A few days ago I was really in a cooking mood. It’s been a stressful few weeks and I was feeling really excited to get in the kitchen and whip up something delicious. Only one hitch in the plan though….I was too lazy to go to the grocery store. So instead, I decided to challenge myself to come up with something new and tasty by “shopping” in my kitchen. Think of it as embracing the freegan lifestyle, but without the part that involves dumpster diving for expired hot dogs.
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| photo via Bloomberg Business Week |
At any rate, I scrounged around for a while and eventually found a package of chicken sausage and frozen pierogies. Score! I love pierogies and had completely forgotten about them….until now. The resulting dinner was delicious and gave me warm, fuzzy memories of my Pittsburgh days (Hail to Pitt!).
Now I’m feeling really proud of myself for making a new recipe and saving money by using forgotten freezer food. What do you say readers? Have you ever shopped in your own kitchen for dinner? How did it turn out?
Bourbon Maple Braised Sausage & Pierogies
1 12 oz package chicken and apple sausage, sliced
1 16 oz package pierogies
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup bourbon
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
1 tbsp olive oil
- Cook pierogies according to package directions.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan and saute sausage and onions in a frying pan until the onions soften and the sausage browns (about 2-3 minutes).
- Turn off heat and add the bourbon to the pan to deglaze. Turn on the heat and cook off the alcohol. Add the maple syrup and chicken broth to the pan and simmer until reduced by half (about 10 minutes).
- Add the pierogies to the pan and heat through.
As it happens, I'm doing that very thing. It's clean-out-the-freezer week at our house, so each night we'll have whatever's in there. I know there's some really good stuff, but there are also a few things that are questionable. At the end of the week, the freezer gets a good scrubbing...and we'll go out for dinner.
ReplyDeleteYikes! questionable stuff is always scary, I once found some old ham hocks and was tempted to make collards but then my smarter side prevailed and I trashed them instead. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to do a better job of menu planning next time!
ReplyDeleteLoved this! And since I'm moving in less than two weeks I've been mega-scrounging through the fridge, freezer and pantry. I've come up with some interesting recipes, but haven't discovered any expired hot dogs...yet...
ReplyDeleteThanks Warren! So glad you appreciated the recipe and good luck with your move, hopefully everything will go smoothly :)
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