Rice-stuffed peppers

I made some stuffed peppers. The stuffing is basically risotto, but made less fussily than we usually do. The measurements below are approximate, but they should give you an idea of what we did. When I make them again I will cook them with plenty of space and rotate occasionally so the whole pepper gets roasted and not just the top. And I'll add some fresh herbs.

Rice-stuffed peppers

Green peppers cored, with seeds removed

1/2 tbsp butter

1 cup Arborio rice

3 cups broth

1/2 large onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tomato, chopped

2 leaves swiss chard, chopped

1/2 ball mozzarella

Heat the broth. In another pot put in the rice with some butter over a low heat. Add one cup of broth to rice, stir and simmer. As the broth gets absorbed add about 1/2 cup of broth at a time to the rice to keep it just submerged. Stir occasionally.

Saute onions about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook about two more. Add tomato and cook until done, about 5 more minutes.

When the rice is done mix with the chard to help wilt the chard slightly. Mix in the sauteed vegetables and mozzarella.

Stuff the peppers.

Cook on 400 for about 30 minutes.

Red pepper-sunflower seed bagels

Our second batch of bagels was a success. They were also gone in just a day or so, but we will probably make a larger recipe next time. This time I used sunflower seeds and some whole wheat flour to get the bagels denser and red pepper for some color and flavor. Most of these were eaten with cream cheese, but one was the base for a tuna salad sandwich.

Red pepper-sunflower seed bagels

Makes 8 bagels

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups bread flour

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1-2 roasted red peppers

2 tsp yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 egg white

2 tsp water

Place egg, milk, oil, sugar, salt, flour, sunflower seeds, red peppers, and yeast in bread machine. Set for "dough."

When dough is ready, remove from bread machine and punch down. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll pieces into balls, then pinch in middle to make a hole and roll around in your hands until it is bagel-shaped. Cover and place in a warm spot to rise for 15-30 minutes.

Bring 2 quarts of water and 1 tsp sugar to a boil. Place bagels, a few at a time, in boiling water. Boil for 1 minute, then flip over and boil the second side for 3 minutes. Drain and place on pizza stone or baking sheet. Repeat for all bagels.

Combine water and egg white and whisk a little to froth it up. Brush over bagels. Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Corn and red pepper quiche

We bought a couple ears of corn last week but didn't get around to using them for a while. Quiche was on the menu for the week. We were thinking about going with broccoli, but I thought a corn and red pepper quiche might be just crazy enough to work. I was thinking of the texture of corn pudding or very soft cornbread with whole-kernel corn in it, and what we ended up with was similar to that. The contrast between the crunchy kernels and the soft egg is a little strange, but we liked it. Fresh basil would be great in this, but we only had dried.

Corn and red pepper quiche

1 quiche shell

1/2 tbsp butter
2 ears corn, kernels cut off the cob
1 red pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, cut into thin slices
1/2 tsp dried basil

3 eggs
1 cup half-and-half or 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream
1/3 cup cheese (we used a combination of Gruyere and another Swiss we had), grated or finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt

Prebake the quiche shell in a 375 oven for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saute pan and saute the corn and red pepper, stirring occasionally, until they have some nice browning action going on. Let cool.

Combine the eggs, half-and-half, cheese, and salt in a mixing bowl. When the corn mixture has cooled, add it to the egg mixture and pour into the quiche shell. Bake at 375 until the quiche has set, about 30-40 minutes.

Pasta salad

Here is a neat little pasta salad I made a week or so ago. If I were to do it again I would leave out the olives. Also some pesto might be nice in it.

12 oz Orzo
2 roasted red peppers diced
8 olives chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil (loose) chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
2 Tbsp pine nuts
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Romano Cheese grated
salt
pepper

Cook the Orzo as usual (or maybe leave a bit more al dente). Mix oil, vinegar and basil. Mix the red peppers, olives, pine nuts and parsley. Dress with oil and basil. Add cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

Stuffed Peppers

I love vegetables stuffed with stuff. It just seems fancy to go to the trouble of sticking food into food. Here is a recipe for stuffed peppers that I tried a few weeks ago on experimental Indian night.

4 green bell peppers, about 1 inch of tops cut off and saved, seeds and pith removed

1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
a bit of coriander, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and pepper
2 cups basmati rice, cooked
2/3 cup French lentils, cooked

Bake peppers at 350 F for 20 minutes before stuffing.
In the meantime, saute the onions. When soft add in diced tomato and seasoning. Saute for 5 minutes. Add rice and lentis and mix well, cooking for 2 minutes. Stuff peppers with filling. Bake until the pepper skins start to wrinkle and char.

Pasta salad

I am a sometimes contributor to this blog. Recently I made a pasta salad. I am not usually a fan of whole wheat pasta, but I used a rotini that was half whole-wheat/ half regular and it worked. I like pasta salads in the summer because I like pasta and you can eat them cold, which seems to make sense in the summer.

The salad contains roasted peppers that led to Ev's now-famous Pyrex tragedy. Along with the mozzarella the roasted peppers make the salad. Next time I make this I might use spinach instead of kale.

Jon’s Pasta salad

12 oz. Pasta
Kale
2 roasted peppers (see below for roasting instructions), chopped
Fresh Herbs (basil, oregano and rosemary)
Mozzarella, cut into small cubes
Dressing

Cook pasta in plenty of water until al dente. Drain. Meanwhile, saute kale in a small amount of olive oil until just wilted. Toss all ingredients together with dressing. I dressed this with a mustard vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper and herbs). It was pretty good.

How to roast peppers safely

Place peppers in a broiler-safe baking dish on the top rack of your oven. Turn on the broiler. Carefully turn the peppers with tongs every five minutes or so, cooking until the skin is charred all over or your Pyrex explodes because you didn't heed the first instruction.

Muhammara

Jon and I like to have something called "breads and spreads" for dinner. The title is pretty self-explanatory. It usually has a Mediterranean theme: hummus, tzatziki, baba ganoush or another eggplant spread, whipped feta, pita bread, etc. We also serve raw veggies, olives, and pickles. Recently, this Syrian red pepper and walnut spread has joined the "breads and spreads" spread. We saw it in the November issue of Bon Appetit, and both of us knew immediately that we wanted to try it. It is a great addition. It's a little tangy, a little sweet, and the walnut texture is great. It's a good contrast to the other spreads. I think this recipe would be amazing with red peppers one roasted oneself, but the jars are terribly convenient.

Muhammara
12-oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp pomegranate molasses or lemon juice (I use pomegranate molasses)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Process all ingredients in a food processor until it's a coarse puree. Makes about 2 cups.

Sherbet photo shoot

I took some good pictures of the sherbet in this post, so I thought I'd share them here.

This is the ice cream maker churning away. I used up all the ice my ice maker can hold at one time plus another Cafe Bustelo can full and about 20 oz of salt. Have you ever made ice cream using ice and salt? The salt both melts and lowers the freezing point of the ice, so at the end you have a ton of this ridiculously cold water. You put your hand in there, and your bones start to hurt. It's pretty neat to see chemistry in action like that.

Here is a super-close up of a little espresso cup full of sherbet garnished with half a home-grown strawberry and a mint leaf.
And here's another. How pretty.

Jalapeno-serrano cornbread with honey butter

This was the winning entry at the iron chef party. It's "just" jazzed-up cornbread from a mix, but it really hit the spot.

Jalapeno-serrano cornbread:
1 large poblano pepper
2 small serrano peppers
2 Parade instant cornbread mixes
2 eggs
4/3 cups milk
1 tbsp sugar
handful frozen corn kernels
1 cup pepper jack cheese, divided

Char the peppers. Place under broiler and turn often until they are black on all sides. Put the peppers in a ziploc bag in the fridge until they are cool enough to handle. Peel off the skin and discard the seeds unless you want really spicy cornbread. You might want to wear gloves if you have sensitive skin. Dice the peppers. Mix everything except 1/2 of the cheese together and pour into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Bake at 425 F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Honey butter:
butter
salt
honey

Let the butter come to room temperature. Add salt and honey to taste. Spread thickly on warm cornbread.

Iron Chef: Battle Pepper

Yesterday was the big Iron Chef party. The theme ingredient was peppers, and people really delivered. There was a lot of creativity and tastiness. In no particular order, here are the dishes, besides any ones I forgot about:

Muhammara, a Syrian red pepper-walnut spread
Roasted red pepper hummus
Roasted red pepper, roasted onion, and cream cheese dip
Tortilla soup with all the fixins (avocado, tortilla strips, queso blanco, and lime)
Poblano-serrano cornbread with honey butter
Inverted stuffed peppers (baked potato halves stuffed with peppers, onions, cheese, etc.)
Fried red bell pepper rings (like onion rings) with avocado ranch dip
Macaroni and goat cheese with roasted red peppers and fresh basil
Broiled bell pepper pieces with mozzarella cheese and crushed red pepper
Mushrooms stuffed with red peppers and other stuff
Green chile enchilada casserole
Tangelo-red pepper sherbet
Vanilla ice cream with avocado, lime, and jalapenos
Vanilla ice cream with chocolate-chile topping
Dark chocolate with chile mixed in (not brownies, but soft)

In the "not actually containing peppers category":
A nice Chianti with strong pepper flavor
Tequila and limes
Pineapple and rum
Pineapple soda and beer

The last two were based on someone's "hilarious" "joke" that the letters of "pineapple rum" can be used to spell "pepper" and the copycat joke that rum can be replaced by beer.

I intended to take nice pictures of the dishes, but with all the hubbub, I kind of forgot. I did get this one after we had eaten most of the food.



Iron chef parties are always really fun. People like being creative and eating weird food. And there are prizes. The three categories are best tasting, best presentation, and most creative. I forgot to get prizes until the day before, so they weren't as awesome as they normally are. I got Pickapeppa sauce for everyone. It's a tasty A1/hot sauce combo with "peppa" right in the name. The poblano-serrano cornbread with honey butter won best taste. I am going to try to get the recipe from the guy who brought it and post it soon. My sherbet won best presentation. I filled half a tangelo peel with sherbet and put it in a dish of salted ice water to keep it cold. I had wanted to do a bunch of those, but we mangled the tangelo rinds pretty badly when juicing them and that was the only one that held up, so it was the "display model". The prize for most creative went to the vanilla-avocado-jalapeno-lime ice cream, which was also pretty tasty, actually. When you think about it, avocado makes sense as a dessert ingredient. At least after you've expanded your mind by eating three different ice creams involving peppers.

The only other picture I took was Jon tallying the votes:

Tangelo-red pepper sherbet

I am having an "iron chef" party tomorrow night to celebrate the end of the semester and the end of qualifying exams for the first- and second-years. The theme ingredient this time is peppers. Yesterday I did a test run on the recipe I'm making for the party, a tangelo-red pepper sherbet. I saw a recipe for tangerine sherbet on a NY Times "Tiny Kitchen" video, and while I was brainstorming things to make for the party, I remembered it and thought that tangerine would pair well with red bell pepper. The grocery store didn't have tangerines, but I usually get tangelos anyway, so I went with those. We went the fresh-squeezed route, but the results would probably be fine with regular juice, even just orange juice or an orange-tangerine blend. I used gelatin. I know that it isn't vegetarian, but I've had it in my pantry for a long time, and I wanted to see if it helped with stabilization. It didn't really seem any different from other frozen desserts I have made, so I don't think I will use it next time.

I decided to "roast" my peppers in the microwave following a suggestion of Barbara Kafka in Vegetable Love. I wasn't too fussy about peeling them, and although the peel was definitely noticeable in the final product, it was not objectionable. The microwave technique worked, but I might do them in the oven next time since I'll have a lot more peppers, and microwaving plastic wrap for that long seems a little foolish.

I actually own three ice cream makers of various types right now. How excessive. They were all given to me by relatives who don't use them much. I made this one in a little ice cream maker with a canister you freeze for several hours. It's Donvier brand, probably bought by my grandmother in 1973. It doesn't freeze things very solid for me, but it's convenient, and I just wanted a small batch. It makes about a pint at a time. Tonight I am going to make the "real" batch for the party using my more traditional Waring ice cream maker that makes about 1 1/2 quarts and uses ice and salt. It will probably freeze a little better. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you should borrow one of mine or freeze it in a metal pan and scrape it with a fork every once in a while. After it's frozen, you can whirl it in a food processor to incorporate some air.

Jon and I both really enjoyed this, so it's not just my crazy hippie tendencies talking. Or maybe we're both crazy hippies. I decreased the sugar slightly from the tangerine sorbet recipe, and I liked it. It would probably even make a good palate cleanser between courses of a fancy dinner if I were the kind of person who made fancy dinners that required palate cleansers. Jon suggested maybe adding some lemon juice the next time for a bigger citrus presence, but I don't think I will. The success of this idea has led me to brainstorm a lot of other slightly odd sherbet, sorbet, and ice cream flavors, and now that I have the little ice cream maker out and remember how easy it is to use, you might see some more weird ice cream creations on here.

Tangelo-red pepper sherbet (inspired by "Tiny Kitchens" from the NY Times):
1/2 tsp gelatin
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 large red bell peppers
3/4 cup tangelo juice (about 3 tangelos for us)
zest of 2 tangelos
3/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Sprinkle the gelatin in the water in a small saucepan. Leave it alone for a while as you prepare the red peppers. Cut out the cores, remove seeds and white stuff, and cut into large pieces. Remove whatever peel is convenient to remove, more if you don't want peel in your sherbet. Put all the pieces on a large plate or bowl, cover tightly (I used plastic wrap, but I don't know if I should be advising others to put plastic in the microwave for long periods of time), and microwave for three minutes. Maybe add another minute for good measure if they don't seem roasted enough to you. Transfer the peppers to a food processor and process until quite smooth. You should end up with about 3/4 cups red pepper puree, but the volume isn't that important.

Now go back to the saucepan with the water and gelatin in it. Put some low heat under it and stir it gently until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Add the tangelo juice, zest, red pepper, and sugar and stir until blended. Remove from heat and transfer to refrigerator until cold. Combine this with the cream, which should also be cold, and freeze in whatever way you normally freeze ice cream. This recipe makes about a pint. If you have a large ice cream maker, you should probably double it.

**Update, 05/07/09**

In case you were curious, here is the recipe I ended up making for the party. It makes about 1 1/2 quarts of sherbet and got good reviews.

2 1/4 cups tangelo juice (from 11 tangelos)
zest of 4 tangelos
4 large red bell peppers
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cream

Get Jon to juice the tangelos. It takes a while. Meanwhile, broil the red peppers, turning often, until they are soft and a good amount of the peel has turned black. Place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap until the peppers are cool enough to handle. (You can help Jon juice and zest the tangelos while you're waiting.) When the peppers are cool, peel them and puree them until quite smooth. Combine juice, zest, pepper puree, and sugar in a large bowl and chill. When it is cold, add the cream and process according to ice cream maker instructions. It's nice if you can freeze it for at least an hour afterward to get it to harden up.