Angry® Mustard on Angry® Sausage

Here it is again, time for our Improv Challenge where cooks are assigned a couple unlikely ingredients and asked to come up with a recipe. September’s selected components are Sausage & Mustard.  I decided that I’d also toss in apples and hard cider, since it’s (supposed to be) Fall. My favorite hard drink, any time of year, is Angry Orchard® Crisp Apple.The mustard needed to be made a couple weeks early. It’s flavor is rather “angry” now – there’s quite a bit of kick to it. Next time I’ll not use that much of the mustard powder…The sausage I thought a little dry. So, next time I will skip the turkey and use all pork! To save time, (and because our final dish needed sausage crumbled) we did not stuff the mixture into casings – but I would highly recommend that for boiling then grilling…Our favorite way to eat sausage is to boil them in beer, toss them on the grill, shove them into a soft & chewy hoagie roll, pile them high with grilled peppers & onions, then slather them with some deli mustard!Unfortunately, when life hands members of the family a low-sodium & gluten-free diet, you have to modify that dream dish…

What I visualized was a nice Bob’s Red Mill^® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour dough that I could wrap up some sausage & onion/pepper hand pies… Regrettably, said dough didn’t quite get that visualization and consequently did not cooperate in the desired manner.

I did manage, however, to spread the stupid uncooperative offending @$#%*&^ tacky dough across a sheet of parchment to create a sausage and onion & pepper flat bread. I put down a little mustard before sprinkling on the other ingredients.Oh wow! That turned out better than I’d hoped!And then, of course, served the Angy Mustard along side…

Here are the links to the SAUSAGE & MUSTARD dishes my friends created:

An InLinkz Link-up

Mici with Lemon Pistachio Pilaf

March’s Improv Cooking Challenge ingredients are lamb & rice. I must confess, I’ve never cooked lamb & the only time I ever tasted it was when we ate at Fogo de Chão some time ago… I didn’t even know where to shop for lamb meat in our town!But I did know which recipe I wanted to make. A few years ago our oldest had the opportunity to travel to Romania with a ministry team from our church. Despite the wonderful people he met, the incredible crusade they participated in, the historical sites they visited – what our boy talked about the most was the food he ate there!And the food that impressed him the most was mici. This is a traditional Romanian sausage (pronounced “meech”) that every family or geographical group seems to have a slightly different recipe from their “bunica”. The variables seemed to be types of ground meat(s), spice palate, and “resting” time – non-negotiable items were they 1) had to be grilled over charcoal, 2) must be served with potato fries or wedges,  3) must be served with prepared mustard, and 4) beer must be consumed along with the eating thereof…(Since I don’t “appreciate” beer; hard apple cider was appropriately substituted. )

The lamb meat I found at our favorite Asian/International market, along with various spices. I grabbed a combination from the ones I found in several recipes, then passed them under Zach’s nose to see if they should go in the mix. He approved the ones listed in my recipe.I’ve fixed pilaf in my oven many times; never before have I used my cast-iron skillet. And never again will I prepare it without said skillet! Cooking was a breeze!I figured I’d have a ton of leftovers to serve another meal. I was wrong. Only two fellas at this address had another meal of our lamb & rice.

Check out the links below to see how my fellow Improvers prepared their March ingredients:

An InLinkz Link-up

Cilantro-Lime Black Rice & Southwest Grilled Shrimp

There was quite the dilemma at our table when I told the fellas their choices for the “Orange & Black” Improv Cooking Challenge. They wished to try “all the above”, so we made two meals -- this one, which was slightly Southwesty, & the other one, moderately Mediterranean.
We’d had black rice before, so I knew its color wouldn’t be black black, but I went with it anyhow…
Started out by getting the shrimp a-marinating. OH   MY   WORD! This marinade is awesome & I will most definitely be trying it out on other proteins!

• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 3 T. chipotlé sauce
• 3 T. tequila
• 1 T. coconut oil
• 1 t. crushed red pepper
• ¼ t. Chipotlé Tabasco®
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 6 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 ½ pounds unpeeled, large fresh shrimp

I cooked the rice according to the package directions, and then stirred in the cilantro lime elements which I’d run through the Blendtec. So simple!

• ½ t. pink Himalayan sea salt
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/3 c. fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 cups uncooked black rice
• zest from one lime

Next time I will probably add a bit more cilantro. I went pretty light with it, ‘cause the fellas are not huge fans… You might notice from the picture that my limes are yellow. When they ripened on the tree they turn that color. (Plus, they’re slightly sweet. So, if you’re using store-bought green limes, you might wish to add a little sugar or honey to sweeten the rice a bit.)

I bet you’re curious to see what my fellow Improvians cooked up this month, right? Just follow their links here:

An InLinkz Link-up