stuffed bell peppers

as with many of my food aversions, the one for stuffed bell peppers can be blamed on my mother.  i can’t say she didn’t try…

either way, my palatte has healed and was ready to test the waters once more. this rendition (from kitchen attempts) was pretty tasty. not perfect, but still tasty.

my mom has never even heard of couscous

stuffed bell peppers (from kitchen attempts)

olive oil

1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
12 oz. fresh chicken or turkey sausage, removed from casing
16oz can diced tomatoes
¾ cup couscous
4 red bell peppers
1/4c shredded parmagiano reggiano

Preheat oven to 400F.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic, ½ tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper; cook until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add sausage to skillet. Cook until browned, about 4 minutes.  Add tomatoes and 1 cup water; cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in couscous.

Fill pepper halves wit couscous mixture. Pour ½ cup water into a large baking dish; arrange stuffed peppers in dish.  Cover with foil and bake until peppers are tender, 35-40 minutes.  Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake uncovered, 10 minutes.

i’m fairly certain something needs added here. however, i am sick- i may just need to be not sick to enjoy it. i’ll let you know

i like bread, bread likes me

so soft. and it freezes well too!

i’ve done it! after much searching, consulting, and baking i’ve perfected my wheat bread recipe. and now i’m sharing it with you.

while we are on the subject of sharing i should let you know i only have two secret recipes: oatmeal cookies, and hamburgers. i will never post them here, or anywhere else. nor will i just give them away. moving on.

the bread is light, airy, and soft. there is no knead (get it?) to buy whole wheat bread at the store anymore.

honey whole wheat bread

1 tbsp instant yeast

1 c warm water (~98F)

1/3c warm milk (~98F)

1/4c honey

1/3c canola oil

3c whole wheat flour

1c ap flour

4 tbsp vital wheat gluten (this is the magic right here)

1 tsp salt

egg wash- 1 egg and 2 tsp water, beaten together

old fashioned oats

bloom the yeast in the warm milk and water for about 5 minutes, or until foamy. add the rest of the wet ingredients, then the dry, and mix with a strong spoon until dough leaves the sides of the bowl. i should mention that i don’t have a bread machine or stand mixer; i do everything by hand.

turn dough onto your work surface. now here is the hard part- DO NOT ADD MORE FLOUR! DON’T DO IT! look, i know you want to, the dough is sticky. just knead. and knead. and knead. it will come together. i promise.

place in a buttered bowl and cover with a towel. i usually place the bowl in a warm (100F) oven and let rise for 30 minutes. after the dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and gently knead once more. the second kneading is very delicate. don’t let the dough touch the counter. just fold the dough into itself a few times.

heat the oven to 350F

shape the dough to fit into a buttered 9″ loaf pan. cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise until the dough has crested about 1″ above the sides of the pan.

use a pastry brush to gently brush egg wash over top of dough. try not to get any egg down the sides of the pan or the bread will stick. sprinkle with oats. place pan in oven.

bake for 20 minutes. cover with foil and bake for another 20 minutes. remove form the oven let cool on a rack for about 5-10 minutes. remove bread from pan and let cool completely on rack.

store in a plastic bag.

for freezing, slice the loaf and place in a ziploc bag.

broccoli and cheese is full of win

bread bowl? what an ingenious idea

you know, up until late last year i’ve never had broccoli cheese soup. i knew it existed. it sounded good. it just never happened. but then something magical occurred- i bought an immersion blender. soups all the freakin’ time. it was only a matter of time before broccoli made its way under the spinning blade.

broccoli cheese soup

~2-3 cup broccoli florets

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 medium potato, cleaned and chopped

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

1 large yellow onion

extra virgin olive oil

1 cup extra sharp cheddar, grated (plus more for garnish if desired)

1/4 cup milk

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

***bread bowl, optional

in a stock pot cover broccoli, carrots and potato with chicken stock and water. cover and bring to a boil. simmer for about 20 minutes or until carrots can be easily pierced with a fork. while the vegetables are simmering, sautee the onion until translucent. add onion to stock pot. remove from heat.

use an immersion blender to blend the soup until desired consistency. i like to leave some chunks of veggies for texture. add in cheese and stir until it melts. pour in milk. add salt and pepper to taste.

***the bread bowl in the picture is my standard honey whole wheat. i would reccomend to make an entire loaf and just use about 1/4 of the dough for each bowl. that way is much easier, and you get a better result, as opposed to shrinking the recipe. the only change is that no loaf pan is used, and you only bake the bowl for about 25 minutes. then just cut the top off and scoop out the insides. mmmmm bready insides…..

wtfff

oh fun food friday, you are amazing. here’s hoping for one more.

nothing special here. cinnamon rolls. same recipe as before. i just rolled and cut them differrently so they’d be smaller to feed more people. oh, and “spring” icing.

no, you can't taste the blue