-
Cabbage Wrapped Sausages
Plump, juicy sausages wrapped in tender cabbage leaves create a simple meal that is filling while still being a healthy choice. You will not miss the bun once you make this dish!
Use your favorite type of sausage in this dish. It is completely interchangeable as long as your choose a good quality. I am a “sausage-snob”, but it truly will make or break a dish if you choose poor quality meat! We have a great local sausage company that comes to the Farmer’s Market weekly where I snag my favorites.
Ingredients:
4 Sausages in casing (Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Kielbasa, Weisswurst etc)
4-6 Large outer leaves from a big head of Cabbage
1 cup of Bone Broth
1 Teaspoon of Paprika
2 Tablespoons Whole Grain Mustard
Salt/Pepper to taste
In a shallow saucepan melt butter (or duck/pork fat) and then sear each side of your sausages until crispy and golden brown. The sausages will swell and plump up at this point. I typically place a lid on the pan and let them cook while I prep the cabbage leaves.
While the sausages are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a simmer. After removing outer leaves from the head of cabbage, blanch each piece by dipping in the boiling water using a set of tongs and set aside until finished. The leaves will turn a bright green and become limp.
Once sausages are done, remove from pan and place on a plate allowing them to cool enough so they can be handled. Meanwhile, pour 1 cup of Bone Broth into the hot pan to deglaze. Be sure to scrape the pan well to release any brown bits stuck to the pan. Add paprika, mustard, salt and pepper. Simmer and stir until thickened. I prefer to use my homemade whole grain mustard https://itsasavagelife.com/savory-wholegrain-mustard/ but any flavorful course ground or wholegrain mustard will do.
Once the sausages are cool enough to handle, wrap each sausage in 1-2 overlapping leaves of cabbage (depending on the size of the leaves) tucking the ends (similar to wrapping a burrito). Even if they don’t wrap perfectly, the dish still turns out great.
Place back in the same sauce pan, and continue to cook for another 20 minutes. I typically flip them halfway through so that the sauce coats both sides.
Once finished, serve immediately and pour a hearty spoonful of sauce over each one. My favorite sides to compliment this dish are cooked greens and spatzle or mashed potatoes. These also make fantastic leftovers!
-
Spinach & Cheese Quiche
Home made quiche is always a hit! Whether it is breakfast, brunch, or a light dinner… quiche is a great choice! Flaky crust and fluffy egg covered in melted cheese come together to make a comforting dish that will have everyone coming back for more.
I use homemade pie crust, as the crust is one of my favorite parts of the quiche but you can use a store bought crust for convenience. This recipe makes 2 quiche.
You will need:
- Prepared pie crust (home made or store bought)
- Baby Spinach (washed and dried)
- 1 dozen Eggs
- 3/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3/4 Milk
- 1 Teaspoon of both Salt & Pepper
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar (or your favorite cheese)
Preheat oven to 375F.
Roll pie dough on a floured surface until roughly 14 inches in diameter and even thickness. Then wrap one edge of the dough around the rolling pin and transfer into a greased pie pan. Gently press dough into the bottom of the pan, and up the sides. Trim off excess crust that hangs over the edge and then use fingers to crimp edges. Do this for 2 pie crusts.
Poke holes all over the dough using a fork, then place pie weights onto the crust to prevent bubbling during the baking process. Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
While crust is pre-baking work on creating the filling.
Whip eggs, cream, milk, salt and pepper until completely mixed. I like to use my immersion blender for this. Once the crust is baked, layer baby spinach directly onto the crust and then pour the filling mixture over it- leaving about 1/2″ of space below the edge of the crust. Cover with a layer of cheese and place in oven.
Bake at 375F for 30-40 minutes until the filling is set.
Let cool on a wire rack until cool enough to serve warm. Enjoy!
-
Oven Baked Pork Loin Chops
This is a very simple recipe to cook perfect Pork Loin chops. I prefer a chop cut out of a loin as it tends to be a more tender and juicier cut. (I suppose it technically is a loin steak rather than a chop but I am not concerned with formalities) You may purchase a whole pork loin for a reasonable price and cut chops to your desired thickness, or purchase them already cut. It is just personal preference.
I prefer to Oven bake if I need to feed a crowd, as it allows an entire batch to be done at once with even consistency. The meat comes out juicy and the tiny bit of fat on the outside crisps up and renders into the meat. Yum!
You will need:
- Pork Loin Chops (or steaks) cut into 1/2″ thickness
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Ground dried Sage
- Salt and Pepper
First, preheat oven to 375F.
Seasoned and ready for the oven Then season both sides with Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Sage, Salt and Pepper. Place on a greased rack over a baking sheet (I like to line my baking sheet with foil to catch the drippings).
Bake at 375F for 30-40 minutes or until internal temperature reads 145F.
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
I prefer a little gravy over mine (Because gravy makes EVERYTHING better), so I collect the pan drippings and place in a saucepan on medium heat. Add 3 Tablespoons Flour, and whisk until golden brown in color. Slowly add 2 cups of Broth and simmer until desired thickness. Be sure to whisk the whole time.
Serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite side dish. I always pull a jar of my Freezer Applesauce https://itsasavagelife.com/freezer-applesauce/ out to enjoy, as growing up we always had applesauce with Pork Chops. Nostalgia always gets the best of me.
-
Slow Smoked “Reverse” Seared Prime Rib
I am completely serious when I say that we have MASTERED the perfect Prime Rib. We have tried many techniques over the years but this one took the cake! We took a technique we recently started using on steaks and applied it to a roast achieving perfection! The key is “dry aging” for 24 hours, slow smoking until desired internal temperature is reached, then QUICKLY searing in the oven. It has the perfect amount of smoked flavor without over powering the flavor of the meat and no off-putting burnt crust of seasoning that usually happens with home cooked Prime Rib.
The most important thing is to purchase a good grade of meat. You have to pick a Choice or Prime Grade if you want a good end result. (As a daughter of a Cattleman I could go on for days about this… but let’s save that for another day.) You may have your butcher cut the ribs off and tie them back on the roast for you (this ensures even cooking), but we choose to do it ourselves.
You will need:
- A Choice or Prime Grade Prime Rib Roast with ribs cut & tied
- Salt
- Pepper
The first step is done the day before cooking. Take the roast and set in a foiled lined pan (rib side down). Liberally apply salt to all exposed surfaces of the meat. Then place in the fridge uncovered and let rest for 18-24 hours. This is a quick way of “Dry-Aging” the meat, locking in moisture and flavor.
1 hour before cooking, take the roast out of Fridge and place on the counter
Turn on Smoker to “Smoke” setting, or lowest heat setting. Ideally 180F-200F. Once ready, place the pan on grill and smoke uncovered until at least 110F internally. We prefer a rare middle to our roast, so please go to a higher temperature if you would like Medium to Well done. It took our 7lb roast 5-6 hours on our Traeger Grill to reach 110F.
Once the meat has risen to desired temperature, preheat your oven to 500F. In between transferring from the smoker to oven, brush with melted butter and apply ground black pepper to exposed meat surfaces. You can also baste the meat with any drippings in the pan. Ours did not have any drippings until after the oven sear. Sear for 7-10 minutes depending on how crispy you want the “outside”. We went for 10 and it was perfect for us!
Now the hard part… Remove from Oven and allow to sit and rest uncovered 15-20 minutes. It will be the longest 15-20 minutes of your life!! It is almost torture smelling the meat and having to wait!
To carve, cut all strings and dispose. I always carve the meat off the ribs and set the bones aside for Bone Broth. Carve steaks to your desired thickness. Typically 1/2-1 inch is desired. Serve with Creamy Horseradish sauce, Au Jus, and your favorite side dishes.
And just from writing this now I’m craving Prime Rib again, we literally just finished the leftovers and I’m ready to cook up another! We enjoy the leftovers in: Homemade Beef Ramen, Prime Rib French Dip Sandwiches and Prime Rib Tacos!
My favorite sides are Creamed Spinach and Sweet Potatoes -
Best Ever Dinner Rolls
These gems are the traditional dinner roll of your dreams! The perfect texture and flavor. I typically make a batch and freeze the rolls we don’t eat right away for a later meal. They hold up well in the freezer, and reheat easily. This is my go-to item to take to big holiday gatherings! This recipe only needs to rise for about an hour so it does not take too long to have a batch hot out of the oven!
Ingredients:
- 10-11 cups of All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 2 1/4 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Teaspoons Salt
- 2 1/2 Cups Water
- 1 Cup Milk (Whole is the only milk I ever have, but you can try 2% if you have it)
- 1 Stick Butter (1/2 Cup) cut into 1/4 inch pieces
- 2 Large Eggs
First, put a dough hook on your stand mixer. I assume you can hand mix these, but it would be quite the chore!! A Kitchen Aid stand mixer will save your arm muscles!
Place the milk, water and butter pieces in a microwave safe bowl and heat until warm. You want it warm enough to activate the yeast without burning them. Think of a nice warm bath for the little “yeasties”.
In the Mixer bowl stir together only 4 cups of flour (you’ll use the rest in a minute), salt, sugar, and yeast. Add in eggs then SLOWLY add the warm liquid mixture. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times as it mixes.
Once mixed, add 1 cup of flour at a time to the mix. Do this slowly as the mixer hook may try to kick some flour back out at you. As you add each cup of flour, the dough will grow and grow (mine almost outgrows my mixing bowl each time) so be careful. Once the dough is no longer “sticky” it is ready to knead (usually takes 10-11 cups of flour total).
Knead the dough for 10 minutes, either by hand or by continuing to use the dough hook on your mixer. Then place in a greased bowl, covered with a clean dish towel and let rise for 1 hour (or until doubled in size). A warm place will help it rise. I typically place near my wood stove and let the heat do the work!
Ready for the Oven! Once the dough has risen, using greased hands form into roll shapes. Keep in mind that they will at least double in size! My first batch I had formed way too big and they raised into giants during baking! Now I typically form them into the size of a golf ball, and they rise into a normal roll size. Place into a greased pan just touching each other.
Allow to rise once again for 1 hour.
Preheat Oven to 350F.
Brush the tops of each roll with a little melted butter (it creates the perfect golden color!). Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. When they are done, place the pan on a cooling rack and serve once they cooled.
All done and ready to be devoured! They store really well in the freezer in gallon freezer Zipock bags, just allow to defrost and then warm in the microwave or oven. They turn out great!
