Spicy Penne with Sausage

There is entertaining tonight, so I thought I'd make something spicy and fun!

Spicy Penne with Sausage



This recipe...I got it from Guy's Big Bite on the Food Network. I changed it quite a bit, or at least enough that it has a different title in our home than on his website. Regardless, it is adapted from his. His idea of "spicy" is much different from ours...But I am going to write the recipe how I have it written on my recipe card (ie, the way I make it), not so much the way he does it. The link above will show you what it was originally.

Ingredients
-1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce
-3/4 cup canola oil
-1/3 cup lemon juice
-1 1/2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
-2 to 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I generally use 3)
-1 1/2 Tablespoons red pepper flakes
-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1/2 teaspoon Garlic and Pepper
-1 teaspoon Cajun Spices
-2 Tablespoons Thai Garlic Chili sauce
-1 Tablespoon dried cilantro leaves
-Olive Oil
-Smoked sausage, sliced thinly
-2 cups cream
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1 pound cooked penne
-Shredded cheese (Walter likes cheddar jack)

Directions
1. Combine first eleven ingredients and blend until smooth. Set aside.
2. Cook sausage in olive oil on high heat until brown on both sides. Lower heat to medium and add cream, 3/4 of the Chipotle sauce, salt, and pepper.
3. Add cooked penne and toss together. Top with remaining sauce and shredded cheese if desired.

Halloween Festivities

Our party turned out great! I cooked for eight hours that day, and almost everything turned out. The pumpkin fudge failed because I forgot to put in the marshmallow creme, and the cheese fountain became a cheese bowl because the fountain idea just didn't fly. Alas...

Halloweenie Mummies
These were the hit of the party! I got them from Pillsbury's Halloween magazine.



Ingredients
-1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated flaky dough sheet
-44 cocktail-size smoked link sausages (from a 1-lb package)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two 15x10x1-inch pans with cooking parchment paper.
2. On work surface, roll dough sheet out to 14x11-inch rectangle. Cut vertically to make two 11x7-inch rectangles. Cut crosswise for a total of 44 (7x1.5-inch) strips. Pat sausages dry with paper towels.
3. Wrap 1 strip of dough around each sausage to look like a little mummy; press firmly at each end to secure. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart for even browning.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Eyeball Cupcakes

These cupcakes were sort of overlooked. I think everyone thought they were decorations! I sent them home with people, but we still have way too many.



There's not much of a recipe for these. I used white cake mix and white premade icing because they were both non-dairy. For the eyeball look, I frosted the cupcakes with white icing and used gummi Lifesavers for the irises and chocolate chips for the pupils (you could also use M&Ms or jellybeans). I used red decorating icing to make them look bloodshot. Easy and fun!

Slime Punch


Again, pretty simple. One container of lime sherbet and a 2-liter bottle of Sprite. Combine and serve.

Jalapeno Hummus with Flatbread Chips
I had never had hummus before, and neither had Walter. I knew he'd like it better with some spice, so I made the jalapeno recipe. It was good, but my kitchen smelled like garlic and tahini for the rest of the day and made me feel really ill.




The flatbread chips were simple. I bought some Italian seasoned flatbread and cut it into ghost, cat, and bat shapes with small cookie cutters. Then I brushed each piece with olive oil and ground black pepper and baked them for about 5 minutes until they were crunchy.

I found the recipe for the hummus here at allrecipes.com

Ingredients
-1 cup garbanzo beans
-1/3 cup canned jalapeno pepper slices, juice reserved
-3 tablespoons tahini
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
-1/2 teaspoon curry powder
-crushed red pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a blender or food processor, mix the garbanzo beans, jalapeno peppers and reserved juice, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice. Season with cumin, curry powder, and crushed red pepper. Blend until smooth.

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

I love these. I eventually ran out of orange sugar, so some of them aren't candy corn-esque... Oh well. The recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It is probably my favorite cookbook ever.



Ingredients
-2/3 cup butter, softened
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 egg
-1 Tablespoon milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 recipe Powdered Sugar Icing (optional) I did not use this. I used Wilton's white microwaveable cookie icing and yellow and orange decorating sugars

Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. If desired, frost with Powdered Sugar Icing.

Gnocchi with Sausage and Spinach

This was somewhat of a failure, but I will post it anyway. I did not mess up the recipe. In fact, I think that most people would enjoy it. However, Walter and I have discovered that we just do not like gnocchi. We are both texture eaters, and the texture is just not something we like. The sausage and the spinach were nice, and they mixed well with the garlic and onion, so I may try those with some other pasta, like penne or rigatone. So, somewhat of a failure, but not entirely. It just wasn't our cup of tea.

By the way, I found it on Real Simple's website.

Gnocchi with Sausage and Spinich

Ingredients
-2 9-ounce packages refrigerated gnocchi or one 17.5-ounce package shelf-stable gnocchi
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
-1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed (I do not like ground sausage, so I did sliced smoked sausage instead)
-1 clove garlic, finely chopped (I used two cloves)
-1 5-ounce bag baby spinach
-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmesan, plus more for garnishing (I ommitted this, as I am lactose intolerant)
I also added a dash of garlic powder and a dash of onion powder.

Directions
1. Bring water to a rolling boil and drop gnocchi in. Cook until they float to the top (about three minutes), and drain, reserving 1/4 of the cooking liquid.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened.
3. Add sausage and cook until brown, crumbling with a spoon. If using smoked sausage slices, just cook thoroughly.
4. Add garlic, spinach, salt, and pepper, and cook until spinach wilts. I added the onion and garlic powders at this point.
5. Add drained gnocchi, the reserved cooking liquid, and, if including, the Parmesan cheese. Toss ingredients.
6. Sprinkle additional Parmesan on each dish if desired, and serve.