A whole sandwich is more than enough for a meal for one person, but if you cut it up into about eight pieces you’ll have tasty appetizers.

First of all, a note about the term “submarine sandwich”. It seems to depend n what part of the country you are from as to what you call a long sandwich. One common name is the “Dagwood” after the comic strip character by the same name who has been known to raid the refrigerator in the wee hours of the morning and pile almost anything high on a bun.

“Grinder” is another term frequently employed and its etymology is elusive. One might guess that it derives from the fact that you really have to “grind down” to consume a sandwich of this size and scope. Another common name for a sandwich of this description is “hoagie.” Your guess is a good as mine as to where that name comes from. “Hero” is another popular term and I presume that the term relates to the fact that it is a sandwich made for hero or perhaps you might be considered a hero if you can get the whole thing down.

At any rate, one of the most common names for a long sandwich is “submarine”, no doubt because it is shaped like one. No matter where you live or what you call it, a sub is a Dagwood is a hoagie is a grinder is a hero is a sub.

• 1 submarine sandwich roll about twelve inches long (or use a loaf of French bread cut to size)
• ¾ pound hot or sweet Italian- style sausage*
• 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Parboil the sausage over medium heat for about twenty minutes with enough water to barely cover the bottom of a skillet. Increase the heat and brown the sausage lightly, about five minutes.
2. Cut the sausage lengthwise almost but not quite all the way through and spread it out flat.
3. Cut the sub roll in the same manner as the sausage and place the sausage in the center of the roll.
4. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the sausage and place the sub, open side up, in a preheated broiler for two and place the sub, open side up, in a preheated broiler for two or three minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove from the broiler, close the sandwich, and cut into serving pieces while still warm.
5. Serves 8 as an appetizer.

* If you know you are going to making this recipe when you are mixing up a batch of Italian – style sausage, make a link the same length as the roll you will be using and everything will fit together perfectly.

Posted in recipes

Analyzing my meze menu one day, I realized that we didn’t offer any sausage. I thought it might be fun to follow the classic charcuterie techniques and make a Greek-flavored sausage that we could grill. Great sausage is easy to make if you follow a couple of rules. The ingredients and the equipment must be ice-cold 34F is perfect , but not frozen. A bit of ice in the mix keeps the fat firm and the sausage from getting mushy

The meat is cubed and then marinated so that it absorbs the maximum amount of flavor before being ground and stuffed.

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt, cut into large ice
• 1 pound boneless lamb chuck, cut into large dice
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground toasted fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground toasted coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground toasted black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of Aleppo pepper or cayenne
• 3 ounces crushed ice which is about 1/2 cup

1. Combine the meats in a mixing bowl. Add the bay leaf, parsley, orange zest, salt, fennel, coriander, peppercorns, garlic, mint, olive oil, sugar, and Aleppo pepper and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours.
2. Set up either a meat grinder or a heavy duty electric mixer fitted with the medium meat-grinding attachment.
3. Make an ice-water bath in a large bowl. Place a smaller bowl in the center of the ice water bath. Place the bath under the meat grinder so that the ground meat mixture will fall into the bowl sitting in the center.
4. Remove the meat from the refrigerator. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the crushed ice. The ice, combined with the ice-water bath, will keep the meat ice-cold, which will help bind the mixture. Immediately pass the meat mixture through the grinder into the bowl.
5. When all of the meat has been ground, stir it with a wooden spoon to ensure that it is evenly mixed.
6. Using the sausage-making attachment on the mixer, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for making link sausage. If you have other sausage making equipment attach the casing to the tube, closing the end, and run the meat through the body so that it flows into the casing. The meat should be tightly packed into the casing, leaving at least 4 inches of empty casing at the end. If you don’t have sausage-making equipment, fill a pastry bag fitted with a standard large round tip and carefully fill the casing in the same manner.
7. Starting at the closed en, seal off 5-inch links, twisting and pinching at each interval, until you have 10 links, each about 3-1/2 inches long. Tie off the open ends with a firm knot. Wrap the links in plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before grilling, broiling, or roasting.

Posted in Grilled-Recipes

What looks like miniature bread loaves on the outside actually hide a real treat on the inside. If you use chorizos with this recipe you’d best play fair and warm your guests before they bite into a piglet or else have a bucket of water handy to pit out the flames.

• 1 pound sweet or hot fresh Italian style sausage or fresh chorizos
• 1 recipe pizza dough *

1. Parboil the sausages in just enough water to cover the bottom of the skillet until they are cooked through, about twenty – five minutes over medium heat. Drain off the liquid and brown the sausages lightly.
2. Divide the pizza dough into as many equal pieces as you have sausage links. Roll out each piece into a square.
3. Place a sausage on one end of each square and roll up the dough. Press to seal the edges.
4. Place each piglet on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated 375F. oven for about twenty minutes or until the dough is golden brown. Serve warm.

Makes 4-6 piglets, may serve up to 8 if piglets are sliced after cooking.

* (The recipe for the dough can be found on the Sausage and Cheese Roll post)

Posted in Appetizers

Use any cured or dried sausage you have on hand.

• ½ pound sliced sausage, cut into one inch squares.
• ½ pound sliced Swiss, provolone, Muenster, or mozzarella cheese cut into one – inch squares.
• 7 large pitted black r green stuffed olives, sliced.
• 5 slices pumpernickel bread cut into two-inch squares.

Arrange one slice of sausage, one slice of cheese and one slice of olive on each bread square. Makes about twenty servings.

Serves 8 – 10

Posted in recipes

Pizza rustica is in a sense a misnomer since this dish is anything but rustic. It requires careful attention to detail if you want it to be as pleasing to the eye as it is to palate.
Plan on eight servings for an antipasto or six servings as the main course at a luncheon. With a dry, well- chilled white wine and a tossed green salad this dish could be a complete meal.

• 1 recipe pie crust dough (The recipe for crust dough can be found on the Sausage and Cheese Roll blog post)
• ¼ pound sweet Italian – style sausage, removed from the casing.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup (total chopped red and green sweet peppers.
• ¼ cup pepperoni, diced
• ¼ cup hard salami, diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped ripe black pitted olives.
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup spaghetti sauce
• Sauce and fresh ground black pepper.

1. Prepare the pie crust dough and divide it in half. Roll out one piece and place it in a deep dish nine – inch pie plate. Roll out the other half and reserve it for the top crust.
2. Crumble the sausage in a skillet, add the olive oil, and sauté it until the meat loses its pink color, about five or ten minutes.
3. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
4. In the oil and sausage drippings sauté the onion, garlic and chopped peppers until they are crisp – tender. Remove them with a slotted spoon. Discard the grease.
5. In a bowl mix together the sausage, pepperoni, salami, onions, peppers, and chopped olives. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Spread a thin layer of mozzarella on the bottom crust. Add about a third of the meat mixture and spread it evenly over the cheese. Dot with about a third of the spaghetti sauce and then sprinkle on a third of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat the layering process, ending with a layer of mozzarella cheese.
7. Place the top crust over the filling and press with a fork to seal the edges.
8. Brush the top with cold water and bake in a preheated 350F.oven for thirty-five minutes or until the top is golden.

Serve 6-8.

Posted in pastry-recipes

I’ve tried for many years without success to grow my own artichokes from seed. They always come up, look good for a while, and then turn their best to the sky and go to vegetable heaven. Consequently when my grocer gets in some real beauties I grab a whole bunch and rush home with them.

There are lots of things you can do with artichokes. If you’re lucky enough to be able to grow your own you can let some of them mature to form large beautiful flowers. Or you can pick them mature to form large beautiful flowers. Or you can pick them when they are still young and tender (you actually eat the unopened flower bud of the plant) and boil them in salted water with some bay leaf, garlic, and lemon wedges, pull off the leaves (petals), dip them in drawn butter, and scrape off the succulent flesh between your teeth.
For variety, however, an artichoke is eminently stuffable.

• 4 large artichokes
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 pound country – style bulk sausage or sweet Italian- style sausage removed from casing
• ¼ cup minced onion
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg, well beaten
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped capers
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1. Prepare the artichoke: Cut off the stem, leaving a flat base. Reserve the
   stems. Remove any bruised outer leaves. Cut about one inch off the top of each artichoke with a sharp knife. With a pair of kitchen scissors snip off the tip of each outer leaf.
2. Place the artichokes in a pot of boiling salted water along with the bay leaves, four crushed cloves of garlic, and the quartered lemon. Add the stems to the pot and cook, covered, for about half an hour. Remove from water and cool.
3. While the artichokes are bubbling, sauté the sausage in a skilled just until it loses its pink color. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
4. In the sausage dripping sauté the minced onion until it is translucent, about ten minutes.
5. In a bowl mix the sausage, onion, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, wine, thyme, capers, cayenne, salt, pepper, and, when they are cooked, the artichoke stems, which should be chopped finely.
6. When the artichokes are cooked and cool enough to handle, pull back the leaves and remove the inner choke.(The artichoke is a member of the thistle family and if you tried to eat the choke you would see why.)
7. Fill the center of each artichoke with equal amounts of stuffing. If you have enough stuffing, place some in between the large leaves at the base.
8. Place the stuffed artichokes in a baking pan and pour the lemon juice mixed with the olive oil and minced garlic over them.

Cover and bake in pre-heated 350 F. oven for about twenty minutes or until the base leaves are very tender. Serve hot with the pan juices for dipping.

Serves 4

Posted in recipes

Chose small (but not cherry) tomatoes for this recipe or it may be too filling for an appetizer.

• 8 small tomatoes
• ½ pound bulk sausage
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• ¼ cup chopped sweet pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg, well beaten
• Dry bread crumbs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Butter or olive oil

1. Cut a small slice off the stem end of each tomato and remove the seeds and pulp. Be careful not to cut through the walls of the tomatoes. Sprinkle a little salt on each tomato, turn upside down on paper towels and allow to sit for about half an hour. Reserve the pulp.
2. Crumble the sausage in a skillet and sauté over medium heat until lightly browned, about ten minutes. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
3. Sauté the onion, peppers, and garlic in the sausage drippings until they are crisp – tender, about five minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon.
4. Combine the sausage, onions, peppers, and garlic with an equal amount of bread crumbs, the egg and about one- half cup of the reserved pulp. Blend the mixture thoroughly.
5. Stuff the tomatoes with the sausage mixture and place on a greased cookie sheet. Do each tomato with the butter or olive oil. Bake in a pre-heated 400F. oven fifteen minutes or until the tops are browned.

Serves 8

Posted in recipes

This is a variation on the shish kebab theme. Any hard or semi-hard homemade sausage works well in this recipe, so tailor it what you have on hand or have a taste for.

• ½ pound cured sausage cut into half – inch cubes.
• ½ pound Swiss or mozzarella cheese cut into half- inch cubes
• ½ stick butter
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1teaspoon paprika
• Dash of cayenne
• Toothpicks (approximately 20)

1. Alternate cubes of sausage and cheese on the toothpicks. About two of each should do it depending on the length of your toothpicks.
2. Melt the butter in a medium- sized skillet and add the lemon juice, paprika, and cayenne.
3. Sauté the skewer gently until the cheese get soft but does not melt. Serve warm on a heated platter.

Serves 8-10.

Posted in Snack-Recipes

Pate’ de foie grass is a famous (or infamous if you look at it from the goose’s point of view) French hors d’oeuvre. In order to produce this particular delicacy the geese are put through the rather indelicate procedure of being force-fed. This operation continues, often to the point of suffocation, long enough for their livers to become enlarged. Whether you are squeamish about what they do to their geese in France or simply can’t afford the high prices the gourmet merchants demand for this product, you can still eat your pate’ and have your goose too: chicken livers and homemade liverwurst fill the bill nicely.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces chicken livers
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 green onions with tops, minced
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 4 ounces liverwurst
• 1 tablespoon Drambuie (Scotch liqueur) or brandy
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 three – ounce package cream cheese
• ¼ cup chopped parsley

How to make it

1. Sauté the chicken livers in the butter in a skillet over medium heat for about fifteen minutes.
2. Add the garlic, onions, and basil to skillet and sauté a moment or two longer.
3. Dice the liverwurst and add it to livers. Remove from heat.
4. Put the mixture through a food mill to puree it.
5. Add the liqueur or brandy and salt and pepper.
6. Lightly oil a small gelatin mold (a plastic margarine cup will do very nicely) and pack the liver mixture into it firmly.
7. Refrigerate for at least four hours.
8. Bring the cream cheese to room temperature and whip or beat it until it is smooth and creamy. (You may add an extra teaspoon of liqueur and a little finely minced garlic if you wish.)
9. Unmold the pate’ onto a serving dish and frost it with the cream cheese.
10. Gentle press the chopped parsley into the cheese frosting.
11. Serve chilled with bread or crackers.

Serves 8 – 10

Posted in recipes

Homemade bologna, smoked kielbasa, or summer sausage is perfect in this recipe.

• ½ pound dry or semi-dry sausage cut into half-inch cubes
• Pineapple cubes
• Pickled beets, cubed
• Toothpicks

Arrange alternating pieces of meat, pineapple, and beets on toothpicks and serve well chilled.

Note: For an interesting variation soak the skewers in slightly sweet wine or your favorite liquor overnight.

Serves 8-10.

Posted in recipes