Stuffed Bell Peppers

This a spin off another recipe I found that used bulgur. Couldn't find bulgur but I did have a box of parmesan couscous that needed used up... so this is a recipe that lends itself to impromptu variations of whatever is on hand!

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 chopped up and cooked onion
• 1 box cooked parmesan couscous
• some cooked ground up turkey
• a handful dried cranberries
• a bit of monterey jack cheese

Mix together the filling ingredients (like I said, this recipe works with basically whatever as you can tell by my precise measurements). Stuff filling inside 4 green bell peppers, the tops cut off , seeds and ribs removed (think mini jack-o-lanterns and you've got it made - adding a notch in the "lid" makes it easier to line up when cooking too). After they're stuffed, set them in a pot with about a cup of water on the bottom. Bring water to a boil, then cover the pot and let simmer for 5-10 minutes until peppers are tender-crisp and filling is warmed through.

P.S. We had extra filling leftover, but its great eating just by itself. Or just cut up some more peppers later.

P.P.S. No photo since I just ate the last one for lunch. :)

Lemon Chicken Soup

The inspiration for this one came from watching Giada De Laurenttis on the Food Network Channel. She made a lemon chicken soup with carrots and parsley, but I had loftier ideas for lemon chicken soup, so I like to think of this one as a Jesse original. This recipe makes four generous portions.

• 6 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
• Juice of 4 lemons*
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 oz spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, add chicken broth, lemon juice, and bay leaves. On med/high heat, add whole chicken breasts and simmer 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from the pot and add the spaghetti. Using two forks, shred the chicken while the spaghetti cooks 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken back in when the pasta is tender. Stir in basil and spinach and cook just until spinach is wilted. Ladle into bowls and top with Parmesan cheese.

I don't usually poach chicken, but in the chicken stock and lemon juice, it becomes super moist and savory. This recipe is quick, easy, and healthy. Try it, love it, then tell me how brilliant I am. ;)

*I like LEMON chicken soup. If you're not that into the lemon flavor, I'd just go with a couple lemons.

Black Beans and Rice

This is our favorite beans and rice recipe. It's one I've gradually modified from a Food Network recipe. It's best served with roasted chicken and mole.

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup diced green chillies (preferably New Mexican)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 cup white rice*
• 2 cups black beans, drained
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes (preferably homegrown)
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Heat oil in a pot over medium/high heat and stir in chillies, onions, garlic, bay leaves, and cumin. Stir and cook about 8 minutes.

Stir in rice, black beans, tomatoes, water, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for about 40 minutes or until rice is tender.

*I always try to make this with brown rice. Don't! Brown rice takes waaaay too long to cook. If you want to use brown rice, I recommend cooking it separately and adding it into the dish towards the end.

Stir and Roll Biscuits

This recipe has received recent rave reviews. It's embarrassingly easy for a biscuit and makes for a quick supper addition. It's one of our favorites for breakfast biscuits and sausage gravy.

2 cups flour
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk

Combine dry ingredients. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the milk and oil all at once. Stir until combined. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into desired
biscuit shapes. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking pan; bake at 425* for 10-12 minutes.

Notes: Larger biscuits will take longer to bake.
I love to use half whole white wheat flour in this recipe.
Make sure the oven is preheated.
Corn oil and canola oil work well. Olive oil produced a lack-luster, greasy biscuit.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Bars

I know that this recipe is a winner because the pages in my recipe book stick together! If you ever want to find a way to tell Joe "thank you", this is it!

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (2 sleeves)
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter (we prefer creamy, but crunchy is good, too)
1 cup melted butter (margarine is not quite the same; if you're going to eat something that is this dense calorically, might as well make it good!)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, stir together the cracker crumbs, sugar, peanut butter and melted butter. It will be a thick consistency. Press it firmly into the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan.
Melt the chocolate chips over a double bouler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Spread the melted chocolate over the crumb crust. Chill in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes, then cut into tbars before the top is competely set. Chill the bars until ready to serve.

Roasted Carrots

There are few vegetables that make it into our family's coveted category of "least offensive vegetable". This is one that everyone enjoys and it's so easy! I have been making this long enough that I no longer remember the original source.

2 pounds prepackaged baby carrots

2 TBS olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

Adjust oven rack to the center position and preheat to 475*. Toss carrots, oil and salt in a roasting pan. Spread into a single layer and roast for 12 minutes. Shake pan to toss carrots; continue roasting about 8 minutes longer, shaking pan twice more until carrots are browned and tender. Serve as a side dish while they are hot.

Notes: Be sure to thoroughly drain the carrot package.

I have also used fresh garden carrots; the trick here is to make sure that the carrots are cut into a uniform size and thickness.

I love to use garlic salt as the seasoning.

Refried Beans

Thanks to Jenny for lingering in the kitchen to calculate this recipe and actually get it recorded. It's been a standard in our family since about 1991; it originated from a friend in the ward: Cynthia French. It's just delicious!

4 cups dry pinto beans, sorted and cleaned
6 cups chicken stock
2 tsp garlic (2-4 cloves)
2 bay leaves
2 large yellow onions, coursely chopped
2 TB ground cumin
2 TB dry cilantro

In a large saucepan, cover beans with enough lukewarm water to cover the beans generously, by about 4 inches. Allow the beans to soak and rehydrate overnight. In the morning, drain and rinse the beans; return them to the same pan. Add remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat down low, cover the pan and allow the beans to cook slowly. Cook the beans for 4-8 hours, or until they are tender. (This time will depend on the freshness of the beans.) Check the fluid level periodically, to ensure that the beans are just covered with stock, adding more water if needed. (Nothing smells worse than burned beans!)
When the beans are tender, remove the bay leaves and add salt to taste. (Salt is added last to prevent toughening of the bean skins.) The level of the liquid should just be visible through the beans. If there is excess liquid, drain it off, reserving it for later if needed.
Traditionally the beans are now "refried" in hot oil in a frying pan and mashed. However, we have just used a blender, omitting the extra oil. A traditional blender, food processor or stick blender all work very well. Drain the beans if you like thicker beans; add more liquid if you prefer them thinner.
I love to double or triple this recipe, freezing portions for later use. They are great to have on hand. Also, the chicken stock can be replaced with water for the cooking and the addition of chicken boullion at the end of the cooking time.
Delicious!

Dilled Rice Salad

Perfect side dish for a hot summer day! This recipe originates from a pamphlet published by the USA Rice Council.

2 TB white wine vinegar
1 TB lemon juice
1 TB vegetable oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups cooked rice, cooled
1 medium-sized red pepper, chopped
1/2 pound snow peas, julienned

Combine vinegar, lemon juice, oil, dill, salt and pepper in a large bowl; whisk to combine well. Add rice, red pepper and peas; toss. Serve chilled.

We used brown rice for a terrific nutty flavor. I would suggest a bit more dressing to rice mixture, also. Sugar snap peas substituted for snow peas very well.

Some of our later variations included left-over cooked pinto beans, tomatoes and celery. They've all been great.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I forgot to take pictures of the finished product on this one,

but here are our chocolate sugar cookies in pre-baked form.

Last week, I had a hankering to try out my snazzy new cookie cutter set. What cookie cutter set, you ask? This one:

Thanks dapper Joe for your lovely modeling. ;) Jen gave me a sweet 101 cookie cutter set for my birthday, so we tried it out one Friday afternoon. I wanted to do cookies, but I'm admittedly not a big fan of sugar cookies, which led to discovery of the Chocolate Sugar Cookie. Amazing!! They're like brownies, but in cookie form.

I found this recipe on the Joy of Baking website, which I wasn't familiar with but Jen tells me is fabulous. I can certainly vouch for this recipe!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies:

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 c. granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.
3. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and on a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.
6. Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes (depending on size) or until they're firm around the edges. Remove the oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

The only thing I would add is I would highly recommend adjusting the cooking time. Go 8-10 minutes instead, so they're soft and chewy instead of crispy around the edges. So good!

Cashew Chicken

No, no I did not take this picture, but thanks for asking. ;) I made this awesome new recipe a couple nights ago for our family and another family in the ward and I'm in love with it! It's from a site called Rasa Malaysia, created by a Malaysian woman who's first cookbook on easy asian cooking is coming out next year. I'm totally sold! This recipe was definitely restaurant quality, but not complicated.

INGREDIENTS:

1 boneless & skinless chicken breast, about 10 oz. (cut into small cubes)
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1 small green bell pepper, about 4 oz. (cut into small square pieces)
5 slices ginger
1/4 onion (cut into small square pieces)

MARINATE:

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon rice wine

SAUCE:

1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
3/4 teaspoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
3 dashes white pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Marinate the chicken meat with the baking soda for 15-20 minutes and then rinse the chicken thoroughly. (Please make sure that the chicken is properly rinsed clean of the baking soda.)
2. Pat the chicken meat dry with paper towels and then marinate with the rest of the ingredients for 15 minutes.
3. Mix the sauce together and set aside.
4. Heat up a wok with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and stir-fry the chicken meat until the color turns white or half-cooked. Dish out and set aside.
5. Add another 1 tablespoon of cooking oil into the wok and add in the ginger slices, bell peppers and onions.
6. Stir-fry until you smell the peppery aroma from the green peppers and add the chicken meat back in.
7. Add in the cashew nuts and do a few quick stirs.
8. Add in the sauce and stir continuously until the chicken meat is cooked and well coated with the sauce. Add salt to taste, dish out and serve the Cashew Chicken hot with steamed white rice.

A little note on marinating the chicken. I didn't read far enough ahead on the directions and I added all three of the marinating ingredients at once and then had to rinse it off and do just the vinegar and corn starch. Marinade in baking soda first! Then rinse off and marinade in the other two ingredients.

I highly recommend putting it in chinese take-out boxes. It makes it taste even better... really!

Amazing Molten Peanut-Butter Chocolate cake

What you need:

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. flour
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Make It
PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Grease 1-qt. souffle dish or baking dish; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 to 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in powdered sugar. Blend in whole eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour; set aside. Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla until well blended.

POUR half of the chocolate batter into prepared dish; cover with peanut butter mixture. Top with remaining chocolate batter.

BAKE 20 min. or until edge is set but center is still slightly soft. Cool slightly. Top each serving with the whipped topping just before serving. Store any leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Kraft Kitchens Tips
Size-Wise:
One serving, 1/2 cup, of this indulgent cake goes a long way on flavor!

Variation:
Prepare and layer batters as directed, substituting seven greased 3/4-cup custard cups for the souffle dish. Place filled custard cups on baking sheet and bake at 425°F for 14 min. or until edges are set but centers are still slightly soft. Continue as directed.

Recipe found on http://www.kraftrecipes.com/

Double-corn Polenta

Okay, my photograph doesn't make it look like much. But it is heavenly!! The perfect summertime side dish. And best of all - it's so stinkin' easy. This recipe comes from the book "The 150 Best American Recipes".

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• coarse salt
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 cup medium-grind cornmeal
• 1 1/2 cups cooked corn kernels
• 2/3 cup loosely packed fresh mixed herbs, like parsley, chives, oregano, basil, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 4 large basil leaves for garnish

1. Chop tomatoes. Toss with the olive oil and salt. Set aside

2. In a saucepan boil together water and cream. Add butter and then salt to taste. Whisking constanty, add cornmeal in a slow steady stream. Keep whisking until the lumps disappear. Reduce heat to low and simmer while stirring until polenta is creamy and thick about 20 minutes. (It was more like 5 when I did it.)

3. Fold in corn, herbs and cheese. Top with the tomatoes and basil leaves. Serve immediately. (Makes 6-8 serving)