Chiles Rellenos a la Sam

I improvised on some recipes that I had looked up. We went to some Mexican place that stuffed their peppers with ground beef and cheese...MMM!!
On the way back from Salisbury last week, there were red, yellow, and green banana peppers that looked delicious!! I think most recipes call for poblano chilis (maybe?) but you could use any pepper in my opinion.

Broil your peppers/chilis until the skins begin to blacken, flip over and repeat.
Place in a bowl or bag (as long as it's covered tightly) for ~5-10 minutes, or until you can handle them bare-handed. (Don't let them cool off entirely, though, or you won't be able to peel the skins off). Peel the skins off, cut off the tops, and slit them open to remove the seeds and gross white part (not really that gross, but I forget what it's called right now...)
Place them in a casserole dish.

For the stuffing:
I happened to have 2 hamburgers leftover that I chopped up in my Cuisinart along with some cooked onions and garlic. Otherwise, I would have just cooked the ground beef with said garlic and onion, and throw in some chili powder, cumin, and coriander to taste. Drain off excess grease. I shredded an entire block of monterey jack cheese, and mixed it in with the beef. Spoon this mixture into the open chilis/peppers, then try the best you can to wrap them "shut". Pour Old El Paso Enchilada sauce (I tried to look up how to make enchilada sauce, but honest-to-god, even recipes from Gourmet magazine call for a "can of enchilada sauce"...) on top, as much as you like (I of course, like it SAUCY!!) then top with cheddar cheese. There is no such thing as too much cheese in my book.

I also made beans to go along with this--i sauteed extra onions and garlic, threw in a (rinsed) can of black beans, same spices, and some chicken stock that I had made from smoked chicken (nice smoky flavor!) and cooked til the beans were the consistncy I like. Then more cheese ;) in that pot.

Lastly, I will share with you the corn bread recipe (I'd made this the day before in anticipation--compliments of my mom):

Corn Bread Cohen

1/4 C. yellow cornmeal
3/4 C. flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne
1 tsp. honey
2 lg. eggs, beaten
1/2 stick butter, melted & cooled
3/4 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c grated cheddar
1 1/4 c fresh (I used 1/4 c accidentally, and frozen) corn

Butter a 11 1/2 x 7 1/2" baking dish. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne. In a larger bowl, combine honey, eggs, butter, milk & sour cream. Add flour mixture, whisking til combined well. Fold in cheese and corn. Spread batter in pan and bake in middle of 400 degree oven 25-30 minutes. delish!!

yummy baby bok choy

so apparently, i've become lazy...and am resorting to cutting and pasting links to recipes that i've used. how lame. my only changes to this recipe were that i used more ginger root than it called for, and fish sauce instead of oyster sauce, and regular soy sauce rather than light sauce. it turned out great!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spicy-Bok-Choy-in-Garlic-Sauce/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 1 pound bok choy
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon sesame oil
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
* 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

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DIRECTIONS

1. Trim off the ends of the bok choy and chop, keeping the white parts separate from the green as they will need to cook longer. Rinse and spin or pat dry. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl or cup, stir together the vegetable oil and sesame oil. In a separate larger bowl, stir together the water, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Set this aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy stems first; stir fry for a few minutes or until the pieces start to turn a pale green. When stems are almost cooked, add the leaves; cook and stir until leaves are wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the bok choy to a serving dish. Pour the sauce into the skillet or wok, and set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Pour over the bok choy and toss lightly to coat.

PANCAKES!!!

so i just discovered that I can make pancakes just as good (well, almost, anyway) as pete's grill! here's the recipe i found online that ROCKS!!

Ingredients:

1 c flour 1 tsp baking powder
2 tb yellow cornmeal 1 tsp baking soda
2 tb brown sugar 1/2 tsp salt (I use less)
1 cup buttermilk 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (i use 2% vanilla, YUM)
1 large egg 1 1/2 tb unsalted butter, melted (i usually only have salted, so this makes up for adding less salt too)

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl, whisk together until smooth.
In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, yogurt and egg until blended. Add to dry ingredients, but stir until JUST blended (still lumpy is fine--i heard on npr that the KEY to making good pancakes is not to overmix--something to do with gluten?) Gently mix in melted butter.
I don't need to tell you how to COOK them do I? ;)

Best cream of mushroom soup EVER!! (for Eliza)

I'm doubling the size of the recipe i have, since it's so good, you'll want more! but if it's just for you, then halve it. Freezes well, too! on second thought, you may have to halve it, as i'm not sure double the amount will fit in a cuisinart. ah well...

Ingredients:
1 lb mushrooms, sliced (i usually use baby portobella, but regular white will do just fine...)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cups fresh chopped parsley
28 oz (2 cans) beef broth (i usually use veggie stock that i make, but chicken stock works also)
1/2 cup butter
bit of flour
2 cups sour cream (this is the ONLY time using fat free sour cream is acceptable--i think it tastes more like mushroom sauce if you use full fat sour cream)

Saute mush, onion, parsley in butter (I didn't say it was HEALTHY soup, just yummy!) over high heat, stirring until mushrooms are limp and juices have evaporated a little bit. Stir in flour (~1 tb), remove from heat, and add stock. Bring to a boil, stirring.
Put all into large cuisinart, or large bowl and blend with one of those mixer thingies until it's finely chopped up. Add sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste, during this part.
Bon appetit!!