Cozy Food

November is a bit dreary. Daylight sayings time has kicked in and it starts to get dark at 5 PM. The leaves are down. It’s time to open a bottle of red, turn on that gas fireplace and eat some cozy food. The following two dishes fit the bill:  Pasta Bowties with Jalapeño Chicken Sausage and Pork Picadillo.

Pasta Bowties with Chicken Sausage

½ box bow tie pasta

Pkg of chicken sausage-I used Trader Joe’s Chicken Jalapeño Sausage-sliced

1 onion chopped

1 portion of roasted tomatoes (see  Sept. 7 blog entry)

Italian spices (oregano, basil and thyme)

Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta

In the meantime, sauté onion and sausage, throw in the spices. When pasta is cooked, drain and throw into skillet with meat and onion, add roasted tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. Yum!

Pork Picadillo

Leftover pork loin roast chopped (see pork loin Oct 28)

1 medium onion diced

1 28 oz can tomatoes

2 chiptole peppers (in adobo sauce), minced

1 T sauce from chiptole peppers

3 garlic cloves, minced (I use bottle minced garlic) I’m lazy

1 t ancho chili powder (or regular chill powder)

½ t cumin

½ t cinnamon

2 bay leaves

½ cup raisins

Toppings: chopped green olives, chopped cilantro, toasted slivered almonds

Cooked brown rice

Some olive oil

In large skillet, heat 2 T olive oil, brown onion, adding chili powder and cumin. Add chopped meat, garlic, and tomatoes. Chopped chilies, bay leaves, cinnamon, some black pepper. Simmer partly covered about 45 minutes. Stir in raisins, fish out bay leaves. Serve over rice, with toppings. Quite tasty and great use for leftover pork roast!