Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Italian Sausages with Broccoli Rabe

If you can't find the preseasoned polenta just add some minced basil and garlic (about 2 tsps each) to the polenta roll as you mash it.

 

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Shellfish Paella Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 pound hot or sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1.5 pound clams
  
• 4 8-ounce bottles clam juice
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 1 10-ounce package frozen peas, thawed
• 2 large plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped

Preparation:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add sausage meat. Cook until sausage is no longer pink, breaking up with fork, about 5 minutes. Add clams and mussels. Increase heat to medium-high, cover and cook until shells open, about 5 minutes. Transfer clams and mussels to medium bowl, discarding any that do not open. Cover shellfish and keep warm.

Meanwhile, combine clam juice and saffron threads in small saucepan; bring mixture to simmer. Reduce heat to low; keep warm.

Add rice to same saucepan that clams and mussels were cooked in and stir 2 minutes over medium heat. Add dry white wine and cook until wine is evaporated, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Add warm clam juice mixture and simmer until rice is just tender and liquid is creamy, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.

Mix shrimp, peas and chopped tomatoes into risotto and cook until shrimp are just cooked through, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Season risotto to taste with salt and pepper. Top risotto with clams and mussels and serve immediately.

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Frogmore Stew

Frogmore stew is a popular dish in the south that is very casual and often served poured out onto newspapers so that everyone can sit around the table and help themselves. If you have a large enough pot the recipe is expandable indefinitely so what I've listed below is the proportions for one person. Just expand as necessary.
N.B. Classic Frogmore Stew contains new potatoes so I've put that into the recipe but I don't like boiled potatoes so I normally leave them out.

Ingredients:

Crab boil (I use Zatarains) enough to season enough water to cover everything you'll throw into the pot
Corn on the cob - 1.5 ears, broken into pieces
Potatoes - 2 new, cut into quarters
Clams - 4 littleneck or other steamer sized clam
Shrimp - 4 to 5 medium sized, Easy clean but leave the shells on
Sausage - Spicy precooked cut into 2 inch pieces (I use andouille but you can use any hot sausage you'd like, it just need to be precooked)
Crab claws - 2 in the shell, if you like crab and want to add them, just don't use lump crab meat or surimi (faux crabmeat)

Preparation:

Bring seasoned water to a rolling boil, add the potatoes & corn & boil until potatoes are tender & corn is almost done. Add sausage and clams and continue boiling until the clams open, discard any that don't open after 10 minutes. Add the rest of the seafood and boil just until the shrimp and, crab (if using) are done. Drain the stew, the broth really isn't edible. Pour the drained food out onto the table in front of everyone and enjoy.

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Baked ziti with three cheeses

This is a variation on lasagna which uses ziti noodles instead.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
  
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
• 12 ounces freshly cooked ziti or other tubular pasta
• Optional - 1 lb of Italian sausage casings removed & crumbled
  

Preparation

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. If you're using the sausage, add it at this point and cook until done. Add onion, garlic and fennel seeds (omit the fennel if you've added sausage) and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, water, oregano and sage. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup Romano. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Grease a 9x13-inch glass baking dish. In medium bowl combine ricotta cheese and egg. Reserve 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese for topping. Add remaining mozzarella to ricotta cheese mixture and blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread 1/4 of tomato sauce over bottom of prepared dish. Layer 1/3 of pasta over. Drop half of ricotta cheese mixture over by spoonfuls. Spread 1/4 of sauce over. Repeat layering with another 1/3 of pasta, remaining cheese mixture, 1/4 of sauce and remaining pasta. Spread remaining sauce over and sprinkle with reserved mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Cover casserole and bake until heated through, about 40 minutes.

Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Sausage in Spiced Sauerkraut

Ingredients:
6 smoked bacon slices, cut into 2-inch-wide strips.
Thick cut is better but regular cut will do. Don't use the apple smoked bacon, it's usually too sweet to work with this dish.
1 large onion, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
1 2-pound jar sauerkraut, rinsed, drained well
2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
4 juniper berries, crushed, or 1 tablespoon gin
1 1/2 pounds assorted sausages (brats, knockwurst, kielbasa etc.), cut into 3-inch lengths

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Place bacon, onion and carrot in heavy large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté until onion is tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from sauerkraut (I put it in a colander and let it drain in the sink for about 2 hours rinsing frequently to remove the saltiness). Add sauerkraut to Dutch oven. Add wine, stock, caraway seeds and juniper berries. Bring to simmer. Cover tightly, place in oven and bake 1 hour.
Add sausage to Dutch oven, pushing into sauerkraut. Cover and bake 1 hour (n.b. knockwurst is done when the skins split, that's why it's called knockwurst the 'knocking' sound it makes when the skins split). Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat, stirring frequently.)

Serves 4
A good potluck or outdoor cookout meal if you have a way to hang the pot over a fire or on the BBQ to rewarm.