Chicken Enchiladas
This dish has great flavor and is a really good recipe from Cooking Light. A little lengthy in preparation but worth it. It makes quite a bit, 6 servings so you can have leftovers if you have a small family (yum for lunch!) or it could be a very casual dinner for friends.
Here’s the link because I followed the recipe almost exact (I am adding pictures and my comments):
For the chicken broth, I used a 14.5 ounce can of Swanson (my favorite brand).
I used a 1 pound package of chicken tenders instead of chicken breast halves (see Chicken Tenders on how to remove the white ligament).
I cannot find red salsa verde at my supermarket. Only green. So I substituted Old El Paso Thick’n Chunky Salsa in mild. So if you can get the red salsa verde please use it.
1 cup of chopped seeded tomato is equal to 2 medium/large tomatoes. You are essentially gutting the tomato when you take out the seeds.
I did not use the red pepper but that’s because I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to hot spicy food.
I used full fat cream cheese because that is what I have. I am sure the less fat would be just as tasty. Also make sure the cream cheese is softened. Microwave for 10 seconds or so if not softened enough. It makes the combining with other ingredients much easier.
When you are rolling the tortillas with the chicken mixture, don’t worry if they crack. They will be fine once baked. I also used a 1/4 cup of filling for each tortilla instead of 1/3 cup.
Mission Corn Tortillas are the best. Please use them. This is from personal experience and also from my son-in-law, who is an expert on corn tortillas. You can also freeze any extra.
Cooking time: start with 15 minutes and then check to see if lightly browned. That may be enough.
Serve the Chicken Enchiladas with sour cream and salsa.
chicken poaching (this recipe is sort of like a primer for poaching and a good technique to know):
substitution for salsa verde:
mise en place:
chicken cooked and set aside for cooling:
cooking liquid and salsa boiling:
shredded chicken with rest of ingredients (looks like the Mexican flag colors!):
filling all mixed up:
cooking liquid reduced (don’t fret if it’s not exactly 1-1/2 cups):
cooking liquid back in saucepan and heavy cream added:
dipped tortilla:
1/4 cup of chicken mixture:
filled tortillas in baking dish:
ready to go in oven:
out of oven:
Delicious!
Barbecue Apricot Chicken
This is a family favorite that I made tonight: yum!
It’s from Real Simple magazine. I make it almost exactly so I am giving the link with a few notes and some pictures. There are also reviews from readers with other ingredient suggestions that sound very interesting. Might be worth giving them a try.
I never have a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes so I use 2, 14 ounce cans. Always have those.
I also do not drain the tomatoes.
I put the whole amount of salt and no pepper into the sauce. I do not split the salt between the sauce and the chicken.
I use chicken thighs, bone and skin on but please feel free to use whatever chicken you like. I think the skin and bones add to the flavor though.
Tonight I only used 4 thighs because they were quite large. In the past I have used 6.
I never rinse nor dry chicken pieces. Just put them directly from the package into a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish that has been sprayed with canola oil.
I do not spoon the sauce over the chicken during cooking. I just let it cook.
I bake the chicken for 1 hour. Always perfectly done.
chicken thighs in 9 x 13 inch baking pan, sprayed with canola oil:
sauce poured over chicken:
chicken out of oven:
Dinner: enjoy!
Chocolate Flourless Cake with Chocolate Glaze
I had an opportunity to make another birthday cake in the same week!!! Happy Days! This was for a long time friend that I know is a chocolate aficionado (his wife, too) so there was no doubt in my mind what I would make for him. Double chocolate wickedness!!
I made this cake once before, for my daughter and my birthday (we celebrate the same day), when she had just moved up to Boston, so I knew it would be delicious.
This is the link because I follow the recipe almost exactly. I am including my comments and picture progress.
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze
For the cake I use a mix of Ghirardelli semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate, 8 oz. semi-sweet and 4 oz. bittersweet.
I never use unsalted butter. I see no difference in taste.
I do not use dark corn syrup. I never have it but I always have light corn syrup, so that is what I used.
I did not garnish with chocolate shavings or gold brushed chocolate leaves. I chose to serve it with whipped cream. I would have liked a few fresh raspberries as well. Definitely will the next time!
For the cake, I do not melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan because there is that slight chance it could get burnt. I melt it in a glass bowl in the microwave, starting at 1 minute on high and then continuing at 10 second intervals stirring thoroughly after each 1o seconds, until melted (usually just 2, 10 second sets will do it for me). Be patient. Microwave less and stir more.
When separating eggs, use two very clean bowls and a small ingredient bowl (you will see the set up below). Separate the egg white into the small bowl and then transfer into the larger bowl. Then if you mess up (ahem, which I have done on many, many occasions) you have only messed up that one egg and not the whole lot.
Since this recipe has no leavening (baking soda or baking powder) it’s relying on the egg whites to do the job. To help you understand about folding egg whites (very difficult to show in pictures or describe in words) watch this video from Alton Brown. At about the 58 second spot he starts folding and that’s what I want you to see. I don’t agree that the eggs need to be that stiff. You will see in the picture below the consistency of the egg whites that I like. And I think the use of multiple bowls is a little excessive.
For the glaze, bring the cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a saucepan but pour it over a separate bowl that contains the 9 oz. of chopped Ghirardelli chocolate: 6 oz. semi-sweet and 3 oz. bittersweet. Let sit for one minute, then whisk until chocolate melted and mixture is thoroughly combined.
springform pan:
canola oil sprayed springform pan and wax paper round ready to go in:
foil encased pan:
chocolate butter mixture:
egg separating set-up:
egg yolks and sugar, very thick and pale:
chocolate mixture folded into egg yolk mix:
what my beaten egg whites look like:
folding egg whites into chocolate mixture:
more folding:
completed cake batter:
cake batter in pan:
out of the oven, see how puffed it is?:
cooled and fallen and pressed down:
pan sides removed:
tart bottom:
inverting cake onto tart bottom:
remove wax paper:
cream and chocolate for the glaze, let sit for 1 minute and then stir:
glaze mixed:
space in my freezer:
1/2 cup of glaze spread onto cake:
into the freezer for 3 minutes:
spreading the rest of the glaze onto the cake:
completed cake ready to be chilled:
my husband liked this cake and he normally does not eat chocolate:
Enjoy!
Chicken Marsala
I just made this for dinner tonight: yum! Emeril Lagasse really came through.
I made a few changes but really followed the recipe exactly.
Instead of skinless chicken breasts, I used a 1 pound package of chicken tenders. Make sure to take the ligament out: see Chicken Tender post.
I used a 10 ounce package of white mushrooms. It’s just a little over 3 cups when sliced. See my Mushroom post on how to clean them.
I know buying a bottle of Marsala wine seems a bit excessive (fortunately it’s not that much money). But I have had mine for a couple of months, in the refrigerator, waiting for the next recipe and it was fine.
I also used 1 tablespoon of butter at the end instead of 2.
So when we were all finished eating, my husband looked at me and said “I normally don’t like Chicken Marsala (I never knew that!) but this was very good.” Whew!!
Chicken Marsala by Emeril Lagasse, 2003
Enjoy!
Pan Roasted Chicken with Bacon and Leeks
Anything with bacon seems to draw my attention, so I immediately wanted to make this when I saw it in Food Network Magazine. And leeks are such a great food: milder than onions (my Mom used them instead of onions often because onions bothered her) but still providing that onion flavor. A little more expensive but definitely worth it.
Pan Roasted Chicken with Bacon and Leeks (adapted from Food Network Magazine)
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 pounds of chicken drumsticks (this can be anywhere from 5-8 drumsticks, depending on their size)
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 medium size leeks, white and light green parts only, washed of dirt and then halved lengthwise and sliced (usually at Shoprite they are sold as a bunch of 3 but at Hannaford’s they are sold individually)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup of chicken broth (my favorite is Swanson’s Chicken Broth, it has the best flavor)
1/2 cup half and half (this may seem as a waste to buy for just a 1/2 cup but it lasts a long time in the refrigerator. Sometimes I have used it beyond the expiration date and it’s fine)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the bacon in a large heavy bottomed OVENPROOF skillet and cook over medium high heat until most of the fat renders (the fat is melted from the bacon, thus giving you something to brown the chicken in rather than using olive oil. This enhances the overall bacon flavor: yum!) about 5 minutes. Push the bacon to the sides of the pan. Add the chicken drumsticks, salt and pepper the one side, and brown the chicken pieces, for about 4 minutes. Turn chicken drumsticks. Salt and pepper this side and brown for about 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate. Add the leeks and smashed garlic. Stir together with the bacon. Add the chicken back in, on top of the bacon, leek and garlic mixture. Transfer to the oven and roast for about 45 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees. Using your POTHOLDER (I cannot tell you how many times I have tried to remove my saucepan from the oven without one: ouch, ouch, ouch!! I know it’s stupid and maybe you have NEVER done this before but I had to warn you) remove pan from oven and transfer the chicken to a platter.
Using your POTHOLDER, place saucepan on stove top over medium high heat. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. I use a flat whisk, very helpful in this application. Add the chicken broth, half and half and cook stirring for about 2 minutes, scraping up any browned bits left in the pan. Add lemon juice. Taste for flavor: I added an additional 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Return chicken to saucepan, spooning sauce over chicken. Serve immediately. I served it with rice but certainly mashed potatoes or noodles would also work very well.
cut up bacon:
leeks:
white and pale green part of leeks, ready to be washed:
rendered bacon:
chicken, cooking first side:
chicken, turned over and cooking other side:
cut leeks and smashed garlic:
adding leeks and garlic to pan:
chicken back in:
POTHOLDER ready:
rest of ingredients to be added:
after 45 minutes in oven:
take chicken out to finish sauce (see the POTHOLDER on the handle!):
flour added and after 1 minute of cooking:
after adding half and half, chicken broth and lemon juice, make sure to taste, may need a bit of salt:
chicken back in:
enjoy!
Marinated Flank Steak
There should be one really good marinade in everyone’s repertoire and this one does it for me! I have looked at A LOT of other recipes but I just love the sweet and salty ingredient combination of this one. And for a less than tender piece of meat like flank steak, it does wonders.
I originally obtained this recipe from my sister-in-law. I’ve made it so many times, I’ve memorized it because it only has 5 ingredients and all but 1 are in the same proportion. I modified it slightly to accommodate the ingredients I always have on hand.
Not only is it great on Flank Steak but any steak really: NY Strip, Rib Eye, Skirt….
I’ve also tried it on boneless skinless chicken breasts. Delicious!
Marinated Flank Steak
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon minced garlic or Christopher Ranch Crushed Garlic in a jar
Combine all ingredients in a glass, 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Stir with a fork, using the fork to mush and smash the brown sugar to combine with the other ingredients.
Take the steak out of the package and put it on top of the packaging. ( Making this recipe a zillion times has driven me to stream line the procedure. For your first time, please feel free to put the steak on a cutting board.) and score it diagonally from one side and then from the other side, so that you have a diamond pattern. Try not to go deeper than a 1/4 inch into the meat. Repeat on the other side. This keeps the flank steak from curling up from the ends when you cook it. It’s an important step.
Using the fork, place the steak in the glass dish with the marinade. Coat one side and then flip over and coat the other side.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
One hour before ready to cook steak, take out of refrigerator and leave at room temperature.
Prep grill ( see Grilling post).
When grill is ready and clean, reduce heat to 2 notches below high. Take steak out of marinade and place directly onto grill. Put hood down and cook the first side for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, raise hood, turn steak, put hood down and cook for another 4 minutes. (The time may vary according to the size and thickness of the steak. If you have never grilled steak before, this will be a learning experience. I can only tell you that it’s better for the steak to be underdone than overdone. You can always cook it a little bit more, but once it is overdone, well, there is no turning back…..) When steak is done, remove from grill onto a cutting board. Let steak rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting.
To serve, cut steak against the grain, into as thin as possible pieces.
Leftover steak can be made into a delicious sandwich: warm cut pieces ever so slightly in a very hot fry pan, with a spray of canola oil. Serve on a roll or piece of crusty Italian bread with sautéed onions. You can also melt cheese on the top for a take on a Philly Cheese Steak.
I have also cooked the steak just for sandwiches, served on Italian bread with coleslaw ( My Mom’s Coleslaw) and ripe juicy tomato slices. Absolutely yummy!
Cold, leftover steak makes a great salad: cut up slices into bite-size pieces and put over mixed greens. Add leftover cold vegetables (like roasted potatoes, green beans, corn….) and serve with your favorite salad dressing!
ingredients for marinade:
marinade mixed and ready for steak:
flank steak scored: side one
flank steak scored: side two
steak placed in marinade:
steak flipped over:
burner setting for grill:
steak on grill: side one
steak flipped over (onion package in background):
steak on cutting board:
steak cut, after resting:
Chocolate Crunch Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Maida Heatter
I am making a cake today, one of my favorite things to do. My opportunities to make one are few and far between these days, unfortunately.
I belong to a Knitting Club (Stitch ‘N Bitch, very appropriately named, I must say!) and it’s the Birthday of one of the women in the group. Of course I volunteered to make a cake! I knew exactly what I wanted to bring after I was told that chocolate is her favorite flavor.
It’s been over 10 years since I first made this cake and it’s an absolute winner, from the Queen of Desserts herself, Maida Heatter. So, while looking for the recipe on-line, I also found a wealth of information on Maida Heatter herself. Below is a 2 part interview by LA Weekly Blogs that is most enjoyable! In it Maida Heatter mentions her Palm Beach Brownies: well I have made those too and will share my adventure (totally decadent, even the burnt edges are good!) in the future!
I also realized I have 2 of her books, that I got from my sister: cant’ wait to make a few recipes out of these!
I am posting a link to the recipe because I pretty much follow it to the letter, with just a few tweaks here and there, on procedure.
But I am sharing pictures of my progress and a notes.
Chocolate Crunch Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Maida Heatter
Ingredient and procedure notes:
1. For the chocolate in the cake and in the frosting I use Ghirardelli. I highly recommend this. I have to confess: I made 2 of these cakes today because I was not pleased with the frosting. It tasted off, like I burnt it but it may have just been the chocolate, I don’t know. Because of this, I recommend Ghirardelli and use my procedure for melting the chocolate with the heavy cream mixture, to ensure that the frosting is not burnt. Chocolate burns so easily it’s ridiculous. You may not even know it until you taste it!
2. I do not use unsalted butter in the cake or frosting. I cannot tell the difference. I use salted butter in everything, even if the recipe calls for unsalted. And I don’t adjust the salt in the recipe either: I use whatever they say. I looked up this contradiction on-line: it’s about 50/50 of people who can tell the difference and people who cannot. Do whatever you feel is best.
3. For the cake’s chocolate: combine chopped chocolate and hot water in a glass bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove. Stir, stir, stir with a whisk. It should almost be melted. Then put back in microwave for another 10 seconds. Stir, stir, stir with a whisk. It should be completely melted by now.
4. Sift the dry ingredients rather than whisking them. Cake flour tends to be lumpy. So put the cake flour, baking soda and salt in a strainer over a bowl and stir with a spoon until sifted through.
5. Bake cake layers for 20 – 25 minutes (for my oven anyway). 35 minutes was way too long for me.
6. To make the icing: put chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Simmer heavy cream ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Let it come up to JUST a simmer and pour this mixture over the chocolate. Let sit for a minute or two. Whisk to combine. Then put chocolate mixture over bowl of ice. Beat with beaters (not a whisk) for 6 minutes. Perfect icing!!
7. I could not find Heath Bars or Skor candy (I have since scored some Skor at CVS: haha! next time) so I use Heath Toffee Bits for the crunch in the middle. You can use all Toffee Bits or mix half Toffee Bits with 1/8 inch diced Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate, which is what I did this time. The crunch in the middle is the surprising part, so it’s an important step.
8. Chocolate curls: my first attempt on my first cake of today was a shredding disaster! Not enough info in this recipe. It is not particularly easy either: patience is key!! So, make sure the chocolate is at room temperature. I have under counter lighting and put the unwrapped chocolate there while I was making the cake, etc. Experiment with the vegetable peelers that you have: I had two and one worked better than the other. Using steady pressure and holding the chocolate with a paper towel folded 2-3 times, run the peeler along the edge of the chocolate bar like it says in the recipe, EXCEPT carefully take each curl when completed and set aside or put on cake. They break easily. Mine were really big curls and I got a lot of ooh’s and aah’s at my Stitch N Bitch. So take the time to make them.
fold wax paper in half, trace outline of bottom of pan, cut 2 circles at once:
spray pans with canola oil:
insert wax paper circles and spray pans again:
one tablespoon of flour in each pan:
rotate pan to cover with flour & dump out excess:
pans prepped:
chocolate and water mixture for the cake:
sift the dry ingredients instead of whisking:
finished batter:
batter in pans and ready to go in oven:
cooling for 5 minutes:
cakes removed from pan, wax paper off, completely cool after about 30 minutes:
for frosting, put chopped chocolate in medium bowl:
pour just simmered heavy cream mixture over chocolate, let sit for a minute or two:
chocolate and heavy cream mixture over bowl of ice:
what the frosting should look like after 6 minutes of beating:
1/2 toffee bits and 1/2 milk chocolate bits:
one layer, bottom side up, placed on an upside down paper plate:
1-1/2 cups of frosting and starting to put toffee/chocolate bits on:
completed middle layer:
second cake on top (bottom to bottom) & a somewhat thin layer of frosting over all:
put rest of frosting on top, concentrating it along the edge of the cake :
bring frosting down & spreading on edge of cake (this is a picture of my first cake, the picture/procedure was better):
completed frosting:
chocolate curls on top:
this is a slice of the cake taken at Stitch N Bitch by the initiator of the club and my friend, Marie (that’s Olivia (or Ollie), their boxer mix in the background. What a cutie!):
Carrot Cake Muffins
I love muffins especially when they hit the mark of being nutritious and delicious at the same time. That’s how I feel about these muffins, plus they freeze well and make a great quick breakfast.
When my sisters and I were kids, my mother would put wheat germ in ‘everything’ (she told us this later in life). I’m not sure what ‘everything’ was. I always assumed it was just baked goods, but I never asked her. As a youngster I was a terrible eater, so I am not surprised by my mother’s actions. If we went out for dinner and there was no tuna fish sandwich on the menu (wwhhaat!!), then I would eat crackers and pickles (how that came about, I have no idea). So including wheat germ and wheat or oat bran in this recipe just seemed the right thing to do.
Possible additional alterations: substitute apples for the carrots or use a combination of apples and carrots. Substitute walnuts for the pecans or substitute raisins or use a combination of all. Spread with cream cheese frosting? mmmm, just thinking out loud!
Carrot Cake Muffins (adapted from Bon Appetit)
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons of wheat germ
4 tablespoons of wheat or oat bran
3 teaspoons of baking soda
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup of chopped pecans
7 ounces of flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of grated peeled carrots
1, 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup boiling water
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2, 12 cup muffin/cupcake pans with canola spray.
Combine and stir thoroughly the first 12 ingredients into a very large bowl, from quick cooking oats to coconut. Use your fingers to break up brown sugar and separate coconut.
Combine liquid ingredients in a medium bowl or glass measuring cup: vegetable oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and stir thoroughly with a whisk.
Pour liquid ingredients and carrots and pineapple into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until almost combined. Add boiling water and finish stirring. Be careful not to over mix.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into muffin pans.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool in pans for 30 minutes and then remove muffins onto rack to cool completely.
I use the box grater to grate the carrots:
mise en place:
prepped pans:
dry ingredients, oats to coconut:
liquid ingredients and carrots, pineapple and water added:
ready to go in oven:
cooling:
yum!
Dan Dan Noodles with Cucumber Salad
This is quite a spicy dish where you really need the cucumber salad to offset the heat a bit from the Dan Dan Noodles. So plan on making it as well.
Having a mandolin slicer would be ideal for cutting the cucumbers. But alas, I don’t have one. I used to have this guillotine type slicer inherited from my Mom but cut myself on it so many times, I threw it out. For this recipe I used one side of my box grater that has 3 slicing blades on it. Not ideal but it gets the job done: you need super thin slices for this. I sliced the red onion on the box grater as well, ditto on the super thin.
I have a confession to make: I use “cheat” foods for this recipe with the garlic and ginger. The reason for this? I am lazy. So feel free to get a chunk of ginger and quite a few garlic gloves to achieve the quantity in the recipe. If you are interested in participating in my “cheat” food, I get Christopher Ranch brand in a jar, already minced and chopped. See the picture below.
Dan Dan Noodles with Cucumber Salad (adapted from Cuisine magazine)
Cucumber Salad:
2 cucumbers, sliced very thin, to measure 2 cups
1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion (this is about 1/2 of a small onion)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
Place all ingredients in a medium glass bowl. Stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. It should be nice and cold by the time you are ready to eat.
Dan Dan Noodles:
1/2 cup sherry (I use Harveys Bristol Cream, original superior, in the blue bottle)
1/2 cup chicken broth
6 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup red pepper, minced
3 tablespoons ginger, minced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
16 ounces ground turkey
8 ounces of thin spaghetti (you can get authentic and use long life noodles, I just happen to have thin spaghetti all the time)
Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl (sherry through sesame oil). Stir with whisk until combined. Set aside.
Prep for your spaghetti by putting a large pot of water on your burner at medium.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil and then saute red pepper, ginger and garlic for about 30 seconds.
Add turkey in large chunks, reduce heat to a little above medium. Cook turkey chunks on one side for 3 minutes until nicely browned. Turn turkey over and brown on the other side for 3 minutes. Then break up turkey and cook for another 2 -3 minutes until almost cooked through.
Turn up heat on large pot of water to high.
Add sauce to turkey, stirring to combine. Simmer meat sauce for about 5 -10 minutes until turkey is cooked through and sauce thickens.
Meanwhile cook pasta according to package directions.
When pasta is done, drain.
Spoon meat sauce over cooked noodles. Serve with Cucumber Salad.
my “cheat” food:
cucumber salad:
sauce:
turkey browning first side:
browning on other side:
turkey broken up:
sauce added:
ready to eat!
Sausage, Peppers and Onions
When I first made this recipe, I thought what a great party dish! And indeed it is. My son had a get together with some of his friends when he was in high school. We mostly served pizza but I decided to make this and see whether the kids would go for it. They did.
If you like it spicier, you might want to try hot sausage instead.
You can serve it over pasta or as a sandwich. I’ve tried both and they are delicious!
Sausage, Peppers, and Onions (adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 pound of sweet Italian sausage
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 onions, sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1, 15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
4-5 fresh Italian sandwich rolls, or fresh Italian bread cut into 4-5 inch sections or pasta of your choice
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add the other tablespoon of oil to pan. Add pepper, onions, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Add oregano, basil and garlic and cook 2 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the Marsala wine and tomatoes. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or metal spatula to release browned bits. Bring to a simmer.
Cut the sausages into about 1 inch pieces and add back to pan. Cook until sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes.
Serve over pasta or in the Italian rolls or bread, like a sandwich.
cooking sausage:
mise en place (almost, missed putting out the tomato paste):
onions, peppers, salt and pepper:
basil, oregano, garlic:
sauce simmering with sausage:
served as a sandwich:
Perfecting Deliciousness 
