Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta

I got a (premature) jump on the fall with this recipe, earmarked a while ago in the old Rachael Ray cookbook (which actually only required me to buy the sausage and Parm):

Recipe

1 lb pasta (e.g., penne, rigatoni, rotini)
1 lb Italian sausage (bulk, or removed from casing)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4-6 sage leaves, slivered
1 cup dry white wine
1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
sprinkle of cinnamon & nutmeg/allspice
Parmesan cheese
olive oil, salt, pepper

Heat some olive oil in a deep pot or skillet over medium and brown the sausage.  Remove, add a little more oil, and saute the onion and garlic.  Add the wine, bay leaf, and sage; reduce the wine for a few minutes.  Next in goes the broth and pumpkin, stir together, and bring to a bubble.  Return the sausage, reduce heat, and add cream.  Season with a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and simmer five minutes.

Meanwhile, somewhere in there, start cooking the pasta.  Once everything's done, pour the sauce over the pasta and let mingle for a few minutes over low heat.  Serve with Parmesan.

Notes

First of all, Rachael recommends sweet sausage, but I got spicy because I like to live on the edge.  It was strong but delicious.  Also, I reverse-substituted allspice for cinnamon and nutmeg.

I was a little skeptical looking at everything, but it turned out delicious.  The sauce didn't really thicken, but it still worked perfectly in a nice deep bowl of pasta.  With a generous sprinkle of cheese, it's a bowl of gooey delight:

"Firecracker" Chicken

I'm not sure if there's a more official/ethnic name for this dish.  The literal description would probably have something to do with little spicy chicken dumplings.  Anyway, I thought it was worth a try, something a little different.  Sure, there's not really much wrong with just sauteed chicken with no cornstarch/flour and egg coating, but all I actually had to buy was the chicken.

The Recipe

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup cornstarch (possible substitution: flour)
2 eggs, beaten

for sauce
1/3 cup hot sauce
1 cup brown sugar (!)
1 tbsp water
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
sprinkle of salt

rice (optional)

Cut the chicken into 1" pieces.  Season with salt and pepper, toss in a plastic bag with the cornstarch/flour, and dip in the egg.  Cook a couple minutes per side in a well-oiled skillet to brown.  Then put in a layer in a baking dish.  Mix the sauce together and pour over the chicken.  Cook for an hour at 325 degrees, stirring up halfway through to re-coat.

Notes

Due to technical difficulties (i.e., dropped my phone), no picture.  Mine wasn't as gorgeously orange as the original website because of my Chipotle Tabasco sauce, but still pretty good, a distinctive way to do chicken.  A little messy...

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Tenders & Zucchini Chips

Double duty here.  I wanted to try the entree (who wouldn't?), and thought this side would go well.  And yes, that first dish is from Martha Stewart.  Is that really any more embarrassing than Gwyneth Paltrow or Rachael Ray?  Yes, probably :(

The Recipes

chicken tenders
bacon
sage

Put a sage leaf on each chicken tender, then wrap in bacon.  Heat some oil over medium-high and add tenders sage side down.  Cook until the bacon is browned, then flip and do the same on the other side.

1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4" disks
1/4 c bread crumbs
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1 egg white
1/4 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and any other spices you want

Mix the bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning.  Dip the zucchini slices into the egg and then coating.  Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook at 450 degrees, 15 minutes, flipping halfway through - until nicely brown.

Notes

In the case of the bacon-chicken tenders, apparently simplicity does not equate to fool-proofing.  I'd maybe recommend using cheap, thin-sliced bacon, since my Boar's Head seemed to take forever to brown while the chicken was clearly done...  A few near the middle of the skillet came out nicely enough.  The others, though, I just unwrapped and put the bacon back in.  Obviously only the pretty ones made the picture below.

As unexpected as it was, the zucchini chips were really the star here.  I didn't even have parm, but even with a sesame/Asian turn they were delicious.  The zucchini becomes soft, but the crust gives a needed crunch to each bite.  It's more complicated than other veggie chips/sides I've done, but worth it.

Cider Beef Stew

Have you ever had a six-pack of hard cider and not wanted to drink it?  No?  Me neither.  But sometimes you want to mix things up and see what else you can do with that sweet nectar.  In one of those situations/moods, I was looking for some guidance for marinating a buffalo steak in cider, and happened across a list of Woodchuck-sponsored cider recipes.  This is the first one I had a chance to try:

Recipe

1 lb stewing beef
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp allspice
2-3 tbsp oil
1 bottle cider
2 tbsp ketchup
1-2 onions
1-2 potatoes
1-2 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery
mushrooms (optional; I had 'em so in they went)

Place the flour, salt, pepper, and allspice in a plastic bag, then add the beef a few pieces at a time and shake to coat.  Brown the beef in the oil.  Add the cider and ketchup, cover and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours.  Toward the end, chop the onion, potato, carrot and celery - no need to go too fine here - then add and simmer for 30 more minutes.

Notes

After this first test, I'll definitely hit that list of cider recipes again.  I wasn't always 100% sure on the recipe - it didn't seem like enough liquid to stew the meat and then soften all the veggies.  Not everything will be submerged, but even so the potatoes steam to a nice softness while the carrot and celery add some texture.  The end result was a  bit on the sweet side - maybe just from the special summer edition though, and a dryer cider might complement the allspice better in the meat.

In any case, beef stew seems to be a pretty simple concept overall.  It's definitely something I'd improvise with the liquid base and produce I have on hand.  Cider's definitely not a bad option!