Mexican Pepper Casserole Redux - not my favorite

Well, tonight I made the same, but not the same, recipe that Krispi made -- the Mexican Pepper Casserole, but the one on p. 137. I think the 2000 edition cookbook I have has changed the recipe significantly to reduce the fat content, and without having tasted Krispi's yummy looking casserole, I think I can safely say that the old recipe tasted a lot better than this one.

The intro to the recipe says that this is a "trimmed-down version" that deletes the butter, reduces the oil and eggs, replaces the sour cream with yogurt, and makes the cheese optional. I could not imagine making anything with Mexican in the name that does not have cheese, so I opted to use it. I also used the coriander (which was listed as optional), used 3 eggs (where it said 2 or 3), and used half yogurt and half sour cream (where it called for either). So, while I knew I was making a lower fat version, I hoped that these choices would make it at least somewhat rich and custardy (is that a word?). Instead, the custardy part had the consistency of scrambled eggs -- not smooth -- and was fairly bland, despite using all the suggested spices. I did like the taste of all those peppers on the bottom, and the colors were beautiful (I used red, orange, and yellow), but there were so many they made the bottom watery.

So, with a watery bottom and a bland top layer, this just wasn't a keeper. Thank goodness I opted for the cheese on top. Cheese makes everything palatable.

One final note: the recipe calls for a 10" square pan -- am I the only one who doesn't own a 10" square pan? I have 8" and 9" square pans, but honestly, I've never even heard of a 10" square pan. I opted to bake it in the same dutch oven I sauteed the veggies in, and it worked fine, although it didn't puff up nearly as much as Krispi's. That may have been due to me using the larger dutch oven, but I suspect the real culprit was the ingredient changes.

Bittersweet Chocolate Custard (Baked Custard)

Decadent chocolate dessert with only 20 minutes of prep time? I had to try this one. I roped Eliza and Tessa into helping me, which was not too hard when they saw me take out the bag of chocolate chips. The recipe calls for 3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, so I let them decide how many we needed; obviously, they went for the maximum amount. Once we poured the milk and chocolate in the pan, Eliza stirred it while it heated on the stove.


I should have gone with my instinct and used the stick blender to mix everything together in the pan I'd used for the milk and chocolate. I decided to follow the directions, though, and give the food processor a try. The recipe mentioned "wayward clumps of chocolate" that needed scraping down. This worried me. Would I see them on the side of the pan? I hated the thought of losing even a little bit of chocolaty goodness. Besides, the girls love to start and stop the Cuisinart, and I needed to keep my helpers happy. When I added the milk and chocolate mixture to the additional ingredients waiting in the food processor's bowl, the liquid started flowing out through the center hole where the blade sits. Eliza noticed it before I did and saved us from losing more of the mixture than we might have. I poured everything back into the empty pot and used the stick blender to whip the ingredients into a froth.


I don't have custard cups, so I baked the custard in ovenproof tea cups. At 45 minutes, they jiggled slightly in the center, but they looked pretty solid, so I took them out to cool. Aside from a bubbly-top (I think I will strain the liquid before pouring it into the cups next time), the custard had a smooth and creamy texture. It tasted great, too, but I had hoped for a more chocolaty flavor. I don't know how much chocolate spilled out of the food processor when disaster struck, so I'll just have to try it again. Darn.

Polenta Pie

The Polenta Pie recipe kept reminding me of a dish I’ve been making for a few years – Skillet Polenta with Tomatoes and Gorgonzola. The Skillet Polenta recipe, however delicious, has one big problem: no matter how long I cook it, the polenta never really hangs together. The preparation method for the polenta looked very different in the Polenta Pie recipe, so I wanted to try it for two reasons: it looked pretty darn good, and it might help me figure out how to make the Skillet Polenta recipe less of a goopy mess.

I followed the Polenta Pie recipe with two changes – I rehydrated porcini mushrooms and used them instead of fresh mushrooms. Also, I used half a pound of mozzarella cheese instead of one quarter pound (I can’t help myself when it comes to cheese).

The Polenta Pie served up in neat slices quite easily. I made the pie in the afternoon while my kids napped and then reheated it before dinner time. It tasted great, and I will make it again, but I think next time I will plan to finish baking it right before serving dinner; the outside edge of the crust got a bit hard and dry, and the layer of topping separated from the polenta when you dug into it with a fork. I have a hunch that those two issues might disappear if it doesn’t sit for a few hours and then go back in the oven again for reheating. If anyone else makes it before I get the chance to try again, please give us an update.

Page 160 one more time

We have so much spinach in our garden.  It was time to put it to use.  It turns out I have no idea how to assess garden production.  I picked a HUGE bag of Spinach and it barely looks like I picked any at all.  Adam made the pizza/calzone dough.  Since we were almost out of regular flour he used 1/3 cup of white and the rest whole wheat.  It did not rise as much but Ellie still loved her pizza crust. With the dough I made a pepperoni pizza for Adam, Ellie made her own pizza, and 3 calzones.

After I spent my day in the garden, I came in with a big bag of Spinach, Ellie helped pick it and ate some on the way up to the house, and started to cook the stuffing.  It was super easy.  Maybe 10 minutes.  Once you have the filling you roll out the dough, stuff it, and bake it for 20 minutes.  They were beautiful and very filling.  A salad as a side would have been nice but with the Spinach stuffing it was not essential.  I served them with the pizza sauce on the side.  If you have Spinach in your garden you could make the stuffing and freeze it and use it for making the calzones in the winter.  Also, you could make the calzones and freeze them if you needed to have meals ready quickly.

Apple Custard Pie

Let me just start by saying, I refuse to use expletives in this medium, but if I were prone to that type of language I would be using it right now. This is so incredibly GOOD and easy! Prep time = 10 minutes.  I cheated and used Pillsbury Pie Crust. (After reading in Cook's Illustrated that Pillsbury's is just as good as the real deal in a pinch, I am at peace with my decision.) Also, I must note that I am pregnant and was craving sweets and I am trying not to eat them unless I make them, so it HAD to be fast.

I grabbed the two closest apples I had on hand, a green pippin and a fuji. Perfect, right? In addition, I used Brown Cow's Cream Top Vanilla yogurt since our plain yogurt went through some form of science experiment. Creamy is always better, isn't it? My last adjustments were a tad more cinnamon and I used a hand mixer. To be honest, I didn't want to clean the food processor.

Usually, I love to report the family's like or dislike of a particular recipe. In this case, I made it this morning and I already ate one piece before lunch and I just grabbed another (I swear it is a sliver) so I am not sure if they will even find out I made the darn thing.

One thing I have to say is that it isn't beautiful, but it tastes good. If you could put a very fine layer of very finely crushed pecans on the top, it might help. But honestly, I am no Martha and it is all about how it tastes.

Definitely a repeater!!!

Mexican Pepper Casserole

WOW! This recipe for Mexican Pepper Casserole (page 163) is GOOD! I made it this afternoon and took it to a potluck tonight. It was the hit of the party. Someone described it as "Mexican comfort food".... kind of like a Mexican version of macaroni and cheese without the pasta. I could have had it as a main dish with a green salad on the side for a whole meal.

As I was starting to prepare it, I looked at the recipe and immediately got out the food processor when I realized that it called for slicing 6 peppers into thin strips. Green peppers were on sale today at Market Place, so I took advantage of that. I did add red and orange peppers to the green ones to add a variety of color. I used the food processor for the peppers, onions, and cheese which worked great with the slicing blade. I didn't change anything about the recipe, which is unusual for me. I usually have to tweak a recipe in some way, just to exert my dominance. The spice was perfectly balanced. One item I was confused about was "red pepper". Isn't that paprika? I didn't add red pepper, just the black pepper. The format of the recipe is a bit odd at that section, so maybe it says "1/4 tsp each -- black pepper and red paprika" but with funny spacing. I used Greenbank Farm's Sharp Cheddar cheese for the cheese (available in the health food section of Market Place). When this casserole cooks, the custard top raises up really high like a souffle and looks beautiful with a wonderful carmelizing on the top surface. It's still pretty impressive after it falls. And it smells awesome!

I started out with a cast iron Dutch oven pan instead of a skillet. The volume of the onions and peppers would overwhelm any skillet I own, I'm afraid. I did have to saute the veggies a bit longer (10 extra minutes) because the sides of the Dutch oven prevented the evaporation you would expect in a shallower pan. It was quite easy to chop, cook and assemble. The recipe book says 1-1/2 to 2 hours, and I think it was about 1-1/2 hours including baking for 45 minutes. And as you can see from the photo, I baked it in a Corning bowl instead of a real casserole dish. I don't know that I have a large enough casserole for this quantity after you get the custard on it.

Moosewood Pizzas

Hi,

This recipe is used by a few of you already... 

On Tuesday night I made the dough for Calzones on page 160.  Instead of using it for Calzones, I made pizzas.  I followed the recipe using honey and 1 cup of white flour and 2 cups of wheat flower.  I have a pizza stone which I borrowed from a friend and heated the oven up to 500 degrees.  To make the sauce I used one can of organic tomato paste, a little water, and some pesto (a recipe from a friend).  I rolled the dough very thin, spread the sauce, and put Gruyere, mozzarella, and a little Parmesan on top.  Then I placed finely chopped poblano peppers and scallions (the scallions were from the Farmer's market).  It turned out I rolled the dough a little too thin so I folded the edges in on itself and brushed it with olive oil before putting it in the oven.  It was delicious and gorgeous

Ellie made her own pizza.  She rolled out her dough, spread her sauce, and sprinkled her cheese on top.   She had a blast and loved her pizza!

-Sharalyn