We continue to look for new ways to include more whole grains in our diet. Years ago long before it was as well known as it now, a friend of mine, who at that time was considered a health food zealot introduced me to quinoa. I became fascinated with this grain sometimes referred to as Aztec gold because it is a complete protein in itself, and a valuable source of food to the Aztec Indians
Stuffed pepper have always been a real favorite with our family over many years, but always,( over all those many years), we had them stuffed with rice. Recently it occurred to me that they might be good stuffed with quinoa, so yesterday I decided to give it a try for one of our summer night suppers. What a pleasant and satisfying surprise! You might like to try it yourself and see how you feel about it.
I used a little Italian sausage in ours but no need to if you would rather keep it vegan. Remember this grain is a complete protein in itself…. That’s why it is known as the “Gold of the Andes.”
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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
SERVINGS6-8servings
|
COOK TIME45mins |
PREP TIME20mins |
READY IN1 hr5 mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the quinoa and broth in a saucepan, and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until evenly browned.
- Remove the tops and seeds of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
- In a bowl, mix the browned sausage, cooked quinoa, 1 can tomato sauce, onion salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper.
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the stuffed peppers. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.
Cider, apples, yams, and pork chops. What could better express Autumn in the form of a meal? With a daily collection of apple drops from our trees in the orchard we have been having them in many ways each day: homemade cider, spicy apple butter on crispy warm toast, and tangy applesauce as an accompaniment to most anything, but tonight they made their appearance for the first time in a main meal, and what a successful debut this was! One would hardly expect something so simple to be so successful in pleasing so many.
The yams and apples were simply quartered and roasted on a sheet pan while the chops were seared and simmered in cider — which was reduced to a surprisingly flavorful sauce, tying everything into a perfect expression of the Fall season.
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Rating: 5
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Cider-Glazed Pork Chops with Roasted Yams and Apples
SERVINGS4people
|
COOK TIME42 minutes |
PREP TIME20minutes |
READY IN1hour |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450º Fahrenheit. Mix yams, apples, rosemary, 2 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Spread yam mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until potatoes are browned and tender, about 25 minutes, turning halfway through baking time.
- Season pork with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet on medium-high. Add pork, and cook until golden brown and center is barely pink, about 5 minutes per side. Place 1 chop each on 4 individual dinner plates, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in skillet.
- Reduce heat to medium, and add cider. Bring to a simmer, stirring to loosen browned bits from skillet. Whisk in mustard, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk in butter until melted and incorporated. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Drizzle sauce over chops. Divide yam mixture among plates, and serve immediately.
Saturdays in the Community call for a lot of physical participation, especially for our band members — 20 of which are sisters. Morning Beehive, the weekly time when all Community members gather to work together on whatever jobs need most to be done, starts at 8 am and continues until noon, with a half hour coffee break at 10 am.
Following lunch our convent band sisters pack up and take off with the rest of the band for a full afternoon of serious rehearsal often requiring considerable concentration as well as physical activity.
Everyone knows that when the band comes home they will come home very hungry and be looking forward to a substantial dinner. That’s why we always plan a hearty meal for that evening for all of us.
This week’s Saturday night dinner cook chose to do pork ribs with creamy polenta, chard, yellow squash and salad, but instead of grilling the ribs as we often do she surprised everyone by choosing to braise them…and…the result? Not a rib leftover and she has now been branded “Best Saturday night convent dinner cook!”
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Braised Pork Ribs
SERVINGS4people
|
COOK TIME2hours |
PREP TIME50minutes |
READY IN2hours, 50 min |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pat the ribs dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ribs on all sides, working in batches if needed. Remove the ribs and set aside. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the Dutch oven and reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrots, celery, onions and some salt and pepper and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, to remove the raw flavor, about 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and wine, and then add the red pepper flakes and bay leaves.
- Add the ribs back to the pan and add enough stock to reach halfway up the sides of the ribs. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover and place in the oven. Braise until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. During the last half hour, uncover to allow the liquid to reduce and the pork to brown. Remove ½ of the veggies and blend to a thick puree- return to pan juices to thicken the sauce.
- Serve the ribs with Creamy Polenta, spooning the sauce on top, and garnishing with parsley.
Creamy Polenta
- Spray the insert of a slow cooker with cooking spray (for easier clean up) and preheat on high.
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 cup of the half-and-half, the milk, 1 tablespoon of the butter and the polenta. Season with salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly to keep the mixture lump-free. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring once or twice per hour.
- Once you are ready to serve, open the slow cooker and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the remaining 1/3 cup half-and-half and the Parmesan. Salt and pepper conservatively since the polenta will be served with a robustly salted dish.
If there is any dish that speaks to me of autumn, it is a tasty baked stuffed squash. Filled with a flavorful mixture of sausage, onions, celery, apples, bread crumbs and seasonings, this dish can be a hearty accompaniment to a full course main meal or served on its own, with a roll and salad as a most satisfying lunch. In either case, it always pleases the eater to have their own individual squash.
Remember Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and any self-respecting roast turkey would be proud to show himself off beside a platter full of these cunning little specialties on your Thanksgiving buffet table.
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Votes: 3
Rating: 4.67
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Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash
SERVINGS2
|
COOK TIME45-70mins |
PREP TIME25mins |
READY IN70-95mins |
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the squash for roasting: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the lower- middle position. Slice the squash in half from stem to root and scoop out the seeds.
- Transfer the squash to a baking dish: Place the squash halves cut-side-down in a baking dish and pour in enough hot water to fill the pan by about 1/4 inch. Cover the dish loosely with foil and place the dish in the oven.
- Roast the squash: Roast the squash until very soft and tender when poked with a fork or paring knife, 30 to 50 minutes. Exact roasting time will depend on the size and variety of your squash.
- Prepare the filling: While the squash is roasting, prepare the filling. Depending on the size of your squash, 2 to 3 cups of combined ingredients is usually sufficient. Sauté raw vegetables and apples.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust the spices, salt, and pepper to your liking.
- Stuff the squash halves: Flip the cooked squash halves so they form bowls. Rub the inside with a little butter and sprinkle with onion salt and pepper and brown sugar. Divide the filling between the halves — it's fine to really stuff the wells and also to mound the filling on top.
- Bake the stuffed squash halves until bubbly: Re-cover the pan with the foil and bake the halves for another 15 to 20 minutes until both are hot and bubbly. Remove foil. Top with buttered bread crumbs and bake uncovered at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until golden.
General Filling amounts - 2-3 cups total
One of my favorite flavors of Italy is balsamic vinegar (aceto balsamico). In Tuscan homes it is a staple ingredient. Dark, glossy, sweetly sour, balsamic vinegar is the perfect condiment for both salads and desserts. Or try the lighter version, an aged white balsamic vinegar, almost like honey — it can transform any dish with just a little dash. If you are after the richest, most complex balsamic vinegar flavors, look for an aceto balsamico tradizionale DOP.
When I came across this recipe, originally for ribs, I knew I had to try it. The blend of spices in the rub adds a complex layer of flavors that doesn’t overwhelm the meat, but simply raises it to a new level. This past weekend, we served these to a group of foodie enthusiasts who had hob-knobbed all over the world. When I heard them explain, “these are the best ribs I’ve ever put in my mouth! Sister, I must have the recipe,” I felt pretty pleased! If it worked for ribs, why not transform an ordinary pork chop into a culinary masterpiece? Fresh off the grill, they are juicy and sweet with the balsamic glaze kicking it up that extra notch.
andiamo mangiare!
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Rating: 3.5
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Tuscan-Style Grilled Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze
SERVINGS4
|
COOK TIME7 mins |
PREP TIME10mins |
READY IN2.5hrs |
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, rosemary, kosher salt, fennel, black pepper, sage, thyme, paprika, crushed red pepper, coriander and allspice. Rub the spice paste all over the pork chops and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat your gas grill. Brush both sides of your pork chops with the balsamic vinegar and place on the hot grill and grill for 4 min. on one side, or until the pork releases from the grill. Brush again with the balsamic vinegar and flip over. Grill for 3 min. on the other side. Remove from grill and serve immediately.
Note: If using this recipe to make ribs, follow step 1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Arrange the ribs on a large, rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan, meaty side up. Roast the ribs for 2 hours, or until tender. Preheat the broiler. Brush the meaty side of the ribs with the balsamic vinegar and broil 6 inches from the heat until browned, about 2 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then cut between the ribs and serve.
