Stuffed Peppers

Four colorful peppers and an heirloom tomato provided the inspiration for this recipe.

I stole the recipe for the filling from my grandmother, who used the same in her Golabkis. 

I stole the idea for cutting the peppers lengthwise from Chef John, who opines that this is a much better way to serve this dish as it "improves the meat to pepper ratio."  It also provides twice as many servings from your peppers...

The idea for topping off the dish with a slice of vine ripened heirloom tomato with parmesan cheese came from the Tomato itself - As I was thinking of how to finish the dish, I noticed it proudly sitting on the counter.  I think I actually heard it say "You've got to work me into this Dish!"

Prep Time:  20 Minutes

Cook Time:  1 Hour and 15 Minutes

Servings:  8

Ingredients:

Four large peppers - any color

1 pound of "Meatloaf Mix" ground meat - Beef, Pork, and Veal

1 onion chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 cup partially cooked rice (or) 1 cup fully cooked barley

1 egg

1-1/2 cups freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Divided

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper

2 to 3 cups of Homemade marinara sauce 

Method:

• Partially Cook the rice and then immediately cool - about 8 minutes.
• Cut the peppers in half and discard the stem, seeds, and any large ribs.
• Saute the onion in the butter until softened and slightly carmelized, let cool.
• Poor the marinara into the bottom of a large deep casserole dish.
• Combine the cooled onions, meat, egg, rice, seasoning, and 1 cup of the cheese.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Evenly divide the meat mixture amongst the peppers.  It is OK if the filling goes a little  beyond the boundaries of the pepper - the egg in the filling will keep that under control as it bakes.

• Place the peppers into casserole dish and top each with a 1/4" thick slice of tomato
• Evenly divide the rest of the cheese and place atop each tomato
• Garnish cheese with freshly chopped parsley
• 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 and the cheese is golden brown.
• Let rest for 10 minutes or so and then serve.

Recipe Links:

Here is a video recipe from Chef John where I got the idea for cutting the peppers lengthwise.

Here is another non-video version of the same recipe.

And, of course, here's a link to the original golabki recipe.

Best Baked BBQ Ribs

This is a very simple way to prepare fall off the bone baby back ribs. These delicious ribs are prepared almost "hands-off".  They are just as good - if not better - than any ribs I've bought out.

Prep Time:  about 30 minutes

Total Time:  about 7 hours

Servings:  6 to 9  

Meat:

3 racks of pork "baby back" ribs - about 2 pounds each

Dry Rub:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup salt

1/8 cup brown sugar - dried

4 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

BBQ Sauce:

5 parts "K.C. Masterpiece" BBQ sauce, 1 part Honey

Method:

• Remove ribs from packaging, clean and pat dry.  Be sure that the membrane on the inner (stomach) side is removed and that all excess fat has been trimmed.
• Mix all dry rub ingredients together.  Leftover rub can be stored in a moisture proof container for future use.
• Sprinkle ribs about an hour before cooking with the rub and allow meat to come to room temperature.  Do not over season.  The spices should become a nice red liquid coating after sitting.

A good overall dusting of the spices is all that you need.

• Wrap the ribs in foil and cook at 200 degrees for 6 hours.  After the first 4 hours, remove the aluminum foil and cook uncovered for the last 2 hours.  

• Remove the ribs from the oven and turn up the heat to Broil.  
• Generously sauce all sides of the ribs.
• Place sauced ribs back in the oven, meat side down. 
• When sauce begins to bubble, flip the ribs and broil just until sauce bubbles again.  
• Remove from oven and serve.

Recipe Links:

Here is the original post for the Best Ribs In The Universe.

Mama's Mothers' Meatballs

Recently, when doing some research for my Golabki recipe, I discovered a great blog featuring traditional Polish recipes from right in the heart of America.  I quickly became a follower, as you should too.

Polish Mama on the Prairie seems to have a lot of fun in her kitchen, online, and, I am assuming, with everything she does.  Well this approach to things is contagious, so I had to jump in...

This recipe is very simple, very Polish, and VERY DELICIOUS!

Each meatball is about 2 ounces, so two of them is a good serving size.  

Instead of the traditional peas and mashed potatoes,  I served mine with sides of Soybeans and Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes and of course the requisite Polish Dill Sauce.

Recipe Links:

Here is the original recipe.

Here's the Foodista (namesake) version.

In case you missed it, the Polish Dill Sauce.

Golabki

Last weekend, when going through my pile of recipes and deciding what to make, I stumbled upon this copy of a recipe from my Babcia's cupboard...

Golabki, pronounced "Go-Womp-Kee", similar to Pierogi "Per-Oh-Gee", and not related to Garajki "Garage Key"... is my favorite Polish dish. 

As noted in the always factual resource guide Wikipedia, "Golabki is the plural of Golabek, the diminutive of Golab, meaning "Pigeon".   See the resemblance...? 

These traditional cabbage rolls are made from lightly boiled cabbage leaves, which are wrapped around a filling of minced meat, finely chopped onions, and rice or barley; baked or braised in a tomato sauce.

Prep Time:  45 Minutes

Cook Time:  2 Hours

Servings:  12 

Ingredients:

1 head cabbage

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

1 onion chopped fine

1 clove garlic chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 cup partially cooked rice (or) 1 cup fully cooked barley

1 egg

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper

1 large can petite diced tomatoes

Method:

• Remove the core from the head of cabbage and place in a pot of boiling, salted water.
• As the cabbage begins to soften, pull off individual leaves and drain in a colander.
• Cool leaves in cold water and pat dry.  Cut out heavy ribs.

• Saute onion and garlic in butter until transparent.
• Combine cooled onions, meat, egg, rice, and seasoning.
• Place a 1/3 cup meat mixture at the bottom edge of each cabbage leaf.

• Roll the cabbage leaf up over the meat, encasing it completely.
• Fold the two opposite sides and roll.
• Arrange golabki in a casserole dish or oven proof dutch oven lined with the leftover cabbage leaves.
• Cover with tomatoes and add water or beef broth to allow for a nice gentle simmer.
• Put in a 325 degree oven covered for 2 hours, covered for the first hour.

Recipe Links:

Here is a step-by-step pictorial from about.com with more detail on preparing the cabbage.

Here is a great vegetarian version of this classic dish. 

Hoppin' John Soup

Eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck.  The beans symbolize coins or pennies and the greens symbolize the color of money and are said to add to one's wealth in the New Year.

Traditional Hoppin' John is a singular concoction of peas (cow or black-eyed), greens, and rice simmered in a pork base. 

When thinking of how to prepare this dish, I stumbled upon a recipe for a soup version and I  decided to give it a try.  I served it up along with some homemade, fresh from the oven, cornbread.  If you like traditional Hoppin' John you will LOVE this recipe... 

Prep Time:  1/2 Hour

Cook Time:  2 Hours

Servings:  8

Ingredients:

1 pound dried black-eyed peas
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery ribs, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large jalapeno pepper, finely chopped with seeds removed
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
10 cups liquid (chicken broth, water, or a combination)
2 large ham hocks
1 pound collard greens, thinly sliced (5 to 6 cups)
1 cup finely diced ham, from ham bone or a ham steak
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
6 cups cooked long-grain white rice
11/2 cups chopped tomatoes (or 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with habaneros)
Additional vinegar for passing  

Photo: Mary Ann Rice

Method:

• Soak the beans overnight in cold water to cover.  Drain in colander.
• In a large saucepan or soup pot, heat the oil. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook over medium heat until onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, jalapeno, thyme, pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
• Add the beans, liquid and ham hocks and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until beans are verging on tender, about 1 hour.
• Add the collards and continue to cook, covered, until beans and collards are very tender, 50 to 60 minutes. 
• Stir in the ham, season with salt and pepper, and adjust amount of liquid if necessary. Stir in vinegar.
• Spoon rice into bowls, ladle soup over, and serve. Pass bowl of chopped tomatoes and a cruet of vinegar and a bottle of hot sauce at the table.

Leave three peas on your plate to ensure a New Year filled with Luck, Fortune, and Romance

Recipe Links:

This recipe is the "original" and was first published in Saveur in Issue #125.

Here is an adaption by Brooke Dojny - which was my inspiration.

Here is a link to quite possibly the World's Perfect Cornbread.

New Year's Hoppin' John Soup

Bone-In Pork Loin

This year we did a Bone-In Pork Loin for Christmas.  I had never done one before and after poking around the web for ideas I became intrigued with the wonderful presentation of this dish.

This recipe calls for having your butcher "French the bones and remove the Chines".  Well, I instructed my local butcher to do so, and he told me what I needed him to do was "crack" the bones... Not what I said, but what am I supposed to know...

On Christmas morning, when it became time to prepare the roast, I opened up the wrapper to find a beautiful 6 Bone Loin without the chine bones removed and cuts at each rib... I guess that's what I needed, right?  

I was pretty upset, thinking that these cuts would ruin the Loin's culinary potential... 

Nonetheless, I cleaned up the chines and decided to press on... and everything turned out just fine.

Photo: Mary Ann Rice

Prep Time:  1/2 Hour

Cook Time:  45 to 60 Minutes

Servings:  6

Ingredients:

1 Bone-In pork Loin (4 to 5 pounds)

30 very thin slivers of garlic (from 3 to 4 cloves), plus 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:  (For a photographic step-by-step check out Martha Stewart's original Post)

• Make Slits - Heat oven to 450 degrees. Use a sharp knife to make 24 slits evenly all over pork, including the ends, and insert a sliver of garlic and a small pinch of chopped fresh herbs into each one.
  
• Cut Pork - Holding knife against the bones, cut about 2 inches down to separate meat from the bone to create a pocket, leaving the bottom portion intact. 
  
• Season Pork - Season inside the pocket with salt and pepper, then add chopped garlic and remaining chopped fresh herbs, spreading evenly.
  
• Tie Pork - Tie roast closed with kitchen twine. Season generously with salt and pepper.
  
• Roast Pork - Place pork on a rimmed baking sheet or in a roasting pan and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part (avoiding bone) registers 130 degrees, 45 to 60 minutes. (Start checking temperature after 40 minutes so you can better gauge its progress.) 
  
• Serve Pork - Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes to allow the internal temperature to rise to 140.

Recipe Links:

Here is the original web post that provided the inspiration for the method.

Here is a similar post that provided the inspiration for the fresh herbs and seasoning.

Here is a video of the original post.

I also served a gravy with this dish - here is a link to the Pan Jus which provided the base.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

These sausage and cheese filled caps are easy to make and are a delicious appetizer. There are many different versions of this out there. This recipe is pretty basic. Enjoy!

I based this recipe on one I found on the CookEatShare website.  My wife suggested I add some Pine Nuts and a little Parmesan.  They came out great.

Prep Time:  20 to 30 Minutes

Cook Time:  15 Minutes

Servings:  Makes about 30 medium mushrooms or 17 large mushrooms.

Nutritional Information:

Serving size:  6 medium mushrooms or 3 large

Calories:  243

Fat:  17.3g

Saturated Fat:  5.5g

Cholesterol:  34.6mg

Sodium:  408.3mg

Total Carbohydrate:  8.7g

Dietary Fiber:  1.8g

Sugars:  2.3g

Protein:  15g

The ingredients and Method are straight from a Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Recipe posting by the CookEatShare Cookbook. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound mushrooms (medium or large stuffing type)

1/2 pound pork sausage meat

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

2 Tablespoons parmesan (optional)

Fresh parsley for garnish

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove stems from mushroom caps and chop stems.  Set aside.
• In a large skillet, cook sausage until well browned.  Remove cooked meat to paper towels to drain using a slotted spoon. Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons drippings from the skillet.
• In drippings, over medium heat, saute stems with garlic till tender, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Remove skillet from heat, let cool slightly, stir in sausage, bread crumbs, cheeses and pine nuts.
• Fill mushroom caps with sausage mix.  Place stuffed caps in a jellyroll pan.
• Bake 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Recipe Links:

Here is a bunch of similar posts.