Instant Pot: Turkey-Stuffed Peppers

Time to try out the old "Instant Pot" again.  I've rarely used it since purchasing.  I think mostly because it doesn't fit on my counter, so taking it down and setting it up is a turn off to me, like the crock pot.  If it could sit in a spacious space - available and ready to use anytime I wanted it, I know I would use it more.  Stuffed peppers seemed good to try since they are hard to do in the oven - getting them soft enough.  I based my recipe on hers, but did my own edits to suit me and it was a little different - my own experiment.  I looked for peppers that had 4 bumps on the bottom (a lot had 3) and would stand up straight.  I found 3 green and 1 yellow.  Green were the cheapest, red the most expensive.  Still expensive, the 4 peppers cost me $4.50 and on sale.

Pork Chops Alla Milanese with Roasted Cipollini & Pearl Onions

The first time I had cipollini onions, I was bowled over.  Wow!  So sweet and succulent.  I bought some recently but was dismayed when I learned they're hard to peel, so they've been sitting on my counter...They were expensive too. The 10 oz bag below was $4.

Pa amb tomàquet (Bread with Tomato)

This was one of my favorite things I devoured in Spain.  It is one of those unadorned food items that excels because of uncomplicated quality ingredients.  It is delicious in its simplicity.  Heavenly.  Below is a picture from a Catalan restaurant we had it at while visiting Barcelona.  It makes me drool to look at it.  SO GOOD!

Real Texas Chili Con Carne

I made this for a co-worker.  He is always talking about chili from Texas (where he lived for quite some time) and how it doesn't have beans.  And I add, or tomatoes.  So, I decided it was time to give it a whirl.  I looked at soooo many recipes and had a hard time finding one I liked or could modify.  I finally found the one I wanted on "Serious Eats" and I stopped looking once there.  I made some minor adaptations:

Ground Turkey, Salami, Barley Vegetable Soup

The soup title sounds weird, doesn't it?  I was going to make stuffed peppers today, but didn't feel like putting it together.  I just decided to try and use up a bunch of odds & ends food leftovers in the fridge.  So, soup it was.  It morphed into an interesting hodgepodge potage and I still had a few things I couldn't fit into the pot...

• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb extra lean ground turkey
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Parmesan cheese rind
• 1/2 lb of salami, diced
• 6 cups of low sodium chicken broth (I used "Better than Bouillon")
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/2 lb of white mushrooms, sliced and quartered
• 2 handfuls of haricot vert, sliced in 1 inch pieces
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 2 large handfuls of organic baby spinach
• 1 cup of dried gourmet mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups of boiling water till re-hydrated, then chopped.  Broth then strained into soup
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, whole but sliced open
• 2 cups Napa cabbage, sliced thin
• 1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup of pearl barley
• 1/4 cup of Israeli couscous harvest grains mix (leftover and wanted to use it up)
• 2 bay leaves
• Tablespoon of "Kitchen Bouquet" seasoning to color the anemic turkey
• Fresh cilantro, thyme, dill, basil & Italian parsley tied with kitchen twine
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• Fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt, to taste

I did all my chopping first.  At least my "absent sous chef" cleaned my kitchen spotless so I had that bonus when I started...I have to be honest.  I got these new expensive German knives and I love chopping now.  It's so easy and so fast when you have good knives!  I don't know why I waited so long to invest in proper knives...

I sauteed the onion, garlic, white mushrooms, salami and turkey first.  I added the "Kitchen Bouquet".  Then everything else except the spinach went into the pot.

I brought to a boil and then simmered on very low for 45 minutes.  I fished out the bay leaves, cheese rind, herbs and jalapeno, then added in the spinach.

5 minutes later it was time to serve.  I made a country bread grilled cheese for my son to eat with his soup.  Below, is his dinner tonight.

The broth in the soup was terrific!  The salami gave a nice flavor and saltiness - who knew?  All in all, it was a pleasant surprise.  Will I ever make it exactly like this again?  No, but it turned out well for using what I could get rid of in my fridge. I really don't like to waste food.  No complaints.  Some will get it for lunch tomorrow and then it will end up in the freezer for easy soup some other time...

Linguine with Clams (Linguine con le Vongole)

This is really one of my all time favorite pasta dishes.  I had these good frozen clams in the freezer which were low sodium, and I always buy them.  But, the idea of fresh clams was appealing...I found a seafood place close to my work called Fanny Bay Oysters.  A call to them told me the clams were $4.95 a pound.  They recommended a pound per person and the type they suggested using with pasta was Manila clams.  So, I decided to buy a couple pounds of fresh and use the frozen too, so I wouldn't have to take them out of the shell and could add more clam meat to the dish.  I know I was going to have a LOT of clams, but that is why I like this dish so much - the clams.  I was making a shitload of pasta too, so it seemed okay.  When I bought them, the person who sold them to me advised that he didn't think I should cook frozen and fresh together simply as they wouldn't cook at the same time.  I assured him I would adjust what I needed to do accordingly.  He also said they were cleaned and I needed to do nothing...

Ground Turkey Asian Lettuce Wraps

This is my "go-to" recipe for this dish.  I make a pretty good dipping sauce for lettuce wraps. I think that's the highlight of the dish.   The filling is flexible, use what you're feeling for when you make it...

Codfish Noodle Casserole

I had LOTS of leftovers from last night's dinner.  I decided to do something really easy and make a casserole out of it tonight.  I sprayed a non-stick 13" x 9" baking pan with "Pam".  I flaked the cod and I fished out all the green beans as I didn't want them in there.

Poached Cod with Tomato & Grits

I've made a version of this before, but it wasn't great.  I decided to serve it up with some organic heirloom Pencil Cob grits by Anson Mills.

I soaked these overnight.  I had a new balloon whisk that I wanted to try out too.  I have never had success with keeping a whisk that didn't break.  I found one by "Oxo" and it was rated very high.  These grits would be perfect to test it with since they take a good half hour of serious whisking.

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 can (28 oz) D.O.P San Marzano tomatoes, crushed with hands

• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon organic low sodium "Better than Bouillon" chicken base
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless wild Pacific cod fillets
• Large handful of haricot vert
• Fresh basil leaves, to taste

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and crushed pepper and cook, until onions are transparent and softened.

Add tomatoes, wine, bay leaves, basil, and green beans.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 15 minutes until slightly reduced.

Lower heat slightly and add  cod.  Season with S&P.   Cover and simmer until cod is cooked through.

I served mine half with grits and half with the broth/fish.  I garnished with torn basil.

The grits were different than other Anson Mills ones I've made to date.  These were more "corny".  They were toothsome too.  The cod was flaky and tender and poached nicely.  The broth had a nice spice and was very tasty.  I couldn't stop slurping that up.  My son did say that he prefers my "cheesy" grits but it was a good meal.  I often don't like to cook complex things on Mondays, but this turned out okay.  And the whisk worked like a hot damn!

Japanese Curried Chicken with Italian Farro

I thought about whether to write this up, and I did - simply because when I was trying to remember how I made it last time, I couldn't.  If I post it, I will have it in my food diary which is this blog.  So this post is not really "homemade", it's "curry in a hurry".  I typically use this store bought stuff called "Glico" and I think is pretty darn good, though, certainly not sodium friendly - it's loaded.  If I order this curry while out, I usually get it at fast food Japanese places.  There's a really good one in a Korean food court by my office.  I usually always get the deep fried pork cutlet with it so it's called "Katsu-karē".  The pack below was $1.99.

Easy Oven Beef & Vegetable Stew

I remembered a recipe from years and years ago that was a simple oven beef stew.  I have the cookbook and made it all the time.  I didn't use the recipe this time, but used what I had for stew in the house.  I didn't use any potatoes either.  However, I did use the oven directions and grated orange zest which was one of my favorite memories of the recipe.  I also cooked it "low and slow" this time.  I put it in my cast iron, enamel covered dutch oven.  I preheated the oven to 250°F.   I put it in when I left for work and let it go until I got back about 9 hours later.  My son was home so I got him to stir it once during the day and give me a progress update.  My adaptation is below:

Vegetarian Chickpea Rotini with Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic

This was a quick week night meal.  I did grate some fresh Parmesan cheese on it so it took my dish from vegan to vegetarian.  I was surprised how good this pasta was the first time I made it.  I found it at Costco.

Pan Roasted Salmon with Lemony Kale

Back on Track:  My breakfast/lunch at work today was a homemade beet, grape tomatoes, quinoa, arugula, dried apricots, walnut salad with a tiny bit of goat cheese.  I dressed it with olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Pinto Bean & Andouille Sausage Stew

Ever since I saw an online post about pinto beans a week or two ago, I've been craving them.  I was going to do them in the pressure cooker, but since I am off work, decided to do them low and slow on the stove top.  I can remember my dad's last wife making these, years ago.  They were so good, but such a carb coma overload with the rice.  I wouldn't be using the rice.  She always made hers with a smoked ham hock.  I debated it, but had the andouille in the fridge.  My co-worker brings these back from the States for me.