Author: Maud Winchester
PASTA WITH SAUSAGE AND CABBAGE
Pasta with Sausage and Cabbage
May 4, 2019
: 100
: medium
This is my go-to recipe if I am cooking alone or if I am short on time. Some time savers are listed below, such as buying pre-peeled garlic and pre-chopped cabbage, they have an * next to them. When I cook for the homeless, I always get mild or sweet sausage so there is no chance of spices provoking indigestion. This is a sensitive population and mild and soft food are what I try to cook.
Ingredients
- 8 cups olive oil (depending on how fatty your sausage is, you may use less)
- 20 pounds sweet or mild Italian sausage
- 7 whole cabbages (or 15 pounds pre-sliced cabbage for slaw, big time saver*)
- 4 cans (6 lbs 10 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
- 6 heads garlic (or if you can find Christopher Ranch Organic Peeled Garlic, 6 ounces, it’s an excellent product and a big time saver*)
- 12 pounds dried penne or rigatoni
- 6 pounds Grated Parmesan Cheese (or blend)
Directions
- Step 1 Equipment. 2 largest cooking pans (for sauce), Large pasta cooking pot (I have one that the strainer is nested inside the pot during cooking, so I can just lift the strainer out when the pasta is done), Three large bowls, Heavy long handled spoons for stirring, Large slotted spoon, One quart Pyrex measuring cup, Aluminum foil
- Step 2 The sauce. In your largest, widest pot, coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil. About one cup.
- Step 3 I like to make the sausage into bite sized balls- if my husband is helping, he will squeeze the sausage out of the casing and roll perfectly shaped large marble sized bites. Gorgeous and totally appreciated, but not my style. I slice the casings, break off bite-sized pieces and place them in the pan. In pan one start with aprox 10 pounds of meat, fire up your burner to medium high and start to cook, stirring often, until meat is cooked through, no pink when broken into. Second pan, do the same. Once cooked, use slotted spoon to move all sausage to one large bowl. Reserve oil in bottom of pans for sautéing the cabbage.
- Step 4 Slice cabbage thin. Divide between two pans and set on low, cover. Stir occasionally, add extra olive oil if it begins to stick. Replace lid. Cook till wilted.
- Step 5 Add tomatoes, garlic, and sausage to wilted cabbage, cook between a simmer and low boil, covered for one to two hours.
- Step 6 Heat H2o in your pasta cooking pot till boiling. Cook pasta in two pound batches as directed on pasta package. Pour cooked, strained pasta into large bowls and stir in one cup cabbage, sausage, tomato sauce. This will keep the pasta from sticking as you add more pasta until all cooked.
- Step 7 I keep sauce warm, simmering, on one or two burners as I am cooking the pasta. When all pasta is cooked and you are ready to transport of serve, divide sauce between two large bowls of cooked pasta and one of your large pots. Cover with aluminum foil until ready to serve.
SPANAKOPITA
SPANAKOPITA
May 4, 2019
: 100
: Medium
Special note: I have really enjoyed making this dish in large quantity with children. They can crack eggs, break up feta cheese, and they love using the pastry brush to butter between the layers of filo dough. The youngest child I’ve made this with was in Kindergarten. We needed a low stool for her to stand on to reach the counter and she needed to take a few breaks to play with the dog, but she had a good time and asked to come back and help again!
Ingredients
- 14 packages (16 oz) frozen filo defrosted per package instructions (I usually put the frozen packages in the fridge overnight for about 12 hours, they are ready to use in the morning)
- 8 pounds onions
- 4 pounds scallions
- 11/2 cups olive oil
- 2 pounds white rice
- 8 cups water
- 72 eggs
- 8- 32 oz packages frozen chopped spinach (defrosted overnight)
- 4 ½ pounds Feta, crumbled
- 1 cup dill
- 2 pounds plus 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 quart olive oil
Directions
- Step 1 Special equipment. Large fine colander for straining spinach. Rubber gloves for wringing out spinach, Scissors for opening bags of spinach and filo dough packages, Pastry brush or brushes (depending on how many people are cooking), 7 baking trays (approx. 20”x 13”), Aluminum Foil, 3 large bowls, Large cooking pot for sautéing (widest diameter)
- Step 2 Peel and chop onions, rough. Cut off beard and ends of scallions and slice. Use as much of the green of the scallion as looks good. Warm up your largest thick-bottomed pan. I use my pot with the widest diameter and heat it on two burners. Sautee onions and scallions in 11/2 cup olive oil till soft and all liquid is gone. You will need to turn the heat up high at the end and stir constantly to assure that onions do not burn as you cook off liquid. Let cool.
- Step 3 Cook white rice as instructed on package in a pot with a lid. Let cool.
- Step 4 Crack eggs into two of your two largest bowls. (32 per bowl) Beat eggs.
- Step 5 Place 4 pounds of defrosted spinach at a time into your colander in the sink. Wearing rubber gloves (if you are sensitive to the cold) grab a fistful of the spinach and squeeze, wringing out the excess water. Place wrung out spinach into a 3rd large, clean bowl. Work your way through all the frozen spinach.
- Step 6 To the beaten eggs, add strained spinach, feta, cooked cooled rice, dill, cooled onion mixture. The rice will help absorb extra liquid.
- Step 7 Melt butter in a pan, add remaining olive oil.
- Step 8 Open filo. I use one pound of filo on the bottom of each baking tray. Butter bottom of tray, lay down two filo pieces, brush with butter and olive oil mixture. Keep layering in this manner until you have an entire pound of filo on the bottom of each of the 7 trays.
- Step 9 Divide filling amongst 7 filo lined trays. Spread evenly. Now layer one pound filo and butter in the same manner, on top of each tray.
- Step 10 Cut each tray into 16 servings before baking (easier to serve if pre-cut)
- Step 11 Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm till served.
Verde Chicken Enchiladas
Verde Chicken Enchiladas
April 16, 2019
: 100
: Moderate
Ingredients
- Chicken filling
- 13 quarts water
- 2 whole onions peeled
- ½ cup chicken bouillon (I use Maggi Chicken Base by Nestle)
- 32 pounds chicken breasts
- garlic salt
- Tortillas:
- 200 plus corn tortillas
- Canola Oil (biggest bottle, save left over for next time)
- Sauce:
- 2 (102 ounce cans) Mild Verde Enchilada Sauce
- The Toppings:
- 10 pounds Monterey jack shredded cheese
- 16 cups crema (Mexican sour cream)
- Additions (if you have time):
- 5 Cilantro
- 5 Onions
Directions
- Step 1 In your largest pot bring to a boil: h2o, onions and boullion. Add one third of the chicken, replace lid, and boil until done (about 30 minutes). You will want to cut into a few pieces to make sure the breasts are cooked through, ie- no pink inside. Remove cooked chicken pieces from boiling stock and set aside in a large bowl to cool. Continue to cook all chicken breasts in two more batches. Once all the chicken is cooked and cool enough to touch, Chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Chop cooked onion into pieces and add to the chicken, sprinkle all with garlic salt to taste. Mix well.
- Step 2 While the chicken is cooking and then cooling: Heat 1/4-1/2 inch canola oil in a small skillet at medium heat until hot. Place an individual tortilla in pan, flipping quickly in the oil to soften each tortilla. Stack tortillas in a large pan as you remove them from the hot oil. Make sure to do this quickly as you want the tortillas to be soft, not crispy, for the purpose of rolling the filling in them easily.
- Step 3 Take 5 large trays and lay them on your counter. Open Verde Enchilada Sauce and pour a very small quantity on the bottom of each pan. Shake pan to distribute.
- Step 4 One tortilla at a time- hold a tortilla in the palm of your hand, place ¼ cup chicken in a line across the middle of the tortilla, roll, and place folded side down in pan. Each pan will hold 40 enchiladas. There should be two rows with 20 enchiladas per row.
- Step 5 Right before baking, pour the remaining sauce, distributed evenly, over all five pans of enchiladas. Cover each pan in heavy aluminum foil.
- Step 6 Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
- Step 7 Sometimes I use a neighbor’s oven and heat 3 pans in my oven and 3 pans in my neighbors. This way they are all the same heat. Or I heat it all in my kitchen- one batch two hours before serving and the other one hour before serving.
- Step 8 As soon as a tray has baked for an hour, remove from oven. Remove aluminum foil and distribute two pounds of grated cheese evenly over hot enchiladas. Recover immediately with aluminum foil so the heat will steam the cheese and melt it. DO the same with all five pans of enchiladas.
- Step 9 Serve two enchiladas per serving with crema scooped on top.
- Step 10 Additions, if you have time- Cilantro washed and chopped fine and thinly sliced onions make another nice topping at serving time.