Taste: Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Stuffing anything and covering it with cheese is not only easy but it's always GOOD. After going to the Grand Central Market in Downtown LA, which by the way is a must for any Foodzie out there, we found ourselves some fresh, big poblano peppers perfect for stuffing. You can really let your imagination go wild with stuffing ingredients, but we stuck to what we already had in the pantry and fridge: some rice, beans, cheese and onions. Covering the poblanos with cheese and topping it with the homemade roasted red pepper sauce was awesome.

FYI, this recipe was taken from Jenny's blog, Butter My Jammy, and since she wrote it up I will give her all the credit. As for the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, you will find the recipe for that below. Enjoy!


Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Prep Time: 10 mins.
Cook Time: 20 mins.
Serves: 3

*Excerpted from J. Ahn (www.buttermyjammy.blogspot.com)

4 large poblano peppers
1/4 lb. cooked chicken, chopped (seasoned with salt & pepper, cumin and chili powder)
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1/2 an onion, diced
few cloves of garlic, minced
cilantro, chopped
Mexican blend cheese (cojita if you've got some)
S&P
extra virgin olive oil
fresh lime juice

Directions:

1) heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine EVOO, beans and garlic in a pot and begin to cook down on low heat. The beans should start to cook down a bit getting soft, feel free to mash it up a bit with a fork. Add in chicken, onions and cilantro and heat through for a few more minutes. Set aside
2) To prepare the peppers for stuffing, cut a cross down the belly of the pepper. Empty out seeds with your hands and give the peppers a rinse. Keep the stems on for presentation :)
3) Stuff the peppers with a small spoon with the bean/chicken mixture. Place in a casserole dish or on a cookie sheet lined with foil and bake for about 40 minutes. During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, top peppers with cheese.


Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

3 red peppers
1/2 white onion, diced
1 jalapeno
2 tbsp honey
salt and pepper
olive oil

Roast the red peppers and jalapeno until the outside is charred. Place in a plastic bag, seal and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Once cooled, peel the outside of the red peppers, cut in half and remove the seeds. Place the roasted red peppers, jalapeno, diced onion into the food processor and blend. While blending, add the honey, and olive oil to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the sauce over the poblanos and serve with Mexican rice. Enjoy with a glass of Spanish Rioja or, you guessed it, a glass of Guinness!

Taste: Classic Cheeseburger with Fried Egg

I got this really awesome coffee table book for Christmas called My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals. As a foodie and one that appreciates great coffee table books, it was such a perfect and very thoughtful gift (thanks BMJ!). The book asks 50 of the some of the world's most renowned chefs 5 questions, such as what their last meal would be if there was no tomorrow and who would cook it. The latter part of the book contains a single recipe from each chef, one that they'd make for the last time, which I find myself reading through a few times a week because it's just so damn entertaining and inspiring.

One of my favorite chefs is Wylie Dufresne of wd~50 in New York City. In the book, he talks about keeping a burger simple, yet classic, by adding a fried egg. I've always wanted to try this and on a rainy, Friday evening with a 12 pack of Guinness in the fridge, I whipped out the cast iron skillet and recreated it. I'm a bit of a health nut, but moving forward, when I have a burger, there's certainly going to be cheese and a fried egg on top. Oh, and a glass of Guinness or two.


Classic Cheeseburger with Fried Egg on Brioche Bun

Prep Time: 5 Mins.
Cook Time: 8-10 mins.
Serves: 3

1 lb. ground chuck (85/15)
3 eggs
3 slices American cheese
salt and pepper
3 Brioche buns

Start by forming 3 burgers, loosely. Handling the meat as little as possible will keep the burgers tender. Season generously on both sides with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Heat the cast iron skillet on med-high. Once the skillet is hot, place the burgers in the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip, place a slice of American cheese on top of each and cook for another 3-4 minutes for medium to medium-rare.

In the meantime, start frying the eggs, sunny-side up. Once the burgers are done, place on slightly toasted Brioche buns and top with the fried egg.