Weeknight Dinner: Sauted Liver and Broccoli Pesto Pasta

Sauteed Liver and Broccoli Pesto Pasta

 This is a dinner of loves and hates.  I love liver.  I hate broccoli.  I love cooking, but I hate cleaning up.  I love blogging, but I hate taking, uploading, and editing pictures.  So you get a little of both worlds a little liver, a lot of broccoli, an easy meal with not too much clean up, and a blog post with only one picture.  :D

Maybe you're the opposite of me you love broccoli but you hate liver.Liver has a bad rap.  Maybe you tried it once as a kid and it was gross dry and weirdly pasty with a texture like eating glue.  Here's the thing liver is delicious--if you follow two simple rules: one, marinate; and two don't over cook it.  Liver should still be slightly pink inside when you serve it.  The liver here is prepared in simple marinade of store bought dressing.  

As for the broccoli, I followed a recipe I found over at the Smitten Kitchen,  with only a few minor tweaks.   I used mozzarella cheese instead of parmesan because that's what I had on hand, milk instead of cream for the same reason, and I added more garlic and a pinch of red pepper for flavoring.

So give liver a shot and enjoy a simple meal.

Pork Liver marinated in Italian dressing

1/4 cup Italian dressing  ( I used two different kinds to use up the last of both bottles)

1/2 lb Fresh Pork liver

1 tsp olive oil

Rinse the liver and pat it dry place it in a shallow bowl or dish.  Pour the dressing over the liver and use a spoon to make sure each piece is coated.  Set aside for 20 mins.  Use this time to prepare your broccoli pasta.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Add oil and coat pan.  Add the liver and cook for 2-3 mins on each side or until the center is slightly pink.

Birthday Cake Suprise

Here is my beautiful gluten free birthday cake.  I have made this recipe a million times before.  Its a great cake. This time we also splurged and made German buttercream frosting.  It was the best frosting I've ever had.

But it seems that somewhere along the way I screwed up.  We sliced it up after dinner tonight.  I took a great big bite and it turned into a grimace.  It tastes like baking soda.  I choked down about half a slice before scraping off the frosting and leaving the cake behind.  Pat on the other hand decided to eat his whole slice and now tells me that the cake is trying to make him explode.

Breakfast Rolls

My husband Pat,  works 12 hour shifts and has to leave at o'dark thirty in the morning.  Neither of us are morning people so that means that he leaves before I get out of bed and often doesn't get out of bed until a few minutes until he has to leave.  This means that despite having, cereal, oatmeal, eggs, etc in the house he doesn't usually eat breakfast.
I am wheat intolerant and follow a gluten free diet but, Pat is a carbovore and would never be able to survive without bread, so every two to three weeks I bake him about four loaves of bread.  This is cheaper and probably healthier than the alternative of buying bread.  Last time I was making bread I had an epiphany.  I could simply make an extra batch of bread and make rolls stuffed with various fillings for him to microwave in the morning and eat in the car on his way to work.
Now like all great ideas this was not quite as simple as it sounded in my head. I spent a majority of my day making these , but I think I have a much better idea of how to streamline the process and make faster and less labour intesive.  Most importantly I would suggest making up all your fillings first--preferably on the previous day.

 It was a lot of work, and I don't particularly like cooking all day for something I can't even taste.  I worry about whether it will turn out great, plus the scent of fresh baking bread is a tempting reminder of something I can't have.  But it was all worth it to me when I saw the smile on Pat's face after I had him taste test my first batch.  He doesn't smile much so a smile is a ringing endorsement of yumminess.

This is a pretty simple bread recipe that rises quickly, it makes 4 loaves of bread. I usually make bread that is about 3/4 whole wheat flour but in this case I wanted the rolls to be soft yummy and easy to roll out so there is only enough whole wheat flour to add a bit of flavor and color to the dough.  You can fill these with just about anything you want but I wanted to use whatever I had on had so I did Sauted veggies, Sauted Veggies w/ a bit of ground pork, Apple Pie filling ( with fresh apples),  Cinnamon and sugar, and cinnamon sugar + peanut butter.

How to make Breakfast Rolls:

Bread Dough:

• 4 cups warm water (95-105 degrees Fahrenheit)  I test the warmth by running tap water over my wrist until it feels just barely warmer than my skin
• 3 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 8 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons dough enhancer ( optional)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 5-7 cups all purpose flour

Fillings:

Veggie and Meat Fillings:

• 2 medium carrots grated
• 1 large onion diced
• 3 mushrooms ( would have used more but that what I had)
• 2 stalks of celery finely sliced
• 1/4 head of cabbage diced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• your favorite herbs and seasonings:  I used Garlic powder, basil, rosemary, thyme, and celery salt

• 1/2 pound ground pork

Apple pie filling

• 3 apples cored and chopped
• dash of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Cinnamon Sugar/Peanut Butter cinnamon sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Peanut butter ( optional)

Make the Fillings

Veggie/meat filling:   This amount of veggies makes enough for more than one loaf of bread but not quite 2 loaves so after filling  and shaping the dough from the first loaf,  I browned half a pound of ground prok and added to the remaining veggies and used it to fill the rolls shaped from the second loaf. Put oil in a large skillet or sauce pan and heat  on low heat until oil is warmed. Add veggies and seasonings and cook stirring occasionally until veggies are al dente.  Remove veggies from pan and set aside.  Brown ground pork.  Set aside.

Apple pie filling:  This was enough to fill only 6 rolls.   I also would recommend waiting to add the sugar until just before ready to assemble, as the apples will make water once you add the sugar Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

Cinnamon Sugar/Peanut Butter Cinnamon Sugar:  I made 4 without peanut butter then added the peanut butter and a little more cinnamon sugar to the mix and made 3 or 4 more.  I had 3 unfilled rolls leftover.  Mix all the ingredients except peanut butter together in a small bowl.   It should be a thick paste and just a little bit crumbly.  Add the peanut butter, if you want.  it will look similar but hold together a little better.

Mix up Bread Dough:

Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of the warm water.  Let sit for a up to 5 minute or until the water is foamy.  Stir in Sugar, salt, oil, dough enhancer and wheat flour.  Add the rest of water and stir in the all purpose flour 1-2 cups at a time until it forms a smooth soft dough that is not too sticky.  I usually use my hands to mix in the last cup of flour or so.  Cover the dough and let rise for 20-30 mins or until dough is doubled.

Knead the dough until smooth  and pliable.  Divide into four section and put 3 of the pieces into ziplock bags.  Put the bags in the fridge to retard the rising.

Assemble the  Rolls:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Divide the dough into eight pieces.  Roll a piece into a flat round circle about 1/8th of an inch thick.  Place 1/3-1/2 cup of filling on one half of the circle. Use a pastry brush to brush a bit of water over the edge of the dough to help it seal, and fold the other half up and over the filling.  Press the seal down with your fingers and then crimp it closed. Place on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.  Repeat until all the pieces are filled.  Bake for 25-30 minute or until golden brown and the dough is completely cooked through.  Cool on a rack.

A Perfect V-Day

Pat works 4 days on and 4 days off schedule.  We usually try to plan a simple  cheap date/fun day each week.  This week I had brilliant idea, since it was Valentine's Day, we would drive up to his Grandfather cottage on the lake and spend the night.  We could have a romantic dinner and cuddle in front of the fireplace, have a snowball fight and go skating.  Pat checked with Grandpa and that would be fine. I had planned out a menu and written a list.  Tuesday morning I woke up and Pat told me something he had forgotten.  The cottage has no utilities ( water and electricity)  in the winter.   I was all set to go anyway and just use the wood stove for heat and candles for light, when Pat pointed out that the wood stove didn't have a cook-top and we wouldn't have any plumbing.  So I abandoned my plans.  It really didn't upset me, we were still going to have lunch w/ Grandma and Grandpa and I figured we'd just have a quiet dinner at home.  However,  Pat was kind of grouchy-bones all morning and feeling guilty about not telling me about the lack of utilities at the cottage earlier.

We had a great Valentine's Day.  Lunch at Grandma and Grandpa's was great.  Afterwards we visited Walmart and picked up a couple of things we need for projects.  Then we checked out the fabric store to get some ideas to slipcover an ottoman and pillows in our bedroom.  It was relaxing and fun to look at things without any pressure to buy.  After we came home we spent time play Star Trek Online and cleaning.    YES cleaning--our apartment was really messy and we were both kind of grouchy about it, so we made a deal for every STO mission we did we would do "house mission" that took a equivalent amount of time/effort.  It worked, our kitchen, entryway, and living/dining room are nice and clean, and it was actually a ton of fun.

We have continued this trend of rotating real-life "missions" with game missions and it's been great.  We both love video games and we both tend to retreat to video games when things seem to difficult or boring or when we just don't know what to do.  It's been awesome we have gotten a ton done and had fun doing it. Some of our house missions have been yucky like clean the kitchen and some of them are totally awesome like: make pie.  I totally off-topic of our perfect Valentine's Day--anyways after a big lunch and perusing stores and cleaning the house we needed a nice simple dinner that was still "romantic"

So we had breakfast, we had Eggs in a Hole, Bacon, Grape tomatoes, and strawberry banana milkshakes.  It took about 20 mins total to make and was super delicious.  (PS sorry for the crappy photos  I'll chalk them up to living in a basement in Canada, in winter--ie NO light)

How to make Eggs in a Hole:

You will need:

2 Eggs ( person)

2 Slices of Bread ( 1 slice per egg)--I use Gluten free for me and whole wheat for Pat

Oil or cooking spray

Skillet

Spatula

Cookie cutter, knife or glass

Step 1: Heat oil in pan over medium heat, cut a hole in the center of each slice of bread--I used a heart cookie cutter in honor of Valentine's Day, but you could use a round cutter,  a Glass with an appropriate size rim or a knife to cut your hole.  Put the pieces of Bread and the cut outs into the warmed up pan.

 Step 2:  Toast the back of the bread.  When the back of the bread is lightly golden brown flip it over with your spatula and crack eggs into the holes in the center of the bread.  Put a lid over the pan and let it cook for 3-5 mins or until the eggs are done to your liking.  Sometime I like to add a little cheese just before the eggs are done and let it melt.  Transfer to plate.

Step 3:  Enjoy!

I hope you guys had great Valentine's Days too!