Broccoli Gratin Stuffed Peppers

I don't think I make stuffed peppers enough. It's so fun because you can basically put whatever casserole you like inside, and you get nice individual servings encased in a tidy pepper. It makes eating casserole fancier. 

We went to the last farmer's market of the year in Iowa a few weeks ago (I know, I'm way overdue for a post!). And, the produce stands were still brimming with peppers! I think we came home with 5 or 6 of them! (hello fajitas and stuffed peppers!).

I stuffed these with a broccoli gratin that even used up some left over tofu we had in the fridge. I just cut around the stem of the pepper, pulled it out, and scooped out the seeds. You could also save the stems to put back on top for a fun presentation.

Here they are, slightly roasted after coming out of the oven. 

Warm, flavorful, and packed with nutrients!

Broccoli Gratin Stuffed Peppers


4 large peppers, variety of colors
1 1/4 c left over brown rice, pre-cooked
3/4 c chopped broccoli (or just use up that extra broccoli in your fridge!)
2 oz firm tofu, crumbled (that's about the size of 2/3 of a deck of cards)
Handful of black olives, chopped
1/4 c diced red onion
Handful of nuts (almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts), chopped
2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 c shredded cheese (I used parmesan here)
2 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a casserole dish.

Prepare the peppers by cutting a circle around the stem. Pull the stem out, and scoop out the seeds from the inside.

Mix the rice, broccoli and tofu together. Then stir in the olives, red onion, nuts, and olive oil. Save a small sprinkle of each for a fancy garnish.  Stir in half the cheese (saving the other half for a garnish).

Whisk the eggs together and fold them into the rice mixture. Using a small spoon (or two!), fill the peppers with the gratin until full. Stand up in the casserole dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is toasty and the peppers are softened and beginning to brown.

If you have extra gratin left over, it can be baked in a casserole dish for about 30 minutes, until set.

Garnish with olives, nuts, and onion, if desired.

Tomato Jam

Tomato jam - the perfect blend of sweet and savory. Eat it on crackers with cheese, on a toasted baguette, as a spread for sandwiches, or over grilled fish or chicken. I bought a whole box of end-of-the-season tomatoes at the farmers market and this jam was the perfect use for them. 

We wait all year for fresh tomatoes. And when they're ripe, there are so many, it's impossible to eat them all. Enter tomato jam and the water bath canning method. (Don't be intimidated, it's not that hard. Just a big pot of boiling water.)

There are some fun surprises in this tomato jam. Like, green apples and vinegar, cumin and coriander! I didn't create the recipe, but I'm pretty sure they're the key. I can't wait to taste it.

First, though, there is a lot of chopping to do! I had to sit down for this part. Chopping 7-8 lbs of tomatoes plus apples and onions takes a bit of time, so why not pull up a chair?

Here are all my ingredients after I finally got all the chopping done. Let the cooking process begin. You're going to want to be home all day for this. A rainy Sunday in Iowa is perfect. There's nothing else going on.  

Full disclosure: This needs to be stirred every half hour or so. I figured that out because the first time I made it, I completely ignored it for 2 1/2 hours, and it was burned, big time. With a very thick crust of char stuck to the bottom of my pan. So, stir. You don't want all the chopping to go to waste!

This has been simmering for about 3-4 hours. Not quite there yet. But, check out the change in color from the first picture. It's getting to be a rich, deep red. And that is the exact color we're going for. 

Here's the set-up on my stove. Once the jam is just about there, start the boiling water for the water bath. I put the glass jars right in the water. This serves 2 purposes. First, the jars need to be sterilized so you don't have any bacteria growing in there while you leave this jam on your shelf for 6 months. Second, you want the jars to be warm, so after you fill them and put them in the boiling water, you don't want the jars to shatter or crack because of a temperature difference. 

I also have a small pot in the very back that is boiling the lids for the jars. These need to be sterile too.

Once the water is boiling, it's time to fill the jars. Make sure to leave 1/4 inch "headspace" at the top. This prevents the jars from spilling over as the jam heats up in the boiling water.  Then, the lids go one, along with the rims and into the boiling water they go!  (In canning terminology, this is called "processing.")

I ended up with 9 1/2 pints of tomato jam! It tastes great on triscuits with some blue cheese on top!

Tomato Jam

Adapted from In Jennie's Kitchen. Please see her blog for more details. The original recipe makes a smaller amount, so if you're hesitant to try this start small and see what you think!

7-ish lbs of fresh tomatoes, chopped in large pieces

2 small onions, chopped

3 small green apples, chopped

1 c brown sugar

3 c white sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 c cider vinegar

Juice of 2 lemons (or use bottled lemon juice)

Mix all the ingredients in a big pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. This is going to need to simmer for a long time, about 6 hours. Make sure to stir every half hour or so to prevent burning.

Once the jam is thickened and of a spreadable consistency, transfer into sterilized jars (that you had waiting in boiling water). Put sterilized lids on and tighten the rims slightly. Put back into water bath canner for 15 minutes. Then remove and leave untouched for 24 hrs. After 24 hrs check to make sure the jars have sealed. To do this, press in the center of the lid. If it moves, the jar is not sealed and must be refrigerated and used within a few weeks. Otherwise, the sealed jars can be stored long-term.

Tomato Tart

A tomato tart is basically like a glorified, fancied up pizza. It's got a flakier crust, rather than a chewy one. And crumbled goat cheese instead of traditional mozzarella. And fresh tomatoes! Tomatoes that taste like sunshine. And the sky blue skies of summer.  Otherwise, they're basically the same food. A combination of crust + cheese + tomatoes (or tomato sauce) + herbs.

I wait all year for tomatoes. And, after living in Alaska for a year (where the tomatoes never did taste like sunshine), I am especially excited eating tomatoes this summer! When it's been over a year since I've had a tomato that tastes like a tomato, it is a very welcome treat.

The tart is so easy to make, it's kind of like cheating. I use frozen puff pastry (thus the cheating part), fresh tomatoes, goat cheese, and fresh basil and thyme. That's it. Five ingredients. The longest part of making this tart is waiting for the frozen puff pastry to thaw slowly on the counter. It's OK, you can snack on a few tomatoes to pass the time.

Of course, if you are a purist, feel free to make puff pastry yourself from scratch.  Sounds like it is a bit time consuming, with a lot of rolling. But, it probably tastes really good!

After your puff pastry is ready to go, roll it out and do a quick pre-bake. I think this helps if the tomatoes are especially juicy (but, I haven't tried it without the pre-bake, so I don't really know). Assemble your tart, then bake for about 15 minutes!

What about you? How do you enjoy tomatoes at the peak of their season?

Tomato Tart


1 sheet frozen puff pastry (or homemade, if you'd like)
1 red tomato
1 yellow tomato
Handfull of sun gold tomatoes
Goat cheese
Fresh basil
Fresh thyme

Thaw the frozen puff pastry slowly. It usually takes about 30 minutes on the counter. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Once puff pastry is thawed, roll it out into desired shape. (I did a rectangle. If that's too boring for you, you can cut out a large circle). Place the pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet and stab it with a fork all over the center. Pre-bake for about 7 minutes.

While pastry is pre-baking, thinly slice the large tomatoes, and halve the sun gold tomatoes. Gently chop the fresh herbs, so they are ready to go too.

After 7 minutes, assemble the tart. Spread tomatoes onto the pastry in a single layer. Crumble goat cheese over the top. Return to the oven, and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with the fresh herbs. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing. (I know, awful, isn't it?). Then, enjoy!

Watermelon Rind Pickles

I know, you're thinking "What are those?" Not the juicy red part, not the hard dark green part, it's the white part in between! And it's pickled!

I think of pickled watermelon rinds as a food eaten in the South. That's where watermelons grow, right? And, growing up in Northwestern Montana didn't expose me to many Southern delicacies. Now, however, I live as far south as I ever have in my life (and as far east as I ever have). Iowa! The greatest thing about leaving the mountains, the fresh air, the clear rivers and cold lakes of Montana behind to move to Iowa?

Watermelons are in season here at the end of August!

I think this is the first time I've had a local watermelon that hasn't been shipped to me from somewhere "down south." So, why not make watermelon rind pickles to celebrate my move south-east? (I know, Iowa's not exactly what you would refer to as south-east, but compared to growing up in Montana, living in Oregon and then Alaska, Iowa is south-east to me!)

I got the recipe for watermelon rind pickles from the local cookbook, published by the Local Foods Connection, a nonprofit with a mission to deliver local foods to low-income residents of Iowa City. The recipe is kind of vague, likely written down from memory by someone who grew up making these pickles every summer. It's hard to explain to a newbie in watermelon pickle making every small step along the way. So, I just jumped in and gave these pickles a try.

I started by separating the watermelon rinds from the fleshy center and the hard outer rind. There is a little bit of red flesh on some pieces, but I think this gives the rinds some character. So you don't forget where they came from!

The next step is to let them soak for a long time! First in alum and water (I think to help them retain a crisp bite), then boiling them, then soaking in ice water (Not sure why they need to soak in the ice water, but I'm not taking any chances here).

Next, the fun part. Boiling lemons until they are very tender. This smells amazing!

(I know, my pot is dented. It's a casualty from the move to Iowa!) The lemon juice reduced down to a thick lemon-y syrup.

Finally, I mixed lemons + rinds + sweet vinegar syrup and cooked until the rinds seemed appropriately tender (this was a complete guess on my part).

At this point, most people fill jars and heat process them to preserve them. You can process them in a hot water bath for 15 minutes and then store them to use as a special treat during the winter. But, I decided I'm eating these pickles right now! My jar went straight into the fridge to be used later this week. Maybe with barbecued chicken. Or a veggie burger. Or, straight from the jar!

What about you? How do you eat your water melon rinds?

Watermelon Rind Pickles

Adapted from the cookbook Food Roots, compiled by the Local Foods Connection

1 large watermelon, with rinds separated from melon and hard green skin, chopped into pieces about 1 in x 3 in

5 tsp alum

Ice water, enough to cover all the rinds

2 lbs lemons, sliced very thin and with seeds removed

Syrup:

1/2 c water

1/2 c white vinegar

2 c sugar

1 tsp ground allspice

2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:

In large cooking pot, cover watermelon rinds with alum diluted in cold water. 2 tsp alum to 1 qt water. I used 2 1/2 qts, so needed 5 tsp of alum. Let sit for 2 1/2 hrs.

When time is up, bring rinds to boiling and boil for 10 minutes. Drain the rinds and cover with ice water. Let sit for 2 hrs.

When the 2 hrs is almost up, place lemons in saucepan with enough water to nearly cover them. Bring to boil and cook until lemons are very tender and juice has reduced to one-third of it's original volume.

Wisk all the syrup ingredients together. It will seem like there is too much sugar for the amount of liquid, but keep wisking. It will thin out a bit once the lemon-water is added.

Mix the rinds, lemons with their juice, and the syrup together in the same large pot. Cook until rinds are tender. (I cooked them about 10 minutes).

At this point, you're done! If you want to preserve them in jars, fill sterilized jars (leaving 1/2 inch of headspace), close jars with sterilized lids and rings and process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Then let sit undisturbed for 24 hrs. Make sure all the jars have sealed. If jars are not sealed, enjoy right away!