Category: MISC

Stuffed Bell Peppers Italiano

It’s Fire Day Friday but you can make this one in your oven too. It’s just not as fun.

I was sitting at my desk at work reading government guidance about performing IT risk assessments (exciting stuff, really) when the idea of this dish popped into my head. I love stuffed bell peppers but they have always been the traditional ones stuffed with a rice and beef/chorizo mixture.

But before I get into that, check out the giveaway package that Robyn is running over at Grill Grrrl. As if the autographed Michael Symon book isn’t good enough, she’s throwing in all of this other great stuff! So get over there and enter.

Okay, back to my idea. I thought that I would make stuffed peppers but make them with an Italian influence. Kind of like a lasagna inside of a bell pepper. Since this was a total off the wall idea, I only made two of them in case they sucked and made our Italian Skillet Slop for the boys.

Stuffed Bell Peppers Italiano
Source: NibbleMeThis

2 ea green bell peppers
5 oz Italian sausage
½ cup ditalini pasta
3-4 oz cream cheese
½ cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp basil, dried
¾ cup marinara sauce

Cut the tops of the peppers off and remove the seeds. Parboil them for 3 minutes, remove and drain.

Cook the pasta and drain. Ditalini is a small pasta (see pic below) which works perfect for this dish.


Brown the sausage.

Mix the cream cheese, mozzarella, and basil together. I would have used ricotta cheese instead if I had it but the cream cheese worked.

Now assemble your stuffed peppers in layers like this.

A few tablespoons of pasta, about 1/4th of the cheese mixture in each of the two peppers, the sausage, and a few tablespoons of the marinara sauce. Feel free to use your favorite marinara or jarred marinara. I made a quick one.

Quick Pseudo Marinara
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp oregano, dried
¼ cup marsala wine (I was out of red)

Sauté the garlic for 1-2 minutes in the butter and oil. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30-45 minutes. I hit them with the immersion blender about 30 minutes in.

Set your grill up for an indirect heat cook at 350f (or put in a 350f oven). Put the peppers in a casserole dish or individual baking dishes. I wasn’t sure how this would turn out so I put some of the cheese mixture on one of them and was going to add the other one later.

I baked them on the Big Green Egg for about 20 minutes. Then I added the cheese mix to the other one, put the rest of the marinara sauce in the boats, and tossed in the last of the cheese mix on that.

Meanwhile, Alexis was cooking another garlic bread roll on her Egg. We got this recipe from Rex at Savory Reviews. We had to bend it because it was too big to fit on the pizza stone. That didn’t affect taste at all.


I cooked the peppers for about another 15-20 minutes and then took them off to serve.

These worked great as a concept and was a very good dish. But this is more of a technique than a recipe. You could do the same idea with any of your favorite pasta and sauces and it would come out wonderful. Just doing this technique with leftover spaghetti would be great too.

BEEF VEGETABLE STEW revisited

BEEF STEW

1 pound lean beef stew eat, cut into cubes
1/2 pound baby carrots, halved
1 large Vidalia onion, peeled and quartered
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Knorr Spring Vegetable Recipe Mix
1 cup V8 juice*
1/4 cup white zinfandel wine*
2 tablespoons brown sugar*
1 tablespoons tapioca*

  • Spray bottom of slow cooker lightly with PURE!
  • Place the beef cubes in the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • Layer onions over top of beef.
  • In a mortar and pestle, grind all the seasonings together to reactivate their properties.
  • Add to Knorr Spring vegetable mix and blend well.
  • Sprinkle over the meat and onions.
  • Add carrots.
  • Whisk together the wine, V8 juice, brown sugar and tapioca until sugar and tapioca is completely dissolved.
  • Pour this over meat and vegetables.
  • Cover and cook on low 5 hours, undisturbed.
  • DO NOT CHECK ON IT!
  • Serve Immediately over mashed potatoes.
*The tapioca, wine and brown sugar make a really nice thick gravy consistency with robust flavor when mixed with the V8.

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Plan now to Steal – A recipe for your kid’s Halloween Candy

Save your kids from a lifetime of obesity… Steal their candy and make these little delights for yourself…

Fast and easy… Little baby candy bars and some puff pastry…

Wrapped in a square of puff pastry and you have a nice tasty little treat (and the kids stay fit and healthy).

A couple hints, roll out the puff pastry just about as flat as you can.  The pastry puffs up (duh).  You want these to stay bite size.  And the egg wash I talk about is VERY important.  Without good seals, the guts will blow out the pastry and not look right (tastes fine, but you want the little bundles, not a flatbread treat).

1 4X4 square of rolled out Puff Pastry
1 Egg, beaten for an egg wash to seal edges
a bit of candy bar… I used 1/2 a reese’s and/or 2 of the mini Crunch

And, pretty much that’s it… 

Bring the 4 corners together over the stuffing, press edges to seal and do a twist of the top.  Bake them in a 350 degree oven on parchment paper for 35 minutes and you have a Candy bar in a pastry!


Garnish with some fruit and drizzled chocolate if you like.  Garnish with the fruit just to keep the little darlings away from your stash!


Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. It really is just this easy!  

 … I CAN COOK THAT! 

And so can you!







TEXAS RED CHICKEN

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 medium Vidalia onion, diced
2 cups homemade chicken broth
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce

  • Whisk together the ketchup, BBQ sauce vinegar, soy sauce, broth and sugar.
  • Place chicken pieces in slow cooker.
  • Add onion pieces.
  • Pour ketchup mixture over top.
  • Cook on low 6-8 hours.
  • Remove chicken and shred – add back to sauce.
  • Serve over Rice or on buns.

Save Room for Dessert…Coconut Pound Cake

Coconut, how do I love thee?  Truly, I love coconut.  The flavor.  The texture.  The aroma.  In a pie, in a cookie, in a cake, in a drink.  If you’re serving coconut, send me an invitation.  I have noticed, however, that coconut tends to be polarizing.  It’s either one or the other,  “Is that coconut?  Yummmm, I adore coconut.”  or “Is that coconut?  Gross, I hate coconut!”  I can’t say that I’ve heard any noncommittal responses.  Since today’s post is all about coconut, I hope the majority of you are coconut lovers…

Coconut Pound Cake  

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups coconut, divided
1 3/4 cups flour
4 eggs
1 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

1 vanilla bean
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache
Vanilla Glaze

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Butter and flour a Bundt pan (this cake will stick, so be sure to use the flour)
In a food processor, process 3 cups of the coconut with the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Process until the coconut has been fully ground into the flour.  Set aside.
In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. 
Add eggs one at a time.
Scrape vanilla bean and add paste to butter mixture.
Add yogurt and mix well.
Finally, stir in flour.
Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour or until tester inserted comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool for 20-25 minutes before inverting, then cool completely before applying glazes.
Pour on vanilla glaze and allow to set.  Once set, pour on chocolate glaze and sprinkle on remaining coconut.
Serve.

Vanilla Glaze
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 tablespoons whole milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Microwave butter and 4 tablespoons milk until butter melts.  Stir in vanilla and salt.  Add powdered sugar and stir until smooth.  If glaze is too thick, add additional milk until desired consistency is reached.

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla
Microwave heavy cream and chocolate chips for 60 seconds.  Remove and stir.  Return and microwave for another 30 seconds, stirring and returning to microwave for 30 second intervals until chocolate has melted.  Allow to cool before using.

IT’S TAILGATING TIME!

We’re HUGE Ffootball fans!  We do a count down in August to pre-season every year and never miss a game when at all humanly possible!  Well, it’s that time of year again! Football season is already 3 weeks old (where does the time go?) and that means it’s time for tailgating at the games, serious football food and game day buffets.  Bring over your best appetizers and your biggest appetite and oh don’t forget the Brewskis to go with it all.  I like mine really cold please with a side of lime!
Tailgating Time will be posted every Sunday at noon and open all week for you to add your football favorites. We’ll play each and every week until Superbowl Sunday. I can’t wait to see what you’ll be bringing!
It’s Tailgating Time!
HOSTED BY:
Martha at Seaside Simplicity 
Tamy at 3 sides of Crazy 
Lyndsey at Tiny Skillet
Would you like to be a host of Tailgating Time too? 

Leave me a comment here with your email or with Martha over at Seaside Simplicity so we can send you the code and add you to the host list – more exposure, more links, more football food!

HOT WING SALAD aka VOODOO CHICKEN SALAD

Do you facebook?  I have to admit I did until this.  But, I digress, I played a few of the games while sitting on hold or watching TV late at night.  One of the things that came to mind on CAFEWORLD was, “are these real recipes?”  I did find a recipe for VOODOO CHICKEN SALAD, but it was nothing like I expected so I am making my own!


HOT WING SALAD aka VOODOO CHICKEN SALAD
Romaine Lettuce, torn and washed
1 large Heirloom tomato, diced
1 small red onion, sliced thin
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces 

2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
hidden valley ranch dressing mix (DRY) OR Good Seasons Italian dressing mix (DRY)

1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup crumbled Bleu Cheese
  • I prepare the chicken breasts the same as you would HOT WINGS. 
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Wash and dry the chicken pieces.
  • Mix together the flour and seasonings in a plastic ziploc bag. Using a ziploc bag makes it easy to throw away the whole mess after dredging all the chicken pieces and it helps you coat every possible spot of the chicken pieces.
  • Add chicken a few pieces at a time and coat them well. Set chicken pieces aside.
  • While you’re doing this, have the butter melting in the pan. Start with 4 tablespoons and add as necessary, but make sure you don’t run out dry.
  • Once all the chicken has been dredged start frying. After you have the pan full pepper the pieces again. Don’t turn the chicken until you can see blood. You only need to turn the chicken one time. Brown evenly and then set aside on paper towels until all pieces have been fried.
  • As the last batch is frying melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a flat bowl. To that add 1/2 cup of Frank’s hot sauce.  Whisk them together well.
  • Spray a cookie sheet with PURE.
  • Dip each piece of chicken into the hot sauce mixture and put on cookie sheet.
  • After you’re all done and if you have hot sauce & butter mixture left, pour a little over the top of each wing.
  • Bake for 30 minutes.
  • Toss the torn lettuce, onion and tomatoes with the lemon and lime juice.
  • Add cooled chicken pieces and bleu cheese crumbles.
  • Pour on the desired amount of dressing and toss well.
  • Enjoy!

WEEKLY MENU

Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie

 DATE BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER
MONDAY 10/4 CEREAL SANDWICHES ORIENTAL CHICKEN
TUESDAY 10/5 TOAST LEFTOVERS LEMON CHICKEN PASTA
WEDNESDAY 10/6 YOGURT OUT SPICY HONEY BRUSHED CHICKEN THIGHS
THURSDAY 10/7 FRUIT LEFTOVERS BANG BANG SHRIMP
FRIDAY 10/8 OATMEAL C.O.R.N. POLLO IN POTACCHIO
SATURDAY 10/9 EGGCHILADAS leftovers SPAGHETTI with CABBAGE & SMOKED SAUSAGE
SUNDAY 10/10 BREAKFAST PIZZA out CHILI DOG CASSEROLE

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PORK CHOPS with RED PEPPER SAUCE

Hi Tamy here just filling for Simple Saturday.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium Vidalia onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups roasted red peppers
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon  flour
 3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup Gruyere cheese
grated Parmesan cheese and basil for topping
salt and pepper to taste
  • In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant, 5-7 minutes.  Add in red peppers and basil, continuing to cook until peppers are heated through.  Stir in white wine and continue to cook for one more minute.  Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.  Carefully pour into a food processor.  Turn on food processor and let run until pepper mix is creamy and only has small lumps.  Set aside.
  • Rinse out the medium sauce pan and add in the butter over medium heat.  Once butter has melted, whisk in flour and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.  Whisk in milk, stir constantly, and continue to cook until the sauce begins to thicken.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese, continually stirring until cheese has melted.  Stir in pepper mixture and return to stove stop.  Over medium low heat, return sauce to a warm temperature to serve.
  • To serve, pour over your choice of pasta and top with the Parmesan cheese and more fresh basil.
Tonight I sliced a few potatoes into a pan.  Salt and peppered them well, Tossed a few pieces of white American cheese over the potatoes.  Topped them with browned some pork chops.  Poured the sauce over top and baked at 350 degrees for an hour.  The guys all but licked their plates!