Stuffed Jalapeño and Sweet Peppers

Once again, I was inspired by one of Ravenous Couple's photos--this one was Jalapeño Poppers in a Blanket. Check out the photo with the proceeding link--it looks so good, doesn't it? The key to cooking, though, is to make the dish to your taste. I am not a crust/bread lover, so after a couple of attempts making the stuffed peppers with puff pastry and also phyllo dough, I ended up with a topping of panko bread crumbs as my favorite.

 I liked just a bit of crunch on top with the panko bread crumbs.

 This is the stuffed jalapeño with phyllo dough. It was nice and crispy, but I don't have a lot of experience with phyllo sheets and it seemed like a lot of trouble.

I used a smaller piece of puff pastry than Ravenous Couple did in their recipe. Mine may not have puffed thoroughly because I may have stretched it a little while wrapping the peppers. I also added vegetables to the filling--the bacon and cream cheese alone was too rich for me, so I added chopped spinach, water chestnuts, onion and mushrooms to the cream cheese.

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers
1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers
4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed
1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cups diced mushrooms
4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter
or
phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

optional: 1 cup crumbled/grated queso fresco or jalapeño jack cheese

Straight jalapeños with a nice stem work well, although the stem is a little too tough to eat--makes the finished product look pretty, though. The sweet mini peppers work great for those that don't like spicy food. Cut them in half, trying to also cut the stem in half.

For the jalapeños, the seeds and the membranes inside are hot. I wanted a little heat, so I left most of the membrane but removed the seeds. With the sweet mini peppers, I removed all the insides, which left a nice pocket to fill.

If you are feeding vegetarians or simply want to eat lighter, I used a package of Morningstar Farms frozen sausage patties instead of bacon for one batch of stuffed peppers. I thawed the patties, then roughly chopped them and pulsed them in the food processor until they resembled sausage crumbles. My husband, nor my parents, could tell it wasn't meat--the cream cheese makes it rich enough. If you're using bacon, cook, crumble  and set aside.

Whenever I roast garlic, I always make more than the recipe calls for, and keep it in the refrigerator to use in other recipes. Make roasted garlic by cutting the tops off whole heads of garlic, drizzling them with olive oil, wrapping them in foil and bake in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until a bit caramelized. Cool, remove skins and set aside.

Saute the diced onions and mushrooms in 2 teaspoons olive oil until wilted, let cool and set aside.

Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water and add to a bowl along with the cooked onions & mushrooms, water chestnuts, softened cream cheese and garlic from 2 cloves of roasted garlic. Add the cooked bacon or sausage. Mix well. Season with freshly ground pepper and a little bit of salt if desired. The filling should be a little on the stiff side, it makes the peppers easier to fill. I think the cream cheese should be more of a binder than the main filler, but make it to your tastes. You can make the recipe a day ahead to this point and refrigerate.

Fill the peppers and add a clove of roasted garlic to each one.

Then add your topping--buttered panko bread crumbs, phyllo dough (if you don't like the richness of using butter, use an olive oil spray) or puff pastry (being careful not to stretch the dough). Top phyllo or puff pastry with a little cheese if desired.

If you're using puff pastry, add the cheese in the last 10 minutes of baking--the cheese will brown first and you'll want enough time for the pastry to properly bake--mine looks a little underdone here, but the cheese is nicely browned.

Bake in 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until breadcrumbs are lightly browned. It takes about the same amount of baking time for the phyllo or puff pastry too.

Itadakimasu!

***


We haven't had any Rachel pics in awhile--look how she's grown!

This weekend she bonded with her grandpa--he got the biggest smiles!

Gary's fun--he takes Rachel out to the courtyard to play.

 Rachel likes to swing.

She liked the rocking horse.

 Karen's friend Wendy came to visit with her two children.

 This is Colin.

And this is Claire. Claire is a bit of a dare-devil--she took the little rocking horse to the top of the slide and slid down!

 Claire has a lot of energy. I wish I had her energy!

Look! No hands!

 Clair loves roller coasters. Not just little ones, but BIG ones, too! Claire just turned FOUR!

 These two are all smiles!

 Gary tossed the ball and Rachel giggled and giggled.

 No, Gary, those aren't your toys! They belong to a little boy that lives in the courtyard also named Gary! We had a fun morning with Wendy, Claire and Colin. Thank you, Wendy, for coming to visit!

For dinner, Karen and Mitchell made us a gourmet feast! Gordon and Amy joined us for dinner--it's always so nice to see them. Sorry you are out-of-focus, Amy! I am working on my depth-of-field to get better and was unsuccessful here--I should have had Amy go around to the other side and stand between Gordon & Karen so she could be on the same focal plane as the others. Or, I could have closed down the aperture to get a better depth-of-field. I need more practice. You might remember Gordon & Amy from my Cinnamon Rolls Post.

Thank you, Karen, Mitchell, Amy, Gordon--and of course Rachel--for a delicious dinner and a fun weekend!


***

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers

1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed 

1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cups diced mushrooms

4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter 

or

phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

1. Roast garlic by slicing off a bit of the top of each head, drizzling olive oil over the heads, wrapping them in foil and baking in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until soft and a little caramelized. Cool and remove skins.

2. Cook bacon strips until crisp, crumble and set aside. 

3. Cook diced onions and mushrooms until wilted, about 10 minutes over medium heat. Cool and set aside.

4. Thaw and squeeze spinach and soften cream cheese. Mix together with onions & mushrooms mixture, bacon and 2 heads of roasted garlic. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt (if desired).

5. Slice peppers in half, remove seeds and membranes (if desired) and stuff.

6. Top with panko breadcrumbs (mixed with melted butter or olive oil), phyllo dough squares or puff pastry.

7. Bake at 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and peppers begin to wilt.

Guest Blogger: Mitchell's Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Happy New Year everyone!

Today, while we are busy in the kitchen with mochi and nishime for New Year's Day, we have a Guest Blogger!

Mitchell's Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole!


***

Being my first Christmas away from the Spearrin ranch in Florida, the Fujimotos happily welcomed a few Spearrin-family Christmas traditions to help make me feel at home.

A pillar of the Spearrin-family Christmas is a brunch on Christmas morning, where family members each bring a signature dish.

My signature dish is the Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole, so this year I made it at the Fujimotos on Christmas eve, as the name suggests, and we cooked it on Christmas morning.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

1 lb. Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean or similar)
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)
1 1/2 cups Milk
6 slices Bread
6 Eggs (large)
1 tsp. Dry Mustard (optional)

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare, but less time if you have helpers. Gary and Karolyn helped me so the prep was only about 20 minutes.

Start by lightly greasing a casserole dish (9" x 13" is ideal) with Crisco or butter. Then cube the bread and spread it evenly in the bottom of the dish.

Pan-fry the sausage to a nice brown. The sausage can be slightly under-cooked since it will cook again in the oven. Gary handled this step.

Drain the fat from the sausage and then empty the pan onto a plate with a few paper-towels. The paper-towels will soak up more of the grease.

Add the eggs, milk, and dry mustard to a mixing bowl.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Beat/whisk well like scrambled eggs.

Now everything is ready to be combined. It goes quickly from here.

Take the crumbled sausage and spread evenly over the bread in the casserole dish.

Sprinkle the cheese over the sausage.

I like to go heavy on the cheese, maybe an extra 1/4 cup.

Now just pour the egg mix evenly over the cheese and sausage.

And you're done.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to eat, place in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

_______________________________

Karolyn seems to think that every recipe/dish comes with a story, and this is no exception.

I can't take credit for the breakfast casserole recipe. It comes from one of my favorite grade-school teachers, Mary Jane Cushman. She's in the red shirt below with a few of my 7th grade classmates (Justin, Joey, Tres, and Laura).

She taught my social studies/history classes from 6th-12th grade. In middle school, I always had Mrs. Cushman for 1st period, so on the last day of classes before Christmas break, she would bring in a breakfast for the students, and this dish way my favorite.

I asked Mrs. Cushman for the recipe after I left middle school and started making it for my family Christmas morning, so I guess that means I've been making it about 12 years now.

Mrs. Cushman passed away last February. She will be remembered by her students for the kindness, patience, and joy she brought to the classroom. She also let us get to know her outside of the classroom.

Each summer, Mrs. Cushman hosted a beach/pool party at her home in Fernandina Beach, FL. I think the photo above is from 6th grade (my mom dug it out of an album).

Since she worked in the gifted program and taught only a small number of students in this program all the way through middle and high school, we came to think of her as much a friend and mentor as a teacher. She is missed by many. I always think of her when I make this dish.

***

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

1 lb. Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean or similar)

1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)

1 1/2 cup Milk

6 slices Bread

6 Eggs (large)

1 tsp. Dry Mustard (optional)

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare, but less time if you have helpers. Gary and Karolyn helped me so the prep was only about 20 minutes.

Start by lightly greasing a casserole dish (9" x 13" is ideal) with Crisco or butter. Then cube the bread and spread it evenly in the bottom of the dish.

Pan-fry the sausage to a nice brown. The sausage can be slightly under-cooked since it will cook again in the oven. Drain the fat from the sausage and then empty the pan onto a plate with a few paper-towels. The paper-towels will soak up more of the grease.

Add the eggs, milk, and dry mustard to a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Beat/whisk well like scrambled eggs.

Take the crumbled sausage and spread evenly over the bread in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the sausage. pour the egg mix evenly over the cheese and sausage.

Cover the dish will plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge overnight.

When you're ready to eat, place in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Pizza Pot Pie

Pizza Pot Pie.

Doesn't that sound good?

I'd never heard of it until Karen started talking about it.

Karen came into town yesterday for a business conference and what she wanted to eat was Pizza Pot Pie.

Karen was introduced to Pizza Pot Pie by her friend Lindsay.

Lindsay lived in Chicago, and has waited in the long lines at The Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co. for their famous Pizza Pot Pie.

Karen made this for us once last year, it's the only time I've ever had it, and now I'm going to make it with a little advice from her!

It's best described as pizza stew in a bread bowl.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. hot Italian sausage

1/4 lb. pepperoni slices

8 oz. package sliced mozzarella cheese

8 oz. package sliced provolone cheese

1 lb. mushrooms

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 14 oz. can tomato sauce

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup red wine

1 teaspoon each of dried rosemary, thyme, oregano & sweet basil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne or chili flakes

1 tablespoon sugar

olive oil

2 loaves uncooked baguette dough from Von's

fresh basil as garnish

Start by sautéing the garlic, onions & green peppers in a couple tablespoons olive oil.

After the vegetables gain a little color, add the mushrooms.

The mushrooms in the Chicago company's pizza pot pie are left whole.

I thought they were too big and cut them bite-sized.

When the mushroom start to wilt a little, add about a half-cup of red wine.

Then add the seasonings, 1 teaspoon each of rosemary, thyme, oregano and sweet basil.

Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

When it comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes to combine flavors.

While that's simmering, cook the sausage.

I'm making one pot with meat and one without for the vegetarians in the family.

For the vegetarians, I sauteed one eggplant, 2 yellow squash and 2 zucchini--all sliced.

When the meat and vegetables were done, I separated the sauce into two.

I added the sausage to the sauce and simmered for about an hour, then I sliced the pepperoni into strips and added them to the meat sauce.

Then added the remaining sauce to the veggies.

I bought two loaves of uncooked baguette dough at Vons Market. 

The nice man in the bakery looked at me funny, but was very accommodating. 

He asked what I was going to use it for, and said that he had never heard of pizza pot pie. It was only $1.29 for the uncooked loaf.

Get the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit for about 30 minutes before using.

These are the bowls Karen uses for pizza pot pie.

They hold almost 2 cups of the filling, so if you've got big eaters, that might satisfy them.

I got them from Crate & Barrel, they cost $3.50 each.

(Thank you, Susie, for driving me to Crate & Barrel to get these bowls. I owe you a pizza pot pie dinner!)

They're perfect because of the pedestal, it makes it easy to de-crust the pot pies and scoop out the cheese by holding on to the pedestal.

Because the bowl is hot!

You can make them in a regular bowl, it's a little trickier to take the crust off, but it's easy enough to pry it off.

Start by putting the cheese on the bottom.

I used a slice each of mozzarella and provolone.

Karen makes it with a good slice off a block of mozzarella.

Then you ladle in the filling.

Those pretty hands belong to my sister-in-law Nancy.

This is the vegetarian filling.

It would be good with some beans in the filling--the bagged bean soup mixture, with all the different kinds of beans in it.

Then you make a crust with the bread dough, by patting a piece of it flat.

One loaf makes about 6 crusts.

It would be best to cut the dough into 6 pieces first.

That way the crusts would be uniform. We just broke off pieces of dough, and some were big and some were small.

You can make the pot pies with a regular bowl, too.

Karen marked the vegetarian ones with a "V" made from dough.

I think the crust works better at least an inch over the sides of the bowls.

We're chasing the light in the kitchen here.

Put them on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

The baguette dough works well because it makes a crusty bowl.

I liked it a lot better than using pizza dough crust.

To de-crust the pizza pot pie from the bowl, invert the bowl over a plate.

Run the edge of a spoon around the crust, separating it from the bowl, holding the pedestal.

Scoop the cheese from the bottom of the bowl.

We sprayed some of them with a non-stick spray, but there really wasn't a difference.

The deeper crust, 1 inch over the rim of the bowl, makes a nice crust for the filling.

(Those are Karen's pretty young hands.)

Chiffonade a few leaves of fresh basil for a tasty garnish.

Bon appetit!

 ***

I'm so happy Karen wants to squeeze in a little time with her family whenever she comes to town on business.

Yesterday, Rick came over too, and brought two cousins.

Here they are with one of them.

Hayley.

Then my sister-in-law came over too.

She always works hard here in the kitchen, then had to dash off and take Hayley to soccer practice.

Lindsay and Karen worked together before Karen got married.

They're still close.

You can see the pretty ranunculus Lindsay brought--there to the left in the background.

I love ranunculus.

Thanks, Linds! They're beautiful!

I feel like I know Lindsay because Karen has talked about her a lot.

It was so much fun chatting--cooking together and over dinner--and really getting to know her.

In person.

Lindsay tried umeboshi for the first time--she liked it!

She said her dad doesn't like it, so they never had it at home.

Next time she comes over, I'm going to introduce her to manju.

There's a saying in Japanese, "Ii kimochi".

Or "kimochi ii" as my grandmother used to say.

It means 'what a good feeling'.

I always think of the word kimochi-ii when the kids are home.

It's such a good feeling to have them home.

No printable recipe for Pizza Pot Pie yet.