Monday, April 28, 2014

Venison Goetta

Before I married my husband, I had never heard of goetta let alone eat it.  But, in his family, you were not an Emmich if you didn't eat goetta.  I quickly learned that it was pretty good (even though the name didn't really sound too interesting!!).

Twenty-three years later, I stumbled upon a recipe in Cook's Country magazine for homemade goetta!!  How exciting is this!!!  And you know how I love to make anything homemade!!  A new adventure was born.  I had most of the ingredients except for a few of the spices which involved a run to the grocery store.  I did have some venison sausage so I thought I would substitute that in place of the pork sausage just to make it a bit more "countrified" (is there such a word??).  Anywhere, here is the recipe and I will note with *** where I made my substitutions.

Homemade Goetta by Cook's Country Magazine


Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
1 teaspoon ground fennel
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 pound bulk breakfast sausage *** (I used 1 pound venison sausage)
1 3/4 cups quick-cooking steel-cut oats
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra as needed

Instructions

Grease 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch bread pan with PAM or vegetable oil.
Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until lightly browned.
Stir in sage, fennel, and allspice and cook very briefly for about 30 seconds.
Add 4¼ cups water and sausage and mash with potato masher until water and sausage are fully combined.

Bring to boil and stir in oats. 

Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

Uncover,stirring frequently until the mixture is very thick for about 15 to 18 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to prepared pan. Smooth top and tap firmly on counter. Let cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled and firm, at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

Run thin knife around edges of goetta, then briefly set bottom of pan in hot water to loosen goetta from pan. Turn out goetta onto cutting board.

Cut desired number of 1/2-inch-thick slices from loaf. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add up to 4 slices of goetta and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes per side.

Transfer to wire rack and let drain. Repeat as needed. Serve. (Wrap any remaining goetta in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or slice, wrap, and freeze for up to 1 month. To cook from frozen, reduce heat to medium-low and increase cooking time to 7 to 9 minutes per side.)


Homemade Goetta by Cook's Country Magazine

Ingredients

tablespoon unsalted butter
onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
teaspoon ground fennel
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
pound bulk breakfast sausage *** (I used 1 pound venison sausage)
1 3/4 cups quick-cooking steel-cut oats
Salt and pepper
tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra as needed

Instructions

Grease 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch bread pan with PAM or vegetable oil.  
Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until lightly browned. Stir in sage, fennel, and allspice and cook very briefly for about 30 seconds. 
Add 4¼ cups water and sausage and mash with potato masher until water and sausage are fully combined. Bring to boil and stir in oats. 
Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

Uncover,stirring frequently until the mixture is very thick for about 15 to 18 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to prepared pan. Smooth top and tap firmly on counter. Let cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until fully chilled and firm, at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.

 Run thin knife around edges of goetta, then briefly set bottom of pan in hot water to loosen goetta from pan. Turn out goetta onto cutting board. Cut desired number of 1/2-inch-thick slices from loaf. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add up to 4 slices of goetta and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to wire rack and let drain. Repeat as needed. Serve. (Wrap any remaining goetta in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or slice, wrap, and freeze for up to 1 month. To cook from frozen, reduce heat to medium-low and increase cooking time to 7 to 9 minutes per side.)

Verdict:

It was good but I think next time I will use mild pork sausage.  The venison sausage was highly seasoned and that did not mix well with the seasoning that I added.  I do think this is a great recipe and does need just a tad bit of tweeking.  

Friday, April 25, 2014

Goat Cheese and Asparagus Pizza Revisited!

FINALLY, Spring has come back -YEAH!!  And last night I went out and picked my first harvest of fresh asparagus from my garden.

It wasn't a lot but enough to make my goat cheese and asparagus pizza again.  And won't you know it . . . I just a fresh batch of goat cheese yesterday!!

You can use your favorite pizza dough recipe or my personal favorite . . .
Garlic Pizza Dough

Though I omitted the garlic in the dough for this pizza.  Normally I make my own pizza sauce but it was late, so I opened up a jar of marinara sauce (I know . . . I cheated!!).

I cut the asparagus into 1 inches pieces and steamed them for about 5 to 10 minutes so they would be tender.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and I placed a baking stone in the middle rack.

I rolled out the dough onto a floured pizza board.  Spread the sauce and sprinkle the goat cheese over the sauce.  Add the asparagus.  I chopped up some ham but you can use whatever other topping you want.

Doesn't that look pretty!!

Bake for 20 minutes.

It was gone in 15 minutes!!!

So easy to make.  The hardest part is the dough and that only takes 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Pineapple Super-Pie

No, this is not a pie made by Superman's Mom - LOL!!  I found this recipe in a book I bought several months ago called Gudren's Kitchen and just had a chance to really browse through it.  The title of this pie caught my eye "super-pie" hmmm!  Sounds interesting.  And, yes, it did involve a run to the grocery store to buy cream cheese, pineapple tidbits and a graham cracker crust (I wasn't in the mood for making one myself today!)

This is really a very simple pie to make.  Only one problem . . . you have to let it chill in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours before you eat it - WHAT!!!!  Oh well, I hope it is worth it!

Pineapple Super-Pie

Ingredients

2 packages of 8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Graham Cracker Crust
2 cans of 20 1/2 ounces of pineapple tidbits ***I only used one can, I don't see how you could use both
1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.  Mix using an electric mixer at medium speed.

Pour into the pie crust.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the filling bounces back if touched with fingertips.  Place on a rack to cool.


While the pie is baking, drain the pineapple, reserving 1/2 cup of pineapple juice.  Heat the juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir in the gelatin until dissolved.  Remove pan from heat and let the pineapple juice cool.

Lay the pineapple tidbits over the cooled pie.  Cover with the gelatin glaze.  Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours.

Entire Recipe:
Ingredients
2 packages of 8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Graham Cracker Crust
2 cans of 20 1/2 ounces of pineapple tidbits ***I only used one can, I don't see how you could use both
1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.  Mix using an electric mixer at medium speed.

Pour into the pie crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the filling bounces back if touched with fingertips.  Place on a rack to cool.

While the pie is baking, drain the pineapple, reserving 1/2 cup of pineapple juice.  Heat the juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir in the gelatin until dissolved.  Remove pan from heat and let the pineapple juice cool.

Lay the pineapple tidbits over the cooled pie.  Cover with the gelatin glaze.  Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours.

Verdict:


I decided to try a piece of the pie tonight before going to bed.  I know I was supposed to wait 4 to 5 hours but I didn't!!  Anyway, it was good, really good.  I am putting a piece in my husband's lunch for tomorrow, so I will let you know what he thinks of it.  This is definitely a keeper recipe!!

UPDATE:

My husband loved the pie!  Yep, we have a winner here!!  Definitely will be making this again!!  I even snuck a small piece this morning.  LOL!!