Roasted Cheese Stuffed Chili Peppers

We recently had the cheese stuffed banana peppers appetizer at Frederick’s new Roast House Pub restaurant in Frederick.  Two of our favorite things – soft roasted hot peppers and cheese.  The hubster and I looked at each other and said “we can make these”.  And wouldn’t you know?  Our banana peppers and chilies just happen to be ripening in the garden.  Perfect timing for our own roasted cheese stuffed chili fest.

Here’s what we came up with…

Roasted Cheese Stuffed Chilies

Preheat oven at 375 degrees.

Prepare 12 fresh banana peppers or long chilies, or 24 jalapenos by slicing the tops off to fill from the top, or slice them down the side to fill from the sides.

Saute the following in a skillet until caramelized:

• ½ medium onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp. olive oil

Add the caramelized onion mixture to the following ingredients in a food processor and blend smooth.

• 4 oz cream cheese
• ½ cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 tsp. chipotle

Stir in the following ingredients with a spatula or spoon:

• 3 oz. crumbled bacon (we used the ready to eat crumbled bacon in a bag)
• ½ cup canned corn, sautéed in the skillet
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Stuffing the Chilies

– Add the filling to a Ziploc bag.  Press air out the top and zip closed.

– Cut one of the bottom corners of the bag to create a ½ inch hole.

– Twist the top of the bag and press out the filling into the peppers, either from the top (add enough filling so the top will stick when placed back on the pepper) or along the sides and insert a toothpick to keep them closed.

– Set the stuffed chilies upright in a chili roaster rack or lay them on their sides on parchment.

– Roast chilies for 40 minutes or until they’re soft and cheese is melted and crusty.

Variations

Can I just say “holy bajeebers” these things are GOOD! I personally would not change a single thing on this recipe; however, that would defeat the purpose of this blog, so here are a few ideas for variations.

Smoked vs. Baked.  They’re fantastic roasted in the oven, but just imagine them infused with smoked flavor on the smoker.  Everything is better when it’s cooked outside, right?

Bacon or No Bacon?  It’s hard to say “no” to bacon, but you can always swap it out for crab or shrimp, sausage, chorizo, chicken, ham or pork.  Or don’t add any meat at all.

Dip it.   Seriously, the filling alone would make a fantastic baked queso dip.  A guaranteed hit at any party.

Stuff More Than Peppers.  The filling could also be used to stuff just about anything that’s stuffable – peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, zucchini flowers, enchiladas, chili rellenos.

Mac and Cheese.  Stir it into some pasta and make a special baked mac and cheese.  Yum!

Double the recipe and it’s a party.  These Roasted Cheese Stuffed Chili Peppers are easy to make in volume, plus the stuffed peppers and the leftover filling will freeze well for later.   So start picking those garden fresh peppers and whip up a batch for your next social gathering, or in our case, a casual weekend meal for two.  Enjoy!

The best surprises come from happy accidents.

Italian Baked Tomato, Corn and Cheese Tortellini

Another garden fresh recipe that we only seem to make when the cherry tomatoes begin to ripen.  Our Italian Baked Tomato and Corn Cheese Tortellini is fresh, simple, delicious and satisfying.  It’s perfect for brunch, lunch or dinner; meatless mondays; vegetarian visitors (assuming they eat cheese); or just a nice easy meal for two paired with a high end beverage (we like beer) and a fresh side salad.  As with most pasta dishes, the leftovers are just as good the next day, and of course fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic make all the difference.

Italian Baked Tomato, Corn and Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 4-6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups cheese tortellini, cooked and drained
• 1-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved longways
• 2/3 cup canned corn (we like Del Monte’s Summer Crisp)
• 3/4 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine the basil, garlic, olive oil and salt.
• Add the tortellini, tomatoes, corn and half of the cheese.  Gently toss everything together.
• Pour the mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish.
• Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over top.
• Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is browned.

Serves 4-6.

Variations

More veggies please. You can go crazy with the veggies in this dish. Sauteed mushrooms, roasted zucchini, eggplant, red pepper, asparagus, artichoke hearts, black olives, sun dried tomatoes, peas, and the list goes on and on. You can even add tomato sauce, top with cheese and bake it like a lasagna.

Cheesing it up. Swapping cheeses is a great way to add some really interesting flavors to this dish. Try salty feta, earthy goat cheese, smoked mozzerella, parmesan, gruyere, asiago, monterey jack, colby, or swiss.

Meatless no more. Add some heartiness with chopped or cubed ham, shredded chicken, ground italian sausage or lamb, kielbasa, or chorizo. Or lighten it up with fresh shrimp, clams, calamari, bay scallops, or even anchovies.

Feeling herbaceous? Add chopped chives, fresh flat leaf parsley, oregano, tarragon, or some different types of basil. Or how about mint leaves with ground lamb and sauteed eggplant?

Don’t like tortellini?  Try penne, rigatoni, rotini, fusili, gnocchi, or other types of pasta or dumplings.

Just keep a bag of frozen tortellini around, and throw this recipe or a variation of this recipe together with whatever you have in the fridge or cupboards.  It’s a great simple tasty dinner in a snap.

The best surprises come from happy accidents! 

Evil Grilled Mac and Cheese Sandwich

As though the Aunt Paula’s Prego Mac and Cheese recipe that I posted last week isn’t evil enough, my husband sent me a link to an even more evil recipe from a blog called Yum Sugar:

How to Make a Grilled Mac and Cheese Sandwich

That’s right, a grilled mac and cheese sandwich!  Who comes up with this stuff?  Of course we just happened to have leftover mac and cheese in the fridge, so I made an emergency run to the grocery store to get a nice thick loaf of italian bread.

Here’s our simplified version…

Grilled Mac and Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

• Two thick slices of bread – we used italian and it worked great
• Velveeta, several thin slices (only the best processed cheese food on earth!)
• Real butter
• Leftover macaroni and cheese – a pre-baked square worked well, or refrigerated and congealed so it doesn’t fall apart

Instructions

1. Heat a flat skillet – medium heat.
2. Butter one side of a slice of bread. Lay it down on a cutting board, buttered side down.
3. Layer on Velveeta slices, then macaroni and cheese, then more Velveeta slices, then other slice of bread.
4. Lay sandwich in the skillet buttered side down.
5. While that side cooks, butter the other side.
6. When bottom is brown, flip the sandwich and brown the other side.
7. Hopefully all cheese is melted and everything is soft and gooey.  If not, then pop it in the microwave for several seconds to finish it off.

Wow, so many things you could do with this.  Switch the breads around, use different cheeses, add ham or prosciutto, fresh herbs, tomato, bacon, use different kinds of mac and cheese – like fettucini alfredo, beefy mac, even lasagna.

Evil….the entire concept is pure evil, and so devilishly good.  If you’re having a bad day, then this is what should be for dinner!

The best surprises come from happy accidents.   

Aunt Paula’s Prego Mac and Cheese

This recipe originated when my expectant niece, whom I shall call SB, and her naughty husband, whom I shall call MC, visited several weekends ago.  After a day of walking around town, we came home and while my niece headed straight for a nap, my husband, MC and I headed to the front yard to relax and enjoy some beverages.

At some point, Stouffer’s macaroni and cheese became the topic of discussion.  Suddenly the pressure grew in favor of macaroni and cheese for dinner.  Uh, hello!  That wasn’t part of the dinner plan, plus I’d had a beverage myself, so I wasn’t about to drive to the store.  And the fact that I had no preparations for mac & cheese only fueled the hungry mob of two.  They sipped their brews and laughed like two evil kids as I argued a losing battle.  I huffed and I puffed…and then came the clincher.  “SB LOVES macaroni and cheese so much!” said MC, “she would eat it every day if she could, and it would make her soooooo happpyyyyy.”  I could practically see my husband give the wink of assurance to MC that we would indeed be having macaroni and cheese for dinner.  Afterall, I adore my sweet little prego niece, and I didn’t want a disappointed pregnant woman in my house. Not to mention that macaroni and cheese is the one food I’d pick if I had to be stranded on a desert island.  So in truth, it wasn’t that hard of a sell.

As I transitioned to mission mode, I grabbed a bag of whole wheat egg noodles – the only pasta we had – and dug out every chunk of cheese in the fridge.  I started boiling, shredded, cubing, sizzling, melting and mixing, and before I knew it, in the oven went a nice looking pan of mac and cheese, if I do say so myself.

Of course, my niece had no idea that she was the influential factor behind a this spontaneous creation, but she seemed very happy.  And if she experienced heartburn later, then she was nice enough not to mention it.  As for MC, his first reaction was, “this would be great with bacon”. Ugh!  As though a fly by the seat, unplanned, throw together culinary creation wasn’t good enough, now it needed bacon!  Actually, bacon really would have been good in it…but then bacon makes everything taste better.

So I dedicate this post to my sweet prego niece in hopes that maybe someday she might make it for my future little great niece or nephew (no pressure!).

Here we go…

 Aunt Paula’s Prego Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

1 lb egg noodles (regular or whole wheat) or other pasta, as desired

1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

½ lb Velveeta, cubed

4 oz. cream cheese (regular or lite)

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

5-6 slices American cheese

3 tbsp real unsalted butter

¼ cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk (regular or skim)

1 tbsp onion soup mix

1/3 cup egg beaters (or 2 beaten eggs)

1 cup shredded yellow cheddar cheese

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

• Cook the egg noodles according to package directions, leaving it just shy of al dente, so the pasta is still somewhat chewy.  Drain and rinse with cold water to cool the pasta and stop the cooking process.  The pasta will cook completely when baked.

• Melt the butter in a medium size saucepan on medium heat until it begins to sizzle.

• Add the flour and mix with the butter forming a roux.  Cook until the roux begins to brown.

• Reduce the heat to low and add the milk while whisking briskly.  The mixture will thicken and a sauce will begin to form.

• As the sauce forms, add the onion soup mix and each of the cheeses one at a time while stirring with your whisk.

• When the cheeses are melted and the sauce is smooth, remove the pan from the heat.

• Pour the egg beaters in a slow stream into the sauce while simultaneously whisking briskly.  This will incorporate the eggs without clumping.

• Add the noodles to a large bowl.

• Gently fold the sauce in with the noodles so that the noodles and sauce are evenly combined.

• Pour the mixture into a buttered or greased 9×13-inch baking pan.

• Evenly spread the last cup of shredded cheddar cheese over top of the casserole.

• Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.

• Remove aluminum foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the casserole is bubbly and the cheese is brown and crusty.

Variations

My next attempt…

Now, this is the first and only time I’ve ever made this recipe, so there are certainly things I’ll do differently next time.  I will add bacon (thank you MC), and possibly roasted red peppers, and instead of baking it in the oven, I’ll have the husband finish it off in the smoker for that wonderful outdoorsy smoky cookout flavor.   It’s a perfect dish for large crowds.

Here are some other ideas…

Switch up the pasta.  Egg noodles give this a kinda down home taste.  Try elbow macaroni, fusili, penne, rigatoni, shells, even gnocchi.

Add meat.  Grilled or canned chicken, bacon crumbles, canned tuna, cubed ham, ground beef (beefy mac), or kielbasa (slice it up or just place whole on top and bake).

Spice it up.  With chopped chipotle, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, or roasted garlic.

Add veggies.  Roasted jalapenos, poblanos, or sweet peppers; sauteed shallots, scallions, roasted chopped tomato, or corn.

Different cheeses.  Swap the cheeses around and consider adding swiss, gruyere, asiago, feta, fontina, pepper jack or colby.

Toppings.  Top it off homestyle with some crushed buttered breadcrumbs or seasoned croutons.

Finishing methods.  You can certainly finish off the pasta and just mix in the sauce and eat as is – just be sure to cook the sauce a bit longer after the egg has been added.  And if you’re making it for a cookout, consider finishing it on the grill or the smoker.

Slim it down.  Here’s forewarning that this is not a healthy low fat recipe.  But I’m sure there are plenty of ways to tame it down in the fat department, using low fat milk, lower fat cheeses, skim milk, and some enriched pastas.

The outcome is creamy and flavorful, not at all dry, and perfectly crusty on top – just the way I like it.  A big crowd pleaser for sure!   Enjoy!

The best surprises always come from happy accidents