Orzo Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Orzo Stuffed Bell Peppers

Cozy kid friendly meal for the Fall!

With the greater availability of milder tasting bell peppers Stuffed Bell Peppers have found a place among the most popular home cooked meals. There are many recipe variations throughout the world. This recipe stays very close to the American cuisine with a few changes; including, orzo replacing the typical white rice and milder red and yellow bell peppers used along with the traditional stronger less sweet tasting green.

Amazing colors of Fall.

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Stromboli

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Stromboli the Easy Way

Stromboli

Stromboli is a rolled up pizza! With a bread crust, a little sauce and veggies or meats or both. Prep time is about 20-30 minutes then into the oven for about the same. Nope! No jar sauce, nor pizza dough from the refrigerated section. I’m sure there’s some good sauces out there these days but for me as close to scratch as possible ensures a better taste and ingredients I recognize. Yep! I’ve taken some short cuts but I think you’ll approve.

Vegetarians can easily make this their own. Any pizza topping can go into this … So, the choices are in your hands. I’ve included a simple red sauce but give it a cream sauce or just olive oil. This is amazing.

In the next weeks I’ll be posting Portuguese Pizza. That’s right! And I’ll be making the pizza dough from scratch. If you’re into a scratch pizza dough and can’t wait for mine Mario Batali’s is super amazing … one variation even cooked on a griddle.

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Comforting Soups

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Soup’s On!

Navy Bean and Ham, that is!

SoupsThe beans are soaking and later today I’ll be putting together a simple but hearty soup of Navy Beans and Ham. Here are some soups to tide you over until then:

TOP: Portuguese Green Soup, Chunky Root Soup, Basque Vegetable Soup

MIDDLE: Portuguese Bean Soup, Chicken Soup

BOTTOM: Clam Chowder, Vegetarian Black-eyed Pea Soup, Sausage and Navy Bean Soup

Country Beans and Cornbread

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Country Beans and Cornbread

My children never understood just how lean those years were. A single mom making ends meet … And the most economical meal I made (and actually loved) was this one.

These recipes have few ingredients and are simple with little preparation time. I still love this meal not only because of the memories it evokes … It just tastes good!

When I say country I’m speaking about the hills of Arkansas where Granny and Grampa had a farm with just the right amount of livestock to keep the plates full. Granny wasn’t particularly a good cook but she could can and pickle like no one else.

These recipes were hers with this exception … Her cornbread had only five ingredients; cornmeal, buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and salt. The cornbread I taste in restaurants today is more of a cake texture and very sweet. With this in mind I put together a recipe I felt would give the texture of my granny’s without being too gritty and added just a bit of sugar. Bacon was a big thing in those hills … So, there is bacon in all of this. Yikes! But don’t fear … I’ve precooked the bacon and only 2 teaspoons of bacon grease are used in the beans.

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Chicken Tetrazzini

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Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

Chicken TetrazziniThe only thing we know for sure is this dish, further, any Tetrazzini dish, is named after Luisa Tetrazzini, an Italian opera star popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. What seems to be in question is what hotel chef put this together for her and gave it her name. This is my own version of the dish. And it’s simmering.

Baking this a few minutes after the initial cooking gives a truly different twist to this pasta dish.

 

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Apples

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Apple Recipes

My Apple Dumplings-Sunday

Apple DumplingsHere are a few apple recipes to tide you over until My Apple Dumplings Post.

Top L-R: Spinach Apple Banana Smoothie, Mother’s Day Muffins, Apple Empanadas
Bottom L-R: Pork Chops Recipe, Apple Dessert, Apple Pie

Did you know there are over 7000 apple cultivars? Just within the last weeks I was looking through the apples at my grocer’s. And up popped a new one … to me anyway. Do you get confused about which to use for what? I kinda stick with my favorites. But it’s interesting and recommended to mix cooking apples to get a little different taste and texture.

The crabapple is the only apple variety native to North America. It’s not used in cooking often because of its extremely sour taste. Apples are usually categorized by use; cider, cooking, eating. Below I’ve listed what I often find available and their recommended use. Yep, in my youth I baked an apple pie with Red Delicious. It took forever for the apples to ‘cook.’

Braeburn-sweet, tart; eating and tarts (can turn brown inside from long storage)
Empire-sweet, crunchy, juicy, tangy; eating (cross between McIntosh and Red Delicious)
Fuji-one of the sweetest, crisp; eating (brought to market in the 60’s-developed in a research station in Japan)
Gala-sweet, juicy, crisp, grainy; eating and sauces (one of the most popular apples)
Golden Delicious-very sweet; eating (found in West Virginia-not closely related to Red Delicious)
Granny Smith-crisp, juicy, very tart; cooking and eating (originated in Australia)
Gravenstein-crisp, sweet, tart; cider, cooking and eating (been around for 100’s of years)
Jonathan-tart; cooking and eating (Origin-Woodstock)
McIntosh-slightly tart and crisp; cooking and eating (very popular in eastern Canada and the Northeast US)
Red Delicious-sweet, very mild to little taste; eating (easy to recognize by the mounds circling the bottom)
Rome-crisp, juicy, mild; cooking (flavor develops in baking)
Winesap-sweet, tangy; cider and eating (Stayman apple)

 

Oven Barbecued Ribs

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Easy Oven Barbecued Ribs

Lemon Glaze CakeOops, a picture of this delicious Lemon Jello Cake (click for recipe) … Not ribs! The ribs are in the oven but this is today’s dessert. Yes, we have a celebration planned for Austin which includes food of course. Oven barbecued ribs and blender potatoes. And a huge green salad! Stay tuned. More Later Today!

Oven Barbecued Ribs

This recipe is good for pork or beef ribs. Tender ribs with a tangy slightly spicy sauce are so succulent. No fuss oven barbecued ribs!

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Linguini Carbonara and Fried Rice Recipe

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The Same Recipe for Both! Really?

Linguini (linguine) Carbonara and Fried Rice

Linguini Carbonara

Fried Rice

Maybe a tiny bit misleading. But with the exception of rice and pasta and one other ingredient these two recipes are the same. Once cooked and soy sauce added to one and Parmesan to the other the tastes are distinctively different.

Linguini Carbonara has always been on the brunch menu, more like eggs and bacon, but is quite versatile and easily makes a great family dinner. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy these two recipes are with minimal ingredients. Great for the inexperienced cook.

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Breakfast Burrito

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Not just for Breakfast-Breakfast Burrito

breakfast burrito

Serve it as a brunch on the patio or dinner in a pinch. Do it the simple way with mushroom soup and your favorite store bought salsa … Or for the purest make a béchamel and if you don’t make salsa try fresh chopped tomatoes and cilantro as the garnish.

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