Small Stuffed Peppers With A Tiny Bite

Around these parts, we've entered the season for a type of small bell pepper called a poivron petit Marseillais (the little Marseille pepper). Ranging in size from about 2.5 cm (an inch or so) to 5 cm (2 inches) in length, they have thin walls and a slight bite. They are pretty similar to the Padrón pepper from the Spanish town of the same name. While I usually just use the petit Marseillais in stir fries, it's rather fun to stuff the little guys too. They take much less time to cook than their big brothers, and can be cooked on the stovetop rather than heating up the oven - which in the hot summer months is a plus. I can comfortably fit about 30 stuffed pepper halves in a large frying pan. (Note: the little green peppers in the photo are the petit Marsaillais. The red and yellow peppers are no-name chili peppers I got at the supermarket. They worked well too.

You can make this with any sweet or spicy small pepper, as long as it's not too hot. I would not use a habanero (Scotch bonnet) pepper for example, but a mild chili pepper like ancho or jalapeño should work fine. The spiciness of the pepper itself adds a nice bite. In Japan I'd use shishito peppers. If you're using chili-type peppers, just make sure to remove the seeds and the white parts inside.

Because of their mini-size, this works well in bentos (but I'm posting it here since JustBento is still undergoing reconstruction ^_^;. They're also good as appetizers, a main course or as party snacks, although in the last case you may want to serve them on a small napkin or secured with a pick, since the pepper falls easily off the filling.

They are as easy to make as regular stuff peppers really, just a tiny bit more fiddly.

A mini-version of the usual stuffed pepper.

Prep time: 15 min :: Cook time: 15 min :: Total time: 30 min

Yield: 30 stuffed pepper halves

Serving size: 3 to 6

15 small peppers, either sweet peppers or mild chili peppers For the filling: 250 g / about 8 oz ground beef, about 90% lean (10% fat) 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped 1 egg 3 tablespoons soft breadcrumbs 2 tablespoons milk or plain yogurt 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce a few grinds black pepper a few grates nutmeg ------------- cornstarch (corn flour) or potato starch olive oil for cooking chopped parsley (optional) lemon juice (optional) Cut the peppers in half and remove the stem ends. Remove the seeds and the white parts inside. Mix the filling ingredients together and knead well with your hands, to form a paste like consistency. Put the pepper halves in a plastic bag with some cornstarch or potato starch. Shake to coat the pepper. When you take the peppers out of the bag, shake off any excess starch flour. (You want the insides to be coated, but not much on the outsides.) Fill each pepper half with the meat mixture, pressing it in well to eliminate any air holes. Heat up a large frying pan and add a little olive oil to coat the bottom. Put the stuffed peppers in meat side down. Cook over medium-high heat until the meat surface is browned, then put on a tight fitting lid, turn the heat down to low, and steam-cook the peppers until cooked through and the peppers are tender. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes. Don't turn the peppers over - there's no need to! Serve with a little drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkling of parsley - or with ketchup or Worcestershire sauce if you prefer. These work very well in bentos - freeze a few cooked ones and defrost before packing.

To make this gluten-free, use gluten-free breadcrumbs, or try using 2 tablespoons of cooked plain rice instead of the breadcrumbs. (And use gluten-free cornstarch or potato starch.)

Alternatively, cook the peppers halfway through, and simmer in your favorite tomato sauce.

You can use the mixture to fill regular sized bell peppers. You can fill 4 halves or 2 big bell peppers with this amount. Increase the cooking time to about 15 to 20 minutes with the lid on. There's no need to flip over the big peppers either - the steam in the pan will cook them through nicely.

Use your favorite stuffed pepper filling if you like.

(Metadata below:)

By Makiko Itoh

Published: August 20, 2013

Type: meat, main, bento-friendly

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Teriyaki Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms

Have you ever had Chinese-style baked stuffed mushrooms? When I was growing up, it was a popular appetizer at Chinese and tiki restaurants my family frequented. Usually filled with a sesame-accented pork filling that became caramelized in the oven, these bite-sized morsels were hard to resist.

With February designated as National Snack Food month, I decided to create a similar dish using Soy Vay® Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce, a thick flavorful sauce with plenty of sesame oil and sesame seeds. (I started my partnership with Soy Vay last month and have been experimenting with a few of their sauces.) Instead of pork, I decided to use ground chicken as a mushroom filling. For the flavoring, I just added minced ginger, scallions, and the Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce. You simply mix together the filling, fill up the mushroom caps, brush on a little olive oil, and sprinkle extra sesame seeds on top. Then the stuffed mushrooms bake in the oven for just 20 minutes.

The mushrooms make for tasty hor d’oeuvres for parties or just a side dish at dinner. You can also mix the filling and stuff the mushrooms ahead of time, and just pop them in the oven before serving. To test the seasoning of the meat mixture, just sauté a small bit of the filling in a skillet, and adjust accordingly with salt and pepper.

What are some of your favorite snacks or appetizers that use teriyaki sauce?

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Teriyaki Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms 

Serves 4 as an appetizer

3/4 pound ground chicken2 teaspoons minced ginger2 scallions, thinly sliced3 tablespoons Soy Vay® Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce1 pound cremini or white button mushrooms3 tablespoons olive oil2 teaspoons white sesame seedsPreheat the oven to 350°F.Make the filling: In a small bowl, combine the ground chicken, ginger, scallions, and teriyaki sauce . Mix thoroughly; the filling should resemble a thick paste. Set aside.Remove and discard the stems from the mushrooms and wipe the caps with a damp towel. Fill the mushroom caps with about 1 tablespoon of filling. Pack tightly so that top of filling is rounded like a miniature dome. Place the stuffed mushrooms on the prepared baking sheet, cap side down. With a pastry brush, brush the top of the filling with olive oil. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.Bake for 20 minutes, until the meat is cooked through, the top of the chicken has browned, and the mushrooms are softened. (If you’re using large cremini or white button mushrooms and used more filling, it’s safer to bake for 25 minutes.)Remove from the oven and allow the mushrooms to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Disclosure: I am a Soy Vay® Ambassador and Soy Vay® products were provided to me by Soy Vay®.

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Stuffed Crab (Poo Cha)

May 11th, 2011 | Malaysian Recipes, Thai Recipes | 14 Comments

Stuffed Crab (Poo Cha) pictures (1 of 5)

When I was growing up in Malaysia, my favorite times were the many festivities that we observed. With every festivity, my late grandmother would prepare lots of food. Sometimes her younger brother’s wife—my grand aunt—would come and cook together, then exchange or share the dishes they made.

I loved the idea of exchanging food, because we got to try out new dishes, dishes that are not commonly served in our family. Plus, grand aunt was a great cook who seemed to have endless new recipes to share. One of the creations was stuffed crab, a profoundly delicious concoction that never appeared on our family’s dining table. I was a happy soul whenever grand aunt made stuffed crab. I love crab and was fascinated by the presentation of the stuffed crab…but above all, I just couldn’t resist the scrumptious filling stuffed inside the beautiful crab shells…

I don’t really know the true origin of this dish. In Penang, I have had stuffed crab at Chinese seafood restaurants. In Thailand, this dish is called poo cha. In some Chinese buffet restaurants, you can find something similar. Never mind the source of this wonderful dish, for now, it’s my favorite stuffed crab that brings back a lot of childhood memories—my late grandmother’s smiley (and contended) face after tasting the goods; my grand-aunt’s generosity in sharing her new dish; and the young and excited me when I spotted the bright red crab shells with luscious filling, sitting pretty on the dining table.

Stuffed Crab (Poo Cha) Recipe

Ingredients:

6-8 blue crab shells

Fillings:
8 oz ground pork
4 oz crab meat
2 oz peeled shrimp, minced
1 egg
3 shallots, minced
6 coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 heavy dashes ground black pepper

Coating:
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Method:

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients in the Filling and blend well. The texture of the Filling should be sticky.

Stuff the Filling into the empty crab shells using a spoon. Smooth out the surface with the back of the spoon. Steam the stuffed crab for 5 minutes. Discard the water that seeps out.

Cool the stuffed crab to room temperature after steaming. Heat up a wok with some oil. When the oil is heated, dip each crab shell into the beaten eggs. Make sure the filling is well coated with the beaten eggs. Transfer the stuffed crabs into the wok and fry them. As soon as the surface turns light to golden brown, dish out and serve immediately.

Cook’s Notes:

For the best result, please use freshly picked crab meat. You can use any crab of your choice. However, frozen crab meat will work just fine.If you don’t have empty crab shells, you can still make the dish. Just divide the Filling into 6-8 portions. Flatten the Filling into a patty instead of stuffing inside the crab shell. (Next time when you eat blue crab, you can save the shell for this recipe.)I love serving this stuffed crab with my favorite chili sauce, Lingham Hot Sauce.

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Stuffed Tomatoes w/ Quinoa, Soft Tofu inspired by 101 Cookbooks “Super Natural Every Day”

The sun has been very kind to us over the last week. We had two fabulously warm days to dry out all the dampness that late Winter left behind. Indeed, we’re very lucky to be living in warm Southern California weather where our garden basil is looking fantastic and we are getting some early season tomatoes at the market.  And somehow, we got our hands on Heidi Swanson’s new Super Natural Everyday cookbook.

Honestly, today’s post isn’t meant to make anyone envious. We just kinda won the weather, produce & cookbook lottery!

We’ve been nurturing some tender baby basil plants and even this early in the season, it’s never too early to pick a few leaves and indulge in what Summer will soon offer.

It must be from all the vitamin E we’ve been getting from the sun because when ever the warmth arrives,  we’re craving tomatoes, basil and whole grains. How perfectly planned was it to have Heidi’s book with a stuffed tomato recipe waiting with our name on it? It’s stuffed tomato karma, that’s what it is.

Heidi’s latest kitchen labor of love is certainly felt in Super Natural Every Day. It’s a gorgeous book that feels so honest and real for her love of natural foods.

Without a doubt, every recipe is sure to be a winner. Each page is filled with her amazing images and nourishing recipes. You don’t even miss the meat when you look at her graceful textures of ingredients and grains.  The focus on fresh produce and perfectly spiced flavors sings from every page. Besides, we all should get back to eating more whole grains and vegetables every day. We’ll all feel super natural together!

In Super Natural Every Day Heidi developed a terrific stuffed tomato recipe with couscous. It was hard not for us to not immediately dive into making it. Without looking to see if had all the ingredients available, we started picking some basil from the garden and began the recipe. But shame on us for not checking the list because we didn’t have most of the main ingredients in the recipe.

So instead, we improvised with what we had in our pantry. Heidi’s original list calls for couscous, yogurt and harissa. We didn’t have any of those, so instead we replaced them with quinoa, soft tofu and homemade hot sauce.

The stuffed tomatoes turned out perfectly! The recipe was quite easy to adapt to what ingredients we had on hand and we were so pleased with the results. The tofu added extra protein, and the quinoa gave a satisfying bite, not to mention the great crunch of the top layer of quinoa.

Like we mentioned, we’re not wanting all you cold weather friends to be jealous because we’re certainly envious of all your great snow. But hopefully this recipe will give you something to celebrate in a month or so when your weather brings warmer sunshine, tomatoes and basil.

Enjoy,

Diane

super duper natural ingredients

wonderful meal!

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Stuffed Tomatoes with Quinoa, Soft Tofu, basil, shallots
adapted from 101 cookbooks, Super Natural Every Day

We substituted the original whole wheat couscous in the recipe with quinoa, which still turned out great. The quinoa on the top layer of the tomatoes became a nice crunchy texture. **The size of the tomatoes will greatly vary the cooking times and how long it will take the quinoa to be fully cooked in the center of the tomatoes. Continue checking the middle of the tomtoes to ensure that the quinoa is cooked.

We also substituted soft tofu instead of yogurt and hot sauce instead of harissa from the original recipe.

Ingredients:

6 medium-large, ripe red Tomatoes. Each tomato should average about 5 ounces each.1/2 cup of silky soft Tofu1 tablespoon of  Hot Sauce, to your preferred taste1 tablespoons of extra virgin Olive Oil, plus a little to drizzleabout 12 fresh Basil leaves, chopped2 shallots, minced1 teaspoon Soy Sauce1 Garlic Clove, finely minced1/2 cup of Couscous or Quinoasea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 350º F and place rack in middle of oven. Butter or oil a medium baking dish or of the size where the tomatoes will fill and just lightly be touching each other in the pan.

2. Carefully, using a serrated knife, cut the tops of each tomato, allowing enough room for you to spoon in the mixture. Work over a large bowl, scoop out the flesh of each tomato. If needed, break up any large chunks of the tomato flesh. Arrange the hollowed out tomato shells in the greased baking dish. Lightly brush the outside of the tomatoes with a bit of olive oil.

3. For the filling, combine 2/3 cup of the tomato flesh & juice, tofu, hot sauce, olive oil, most of the basil, shallots, soy sauce, salt, black pepper and garlic in a bowl. Add the quinoa and stir until all ingredients are combined. Adjust the filling to your acquired taste with salt and pepper. Using a spoon, fill the stuffing in the tomatoes till the tomatoes are almost full.

4. Bake the tomatoes for about 50-60 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked. The tomatoes will start to wrinkle and brown. If this happens before the quinoa is fully cooked, then cover the tomatoes with aluminum foil and continue cooking the tomatoes until the filling is full cooked. The top layer of quinoa on the tomatoes will be slightly crunchy.

5. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and remainder of the basil. Serve warm. Serves about 6.

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