Stuffing peppers

I can't remember if I've ever had stuffed peppers besides the couple of times I've made them, unless you count chiles rellenos. They always seemed deeply unappealing: dingy green overcooked bell peppers, greasy ground beef and tomato sauce. I guess I don't have any positive associations with this dish, but you don't have to venture too far outside the box to realize that you can put anything in peppers; they're pretty handy containers for all kinds of goodies.

I have three little peppers from my aunt and some leftover orzo I don't know what to do with. Ah, the perfect pair! I also picked up some mushrooms, a mix of a few shiitakes and criminis, and tossed in some onion and garlic borrowed from my tomato salad.

I cut the tops off the bell peppers and blanched them. I brought my water to a boil, salted it, then dropped in the peppers for about two minutes, then removed them and cooled them. I'm not a fan of overcooked green peppers, but because all my ingredients will be pre-cooked, I wanted to shorten the oven time.

I used the same blanching water to cook the orzo. Meanwhile, I sauteed the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in a little olive oil. I mixed the pasta and mushrooms together, tasted for seasoning (something I'm learning to do), then stuffed my three peppers. Bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes. Really, that's all it took for me.

Bruschetta makeover

Over the weekend I obtained a large box of homegrown tomatoes, some my father brought me from his favorite farmer and some from my aunt and uncle's garden. I also brought home some jalapenos and bell peppers from their garden. One last thing I picked up is a new (to me) vegetarian cookbook from a used bookstore. I might have mentioned before that I don't have one cookbook that I'm completely happy with and I typically peruse the 'net for recipes. I picked up The New Vegetarian Epicure and read author Anna Thomas' section on tomatoes.

I made what she calls Minted Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese. Probably the biggest obstacle to this differentiating itself from my previous post on bruschetta is that I omitted the mint. My grocery store happened to be out of fresh mint; I didn't feel like making another stop. Well, that and I just mixed everything up without layering it as she instructs. Alex and I agreed that the red onions and feta, though, were nice additions. I might need to research what parboiling those tomatoes in the other recipe accomplishes, as well, because these were just fine freshly chunked.


Ingredients: (confession - I didn't measure! I eyeballed the amounts to my desired proportions and also tried to make just enough for two servings; the recipe as written claims 6-8 servings as a first course or 10-15 as part of a buffet.)

4 cups ripe tomatoes, cut in chunks
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar -- I probably used more, even though I used less tomato
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 Tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 medium red onion -- I used less because I find it to have a bite that's pleasant only in small doses
4 oz. feta cheese, cubed or crumbled

Serve with crusty bread

Combine the tomato chunks with a tablespoon of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, mint, and basil. You can reserve some mint for garnish. Salt lightly, especially as the feta is salty. Mound the tomato mixture in your serving dish and arrange the feta around the tomatoes. Scatter thin slices of red onion over the cheese. Drizzle the remaining teaspoon of oil over the feta and onions, then sprinkle on the remaining mint.

Like I already mentioned, I mixed everything up and it was so good I only took one photo. I can see her arrangement being visually appealing, mine sure was easier to eat. Once everything is chopped, this is super-easy to put together.

The most Southern Southern food is vegetarian. At least sometimes.

What is that?

Sandwich on Arnold's yummy multigrain sandwich thins

Pimento Cheese!

If you're familiar with pimento cheese, you probably either love it or hate it, or maybe you've never had a really good batch. As a kid, I ate fluorescent orange pimento cheese from the grocery store's lunchmeat aisle as an alternative to slick ham slices. It was always sweet, chunky, and an a disturbingly unnatural color.

I can't remember exactly when I had my pimento cheese awakening. It might have been around the end of high school. Since then, each trip home has been highlighted by a trip to the deli that is famous for its pimento cheese sandwich. Yes, this is also one of those places where people also order fully cooked hams and turkeys. And I walk right by them to the coveted pimento cheese fridge.

I have tried making my own pimento cheese from a variety of recipes, but nobody does it like Papa at Holiday Deli & Ham in Memphis. My father was kind enough to export a tub for me to take home when I saw him over the weekend. This concoction is tasty in sandwiches, especially with a slice of fresh tomato and lettuce, or even smeared on a celery stick.


In its most basic form, pimento cheese is well, shredded cheese and pimentos with seasonings and some kind of binding agent, maybe mayonnaise. I've tried Paula Deen's recipe, others that call for grated onion, others that have two dozen ingredients ranging from Durkee Famous Sauce to Worcestershire and garlic and beer. For now, at least, pimento cheese is one more of those things worth getting ready made.

Clean out your fridge frittata

Dealing with leftovers is one of the biggest differences between cooking at home and eating out. Sure, eating in may be less expensive because you have so much food left over, both as the prepared dish as well as the individual ingredients. Maybe part of this is that I'm always cooking for two.

I've only started making frittata this summer, but it's super easy and a good way to eat some eggs. Personally, I don't care much for eggs, but Alex likes them, so we eat them. I can stomach them best when they're cooked thoroughly -- not soft at all -- and mixed in with other stuff. I'm still experimenting with what can go in it. So, we have some eggs in the fridge and an assortment of veggies and cheese, and I threw it together into a frittata. The result? An impressed husband and a good meal.


I used a shallot left over from the no-cream creamed spinach; a whole tomato I'd bought because it looked so good; the leftover Parmesan from the second run of Portobello Parmesan; and half a green bell pepper I just had in the fridge. I love, love, love cooked tomatoes. I mixed it all up with 6 eggs and a little salt & pepper, poured everything into a buttered (okay, margarined) casserole dish, and baked at 400F for 25 minutes. Voila -- leftover magic!

Sidenote: now, whenever I eat eggs, I think of the chickens wearing homemade sweaters I heard about on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. The story about the sweaters took a turn away from the chickens when Mo Rocca insisted that homemade sweaters were itchy; however, what struck me was the poor less-than-cooped up chickens stressing and losing feathers. And the solution -- make them sweaters? Huh?

Jefferson Hall and the disappearance of Cafe Istanbul

Last night we went out to dinner and a movie. Ever since I've made the effort to cook more at home, we typically go out for things that we can't make or that are just too much trouble. I guess in a way, that's what happened. We ended up with a really good meal, but it was nothing like what we expected. I should probably mention that fried foods is something I'll go out for -- seems silly to waste so much oil frying at home. Look for a trial of no-fry fried zucchini coming soon.

We headed down to Newport on the Levee, ready for a meal at Cafe Istanbul. We traditionally go there before concerts at Southgate House, most recently to see Mindy Smith and Tift Merritt. We also had a really memorable night there on the patio earlier this summer, but it was strange because it seemed that their air conditioner wasn't working. We enjoyed the weather on the patio, but our wine was hot from the bar. Maybe they were on the way out at that point. Anyway, when we got there, we were alone -- no restaurant. I can't believe they closed -- they had a great veggie kabob grill and, of course, falafel.

There are several other restaurants in the center, and of course we could leave as well, but we'd just paid for parking and had plans to see a movie there. We stumbled into Jefferson Hall, and I really didn't have high expectations. We had a great view, medicre service, and our meals were served in baskets.

The Purple People Bridge over the Ohio River from our table at Jefferson Hall

One of our bad habits when eating out is to try an appetizer, even when we know we'll have enough food with just our meals. I'm learning to use the appetizer as something just to try so that I'll be hungry enough to enjoy my meal. Last night, we got the soft pretzels with beer cheese, which is available all over the place in this area as a nod to the German heritage. Of course, to us, soft pretzels are very Philly -- plus I used to work in a pretzel shop. These were really tasty, and the beer cheese was better at Jefferson Hall than at Keystone.

Of course, the reason we chose this restaurant above the others in the same area was that we saw on the menu that you could substitute a black bean burger for the animal burger with any of their toppings. We each got a burger and fries and split each in half. Our suddenly attentive waitress wanted to get us a box for our other halves, not understanding that we placed them in the paper trays to swap. She seemed relieved that we would be eating our meals, not reducing their size prior to digging in.

On the left, the "better" burger -- we both preferred the JHall burger. This featured a generous spread of boursin cheese, a thick slice of grilled onion, and then the regular burger toppings (I took off the raw onions). The other one we tried is the California burger, which features pepper jack cheese, roasted red peppers, and guacamole on the side. I wasn't in the mood for spicy cheese, and the red peppers were a little bitter. Don't let my criticism taint this review, though, because this was a tasty burger. The black bean patty was nearly perfect; it wasn't a Gardenburger like I can get in the frozen foods aisle; it wasn't a hit-or-miss attempt at a homemade veggie patty; it was consistent, tasty, and much appreciated. I think we will be back, but maybe next time we should aim to be there for happy hour.

Michelle Obama's Spinach

The time has come for us to enjoy a dish I've already blogged about. Alex asked me what I was going to do when I fixed portobello parmesan for supper the other night; of course I figure that unless I improve a recipe or have something new to say about it, I wouldn't post.

Let me tell you about the side dish we had with the portobellos, along with a green salad and some angel hair (of course prepared in my newfound quick-boil energy conserving method). I did a quick web search for "healthy creamed spinach." To my astonishment, the first several results were all about a recipe Michelle Obama shared with the New York Times last March. I have no idea why I'd not heard about this, as evidently it was quite a splash.


So, I tried it. This was very, very good. I've never made creamed spinach before, and I've never used shallots. I found a couple of variations on the web, but I just cooked two chopped garlic cloves and a couple of diced shallots in olive oil, then I added a bag of fresh spinach and cooked for about a minute, then covered it and turned off the burner. After it wilted, I put everything in the blender with a little salt and pureed. Of course it was a little watery, so I strained it.

Of note: spinach is on the "dirty dozen" list of foods most contaminated by pesticides, so take Mrs. Obama's advice to buy organic.

Tofu success! Stir fry with veggies

I know this is what you've been waiting for. I've certainly been waiting on an attempt to cook tofu that I wasn't embarrassed to share. I used to eat tofu when I was a new vegetarian, I'd crumble some in to other dishes, but I had no idea how to make it taste good. I was just trying to get some nutrients. Since then, I've had great tofu at restaurants (notably Thai and Chinese) but have never figured out how to cook it myself.

I've already posted my attempt at Thai Coconut soup with tofu and how to freeze tofu. Over the weekend Alex suggested we make a tofu stir fry at home. I had recently purchased a wok with a wedding gift certificate, and it's been sitting on top of our cabinets with the tags still on. So although his request was not unreasonable, I was certainly intimidated.

First, we cooked the cubed tofu in the wok with the teeniest bit of oil. The wok was nonstick and the pieces browned nicely after a good bit of time cooking.

Alex took charge of this because he has the patience to make sure each cube is turned evenly. Had he not wanted to leave the tofu in the wok after I told him to take it out, it never would have browned.

After the tofu was browned nicely, we took it out and put it in a separate bowl.






Then, cook the veggies in the wok. We used:

Onion
Broccoli
Baby corn (fresh)
Carrots
Baby bella mushrooms
Canned water chestnuts, added at the end

Cook the vegetables to the desired doneness, then add back in the tofu and any sauce you use. I used something called stirfry sauce, just a bottle I chose from the grocery aisle. It was mostly soy sauce, and pretty good, but I might look for something better next time. Let me know if you have any suggestions for making sauce or a brand/ type to purchase ready made.

I might still be getting used to the wok, because it seemed to take a while to cook all the veggies. I think next time we'll start by steaming the baby corn, or at least slicing it into thirds. But this was very, very good. I served with rice, which by now I am very comfortable cooking on the stovetop.