Dad's Stuffed Bell Peppers

A classic American dish that one can't easily find in restaurants (unless it is a cafeteria) is stuffed bell peppers. It's essentially meatloaf stuffed into bell peppers and baked in the oven. My mom and dad have their own different versions, both delicious. Here is my dad's:

Dad's Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 50 minutes

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INGREDIENTS

• 4 bell peppers, any color
• Salt
• 5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 lb of lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned (if using can, drain of excess liquid first)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
• Dash of Tabasco sauce

METHOD

1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.

2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well. (You may find it easier to put the ingredients at this point into a large bowl and mix together with your hands.)

3 Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside the peppers. Arrange the cut side of the peppers up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed peppers is 150-160°F.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

Crispy Hash Browns

The debate usually begins like this.

ME: Dad, how do you make your hash browns turn out so crispy?
DAD: Use a potato ricer. It's the only thing I've found that really gets the moisture out of the potatoes. The trick to these hash browns is to get rid of as much moisture as possible before cooking them.
MOM: I always used paper towels to press out the moisture.
DAD: Your hash browns are mushy.
MOM: I made this family hash browns for forty years and you never complained. They're perfectly fine.
DAD: They were mushy.
MOM: You ate them!
DAD: Yes I did. And they were mushy.
(and the debate continues as I quietly leave the room.)

Mom's hash browns are mushy. Tasty, edible, yummy, but still mushy. They aren't as good as dad's, and that is just a fact. Here's how dad makes his hash browns.

Crispy Hash Browns Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes

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INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp olive oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil
• 1 lb Russet baking potatoes, peeled and grated
• Salt and pepper

Equipment needed:

• Large frying pan (at least a 9" diameter bottom)
• Potato ricer

METHOD

1 Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan on medium high heat.

 

2 While the pan is heating, squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes. It's easiest to do this with a potato ricer, using it much like you would a garlic press, except you don't force the potatoes through the ricer. You just press out the moisture. If you don't have a ricer, use paper towels to squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes.

 

3 When the oil in the pan heats up to the point of shimmering, but not smoking, add the grated potatoes, spreading them out along the bottom of the pan. The potatoes should not be too thick in any one place, no more than a half inch thick. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the potatoes. After a few minutes, lift up one edge of the potatoes and see how done they are. If they have fried to a golden brown they are ready to flip. Use a large spatula to flip the potatoes over all at once, or divide the large potato cake into halves or quarters and flip. Continue to cook until they are golden brown on the bottom.

Yield: Serves 4.

Coleslaw

The word "coleslaw" comes from the Dutch word, "koolsla", "kool" meaning cabbage and sla, salad. The word entered our English language from the Dutch in New York in the late 1700s. Since then it has been a featured side dish at almost every picnic or barbecue in America. We have coleslaw at least once a week, usually with fish, and often with burgers or hot dogs. Our ways of preparing it are ridiculously simple, one with a mayonnaise dressing, the other with rice vinegar and a big of sugar. Sometimes we add some shredded green apple to the mix. Are you a coleslaw eater? If so, what's your favorite way of preparing it?

Coleslaw Recipe

Preparation time: 5 minutes.

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INGREDIENTS

• Cabbage, either green or purple or both
• Carrot
• Green onion

For the version with mayonnaise:

• Mayonnaise
• Yellow mustard
• Pepper

For the version without mayonnaise:

• Rice vinegar or white vinegar
• Sugar
• Salt and pepper

METHOD

1 Starting with a head or half a head of cabbage, thinly slice the cabbage until you have approximately 4 cups (not packed) of sliced cabbage. (Using a mandoline helps in this case.) Julienne a half of a carrot. Thinly slice a couple green onions.

1 For the mayo dressing version, add 3 Tbsp mayo, 1/2 teaspoon of yellow mustard and mix in with the cabbage, carrot, and onions. Add pepper to taste.

3 For the non-mayo version, add a couple tablespoons of rice vinegar. Sprinkle with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Coleslaw with a rice vinegar dressing

Classic Meatloaf

Why do I love meatloaf? It reminds me of being a kid. Where does one get meatloaf other than at home or at a school cafeteria? When I lived in San Francisco I bought meatloaf already mixed and seasoned from my local butcher. Just mixed in an egg, put it in a loaf pan, and popped it in the oven for an hour. These days I wait for my father to whip up a batch. He makes the Best. Meatloaf. Ever. His trick? Italian pork sausage (half sweet, half spicy). He once substituted this sausage for regular ground pork and never looked back.

Classic Meatloaf Recipe

Many meatloaf recipes call for ground veal or pork in addition to ground beef. You might want to experiment with a third each of beef, pork, and veal. If you don't have access to spicy ground pork or Italian sausage, add a pinch of fennel seeds and a half teaspoon of hot sauce to regular ground pork.

Preparation time: 20 minutes to prep, 1 hour to cook.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of finely chopped onion
• 1 celery rib, chopped fine
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped scallions (can substitute onion)
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon salt (use 1 1/2 teaspoons if using Italian sausage)
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck
• 3/4 pound of spicy ground pork sausage or Italian sausage (a mix of sweet and hot if you are using links)
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs, beaten slightly
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 In a large heavy skillet cook the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and scallions in butter, over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Cover the skillet and stir occassionally until the carrots are tender, about 5 more minutes. Stir in salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 a cup of ketchup. Cook for 1 more minute.

3 In a large bowl, combine the meats, eggs, vegetables, bread crumbs, and parsley. Form into a loaf and put into a rectangular baking pan with 2-inch high sides. Cover the loaf with remaining ketchup.

4 Bake the meatloaf in the oven for 1 hour.

Serves 4 to 6, with plenty for leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches.

Classic Baked Chicken

This baked chicken recipe is one of those recipes that every home cook should have in their repertoire. It uses a minimal amount of ingredients - chicken, olive oil, salt and pepper (and if you want gravy, chicken stock or white wine) and is especially useful on those busy days when you are just too busy to get creative. My mother makes this chicken about once a month and usually serves it withmango chutney and Spanish rice.

Classic Baked Chicken Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 50 minutes

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INGREDIENTS

• 3 to 4 lb chicken, cut into 8 parts (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings) excluding the back
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock* or white wine for the gravy (optional)

METHOD

 

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse chicken pieces in water and pat dry with paper towels. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. Rub some olive oil over all of the chicken pieces in the roasting pan. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange the pieces skin-side up in the roasting pan so the largest pieces are in the center (the breasts) and there is a little room between pieces so they aren't crowded in the pan.

2 Cook for 30 minutes at 400°F. Then lower the heat to 350°F and cook for 10-30 minutes more (approximately 14 to 15 minutes per pound total cooking time) until juices run clear (not pink) when poked with a sharp knife or the internal temperature of the chicken breasts is 165°F and the thighs 170°. If your chicken pieces aren't browning to your satisfaction, you can put them under the broiler for the last 5 minutes of cooking, until browned sufficiently.

3 Remove roasting pan from oven. Remove chicken from roasting pan to a serving plate. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

 

4 To make gravy for the chicken, take the roasting pan with its drippings and place on a medium setting on the stovetop. Use a metal spatula to scrape up the drippings stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add a quarter cup of white wine or chicken stock* to the pan to help deglaze the drippings from the pan.

Pour the wine/stock and dripping mixture into a small saucepan and heat on medium high to reduce to desired thickness.

*While the chicken pieces are baking, if you bought a whole chicken that was then cut into pieces, you may have the back, the neck, and some gizzard pieces to use for making chicken stock. You can chop up the back a little, put it and the neck and gizzards (not the liver) into a small saucepan, barely cover with water, bring to a simmer, cook while the chicken is cooking. When the chicken in the oven is done cooking, use the stock from simmering the extra pieces to make the gravy.

Serve with steamed rice, mashed potatoes, or Spanish rice.

Yield: Serves 4.

Chicken Salad with Tarragon

Inspiration for good food can be found anywhere, even Starbucks, where I had a delicious chicken salad sandwich recently. The key ingredients other than chicken? Cranberries and tarragon. French tarragon is a distinctive herb, with a slight anise or licorice aroma. We don't use it that often; I grew some last year and don't think we used it more than once or twice the whole season. But it does pair well with chicken. The dried cranberries add some sweetness to the chicken salad, and the lemon juice just enough acidity to brighten all the flavors.

Chicken Salad with Tarragon Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken meat*
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1-2 teaspoons dried tarragon (or 1-2 Tbsp fresh chopped tarragon)
• Salt and pepper to taste

* Poach about 1 1/2 lbs of skinless chicken breasts and thighs, preferably bone-in (for flavor), in a quart of salted (1 teaspoon) water, for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from water, let cool, remove bones, chop the meat into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch cubes.

METHOD

Mix all of the ingredients together. Adjust seasoning. Serve with lettuce for a simple salad, in a tomato that has been cut open for a stuffed tomato, or with slices of bread for a chicken salad sandwich.

Yield: Serves 4.

Chicken Salad

My mother and father make the best chicken salad. It's a joint effort; dad assembles all of the ingredients, mom makes the dressing. There are a few things that distinguish this chicken salad recipe from a standard version. First, we use plum preserves in the dressing. You can use any berry preserve, but as we have gallons of homemade plum preserves in the freezer waiting to be used, we use the plum. Second, the recipe includes green olives. Like capers, chopped green olives give the salad an interesting bite. Finally, we use chicken that has been roasted or broiled with the skin on, and we use the skin. This makes a huge difference in flavor.

Do you have a favorite chicken salad recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments.

Chicken Salad Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

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INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 lb (2-3 cups) of cooked chicken meat, skin on, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4-6 green olives, pitted and minced
• 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
• 1/2 to a whole apple, cored and chopped
• 1/3 head of iceberg head lettuce, sliced and chopped

• 5 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp plum preserves, or any sweet berry preserve (or a lesser amount of honey)
• 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1 Prepare all of the salad ingredients and combine them in a large bowl.

2 Prepare the dressing separately. Combine the mayonnaise, preserves, and lemon juice. Taste for proper balance. The dressing should not be too sweet nor too sour. Adjust the ingredients until you have achieved the balance you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3 Mix the dressing in with the salad ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: Serves four.