Stuffed Jalapeño and Sweet Peppers

Once again, I was inspired by one of Ravenous Couple's photos--this one was Jalapeño Poppers in a Blanket. Check out the photo with the proceeding link--it looks so good, doesn't it? The key to cooking, though, is to make the dish to your taste. I am not a crust/bread lover, so after a couple of attempts making the stuffed peppers with puff pastry and also phyllo dough, I ended up with a topping of panko bread crumbs as my favorite.

 I liked just a bit of crunch on top with the panko bread crumbs.

 This is the stuffed jalapeño with phyllo dough. It was nice and crispy, but I don't have a lot of experience with phyllo sheets and it seemed like a lot of trouble.

I used a smaller piece of puff pastry than Ravenous Couple did in their recipe. Mine may not have puffed thoroughly because I may have stretched it a little while wrapping the peppers. I also added vegetables to the filling--the bacon and cream cheese alone was too rich for me, so I added chopped spinach, water chestnuts, onion and mushrooms to the cream cheese.

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers
1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers
4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed
1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cups diced mushrooms
4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter
or
phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

optional: 1 cup crumbled/grated queso fresco or jalapeño jack cheese

Straight jalapeños with a nice stem work well, although the stem is a little too tough to eat--makes the finished product look pretty, though. The sweet mini peppers work great for those that don't like spicy food. Cut them in half, trying to also cut the stem in half.

For the jalapeños, the seeds and the membranes inside are hot. I wanted a little heat, so I left most of the membrane but removed the seeds. With the sweet mini peppers, I removed all the insides, which left a nice pocket to fill.

If you are feeding vegetarians or simply want to eat lighter, I used a package of Morningstar Farms frozen sausage patties instead of bacon for one batch of stuffed peppers. I thawed the patties, then roughly chopped them and pulsed them in the food processor until they resembled sausage crumbles. My husband, nor my parents, could tell it wasn't meat--the cream cheese makes it rich enough. If you're using bacon, cook, crumble  and set aside.

Whenever I roast garlic, I always make more than the recipe calls for, and keep it in the refrigerator to use in other recipes. Make roasted garlic by cutting the tops off whole heads of garlic, drizzling them with olive oil, wrapping them in foil and bake in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until a bit caramelized. Cool, remove skins and set aside.

Saute the diced onions and mushrooms in 2 teaspoons olive oil until wilted, let cool and set aside.

Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water and add to a bowl along with the cooked onions & mushrooms, water chestnuts, softened cream cheese and garlic from 2 cloves of roasted garlic. Add the cooked bacon or sausage. Mix well. Season with freshly ground pepper and a little bit of salt if desired. The filling should be a little on the stiff side, it makes the peppers easier to fill. I think the cream cheese should be more of a binder than the main filler, but make it to your tastes. You can make the recipe a day ahead to this point and refrigerate.

Fill the peppers and add a clove of roasted garlic to each one.

Then add your topping--buttered panko bread crumbs, phyllo dough (if you don't like the richness of using butter, use an olive oil spray) or puff pastry (being careful not to stretch the dough). Top phyllo or puff pastry with a little cheese if desired.

If you're using puff pastry, add the cheese in the last 10 minutes of baking--the cheese will brown first and you'll want enough time for the pastry to properly bake--mine looks a little underdone here, but the cheese is nicely browned.

Bake in 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until breadcrumbs are lightly browned. It takes about the same amount of baking time for the phyllo or puff pastry too.

Itadakimasu!

***


We haven't had any Rachel pics in awhile--look how she's grown!

This weekend she bonded with her grandpa--he got the biggest smiles!

Gary's fun--he takes Rachel out to the courtyard to play.

 Rachel likes to swing.

She liked the rocking horse.

 Karen's friend Wendy came to visit with her two children.

 This is Colin.

And this is Claire. Claire is a bit of a dare-devil--she took the little rocking horse to the top of the slide and slid down!

 Claire has a lot of energy. I wish I had her energy!

Look! No hands!

 Clair loves roller coasters. Not just little ones, but BIG ones, too! Claire just turned FOUR!

 These two are all smiles!

 Gary tossed the ball and Rachel giggled and giggled.

 No, Gary, those aren't your toys! They belong to a little boy that lives in the courtyard also named Gary! We had a fun morning with Wendy, Claire and Colin. Thank you, Wendy, for coming to visit!

For dinner, Karen and Mitchell made us a gourmet feast! Gordon and Amy joined us for dinner--it's always so nice to see them. Sorry you are out-of-focus, Amy! I am working on my depth-of-field to get better and was unsuccessful here--I should have had Amy go around to the other side and stand between Gordon & Karen so she could be on the same focal plane as the others. Or, I could have closed down the aperture to get a better depth-of-field. I need more practice. You might remember Gordon & Amy from my Cinnamon Rolls Post.

Thank you, Karen, Mitchell, Amy, Gordon--and of course Rachel--for a delicious dinner and a fun weekend!


***

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers

1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed 

1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cups diced mushrooms

4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter 

or

phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

1. Roast garlic by slicing off a bit of the top of each head, drizzling olive oil over the heads, wrapping them in foil and baking in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until soft and a little caramelized. Cool and remove skins.

2. Cook bacon strips until crisp, crumble and set aside. 

3. Cook diced onions and mushrooms until wilted, about 10 minutes over medium heat. Cool and set aside.

4. Thaw and squeeze spinach and soften cream cheese. Mix together with onions & mushrooms mixture, bacon and 2 heads of roasted garlic. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt (if desired).

5. Slice peppers in half, remove seeds and membranes (if desired) and stuff.

6. Top with panko breadcrumbs (mixed with melted butter or olive oil), phyllo dough squares or puff pastry.

7. Bake at 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and peppers begin to wilt.

Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice

My family loves spicy tuna rolls and I'm sure they'll be excited to try these!

I first saw a photo of Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice on Pinterest--but it took me awhile to find Ravenous Couple's original pin. Their photo is amazing and inspired me to make this sushi. Please click on the link and see for yourself--and take a look at their other amazing dishes and photos while you're there.

  I used Ravenous Couple's photo and recipe as a tutorial of sorts--trying to get a beautiful photo of my own sushi.

  My husband came home for lunch just as I was finishing up my photos and quickly ate eleven pieces. He usually doesn't like spicy OR fried food, but he loved these! He raved about the yaki onigiri (crispy rice) and how good it was--crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice

makes about 20 pieces

adapted from Ravenous Couple

Ingredients:

1/4 lb. sushi grade tuna

1 tablespoon mayonnaise (kewpie brand preferred)

1 tablespoon Sriracha (use more or less according to taste)

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon thinly chopped chives or green onions

2 cups rice, cooked and seasoned for sushi

1 tablespoon shiro goma (white sesame seeds)

1 tablespoon kuro goma (black sesame seeds)
about 1 tablespoon shoyu or teriyaki sauce

optional: shiso (perilla) leaves & diced jalapeño

I bought this butsugiri (cut into pieces) wild, USA tuna at Marukai and cut it into smaller chunks. It's a quarter-pound and easily made 15 pieces of sushi with enough left over for 5 more. I don't buy tuna sashimi much anymore, so this is a rare treat.

I bought this Kewpie brand mayonnaise--I've always wanted to try it. If you don't have it on hand, use Best Foods. Sriracha hot chili sauce--everyone has that, right?

Mix the sashimi with 1 tablespoon each, mayonnaise and Sriracha, plus 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, cover, and refrigerate. I used only half the amount of tuna recommended in the recipe with the full amount of sauce and was worried it would be too hot--but apparently it wasn't. After eating all the sushi, Gary calmly said, "My mouth is burning." Calmly, not frantically--so I'm assuming it was a good kind of hot.

I just realized my readers may need a primer on making sushi rice. It's simple to use the instant sushi seasoning as I did in my Homestyle Sushi Bar post, but this time I used the vinegar, sugar and salt mixture. You can find a good sushi rice primer on La Fuji Mama's Sushi Rice, the Secret Behind Delicious Sushi post if you haven't made sushi rice.

After the rice has cooled, make the onigiri using a plastic mold you can find at an Asian market. I was taught the proper way to make onigiri is to compact the rice loosely, but this time, since the onigiri will be fried, pack the rice in a little more firmly so it won't fall apart while frying.

After making the onigiri, I brushed a small amount of Red Shell's teriyaki sauce, which I always have on hand since my neighbor is Hiro Watanabe, owner of Red Shell Foods. You can use plain shoyu too. Then, I dipped the onigiri in the goma (sesame seeds).

The three on the left, I rolled in the sesame seeds, and the others I put the sesame seeds on my fingers and pressed them onto the onigiri. I liked that better.

Then I took the onigiri outside to fry them with a butane stove I use for shabu shabu. I like to fry foods outside, that way the whole house doesn't smell like oil. One day, I will have to break down and buy the enclosed fryer that the Ravenous Couple used in their post. Fry the onigiri and drain well.

Note: Be sure to use a splatter screen--the oil will pop!

Top the yaki onigiri with spicy tuna chunks, top with chopped chives, green onions, or chopped/sliced jalapeños. Garnish with shiso leaves.

Itadakimasu!



***

This is my daughter's birthday week.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful daughter who keeps us all close even though she lives far away. It's fun looking at all these photos and with each one comes a flood of memories.

You may remember her from other posts, she actually started out planning on posting regularly here on FOODjimoto.com, but became too busy with motherhood and work. You may remember her Chicken and Dumpling Soup.

It's Karen & Mitchell's wedding anniversary soon, too.

Wedding photos by Lauren Miyake Photography.

 One of the fun things they did at their wedding was, instead of a guest book, they had guests sign a Someday Chair, a rocking chair. 'Someday we'll be sitting in this rocking chair on our front porch.'

 Use a spray varnish to seal the signatures, so they won't rub off.

A clever adding of Santa Monica on the chair seat! A Someday Chair is a great do-it-yourself item for a wedding reception.

I loved these candles in a mason jar, too.

I thought these wedding ideas would be good to share since summer wedding are coming and there a lot of do-it-yourselfers out there.

Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary, Karen!

I love you.


***

Spicy Tuna with Crispy Rice

adapted from Ravenous Couple

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. sushi grade tuna

1 tablespoon mayonnaise (kewpie brand preferred)

1 tablespoon Sriracha (use more or less according to taste)

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon thinly chopped chives or green onions

2 cups rice, cooked and seasoned for sushi

1 tablespoon shiro goma (white sesame seeds)

1 tablespoon kuro goma (black sesame seeds)

optional: shiso (perilla) leaves & diced jalapeño

sushi su: 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, stir until dissolved

1. Wash and cook rice. When rice is done and has steamed for 15 minutes, season with sushi powder or su while hot. Start with half the amount of su, sprinkle on hot rice and cut and fold rice with shamoji or paddle. Fan rice while adding vinegar mixture. Season rice to taste. When cooled, set aside covered with damp towel.

2. Cut up tuna and mix with mayonnaise, Sriracha and sesame oil. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Form rice into nigiri using a rectangular mold or by hand. Press rice firmly into mold. Season with a small amount of shoyu or teriyaki sauce and press sesame seeds onto rice or roll in thinly spread sesame seeds on a plate.

4. Fry nigiri until crisp, drain well on paper towels.

5. Top with spicy tuna mixture and garnish with chopped chives, green onions, or jalapeños. Garnish with shiso leaves optional.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

After all these years, I finally know how to make perfect hard boiled eggs! I've gotten a lot of feedback on my Easter Eggs post--thank you to all who gave instructions on how to make perfect hard boiled eggs with nice, bright, moist yolks.

No more dry, dark yolks for me!

I learned how to make them from the first cookbook I got while I was in college, the red and white checkered tablecloth covered Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook--which had its sixth printing in 1973. I never thought about it much why the yolks of my hard boiled eggs would sometimes be bright yellow and sometimes turn dark--but now I know!

 Start by putting your room temperature eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with water by at least 1 inch. *Note: I've found that using eggs purchased a week in advance makes them easiest to peel.

 Bring to a boil.

*Note to Mako: That's a rolling boil.

He's a bit of a novice in the kitchen and has asked for more detail.

After the water boils, cover, remove from heat and let the eggs steep for 12 to 15 minutes.

Drain the hot water and rinse once with cold water. Then fill the pot with ice cubes and fill with water. Let sit for 30-45 minutes and peel.

 Russ Parsons of the LA Times wrote in his The California Cook column about peeling hard boiled eggs--after cooking and draining the eggs, roll them around to crack them before putting them in the ice bath.

 That worked well, but it leaves the whites with impressions of the cracks. I didn't like that, but they weren't too noticeable by the time I was done dyeing the whites. At the end of the column, Parsons writes you don't really need to crack them, just leave them in the ice bath longer, 45 minutes.

 The eggs look the best when you cut them with a sharp knife and make one, long, cut through the eggs.

I took some Easter Deviled Eggs to my mom and dad along with a chocolate Easter bunny. My mother-in-law got some, too.

This time I didn't leave the chocolate bunny in the car, so it didn't melt. You can read about that in my Spam Musubi post.

Itadakimasu!

***

My mother-in-law loves jigsaw puzzles.

In my Energy Bars post, there are photos of the first puzzle she finished, and since then, there have been a chain of puzzles she has worked on, almost non-stop. They've been fun for the whole family, everyone gathering around the puzzle table, chattering and teasing Bachan while pulling out pieces that she has jammed into the wrong places--it's kind of cute. She says this puzzle is "haaarrrdest one!" We laugh because she says that about each one.

This is Bachan's latest puzzle.

A collage of pictures of Bachan--she loves pictures of herself!

I used VenusPuzzle.com for this puzzle. The puzzle came within about 10 working days--I thought it was really fast. Shipping was by DHL Express from Europe and cost $15.90. This photo was made into a 2000 piece puzzle, 26.5 x 35.5 inches, and cost $89.90, plus shipping. We split the cost with several families for her Christmas gift, which made it a little more affordable. Even though it was expensive, I think it was a great gift--since she doesn't need anything and puzzling is her favorite current past-time.

*A word of advice: The printer uses 1200 dpi, so make your photo closest to that within the 20 MB max that you can. I made mine 26.5 x 35.5 inches, but at the minimum of 150 dpi, which was too low and came out a bit grainy--a little disappointing at the picture quality, but still really fun to put together. I will try making another one sometime in the future, but with at least 300 dpi.

Happy Puzzling!

***

Hard Boiled Eggs

Note: Buying eggs for deviled eggs a week in advance, and bringing them to room temperature before cooking makes them easier to peel.

1. Put your room temperature eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with water by at least 1 inch and bring to boil. 

2. After the water boils, cover, remove from heat and let the eggs steep for 12 to 15 minutes.

3. Drain the hot water and rinse once with cold water. Then fill the pot with ice cubes and fill with water. Let sit for 45 minutes and peel.