Grilled Stuffed Peppers

Aaaah, if not for the 50- and 60-degree days in January, no on would live in Texas.

Feeling an urge to soak up some midwinter sun, yet still craving the comforts of an open fire? How about some tiny, sweet peppers in all the colors of sunshine, wrapped in bacon, and grilled to tasty perfection?

Sunshine? Check.

Fire? Check.

Tasty? Check, check, check!

Courtney's Grilled Stuffed Peppers

Assume 4-5 per person

This recipe stuffed about 30

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I used French bread)

1 cup shredded cheese (I used a colby/jack mix)

4 oz cream cheese, at room temp (1/2 package)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 large eggs

Dulcetta (small sweet) peppers, split from top to tail and any present seeds removed

Thick-cut bacon, one slice for every three peppers

Wash, split, and de-seed peppers (it is not necessary to remove the stem- in fact, leaving it on will enable
you to more completely close in the stuffing and prevent leaks while grilling).

In a medium-sized bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs, shredded cheese, garlic powder, and onion powder.

In a food processor, pulse 3-4 slices of fresh bread until a coarse
crumb is achieved (you are looking for about 1 cup crumbs). Add
crumbs to egg/cheese mixture.

Mixture should have a thick and relatively dry texture.

Carefully scoop filling into cleaned, split peppers, being careful not to break peppers apart.
My peppers held an average of 2 tsp of filling per pepper.

Once peppers are filled and squished closed, cut bacon
slices into thirds and wrap 1/3 piece of bacon around each pepper.
Slide on to skewer*, making sure skewer pierces overlapping
bacon ends to ensure a good wrap.

Place skewers of peppers over heated coals (avoiding open flames like in photo, unless super-charred is your style).
Peppers are ready when bacon is crisp, pepper skin is slightly charred, and filling is hot and gooey.

These peppers are a crowd pleaser, and a for-sure hit for any Super Bowl party that may be coming up, so put a pin in this and enjoy!

*If no grill there be, you can use toothpicks and your broiler!

Avocado Pasta

This weekend we got 3 perfectly ripe avocados in our co-op share, and we had no chips... what to do, what to do? No guacamole, that's getting a bit tired anyway. How about... a bright green, creamy, rich, healthful, and crazy-easy pasta? Perfect.

Courtney's Creamy Avocado Pasta

Makes enough for 4-5 

3 medium-sized ripe avocados

olive oil

lemon thyme

1/2 lemon

garlic powder

salt

1 lb pasta (we used bowtie)

water and salt 

In a large pot, fill with enough water as to give your pasta room to move without overflowing the pot itself once the pasta starts a-cookin'. Toss in a few tablespoons of salt and bring water to boil. Toss in pasta and cook to your texture preference.

In a food processor or blender, puree 2 of the ripe avocados with a pinch of thyme, a pinch of garlic powder, the juice from 1/2 a lemon, and salt to taste. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil (while processor or blender is going) until sauce becomes the thickness of a really good alfredo. 

Pour avocado sauce into a heat-safe bowl, and then scoop cooked pasta directly from hot pasta water and into avocado sauce (don't worry about excess pasta water, you actually want some of it in the avocado sauce). Toss pasta in avocado puree, and then cube the third avocado and gently fold into pasta. Serve with fresh tomatoes, an extra squeeze of lemon, or some freshly grated Parmesan, and enjoy!

(Try not to lick the plate)

Citrus Cookie "Bars"

It's the first of a new year. Let's start it right... with something bright and rich. Who wouldn't want to start a year like that?

Courtney's Citrus Cookie "Bars"

Makes one 9x13" pan of awesomeness

For the shortbread:

3 sticks softened butter

1 (scant) cup sugar

3 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

~1/2 tsp salt

1 generous tsp good vanilla

Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix until mostly combined (there will be a few
crumbles left out of the 'ball,' no worries).

Turn out dough (and crumbles) into a nonstick-sprayed
9x13" baking dish and press to flatten into an even thickness. 

Bake shortbread in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until edges are browned and pulled away
from dish slightly. Allow to cool while making the citrus curd topping.

For the citrus curd:

Citrus of your choice- you could do all one type, like lemon or orange, or a combo of several...

I used lemon, orange, and grapefruit. You'll need enough citrus for

1 TBS citrus zest

1 cup citrus juice

1 (scant) cup sugar

3 TBS cold butter (don't use substitutions!)

3 eggs, beaten in advance

In a good-sized saucepan, add zest, juice, and sugar, and mix
with a wire whisk. Don't turn on the heat yet!

To the zest/juice mixture, add eggs, and turn heat to a medium.
As mixture heats up, add lump of butter, and whisk constantly.
Continue cooking over medium heat until mixture thickens
and will coat the back of a spoon, then immediately pour
into a heat-safe bowl to stop the cooking process.

Score the top of the cooled shortbread with the point of a knife or a fork. Pour hot citrus curd over shortbread and place
in a cool place until set (about 30 mins). Cut into desired sized bars and devour.

Note: these bars have an unusually thick shortbread crust (compared to other citrus-y bars like lemon bars, for example), which is a nod to my mummy who as a child always wished for more cookie under her lemon goo. 

Enjoy, mom, and everyone else, of course!

Ms. Kinney's White Trash

Before winter break, after my students have handed in their final projects and taken their final exams, I bestow upon them the ever coveted White Trash. In fact, this year I'm giving them the address of this blog so they can make it themselves.

It starts with your favorite cereals and salty snacks. My favs are Crispix, Rice Chex, Coco Roos, pretzel sticks, Cheezit crackers, Mini Ritz Bits sandwiches with peanut butter or honey roasted peanuts. One box/bag of each...mix 'em up and spread them out on a foil-covered surface.

Put a big heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (called a double boiler)  But don't let the water boil! Now with a heavy knife, chop up a block of Almond Bark. Almond Bark is NOT white chocolate. You can buy it in the baking section of most grocery stores. It comes in a big segmented chunk that is too clunky to melt efficiently so you'll need those chopped, small pieces in the top of that double boiler if you value your time. Find a large ladle for stirring the melting bark--you'll also need it to do the dipping later.

I use a big stainless steel bowl over a deep pasta pot--notice the bark has plenty of room here. You want to keep it clear of any steam or drops of water! If water touches the bark at this stage, it will get all gummy and weird. That's called seizing up and if it happens you might as well just dump it and start over.

When the bark is smoooooth and ever so melty, ladle it over the cereal mix on the foil. Don't worry too much about big glops but you should try to spread it around evenly.

Use your hands to mix the melted bark and cereal stuff while the bark is still warm. It's very messy and stuff falls on the floor but totally worth the trouble.

Voila! White Trash! It doesn't take long to firm up and "dry." Break it up and place in plastic bags or air-tight containers. It freezes well and, even when left out for snacking, stays fresh tasting for a long time.

Merry Christmas and Happy First Semester's End to my fabulous Art students! Love you guys!  --Ms. K

Toffee

Homemade Toffee!

Nothing says Christmas like the smell of candy making in the kitchen! This toffee recipe is a bit time consuming but soooooo worth it! Over the years, I've given pounds and pounds away to family, neighbors and friends with glowing reviews. Here's the recipe:

 Jan's Toffee
1 C. butter
1 1/4 C. packed, light brown sugar
3 TBS water
1 TBS corn syrup
pinch of salt

1 C. toasted, chopped pecans and 1 C. chocolate chips (optional)
 

You'll need a large, heavy sauce pan--cast iron is great. In these pics, I had to use my Dutch oven as it was a holiday batch and the recipe was quadrupled. 

If you do the nutty variety, toast your pecans in a 300 degree oven for about 8 minutes. Watch them closely so they don't burn! Chop them up and spread them on a heat-resistant surface covered in  Pammed foil. 

Melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the rest of the ingredients minus nuts and chocolate chips.

Get about 5 teaspoons from your silverware drawer and a heat proof, 2 cup container of cold water and set it beside your stove top. You'll need these later...

Stir like a crazy person (not too fast, just very committed) constantly making sure to scrape the bottom as you go. A wooden spoon works well here. At first it will look like the butter will never homogenize with the sugar, but be patient. In about 30-40 minutes it will look like the pic below.

This is where it gets a bit dangerous and tricky. Dangerous because the toffee is like lava--avoid getting it on your skin! Tricky because it's time to start testing the "done-ness" for the soft crack stage. Now for the teaspoons and water...

This is the old fashioned method of candy making--when the candy lava is dipped out of the pot and drizzled into cold water, it stiffens. At first, it may just be a blob in the bottom. Keep cooking and stirring. Test again. This time, it's like soft caramel. Yummy, but still not done. Change out the water but don't take too long because you need to keep stirring! Finally, you'll test it and the sugary squiggles will break with a soft crack--hence the name. You're ready to pour onto your Pammed foil.

Take the toffee off of the heat.I use a large ladle and carefully dip and pour over the pecans. 

This batch was half with nuts/chocolate and half without. The chocolate chips are sprinkled over the hot toffee immediately after pouring it onto the foil. The heat of the mixture is plenty hot enough to melt the chocolate. Just take a spatula and spread it evenly over the candy's surface.

When cool, break into pieces and store in plastic bags or air tight containers. It freezes well but your chocolate will "bloom," that is, it will appear a bit chalky on the surface. This condition does not effect the taste at all, and I've never had any complaints!

Have a happy holiday season and watch out! This toffee is totally addictive!