Polenta stuffed peppers

How did today get to be over 80 degrees? I don't know. I do know that I had some peppers that were not going to last too long, and a recipe for stuffing them. So I opened the windows for the as-yet-to-arrive hail storm, and turned on the oven. This recipe would be perfect in the late summer when peppers are ready to pick and the corn is winding down. It is an easier stuffed pepper, is pretty fast, and the green olives in the polenta are amazing.

I found the recipe last weekend while in Iowa City perusing through Eren's cookbooks. This one is from Moosewood's Simple Suppers, which Eren reports is a top fave for easier weeknight recipes. Serves 4-6.

5 large peppers (green, red, orange, yellow)
1 1/2 T olive oil
salt
Polenta:
4 c. water
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. red pepper flakes (I used chopped frozen jalepenos from last summer)
1 c. polenta cornmeal
1 1/2 c. corn kernels
1 T. butter or olive oil
1 1/2 grated sharp cheddar
1/2 c. chopped Spanish olives

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut peppers in half length-wise, remove seeds but keep stems. Brush with oil inside and out. Sprinkle with salt. Plave cut side up on an oiled sheet and roast 15 minutes.

In heavy pan, bring water, salt, and pepper to a boil. Add polenta in slow, steady stream while whisking. Cook on medium, stirring often, until thickened. Stir in butter, 1 c. of cheese, corn, and olives. Remove from heat.

Fill peppers with mix, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Put in oven 5-10 minutes. Moosewood recommends that you serve the peppers with black beans (1 16 oz. can) mixed with salsa (1 15 oz. jar) and cilantro (1/4 c).

Gingered Rhubarb Curd

I was looking for a way to use up the last of the rhubarb that we had in the freezer from the garden last year and I found this recipe for Gingered Rhubarb Curd from a blog called Apt. 2B Baking Co, you can link to the original through the title of the post. There are lots of delicious baked goods and the pictures are gorgeous. I don't recommend looking at the blog when you're bored at work and starving already, it just won't help.

I made the curd and then made some mini biscuits and whipped cream. But the curd would also be completely delicious served with just a spoon. It's that good. So good that you don't even have to have the whipped cream. Or the biscuits. I mean it.

For the Gingered Rhubarb Curd

3/4 pounds rhubarb (about 6 stalks)
1 inch piece of peeled ginger
1/4c water
1/4c sugar (I used brown sugar)
4 egg yolks
1/2c sugar
zest from one lemon
2t lemon juice
3T butter, cut into chunks

1. Wash rhubarb and trim as little off the ends as possible. Cut rhubarb and ginger into 1-inch chunks.
2. In a small saucepan, heat rhubarb, ginger, 1/4c sugar, and water. Cook on medium heat until the rhubarb falls apart and there are no whole pieces left, adding water by the tablespoon if rhubarb sticks to the bottom of the pan.
3. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture, then put through a fine mesh sieve over a clean bowl
4. Put egg yolks, butter, remaining sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in the bowl of a double boiler and whisk to combine. When the sugar has dissolved, add the rhubarb puree by the spoonful, to temper the eggs. Continue stirring the mixture with a rubber spatula over the double boiler until it thickens, about 5 min.
5. Remove from heat and strain the curd to remove any lumps. Cover the curd with plastic wrap and chill completely before using.

yield about 2 cups, you may want to make extra because it is crazy good

Southwest Black Bean and Roasted Sweet Potato Burgers

Like the chia seed pudding, I delayed posting this recipe because I feel sheepish about its source. But, these are so delicious that I figured I'd swallow my pride and post. Don't judge me, WFDM!

Southwest Black Bean and Roasted Sweet Potato Burgers
2 c. cooked black beans, mashed (I don't go overboard with the mashing because I like some texture.)
Sweet potatoes to equal 2 cups when peeled and cut into small cubes (I used yams the first time and liked the appearance better.)
2 t. olive oil
Salt
3 oz. yellow onion, diced finely
2 teaspoons garlic
3 T. tamari
2 t. ground cumin
pepper
7 oz. cooked rice (I used brown)
1.5 t. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (I used a bit more because I love this stuff!)
1 ounce cornmeal, plus 1 ounce from dredging.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the mashed black beans in a bowl. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes, dropping them in cold water as you cut them. Drain well and toss with olive oil and salt. Spread them out in an even layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until tender. Toss occasionally.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onion, and cook until lightly browned. Add the onions to the bowl of beans. Stir in the tamari, cumin, and salt & pepper to taste. Add the cooked rice, sweet potatoes, W. sauce, and 1 oz. of cornmeal. Mix well and adjust the seasonings. Form into patties and dredge lightly in the remaining 1 oz. of cornmeal. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add more olive oil. Add the burgers and brown lightly on each side. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Delicious with Veganise and avocado (or guac!). I make a bunch of patties and put the extras in the freezer (on a cutting board) to solidify their shape. Then I wrap them individually in plastic and freeze in a tupperware. (I do biscuits like this too and it's great--pre-formed!)

Vanilla chia seed pudding

This is a delicious pudding, although it admittedly looks a little gross, hence no photo. But it's a great way to eat chia seeds and makes an excellent snack/breakfast/dessert!

Vanilla Chia Tapioca Pudding
7 cups milk (brazil nut, hemp seed, or cashew)--I didn't have any of these, so I used almond milk. I also used 6 cups because my blender is not 7-cup capacity!
2 T. vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
2 T. cinnamon
1/3 c. agave nectar (you could use much less)
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup chia seeds

Blend all the ingredients (minus the chia seeds) in a high-speed blender and pulse. Place the chia seeds in a large bowl, pour the mixture over them, and begin to whisk. Keep whisking periodically to be sure the tapioca does not clump. It takes about an hour and a half for the tapioca to set. You can adjust the sweetness.

(From the Crazy Sexy cleanse book. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this...but the book does have some excellent recipes.)

Pork Bolognese

Um, here comes recipe #2 from Martha. I dunno. There the magazine was, there I was with all the ingredients in it, and suddenly meaty pasta was sounding SO good. And I have to admit, I have never used a recipe when making tomato-based pasta dishes before. I usually just throw things in with tomatoes and call it good.

But this. This is another story. I mean, there is wine, chicken broth, milk, bacon, AND meat. I had just made my own broth after cooking a chicken in the crockpot, and I happened to have left over wine, and meat and bacon in the freezer. I've also been working a lot lately and packing both lunch and dinner, which necessitates creative food composition and larger quantities. This is comfort food for meat eaters, it made the kitchen smell amazing, and the leftovers were delicious.


Serves 8
3 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 pounds ground pork (or other meat)
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 c. dry white wine
1 1/4 c. whole milk
1 can (28 oz) tomato sauce
2 c. chicken broth
1 bay leaf
5 sprigs fresh thyme
coarse salt and fresh pepper
cooked penne, for serving
grated parmesan, for serving

1. In large dutch oven or heavy pot, cook bacon over medium until fat is released (5 min). Add onion, carrot, and celery; cook until soft (6 min). Raise heat to medium-high; add pork and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned (7 min). Add tomato paste; cook until pork is coated (4 min).
2. Add wine; cook until reduced by 3/4. Add 1 c. milk; cook until reduced by 1/2. Add tomato sauce, broth, bay leaf, thyme, 2 1/2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Stir in 1/4 c. milk. Serve sauce over pasta, topped with cheese.

*My changes: I used some homemade sausage (part venison, part bacon), had kind of bad wine that I am not sure if it was dry or not, and did not have fresh thyme. It was still good. So was the quinoa pasta I used, btw.

Honey Cake

Early this spring while working at the bike shop, I spied a flyer for BICYCLE-DELIVERED, LOCAL HONEY!!!?! After I got over the initial "yeah right, this is too good to be true" shock, I Interneted myself on over to http://thebeezkneezdelivery.com/ and ordered myself a jar of the finest (buckwheat) honey I have ever tasted. Ever. And I love honey.
A lot.

After polishing off (by the spoonful, straight from the jar) my first order, I started to think about all of the many wonderful things I could actually make with the next. I got another jar today and couldn't wait to try this honey cake I found on the Smitten Kitchen.

The recipe makes 3 loaves or 1 bundt cake or 2 loaves and 2 mini loaves, blah blah blah LOTS OF CAKE. I halved it, but as it happens it's perhaps a bit, err, tall in an 8-inch square baking dish. I'm over it because it's also a bit, err, DELICIOUS and MOIST (yeah, I said it).


In closing: Friends, bloggers, Internet trolls, PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out this honey. It's LOCAL, BICYCLE-DELIVERED, AND DELICIOUS. What more do you want?

Raspberry Lemon Mini-Pavlovas

In honor of Mayday (and thinking about what to bring to multiple Mayday potlucks this weekend) I decided to break out some of last summer's raspberries hiding out in my freezer. Thinking about berries, whipped cream, and some sort of substance to put them on, I happened to spy an old Martha Stewart "Food Everyday" magazine on my table (KP, I promise I will give these back to you soon) and saw a recipe for Pavolva and Berries.

I have never heard of Pavlova before, but a little internet research on Wikipedia yields the following: "Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner."

Pavlova is apparently quite popular as a national dish in both Australia and New Zealand, where it was created in honor of Anna during one of her tours there. And it is typically made for celebrations. So! Mayday Pavlova it is! However, rather than make one or two larger pav's, I tried some mini, tartlet sized ones.

Meringue is fairly simple - there is some mixing labor involved (particularly since I am using hand powered egg beaters), and a lengthy oven time (up to 2 hours), but otherwise is very easy. Once cooled, the meringue is then topped with whipped cream, lemon curd, and berries. See the lemon curd recipe below. (For potluck #2, I mixed the lemon curd with whipped cream a la "Lemon Curd and Blueberry Tart" to put on biscuits with the rest of the raspberries. and yum - really good.)

This recipe is from Martha (my first Martha recipe ever?!):

3 large egg whites at room temp
pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. lemon curd
1+ c. whipped cream
1 1/2 c. mixed berries

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer (or a hand one of you are me), beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form - about 2 min. Beat in 1/4 cup of sugar. With mixer running, add last 1/4 c. of sugar 1 T. at a time. Scrape bowl as you go and continue to beat on high until whites are very stiff and glossy and sugar has almost completely dissolved - about 5 min. (If using a hand mixer, it will become very difficult to mix!) Beat in 1 tsp. vanilla.
3. Gently shape rounds of meringue on sheet; smooth tops. I used an ice cream scoop to get each mini meringue uniform, but you could also make two larger circles. Bake until meringues are crispy on the outside and detach easily from the paper, about 1 1/2 hours (mine cooked closer to 2 hours) - turning cookie sheet halfway through. Turn oven off and let meringues cool completely in oven.
4. To serve: gently peel from paper and top with whipped cream, lemon curd, and mixed berries (I just did raspberries).
*Note that for mini sizes, these are VERY messy. I think maybe there is a reason these are usually bigger. Just sayin.

Lemon Curd (makes 2 cups):
1 c. sugar
1 T. finely grated lemon zest
2/3 c. fresh lemon juice
8 large egg yolks
1/4 t. course salt
1 1/4 sticks (10T) butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

1. In a medium saucepan off heat, whisk together sugar, zest, and yolks. Whisk in lemon juice and salt.
2. Add butter and place pan over medium high heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until butter has melted and mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (small bubbles will form around the edges). *Do not boil.
3. Remove pan from heat while continuing to whisk. Pour curd through fine mesh sieve into a glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cool. (Stores in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks! Yum!)