Same, but different

I can't remember the last time I actually used a recipe to make dinner.  On Wednesday, I had good intentions of changing that, using this recipe for stuffed poblano peppers from Better Homes & Gardens.

The picture looks straight forward enough:  pepper vessels for a yummy medley of recognizable things I probably have on hand.  Right?

Wrong.  I made so many substitutions that by the end, my dinner was only very loosely based on the recipe. Pepper vessel, check.  Filling, check.  Actual use of listed ingredients?  Close to zero.

It was still nice to try something new and use up some things at the same time.  One of those things was frozen sausage Keizo brought back from his adventure to Polyface Farm back in March.  

I scrambled up the sausage in the fry pan, adding onions, chopped green peppers and some frozen veggies to the mix while a big pot of brown rice cooked up on the other side of the stove.

When the rice was done, I mixed it and a can of drained black beans with the sausage mixture.  I scooped some into pepper halves and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes, adding some shredded cheese to the top during the last few minutes.

Looking lovely, but the peppers still needed something.  Gourmand that I am, I smothered both halves in ketchup!

Perfect.  Who needs recipes?

New Food

Tonight's dinner contained an ingredient that was new to me: Swiss chard. My mom brought back some home-grown swiss chard from a dinner party and enlisted me to come up with a way to use it. A quick internet search (seriously, how did people--myself included--ever live without it?!) revealed a few promising recipes, including this one for Swiss Chard and Sausage Fritatta from Sunset Magazine.

The process:

I used 6 big leaves of Swiss chard, chopping off most of the red, woody part, and cutting them into smaller pieces.

Sausage, onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and a bit of olive oil went into the skillet first.

Next, I added the chard, stirring occasionally until it had wilted and there was room to pour in the egg mixture, which consisted of eggs, some grated cheddar cheese and a pinch of salt.

The recipe said to start the fritatta on the stove and transfer it to the boiler to set the top, but with a lid on it, mine was pretty much set after 15 minutes.

Served! Swiss chard has a bit stronger flavor than say, spinach, and I think using mildly spicy sausage helped make it extra tasty. Usually I feel like I need ketchup or Tabasco on my eggs, but neither made an appearance tonight ;-)

Happy Holidays!

Look at the festive the peppers I picked up at the farm store on Sunday!

This is probably going to be my last post for a while, since the holidays are upon us and I will be busy attempting to entertain my brother Andrew after his arrival in Fukuoka tomorrow morning. We will be meeting up with extended family in Fukuoka on the 24th (my cousin Mike spent the fall semester studying abroad in Osaka) and attending Keizo's rugby game on Christmas together, followed by "Christmas Dinner" at the apartment. I am planning a big Japanese style nabe (hot pot) followed by the Christmas cake we ordered from the bakery up the street.

But before I start cleaning the apartment, finishing my grad school statements and writing some New Year's cards, here's one more meal from the past weekend. In my recipe collection it goes by the name "Orange Tofu Stir Fry," which is a tad un-inspiring, but at least I know where to find it. It goes together quickly; a perfect meal for one when Keizo is playing rugby in Okinawa.

Again, not sure why the picture wants to be sideways, but here it is. The sauce is orange juice, soy sauce, some sugar, chili paste and cornstarch. I used carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, some of the festive peppers from the photo above, and of course, more hakusai. Thankfully, by cooking it and smothering it in sauce, you can't really tell how limp it has become. Just one more serving to go!

Happy holidays! Please stop by again in a week or two for more food-y adventures.