Wild Boar Sausage and Peppers!

Months ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on a whole case of organic green bell peppers. No way was I going to be able to use them all up so I froze them. Cleaned them, cut them in half and cleaned out the seeds and plopped them in freezer bags and froze them for later use. I am so glad I did this otherwise I may not have immediately thought of them when Jaden of Steamy Kitchen handed me 2 packs of wild boar sausage and some wild boar steaks!!! I have truly been blessed by Jaden's generosity! Wild boar (her hubby hunted), chicken, noodles, tomatoes, kefir lime leaves, jalapenos and the list goes on.

I got the wild boar when our families met up for the day at the Myakka River State Park. We were heading there anyway as the girls wanted to go fishing and it really is a cool place to go. The alligators are pretty much right beside you and it makes for some pretty exciting photographs...here is an awesome video that Jaden made of her boys first fishing trip with us! Anyway Jaden is about 30 minutes from the park so I suggested that they meet for some fun! Turned out to be a great day. The kids caught some tiny little fish and we went home with a bunch of wild boar!!!


Because of a freezer full of peppers I knew exactly what to do. Thaw out the Italian sausage and the peppers. I always have onions so that wasn't an issue.

I cooked up the sausage in a large skillet, with a small bit of olive oil to prevents sticking. I sliced up the peppers, onions and some garlic and added them to the pan. Seasoned with some garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sometimes we eat this in a bun as a sandwich but for this one we ate it just like it was and was it ever delicious! That wild boar sausage was seasoned perfectly. I cannot wait to try the brats...

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Greek Stuffed Peppers

Greek Stuffed Peppers!

So I was stumped once again for dinner. Imagine that. A freezer full of crap and I still have no idea what to make for dinner! So what did I do? I "twittered" it.

Peter from Kalofagas was the first to respond and his recipe sounded really good. All except for the fact that his recipe called for mint and dill, 2 of T.'s most hated things and tomato's, the oldest daughters nemesis. What was I to do? Should I substitute and change Peter's family recipe (his Mom's???)? No way, screw the rest of the family. I made it his way and guess what? They all loved it!!!

Just before they went into the oven

Piperies Gemistes (Stuffed Peppers)-Peter of Kalofagas

2 lbs. lean ground beef
12 red peppers, washed, tops cut and inside cored
2 medium onions, diced
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup of fresh dill, finely chopped
2 tsp. fresh mint, finely chopped
1 cup of good tomato sauce (pomodoro)
1/4 cup arborio rice
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash then cut the tops off your peppers. Hollow out the peppers to rid them of any ribs or seeds. Reserve
   
2. Place a large skillet on your stove and heat under medium high heat. Pour in your olive oil then add the onions and garlic and lower to medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes to soften the onions.
3. Add your parsley, dill, mint and and tomato sauce and simmer until most of the liquid is gone and you have a thick mixture. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Add your rice and ground beef to the onion/herb mixture and and mix all the ingredients using a wooden spoon. Add 2 tsp. of salt and pepper and mix. To taste for seasoning, take a spoonful of the mixture and fry it or cook it in the microwave to taste for seasoning. Afterwards, adjust the seasoning in the mixture to your liking.
5. Using a spoon, stuff your peppers and line the bottom of a roasting pot. Pour 1 cup of water over the peppers and place them in a preheated 375F oven for 1 hour.

Hints: This is Peter's recipe but I wasn't sure if I was suppose to cook the rice or meat. I cooked the meat but not the rice. I wouldn't do either again next time. I would leave the rice raw and the meat.

I made these during the day and then T. heated them up for us for dinner as I was at Karate with oldest daughter. Delicious for a make ahead meal!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Stuffed Green Peppers and my never ending freezer purge

Italian stuffed green peppers!

My never ending battle to empty my freezer goes on...

I have a case of green peppers that I froze a couple of months ago that I am now working on. Last week Life is Good left a comment on one of my asking for help posts and it was a recipe for stuffed peppers. I have only ever had them stuffed with rice so this was a great idea.

The base of the recipe was bread crumbs. It was really just a list of ingredients which I was able to throw together and come up with a nice, quick and tasty dinner.

bread crumbs (make your own from some older bread)
fresh basil
fresh oregano
fresh parsley
garlic powder
salt
pepper
1 can of diced tomato with juice
olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1/2 cup cubed fresh mozzarella

I mixed all of this together in a bowl and stuffed them into my peppers. Stuff lightly. It's a lot of bread crumbs. I baked them at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. I served them with some Italian sausage and they made a really good dinner!

5 peppers down about 30 to go...HELP!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Stuffed Green Pepper's Our Way

Stuffed Green Pepper's Our Way

I have a lot of zucchini...I mean a whole lot of zucchini...I went to the Farmer's Market today at Cape Harbor. The same one that I went to last week and got a ton of peppers. This week he sold me a ton of zucchini. This is just too good to pass up. A whole case of the things, organic no less for $15!!! I guess we'll be eating a lot of zucchini in the next couple of weeks!

See...Lots and lots of zucchini!!!

Last nights dinner was pretty great. We held a bunch of the green peppers back from last weekend and decided that we would stuff them one night during the week. Well you all know how that goes. Time just gets away from you and before you know it the week is done and you still have the green peppers that need to be stuffed and eaten. By now you all know that one of my children is a true tomato hater. This is the only pass that either of them get. She has to eat everything else...try stuffing a pepper without using tomatoes!!! This what I came up with...

Stuffed Green Peppers Our Way

4 green peppers, halved lengthwise with seeds removed
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (we used Romano and Garlic)
1/2 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic (use more or less depending on your taste), chopped
2 Tbsp taco seasoning mix
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 can black beans, drained
2 cups of cooked bulgar
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 (12 oz) pkg of Queso Fresco (crumbling cheese not frying), crumbled
2 chopped tomatoes, seeds removed

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Brown sausage and add garlic and onion and cook until tender. Mix in the seasonings. When well mixed add the can of beans and the cooked bulgar. Add the tomato last and cook until heated through.
• Place prepared peppers on a foil lined baking sheet and fill with about 1 Tbsp of the cheese. Top with enough of the bulgar mixture to fill the pepper. Top with more cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 35 minutes. Brown the cheese under the broiler.
• Serve with a side of fresh pico de gallo
  

This was lunch yesterday! I make the BEST pico de gallo!!!

We removed enough of the stuffing mixture for one pepper before adding the tomato for my daughter to eat. This was a nice, quick, fresh tasting meal. The reason I used the bulgar was because it was faster cooking (about 15 minutes) than brown rice and more neutral flavored.

Now what to do with all of those zucchini??? Looks like zucchini fritters for tonight!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com