Pepper Jelly

At the end of any growing season, we usually end up with tons of produce we are desperate to find a use for. That's when it's time to have fun. A few years ago we found this recipe online for pepper jelly and it has become a staple in our pantry. Sadly, it's been so long that I have no idea where I found this. If anybody can tell me, I'll gladly give credit where credit is due. This is a great recipe. Even with hot peppers it is still nice and sweet. We've used it on every thing from toast to pork roast. It makes a great glaze. It's a bit labor intensive, but totally worth the effort. Give it a try. As always, notes are in blue.

Pepper Jelly

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups finely chopped red bell peppers
• 1-1/4 cups finely chopped green bell peppers
• 1/4 cups finely chopped jalapeno peppers (other peppers can be substituted depending on whether or not you want to bring the heat. Go banana pepper to keep it sweet, swap in a ghost pepper to really tear shit up)
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 (1.75 ounce) package powdered pectin
• 5 cups white sugar

Directions

1. Get yourself 6 sterilized half pint jars. Just chuck them in the boiling water canner while you're working and all will be good.
2. Place  peppers in a large, nonreactive saucepan over high heat. Mix in vinegar and fruit pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Quickly stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil, and boil exactly 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and skim off any foam (when it says 2 minutes it MEANS 2 minutes. I've ended up totally ruining jellies by screwing up the timing. Also, don't blow off the part where you skim the foam. This shit's an exact science, and you'll likely end up with syrup instead of jelly if it goes wrong)
3. Quickly ladle jelly into sterile jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the tops. Cover with flat lids, and screw on bands tightly.   
4. Process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes. Set on a rack to cool and await the satisfying clunk noise when the can seals. As always, check with the National Center For Home Food Preservation to make sure you don't accidentally kill anyone.

Good Times!

Tuna Casserole from The Wife

This recipe is a guest post from my lovely wife. It is one of my favorites. I turn things over to her.

     I don’t do much cooking in my house. It’s just easier to let my husband cook and tell him how good it is. However, there are a few dishes he occasionally asks me to make. A few nights ago, he had to stay late at work, so he requested I throw together a tuna casserole for dinner. I guess his incessant cooking has inspired me, because I decided my usual version needed some tweaking. Notes are in blue:

Tuna Casserolevia The Wife

Ingredients

• 1-16oz. bag of egg noodles (This was my first tweak. I’ve always used macaroni for my tuna casseroles, but there was a bag of egg noodles in the cabinet – and they were calling to me.)
• 2-5oz. cans of tuna in water (Use more if you like a lot of tuna. This seemed to be the right amount for our tastes.)
• 1-10.5oz can of cream of mushroom soup (Of course…)
• 1 cup (4oz) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup of peas (Husband’s request)
• 1 small red pepper – chopped
• 1 small yellow pepper – chopped (We had an overabundance of peppers, and not being a big fan of peas, I decided peppers would both add color and lessen the pea flavor.)
• 1 cup crushed potato chips
• Lake Shore Drive Seasoning to taste (from The Spice House)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions.
3. Drain egg noodles and return to pot. Add tuna, cream of mushroom soup, and cheese, and stir until incorporated. (In my original version, the shredded cheese was sprinkled over the top of the casserole.)
4. Mix in peas and red and yellow pepper.
5. Add Lake Shore Drive Seasoning to taste
6. Pour mixture into greased Pyrex and top with crushed potato chips. (This may surprise some of you, but I had never made a tuna casserole with potato chips before. The inspiration came from a story my mother likes to tell. My grandmother would always make her children their favorite meals on their birthdays. My Uncle Steve’s favorite meal was tuna casserole with crushed potato chips on top. My mother hated it.)
7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until potato chips start to brown.

Good times!

Shrimp Lafayette via Pol Martin

     We love shrimp. We are never without a couple of pounds in the freezer. The are low in calories and so versatile. More often than not, when we're trying to figure out what's for dinner and we're feeling lazy, we end up making some sort of shrimp dish.  There's just so much you can do. Appetizers, entrees, even children's toys!

Not monkeys, SHRIMP! I know, right?

     This particular shrimp recipe comes from my close, personal friend, Pol Martin* and his quintessential 1990's-era cookbook: Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine. This is a great mid-week meal. The ingredients are simple and should be in most kitchens at any given time. It also comes together quickly, probably about 45 minutes or so start to finish. It does have a bit of heat, so if you are of weak constitution you may want to back off on the peppers on this recipe. As always, changes and notes appear in blue.

Shrimp Lafayette
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 green peppers, chopped (my wife isn't a huge fan of green peppers, so we used red)
• 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper (if the heat is going to be an issue, you could probably get away with poblano.)
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, blanched, peeled and chopped (didn't blanch the garlic. Don't judge me.)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you're considering omitting this AND the jalapeno, don't tell me. Just make sure you're strapped securely into your high chair, you big baby.)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup shrimp stock (If you bought tail-on shrimp, you can make basic shrimp stock. Take the tails and boil them in some water. PRESTO! Low-rent shrimp stock!)
• 1-1/4 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (we used tail-on frozen. We survived.)
• salt

Directions

1. Heat half of butter in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add onion and both peppers, Cook 10 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Add tomatoes, garlic, spices and brown sugar. Mix well and cook 10 minutes over low heat.
3. Add shrimp stock and continue cooking 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Have a nice glass of wine. Go ahead, you deserve it.
5. Heat remaining butter in frying pan over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook 3-4 minutes. Mix once during cooking.
6. Add shrimp to tomato mixture, mix and let simmer 2 minutes over low heat. Serve over hot pasta (we used farfalle. Bow-tie pasta is awesome.)

Good times!

*I totally don't know Pol Martin. I'm not even sure if he's still alive.

Baked Daube Provencal via The Dutch Oven Cookbook

     Certain recipes just ask to be made. It could be a combinations of flavors.  It could be an exotic ingredient. It could just be a favorite comfort food. Or it could be because it calls for an entire bottle of wine. Not a quarter cup, not even a cup. A whole freaking bottle of wine. That is what drew me to this recipe in The Dutch Oven Cookbook. This is a very rich French beef stew. The gravy is absolutely phenomenal. We served it with some mashed potatoes and rustic herb bread for a hearty and satisfying dinner. It takes a while to cook, but it is totally worth it. As always, changes and notes are in blue.

Baked Daube Provencal
via The Dutch Oven Cookbook

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 to 3 pounds beef chuck roast 
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, for coating
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 strips bacon, cut crosswise into 1" slices
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion, cut into crescent slices
• 1 standard bottle of red wine (I suppose they're insinuating someone might use something non-standard, like a gallon bottle of Gallo or a big old box of Franzia. I used Barefoot Zinfandel, a dry red)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves (Don't forget to take these out before you serve. My mom always swore somebody would choke to death on a bay leaf if you left it in.)
• 2 strips of orange zest 
• One 14.5 ounce can chopped tomatoes, drained (I used a can of stewed tomatoes and chopped them myself. I'm reckless that way.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Trim the fat from the beef and cut into 2" pieces (the roast, not the fat.) Put the seasoned flour in a medium sized bowl and coat the pieces of meat with the flour mixture.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 5-1/2 quart Dutch oven. Brown the meat in two batches and remove to a platter, with the juices (seriously, no draining the roast.) 
4. Add the bacon and onions to the Dutch oven and cook for 3-4 minutes. 
5. Pour in the red wine and simmer for 5 minutes (use this time to scrape up the good stuff stuck to the bottom of the pot.)
6. Add the tomato paste, bay leaves and orange zest. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Add the meat and juices back into the pot.
8. Put a piece of buttered parchment paper directly on top of the meat (I have no idea what sorcery was at work with this step, but I did it anyway). Put the cover on and put the pot in the preheated oven. Bake for 90 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and discard the parchment paper. Add the chopped tomatoes and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.

Good times!

Meatballs and Red Sauce

     There are some recipes that only get cooked a few times a year. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes the recipe calls for expensive or hard to find items. Sometimes the recipe is difficult or time consuming. Sometimes it's something you only cook for special occasions. In this particular case, it's a matter of being time consuming. If you want to do this particular recipe right, you need to be willing to take the time.  You're going to get your hands dirty. You're going to make a mess.
     So why do I even cook this particular recipe at all? Well, it's delicious. The second I saw this recipe, I knew it was going to be good. I've gotten some duds out of Bon Appetit before, but this would not be one of them. The main reason I cook this dish? The wife loves it. Raves about it. This is one of her favorite things for me to cook. That's enough reason for me.

Meatballs with Red Sauce
(via Bon Appetit)

Ingredients 

Sauce

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes finely chopped 
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter 
• 2 medium onions, peeled, halved 
• ½ teaspoon salt 

Meatballs

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French or country style bread 
• 1/3 cup milk
• 8 ounces ground beef (85/15%) 
• 8 ounces ground pork 
• 1 cup finely ground (not grated) Parmesan cheese 
• 1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 large garlic cloves, pressed 

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

Sauce

1. Combine tomatoes with juice, butter, onions, and salt in large wide pot. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 45 minutes 
2. Use immersion blender to break up large pieces. Sauce should not be completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat 

Meatballs

1. Combine breadcrumbs and milk in small bowl; stir until breadcrumbs are evenly moistened, let stand for 10 minutes. 
2. Place beef and pork in large bowl and break up into small chunks. Add 1 cup ground Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper 
3. Whisk eggs in small bowl; whisk in garlic. Add to meat. 
4. Using hands, squeeze all milk from breadcrumbs. Add them to meat mixture. LIGHTLY mix until all ingredients are combined. DO NOT OVERMIX!!! Chill at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour. 
5. Moisten hands with reserved milk. Roll meat mixture GENTLY between palms into golf-ball sized balls. AVOID COMPACTING THE MEATBALLS! 
6. Place single layer in sauce pot. Bring to simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until meatballs are thoroughly cooked through, about 15-20 minutes 
7. Cool slightly, chill uncovered until cold, cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before serving.

Good times!