South West Style Vegetable Stuffed Pepper

Had a bunch of orange bell peppers and came up with a stuffed pepper that’s surprisingly light and very flavorful with pleasing texture. It’s creamy but not really creamy and I used some of the very flavorful cooking water from a pan of corn I cooked in the oven instead of more butter or cream. This is an easy recipe to prepare. Just throw everything in the oven and let the oven do the work. The size of the peppers I used may differ from yours so we might be a difference in servings. I used medium sized bell peppers.

Vegetable Stuffed South West Style Stuffed Pepper

Ingredients for about 9 servings

9 orange bell peppers – tops cut off and seeds and membrane removed – (you can use whatever color you want but they all taste different) (you should trim the tops and save the pepper and use)

3 brown skin potatoes (not large but good medium sized…my potatoes were about  7-8 oz each)

1 1/2  teaspoons canola or vegetable oil

5 corn ears (I cooked 5 but only used about 2 1/2 ears of corn….if you cook less corn the water that you use latter won’t be as flavorful)

2 teaspoons course sea salt

2 oz sweet butter

1/2 cup cooking water from corn

1 1/2 oz fired roasted hatch chile – stem, seeds, most of skin and core removed -chopped

1/2 roasted red bell pepper – stem, seeds, skin and core removed – chopped

1/2 roasted jalapeno – stem, seeds, core removed – chopped

3 1/2 oz pepper jack cheese – shredded

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

1/4 cup scallions – chopped

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

pinch of white pepper

non stick canola or vegetable spray

Directions

Set oven at 350 degrees F

Wash potatoes well then dry well. Prick them all over with a fork. Rub the potatoes with oil and place on baking sheet.

Place peppers upside down on baking sheet that was lightly sprayed with non  stick spray.

Put peeled corn in a pan or baking dish and add water to cover the corn by about about three quarters. Add 2 teaspoon salt and the butter. Cover pan with foil.

Place the potatoes, the cut bell peppers and corn in the oven.

In one hour the peppers should be wrinkled but still have body to them. (you should check the potatoes but in my oven they needed another 1/2 hour. Potatoes will have a slightly wrinkled skin.

At one and one half hours or thirty minutes latter the corn will be very fragrant and should be done with the potatoes.

When corn is cool enough to handle remove from cob. Use two and a half cobs and put the rest in your refrigerator or freezer for something else.

When the potatoes are still warm but cool enough to handle then you peel the skin off. On my potatoes I was able to just pull the skin off. Place in a large bowl and mash by hand with a potato masher. Add warm corn water, white and black pepper, hatch pepper, red pepper, jalapeño, corn, cheese, cilantro and scallions. Mix gently with a spoon and try not to bust up the corn all the way. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Fill peppers tight as you can with the potato mixture and place each filled pepper in a non stick sprayed pan.

The filled peppers will take about one hour until they get some color on the top.

I chilled this pan and latter reheated two peppers for dinner.

They came out scrumptious! Forking yummy!

South West Style Vegetable Stuffed Pepper

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa is delicious on grilled meats and on tortillas. The Tomatillo is related to the Gooseberry and looks like a green tomato but comes in a husk you have to peel off.  Tomatillo do differ in flavor as some are very sweet and some have little flavor. Sometimes you get them when the husk is still green and fresh and seals the tomatillo completely. Most of the time the husk is very dry and comes with dirt inside. Either way you should peel and wash the tomatillos. This recipe is easy to prepare but involves  cleaned up peppers that are roasted, peeled with the seeds and stems of all the peppers removed. The produce always differs in flavor so some adjustments are to be expected.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

5 lbs tomatillos – husk removed, washed, cut in quarters

1 lb sweet onions – chopped

12 garlic cloves – shredded

1 Tablespoon oil (I used canola)

4 oz poblano pepper – roasted, cleaned, chopped

6 oz hatch chili – roasted, cleaned chopped

2 oz jalapeno chili – roasted, cleaned chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro – chopped

1/2 cup scallions – chopped

5 epazote leaves – torn very small (skip this if you don’t have it or use a pinch of very finely chopped fresh oregano)

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin

2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

Directions

Turn the oven to 425 degrees F

Put the tomatillos on sheet pan (s) and keep in the oven about an hour or until the tomatoes are somewhat charred.

While the Tomatillos are roasting……

Tomatillos

Put on a sauce pot on medium high heat and add the oil. When it’s hot add the onions and when they start to look cooked add the garlic and continue to cook till onions are translucent.

Turn down the heat to medium low.

Add all the peppers.

It should be aromatic by now.

Around now or soon the tomatillos are done.

Add them to the pot.

Add all dry spices and simmer about a half an hour. Stir occasionally.

Shut the heat off and add the fresh herbs and lime juice.

Taste and adjust.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

This is a bright light salsa…The sweetness of the Tomatillos cuts all the heat from the hot peppers.

The Forking Truth

Latin Inspired Red Lentils, Rainbow Chard, Dates and Almonds

I was inspired to create this dish after dining at Deseo Latin Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ. Deseo’s version was different but some of the flavors that stood out to me are in this dish. I did write about this dish before about three years ago but at the time didn’t actually post a recipe. Everyone who has tried this dish in my house said that it was very good and delicious! This is a very easy mostly one pot recipe.

Ingredients for about 6 servings.

1 lb red lentils – washed and inspected

1 bunch rainbow chard – cleaned – leaves torn off in pieces from stems and stems chopped

12 oz roasted tomatoes (or canned whole with puree is fine…over 12 oz works too)

1/2 sweet onion – chopped

3 garlic cloves – chopped fine

4 cups vegetable stock (or slightly more if you want it thinner)

17 dates – pit removed and chopped

1/2 cup almonds – skinless is preferred

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (1/2 in the beginning with the onions and the other half with the almonds)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Nora pepper ( you probably don’t have Nora Pepper and the second choice would be Aleppo pepper that is very similar…both are fruity pepper with very mild heat…Nora pepper is slightly smoky. If you don’t have either Nora or Aleppo pepper just add a pinch of paprika and a little bit of any pepper you like to taste)

7 oz manchego  cheese – shredded

Directions

Two Tablespoons of olive oil on medium high in a pot. In few minutes the onions will be transparent and then add rainbow chard stems. Keep it going another minute or two till chard stems are soft and then stir in garlic. Now stir in rainbow chard till wilted. (about a minute). Remove from pot and put to the side.

To pot on medium high heat add stock, tomatoes, black pepper,  lentils and bring to boil. Now reduce to simmer till lentils are soft. (about 1/2 hour or so)

Set oven to 300 degrees F.

During this time toast your almonds. On a sheet pan drizzle a Tablespoon of olive oil on the pan and add almonds. Drizzle another Tablespoon all over the almonds and put pan in oven till almonds got a butterscotch color. (Around 20 minutes)

Add remaining ingredients and almonds when they are done. Stir in cheese last.

Taste for seasoning adjustments and adjust if needed.

Latin Inspired Red Lentils, Rainbow Chard, Dates and Almonds

You will find this dish unique and delicious. Maybe the most delicious lentils you’ve ever tried!

#crowdpleaser

The Forking Truth

OMG Hatch Chile and Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

These are those OMG Mashed Potatoes with Hatch Chile and Cheddar Cheese. I had no idea that many people have trouble making mashed potatoes. This past Thanksgiving I saw on the news that the most looked up recipe on the internet in Phoenix AZ was mashed potatoes. Who Knew! I happen to have a few tricks for better tasting mashed potatoes. I infuse the boiling potatoes with garlic, onion and a hot pepper…(for this recipe I used a jalapeño) and sea salt. For Thanksgiving I do rice the potatoes but here I just hand mashed the potatoes, seasoned them perfect and added cheese and fire roasted Hatch Chile till it tasted perfect. The Hatch Chile is popular in the fall time here in the South West. People that live here where the New Mexican pepper Hatch Chile is sold stock up on them for year round cooking. I find that the flavor of them is just right now for all your cooking needs as the Hatch Chiles I purchased in the fall were incredibly fiery hot and now they are toned down and just delicious!

Ingredients for about 12 servings

3 lbs potatoes – peeled – big ones cut in half. ( I like reds but either potato is fine)

1/2 onion – skin removed and leave whole (just for boiling with potatoes)

3 garlic cloves – (just for boiling with potatoes)

1 jalapeno – cut in half longways – (just for boiling with potatoes)

1 Tablespoon course sea salt (for boiling with potatoes)

2 teaspoons course sea salt – (for seasoning the mashed potatoes)

4 oz unsalted butter

1/2 pint heavy cream

1 cup xtra sharp aged cheddar cheese – shredded – (white cheese will look better)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

5 oz Fire Roasted Hatch Chiles – stem, seeds, and most of skin removed. – chopped -(******NOTE the amount of Hatch Chile may differ depending on how the heat is or how fresh or how long the chiles were in the freezer and also by your taste…) THIS REALLY MATTERS…..because the heat can be 10x hotter sometimes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Directions

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño and 1 Tablespoon of salt to your pot. Fill with water till the potatoes are covered well. Boil till fork tender. (about 10-15 minutes)

With a slotted spoon remove the potatoes to a colander and drain. Discard onion, garlic, jalapeño and water.

While your pot is hot melt the butter and add remaining spices. You can turn off or turn to low after butter is melted because the potatoes and the pot will remain hot and the rest goes by fast. Add the potatoes and mash with a hand masher. Add cream and mash more and then add cheese and mash more. Lastly add in the Hatch Chiles….(maybe not all at once so you can control the taste)

These Hatch Chile and Cheddar Cheese Mashed Potatoes are certainly a #Crowdpleaser (if you make the right call on how much hatch to add)

Hatch Chile and Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

The Forking Truth

Lemon Verbena Water Ice

I got these beautiful locally grown Pink Lemons and Lemon Verbena from the Farmers Market so I thought of Lemon Verbena Water Ice since it’s already heating up in sunny Phoenix Arizona. It’s easy to make and comes out delicious, light and refreshing.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 bunch of lemon verbena – chop very fine about 1/2 a teaspoon and leave the rest whole

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice plus all of the zest from the lemon grated ( I used 4 bigger and very juicy lemons)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup water

Directions

Bring the water and sugar to a boil with the lemon verbena (minus the 1/2 teaspoon of chopped)

Reduce to simmer and let it go about five minutes.

Turn off heat and let it sit till just warm.

Remove verbena branches and throw away the branches.

Pour sugar water in a freezable container. Add the lemon juice, zest, and 1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped lemon verbena.

Set in freezer. Fluff about six or seven hours latter with a spoon. Over the course of the next fourteen hours you need to fluff the ice mixture up about three more times. I thought the texture becomes most perfect on day two after one day of sitting.

Lemon Verbena Water Ice

Enjoy! It’s really delicious! It’s the most refreshing water ice I ever tried!

The Forking Truth