Stuffed Peppers

  

Casablanca Restaurant in Harvard Square makes, hands down, the best stuffed peppers I have ever eaten.  The one on their menu is served as an entree because it's so big and delicious.  I've become a huge fan since trying it for the first time a year ago.  These peppers are considerably less stuffed--definitely a side dish, not the main enchilada.  Still, they satisfy my craving for a yummy pepper stuffed full of goodness.  They are quick to execute and makes a great side dish, packing veggie and grains into one delicious package.  This is a Mediterranean-inspired version, but once you have the technique, which is quite easy, it's a fun dish to experiment with, using different grain/fruit/nut/vegetable combinations. 

Couscous and Vegetable Stuffed Peppers (Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis/www.foodnetwork.com)

Makes 6 Stuffed Peppers

When shopping, look for firm, unblemished peppers that are fairly full and round with nice, even bottoms.  These peppers will hold a good amount of filling, and they are much easier to clean out than skinny, misshapen peppers.  The peppers can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance, and stored, tightly covered, in the fridge, then baked before service.

Peppers:

* 1 ⅓ cups low-sodium chicken broth

* 2 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

* 1 cup couscous

* 1 15-ounce can of chick peas (also called garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

* ½ cup dried currants or raisins

* 1 packed cup chopped baby spinach leaves

* ⅔ cup (about 5 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

* ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

* Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

* 6 medium sized bell peppers.  Red, yellow and orange are the most flavorful, and make the prettiest presentation

* Hot water, a cup or two

Sauce:

* 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

* ½ cup (about 4 ounces) creme fraiche or sour cream

* 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

* 1 Tablespoon water

* 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped

* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

* ¼ teaspoon sugar

* ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper, plus extra, as needed

1. Heat your oven to 400 degrees F, with a rack in the center position  

2. Bring the chicken broth and cumin to a boil in a medium sauce pan.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the couscous. Cover the pan until the couscous is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Once the liquid has been absorbed, fluff it with a fork to separate the grains. 

3. Slice the tops off the peppers and rinse to clean and remove all the ribs and seeds.  If necessary, cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up.  Dice the pepper tops.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pepper pieces, garbanzo beans, currants or raisins, spinach, feta and ¼ cup of olive oil.  Add the couscous and toss together.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

5. Stuff the peppers with the filling and drizzle the tops with olive oil.  Put the peppers in an appropriately sized baking dish (8 by 8-inches holds 5 peppers, but if you're actually doing 6, you'll probably need at least 10 by 10 inches).  Fill the baking dish with 3/4-inch hot water and bake until the filling is golden and the peppers are cooked through, about 55 to 60 minutes.  Check after 30 minutes, and cover with foil if the filling is browning too quickly or is starting to look dry.  I didn't do this, but I should have! 

6.  In the meantime, make the sauce.  In a blender, combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

7. Serve sauce on, under, or just alongside the peppers--whatever you like!  

Enjoy!  

Easy Potato Gratin with Ham

 

Gratin is what happens when you try to thinly slice potatoes for homemade potato chips, fail, and have a potato and a half of misshapen potato slices.  And a hunk of ham that was supposed to become end up in quiche that later gets scrapped.  And leftover Gruyere cheese from French Onion Soup.  Really, if you ask me, the leftovers in the fridge were telling me that gratin was meant to be! 

Working with what I had, I modified a Cooking Light recipe slightly (basically omitting the healthy part).  This particular recipe has you simmer the potato slices, along with thinly sliced garlic, in milk before baking them to increase the creaminess of the dish without using any actual cream or butter.  The milk starts to tenderize the potatoes and infuses them with the garlic flavor.  The softened slices are layered in a pan with chunks of ham and grated Gruyere cheese (and parboiled green beans, if you follow the recipe verbatim).  Finally, a cup of the milk is mixed with a bit of grated nutmeg and poured over the top, bake for 40 minutes and voila! 

Overall I was happy with the recipe--it gives you the cheesy, indulgent gratin experience without the excesses of cream and butter that so many use.  Don't get me wrong--those are delicious--but this is more appropriate for an everyday kind of meal.  My only notes on the recipe are that the garlic flavor that was so strong after the potato slices simmered in the milk became much more subtle--almost too subtle--after baking.  When I use this recipe again I will increase the garlic from two to three or even four cloves to help retain the garlicy-ness post-bake.  I will also double the amount of nutmeg, because that also became too muted upon baking.  These technicalities aside, I like this recipe for its *slightly* healthier approach to potato gratin and its adaptability.  While it's certainly special enough for a holiday meal, served alongside a big mesculan, spinach, and chopped veggie salad (keep cleaning out that fridge!), it makes a perfect weeknight meal as well. 

Potato and Ham Gratin (Cooking Light, April 2002)

Serves 8 according to Cooking Light--but 8 very virtuous side-dish servings.  If you are making a meal of this, as I did, only plan on 4 or 6.

* 3 cups of 2% or 1% milk
* 2 pounds potatoes, thinly sliced--they say red, I used baking, but I'm sure anything will work!
* 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (I'd use even more!)
* 2 bay leaves
* 4 ounces green beans, trimmed
* Cooking spray
* 1/2 cup deli ham, diced (look for nitrate-free, if you can)
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or more!)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
 
2. Combine the milk, potatoes, garlic and bay leaves in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring so the potatoes don't stick and the milk doesn't scorch on the bottom.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 cup milk mixture. Discard the bay leaves, but leave the garlic.

3. (If using), cook green beans in boiling water for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Rinse in cold water; drain.

4. Arrange half of potatoes in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange haricots verts and ham over potatoes. Sprinkle with half of cheese, salt, and pepper. Top with remaining potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir nutmeg into reserved milk mixture; pour over potatoes.

5. Cover the baking dish with foil and cut 3 (1-inch) slits in the foil. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Roasted Broccoli

   

Broccoli happens to be my favorite vegetable, but sadly Erik does not share my appreciation for this wonderful veg, so I've had to do without for quite a while now.  However, a few weeks ago my sister and her boyfriend came to visit, and we made Mongolian Beef with Broccoli (another recipe for another post), and we had an extra head of broccoli kicking around the fridge.  I don't know where I initially saw the recipe, but rumor had it that Ina Garten's Roasted Broccoli was to die for, so I figured I had nothing to lose.  

What I love about this recipe is that it's so fast and easy, and it truly does make broccoli irresistible.  Upon serving it to Erik for the first time I was practically apologetic, because I knew he wasn't too excited, but I kid you not, his exact word were "Did you do something special to this broccoli?  It tastes like french fries."  And there you have it: even a broccoli un-enthusiast thinks this is one tasty recipe!  Plus it's so quick to prepare, adaptable for any amount of people, and can go along side just about anything (as long as you don't mind letting it steal the show!)  Ina has you toss the roasted broccoli with lemon juice, cheese and pine nuts, but so far I've only tried it with lemon juice, which does add something special, so I wouldn't skip that step.  I'm sure the cheese and pine nuts taste great, too, but the broccoli is so good on its own that they're hardly essential.

Roasted Broccoli (Adapted from Ina Garten's Back To Basics cookbook)

* Enough broccoli

* A few cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

* Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

* Kosher salt and pepper, a sprinkle of each

* Wedge of lemon for squeezing, and zest from the lemon

* Toasted pine nuts (optional)

* Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and adjust rack to the middle of the oven.  Cut the broccoli into florets and trim off any long stems.

2.  Put the broccoli and the garlic on a sheet pan (lined with tin foil for easy clean up, if you want), and drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss the broccoli and garlic around on the sheet pan to coat everything lightly with oil.

                              

3. Roast the broccoli for 20-25 minutes.  It's okay if the tips start to look a little charred--trust me, they will taste delicious!  

4. After the broccoli is done cooking, toss it with lemon juice and zest.  Add toasted pine nuts and a few shavings of parmesan if you so desire.