaccia bread is a flat, oven-baked Italian bread that’s topped with herbs, cheese and other ingredients. It’s kind of like pizza crust on steroids and about 100 times better. I’ve posted many-a-bread recipes here on Williams Kitchen but none compare to this one.

Many don’t make their own bread because its time consuming. This bread is a quickie though (in bread-making terms) and most of it is waiting around for the dough to rise. It is also little to no kneading. The Other Williams just loved this bread and could not stay out of it.

This is amazing served hot from the oven with pasta but it can also be frozen, which is what we did. If frozen, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake at a low temp to re-heat it.

You can add just about anything to this bread. We topped ours with tomatoes and olives but you’re only limited by your imagination!

Freezer Friendly: Lasagna Roll-Ups

Do you ever have those days where you just do NOT feel like cooking? Believe it or not, we do too. With a busy life of school and starting a business sometimes cooking for ourselves is just the last thing we want to do. However, eating out a lot recently has started to show its side effects on the scale. So in an effort to stay home to eat more, even when we really don’t feel like cooking, it’s time to stock the freezer. It’s the single best way we know to keep us from just going out and one we’ve been doing for years. {Check out our other Freezer Friendly Recipes}

Having food already prepared is part of our business model for Terra Cuisine. We’ve even turned our business name into a verb at our house. For example, “we’re Terra Cuisining ourselves so we can heat and eat!” We get the same benefits that our clients do!

I recently discovered this wonderful recipe! Its portion control, it’s homemade, and it is really delicious! Why go out when in 30-40 min we could be eating these Lasagna Roll-ups? I made a HUGE batch of these and put them in 3 Pyrex dishes for freezing. When we know we’re not going to feel like cooking we just take these out and either let them thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for an hour. Then just pop it in the oven for a bit, add a salad, and dinner is DONE!

The recipe is so simple to make and doesn’t take too much time. I did cut the cheese back on ours a little and they still tasted so delicious! I also substituted Italian sausage (one link of hot and 1 link of mild) in place of the hamburger that the original recipe called for to add more flavor. I forgot to take a picture of the roll ups with sauce and cheese on the top but I did add that before they went into the freezer. Kids would love these and they would even be great for entertaining with. They are like personal little lasagnas! Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

In the Williams Kitchen we've implemented Hamburger Fridays. Every Friday we try a new and delicious hamburger recipe and it's been a huge hit. It keeps us from eating out and it's really fun food!

These aren't your run of the mill burgers, we're talking gourmet burgers packed with fresh ingredients and flavor.

What's one of the most important elements to a burger? The bun. How about some homemade whole wheat buns? Oh yes you can make them at home for a fraction of the cost you pay at the store! A couple years ago I shared with you a tip on freezing buns so you didn't waste food and money. It also applies here.

So many think that baking bread is this super hard thing to do. I'm here to tell you, it's not. The only thing you need is time and a few simple ingredients. What do you have to lose, try it already!

Fall Pinic - Italian Sausage Soup

 We recently took a picnic to a local apple farm/pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous day and just perfect for this delicious soup. We also brought a BBLT panini, but you'll have to wait for that recipe in a few days.

The soup was so simple to make that I, as in, the non-cook, made it the day before. The morning of our picnic I just took it out of the fridge and reheated it.

The farm was packed but we managed to find a shade tree off by ourselves. We brought out the blankets, pillows, and wine. We breathed in the fresh air, shared a delicious lunch, and just enjoyed each others company. I don't think it could have been more awesome. We watched families hunting for that perfect pumpkin and listened to Ole McDonald way too many times as the hayride passed us.

We made a full batch of this soup and ate it for lunches the following week. It's really so good. I can't wait to make it again! Try it, it's amazing!

Hostess with the Mostest - Italian Rosemary Bread

I'm of the belief that if someone invites me to their home and cooks me dinner, I shouldn't show up empty handed. Hostess gifts are also so much fun if you don't wait till your on your way to the party to think about it. If that does happen, grabbing a bottle of wine is always a nice gesture.

However food makes a great hostess gift and the presentation is my favorite part. Recently, we were invited to a formal dinner party where I gave the hostess this gift.

Two homemade loaves of Italian Rosemary Bread and  a bottle of her favorite type of wine wrapped in argyle socks. Just the wine and socks is a cute gift, I think.

I also made this gift box out of a shoe box and left over burlap from my fabric stash and some ribbon. It turned out beautiful and the hostess loved it.

This bread is delicious with just about anything! Make sure you put it in a plastic baggie if it's not going to be eaten that day. Also after 3-5 days, if you want to make it last a little longer, throw it in the fridge. This bread is also great frozen if you want to eat one loaf and save the other loaves.

Scottish Oat Breakfast Muffins

The Other Williams loves these filling muffins for breakfast. I normally bake them in double batches and we freeze them. They are just PACKED with goodness and the flavor is really delicious.

There are a lot of ingredients in this one but that is what makes them so nutritious! I highly recommend getting your ingredients from the bulk section of your local health food store (like Whole Foods). This way you can get the exact amount you need for the recipe.

They aren't too sweet, which is why The Other Williams loves them and why they make a great breakfast. Hope you'll give these guys a try!

Lasagne Bolognese with Spinach

You know how you can spend all day working on a lasagna and when you put it on the plate it looks like a complete mess? That won't happen with this recipe.

Instead of a sloppy tomato sauce this drier version uses a delicious and super flavorful Bolognese. Bolognese sauce is a meat sauce that is sometimes mistaken as a tomato sauce, but it's really only supposed to have a touch of tomato paste and that's it. The Bolognese is ALL about the meat.

Speaking of meat, you want to buy the best for this sauce. For us, that's grassfed, local beef chuck. The Bolognese is where you're going to get 90% of the flavor for the lasagna and the better the beef the better the whole thing will be.

This is one of those recipes you could spend the whole day making but it also freezes well! It would be perfect for a family gathering or a dinner party as you can do everything the day before and just pop it in the oven before the guests arrive.

We had a lot of fun spending a Sunday afternoon and evening cooking and preparing this together. Our whole house smelt delicious for hours.

Paneer Veggie Curry

Looking for a flavorful but not too spicy Indian recipe? This here is for you then. I'm not a big hot-spicy fan but the other Williams is. What's great about this dish is you can adjust the heat yourself!

So what's Paneer?
Most Indians are vegetarians and their main source of protein comes from dairy products. While perusing our local Indian grocer (you have one too, check out the yellow pages) we ran across paneer in the refrigerator section.

If you're not a fan of tofu but are a fan of cheese, this is your substitute. It's truly delicious and while it does take on some of the flavor in the dish it remains very much cheese-flavored. I would describe it as a milder, solid version of cottage cheese.

The veggies in this dish are also on the sweet side and along with the paneer allow you to kick the heat up a little to enjoy the flavor without burning your face off.

If it's just 2-4 of you, make a full batch and freeze it, or take leftovers for lunch. Feel free to modify the recipe with veggies you like or that are in season. Enjoy!

Turkey & Sweet Leek Pie

 

Over the holiday break we spent a lot of time watching our favorite food network and cooking channel shows. One of those favorites is Jamie at Home. We love just about everything this Brit cooks including this delicious Turkey and Sweet Leek Pie.

We cut the recipe in half, then after making the filling we split it again in half. One half of the filling we froze for another dinner and cooked the other half and topped it with the puff pastry. When we want this yummy supper again we'll just pull out the half of filling we froze and top it with the pastry and bake.

The flavor of this meal is really unbelievable. You could easily cut out the turkey for a vegetarian dish or substitute mushrooms, chicken, pork or beef for the turkey. We added mushrooms to the recipe because we had some on hand and need to use them before they went bad. It worked beautifully.

Leeks are also a great winter vegetable. I'm not a big onion person but once sauteed up with the bacon these mild onions turn into sweet deliciousness! This is a great seasonal meal!

The BEST Tomato sauce EVER!

This is Mario Batali's Basic Tomato sauce and it's by far THE best sauce ever. We make this in large batches and freeze it in smaller portions. Whenever we need a quick meal we grab some pasta, a veggie, and this sauce. Dinner in less than 15 minutes.

There are some important things to note about this recipe though. First buy the best canned tomatoes you can get a hold of. We use the Cento with great success. We've also used our own canned tomatoes. This is the base of the sauce and the better the tomatoes the better the sauce, don't skimp here.

Also use the fresh thyme. For the longest time we just used dried but recently tried it with the fresh. HUGE difference in flavor. We also keep the rinds from our parmesan cheese and toss it in for more flavor, but this isn't necessary.

* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 Spanish onion, 1/4-inch dice
* 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
* 1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
* 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
* Salt
* Grated Parmesan, (optional)

Directions

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

Pasta e Fagioli with Sausage

We have another Pasta Fagioli on our blog but this one takes the prize, in my opinion. The taste and texture of this one was just outstanding. I really enjoyed the tiny pasta in this, but The Other Williams preferred larger pasta for next time. And the sausage really added a new element to the dish. Very good!

We made a full batch and froze the rest for another quick dinner and I'm certain it will turn our just as wonderful from the freezer. Making your own broth for things like this, really does make all the difference in the world in the taste category. I think this would also be kid friendly if they like beans. Cheap and easy to make, this was a great tasting meal!


Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1 pound mild Italian sausages
3. 1 carrot, chopped fine
4. 1 onion, chopped fine
5. 1 rib celery, chopped fine
6. 4 cloves garlic, minced
7. 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
8. 6 cups drained and rinsed canned kidney beans (three 19-ounce cans)
9. 2 3/4 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
10. 1 bay leaf
11. 1 teaspoon salt
12. 1/2 cup tubetti or other small macaroni
13. 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove. When cool enough to handle, halve the sausages lengthwise and then cut crosswise into slices.
   
   
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pot over moderately low heat. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.
   
   
3. Puree 4 cups of the beans with 1 1/4 cups of the broth in a blender or food processor. Add the puree to the pot along with the remaining 1 1/2 cups broth, the whole beans, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.
   
   
4. Stir in the pasta. Cook the soup over moderate heat, partially covered, stirring frequently, until the pasta is done, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the sausage and the pepper. Cook until the sausage is warmed through, about 1 minute.

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Bruschetta Topping

In the past, we've bought bruschetta topping from the store and it's always amazing. We fell in love with bruschetta at a local restaurant when some friends ordered it as an appetizer to share. After having some really good toppings we decided it was time to whip up some of our own and we were surprised with how yummy it turned out! It didn't really compare to the restaurant's but it gave the store bought a BIG run for it's money. Paired with an anti-pasta tray and this was one beautiful Italian-style meal!

Wine Suggestion:
Cabernet Franc





Our topping was made up of home-canned tomatoes, anchovy paste, artichoke hearts, Italian seasoning, fresh basil, and some garlic. We warmed everything up in a pot on med heat then topped our toast with the topping, cheese, and basil. Just delicious!

We also froze the leftover in small canning jars and it was great thawed from the freezer and made a quick, delicious weekend lunch/dinner.

Freezer Stuffing - Mama's Beef Vegetable

This past weekend we did some major stuffing of our freezer. We made both lunches and dinners for future grab-n-go use and stocked our stand up freezer heavily with the goodies. We did the Adult Beanie-weanies, Minestrone & Beef Vegetable Soups (see recipe below), and Chili. I also made some trail mix that is super yummy for some healthy snacking! These were low cost meals that were easy to make in big batches and freeze well.

Having homemade grab-n-go lunches and dinners will allow us to eat more at home even when we're too busy to cook.

I've been eating this Beef Vegetable soup recipe all my life. My mother got the recipe from my Nannie and although it uses a lot of canned vegetables instead of fresh, for me you can't substitute the canned. It just doesn't have the flavor. My mom and grandmother would cook this soup for a minimum of 3 hours but I've had success condensing it down to 1.5 hours before. I would go any less than that.

This is also fabulous reheated. I remember coming home from school, pulling out the big pot with leftovers in it and heating up a small bowl in the microwave for a snack. This is great for lunches the next day or week.

This soup is very forgiving. You can't mess it up and you can use just about anything in it but I stick to my tried and true ingredients. I've also added my own touches to the soup, just as my mother did when she got the recipe from my Nannie. With each generation it gets better.

This is the kind of soup you want to take your time with. Open the windows on a fall afternoon, sit down with a good book, and pour all your love into the pot while the wonderful aromas fill your house. Patience is important for this one, it's not a quick fix. This soup will fill your tummy with warmth and love.

If I'm making a double batch I'll make it in two pots so as not to mess with the flavor too much. Great for freezing or on a cold day with some warm cornbread-everyone will love this one.


Mama's Beef Vegetable Soup

Servings: 6-8

1 lb Ground Beef
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
2 large cans of Stewed Tomatoes (Or 2 Quarts of home-canned tomatoes)
1 can Succotash (between canned veggies and tomatoes at the store)
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 can Veg-all (don't get the low or no sodium)
1 small can of whole corn kernels
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 cup Elbow Mac noodles
Kosher Salt, to taste

Add beef & seasonings to a large soup pot and cook until browned. Drain grease.
Add tomatoes, succotash, and tomato paste. Then fill tomato can twice with water and add. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes to and hour.
Add Veg-all and simmer 30 minutes to an hour. Add water if needed.
Add potato and corn and simmer 30 more minutes
Taste broth and season with salt, pepper, or other seasonings as you see fit.
Add Mac and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot with cornbread or cool and freeze.

Enjoy this tummy warming meal made with love.

Note: We have tried canning this soup and the noodles didn't hold up to well. If you want to can this soup leave out the noodles and follow canning instruction for tomato based soups.

Canning and Homemade Chicken Broth

We had a great labor day weekend. We spent most of the time around the house canning but we did make it up to NC to visit two wineries and picnic. Which was a lot of fun. Both were right outside of Charlotte, so not too far of a drive. We visited Owl's Eye and Baker Buffalo Creek vineyards.

We also went up to the Asheville Farmers market to pick up some yummy local produce to can for winter. We canned:

Green Beans

Froze our favorite, Silver Queen, corn. We have only been able to find this corn at the Asheville Farmers market. It's so good and super sweet and crisp.

Canned some homemade Dill Pickles! This was a first for me and was my project. I found a great recipe online. I have to wait 8 long weeks before I can open them and try them though. Hope they turn out good!

Lots of canned tomatoes

The Other Williams tries to make most of our chicken broth. We buy most of our chicken on the bone or as a whole chicken. The Other Williams does the butchering and she freezes the leftover chicken bones. She also has a veggie scraps bag in the freezer so when we have some scraps she tosses them into the freezer bag.

When she thinks she has enough to make a big batch of broth she throws everything into a big pot, covers it with water and boils it for an hour or better. Then she puts the finished broth into mason jars and they go into the freezer. There is no beating the taste of her homemade, made with love, chicken broth!