BBQ-Style Stuffed Peppers

A few years ago, I made a dish of onions stuffed with a ground beef mixture from Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica. It was quite delicious, and I'd resolved to make it again (in fact, in my cooking notebook I'd written down a variant which I have yet to make, but perhaps will appear here one day), but sadly that resolution was lost between the pages of numerous cookbooks I've acquired since.

Fast forward to last week. I had ten people coming for dinner and only a package of ground beef in the freezer. I thought to myself, "how can I make one pound of ground beef stretch for ten people?" My first thought was to fall back to my reliable sweet & sour meatloaf. But then in the back of my mind I recalled the deliciousness of those stuffed onions, and thought of another iconic form of stuffed produce: stuffed peppers.

As it happened, I recently had some stuffed peppers at Abigael's - but they were stuffed with barbecued brisket. I liked the idea of barbecued beef inside the pepper - instead of the classic tomato sauce-drenched dish. But my one complaint about that dish was that the brisket felt a little dry. I knew I had to get the barbecue flavor and ensure a moist, juicy texture to the meat.

The key to that was to cook the meat almost like a stew, with plenty of liquid in a heavy-lidded pot which retains heat well. I created my own savory-sweet barbecue sauce to be cooked in with the beef, and when combined with soft basmati rice, the mixture retained moisture and flavor excellently. Most stuffed pepper recipes call for pouring tomato sauce on top. I debated this for a while but Faigy advised that doing so would drown out the flavor of the meat and the pepper too much.

The rice and meat mixture can be made ahead of time. Just stash them in the fridge for up to a day or two. Reheat the meat in a dutch oven (add a little extra water or broth if it seems dry), then add the rice and warm together (the rice should absorb the remainder of the liquid).

Also, you can make this dish pareve/vegetarian/vegan by using a good ground beef substitute (we like Trader Joe's Beef-less Beef) and vegetable broth.

Red and green peppers will lend different flavors - experiment with both!

Hearty Wild Rice Soup

Reading through the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated, a recipe called "Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup" caught my eye. It looks hearty, healthy, and perfect for winter. However, I knew I'd have to do quite a bit of tweaking to make it kosher because it uses chicken stock and heavy cream.

I decided to use the chicken stock because it seemed that the meaty flavor would be too good to pass up with the wild rice and mushrooms. I also further highlighted this aspect by incorporating many vegetables that boosted the umami flavor, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Instead of the cream, I used vanilla almond milk because I liked the idea of having a sweet nuttiness in the soup. I also added a lot more vegetables because I love a very chunky soup and they add nice color and flavor. I also made a bunch of other tweaks, changes, and adjustments just based on my own preferences and what I had on-hand. 

So in fact, I would bet this soup tastes quite different than the original, but it was delicious all the same. There are some great tricks in here from the original recipe, including the use of baking soda to speed up the cooking time of the rice and cornstarch to thicken the soup. 

This soup is unctuous and has a sweet and earthy flavor with an almost velvety texture. It has a nice blend of creamy thickness and chunky heartiness. It's perfect on a chilly or rainy day. 

The Ultimate Sweet & Sour Meatloaf

Okay, so I must admit, after just having seen Julie & Julia last night (very good movie), I am re-inspired to continue my quest to post my collected recipes on my blog. Most notably, I'd like to finally share the Ultimate Meatloaf recipe that I came up with a couple weeks back.

So basically, I was kinda stuck for dinner one Friday night, and I decided I was going to just eat at home and try to invite whoever I could over (I ended up not finding anyone, so more meatloaf for me!). I was also in the mood for a ground beef dish, but I find meatballs very time-consuming (I am picky about the shape). So, I decided to try my hand at meatloaf (another first for me) - something that growing up I was never a huge fan of because it was often dry and flavorless.

I decided to construct the meatloaf in two layers: the first layer being the meat, which I wanted to be very savory and flavorful, yet moist and juicy. The second layer would be the glaze, which I had scribbled down in my cooking notebook over a year ago as an idea to try out - an applesauce-based glaze. I wanted to take this a step further and turn it into a bit of a sweet-and-sour glaze, so I added some cider vinegar and teriyaki sauce.

It came out ridiculously well, but I want to stress one thing. There was one flavor in the meat that absolutely made all the difference: the Chinese five-spice powder. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN THE RECIPE (maybe besides the beef), DO NOT SKIP IT!!! I cannot stress this enough. In the past few months I have been learning the ways of Chinese five-spice, and I have concluded that it is amazing with ground beef (my meatballs on Purim were also a testament to that - but alas, I didn't write down the recipe!). If you don't have any, it is incredibly worth your while to go out and get some (sometimes hard to find - I only found Fairway carried it, but I am certain you can find it online easily). It gives this complex flavor of cumin and a hint of anise (licorice) that makes you go, "ooh, hmm!" on every bite.

Okay, okay, enough of plugging the spices. On to the recipe!

The best meatloaf I have ever tasted.

The Ultimate Sweet and Sour Meatloaf

For meatloaf:

2 lb. ground beef
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. parlsey
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/4 tsp ginger
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz finely chopped pecans or hazelnuts (you can add up to 8 oz. if you wish)
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt (at least 2-3 heavy pinches)
Pepper

For glaze:

1/2 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. teriyaki sauce

1. Combine all meatloaf ingredients and mix very well.

2. Transfer to a loaf pan (or other baking vessel) and pack well. Smooth off the top.

3. Combine glaze ingredients well and spoon evenly onto top of meatloaf.

4. Bake at 350 for 1 hr 30 min or till meat reaches 160 F. Please, use a meat thermometer on this if you have one available.

5. After it's done, allow it to rest at least 10 minutes before serving. If desired, pour off excess fat (carefully please!)

Serves 10-12. Depends how you cut it really.

Chili con Carne

So, I have a confession: I've made plenty of cholents but I have never made chili before. Well, at least, I hadn't until a couple of weeks ago. But when I did finally set out on the brave endeavor of making my first chili, I borrowed a few techniques from my cholent-making skills, namely: the crock pot.

I like using those crock pot liners (sometimes hard to find in some supermarkets) to make crock pot cooking a lot easier to clean up. Some people put water underneath the liner which I find does nothing and it makes it take longer for the heat to transfer into the food. Besides, these things are purposely made to withstand the kinds of temperatures crock pots can put out. Especially when you cook a cholent overnight and things have a tendency to stick to the sides or the bottom, these things really help. OK, end of product plug (no I am not paid for this. If you are a crock pot liner manufacturer and would like to pay me I will graciously accept. Let's do lunch).

Of course, you don't have to use a crock pot for this recipe - a Dutch oven will do just as well (or so I hear, since I don't happen to own one; again, if you would like to purchase one for me, I will graciously accept. Let's do lunch. Dinner if the crock pot liner guys call me first). If you don't have either, I suppose a large-ish pot will suffice on the stovetop for roughly the same time, but keep an eye on it (since the meat is already cooked by the time it goes into the pot, you're really looking to cook for the right consistency, i.e. when the liquid level is at your liking).

You'll notice this chili contains both beef and chicken. That was the result of buying beef and having additional guests added later on and needing to add some additional protein to make it a larger batch. This turned out to be an extremely good choice and I now am a big fan of polyproteinous chili (I think I just made that word up).

Anyhow, apparently the chili came out really well - I've still been getting compliments weeks afterwards. Hopefully you'll find this chili just as memorable. And if you don't, I hope you'll at least find it tasty. Cause that's all that matters in the kitchen in the end.

This is the chili only 2 hours into cooking (which is why it's liquidy still)

Chili con Carne

1 lb. chicken breasts, cubed
1 lb. ground beef
1 bunch scallions, chopped
3-4 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, mined
2 tsp chili powder
1 can corn
1 can pinto beans
1 can cannellini beans
1 green pepper, diced
2 jalapenos, diced (or canned diced jalapenos)
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp flour + 2 tbsp water
Salt & pepper

1. Saute scallions, garlic, carrots till soft in a cast iron skillet.

2. Add chili powder, salt, pepper, chicken and beef and cook through.

3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer skillet contents to a crock pot (discard the leftover fat, or use for something else).

4. Add corn, beans, pepper, jalapenos, spices, bay leaves to crock pot.

5. Mix flour and water together thoroughly to form a clumpless slurry. Add the slurry and stock to the crock pot.

6. Add salt & pepper to taste and mix well. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until it reaches the desired consistency.

Serves 10-12.

Skirt Steak with Asian-Whiskey Glaze

I'm baaack! I know, I've taken quite a long hiatus from my blog - I assure you, it has nothing to do with you! I've still been cooking, I just haven't had time to sit down and focus on writing entries for everything I've made. But fear not! I still have pictures and notes of what I've been up to. Hopefully, I'll be able to dump a slew of these recipes up here within the next few days.

Anyway, let's talk steak. I love steak. I haven't had it very much since being on Weight Watchers. In college, I discovered that my favorite steak cut is skirt steak. I had it grilled one time with NOTHING - no salt, no sauce, nothing - and it was quite possibly the most flavorful steak I had tasted up till that point. Well, why mess with perfection then you ask? Because I can.

I wanted to make a really nice main entree for a special Friday night dinner - just for two. I decided that steak was the best choice. A few months back, I went to Wolf & Lamb steakhouse for my birthday and ordered a Jack Daniels steak - a nice ribeye with a whiskey sauce. I combined this with an idea from Quick & Kosher for Asian-style steak and with Cook's Illustrated's May 2009 issue's recipe for Beef Teriyaki, along with their "Guide to Marinating" and voila! my skirt steak recipe was born.

Marinating is very good for skirt steak, because it is a thin cut. According to Cook's Illustrated, marinating only penetrates up to 1/2 inch through meat's surface - which is great, because skirt steak is usually not much more than an inch thick - so lots of flavor abound! Make sure you don't use up all the marinade! You will be sorely missing out if you don't have extra reserved for the glaze.

This is also great for summer barbecues - you can make the glaze on the side!

Skirt Steak with Asian-Whiskey Glaze

1 lb. skirt steak
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp whiskey
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp white wine
1 large shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. water
Chopped scallions, for garnish

1. Combine all soy sauce, oil, wine, whiskey, shallot, garlic, brown sugar and dry mustard in a bowl or measuring cup and whisk well together - this should make about 3/4 cup.

2. Place skirt steak in a ziploc bag, and pour 1/3 to 1/2 of marinade into bag (depends how much you need to coat meat). Press the air out of the bag and seal it well. Refrigerate for at least half hour, but more is fine.

4. When ready, preheat a cast-iron skillet (strongly recommended - if not, use a pan without non-stick coating - or a grill!) to screaming hot. Sear meat for 3-4 min on both sides. Remove and let rest on a plate for 10 min.

5. In the meantime, lower the heat on the pan. Mix flour and 1 tbsp water together in a bowl to form a slurry (to prevent flour clumping). Pour slurry, and remaining water into the remaining marinade, and pour into skillet (careful - this will boil very fast in a hot skillet!). This will let you deglaze the pan and scrape up any of the fond (yummy brown bits) at the bottom of the pan. Mix very well (and fast) until sauce comes to a glaze consistency.

6. Spoon glaze over steak and serve. Garnish with scallions.

Serves 4 (or more, depending how you cut your steak).

Chicken Cacciatore

So, this week I had my first experience with FreshDirect. I figured out early what I was making, so I ordered the appropriate produce, and I must say, I am very impressed with the quality of vegetables they gave me. It definitely seems cheaper to shop there for some things if you know what you need in advance. The downside that I learned the hard way is that they don't always pack things securely - for example, yogurt that can explode all over the box and all the products in the box (ew). They were pretty understanding though and gave me a refund for the ruined items. But it beats going to the supermarket where the produce quality is sometimes okay, and sometimes awful (and the farmer's market can get expensive sometimes...).

I came up with this recipe for chicken cacciatore last year. It was one of my first "original" recipes - I basically spent a bit of time researching dozens of different chicken cacciatore recipes and tried to assemble in my mind what I thought was common between all of them. In the end, I was able to put together a nice array of flavors that were what I think this classic Italian dish should taste like (mind you, without ever having tasted it myself before!).

I think generally people like to put olives in chicken cacciatore, but I personally am not a big fan of the taste of olives, so I left them out. You can add them if you see fit - green is probably better than black.

The addition of the couscous came out of not having an extra side dish to serve with this, so I took a page out of my mother's cookbook and built-in the side dish to the chicken (my mom makes potatoes underneath chicken). It came out well - just be careful if you reheat this dish on a hot plate or something not to burn the couscous on bottom.

I used a red onion this time instead of regular for more color.

Chicken Cacciatore

1 red pepper, sliced
2 green peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 whole chicken, in 1/8ths, or whatever parts you prefer
Olive oil
Crushed tomatoes
1 tomato diced
1 tomato sliced
1 package mushrooms, sliced
1-2 bay leaves
Salt & pepper
Israeli couscous, optional

1. Season chicken. Brown chicken skin-side down in olive oil over medium-high heat. Transfer to a plate.

2. In same pan/oil, cook onions, garlic, mushrooms over medium heat until the onions are soft and the mushrooms have a nice brown color.

3. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomato, peppers and the bay leaf. Season the sauce too. Simmer together, covered, until sauce comes together and peppers are more or less cooked, but not too soft (about 5-10 minutes).

4. If using Israeli couscous, toast it in a skillet until they start to brown, making sure to mix constantly to ensure even heat distribution.

5. In a baking dish (sprayed with Pam), optionally dump couscous on the bottom. You can either layer some sauce above that, then place chicken, then more sauce, or just do the chicken then all the sauce - it will seep down and cook and flavor the couscous. Bake, covered, in a preheated oven at 350, for 30-40 minutes or until done (for this it's best to use a meat thermometer if possible; cooking time could vary depending on how cooked the chicken was when you browned it).

Beta Recipe: Cornflake Chicken with Corn Sauce

I came up with this chicken recipe a couple of months ago when (as usual) my pantry was not well-stocked enough and all I really had on had were some onions and a can of corn. I made it and I liked it but I put way too much consomme mix in, and it just dominated the sauce. So, this was primarily another shot at the recipe with the seasonings mellowed out a little bit.

The sauce was not bad, but it could have used a little more flavor from something else, and definitely some more color besides just the yellow of the corn.

The biggest problem I had with the chicken this time though was the texture. Just like the last time I made it, the coating was mushy, and I'm not sure it was flavorful enough. The cornflake crumb mush just slopped off the chicken with the corn sauce, which was extremely unsatisfying. I found myself eating this mass of cornflake globs with the corn sauce...the taste wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the kind of thing I'd be prepared to served to a large crowd.

Here's what I would change: I would add another vegetable to the sauce, possible diced tomatoes, as well as maybe a green bell pepper (or even jalapeno possibly). I kind of want it to be more of a salsa than a sauce, and maybe give the dish a little more of a Mexican flair.

I would also definitely change the primary cooking method of the chicken. Baking it covered just plain didn't work. Baking it uncovered without the sauce first might be a step in the right direction. Another step might be to bake it uncovered on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet, to allow both sides of the chicken to crisp up. But really, my gut feeling tells me this chicken is meant to be sautéed. A preliminary experiment with frying the leftovers definitely yielded better taste, but it was too late to see the effect it would have on the texture since it was already cooked. I'm pretty confident though that frying the chicken first will crisp it up nice and golden brown, and then cooking it with the sauce might be the right way to do this.

So, try this beta recipe at your own risk, or even better, improve it and let me know how you fixed it up!

This could've used a crisper texture and more color...

Cornflake Chicken with Corn Sauce

For chicken:
4 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp fat-free mayo (such as Smart Beat)
2 Tbsp mustard or prepared mustard sauce (I used SanJ tamari mustard sauce or a chipotle mustard)
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp. Billybee honey garlic spice (or just use garlic powder and a little bit of honey)
1 cup corn flake crumbs

For sauce:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (11 oz.) can of corn
2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp coriander
1 cup white wine
1 Tbsp. chicken consomme mix (such as Osem brand)
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Mix mayo, mustard, paprika and honey garlic spice together in a small bowl, and lay corn flake crumbs out on a plate. Dip chicken breasts in mayo-mustard sauce till well-coated, then coat in corn flake crumbs. Set the chicken breasts aside in a dish.

2. Saute sliced onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent.

3. Deglaze the pan with white wine, then add corn, marjoram, coriander, chicken soup mix, salt & pepper. You might need to add a little bit of water too if there is not enough liquid in the pan - but no more than half a cup. Cover and let simmer over medium heat until most of the liquid has reduced.

4. Spoon corn sauce over chicken, cover and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until done.

Serves 4.
7 WW points.

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Soup

I came up with this recipe last year in the middle of winter - it's a great meal-in-one, hearty and comforting soup. It's got chicken and rice in it so it's very filling too. I also make it in large batches and freeze it so it lasts quite a while (it's really convenient - I can just head some up for dinner when I get back from work).

So, I decided that it was time to make a batch this year, since it's been getting pretty chilly lately (and I'm also feeling lazy :) ). But, as I said in my welcome post, I tend to never make the same dish the same way twice.

Below is the original recipe I settled on last year. I'll mention here though the modifications I made this time around. Instead of 20 cups of water I put in something like 24. I also added some torn fresh sage leaves, and I used brown rice instead of white rice. I only happened to have 1 lb. of chicken on hand, which didn't turn out so well - it feels like there just isn't enough chicken for as many servings. I didn't have boullion cubes on hand, so I left those out and added a bit more chicken soup mix. Finally, I had the last of the sweet potatoes to use up, so I substituted a couple of them for the regular potatoes.

The only change of these I would keep is the sage - too much water and the wrong kind of rice made the soup too watery - it's supposed to be a nice thick, hearty soup (but not quite porridge). The lack of chicken and boullion cubes I think probably cut back on the chicken flavor of the soup, which was unfortunate. The sweet potatoes were not bad, but I still prefer the taste of regular potatoes in this soup. Also, note the addition of sugar to the soup - that was something I decided to do after deciding my soup was overpoweringly spicy (even though I like it that way).

This batch came out a little more watery than it's supposed to...oh well.

"Meal-in-one" Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Soup

2 red peppers, halved
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups of rice (brown or white; different cooking times for each)
4-5 potatoes, cubed
1 (28 oz.) can of crushed or diced tomatoes
2 lb. chicken cutlets, cubed
1 (16 oz.) can corn, drained
4-5 large carrots, sliced
2 cups chicken broth
18-20 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. canola oil
olive oil to drizzle

Note: These amounts are estimates. You are better off judging how much to put in by eye based on how much soup you are making.
1-2 tsp. dried thyme
1-2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1-2 tbsp. fresh sage leaves, torn (optional)
1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper
3-4 bay leaves
salt / pepper to taste
2-3 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. coriander
3 boullion cubes
~3 tbsp. chicken soup mix (such as Osem or Telma brand)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice peppers in half, clean out the seeds, and place on a baking sheet, along with garlic. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the peppers and garlic. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

2. Roast peppers and garlic in the oven for 15-20 minutes until peppers start to brown a little bit. Finish with 3-5 minutes under the broiler till the pepper skin begins to char and bubble. Set aside to cool.

3. Sauté onions in a skillet until they start to soften. Add chicken to skillet and lightly brown along with turmeric, coriander, salt and pepper.

4. Peel the skin off from the cooled roasted red peppers and cut them up – about a 1 inch dice. Dump the peppers & garlic in a large (I use a 10 quart) stockpot, along with chicken & onions. Add carrots and crushed tomatoes.

5. Add sugar, boullion cubes, soup mix, chicken broth, water, followed by herbs – thyme, basil, parsley, sage, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Remember, judge how much of herbs to add according to how much soup you are making. Mix well and bring to a boil. Once the soup boils, reduce to a simmer.

6. After 45 minutes, add potatoes and corn.

7. After another 45 minutes, add rice and let it continue simmering until the rice is fully cooked (about 10-15 minutes). Once the rice is cooked, turn off the flame and you are done!

Yields about 9 quarts of soup which will last for a nice while :)
3 WW points per serving.