Day2: “Everyday Food, Fresh Flavor Fast”
January 2, 2011
Well you know if the kitchens of Martha Stewart are involved this has got to be a great cookbook. What I do love about it is that it is full of pictures. I am a firm believer that people eat with their eyes first, and this book will fill you up fast! What I loved about this cookbook is that it is available on the Kindle. So I downloaded a sample of it to my iPad and it looks awesome. The color photos transfer very well onto the iPad. I predict, this is how cookbooks of the future are going to be. Love the fact that I don’t have to try to get the cookbook pages to somehow stay open. The iPad lays flat on my counter and I can even increase the font if my eyes are not seeing so clearly.
I had a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to make and so I stopped at 3. The three that I made were:
- Page 77: bean, corn and tortilla salad
- Page 27: Canadian Bacon Strata
- Page 258: Stuffed Poblanos
My favorite of the 3 had to be the Stuffed Poblanos. You see, about 2 weeks ago I cooked with poblanos for the first time. Before that, they kind of scared me but now that I have used them twice, I have found how easy they are to work with and I can’t wait to make more yummy things with them.
The Ruling: Stuffed Poblanos will go into my recipe keeper file, the other two I made will not. Not that the Canadian Bacon Strata and the salad were not good, they just didn’t know our socks off like the Stuffed Poblanos did. Prep for the recipe was easy. Made easy with my food processor where I grated the cheese first and then made the sauce. I had everything in the oven within 15 minutes. Bonus for me is that this recipe is a vegetarian one. A cautionary tale to pass on, poblano’s are hot and spicy. I was careful when I cut the jalapeno but not so careful with the pablano. Touching my lips and hour later caused stinging that lasted for well over 30 minutes. Lesson learned, the peppers are hot and should be treated as such.
Stuffed Poblanos
Ingredients:
- 1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes in juice
- 1 jalapeno chili, ribs and seeds removed for less heat
- 2 small onions coarsely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 can (19 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 large poblano chiles, halved lengthwise, rids and seeds removed
Directions:
- Preheat oven the 425 degrees. In a blender, puree tomatoes along with their juice, jalapeno, half the onions and 2 of the crushed garlic cloves until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and spread to cover evenly.
- In a bowl combine beans, cornmeal, 1/2 cup cheese, remaining onion, 1 clove of minced garlic, cumin and the water; season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Dividing evenly, stuff poblano halves with bean mixture; place on top of sauce in baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; cover dish lightly with foil
- Bake until poblanos are tender, about 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until sauce thicken slightly and cheese is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
To Joyful, Simplified Living,
MS. Simplicity
MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity. She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com . Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com
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