Saturday on CBC's Weekend Morning Show - Brandied Farmer's Sausage with honeyed apples

 I will be presenting the following recipe tomorrow on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Terry MacLeod.  This isn't your Dad's Farmer's Sausage.  It is, a take on a Spanish Tapa.  Great for holiday entertaining.

Enjoy!

Brandied Farmer’s Sausage with apples

1-2 Farmer’s sausages, sliced on the bias ~ 1”  ( I used Pioneer sausage, low salt easy peel)
2-3 apples, cut into thin wedges  (I used Granny Smith)
2 tbs butter (Local Notre Dame butter!)
½ cup honey
¼ tsp cinnamon
good pinch black pepper
Brandy, to deglaze (or your favourite non-cream liquor)  I used a Polish, Old Krupnik honey liquor

Heat skillet and add Farmer’s sausage and butter and brown.  Half way through cooking, add apples, honey and cinnamon.  Cook until meat is fully cooked.  Add Brandy or favourite liquor.

To serve, skewer or lay out on platter with toothpicks.

Later, I will be demonstrating Tajine cooking at D.A. Niels with the following recipes;

Moroccan Squash Tajine

1 small butternut, hubbard or winter squash, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 medium chopped red pepper
1/4 cup chopped black olives
1/4 cup chopped dates
1 medium onion, chopped
1 head garlic (loose cloves)
2 tbs olive oil
juice of half a lemon
1 tbs turmeric
1 heaping tablespoon Ras El Hanout *
Splash of Rosewater**
1/2 chopped pickled lemon (just the peel)***
Pinch of salt
Optional: eggplant, zucchini

Place all ingredients together in a casserole dish (traditional cooking vessel is a tajine). Cover and bake at 350F for about 45 minutes. If cooking on the stovetop, cook covered at medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender. Serve with rice or couscous or bulgur.

Enjoy!

Osso Bucco

 
 1 cup all-purpose flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pieces Beef shank (call for fresh at Millad's Grocery Mart on Notre Dame)

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1-3 tbs butter

1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 lemon, zest peeled off in wide strips with a vegetable peeler
1 head garlic, cut horizontally through the middle
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bottle dry red wine (use an Amarone related wine for fullest flavour)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth (I had homemade chicken broth on hand instead)
1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed

Put the flour in a large shallow platter and season it with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Dredge the meat in the seasoned flour and then tap off the excess (extra flour will burn and make the dish off-tasting).

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and hit it with a 3-count drizzle of oil. Add the butter and swirl it around the pan to melt. Sear the meat, turning carefully with tongs, until all sides are a rich brown caramel color. Drizzle with a little more oil, if needed. (Do this in batches if the shanks are big and look crowded in the pot.) Remove the browned meat to a side plate. There will be a lot of flavor left over in the bottom of the pot. You're going to use that to create your sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using the same pot, sauté the onion, celery, carrots, lemon zest, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley over medium heat. Cook the vegetables down until they start to get some color and develop a deep, rich aroma. Season with salt and pepper; add a little oil if needed. Nestle the meat back in the pot. Pour in the wine and let it simmer down for 20 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Reducing is key for intense flavor. Add the beef broth and tomatoes and stir everything together. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Braise for 1 and a 1/2 hours. Then remove the cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and the meat tender and nearly falling off the bone.
Remove bay leaves.

Enjoy!