Stuffed Bell Peppers

I made another recipe from my Spanish cooking book--one that I really loved and would recommend others to make, especially for parties. Very easy, substantial, healthy, and delicious. Bell peppers have a sweetness to them that is so incomparable to any other vegetable. When it is roasted or grilled, the flavors are overwhelming and explosive.

Here are some pictures of the stuffed bell peppers. The recipe follows.

The bell pepper on the left was so oddly shaped. It didn't have those four, uh... bumps?, on the bottom that allowed it to stand. So that one had a little problem standing right-side up when I placed in the baking dish.

The peppers with the tops off and the inside emptied.

The stuffing cooking away...

...and ready. Mixed in some fresh parsley.

Stuffed.

Before.

After.

Yum.

Bon appetit!

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Recipe for Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 red bell peppers

3/4 cups of cooked rice

1 lb of ground pork or lamb

1 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes, drained.

1/2 of an onion. I used 2 shallots, but any onion will do.

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup of white wine

2 tbsp chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

1 egg

Salt and pepper to season

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pan. Cook the garlic and onion for about 5 minutes. Add the ground pork, season with salt and pepper, and let it brown completely. About 7-10 minutes. When the meat is fully cooked, add the white wine (I didn't have any white wine, so I substituted it with sherry. Still turned out good) and let it cook until the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. When there is little amount of the liquid left, add the tomatoes and let it simmer for another 7-10 minutes then add the cooked rice.

After you add the rice, remove from heat and add the egg, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well and add the mixture into the peppers. Afterwards, drizzle some of the leftover olive oil over the mixture and pepper itself. Place the caps onto the pepper (drizzle olive oil on the cap as well. It will help the peppers roast) and let it cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

*The original recipe only called for 1/2 cup of rice, but I figured there is one pound of meat so the ratio is a little uneven. I cooked a cup of rice and just added the amount I felt allowed the ratio of meat to rice to be even. I love rice, so I added a little more. I recommend adding 3/4 cups of cooked rice, long grain rice would work here. I also added one bay leaf. Every time I cook ground pork I like adding bay leaf because the flavors mix really well together and removes any obvious "porkiness" taste. I added it while I was browning the meat.

Hope you enjoy this recipe! Try it out, kids and adults will definitely enjoy this.

Eat, eat, and EAT!

Me, and you baby, were meant to be

I love sushi, and anyone who doesn't is missing out! As an homage to my love for sushi, I made it a mission to make some. This past weekend, R.J. and I made... *drum roll* a smoked salmon roll with cream cheese and cucumber and some California rolls topped with baked salmon. I also made spam sushi. The first time I'd ever tasted it was junior (or senior?) year at a Filipino club meeting, and Corrie, who has a really cool  food blog, brought some for the meeting and i fell in love. I love spam. Especially spam and rice. So naturally, I love spam sushi. I re-created it, and it was delish. R.J. and I will certainly make more sushi in the future. The only thing I need to do is find a specialty supermarket that sells fish directly used for making sushi. I didn't know you couldn't use the fish from the supermarket. I should have figured though. Sushi (of any kind) = taste explosion.

Before it was cut into rolls....

almost....

Viola!

Considering it was our first time making sushi, we did an okay job for presentation, I must say.

The California roll with the baked salmon with spicy sauce.

A close up. It was so good!

My spam misubi. I <3 spam.

After seeing these pictures I hope you are inspired to try to make homemade rolls. It's not very difficult to make and your end result is worth all the work. Invest in a bamboo mat (I got one at Cost Plus World Market for only $2.00!) to help you make the perfect roll. And share it with someone you love because sushi was made for sharing...or not. It's so tempting to keep all the sushi for yourself!

Oh, and because he is my partner in crime (and the best cooking partner), check out R.J.'s blog for movie news, music, and everything in between. I would only promote blogs that I enjoy and think others would too.

Nighty night.

Eat, eat, and EAT!