Sweet & Savory Inspired Dinner

Today I cooked pork & apple sausages, quinoa with red onions and a warm zucchini, yellow pepper, tomato with feta cheese salad.

Living in the UK for nearly 2 years now, my love of sausages has definitely been taken to another level.  Walking down the supermarket isle for meats, there are endless amounts of sausage options and I was inspired to make my own sweet and savory ones.

Quinoa is my new favorite grain, both healthy for you, easy to cook and has a great texture.  It is so versatile and can be spiced in so many different ways. This grain has lots of history dating back to the Incan civilization which is quite interesting.




Pork & Apple Sausages
Serves 4

1 kg lean ground pork  1 chopped onion 1 finely diced apple (cooking) 2 tsps marjoram 2 tsps sage (dried) 1 tsp fennel seed

grated nutmeg (eigth of a nut) black pepper (ground) sea salt (ground) to taste 100 grams breadcrumbs (white) A pinch of brown sugar 1 egg white sausage skin

1. Sautee the onions and the apples in minimal olive oil until the onions are translucent.  The apples should be tender with some crispness still in the center for the texture and put off the the side to cool 2. Add all the ingredients into a bowl and mix throughly.  Take a small meatball size and pan fry and check for flavor and season with salt according to preference. 3. Put your mixture into a ziplock bag and cut the corner.  Use a large icing tip if you have one, but you can do it without.  Fill the sausage casing, twist and tie off.  These are also great as sausage pattys if you rather skip the casing part. 4. Cook under medium grill for 20 minutes or until golden brown and middle is cooked through Quinoa with Red Onion and Raisins 1 cup of quinoa 4 cups of water 1 vegetable bullion 1/2 red onion diced 1/2 cup of raisins green scallions 1. Add the water, quinoa, vegetable cube, red onion  to a pot and bring to a boil. 2. Cover and leave on low heat for 20 minutes stirring occasionally until quinoa is tender 3. Add in raisins and chopped green scallions and leave off the heat for 10 minutes 4. Fork the quinoa to separate any clumps and to make fluffy just before serving Warm Zucchini, Tomato, Yellow Pepper with Feta Cheese Salad 1 long sliced whole zucchini 10 quartered cherry tomatoes 1 whole diced yellow pepper 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese 2 fresh mint leaves (or basil) 1 tbs of chopped parsley Fig balsamic vinegar 1. Blanch the zucchini in boiling water and drain.  Leave standing to cool. 2. Add all the chopped vegetables, cheese and herbs to a bowl with the zucchini, add salt and pepper to taste 3. Plate the salad and top with fig balsamic vinegar

My kind of cooking!

Every chef is inspired by their heritage, training and personal experiences.  My cooking style is just that, a blend of my Greek and Colombian background, growing up in New York with a fusion of cultures around me, and living in the UK for the past 2 years with European influence.

My food is full of flavor, easy to prepare and focuses on the presentation by adding in many colorful ingredients.  My mother's focus on health through good food has been a big part of the ingredients I chose and how I prepare the dishes also focuses on healthy lifestyle to boost energy, provide many vitamins an nutrients while keeping unnecessary fats and calories out.

I am based in New York City, Long Island & Wales, available for private dinners, small parties or visit my website for a list of upcoming cooking classes www.cookingwithjessiemarie.com that will be going live end of September with courses beginning in January 2013.  Food & hospitality marketing inquiries should visit my company TSO Creative for more information.