Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers

It's been a long time since my last post and to be honest I haven't really cooked anything worth blogging about. This dish came from leftovers out of the freezer. Several months ago I made egg rolls and had some stuffing left over that I kept it in the freezer just in case I wanted to do something with it.

After going to Costco this weekend and picking up some of my favorite peppers to cook with I decided to use the egg roll stuffing to stuff the peppers. These peppers when grilled are sweet and tart at the same time and that's two of my favorite combinations.

You'll want to put these peppers on indirect heat to keep the peppers from over charring before the stuffing is completely cooked inside. Rotate the peppers so that all the sides have even grill lines and the stuffed peppers should be ready in about 15 minutes. If you have a thermometer the internal temperature should be about 165 degrees fareheit.

You can find the egg roll stuffing recipe by clicking on the link below. Other than that all you'll need are the sweet mini peppers and I like eat serve it with a side of sweet chili sauce, pickled carrots and roasted cherry tomatoes.

http://bistro331.blogspot.com/2010/08/egg-rolls.html

Baby Green Mangos with Spicy Rice Powder Fish Sauce

This is one of my favorite fruit snacks of all time. Thanks goes to my mom, who brought the mangoes down from Dallas with her during her recent visit. The tartness pairs perfectly with the sauce I made. I actually learned how to make this sauce as a young boy and it has stood the test of time. The sauce is salty, sweet, and spicy which is definitely a Southeast Asian flavor profile.

Just in case you can't procure any green mangoes, this sauce goes well with: green apples, dill pickles, cranberries and many other tart fruits.

Please forgive me for the cloudy picture. My camera lens cover is scratched and I'm waiting for a replacement. Hopefully it'll come in before my next blog.

Sauce ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon roasted rice powder
1/4 tablespoon dried crushed chili pepper
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce (homemade padak or bottled will both work)
1 shallot thinly sliced
3 fresh Thai chili peppers thinly sliced

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well in a small bowl. Thinly slice your mangoes and discard the seed and the membrane housing the seed. To eat, simply dip your mango or desired fruit and eat. The combination of the dried and fresh chili peppers makes this a very spicy sauce. Feel free to reduce the amount of chili peppers used or have a glass of milk near by.

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Cheese Grits on Grilled Portabello with Poached Egg

This dish was inspired by the cheese grits and grilled portabello dish from the Odd Duck Farm to Trailer. There were two dishes (the pulled pork with sauerkraut and this dish) that I thought about recreating from our tour but after hearing that I was making too many slow cooked barbecue types of meat as of late I decided to just make one dish.

To get started, instead of chopping the grilled portabello I decided to use it as a base for the grits. The portabello was season with extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. This was grilled for about 4 minutes on each side.

I've never made grits before so after looking up multiple recipes I chose to take combinations of those various recipes and develope my own. I heard Alton Brown say on one of his "Good Eats" show to stay away from the "quick" or "instant" grits because they have been chemically processed. So I took his advice and chose a stone ground medium course corn meal to make these grits. It's actually the same one he used on his show from Bob Red's Mill.

Once again I didn't have any milk on hand so I substituted it with heavy cream then added water and salt to cook the grits. Once cooked, the butter and the cheese was added to the grits along with a dash of freshly cracked black pepper.

This dish was topped off with a poached egg and Sriracha for a litte extra heat. Once the yolk was cracked on top of the grits it really brought this dish together. The fattiness of the yolk in combination with the creamy grits and the natural umami flavor of the mushroom came together really well. The little extra heat was just an added bonus to the palette, after all I am from Southeast Asia and a little heat always makes the dish a little better.

Ingredients:

2 large portabello mushroom
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup medium course stone ground corn meal
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup loosely packed shredded cheddar cheese
3 tablepspoon unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha
2 quarts water
2 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions:

Start off by drizzling the olive oil on the portabello mushrooms. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and pepper on the mushroom. Grill on high heat for about 4 minutes on each side. Remove the mushrooms from the grill and place aside.

For the grits, add the heavy cream, 1 1/2 cup of water and salt into a stock pot and bring to a boil. Now slowly whisk in the corn meal to ensure there are no lumps. Bring the heat down to a simmer and cook for another 20-25 minutes while whisking every 4-5 minutes. Once cooked, turn off the heat and add the butter and whisk until it has completely melted. Finally, whisk in the cheese slowly to incorporate it into the grits.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a pot and add vinegar. Reduce heat to simmer and stir the water in a circular motion. Gently crack an egg and place it in the simmering water. Poach on simmer for about 3-4 minutes.

When you're ready to serve place the grits in the mushroom and top it off with the poached egg and a drizzle of Sriracha (or you can leave it out if you don't like heat). Sprinkle freshly cracked pepper and shredded cheddar cheese and serve.