Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

Sean found this recipe from Food & Wine, and while last year's Thanksgiving stuffing was delicious, we decided to change it up this year with a cornbread recipe.  With the unique addition of roasted poblano peppers, this seemed like a perfect one to try.  We made the cornbread a couple days ahead of time to cut down on the Thanksgiving day preparations.  The flavor of the stuffing was so delicious- a little sweet from the cornbread, and extra savory from the country sausage and vegetable combination.  It was a big hit! 

Ingredients:

• corn bread (made in one 13x9 sized baking dish) We used the recommended country corn bread recipe, but you could also do a box mix. 
• 4 medium poblano chiles
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium celery ribs, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 pound coarsely ground country sausage meat or breakfast sausage without casings
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano, crumbled
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup turkey or chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth

Directions:
Break the corn bread into 1-inch pieces and spread on a baking sheet.  Let it dry out for 4 hours (or longer).  We put ours in a barely warm oven for 30 minutes or so to help it dry out faster.  

Heat the broiler and place the poblanos on a foil covered baking sheet.  Roast them until the skin is charred and bubbly on both sides, flipping as needed.  Remove from the oven and fold up the sides of the foil creating a pouch around the peppers.  This will help sweat the skins off so they'll be easier to remove.  After 15-20 minutes, peel the skins off and remove the seeds.  Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter until foaming. Add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. 

Add the sausage, breaking it up, and cook until no pink remains.

Stir in the oregano, salt, pepper and poblanos, and finally mix in the corn bread.  Stir in the turkey/chicken stock.

Spread the stuffing in a large buttered casserole dish.  Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer until the top is a golden-brown.  You can also make this ahead of time and refrigerate for 1-2 days before baking.  This was so flavorful and delicous with our Thanksgiving dinner.  The leftovers also made a great savory breakfast!

Pasta Verde

I found this recipe on Serious Eats and marked it as a favorite right away for it's uniqueness.   Roasted poblano peppers (which I love) made into a pasta sauce?  Yum!  I finally got around to making it this past week and it was super tasty and a nice twist to your usual tomato or cream based pasta sauces.  I doubled their recipe and made a couple very slight changes.  This is a great vegetarian option and you could easily serve it with chicken to add some protein.

                                                 Ingredients:

• 4 large poblano chiles
• 1/4 cup cilantro, leaves only
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons salt, divided
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup Mexican crema, or heavy cream
• 4 ounces crumbled Cotija cheese 
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Sriracha (optional)  

Directions:

Cover a large baking sheet with foil.  Slice the poblanos in half, and remove the seeds and core.  Place face down on the baking sheet.  Turn on your broiler, and place the peppers in the oven until the skins are blistered.  Rotate the pan as needed to make sure they are getting even coverage.  

Remove from the oven and place them in a bag or covered bowl to steam for 5-10 minutes.  When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skins.  

In a blender, combine the roasted poblanos, onion, garlic, cilantro, and chicken broth.  Blend until smooth.  

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water with 5 teaspoons salt to a boil.  We used these little twisty noodles because they really hold the sauce well, but any pasta would be fine.  Cook the pasta as directed and drain in a colander when al dente.

To finish the sauce- heat the butter in a medium sauce pan.  Add the sauce with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn off the heat and stir in the crema.  

Mix the sauce in with the pasta, and serve with cotija cheese, sriracha (or hot sauce), and a squeeze of fresh lime juice for each bowl.  

The flavor of the charred peppers is amazing, and the crema lightens it up a bit.  It isn't really spicy on it's own so the sriracha adds some nice heat to the dish.  The lime juice brings it all together so don't leave it out! 

 

Chorizo and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

This recipe is relatively healthy and it's full of flavor from the chorizo.  If you aren't familiar with quinoa, it is an edible seed that is similar to a grain and fluffs up like rice when cooked.  It has a slightly nutty flavor and it is full of essential amino acids, calcium, phosphorus, protein and iron which makes it pretty much super food.  It can be a little bland if eaten completely plain, but mixed with the right seasonings, quinoa is a really tasty substitute for rice or cous cous.  It goes great mixed in with spicy chorizo for this stuffed pepper recipe.

Ingredients:

4 large poblano peppers, halved and seeded. (use green bell peppers if you can't find poblanos) 

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken broth

1 lb ground spicy chorizo

1 T olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 t smoked paprika (use only if you bought chorizo instead of using my recipe)

1/4 t cayenne pepper (optional)

1 1/2 cups cheese (Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, or combination)

Sour cream and fresh lime juice for garnish

Directions: 

Cook the quinoa: bring the chicken broth with a few dashes of salt to a boil, add the quinoa, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes and all water is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork and set to the side until ready to use. 

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and saute the chorizo until it is browned all over, breaking it up into little bits as it cooks.  Season with salt and pepper.  If you didn't use my chorizo recipe, this is where you can add the smoked paprika.  Taste the meat and see if you want it to be spicier - if so add some cayenne pepper.  Scoop the chorizo out with a slotted spoon and set to the side in a bowl.

 

If there is more than about 2 T of fat left in the pan, remove some of it until there is only 2 T remaining.  With the pan over medium heat, add the onion and saute for about 10 minutes or until soft and translucent.  Season with salt and pepper while cooking.   I had some pieces of poblano left over that I chopped up and added in with the onion.  Add the garlic and cook for two minutes longer.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a bowl, combine the quinoa, chorizo, and onion mixture and mix.  Add the can of diced tomotoes and 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir to combine well.  You can taste the filling here to make sure it has enough salt, spice, etc. for your taste.   

Lay your peppers out on a foil covered baking sheet.  Scoop the filling into the peppers (as much as you can fit without it spilling).  My peppers were pretty shallow so I ended up with some leftover filling, which tastes great on its own for leftovers.  Top the peppers with cheese, and bake for 40 minutes.  For the last two minutes, put the oven on broil and watch closely until the cheese is bubbly and golden.  

Remove and serve with sour cream and lime juice.  I mixed together 1 cup of sour cream with the juice of one lime for our topping.