PICKED A PECK OF PURPLE PEPPERS....

We made stuffed peppers tonight with some amazing purple and green peppers, tomatoes all from the farm box, along with fresh herbs, onion, and my very first home ground chicken! 

We always buy chicken on the bone because it's cheaper by the pound and is so much better when roasted with the bone on skin on, but for tonight, I used my sharp MAC knife and boned, skinned, and yes..oh yes, I even ground it myself using a sweet meat grinding attachment that my very much appreciated in-laws gave to me for Christmas...thank you again!

 

 

Made a tomato puree by blanching four tomatoes then quickly getting them into an ice bath.  You blanch them to get the skins to release to make for easy peeling.  To start the process, score a cross into the bottom of the tomatoes before you throw them into the boiling water, after 35 seconds get them into the bath, let them cool, peel the skins, core, cut in half get the seeds out, and squish them in your hands into a bowl until they resemble a puree.

A teaspoon or so each of fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, and basil finely minced

I've never really seen a purple pepper, but there it is...right there and it seems to be a little thinner skinned than the green

Mix together one chopped onion (or in this case, three little farm box candy onions), three cloves of minced garlic, 1 cup of cooked rice and the fresh herbs that we chopped earlier.   Oh and salt and pepper of course!

Side bar:  I don't like minute rice...and neither does anyone else. 

The only reason anyone eats minute rice is because it's easy..

.well you know what, cooking great rice is easy too...

.2/1 ratio of water to rice, bring to a boil and simmer for

40 minutes with the lid on.  Do that first and finish everything else

 while the rice is cooking...it's worth it...

the taste and texture of good long grain brown rice

 cannot even be approached by minute rice...shame on you uncle ben!

I fill each pepper with the stuffing and top with some of the mashed up tomatoes that we blanched earlier. Top with the puree and into a pot.  I filled with water so that it comes about 1/4 of the way up the peppers, cover with foil and bake for about 30-40 minutes

Onto the plate...it's tough to get them to stand, but boy were they good!

FEAST-ESTA FAJITAS

With the beautiful green peppers, onion, and Italian sweet peppers and tomatoes, we decided to have a Mexican fiesta.  Ashley made a great salsa that we ate with fresh chips from the Whole Foods Schaumburg.  We grilled the peppers and onions and made a very bold and spicy rub for the chicken and skirt stead out of cayenne, smoked paprika, some cumin and salt and pepper...que bueno!


The salsa was diced tomatoes, onion, Italian sweet peppers, the juice of two limes, 2 garlic cloves, a dash of cumin, salt, pepper and finished with finely chopped cilantro..very refreshing.

Toss the veg with oil and salt and pepper.  We grill the peppers and tomatoes until the skin gets blistery, once they are done, take them off and into a bowl covered with foil.

A wild rice blend with black beans and fresh grilled corn on the side. We used a blend of manchego and asiago cheeses.  We like to buy them in chunks and shred them ourselves. 

side bar:  the cheese stays nice and fresh if

after to shred some, you wrap in plastic wrap,

then into a sandwich bag.  By shredding your own

cheese, you avoid buying the pre-shred which

most often has at least one or two preservatives

and non-caking agents added...

One of the best meals of our lives started with this bottle of wine.  Chef Michael Carlson of Schwa introduced us to this blend out of Spain.  A great summer wine, chilled in the fridge.

DAY BEFORE THE NEW FARM BOX MISH MASH

Thursdays are for using what is left from the week's farm box.  Today we had some potatoes, green peppers and garlic chives left.  We decided to do some pan roasted (fried) potatoes, yellow onions, green peppers and lots of salt and pepper.  The meat or as some pretentious chef's would refer to as "the protein" was some chicken breast on the bone skin on, but removed from the bone and skin off...pounded thin and coated in some Kashi crushed corn flakes to form a crust, baked in the oven to create a "fried" taste.

Ran out of pepper today, don't use the pepper mill, buy some whole pepper corns, use a cheap coffee grinder and grind your pepper fresh.  You can use a whole lot more to season and it's fun to use your fingers rather than the pepper mill.  We store our freshly ground pepper in a little le creuset spice jar

Slice the potatoes, put some canola oil in the pan, set to medium heat and let it ripple.  Add potatoes and salt and pepper.

While the potatoes are starting to cook, large dice a few green peppers and half an onion, add to the pan, more salt and pepper.

Add some Kashi Flakes to a plastic bag crush with a mallet.  After they get smashed, add to a bowl with some flour, salt and pepper, this will be the "fried crust".

Pour some milk into a bowl add a little bit of apple cider vinegar to the milk to let it thicken...this is a sweet substitute for buttermilk.  Cut the Chicken off the bone, remove skin and pound to about a half inch thick, dredge in milk.

Take out of milk and coat in corn flake crumbs, lay on sheet pan with parchment paper and drizzle some canola or olive oil over the chicken.

Quick look at the veggies...this was about 30 minutes at medium heat turning and flipping frequently.

Chicken out of the oven and rest for 10 minutes, plate with veg on top...yum yum...can't wait for the new farm box.