Project Stuffed Peppers

As long-time Karmic Kitchen readers know, I am not a pepper fan. Not spicy, not mild, not even pickled. The only way my mom could get me to eat them as a kid was to stuff them with meat and then cover with a tomato sauce. Even then there would be pepper carcasses left on my plate. So I got to wondering if I could trick myself into making peppers more palatable ? But how to do that? Stuff them, yes, good idea, but with what? Of course, my go to comfort food, mac and cheese!

So the challenge I set for myself was to make a tasty mac and cheese stuffed pepper. First the pasta. The interior of a pepper is not huge. The pasta I would normally use seemed too large for my purposes. Luckily there are some mini-pastas out there that would work better. The two pieces of pasta in the middle are a normal size while the surrounding are minis. I decided on the mini-shells. Next I had to choose my peppers.

I could of gone normal size but I really like the size of the mini-peppers. They seem sweeter, less pepper-tasting than the full sized. Oh yeah and NO GREEN PEPPERS. Sorry green pepper lovers. Find your pepper porn somewhere else. So I've got my peppers and pasta, time to put it all together. I decided to try Cook's Illustrated Classic Macaroni and Cheese recipe. I've never had the need to test their recipe out because I like my own mac and cheese. However I was intrigued enough to give theirs a twirl. We all know what a CI geek I am but when it comes to mac and cheese, the good folks at the Test Kitchen seem to be lost in a sea of cheese. They can't seem to find their way to a truly classic mac and cheese. It's not their cheese choices or their béchamel sauce but it's their insistence to not bake the final dish, opting only to broil the topping for 3 minutes. What you're left with is a much more soupy dish than the classic pasta casserole. I have no idea what they ate as a kid but it wasn't my momma's mac and cheese.

Still I stuffed my peppers with it because once you get started on a creation, you should finish it. I had par-boiled my peppers to make them a little more pliable in the final dish and topped each with butter toasted Panko crumbs mixed with finely chopped bacon bits. You really didn't think I was going to leave out the bacon did you? Silly rabbits....

The taste was pretty good, the contrast of the rich cheesiness and the distinctly sweet pepper flavor was actually kinda fun. Here's what I discovered with the leftover mac and cheese that didn't go into the peppers. Put it in a baking dish, put on the same crumb topping, put it in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes and it came out much better than the stove top only version. Still needs a little more cheese flavor but I'm still taking it for lunch tomorrow.

Sunday Supper

I'm on an email list with Cook's Illustrated. Each week I receive a missive from the good folks at the Test Kitchen with recipes and tips. This past week the featured recipe was for Beer Can Chicken. I've avoided this preparation in the past because I thought it was an overly complicated and precarious way to cook chicken. I couldn't have been further from the truth.

Beer can chicken requires a chicken, some of your favorite rub, a can of beer, a heat source and some wood chips for smoking. Nothing more than that. Bring both the beer and the chicken to room temperature. Next rinse your chicken thoroughly and pat it dry. Cover the body of the chicken with a dry spice rub. You can make your own or purchase the many, many spice rubs that can be found at your grocery store. Put some into the cavity of the bird and even tuck some between the skin and the breast meat. Don't forget to pierce the fat parts of the body of the chicken to allow the fat to render out more easily. Your chicken is now ready, time to prepare the beer. First, either pour our or drink a 1/4 of a cup of the beer. You don't want your beer boiling over during the cooking time. You'll need to open two more holes in the top of can to allow more steam to escape up into the cavity of the chicken and...bonus.... you'll get to use the weirdly named tool, the Churchkey.

As to the quality of the beer, cheap or expensive, it doesn't seem to matter. Actually you can use soda, lemonade or any other flavorful liquid you can put in a can. Cook's Illustrated tried other liquids and suggests beer first, then soda or lemonade. They also suggest breaking up a couple of bay leaves into the beer.

Before we turn the heat on, we've got to get our other flavor element prepared. Wood chunks or chips to help smoke our bird. I'm using apple wood chips in two little smoker pans. I'm using a gas grill that has three burner elements. You can see above I've got smoker pans on each side of the chicken. I also have a drip pan directly beneath the bird to catch any fat or juices. We're cooking chicken with indirect heat so the middle burner is turned off and the surrounding burners are set to medium. Place the can of beer in the middle and carefully insert the can into the cavity of the chicken. Use the legs and the tail nub as a tripod to balance out the chicken. Shut the lid and let it cook at roughly 300 degrees for a little more than an hour depending on the size of your bird. Mine was over four pounds and it went about an hour and fifteen minutes. Test the temperature of the thigh meat. When it reaches 170 to 175, it's done. Here's the trickiest part of the whole deal. You need to remove both the chicken with the can still inside so you'll need a good sturdy set of tongs and something that is heat resistant so you can take chicken off the heat to rest. Fifteen minutes to allow the juices to resettle in the bird and again, mindful of the hot can, remove the beer can from the chicken. Serve immediately.

What you'll be serving is incredibly moist chicken with deliciously crispy skin with tons of flavor. It's that simple and so good they will think you are a grill master. Plus all the kids can brag about having had Ass Can Chicken.

Red, White and Blueberries

I don't know why but whenever the Fourth of July rolls around, I feel like making pie. This is rather counter-intuitive because making pie dough and cranking up the oven in the sweltering humidity that is July in the Midwest is just plain crazy. However when I get the whiff of a ripe peach or taste the juicy sweetness of a plump blueberry, hot kitchen be damned, I reach for the rolling pin.

Sad to say the peaches available in our area have not been very pie inspiring. The blueberries, on the other hand, have been excellent, sweet and full of juice. But it's that juice that causes many a soupy pie. Too much juice ruins your bottom crust and makes your slice a drippy mess to eat. The other problem is getting just the right amount of thickener so your pie sets up. However too much and you've almost got Jello pie. Would Cook's Illustrated have the answer?

Their version of pie crust and filling tries to address the perfect jelling blueberry filling. Quick cooking tapioca and shredded Granny Smith apple are part of their solutions along with cooking down some of your blueberries.

The results? Looks good in the pie pan but still I have a bit of a slump on my slice. And in an attempt to balance out the sweetness of the berries and the added sugar, they include a measure of lemon zest and juice. Personally, next time, I'd go half the amount of both since it seemed just a bit too much citrus for me.

The crust was excellent and despite the citrus, the blueberry filling was sweet and fragrant. All that was missing was some fresh, hand cranked, cold vanilla ice cream.

Happy Fourth of July, Everyone!

The Tax Man Cometh

I've been slacking. Avoiding a certain chore that must be done. You know, the one we can't avoid? Taxes. Let's be honest, most of us would rather do anything than do our taxes. The folks that want to do their taxes? They generally end up starting their own companies and doing our taxes for us. After a gentle reminder this past week, I finally buckled down to sort, arrange and integrate all the crap that goes with filing. However....the only way I could do it is if I rewarded myself and my tax preparers with the gift of brownies. Cheesecake Brownies.

You know they need all the sugar they can get from now until April 18th to tackle the insane complexity that is our tax code. I'm a huge brownie fan but in truth, usually as a device to deliver nuts with some chocolate around them. Unfortunately with so many folks suffering from nut allergies I generally don't make brownies with nuts unless I know everyone eating them will be nut allergy free. So I cranked my Cook's Illustrated Best Recipes and decided the Cheesecake Brownies would be more appropriate. Let's hope my tax preparers like them.

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES

Makes 16 2-inch brownies

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. Coat an 8-inch-square baking pan with cooking spray, and, fit an 8-by-16-inch sheet of aluminum foil in bottom of pan. (Foil overhangs both sides of the pan; use as handles to remove baked brownies from pan.) Coat foil with cooking spray.

2. In a medium heat-proof bowl set over a pan of almost simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. (Alternatively, melt chocolate and butter in microwave oven.) Remove melted chocolate mixture from heat; whisk in 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla; then whisk in 3 eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Continue whisking until mixture is completely smooth. Add dry ingredients; whisk until just incorporated.

3. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese with remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and egg yolk until of even consistency.

4. Pour half the brownie batter into prepared pan. Drop half the cream cheese mixture, by spoonfuls, over batter. Repeat layering and swirling with remaining brownie batter and cream cheese filling. Use blade of a table knife or a spoon handle to gently swirl batter and cream cheese filling, creating a marbled effect.

5. Bake until edges of brownies have puffed slightly, center feels not quite firm when touched lightly, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into center comes out with several moist, fudgy crumbs adhering to it, 50 to 60 minutes.

6. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. , Use foil sling handles to lift brownies from pan. Place brownies on wire rack; allow them to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours. (To hasten cooling, place brownies in the freezer for about 1 1/2 hours.) Cut into squares and serve. (Do not cut brownies until ready to serve. Whole bar can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil, and refrigerated up to 5 days.)

Surrounded by Beauty

While I might be a photo monkey, I have a huge respect for the artists of our world. Especially when that artwork pairs up with the culinary world. I eagerly look forward to each issue of Cook's Illustrated not only for the recipes but for the cover artwork and what collection of things are on the back cover.

Radishes by Robert Papp

Alice Water's Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook has got to be one of my top five cookbooks due in no small part to the luscious artwork by David Lance Goines liberally laced throughout it's pages.

David Lance Goines

Happily I have a new artist obsession to add to my collection. Meet Haley Harmon of the blog Don't Eat the Paintings. Simple but beautiful little watercolors that express a real joy and love of good food. Be sure to check her out and enjoy a visual feast.

Haley Harmon

Dim Sum Sunday - Hot Steamy Soup

It's only appropriate that it's snowing today. It makes me appreciate today's task all the more.
Although it's not so much fun for my Lucky Garden Gnome or....

...Handsome Jake. The soup I chose to make would happily satisfy both the garden gnome and the dog, a hearty Beef Barley soup with chunky vegetables from Cook's Illustrated Best Recipes. The soup itself is very straightforward but I highly urge you to make your own beef stock. Some cooks enjoy the work intensive process of making bread. That's the way I feel about making stocks and soups. I love steaming up the kitchen with deep meaty smells as I brown six pounds of beef shanks and oxtails needed to get that rich beef flavor. The bonus is that you'll have your meat to add to your soup. I don't mind the straining or de-fatting the results. It's that flavor I'm chasing. No store bought broth can touch it.

Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms

2 T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped medium
2 medium carrots, chopped medium
12 oz mushrooms
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 c drained canned diced tomatoes
2 quarts rich beef stock plus 2 cups meat shredded into bite sized pieces
1/2 c pearl barley
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
salt and ground black pepper

Heat half the oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the onion and carrots and sauté until softened.Add remaining oil and mushrooms. Sauté until mushroom soften and the liquid they throw off evaporates, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the thyme, tomatoes, stock, meat, and the barley. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the vegetables and barley are tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot and steamy. With a loaf of hearty bread and some sharp cheddar cheese, let it snow all night. You have your hot bowl to keep you warm and happy.

The Most Important Kitchen Tool We Hope You Never Have to Use

During this holiday season, we wish all our readers many things. Good health, happiness and baconny joy. But we also wish you A Safe Kitchen. We wish you this because Cooking is the number one cause of residential structure fires. Cook's Illustrated, my favorite culinary magazine still in business, has a fantastic and detailed article reviewing kitchen fire extinguishers. I already had a smaller fire extinguisher but decided add their recommended brand to my culinary arsenal.So while you're busy checking your roast or turkey, while the pots and pans are merrily bubbling on the stove top, take just a minute to remind yourself where your kitchen fire extinguisher is, read over the instructions, and generally familiarize yourself with how it works. If you don't have a fire extinguisher then immediately get in the car, go to one of those big box hardware stores, pick out the Kidde Kitchen Fire Extinguisher and buy it. They're cheap, $20 which is cheaper than rebuilding your house because your flambé efforts went horribly wrong.
We wish you a full and Happy Holiday.

Fun with Photoshop