Biber Dolmasi-Turkish Stuffed Peppers

Tonight I thought I'd throw out one of my own fave recipes from the motherland...Biber Dolmasi!  Biber means pepper and Dolma means to be stuffed.  Almost every country in the world has their own version of stuffed peppers but I think Turkish food is the best, it is what I grew up on after all :) It's basically a ground beef, rice and seasoning mixture stuffed in your choice of peppers.  Stuffing grape leaves in Turkey is also very popular and tasty.  I'll save that for another day since I need to work on my grape leaf wrapping skills. I recommend buying a delicious loaf of crusty bread or naan to go along with this dish.  Enjoy my friends :)

Biber Dolmasi-Turkish Stuffed Peppers (prep time-30 min, cook time-55 min)

Filling

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup uncooked rice (I love using basmati)
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley
• 1 large Roma tomato, chopped fine
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 small-medium peppers of your choice

Sauce

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• couple dashes of salt
• 1 large tomato, pureed

Step #1-Making the filling

Step#4-Place peppers standing in sauce

1. In a large bowl mix together filling ingredients-beef, rice, parsley, tomato, olive oil, water, salt and pepper. (See picture #1 above)
2. Cut tops off of peppers and clean out inside of seeds
3. Stuff peppers with filling mixture.  Do not jam filling in with spoon instead tap peppers lightly on counter to push filling down to put more in. Set peppers aside.
4. Next in a medium pot melt butter and then add water, tomato paste, salt, and pureed tomato. Mix well.
5. Once sauce is mixed stand peppers in mixture and bring pot to a boil.  Once sauce boils bring to a medium heat and simmer for 55 minutes with lid closed. Peppers are ready when they are soft on the outside and the meat has browned. (See picture #2 above)
6. Enjoy!

Shahi Paneer and a side of Basmati Rice with Green Beans and Dill

Tonight fellow foodies I'm taking you to the exotic land of India!  Some of you might be wondering what the heck is paneer?  I was first introduced to paneer thanks to Trader Joe's.  There's a frozen meal called paneer tikka masala.  I thought it was chicken, lol, turns out it is a type of cheese very similar to tofu in texture but very tasty.  I was hooked!  We have a vegetarian guest staying with us this week so I thought this would be a good time to try out this recipe. It's a great dish made of simple fresh ingredients.

Shahi Paneer (prep time- 10 min, cook time-30 min)

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• 4 tomatoes, pureed
• 14 oz package of paneer, cubed
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the hot oil until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 5 minutes. 

2. Sprinkle the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and chili powder over the onion and garlic; continue cooking until the seasonings are fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Pour the pureed tomatoes into the skillet; cook until the excess liquid evaporates and the oil separates, 10 minutes. Add the paneer, water, sugar, and salt to the mixture; stir gently so the paneer does not break apart. 

4. Cook until the paneer begins to absorb some of the liquid, about 10 minutes. Stir the cream into the mixture and simmer another 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Basmati Rice with Green Beans and Dill (cook time-15-20 min)

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 (14.5 oz) can vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (14.5 oz) can green beans, cut 
• 1 tbsp dill
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Melt butter in a medium pot and add in rice.  Saute for a couple minutes until rice is covered in butter.

2. Pour in can of vegetable broth, water, dill and salt.  

3. Bring to a boil then put on medium heat and simmer.  After about 5 minutes add green beans and continue simmering until rice is tender.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

So good you'll slap your grandma for the last one.  Ha ha ha just kidding.  No need for violence really the recipe is listed below for you to make a batch all to yourself.

Toffee Chocolate Pecan Cookies (prep time 15 min, cook time-10 min)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 bag (6 oz) of toffee chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix brown and white sugars with butter and shortening until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in egg and vanilla.
4. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
5. Stir in chocolate chips, toffee, and nuts. Don't over mix.
6. Drop dough by rounded spoonful on a non-greased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Makes about 30 cookies.
7. Enjoy!

Chicken & Smoked Turkey Sausage Jambalaya

I've never made Jambalaya in my life before...challenge accepted!  According to Wikipedia it is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence.  I guess you can say it's the cousin of the famous Paella that the Spaniards are known for.  I mean can you really go wrong with meat, veggies, and rice?  I don't think so.  It's fairly simple to put together and my house right now smells wonderful.  Ooooh maybe this can lead to a fun 50 state challenge (i.e.-make what each state is famous for).  Anyways, back to the recipe..just a WARNING for those of you who don't like spicy food this dish has a nice kick to it (not an uncomfortable scorcher but a good tickle in the throat).  So maybe omit the red pepper flakes and hot sauce the recipe calls for if you would like a mild version.

Chicken & Smoked Turkey Sausage Jambalaya (prep time-20 min, cook time-45 min)
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tbsp cajun seasoning, divided (you can use the stuff made from the previous post like it did!)
10 ounces sausage, I used smoked turkey sausage by  Hillshire Farms and sliced into rounds
1 1b boneless skinless chicken breast (I used chicken tenderloins easy to cut and moist) into 1 in cubes
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 cups uncooked white rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1. Season sausage and chicken in separate bowls with cajun seasoning.
2. First cook sausage with 1 tbsp olive oil, then take out of pot and set aside.
3. Now cook chicken in same pot with 1 tbsp olive oil, then add to sausage that you set aside.
4. Next in same pot saute onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic until nice and tender.
5. Stir in crushed tomatoes and season with red pepper, black pepper, salt, hot pepper sauce and worcestershire sauce. Add back in the cooked sausage and chicken and cook for 10 min on medium heat.
6. Next stir in rice and broth. Bring to a boil on high heat and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20-25 min or until liquid is absorbed.  Stir occasionally and really make sure you boil then simmer that way the rice doesn't come out mushy.
7. Enjoy!

Cajun Style Tilapia

I was in the mood for some seafood this evening.  Came up with this great cajun seasoning mix for some tilapia filets I had bought.  It is delicious! You can use any fish you want really, it can also be used on chicken.  The recipe below is good for about four 6 oz filets of fish. Below is a picture of my seasoned fish about to go in the pan.  Silly me forgot to take a picture of the filets after they cooked, it smelled so good I ate it all without thinking to take a picture.

Cajun Seasoning Mix
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano

Cajun Tilapia (prep time-5 min, cook time-15 min)
Cajun Seasoning mix above
4- 6 oz filets of tilapia or fish of your choice
3-4 tbsp Olive oil

1. Season filets on both sides with cajun seasoning mix.
2. Heat olive oil in pan on medium heat.  Place filets in pan and grill about 4-5 minutes on each side or until filet has nice crispy blackened look.
3. Enjoy!