Sausage Campagnola, an Old World Tradition

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The old world tradition of sausage and vegetables makes this rustic country dish ideal for cooking on the grill or stovetop. Cook it today and it will taste even better tomorrow.

 Note: With this country-style dish, you can add seasonal and readily available vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini, and peeled carrots.

Sausage Campagnola

Makes 4-6 servings

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2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 pound Italian Ring Sausage or 4 links

½ sweet onion, chopped 

6 cloves garlic

1 red bell pepper, cut into small strips

2 small Yukon potatoes, sliced thin

¼ cup dry white wine

pinch red pepper flakes

3 Tablespoons Fresh Basil, torn 

¼ cup pecorino Romano cheese

Preheat a large sauté pan over medium heat.

Add olive oil, and sausage and cook until the sausage has browned. Add onion, garlic, red bell, and Yukon potatoes and cook on low to medium heat until soft and rich golden color and fully cooked. 

Add Kale, red pepper flakes, fresh ground black pepper, and wine, cook 4-5 minutes.

Serve topped with fresh basil and park cheese. 

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Best Scones

The best scones are delicate and cake-like with slight crumble. Having filmed many times on the Emerald Aisle, I've had my fair share of perfect scones, offered by the always welcoming Irish people. As a tribute to the Irish I hope you enjoy these scones as much as I have.

Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!

A scone is a quick bread, but it is unclear of the word's true origin—be it from the Scots, Brits, or Germans. I like the word scone as it may have derived from the Gaelic term "sgonn," meaning a shapeless mass or large mouthful. Scones are usually round in shape, although some are hexagonal as this shape provides for space-efficiency while baking. Other shapes include triangles and squares.

Why Buttermilk? Using buttermilk instead of cream makes for a lighter, more bread-like scone. The scones are baked at a higher oven temperature, which produces a darker, crispier crust. Using Buttermilk will also result in a more tender, creamy texture with a rich buttery taste and a bit of tang, somewhat similar to a good Greek yogurt. TIP: Not to worry if you are plum out of buttermilk; regular milk + vinegar will provide the same results. 

Easily prepared, baked, and enjoyed in under an hour—have a good cup of hot tea and jam with my Irish Scones. 

George's Irish Scones

Makes 8 scones in a 9 inch round pan

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2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) very cold sweet butter, cut into small pieces 

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons pure cane granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk, *made into buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup raisins, **plumped

1/4 teaspoon white vinegar, for making milk into buttermilk

*Add white vinegar to milk to make the buttermilk. Allow to sit 5 minutes to sour. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add cold butter to the flour and blend in by hand until the butter resembles fine crumbs. Add granulated sugar and mix it into the flour. 

Combine beaten egg, vanilla, and milk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, toss in plumped raisins, and mix by hand until a dough forms. It will take about one minute of kneading until the flour is absorbed. Turn scone dough on to a floured surface. Form in the shape of a ball, do not over knead. With a rolling pin, flatten out dough to one inch thick.

Place the round scone dough into a 9-inch cake pan. With a bench scraper or knife, cut through the dough across four times, dividing into eight equal pieces. Immediately bake for about 16-18 minutes until dough sounds hollow, a sign it is fully baked. 

Serve warm with jam and clotted whip cream. 

TIP: **To plump raisins, add 2 tablespoons of water and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. 

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Best Chocolate Sauce Recipe

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This is one of those sauces that is a must in every chef's repertoire. It's a classic. In a matter of minutes you can turn a simple sweet into chocolate decadence. So set aside the guilt and go ahead - dip, drizzle and dunk your way through fresh strawberries, ice cream and cake. Make it for your Valentine, the clock is ticking.

A few bits on chocolate:

One study has shown that the smell of chocolate may actually relax you by increasing theta waves in the brain. Yes, we all have them.

Does chocolate contain any nutrients? Yes, it does, in small amounts. A 1.5-ounce milk chocolate bar contains recommended daily values of the following vitamins and minerals:

 • 3 grams of protein • 15% of the Daily Value of riboflavin • 9% of the Daily Value for calcium • 7% of the Daily Value for iron

When choosing chocolate, look for a shiny finish, which is a sign that the chocolate was heated at the right temperature for the right amount of time. Also, look for a crispy snap when chocolate is broken into pieces. Choose a good chocolate source for sauce like Lindt, Callebaut, or Scharffen Berger. In a pinch chocolate chips will do. This very decadent sauce is ideal served with fresh strawberries. Note: this chocolate sauce recipe is not ideal for coating dipped strawberries. That's another post. 

The Best Chocolate Sauce

Makes about two cups

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8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 Tablespoons pure cane granulated sugar

3/4 cup cream

3 Tablespoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Optional: 1 Tablespoon Brandy or Grand Marnier

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside. 

Place cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a small pot. Heat to a boil stirring constantly. As soon as it reaches a boil pour directly over chocolate and stir until all chocolate has melted. Add vanilla and brandy.

Use immediately or cool, cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks. To reheat, heat the amount you need over a double boiler and stir until just melted.

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Plum Jam

Beach plum jelly has a virtually unknown taste except maybe in the Hamptons, Cape Cod, and along the Atlantic Coast. The art of making beach plum jelly, or any jams for that matter, has been revived recently, with more people wanting to use local fruits and have a condiment that's a notch above mass-produced jelly-in-a-jar. However, beach plums are fickle; some years, they are available, and other years, like this summer, they are plentiful to pick from their secret spots along the East Hampton dunes. That's if you are still fortunate to avoid poison ivy and ticks. A safer bet for me is to make Damson Plum Jam. Or, contact my favorite monks at Trappist Preserves for a mail-order jam solution.

Yes, you could say they use a production method of a higher authority. But, what I really love about Trappist Preserves is they use only the best seasonal fruits and make only a certain allotment based on the highest quality, not filling sales quotas. When the Kadota Fig Preserves, or Red Currant Jelly is gone that’s it. And, yes they do make a Damson Plum Jam! 

A lesson learned from the late Fr Robert, “Ordinary, Obscure and Laborious” —the life of monks.

To watch one of my favorite vintage TV Segments from St Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer Ma.

Do You Know Your Jam?

- Jams are made from puréed fruit
- Jellies are made from fruit juice
- Marmalades include peel
- Conserves & preserves are made from whole fruit, and raisins and nuts may be added

Click for the complete guide to home canning

Jam is only as good as your fruit. Taste plums and adjust tartness vs. sweetness according to the ripeness of plums. If only using all ripe plums, peel, core, and chop one green apple instead of unripe plums to add natural pectin.

Beach or Damson Plum Jam

recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes about 6-8 250-ml jars

2 3/4 pounds very ripe Beach or Damson plums
1 cup water
1/4 pound unripe Beach or Damson plums; contains added natural pectin
Variable: 4-6 cups pure cane granulated sugar, depending on the sweetness of the plums and personal taste (you may also use a little honey and cut down on some sugar)
juice of 1/2 lemon
6 orange peels- about 2 inches x 1/4 inch, no whites

Wash the plums, add the water, and simmer the plums until the skins are soft. Allow to cool and remove the pits.

Optional~ if you do not want plum skins, strain plums through a sieve to remove skins. I prefer the texture and do not strain.

Combine plum puree, lemon juice, orange peel, and sugar in a heavy gauged sauce pot. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring occasionally with a long handle spoon until sugar dissolves. Continue to go frequently to prevent sticking or burning. Cook until the plum puree and sugar reach the jellying point of 220 degrees F. It takes about 20-30 minutes.
Remove from heat and pour the hot jam into sterile hot canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel, making sure the tops of the jars are clean so the lids seal. Adjust two-piece sterile metal canning lids. Place jars into a large pot with a filter on the bottom so jars do not have direct contact with the base. Cover the filled and closed jars with an inch or so of hot water and boil for 10 minutes. 

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Beat The Chill

The flavorful way to beat a cold snap, cook with curry. This will definately warm you up from the inside out. A good curry spice mix has a well rounded balance of flavors with a touch of heat!

Curry powder is more of a generic term for a blend of different spices. As with many things, curry powder can have more spices added to the mixture, to suit your the taste. Most recipes and producers of curry powder usually include; coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek (like clover), and red pepper in their blends. Depending on country origin, the curry recipe may also include additional ingredients such as ginger, garlic, asafoetida, fennel seed, caraway, cinnamon, clove, mustard seed, green cardamom, black cardamom, nutmeg, long pepper, and black pepper may also be added. 

Curry Spinach Bean Soup

Makes 6 servings 

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2 tablespoons olive oil 

2 Italian sausage links, hot or sweet, removed from casing

1/2 cup chopped onion 

1/2 cup chopped carrot 

4 cloves garlic, chopped 

1 cup tomato sauce

1 Tablespoon curry powder

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped 

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, more if you like it spicy 

1 cup potatoes, peeled and chopped 

3 cups chicken broth 

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 

2 cups baby spinach, washed, dried and chopped 

Fresh ground black pepper to taste 

Pre heat a large soup or saucepot to a medium heat. Add olive oil, sausage meat, onion, carrot, garlic, hot pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until the sausage is light brown and vegetables are tender. Add the potato, tomato sauce, broth, thyme, curry and beans. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer, cover and cook about 30 minutes. Puree one half of soup in food processor. Return pureed soup back to soup pot. 

Bring soup back to a boil, turn down to a simmer and add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Add pepper to taste, serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

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