I always know when fall has officially arrived because bell peppers go on sale. And because I am who I am, I simply can’t pass by these big beauties without taking a couple four home with me. And although I like stuffed red, yellow, and orange peppers, my favorite is still stuffed green bell peppers. Blame my parents if blame must be assigned. Because they always stuffed green peppers. Of course, there were no red, orange, or yellow bell peppers to be had when I was a kid. Or at least in my childhood grocery shopping memory, there were not an array of colored bell peppers from which to choose. If you wanted a bell pepper, it was green. Period!

But from the first time I can remember stuffed peppers, I liked them. But then, I preferred green onions to ice cream when I was barely walking. (Or so I was told!) So, as the saying goes, there is no accounting for taste.

But as an adult, I still adore stuffed peppers. And often times, what I stuff them with is what I happen to have on hand. In this case, I can attribute this recipe to us bringing home all the non-perishables from our trailer before we take it in for winterization. I had exactly ¼ cup of a rice mixture left in one of our trailer storage containers. (Why I didn’t use that last ¼ cup in the trailer when last I made rice, I will never fathom. But then, there are lots of things about myself that I have yet to understand. So, why should a simple thing like a quarter cup of unused rice be any different? But I digress…….)

Anyway, the rice along with a half-pound of bulk Italian sausage that was languishing in our freezer, and a lone home-grown tomato that desperately needed to be eaten, all contributed to this thrown together recipe. But somehow, it worked. Also, you will notice from the picture that I used 2 red bell peppers. That’s what I had on hand. And they tasted fine. But, next time, I will make this recipe with green bell peppers. I simply like the bite from green bell peppers better. But it’s all a matter of taste, so don’t let me dictate which bell peppers you should use. Use whichever you prefer. Just make the darn things. They are easy to prepare, quite economical, and taste divine. And bake potatoes to go along with the peppers. Add a simple salad or steamed veggie and dinner is on the table. Very little fuss required. And fairly healthy too. And isn’t that we are all after these days.

So, for today, my work here is done. I’ve given you a recipe for a simple, healthy entrée. The ball is now in your court.

Peace and love to all.  

¼ c. rice (I used a rice mixture)

½ c. chicken broth

2 green bell peppers (or red, orange, or yellow if you must)

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

½ lb. bulk Italian sausage

¼ yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

½ c. diced tomato, fresh or canned

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp. fennel seeds

¼ tsp. dried oregano

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 c. grated cheese (Mozzarella, Jack, cheddar, etc.), divided   

Place the rice and broth in a covered saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, leave covered, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender but still has some bite. (Most of the broth will be absorbed at this point.) Remove from heat and let sit uncovered until needed.

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Discard the ribs and seeds. Place in a lightly greased shallow baking pan, preferably one with a lid. (If you don’t have a pan with a lid, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil after you have placed the peppers into the pan.)

Heat the olive oil in a large fry pan. And the sausage and crumble as it cooks until it’s nicely browned. Add the onion and cook until the onion is starting to soften. Add the garlic. Cook for one minute. 

Add the diced tomato. Cook until no liquid remains.

Add the salt, black pepper, fennel seeds, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and cooked rice. Stir to blend all the ingredients.

Remove from heat and stir in half of the cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stuff the half peppers with sausage mixture, dividing equally and gently packing the mixture down.

Bake covered in a preheated 375-degree oven for 60 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Remove from oven, remove lid, and add the remaining cheese on top of the peppers. Return the pan uncovered to the oven. Bake for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve hot out of the oven.

When we decided yesterday morning to grill pork chops for dinner, I immediately looked for a brine recipe especially designed for chops that were going to be cooked on a grill. Made sense at the time and now that we dined on perfect chops last evening, it makes even more sense. Because these were the best pork chops to ever come off our grill.

Now I know a lot had to due with the chops themselves. Because unbeknownst to me, I had lucked out the day I went to our local QFC for meat. Not only was I fortunate to pick out chops from a Berkshire pig (read all about these darlings below), but they were on sale that day. So, ultra-thick, bone in chops that were usually $12.99 a pound, were reduced to $5.99 a pound. So, instead of spending $23.38, I only had to fork over $10.78 for 1.80 pounds of pure deliciousness. So, bottom line, the quality of the pork chops had a lot to do with what came off our grill. But the brine put the entire dining experience over the top.

I found this simple recipe on the shutterandmint.com site, and I will never use another brine recipe for grilled pork chops again. The flavor was subtle, but very tasty. And the brine had been a snap to put together. No fancy ingredients. Just basic items I always have on hand.

So, if you too love a great pork chop, thick chops from a Berkshire pig and this brine recipe are a winning combination.

Well, it’s hot today. So, we are staying in our nice, air-conditioned home and letting the world drift by as it is wont to do. Nothing would be gained from either one of us suffering from a heat stroke or allowing ourselves to be terribly burned by working in the sun. So, being a bit idle is the wiser choice for us today. That being said, it’s probably time for me to start prepping for dinner. Mr. C. has a rehearsal tonight, so dinner has to be on the table by 5:30. And since I am preparing 2 new recipes for tonight’s repast, it will take me a little longer than say, slamming a slice of bologna between to pieces of bread, to get myself organized and dinner on the table in a timely manner.

So, wish me luck with my two new culinary experiments. If they work, you will be seeing them in print within the next couple of days.

As always, peace and love to all. And do try to find Berkshire pork. I promise it will be well worth your effort and expense.  

And sorry about no picture. I will add one next time I make these chops.

1 c. cold water

3 T. apple cider vinegar 

¼ c. brown sugar 

¼ c. coarse sea salt (preferably not iodized)

coarsely ground black pepper 

3 garlic cloves, thickly sliced 

1-2 fresh thyme sprigs or ½ tsp. dry thyme

2 very thick (over an inch) pork chops (from a Berkshire pig*, if possible)

In a large bowl, whisk together the cold water, vinegar, brown sugar, coarse sea salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme. Place the pork chops in a gallon size freezer bag and pour in the brine. Place bag in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or up to 12 hours. (I brined mine for 6 hours and that was about perfect.)

When you’re ready to grill the chops, take them out of the brine (don’t rinse them!) and pat them dry. Discard the brine. BBQ until the internal temperature of each chop reaches 145-degrees.

Remove from grill and let rest for about 4 minutes before serving.

Hint from Mr. C: turn the chops every 2 minutes and remove them from the grill when you take their temperature. He cooked our chops for a total of 7 minutes on about a 425-degree heat.

*Berkshire pork looks and tastes like no other pork meat. Unlike commodity pork or “The Other White Meat”, Berkshire pork is visibly different. It has a darker, richer color with an abundance of intramuscular marbling, comparing it favorably to prime beef. The flavor is distinctive with an unparalleled tenderness for pork. It is thought by many to be the Kobe beef of pork.

I found the pork chops we enjoyed last evening at the meat counter in the Stanwood QFC. The pork chops were labeled “Berkshire free range prime pork rib chops bone in”. And they were cut almost 1½ inches thick. Perfect for the grill.

I would definitely recommend you give Berkshire pork a try.     

OK, I know I have other quiche recipes on this site, but can you really ever have too many great quiche recipes on hand? Especially recipes for quiches that are a bit healthier than some and also stinkin’ easy to prepare. I think not! Plus, contain ingredients most of us always have on hand. Because, if you are like me, sometimes I don’t have Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese in my refrigerator. But I almost always have mozzarella cheese. (You just never know when a pizza craving might hit you in the middle of the night! For that alone mozzarella cheese must always be available.)

And even though I already feature a non-rollout whole-wheat crust in my recipe for Ham, Caramelized Onion, and Swiss Cheese Quiche, the crust isn’t made with 100% whole-wheat flour. And that’s what I was looking to produce when I first thought about a new and healthier quiche recipe.

And believe me, I looked at a lot of whole-wheat pastry recipes before choosing this one to try. Some included all-purpose flour in addition to whole-wheat flour, some had added sugar, some were all olive oil or all veggie oil, others called for cold water, or melted butter, you name it. So, I finally said to heck with the recipes I could find and came up with my own version. However, I did take inspiration from the amish365.com site. I changed Kevin’s crust recipe somewhat, but his was still the closest I could find to what I had in mind. I just didn’t want to use any sugar, and I wanted to use at least some olive oil. So, I decided to use half olive oil and half veggie oil. And I have to say, this recipe made for one tasty and incredibly easy crust to prepare.

As far as the filling is concerned, it’s pretty standard except for the mozzarella cheese. I was half afraid the filling would be boring because mozzarella cheese has a blander flavor than both Swiss and Jarlsberg cheese, but that was absolutely not the case. It was perfect. A bit salty, but I reduced the salt from ½ teaspoon in my original recipe, to the “pinch” of salt you will find in the perfected recipe below.

So, all in all, I would whole heartedly recommend you make this quiche in the near future.

Well, that’s it for today. It’s predicted to be very hot today and for the next 3-4 days. So, I have already watered all the pots and water needy plants in our yard this morning. The heat pump is working away to keep our house cool, and I have left-over quiche to serve for dinner tonight. All I have to do today is make a big old green salad to accompany the quiche. I should be able to manage that, if of course I pace myself. Which believe me, I have become very accustomed to doing.

I never thought I would reach a time when my diminishing energy would be an acceptable reality. Maybe I’m finally growing up! Because, why should I still have boundless energy when my friends and relatives who are the same age as I am, are also slowing down. What kind of conceit would I have to possess that would make me think I was a human anomaly? Inconceivable conceit, that’s what! So, I am learning to be content with my many blessings. A fabulous husband, wonderful family, true friends, a lovely home, a few medical conditions that cause concern, but none that are life threatening. So, am I going to let my waning energy get me down? Hell no! I’m going to accept it as my reward for living a full and rich life!  Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to take a much-deserved nap!

Peace and love to all.

Crust:

1½ c. stone-ground whole-wheat flour

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

¼ c. veggie oil

3 T. milk   

Place the flour and salt in a 9-inch pie pan and mix until evenly blended.

In a measuring cup, whisk the oils and milk together until creamy.

Pour all at once over the flour mixture. Mix with a fork until the flour mixture is completely moistened.

Pat the dough with your fingers, first up the sides of the pie pan and then across the bottom. Form the dough around the rim as flat and even as possible. Prick the crust with a table fork (sides and bottom) and bake for 12 minutes in a pre-heated 425-degree oven. While the crust pre-bakes prepare the filling.

After 12 minutes, remove pie pan from oven. Reduce heat to 350-degrees. Set crust aside.  

Filling:

6 lg. eggs

1 c. half & half (or half whipping cream and half low-fat milk)

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

pinch kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

9 strips thick meaty bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp

2 c. grated mozzarella cheese, divided

¼ c. chopped fresh chives or thinly sliced green onions

1½ c. thinly sliced baby spinach

ground nutmeg

Whisk the eggs, half & half, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper together. Layer the cooked bacon, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, chives, and spinach in the partially baked pie crust.   

Carefully pour egg mixture over the layers. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese over the egg mixture. Lightly sprinkle with ground nutmeg. Place strips of aluminum foil over the edge of the pie crust. (The edges are probably already brown from the pre-baking. You don’t want them any darker.)

Bake at 350-degrees for 40-45 mins, or until cooked all the way through. To check if the quiche is set (done), stick a toothpick into the center of the quiche. If it comes out clean, the quiche is ready to come out of the oven.

Remove from oven. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.