Archive | Blog RSS feed for this section

By Corie Cameron

Guest blogger Corie Cameron cooks beautiful food at home. She’s letting us in her kitchen for great posts using Isernio’s products.

Hi! I’m Corie and I think potato skins are amazing!

The skin of the potato has all the vitamins and nutrients and I love the chewy, firm texture of them. I DON’T love the unhealthy versions you see in so many restaurants, so I set out to make a healthy, delicious, guilt-free version as part of my Whole 30 plan to kick off 2017.

First, I sauteed up Isernio’s Ground Chicken with my favorite taco seasonings, added in some onion and garlic, and then used the potato skin as a base. My husband, Sean, actually refuses to call these anything other than “Po-tacos.” To top them off with creamy goodness, I made a Paleo ranch dressing and tossed some of that on as well.

These would be such a fun Super Bowl dish!

Ingredients:

• 4 Russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound Isernio’s Ground Chicken
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 head romaine

Pico De Gallo:

• 1 tomato
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup minced red onion

Paleo Ranch:

• 1 cup homemade mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp chopped dill
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425. Pierce the potatoes all over and set them on a baking sheet. Bake them for 50 minutes-1 hour until you can easily pierce them with a knife.

Saute the onions and garlic until softened and aromatic.

Add the ground chicken to the pan and crumble it up as it cooks. Sprinkle over the paprika, coriander, chili powder, cumin and salt.

Finely chop the lettuce and set this aside.

Stir all the ingredients for the pico de gallo and taste for seasoning.

When the potatoes are fully cooked, take them out and slice them in half lengthwise. Once they are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh, making sure to leave 1/4 inch along the sides so they hold their shape.

Fill each potato skin with some lettuce, some chicken mixture, and the pico de gallo, in whatever order you wish.

Blend all of the ranch ingredients together and taste for seasoning. Drizzle it over the potato skins and serve with a side of this ranch and some hot sauce. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve at once! Bon Appetit!
For a full step-by-step, picture-by-picture look at this recipe, check out the original blog post by author Corie Cameron on her site, Good Life Everyday.

After a successful win in the first round of the playoffs, our local, beloved Seahawks are heading to Atlanta on Saturday for an afternoon showdown. And what better way to celebrate the rough and rowdy game that’s sure to go down than with some bird-tastic inspired recipes. If you’re all about keeping it simple, with a little healthy choice thrown in, then starting with a package of Isernio’s Ground Chicken is the easy first step to tackle these awesome, crowd-pleasing recipes.

Ground Chicken Tacos with Creamy Salsa

From Food Network

A DIY taco bar is always a team favorite, and all you have to do for this recipe is cook veggies, toss in the ground chicken, season, and keep it warm in your crockpot for serve-yourself action. Get crazy with your own selection of toppings, and top it all off with a spicy, creamy salsa.

Get the recipe

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bites

From AllRecipes.com

With only five ingredients, these super easy bites are the portable version of the far fancier classic entree. Ground chicken, diced ham and swiss, an egg, and breadcrumbs are all you need to class up the joint on gameday. Pro tip: Toss a little parmesan with your breadcrumbs to add a double hit of cheese.

Get the recipe

Chicken Kebab in Lettuce Cups

From Martha Stewart

Super healthy, super flavorful, and super easy, these kebabs can be served with or without the lettuce cups, though adding a little greenery also makes an easy holder for a little herb or onion salad on top. Don’t want to drop em in the cups? No problem, just serve the kebabs on a platter with a dipping sauce of your choice.

Get the recipe

Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

From AllRecipes

Cheese is the answer to so many flavor-making questions, and these are the perfect blend of ground chicken, roasted garlic cream cheese, and parmesan. They taste so luxurious but won’t put you and the team on the bench like some other, heavier meatball versions. Serve with your own marinara or other dipping sauce for a guaranteed touchdown.

Get the recipe

Buffalo Chicken Bites

From Martha Stewart

These meatballs come from New York City’s The Meatball Shop, but despite their restaurant pedigree, they couldn’t be easier. Whip up some Frank’s RedHot Sauce with butter, blend it with ground chicken, celery, eggs, salt, and breadcrumbs, and serve it all like classic Buffalo wings, with ranch or blue cheese dressing. That’s a recipe favorite first down.

Get the recipe

Look for Isernio’s all-natural ground chicken in stores near you and share your own favorite recipes with us!

This 4th of July, take your Brats to the next level with this delicious topping of caramelized onions and crispy bacon!

The chutney actually tastes great as a topping for any of our sausages, but we highly recommend it on our new Bratwurst with Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar.  If you haven’t tried it yet, be sure to look for this new sausage in the butcher block at Fred Meyer stores.  This savory bratwurst is laced with generous shreds of Beecher’s Handmade Flagship Cheddar for pretty much the ultimate cheese/sausage experience, if we do say so ourselves.

We used Hempler’s Center Cut Bacon in this recipe – not only is Hempler’s our sister company, but their bacon is hands-down the best of the best.  Crafted in the Northwest from a time-honored family recipe, using all-natural pork raised with no antibiotics on a vegetarian diet, you won’t find a leaner or more flavorful bacon anywhere.

Thinly sliced onions are combined with crispy bacon pieces and cooked down to a sweet and savory chutney that pairs perfectly with grilled sausage on a bun….there’s no resisting all that flavor!

Give this recipe a try and let us know what you think:

Bratwurst with Bacon Onion Chutney
(Adapted from Michael Symon’s Beer Brats with Bacon Onion Chutney)

Ingredients:
8 Isernio’s Bratwurst with Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar (or 8 of your favorite Isernio’s Sausage link variety)
1 Tb. Olive Oil
1/2 pound Hempler’s Bacon
2 Yellow Onions, sliced thinly
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 sprigs Thyme (leaves only)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tb. Brown Sugar
1 Tb. Mustard Seeds
Salt & Pepper
1/4 cup Beer or Water
8 of your favorite buns
Your favorite mustard for serving, if desired

Method:

For the Chutney:
Slice the bacon into 1/2″ pieces, and fry in a skillet over medium heat, until crisp.  Remove bacon, leaving the fat in the skillet.  Add sliced onions and cook until transparent, about 10 minutes.

Add the bacon back into the skillet, folding into the onions.  Turn heat down to low and cook, stirring frequently, for an additional 15 minutes.  Add garlic and thyme leaves and cook 2 more minutes.  Then add the vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seed and salt & pepper to taste.  Cook 3-4 minutes, and add the beer or water, and then cook an additional 4 minutes.

For the Sausages:
Bring a skillet of water large enough to immerse your sausages, to a boil.  Lower uncooked sausages into boiling water, place the lid on and immediately turn heat off.  Let sausages sit in the hot water for approximately 7 minutes.

Remove the sausages from the water, and place on an oiled grill pre-heated to medium heat.  Grill sausages, turning every 2-3 minutes, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Sausages should reach an internal temperature of 155°F for pork and 165°F for chicken.

Lightly toast buns if desired.  When sausages and chutney are ready, serve a sausage on a bun topped with a generous amount of chutney and your favorite mustard if desired.

Top these Brats with the Bacon Onion Chutney and your favorite mustard and enjoy!

Whether Dad wants to sit back and let someone else do the cooking, or if he prefers to man the grill himself, these Grilled Sausage Skewers make the perfect (and EASY) Father’s Day meal.

The secret to great grilled sausage is to par-cook the sausages in hot water, and then finish them off on the grill.
So, start with your favorite Isernio’s sausage link varieties – you can use any combination of pork or chicken links – whatever suits your taste.  Bring a pot of water to boil.  Once it’s boiling, drop the sausages in the water and turn off the heat.  Cover the pot and let it sit for 7 minutes.  

Take the sausages out and drain on paper towels (at this point, if you wanted to prep this meal ahead of time, you could put them in an ice bath to cool them down quickly, and then refrigerate).  Cut each sausage diagonally into 4 pieces.  The sausages will be almost, but not quite, fully cooked at this point.  You’ll be finishing them off on the grill.

Then, cut your favorite vegetables into bite size pieces.  You can use a variety of brightly colored bell peppers, onion, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes…whatever sounds good!  In a bowl, drizzle the vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Soak your wooden skewers in water for about 20 minutes before grilling, to prevent them from burning.  Skewer the sausage slices and veggies on to the skewers.

Heat your grill to medium heat.  Place the skewers on the grill and brush with olive oil.  Grill the skewers about 5 minutes per side, until the sausage is completely cooked (reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit) and the veggies are nice and tender.

Serve with a side of crusty bread, and of course Dad’s favorite beverage!

Full Recipe:

Ingredients:
4 Isernio’s Sausage Links – your favorite variety
2 Bell Peppers – Red, Yellow, Green or Orange
1 Red Onion
1 Zucchini
(or any other of your favorite vegetables – e.g. mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, etc.)
3 Tb. Olive Oil, plus extra for brushing on skewers during grilling
Salt & Pepper

Wooden skewers – pre-soaked in water for 20 minutes.

Method:
First pre-cook the sausages.  Bring a pot of water to boil.  Immerse the sausages in water, cover the pot and turn off the heat.  Let the sausages sit for 7 minutes, covered in the hot water.

Remove sausages from water and slice each link diagonally into 4 pieces.  (Sausages will not be completely cooked through at this point.)

Cut peppers, onion and zucchini into bite size chunks and place into a bowl.  Drizzle vegetables with 3 Tb. olive oil and season with salt & pepper.  Toss to coat.

Thread sausage and vegetables onto wooden skewers.

Heat grill to medium heat.  Brush skewers with olive oil and grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side, until sausage reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit and vegetables are tender.

Makes: 4 skewers

Nothing says love like a big pot of hot, homemade, delicious soup.  Our friend Cindy from Vancouver, WA created this absolutely divine Italian-style creamy soup for us, using Isernio’s All-Natural Italian Chicken Sausage and NW favorite Hempler’s handcrafted bacon.  It would be a perfect home-cooked meal for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day!

The best part is this soup cooks all day in the slow cooker, leaving you more quality time to spend with your loved one.  Serve it up with some warm crusty bread and a salad (on a candlelit table for two, of course) for an easy romantic meal!

Ingredients

• 1 pound Isernio Italian Chicken sausage roll
• 4-6 russet potatoes cut into bite-sized cubes
• 2 cans white beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup bacon, cooked and chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tsp thyme
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Chopped Parsley for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cayenne pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Brown sausage in a sauté pan add onion and cook with sausage until onions are softened.
2. Place sausage/onion mixture, chicken broth, garlic, potatoes, and white beans in slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and meat.
3. Cook on high 3-4 hours (low 5-6 hours) until potatoes are soft.

30 minutes before serving:

4. Mix flour into cream removing lumps.
5. Add cream and thyme to the crock pot, stir.
6. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly.
7. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.
8. Top with bacon and parsley immediately before serving.