Cooking with KP

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Here is a recipe that I enjoy making each fall.

6 medium bell peppers, red, yellow, orange or green
2 teaspoons salt

Filling and Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar (always use a little sugar when using tomato paste to cut the acidity)
1/3 cup water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or 1 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup cooked long-grain rice
1/2 cup whole kernel corn (optional)
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, about 1/2 cup

Preparation:
Rinse bell peppers in cold water. Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Chop edible part of tops and set aside. Place peppers in a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Sauté chopped peppers (from tops), chopped onion, and chopped celery for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, crushed garlic, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Simmer for about 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg with remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Gently stir to blend; add ground beef, cooked rice, corn, and 1 cup of the tomato mixture. Mix well. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a 3-quart baking dish. Pour remaining tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers. Cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 minutes. Remove foil. Top stuffed peppers with a little shredded cheese just before peppers are done; bake until cheese is melted.

I also like to put tomato sauce on top of my peppers. I mix one 16 ounce can of tomato sauce, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. I heat the mixture on the stove top and pour some over each pepper. You could also just pour the peppers with the sauce instead of cheese and the last 20 minutes of baking.

Recipe for stuffed peppers serves 6.

SPECIAL NOTE: I always use female peppers instead of male peppers. They stand better in the dish. Female peppers have 4 bumps/sections at the bottom. Male peppers have 3 bumps/sections at the bottom.

Easy, Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Here is a recipe I adapted from one by Paula Deen. Very tasty.

2 cups biscuit mix (Bisquick or Pioneer Mix)

1 T. garlic powder (not salt)

3/4 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 T. parsley flakes

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl. Drop by spoonfuls on greased pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown. You might like to melt 1/2 stick of butter to brush on top of biscuits when baked.

My Mother's Ambrosia Fruit Salad

Many people in our area make a very sweet ambrosia salad with sweetened condensed milk and fruit cocktail, but my mother liked a cooling and fresh salad over a super sweet one. Here is the one she made for us for Christmas each year.

1 c. crushed pineapple

1 c. pineapple tidbits, drained

1 c. mandarin oranges

1 c. minature marshmallows

1 c. coconut flakes

1 c. chopped pecans

1 c. sour cream

a handful of maraschino cherries

Mix and chill at least 2 hours. Sometimes she would add a sliced banana right before serving. If you put the banana in at the beginning, the banana will turn brown.

Corn Salad

Here is a recipe that is extremely easy to adapt by adding your favorite ingredients. The basic recipe is

2 cans of whole kernel corn, drained

1 red onion, diced

2 medium tomatoes or 15 cherry tomatoes, diced

2 T. parsley flakes

1/4 cup sour cream

3 T. mayonnaise

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. celery salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Place all vegetables in large bowl. In smaller bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, dry mustard, celery salt, and pepper. Pour on top of vegetables and toss. Refrigerate for 3-5 hours before serving.

Great ingredients to add variety--diced black olives, banana pepper rings, black beans, chick peas, red bell pepper, diced cucumber, diced green chilies, and/or bacon bits.

Mother's Okra, Corn and Tomatoes

About to go to Foley, AL, to the farmer's market. I plan on purchasing some okra to make this recipe. When I was away at college, my mother always made this for me when I came home. It is one of my favorite things in this world.

3 cups fresh okra, cut into rounds or you can use frozen round pieces of okra

2 cups of whole kernel corn, fresh, frozen, or canned (drain if canned)

2 cans of diced tomatoes (You can also use half canned and half fresh soft tomatoes. It is a good way to get rid of tomatoes before they go bad)

3 slices of bacon, chopped into small pieces

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 Tablespoons of parsley flakes

1 tsp. pepper (You can also had a couple of dashes of Hot Sauce, if you like it spicy)

1/4 tsp. salt (canned tomatoes will provide salt as well)

1 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1 1/2 tablespoon sugar (it helps keep the okra from being slimy)

1 bay leaf
a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce

In large pot, cook bacon for about 2 minutes over medium heat. Add onions and bell pepper and saute until slightly soft. Add all other ingredients and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat and simmer 40 minutes. This is excellent, healthy, and low in calories (you can eliminate the bacon and use olive oil to reduce calories even more).

Marinated Salad

Here is a great recipe that I got from a wonderful teacher and friend. Mrs. Wilda McNatt who taught history at Hancock for 20 years before retiring. She was an awesome person. I think about her every time I fix this recipe.

2 large cucumbers, sliced or diced (I don't always peel them)

1 large red onion, sliced or diced

2 medium tomatoes, sliced or diced ( This recipe is also good with cherry or grape tomatoes. It is beautiful with the many colors of heirloom tomatoes as well.

2 T chopped parsley or parsley flakes

1/3 cup vinegar ( I like red wine vinegar best)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I prefer canola)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Place vegetables in a container that has a tight lid. Mix oil, vinegar, sugar and pepper in a bowl. Whisk until well blended. Pour over vegetables. Place lid on container and shake well. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Overnight is better.

I have added black olives to the salad before.

There will be a great deal of the marinate left after the salad is enjoyed. I like to open a can of green beans and put in the leftover marinate and refrigerate again for 4 hours.

Southern Bread Pudding

My mother made the most amazing bread puddings--using raisins, coconut, pecans, pineapple, peaches,chocolate chips, cherries, etc,. to add flavor and interest to her traditional dessert. Here is the traditional recipe. I like to add dried cranberries instead of raisins, but you add what you want. It is delicious.

8 slices of bread (I like to use 4 hotdog buns or 4 hamburger buns)
4 T. butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In glass baking dish, place pieces of torn bread. Sprinkle raisins on top of bread pieces. Drizzle with melted butter. Combine milk, eggs, sugar, and spices in mixing bowl. Pour over bread. Lightly press bread with a fork to soak up milk mixture. Bake 40-45 minutes.

You can lightly dust the top of warm bread pudding with confectioner's sugar. Or, top with warmed caramel sauce, rum sauce, or whipped cream. I prefer Mother's vanilla sauce. See below.

Vanilla Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 T flour
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 T vanilla (you can substitute whiskey or rum if you like)

Whisk in saucepan all ingredients except vanilla. Cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, whisk constantly until sauce thickens and will coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve on top or on side of bread pudding.

Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.