Grilled Steak with Thyme Butter, Mushrooms and Onions

By Paul Briand

It’s grilling time, boys and girls. This is all done on the grill. It’s simple, easy clean-up, and - most of all - very tasty.

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds of Porterhouse or T-Bone steaks, enough steak for four
1 sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil
1 medium sweet onion, cut in half, thinly sliced
1 8-ounce package of mushrooms
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Directions
1. Heat the grill to medium high;
2. Place onion, mushrooms, pepper, butter, and thyme in center of aluminium foil;
3. Fold the foil over the mixture, creating a packet;
4. Grill, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes;
5. Season the steaks with pepper and salt to taste and grill, turning once, to desired doneness;
6. Serve each cut of steak topped with buttered thyme and onion mixture.

Click here for recipe card.

Chicken Sausage Stir Fry

By Paul Briand

We had some chicken sausage left over from the casserole recipe that my wife Jane had prepared.

So I whipped up a very easy, very quick stir fry. It was a bit of a fusion thing - combining an Italian-like sausage of garlic and mozzarella with stir fried vegetables in a soy and rice wine vinegar sauce.

Ingredients
For the sauce:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
For the stir fry:
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 links of turkey sausage, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound sliced vegetables (carrots, broccoli, snow peas, bell pepper, green onion)
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoons water

Directions
1. In bowl, whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and ginger. Set aside;
2. Heat oil in wok (or large skillet) over medium high heat, add sausage and saute until meat starts to brown;
3. Add onion and vegetables and saute for two minutes;
4. Stir in soy sauce mixture, bring to boil, reduce heat and cover for 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender;
5. Stir in cornstarch mixture, bring sauce back to boil until sauce thickens. Serve.

Click here for recipe card.

Chicken, Wild Rice and Cherry Tomato Casserole

By Paul Briand

My wife, Jane, found this very simple - and very tasty recipe -- in Real Simple magazine ad.

It’s a chicken-based recipe but she jazzed it up a bit with some chicken sausage prepared with Mozzarella cheese and garlic. She diced up a link and added it to the mix.

Here is the recipe as originally presented.

Ingredients
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
4 ounces mushrooms, bottoms trimmed, sliced thin
2 (5-ounce packages) long grain rice and wild rice
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
4 chicken breasts, sliced into ½-inch slices
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 cups hot water
1 package cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees;
2. In a large casserole dish, combine first nine ingredients, top with tomatoes;
3. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes (or until liquid is absorbed).

Click here for recipe card.