Here's a video recipe of the new and improved stuffed bell peppers. I posted the written recipe a little while back, but wanted to provide a video tutorial also. There have been some significant and shocking changes, so I hope you're sitting down.
The peppers are now cut in half lengthwise, so that the meat/rice-to-pepper ratio is much more in our favor. The bad news is you must find evenly sized, and boxy shaped peppers so the halves cook evenly, but the good news is I just doubled your number of servings.
Also in this version we chose to use the classic green bell pepper. This recipe's roots can be traced back to the Great Depression, when farmers first began selling the unripe peppers out of necessity. Of course, we did what Americans always do when faced with a new variety of food, we stuffed meat in it.
I'll have to admit, I bowed to conventional wisdom, and called for the sweeter red bell in the cookbook, but as any true stuffed bell pepper aficionado will tell you, green is the money pepper. The bitterness of the green pepper serves as a perfect foil to the tangy, but subtly sweet stuffing.
Finally, after several attempts, you have here the final official Food Wishes stuffed bell pepper recipe. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients: For the sauce: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 cup beef broth 2 cups prepared marinara sauce, or other tomato sauce 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional For the peppers: 1 pound lean ground beef 1/4 pound hot Italian pork sausage, casings removed 2 cups cooked rice 1 cup finely grated "real" Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley 4 cloves garlic, minced very fine 1 can 10-oz diced tomatoes 2 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper pinch of cayenne 4 large green bell peppers
As promised, I used some of the leftover basting sauce from our Cornell chicken video recipe for a test batch with a longer marination. The first time I only let it soak about 1 1/2 hours, this time it went 4. The results were very delicious! I believe I like this even better, as the flavors were more pronounced. The last test will be an all-nighter. Stay tuned!
If this is the kind of thing you really love to eat at the local sports bar, but never thought about making at home, then I hope you find this video recipe very motivational. Not only is this baked spinach artichoke dip easy and delicious, but it's also a first in culinary history.
For the first time ever, sour cream and mayonnaise have been removed from a dip recipe…and it got better. I've always enjoyed hot spinach artichoke dip, but it always struck me as a little oily. Almost all recipes call for some amount of mayo, which I really see no reason to include. It adds fat with no significant flavor payoff.
I decided to try a mayo-less version, and then raised the stakes even higher by excluding the sour cream as well. To counter this, a bit more cheese was added, and the results were amazing. A rich, creamy, cheesy, not greasy dip.
While I loved this recipe, I may try it with just a touch of sour cream next time, and that could be named the official final foodwishes formula. I figure I have until football season to work it out.
By the way, I took a quick surf around the web and came up with zero info on the origins of hot spinach artichoke dip. I find this unusual for a dip of such widespread popularity. You would think someone would have claimed credit by now.
Having said that, I only search for about five minutes, so I could have totally missed it! If you actually have any info, even if you have to embellish it to make it more interesting, please share with the rest of us. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup chopped green onion, white and light green parts only 2 cloves garlic, very finely minced 1 package (10 ounce) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, squeezed dry 1 can (14 ounce) artichoke hearts, drained, roughly chopped 8 ounces cream cheese 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce very small pinch of nutmeg salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano Reggiano 1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
This great sourdough starter video is from Eric at Breadtopia. Eric was one of my fellow nominees for most innovative video content in the Saveur best food blog awards, and as you'll see in this clip, he's a great teacher.
One of my very few regrets with the pro food blogger lifestyle, is having almost no time to visit and watch/read other people's blogs. When I first started out, I would spend a few hours a day surfing the web. Now, I'm pretty much limited to a few minutes here and there, and it's sad knowing I'm missing out on so much great content – like this lesson.
This video shows a very clever method for making a sourdough starter using pineapple juice to increase your odds for success. I hope you enjoy it, and please check out all the other great videos on Breadtopia. Enjoy!
Outside of a few choice Black Eyed Peas videos, lumps are rarely associated with something good. When it comes to making sauces and gravies, nothing causes performance anxiety in an inexperienced cook like these malevolent masses. The good news is there's an incredibly simple way to prevent lumps.
Repeat after me, "Hot roux, cold milk, no lumps." That's it. As you'll see in the video, no matter how sloppy your sauce making techniques are, as long as your liquid is cold, and your roux is hot, lumps are almost impossible to create. Below the video, I've given the ingredients for the simple white sauce I used to illustrate my point. I turned mine into a beautiful macaroni and cheese, but this has so many other applications that mastery of its silky-smoothness is mandatory for any wannabe cook. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 3 cups whole milk 4 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour salt and cayenne pepper to taste pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
I reworked the stuffed pepper recipe for the cookbook, and this was the result. I've posted the written recipe below the photo, and I highly encourage you to try it out. Enjoy!
Stuffed Bell Peppers
For the sauce: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, diced 1 cup beef broth 2 cups prepared marinara sauce, or other tomato sauce 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
For the peppers: 1 pound lean ground beef 1/2 pound sweet Italian pork sausage, casings removed 2 cups cooked rice 1 cup finely grated "real" Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley 4 cloves garlic, minced very fine 1 can 10-oz diced tomatoes 2 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper pinch of cayenne 4 large red bell peppers
Add the olive oil to a saucepan, and lightly brown the onions with a large pinch of salt over medium-high heat. Remove half and reserve for the stuffing. Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Pour the sauce into the bottom of a large deep casserole dish.
Add all the filling ingredients to a mixing bowl, along with the reserved onions, and stir with a fork, or your hands, until the mixture is combined. Tip: you can cook a small piece of the filling to test the seasoning.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to remove the stem, seeds and white membrane from each pepper. Place the bell peppers in the casserole dish, and fill each pepper with the stuffing. A little additional cheese can be grated over the top if desired.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 20-30 minutes, or until the peppers are very tender. Exact cooking time will depend on size, shape and thickness of the peppers. Best to let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the sauce spooned over the top.
Just in case you were wondering, here's the menu and what it was paired with this weekend at the Frick Winery. I was preoccupied with food production (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), so I only spent a few minutes taking pictures with predictably mediocre results, but you'll have to take my word for it when i tell you everything looked much better in person. Enjoy!
Jamaican Jerk Chicken Bites with Fresh Mango Salsa and Habanero Jam on Plantain Chips. Paired with the Grenache Blanc and Viognier
Cambazola Cheese on Fig Bread with Fresh Strawberries. Paired with the Cinsaut and Cinsaut Rosé
Grilled 9-Spice Pork "Banh Mi" with Carrots, Daikon, Sweet Chili Mayo, and Asian Barbecue Drizzle. Paired with the Counoise and Grenache
Reuben Nachos: Pastrami, Cave-Aged Gruyere, Savoy Cabbage and Russian Dressing on Corn Rye Chips. Paired with the Carignane and C² (C squared), North Coast Red Rhone Blend
Boccalone's "Nduja" Crostini - Calabrian Spicy Salame Spread with Candied Fennel Root. Paired with the Syrah and Côtes-Du-Dry Creek
Here's a video recipe of the new and improved stuffed bell peppers. I posted the written recipe a little while back, but wanted to provide a video tutorial also. There have been some significant and shocking changes, so I hope you're sitting down.
Also in this version we chose to use the classic green bell pepper. This recipe's roots can be traced back to the Great Depression, when farmers first began selling the unripe peppers out of necessity. Of course, we did what Americans always do when faced with a new variety of food, we stuffed meat in it.
