Stuffed!

Page — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:27:49 +0000

A while back I made these peppers stuffed with goat cheese and polenta from Real Simple. This was at the old apartment when we had that small back porch and we’d cram 3 or 4 of us out there along with chairs, plates, and wine for a nice summer dinner.

I forgot about their amazingness for a while because my memory is the size of a bean. But recently they wandered back into my memory and I’ve been stuffing the heck out of peppers recently as a means of using up ingredients. I’ve strayed from the R.S. version, but mine are also real simple — and real quick. I’m impatient. The 20 minutes or so before dinnertime are not my prettiest.

Last night I made stuffed peppers using a leftover block of cheddar, brown rice, the dregs of a jar of sauce, sausage we’ve had since Christmas, and the other half of an onion that’s been wrapped in the fridge waiting for use.

Start with the basics: preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put on 1/2 a cup of brown rice to cook on the stove. Take 2 green bell peppers, seed them, halve them and place them in a microwave-safe pie dish (i.e. no metal, please). Cover them tightly with plastic wrap and microwave for five minutes. **They will be HOT when they come out of the microwave, so use oven mitts and watch for steam! (I may or may not have forgotten this useful tip which is why I remind you now. Bean brain, remember?)

Mince a clove of garlic, chop half an onion, and cook them with a little olive oil over medium heat. While they cook, dice up some sausage. I used half of what you see in the photo above — adjust to your preferences, or even eliminate altogether if you don’t eat meat. You could very successfully substitute sauteed mushrooms, no doubt.

Saute the sausage with the onions and garlic for a few minutes.

Add 1.5 cups sauce to the mixture. My favorite thing about this dish is that you don’t have to worry about seasoning it much if you use pre-seasoned pasta sauce. Sometimes I’m lazy.

When the rice is done cooking, add that to the pan, too.

Stuff each pepper half with the saucy mixture.

Grate a little cheddahhh right on top.

And pop ‘em in the oven for 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is all nice and melty.

Oh yeah.

I see no reason why you can’t douse the whole thing in hot sauce, as is my way. But a little salt and pepper will do you fine, too.

Experiments in Slow Cooking

Page — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:35:16 +0000

Blogging has been difficult for me lately. Because of this:

That would be a dog nose. There has been a lot of lovin’ going on in this house lately. Lola is an extreme cuddler.

But I’ve managed to carry on. I even conducted an experiment this week: using a Crock Pot to make dinner.

I know that many people use slow cookers all the time to make dinner, but I the special type of person for whom simple tasks are sometimes the most difficult. And messy. So I was a little anxious. The Boyfriend’s mother gave us the Crock Pot back in December, but I waited until my week off from work to try it out. I know the Crock Pot is designed to be left unattended, but knowing my luck the thing would have sparked and set fire to the kitchen, or exploded into oblivion, or, at the very least, scorched my beloved yellow table.

None of this happened. I credit my paranoid vigilance. Who says a watched pot never crocks?

To get myself through this experiment, I settled on a favorite recipe so it would be worth the wait: Beef Stroganoff. The recipe is super easy:

Beef Stroganoff

2 1/2 lbs sirloin steak
1 medium onion, chopped (I used red, but any color would work)
1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. pepper
10 1/2 oz. broth (I used chicken)
1 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and toss with 1/2 cup of the flour, the salt, pepper, and mustard.

Put it in the pot along with the mushrooms and onions.

Add the broth and stir. Cook on low for 6-7 hours, stirring every so often.

Before serving, stir in the remaining flour and sour cream.

Serve over cooked noodles.

Not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, but the meat was so tender and tasty. Honestly, the stew would have been good (better?) without the addition of dairy. I don’t know if it’s because I used yogurt or because it was cooked differently than traditional Beef Stroganoff.

I was also so thrilled with the fact that there was only ONE DISH to clean when I went to serve dinner. It did look like this, though:

Not pleasant to scrub out. I, uh, wasn’t the one who washed this, but I’ve been told letting it soak for a bit helps get that cooked-on food off.

When all was said and done, I’d give my first experience with the slow cooker an A for effort and a B for taste factor. Definitely something I will (not be afraid to) use again!

Notes On A Page » Beef

Stuffed!

Experiments in Slow Cooking