Roasted Red Pepper Orzo

Another great use I've found for Roasted Red Peppers is this orzo. It makes a great side, or even a good main dish for lunch. I like to double the amount of peppers to intensify the flavor, but it is fine as the recipe states as well. Definitely use good parmesan cheese for this and the previously posted risotto...it will give a better flavor. Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper Orzo

Ingredients:

1 tsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
2 tbsp onion, chopped
1 c dry orzo
2.5 cups chicken broth
Approximately 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions:
To roast the pepper, I put it under the broiler, and turned it every few minutes until all sides were blackened. Then I put it in a bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, and let it sweat for about 15 minutes. After sweating it is really easy to peel off the skin. Seed and chop the pepper.
Heat butter and oil in a pot.
Add onions and saute 1-2 minutes.
Add orzo and toss until coated.
Add broth, bring to a boil, then turn heat to low. Cover and let simmer until broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
Stir in roasted red peppers and cheese.

Source: Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Risotto

I love roasted red peppers in almost anything...on pizza, in pastas, on chicken, in sandwiches...you name it. I especially loved them in this risotto. I've started making a number of risottos and they are always so delicious with a creamy texture. This is a great one to not only get that roasted red pepper flavor but to get a few veggies in too thanks to the spinach. We've made this a number of times already and I can't wait to make it again soon. Hopefully the next time I make it, it will be with red peppers from my garden!

Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Risotto

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
Optional: a few dashes of red pepper flakes
1 c arborio rice
1/4 c dry white wine (or additional broth)
5 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for a vegetarian version)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped (to roast, broil until skin is charred on all sides. Put in a bowl covered with plastic to sweat the skin off. After 10 minutes, peel the skin to reveal your beautiful roasted red pepper)
1 c fresh baby spinach
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Heat olive oil and butter in a large saute pan
Add shallots and garlic (and red pepper flakes); stir until tender, about 2 minutes.
Add arborio rice and stir until coated
Add the white wine and stir until absorbed
Add the chicken broth, one ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Add more broth only when all of the broth in the pan has been absorbed by the rice. This entire process takes anywhere from 17 to 25 minutes.
Near the end, stir in the spinach and red peppers.
When you add your final ladle of broth, add the cheese.
Serve immediately.

Source: Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

Crash Hot Potatoes

I'd seen these potatoes on a number of blogs and just hadn't gotten around to making them. My friend Kati blogged about making them with cheese instead of herbs and we decided that was the way we'd like to try them first (I'm sure we'll do them with herbs eventually). They were delicious! The crispiness of the potatoes was just perfect. These are a great side dish when you want something different than your regular old potatoes.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Ingredients:

Small round potatoes (new potatoes, yukon golds, etc--we used baby reds)

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Herbs or Cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 to 450 degrees (depending on how crispy you want your potatoes and if you have other things in the oven). Place desired amount of potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add a couple tablespoons of salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork (time will depend on size of your potatoes). Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet by spreading a thin layer of olive oil over the bottom of the pan. Note, I always line my baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. (Shiny side down.) Remove potatoes from pot and drain. Depending on the size of your potatoes, you may need to cut some of them in half. Place potatoes on baking sheet, leaving space between. Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, mash down potatoes, rotate pan and mash again. Brush tops generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and desired herbs. Roast in oven 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. If using cheese instead of herbs, wait to add that until the last few minutes.

Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks, with cheese inspiration from Kati

Dill Pickles

I LOVE dill pickles. I'll eat them straight from the jar and I love them piled on sandwiches and burgers. I always ask for extras at restaurants. So I was excited when I came across this recipe to make my own. This is the time of year when pickling cucumbers are cheap and plentiful at our local farmers' markets, so I wanted to share this now! I enjoyed these, though I added too much garlic. I love garlic, but I'll definitely scale back on it next time.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Ingredients:

For the brine:
3 cups water
6 tbsp. white vinegar
3 tbsp. kosher salt

minced garlic
fresh dill
cucumbers, cut into spears

Directions:
Combine all brine ingredients in a pitcher. Stir well to dissolve salt.

Put several sprigs of fresh dill in the bottom of each jar. Pack half full with cucumber spears. Layer with more sprigs of fresh dill. Finish filling the jar with cucumbers. Sprinkle some minced garlic on top. Pour brine into the jar until it is full and pickles are completely submerged. Put the lid on and allow to refrigerate at least 2 days before eating.

Source: Annie's Eats, adapted from Delicious Meliscious

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Poblano and Cheddar

My husband and I have discovered that we love poblano peppers, thanks to our trip to Philly last fall. Now we seek them out and have been finding more uses for them. This chicken was a great one! I did overdo the paprika and cayenne a bit when making my crust, so be careful. Ours ended up pretty spicy. I'll definitely be more careful next time. This is a really flavorful way to have chicken though. If you like poblanos, definitely give it a try.

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Poblano and Cheddar

Serves 2

2 chicken breast halves

1 poblano pepper

1/3 cup shredded or sliced sharp cheddar

1 egg, beaten and mixed with a Tbsp of water (buttermilk would also be great here)

1/3 cup cornmeal

salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne to taste

Preheat your broiler and then broil the poblano for a couple minutes, turning it once the skin has blistered and blackened. Alternatively, you can put the pepper right on your stovetop gas burner. After all sides of the pepper look charred, put it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to let the pepper cool.
Preheat the oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean up) and place a rack/cooling rack on top of it. Spray the rack with cooking spray.
When the pepper is cool enough to handle, peel the skin off (it should come off easily at this point) and dice the poblano. Slit a pocket into the chicken breasts. Stuff the pocket with the diced poblano and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
Combine the cornmeal with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper to your tastes. Carefully dip the chicken breasts into the egg wash, and then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.
Place the chicken on the rack and spray the top with cooking oil. Bake about 20 minutes or until done, turning once in the middle of cooking.

Source: Elly Says Opa!

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies

These cookies are fantastic! They are rich, so you can't eat but one or two at a time, but they are so delicious. I've made them for work a couple of times and gotten rave reviews and recipe requests. I highly recommend trying these, you won't regret it...especially if you love peanut butter and chocolate! It's kind of like a peanut butter smore! I definitely recommend using a tart shaper if you have one to make the cookie cups...it makes it super easy. Luckily I got a Pampered Chef one for Christmas! Enough about my tart shaper though...go make these cookies NOW!

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

24 mini Reeses peanut butter cups, unwrapped

mini marshmallows (I used 5 per cookie)

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. water

mini M&Ms

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine peanut butter, sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until well combined. Divide the dough evenly between 24 wells of a mini-muffin pan (I usually have a bit left over, but do so to leave room for the candy). Make an indentation in the center of each dough ball. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until almost done. Remove from the oven and press a peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie until it is flush with the top of the dough. Top each cookie with 3-4 mini marshmallows. Return the pan to the oven and bake 2-3 minutes more, until the marshmallows have puffed up. Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool completely in the pan before removing them. (This is important! I tried removing them while still slightly warm – not a good idea.)
Once the cookies are completely cooled, transfer them to a wire rack over a sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the cream, sugar and water to a boil, then pour the liquid over the chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Gently whisk the mixture together until smooth. Leave the glaze to sit until it thickens a bit to your desired consistency, then drizzle over the tops of the cookies. Sprinkle with mini M&Ms before the glaze hardens.

Source: from Annie's Eats, who says cookies adapted from Picky Palate, ganache from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Our new favorite side dish

I never thought I liked asparagus. My parents would try to serve them to me when I was growing up, and I just thought they were gross. They had a stringy texture and the flavor was just too strong. Turns out it wasn't the asparagus...it was just the way my mom prepared them and the size of the asparagus available in my small hometown grocery store. My mom always steamed them and put a little butter on them. Turns out I prefer them roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper (and sometimes a little garlic powder). I also only like the petite asparagus...they have a milder flavor than their thicker stalked counterparts and don't get as stringy. Luckily, the grocery store I generally shop at (Harris Teeter) almost always has the petite ones. We've made these a lot in the past few months (especially if there is a good sale) as a side dish. If you've never much worked with asparagus, here's a tip...remove the woody ends by bending the asparagus...they'll snap at the appropriate place. Give them a try even if you don't think you like asparagus...you might surprise yourself!

Roasted Asparagus

1 lb thin asparagus, washed and woody ends snapped off
Extra Virgin Olive oil (a tablespoon or two)
salt
freshly ground pepper
garlic powder (optional and to your liking)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (easy clean up!). Toss prepared asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder (if using). Roast in the oven for 10-20 minutes depending on how done you prefer them (I lean towards 20...I like them a bit crunchy). Enjoy!

Source: me!

Truffle Pie

This pie is OMG good. So rich and chocolately. The fresh cream is so great and the pie is really easy to put together. I've served this for a dinner party and taken it to a potluck. It is a winner and definitely one I'll make time and time again.

Truffle Pie

Ingredients:

Truffle Filling

2⁄3 cup heavy cream

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

1 9-inch prepared graham cracker crust

Whipped Chocolate Filling

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

1  1⁄2 cups heavy cream

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy cream

1⁄4 cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

Garnish

1  1⁄2 ounces milk chocolate

1  1⁄2 ounces white chocolate

1  1⁄2 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate (this is the only kind I used)

Directions:

1. For the truffle filling, in a saucepan, bring 2⁄3 cup cream to a simmer. Place the 6 ounces chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then gently whisk until smooth. Spread truffle filling over the bottom of the prepared piecrust. Freeze for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, for the whipped chocolate filling, in a double boiler or a microwave set on low power, heat the 6 ounces chocolate chips with 1⁄2 cup of the cream until the chocolate is just melted, stirring often. Let cool to room temperature. In a chilled bowl, beat the remaining 1 cup cream until thick. Add the chocolate mixture and the vanilla and beat until soft peaks form (tips curl). Spread the whipped chocolate mixture over the truffle filling in the crust. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Just before serving, for the topping, beat 1 cup cream on medium speed of an electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners’ sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie. Using a grater or vegetable peeler, make pieces or shavings of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and semisweet or dark chocolate. Garnish pie with chocolate pieces. Serve immediately.

Source: Recipes from the Road by the Deen Brothers, obtained through thenest.com