Well folks, this one was a ton of fun. From conceptualizing it, to creating it, to cooking it, to eating it, this was about the most fun meal I've ever done. It looked magnificent and tasted even better. Cannot begin to tell you how happy I was with the results of this one. I kinda thought through it most of the day yesterday but couldn't really decide how to go about putting it together. Finally I just decided to go for it and come what may. Well, here is what cometh:
Got some of my spicy red sauce going
Some homemade spicy Italian sausage
Sausage browned and drained, sauce all done. Time to start putting it together. Start with some sauce in the bottom of the 8" CI skillets
Add the first round of sausage
Next is some egg noodles
A whole bunch of cheese, but we aren't done yet
More sausage...and my feet again
More noodles
More sauce and more feet
More cheese. "More" is the word for the day I guess. Now we are ready to go onto the Rec Tec
And we're off!!
Mixed up some garlic butter and slathered it all over some Artesano rolls that Tracy bought and those go on the grill. I also did a dipping sauce for the bread with my garlic olive oil and some Tuscan spices
Skillets coming along nicely
We are ready to eat!! Money shot(s). Two pics
Not only was this fun to create, the flavor was spectacular. Yes, it's goofy, weird, off-the-wall, and maybe a bit bizarre but it was creative and an absolute blast all the way around. What's fun also is that it didn't take a whole lot of time to do. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes of prep time and about 45 minutes on the Rec Tec. I started it low and slow (225) to give it a chance to get a bit of smoke flavor then ran the temp up to 400 so the cheese would melt and the top brown up a little bit. A really nice smoky background flavor melding with the spices and 6 different cheeses was just off the charts!! Add to that, everything cooked in cast iron is just better...period. I knew as soon as I pulled the skillets off the grill that it was gonna be good, I just didn't know how good. Tracy was getting her first bite as I was sitting down (I had to play with my food before I could start eating) and she had that devious little smile going that told me everything I needed to know: I'd done it right.
One more for the record books,
Robert
Got some of my spicy red sauce going
Some homemade spicy Italian sausage
Sausage browned and drained, sauce all done. Time to start putting it together. Start with some sauce in the bottom of the 8" CI skillets
Add the first round of sausage
Next is some egg noodles
A whole bunch of cheese, but we aren't done yet
More sausage...and my feet again
More noodles
More sauce and more feet
More cheese. "More" is the word for the day I guess. Now we are ready to go onto the Rec Tec
And we're off!!
Mixed up some garlic butter and slathered it all over some Artesano rolls that Tracy bought and those go on the grill. I also did a dipping sauce for the bread with my garlic olive oil and some Tuscan spices
Skillets coming along nicely
We are ready to eat!! Money shot(s). Two pics
Not only was this fun to create, the flavor was spectacular. Yes, it's goofy, weird, off-the-wall, and maybe a bit bizarre but it was creative and an absolute blast all the way around. What's fun also is that it didn't take a whole lot of time to do. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes of prep time and about 45 minutes on the Rec Tec. I started it low and slow (225) to give it a chance to get a bit of smoke flavor then ran the temp up to 400 so the cheese would melt and the top brown up a little bit. A really nice smoky background flavor melding with the spices and 6 different cheeses was just off the charts!! Add to that, everything cooked in cast iron is just better...period. I knew as soon as I pulled the skillets off the grill that it was gonna be good, I just didn't know how good. Tracy was getting her first bite as I was sitting down (I had to play with my food before I could start eating) and she had that devious little smile going that told me everything I needed to know: I'd done it right.
One more for the record books,
Robert