Italian Turkey Sausage and Portobello Mushroom Crepes

Back when I was in college, I really liked to make crepes.  They're cheap, you can fill them with all kinds of things, and it's easy to make a ton all at once and store them- kind of like tortillas, except cheaper- and probably less healthy.  At one point, I even actually compiled a list of links to crepe filling recipes on my written blog, but I never actually got around to trying most of them.  I was going through some of my old LiveJournal entries a while back, looking for something else entirely, when I ran into the crepe filling recipes and was intrigued by the sausage-portobello filling, and decided to give it a try.  The recipe linked in that post is rather muddled, with the instruction telling you to add things that aren't not in the ingredients list, so I ended up basing my recipe only loosely on that one, but the end result was fantastic.  Justin and I both loved it.  If you want to start out with actual Italian sausage, you can feel free to do so and save yourself a little bit of work- I just used turkey sausage and added spices, since Walmart was sold out of most brands of Italian sausage, making the turkey sausage cheaper at the time that I bought it.

For the Crepes:
4 eggs
3 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk.  Add milk, flour, oil and sugar; beat until well mixed.  Heat a lightly greased very small skillet, and add 2-4 Tbsp of batter; lift and tilt the skillet to spread the batter all across the bottom.  Return skillet to heat; brown, flip over, and briefly cook the other side (kind of like pancakes, except much thinner).  You'll be spending a goodly amount of time at the stove cooking the crepes- if you've got 2 small skillets you can actually get 2 pans going at once.  Meanwhile, while the crepes are cooking, work on making up the filling as follows:

To turn Turkey Sausage into Italian Sausage:
1 lb turkey sausage
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Dash dried red pepper flakes
1 tsp fennel, crushed (I used Justin's mortar and pestle to just crush it up a bit- not ground too fine)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp minced dried onion
1 tsp salt

Put the sausage and all the spices into a medium sized saucepan and cook for 10-12 minutes or until the sausage is well browned.  

For the Filling:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Portobello mushroom caps, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
browned Italian sausage

In a medium-large saucepan, melt the butter and add the mushrooms, garlic, and onions.  Cook until the mushrooms release their liquid, around 5 minutes.  Add the browned sausage and cook until heated through.  Add the flour, and mix thoroughly, then add the cream, and cook until thickened and bubbly.

Easy Roasted Potatoes

This potato recipe is quick and easy to toss in the oven while I cook something on the stove top.  I adapted it slightly from one in our awesome Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 lb potatoes (about 6), scrubbed and quartered (you could also peel them, but they end up slightly crispier with the peels on)
1/4 cup olive oil
onion powder
garlic salt
pepper
paprika
Chinese 5 spice mix

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450º.  Place quartered potatoes in a 7.5 x 11" baking pan and drizzle olive oil over the top.  Sprinkle heavily with spices to taste.  Stir up the potatoes to coat them all over with oil and spices.  Bake at 450º for 15 minutes, stir, and bake 15 minutes more, or until potatoes are tender and brown on the edges.