End of Season Stuffed Peppers

There was a bonanza of peppers at the Farmer's Market this weekend!!

I used the turkey meatloaf/meatball recipe that my family has been requesting to stuff and bake these beautiful Italian and Banana Peppers.  Gutted them, stuffed them and pan fried them to soften. Then baked with sauce and cheese. What's not to like, right?

 

They totally tasted as good as they look.

Use Giada's Meatloaf recipe!

NOT My Mother's Blondies

My husband loves hazelnuts. I have a historic love for Blondies.

These are the Blondies With Dark Roots from the Food Network Magazine and my Mother would have never made this recipe. Too many ingredients.

My mother made Butterscotch Squares on a regular basis when I was a kid. This new recipe was a hit, but...

Since I have Executive Power in my kitchen, I will be going back to Mom's recipe.
Forget the coconut, chocolate chips, cream cheese and hazelnuts.
Use more butter, brown sugar and pecans instead.

There were, however, no complaints.

Heartbreaking Failure

It had such great potential... 2 Cherokee Purples (they are the ones looking a little green in the picture - they are actually dead ripe they just grow that way!) and 2 German Johnson tomatoes fresh from the Farmers Market. I had been dreaming about the return of my favorite tomatoes for weeks.

The looked so big and beautiful when they were sliced. Juicy and warm tomato-ee smelling...

You could have used them as stunt doubles for real tomatoes! Just don't put them in your mouth.

It has been a long time since food disappointed me this badly. They sucked.

Total mealy mush in the mouth feel department. My close friends will immediately cry "texture issues!" but really these were bad. So bad.  So so bad.

I am currently debating if they are even worth cooking into a spaghetti sauce. sucks.

all'amatriciana

Wow. I knocked this one out of the park.

You totally cannot tell by this picture just how great this pasta sauce turned out. Spectacular.

I started by needing to make something rather quick for just the two of us and didn't want to go to the grocery store again... so I made a quick check of the pantry and freezer and decided on a jar of Arrabiata sauce (spicy red pepper and tomato sauce) and a pound of bacon.

I had a pound of Oscar Mayer Natural Smoked Uncured bacon in the freezer so I cubed it and fried it. I realize that it should have been hog jowls or pancetta or something equally gourmet but this is what I had ok?! Plus no nitrates or nitrites or sulfites or other ites and for someone with an allergy to all of the above this is a bonus. Believe me.

Chopped a half of a sweet onion I had in the fridge.

Sauted the onion in bacon grease (don't ya love it??) and then added the jar of Arrabiata AND

A half cup of the Chateau Ste. Michelle Reisling (the number one selling American Riesling btw that I bought a bottle of at Costco for the same price you pay for an entire glass in restaurants).

And effectively put back in the -ites that I dodged with the bacon... sigh.

I let it simmer while I cooked the rigatoni which requires another post entirely dedicated to how much my stove SUCKS... then mixed the cooked pasta into the sauce and voila!

It was smoky and bacon-y and the wine was perfect in it. That's it. We ate it all.

Empanadas

Confession: The Picadillo is from scratch. The pastry... not so much.

Superfast Picadillo

Brown 1 Lb. ground chuck

drain and add:

1/2 sweet onion chopped

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1/4 Cup of sliced green olives

3 Tbl pickled jalapenos chopped
1 Tbl Sandra Lee Dry Rub*

1 kid sized box of raisins

Saute until tomato juice has reduced.

(this is enough filling for about 10 well filled Empanadas)

I am afraid of pastry.

So I used the large sized buttery biscuits that come in a tube.

Use 2 biscuits for each Empanada. Press them out flat. Top one with about 1/4 Cup of Picadillo and lay the second biscuit on top. Crimp the edges with a fork and bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

I would suggest making more than you think you need - these are delicious.

* Sandra's Sassy All-Purpose Rub (from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Grilling)
2 packets (1.25 oz. each) original chili seasoning, McCormick
3 tbsp granulated garlic, Spice Hunter
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp salt-free, all-purpose seasoning, McCormick
2 tbsp sugar

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in airtight container in cool, dry place or freezer.