Conference turris::cooks

    Well, I havent done this in some time but...I used to concoct the
    following which was very tasty...
    
     In a large baking dish cut up X sausages in about 1/2" slices
     Cut up raw potatoes in wedges about the same size....or any other
    way you want to cut them..
     Add almost an equal amount of raw green peppers..
     and lastly, sliced onions....I usually add about four per 3 peppers
    Drizzle small amount of olive oil
    
    Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 until potatoes are tender       
    
    Rick
    
    

    
    	To cook sausage links I generally bake it in the oven until
    	done.  Cut open a sausage to determine doneness.
    
    	A couple of meal suggestions :
    
    	Make breakfast for dinner!
    
    	OR
    
    	Sausage with fried peppers and onions served on a hoagie bun
    	(sub).  You can use whole sausage links, halved sausage links,
    	or sausage cut in one inch pieces (recommended).
    
    	OR
    
    	Sorry, but this one contains tomato sauce.
    
    	Cut up sausage into 1 inch pieces and cook till done.
    	Thinly slice zuchinni. 
    	Layer in casserole. 
    	Cover with homemade or store bought spagetti sauce.
    	Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.
    	Bake till zuchinni slices soft enough for you.  This is a matter
    		of taste since some people prefer it very soft, and
    		others, like me, prefer it to still be crisp.
    	Serve with salad and french bread.               
    
        Karen                                    
    	

    I do about the same as .1, but I add a few pickled peppers (vinegar
    peppers) for an extra kick.  And I cook it uncovered, and put it
    under the broiler for the last 5 or 10 minutes so that everything
    gets brown and a little crispy.

    Here's something my mom used to make. As is common, most amounts
    are guesses since she never used a recipe....
    
    Take 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crush and place in a pie pan. Pour
    1/4-1/2 cup melted butter over crumbs to wet enough to shape into
    a pie shell. Brown a couple links of sausage (about 1 lb.) in frying
    pan, remove and drain on a paper town to absorb the excess grease.
    In the same pan, fry 1 small onion that has been chopped finely.
    Slice the sausage into 1/2" pieces and lay into the crumb shell
    until all the crust is covered. Spread the fried onions over the
    sausage. Lay slices of American (or other cheese) cheese over the
    onions. In a 2 cup measuring cup, break 4 eggs, add enough milk
    to make 2 cups. Add 1 T. of oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Mix
    well and pour over cheese in pie pan. Bake at 375 about 35 minutes
    or until a knife inserted in the egg mixture comes out clean and
    top is browned. This makes enough for a family of 4 and is great
    on a cold winter's night.
    

    The following can be served with pasta or rice (which I prefer):
    
    Italian Sausage (Sweeet and/or hot) 2 per person
    Small onion - 1 per person
    tomato - 1 per person
    White wine - min 1 cup or 1/2 cup per person if making 4+ servings
    
    Method:
    
    Brown Sausages over medium heat - remove
    Chop onion & brown in sausage grease (remove some grease if a lot) 
    Chop tomato and add to onion (you can skin & seed, I don't bother)
    Add wine and sausage
    Add lots of Basil (or any other seasoning you like)
    Cover and cook over low eat for 45 min, stirring occasionally
    
    It's delicious served with rice and whatever wine is left in the
    bottle.  Enjoy
    
    Nanci
    

    Whenever I have sausage, I always peel the skins off.  And then
    crumple up the sausage so that it's kind of like hamburg, except
    it's stickier.
    
    I usually brown iit with onions an green peppers, and throw it into
    rice pilaf for the last 5 minutes of pilaf cooking.

    Note #38 has a recipe for Chicken, Ribs and Sausage.
    
    

    Try this one, you won't be sorry.  When I heard the ingredients
    I thought it would be awful, but I took the plunge and it is delicious!
    			Summer Squash Soup
    Italian sausage or Chorizo (sp? = Portuguese sausage), cooked slowly
    with onions so they don't brown.
    Add sliced summer squash and chicken broth, and season with salt,
    pepper, and oregano or spearmint leaves, salt and pepper to taste.
    Simmer all in a saucepan.
    No measurements, because I don't think it matters.  Add as much
    of each ingredients as you like, and simmer until the squash is
    tender and the sausage is done to your liking. 
    I'm sure there are dozens of recipes like this, but this one is
    really simple and delicious.
    
    Sarah
     

    I always cook saussage on the gas grill. I cook on the grill year
    around. Frying saussage is usually messy, cooking them on the grill
    eliminates cleaning a pan and the stove. You just have to be careful
    for flare ups with fatty saussage.
    
    I had some left over saussage once that I didn't know what to do
    with. I tossed it into a pasta primavara. Now I cook saussage just
    to make a good pasta primavara filling enough to be a meal.
    
    

    This one is really easy.  Whenever my dad cooks up sausage (either
    on the grill or in the frying pan), he frys up some bell peppers
    and fresh mushrooms in a little olive oil and then you slide everything
    into some pita bread.  Serve it with some salad and a nice Italian
    wine.
    
    Making me homesick just thinking about it.

    Similar to .11, try this on your grill.
    
    Some sweet and/or hot Italian sausages in a pan or metal brownie
    pan (put tin foil under it or it'll blacken) and cook on the grill.
    
    When about half done, add cut up tomatoes, green peppers, and onions.
    Mushrooms would be nice too.
    
    Turn frequently to brown all sides of the sausages and mix the veggies.
    
    Like the previous reply, you can put this into a sandwich or just
    eat it as a main dish.
    
    This was originally a "let's just throw these things together" dish
    but everybody who's had it has raved about it.
    
    One note - don't add the veggies too soon or they'll disappear,
    especially the onions.
    
    We've still got some cook-out days, don't we?
    

    Just had my 3rd cookout of the year...
    
    Last night I had sausage on the grill like alot you talked about
    but I wanted to add not only is a green pepper good but cut up a
    red one too along with the onion.
    
    Linda

				SAUSAGE STEW
								6 servings

1 1/2 lbs. veal or pork sausage
3/4 lb Sweet Italian Sausage

4 onions sliced
2 bell peppers, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chapped
1 c dry white wine
1 lb boiling potatoes, peeld and cubed
1 16 oz can stewed tomatos
1 14 1/2 oz can chicken broth
1/4 c tomato paste
1 10 ox package frozen green beans
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram
1 c shredded mozzarella
1 c shredded cheddar
1/4 c grated Parmesan

Heat heavy 4 quart saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add sausages and cook until
brown, turning occcassionally, about 30 minutes.  Transfer sausages to plate;
cool slightly.  Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Remove all but 2 tbs fat from saucepan.  Add onions to saucepan and saute over
medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes.  Add bell peppers and garlic and
continue cooking until bell peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Pour in wine and boil 1 minute.  Add potatoes, tomatoes, broth and tomato paste.
Simmer until potatoes are tender, stirring occassionally, about 10 minutes.
Stir in green beans, sausage and herbs.  Cover and cook 15 minutes.  Add all
the cheeses and stir.


Taken from Bon Appetit

	My brother's bakery make sweet, hot, and fennel sausage. He uses
only pork butts and seasonings and that's all. He wll even make special
orders with enough advance notice. His place is:

			Tony's Bakery
			294 Sixth Street    (Just off Rte. 117 by St. Anna's)
			Leominster, Ma. 01453
			Tel. 537-7368

    	Bob's Turkey Farm in Lancaster sells Italian turkey sausage, and
    kielbasa too.  I assume it's lower in fat & calories than pork.  It's
    delicious.
    	--Andrea

    RE: -1
    
    You probably shouldn't assume that turkey sausage is lower in fat
    than pork.  I just came from a Lo-Fat Diet class where the nutritionist
    pointed out that the ingredients say 'Turkey' not turkey meat.  Doesn't
    sound like a big deal until you realize that they use the skin, fat and
    other parts of the turkey as well.  We were told to avoid chicken and
    turkey sausages and franks because they are as bad as beef or pork.
    
     

    Re:  .18
    
    Judy,
    
    I was shocked when I read that very same thing in my health mag!  No
    more turkey franks/sausage/etc. unless I grind my own turkey/chicken.
    Too bad, 'cuz it sure "sounds" healthy.  But you're right, it can be
    more fattening/less healthy than beef!!
    
    -Dotti.
    

I wouldn't swear them off completely.  All it means is that you have to read
the label more closely, and in the absence of real info, assume the worst (or
in the case of sausages, the wurst).

The real sad part is that most "lite" foods are low in one thing only.  Low
fat turkey based cold cuts are usually higher in sodium than the regular to 
give the meat a flavor boost.  ( And low fat cakes are higher in sugar.)

The annoying part is that most of the "lite" products offered at the deli case 
of major supermarkets have NO nutritional info available.   So, if you want
to know (relatively more) about what you are eating, you have to buy your deli
meats in those little plastic shrink wraps.

the manufacturers often give percentage of total WEIGHT in fat rather than
the more important percentage of total CALORIES in fat.  the best way to
figure out the percentage of calories that are fat:

	each gram of fat "costs" you 9 calories - any kind of food, any
	kind of fat, it's all 9 calories a gram.

	multiply the number of grams of fat by 9 and divide the result of
	this multiplication by the total calories for the food.  The result
	is the REAL percentage of CALORIES from fat.

	for example, if a 359 calorie dish has 9 grams of fat:

	 9 X 9 = 81;    81 divided by 359 = 0.2256267 which rounds to
	 .23 or 23 percent fat for this food.

This algorithm shows that "lite" turkey bologna is approx. 80 percent calories
from fat - obviously, not the food for healthy living.  Sausage is generally
70 to 80 percent calories from fat, even the "lite" sausage.  

If you wish to aim for optimum health, keep the percentage of fat in your
foods below 30 percent - or, if really blowing it on one serving of something,
make the rest of the day very low fat.  You can eat your sausage, you just
have to eat salads and fruit for the rest of the day.

RE: .21

>If you wish to aim for optimum health, keep the percentage of fat in your
>foods below 30 percent

At least, one popular school of nutrition recommends this.  IMHO, the stress
caused by people worrying about their diets probably causes more trouble
than the diets themselves.

--PSW

    NOW WAS THAT 30% of your diet by weight should be limited to fat grams
    OR 30% of your calories should be fat?
    
    duhhh?
    
    ed

re .-1

No more than 30% of the calories should come from fat.

Another "quick check" is to double the % of fat, and compare that to the
calories per ounce.

So, if the food is 40 calories per ounce, and 95% fat free, roughly 2 * (100-95)
or 10 calories come from fat, or 25%.

re .-2

Actually, the "rules" for a good diet are relatively simple.  Lots easier than
most recipes.  It just takes some practice to make them second nature.  It's
really important, though, not to sweat the little things, like bran du jour,
oil du jour, etc.  I prefer to save up all my stress making for fresh ham 
discussions.

    
    
    I'm not sure if this has been posted here already, but a real easy way
    to get the percent of fat from what your eating is...
    
    Multiply the fat grams by nine.  Then divide that number by the total
    calorie count.  That answer is the percent of fat calories.  You're
    absolutely right to aim for under 30 percent.
    
    -Dotti.

  Everyone's right. I think the point of PSW's comment which I agree
  with is that there are many people who are creating problems for
  themselves (or worse, for their kids) by fanatically following the
  latest dietary craze. These are not people who are acting in any
  responsible way on the advice of a physician.

  Sometimes a person recognizes that they may have a condition for which
  a modification of diet is a constructive therapy. This could include
  physician-diagnosed hypertension, diabetes, coronary disorders, etc.
  It could also include self-diagnosed obesity or any number of other
  things. They intelligently ask for professional advice in designing a
  diet (and maybe other behavioral therapy) which addresses the
  condition. Such a diet will rarely be radical (in the sense of
  strictly forbidding sodium, fat, or whatever). An intelligently
  designed diet, for whatever purpose, takes into account the body's
  need for balance and *all* naturally-occurring nutrients. For such
  people, this sort of prescribed diet is clearly preferable to "not
  worrying" about diet.

  But there are just tons of people who imagine that they have all sorts
  of ailments for which some sort of radical dietary discipline is the
  cure. Low sodium, low sugar, low fat, low cholesterol, high fiber, low
  calorie, all natural, you name it. If a person adopts any sort of
  radical or unbalanced diet for any reason other than that a qualified
  person prescribed it as a therapy for a specific condition, they're
  just asking for trouble, but that's their problem. When they do it to
  their kids, I get really upset.

What gets up my nose is assertions such as that in .25 that one is "absolutely
right" to aim at a diet with under 30% caloric intake from fat.  Medical
nutrition as a field is in no way far enough advanced for us to be making
statements like that.  Nutrition has very few absolutes.

--PSW

    Nutrition may have very few absolutes, Paul, but the body of medical
    evidence that has been amassed over the last twenty years is
    irrefutable: the 'typical' American diet which consisted of 40-50% fat
    was THE major contributor to coronary heart disease, and lowering that
    percentage to under 30% has a DIRECT effect on that illness.
    
    The problem, I think, is that people insist on thinking 'if a little is
    good, a lot is better', and try to eliminate fat completely. Each
    element of the diet is important, but what is more important is the
    combination and the proportion.
    
    I don't think anyone, unless under a doctor's direction, should
    routinely be taking in more than 30% of their daily calories from fat.
    But maybe that's why I'm an engineer and not a nutritionist ;-) ;-)
    
    	/Harry

    I think what Paul is getting at is that the nutriional guidelines are
    just that.  Guidelines.  And generalizations at that.  So, if you
    happen to be one of those folks who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast
    with fried lunches and steak for dinner all the time, and you don't
    have any real medical problems, then there is no need for you to
    stress out worrying about eliminating fat from your diet.

    My previous note .25, was taken from Prevention Magazine.   All I know
    is that I *TRY* to eat less fat.  *I* personally feel better, look
    better and I'm 5 pounds lighter, too, but I do not eliminate ALL fat. 
    Geez, how could I live without chocolate???  JP is right, it's just a
    guideline.  
    
    -Dotti

    RE:.29  I don't believe in going overboard on cutting things out either
    but the simple statement "If you don't have any problem then don't
    worry" troubles me.  I mean, it reminds me of all those teenagers
    who say "See, I smoked a cigarette, I didn't get sick, it's ok, I'll
    have another."
    
    ANyway, everybody's got to make his own decisions in all these matters.
    
    Good luck, I've said my bit, over and out.
    
    ed

I agree here, too.  When I say "you don't have a problem", I don't mean "feel
okay".  You should at least get a regular checkup at the doctor.  I think the
more sigmas from the norm a person is, the more concerned they should be (hard
to express the exact feeling here I don't mean paranoid or worried, more along
the lines of being aware of what's going on regarding your health).

>    the simple statement "If you don't have any problem then don't
>    worry" troubles me.

  Why? That statement is excellent advice.

So, in the "old days," I used to take Italian sausage and split each link down
one side just enough to split the skin.  Then I tossed them on the barbeque,
split side up.  This requires a set of loooong tongs, by the way.  The grease
would flare up the fire (great way to get the coals cooking), and cause the 
skins to shrink back, opening the sausage.  When the sausage was more or less 
flat, I turned them over for a couple of minutes.  They cook real fast this way,
and get a little crispy at the edges.  Great on a bun with a thick slice of
tomato, a little onion, and some lettuce.  

I often used the tail end of the flare-up to get a crisp edge on other things
like steak or hot dogs, too.

re: radical reduction in fat, etc.

actually, 30% of calories from fat as a limit is pretty liberal according to
some folks out there....many are recommending less than 25% now days.

However, as far as I know, there are no fat police on patrol, so go for the
butter and gelato....the only ones who will ever know is you and your doctor.

re:  italian sausages

have you considered making your own?  There are many recipes out there and,
especially if you don't need the meat stuffed into casings, you can whip up
a low fat version of the meat and seasonings - let it sit covered in the
fridge overnight to blend flavors - and use the seasoned meat in sauces,
as patties for tasty burger substitutes, etc.  I have a recipe somewhere at
home that I'll try to remember to post here.  Anyone have the latest edition
of "IN HEALTH"?  I think there was a recipe in there too.  

And, if you are going to make your own and want to stuff it into casings, there
are some things you can do to replace the "juice" without the "grease".  One is
to add crushed ice to the last pass thru the meat grinder (keep everything very
cold).  Or very gelatinous stock.  Or minced apples or other fruit.  Cereal can
also be added (no I don't mean sugar frosted chocolate marshmallow treats) as
a filler, and it will absorb and hold some extra liquid.  But, adding a little 
fat is good, too, since it helps carry and blend the flavors, and

			**** generalization alert ****

according to my dietician, fat satisfies hunger.  Not sure of the mechanics, but
some fat content in foods actually helps you to eat less of it by appeasing your
hunger sense sooner.

			    **** end of alert ****

    This is in regards to the recipe way back in .1 - Italian sausage with
    potatoes, onions and peppers.
    
    I want to make this recipe for a bridal shower and I was wondering
    if I could freeze the cut-up potatoes, onions and peppers about
    2 weeks in advance.
    
    Would doing this change the texture of the food? Should I defrost the
    veggies before baking or just put them into the pan frozen?
    
    
    Janice

    
    Freezing potatoes will certainly change the texture.  They won't have 
    much when they're thawed.  
    
    

    .5 Your quiche recipe is very good.  I made some mistakes and varied
    it.  I shouldn't of.  One thing I did wrong was to put more cheese in
    it, the american just didn't seem like enough and boy I put in way too
    much.  Trust me, use only american in one layer, it will be plenty.
    
    I also didn't crush the townhouse crackers that I used enough and used
    too much butter.  I used 1/2 cup.  With the cheese I had added, it made
    it too greasy.
    
    But, I did crush the sausage instead of slicing it.  That seemed to be
    fine. 
    
    Great recipe!
    
    cj