Stuffed Poblano Peppers

roast 8 poblano peppers under the broiler...keep flipping to blacken each side...can also do this over gas burner or grill

Put peppers into a paper bag. Close. Let sit 10 minutes.

Peel the skin from the peppers. Cut a small slit in the center of each pepper, being careful to leave the ends closed. Carefully scoop out seeds. FREEZE the peppers for 15 minutes.

In a bowl, mix together your ingredients to stuff the peppers. You can try all sorts of flavors. I followed a recipe in High Flavor, Low Fat Vegetarian Cooking by Steven Raichlen. Called for 1 1/2 cups of corn, 4 scallions (minced), 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, 2 -4 oz goat cheese (or sharp cheddar...grated), 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro. Mix it all together.

Remove peppers from freezer. Stuff each with mixture. Roll each pepper in flour, then egg whites, then cornmeal. Put on baking sheet. Drizzle each with olive oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until crusty and golden brown. I drizzled hot sauce and garlic sauce on mine...

Garlic Sauce:

Put 10 cloves of garlic in a pot with 1 cup vegetable stock. Simmer over medium heat about ten minutes or until garlic is soft. Stock will evaporate down. You'll want to have at least 1/2 cup stock left. Add more if too much dissappears.

Stir in 1/2 cup sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt), 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, salt and pepper. PUREE with an immersion blender or pour into a blender and puree. Correct seasonings as needed.

Grit Casserole

Not all Southerners are fans of grits.  I personally hated them for many years.  But.  Now.  I’m converted.  I just love a bowl of warm creamy grits loaded with butter.  Add cheese and eggs then bake—oooooo—ahhhhhhh…..

You’ll Need:

A small bag of grits goes a long way.  You only need 1 1/3 cup

5 1/3 cups of water

1/4 cup butter

salt

cheese (can leave it out if you’re weird)…I used Cheddar but would be good with smoked gouda or other bold cheeses…you can use as much or as little as you like.  I used about 2 ounces

4 eggs, beaten

Step One: Boil water.  Not a difficult first step.  Put your 5 1/3 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil.

Step Two: Add the Grits and salt. Stir the 1 1/3 cups of grits and about a teaspoon of salt into the boiling water.  Turn heat down to low/med. low, put a lid on the pot, and cook for about 7 minutes.

Step Three: Beat it. While the grits are cooking, beat the four eggs in a bowl.  Get out your glass (works best) or ceramic casserole dish. Butter it.

Step Four: Mix. When the grits are done, remove them from the heat.  Stir in the cheese.  Then stir in all but 2 tablespoons of your remaining butter.  Now stir in the the eggs.  Mix it all up and pour it into the casserole dish.  Put little dollops of the remaining butter on top.

Step Five: Bake. 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  But keep an eye on it.  If your dish is large and the casserole shallow, it won’t take as long.  I think you’d have to try really hard to mess this dish up.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars

click the image to go to the recipe

Pesto Bread Loaf

I suppose you can use any sort of bread dough that might go well with pesto (and what doesn’t really?) but I favor a white bread dough.  The ingredients for the dough I used are 5/8 cup of buttermilk (or milk…or soy milk), 2/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 4 cups of bread flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast.

When you have kneaded the bread and let it rise in a warm place (covered), punch it down on a lightly floured surface.  Roll it out into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick.  Spread roughly 7 tablespoons of pesto over it.  Roll it up lengthwise like a jellyroll.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled 10×4 loaf pan.  Tuck the ends under and make sure the seam side is down.  Cover with oiled plastic wrap.  Let rise in warm spot 45 minutes.

Cut four slits across the top.  Brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until browned and makes a hollow sound when you tap it.

Sunshine burgers

Thought I’d try this veggie burger made without soy….the protein comes from sunflower seeds…The brown rice pieces get a bit too crunchy though.  Not as good as a “Griller’s Prime” Boca burger….but if you’re worried about getting too much soy, then you might try this one….I had it on a Father Sam’s whole wheat pita (the BEST pitas)…and a locally grown apple on the side….yummmmm

The two martini lunch is back!!!

Done in 90 seconds –Madras Lentils

Mel, party of one...

Doesn’t make the best picture, but really is delicious and FAST….I thought I’d try it over rice but something about the flavor makes me want to try it on a veggie burger next time.