June 12, 2010

Meet Michelle, our guest chef!

She and Natalie fixed Rachael Ray's Sausage Calzones for us recently. A great thing for two teenagers to try, don't you think?
And we were impressed! As is customary for this blog, there were glitches. I bought the wrong kind of sausage (think large links instead of bulk Jimmy Dean), so it took the girls a long time to chop and brown it. But the rest went swimmingly. However, they recommend baking the calzones for more than the specified 15 minutes. We all liked the three cheeses and the fresh parsley. Well done, Natalie and Michelle! Here's the recipe:

Sausage Calzones
1&1/3 lbs Italian bulk sweet sausage
a drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
2 c. ricotta cheese
handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
handful grated Parmiagiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 t. nutmeg, freshly grated or a couple pinches ground
few grinds freshly ground black pepper
2 T. chopped pimiento (didn't use this, couldn't find it at store)
2 tubes prepared, refrigerated pizza dough (10oz each)
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 c. marinara sauce, warmed, for dipping
Preheat oven to 425. Brown sausage in a small skillet in a drizzle of olive oil. Transfer crumbles to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Combine sausage with ricotta, parsley, garlic, parmiagiano, nutmeg, pepper, and pimiento. Roll both tubes of pizza dough out on 2 separate nonstick cookie sheets and cut each dough in half across. Spread 1/2 cup mozzarella and up to 1/4 of filling on each rectangle. Work on just half of the surface of each rectangle of dough, then fold dough over top of filling and pinch edges firmly to seal. For a half-moon "pizza parlor" look to your calzones, mound filling into a half-moon shape, fold dough over top, and trim edges following the rounded shape, then seal by pinching with fingers. If your dough tears, remove a little of your filling and repair. Repeat process, spacing calzones evenly on baking sheet, and bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dunking.

5 stars - YUM!!



For dessert, they made Orange Sherbet Freezes. The girls found that 2 1/4 cups soda made three glasses of the drink. They also used a lot more ice cream than the recipe called for, and 3-4 ice cubes per glass. It wasn't bad, but no one in the family was overwhelmed with it. Dad put it in the freezer and liked it a lot more when it was frozen. Hmmm.

3.5 stars (Michelle, you can come cook with us anytime!)



So, last night, we needed a vegetable to go with our Monte Cristo sandwiches. So, we pulled out Rachael's recipe for Corn on the Cob with Chili and Lime. Doesn't it look pretty? It was a very easy recipe. The verdict was mixed. All agreed that it needed more lime flavor.

4 stars



Happy Cooking!