Stuff 'em baby

Stuffed peppers were a staple in my mothers dinner menu for the week. After she passed away, my father picked up from where she left off, ever so slightly changing the recipe. Now that he has departed as well, I have picked up where they both left off and stepped up the Stuffed Pepper game.

This is a super easy dinner to make. It's tasty, can be adapted to any number of eating habits (i.e., veggie, lowfat, etc) and you can change it around to suit your tastes as well.

In light of the last statement, I'm going to only post the basic recipe, but I'll throw in suggestions along the way.

Roasted Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 bell peppers (any color you desire or mix n' match)
1 lb. ground meat (optional)
1 jar of tomato sauce
1 cup of cooked rice (not minute rice, actual long grain rice, cooked per instructions)
1/2 jar (8 oz) Pace picante sauce
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. seasoned salt
1 tbsp. pepper
1/2 tbsp. basil
1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1/4 cup red cooking wine or sherry
Cheese of your choosing
Olive Oil for roasting

Instructions:

1. If you are using ground meat of any kind, cook in a deep skillet first, drain and place back in the skillet.

2. Slice off just the top of the pepper so that it acts as a lid.

3. Clean out the peppers of any excess greenery and seeds.

4. Rub peppers and lids with olive oil inside and out and place on a baking sheet.

5. Place in the oven on the middle rack on low broil for 5-7 minutes. Since oven temperatures vary, make sure to start checking at the 3 minute mark. You don't want to burn the peppers, just brown/blacken them in places to soften them and bring out the sweet pepper taste. ***NOTE*** you will have to turn the peppers every couple of minutes as they get the browned/blackened coloring on them, the lids as well.

6. Place the remaining ingredients into the skillet except the cheese (with or without your meat) and bring to a slight boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently to not burn.

***suggestion*** step 6 would be where you would add any spices, veggies, or other items to the sauce that you would like to incorporate. I have done onion, mushroom, carrot slivers, zucchini dices...the options are endless.

7. Once the peppers are finished roasting in the oven, let them cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet.

8. Preheat the oven to 375°.

9. Place the peppers into a deep casserole or baking dish. If your dish is too large, you can ball up tin foil to place between the peppers so they do not fall over during the baking process.

10. Place the stuffing from the skillet into each pepper. My method, so as not to break the peppers or overstuff them, is to place a large spoonful into each pepper, pack down slightly, then repeat that step until all the peppers are full. Once the peppers are full, add one "top it off" spoonful to each pepper.

11. Top each pepper with your cheese, making sure to completely cover the pepper.

***suggestion*** Most people would just slap a slice of american cheese on the peppers here. I have used smoked gouda, various cheddars, provolone (this one is hit or miss) and various other cheeses or you can choose to not add cheese at all.

12. Place the peppers into the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and starting to bubble and turn brown.

13. LET THEM COOL before attempting to eat. They will be SUPER hot!!!

Buon appetito!

Grilled Red Wine Pork Loin

I've been experimenting with marinades a lot lately. Usually putting together a liquid and spices that I think will compliment not only each other but what meat or veggie I'm going to marinate.

Last night we were pegged to have pork loin. Couldn't think for the life of me what to do with it other than the usual garlic pork and to be honest, while it's really tasty, I get sick of eating pork loin the same way over and over again. So I got this brilliant idea from a friend who has been cooking with red wine recently and thought "hmm, red wine would be awesome". But you know me, I had to take it one step further and up the steaks (or medallions in this case).

Here's the cast of experiment choices I made.

Minced onion, sea salt, coarsely ground black pepper, perfect pinch garlic and herb seasoning, garlic powder (yes, we like garlic), montreal steak seasoning, and Shannon Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Oh, and the olive oil that I forgot to put in the picture but trust me, you'll need it so that the marinade "sticks" to the meat. You could also put in a tablespoon of lemon juice which gives it a hint of citrus flavor and helps to break down the meat so it becomes tender and accepts the marinade.

I started out with two pork loins (only took a photo of one) that I trimmed all of the excess fat off.

Then I cut them into medallions making sure to try and keep them all the same size and width so they would cook properly.

After cutting them I placed them in a zip lock bag and poured about 1/2 cup of the wine, 1/4 cup of water and 2 tbsp. of olive oil along with the spices.

Seal the bag tight and then mix all the ingredients around so they blend well together and cover all the meat. Then put it in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes.

***WARNING*** Do not freak out when you take the meat out and it's purple. That's just the wine coloring the meat. I purposely didn't take a photo of this step because you'd probably take one look and never come back here again or try this delicious recipe.

Once you take the pork out of the refrigerator place the medallions on your preheated grill on low and cook for about 10 minutes per side. Since grill temperatures vary you have to make sure that the pork is cooked all the way through. I don't want any sickies on my watch!

They are sooooo tasty. Trust me, if you like pork this will be a great addition to your summer grilling. I'm sure you could cut the meat in any way and since "the other white meat" is so versatile you could use different cuts as well.

Here are the specific instructions for making this recipe:

Ingredients

2 pork lions trimmed of fat (approx. 2 lbs each)
1/2 cup red wine (any type will do)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp montreal steak seasoning
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp perfect pinch garlic and herb seasoning
2 tbsp minced onions
sea salt and ground pepper to taste
1 gallon size zip lock bag

1. Trim all excess fat from pork loin.
2. Cut pork loin into medallions. Try to keep them uniform in size and width.
3. Place everything in the zip lock bag.
4. Shake bag to mix ingredients well.
5. Preheat grill to 350°.
6. Place in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
7. Take pork in marinade out of refrigerator and drain all excess liquid.
8. Place pork medallions onto grill and cook 10 minutes per side or until well done.

Buon appetito!