Learning is Fun

Recently a group of us took a cooking technique class at
Williams-Sonoma in Briargate Mall. Even after cooking for many
years, it is fun to learn something new and how to use new
equipment that is on the market.

One of the dishes we learned how to make was stuffed corn bread or
stuffed cupcakes. There is a special pan, like a cupcake pan, with
a post in the middle of each section. You make a cornbread mix and
put a tablespoon of cornbread batter on the bottom, put a piece of
cubed cheddar cheese on the post, top it with some green chiles and
then top everything with more cornbread mix. Without this special
pan, the cheese would sink to the bottom of the muffin. You can add
creamed corn to the cornbread mix, add bacon bits to the filling or
anything else you can think of. It is a fun, surprising way to
serve cornbread with chili con carne or soup.

To make cupcakes, you do the same procedure but fill it with a
miniature Reese’s peanut butter cup or Snicker’s candy bar,
marshmallow or cream cheese.

Another item we enjoyed learning about was a jalapeño reamer. It
cleans out a jalapeño pepper with one turn. You make a filling of
flavored cream cheese, shredded melting-type cheese, and bacon bits
and roll it like a tootsie roll. You fill the pepper with the
filling mixture and put the top back on. Each pepper sits upright
into a special rack made for them and you can put them on your
grill for 25 – 30 minutes. Cooking a jalapeno this way makes them
milder, especially because you have removed the veins and seeds. I
will use mine for our tailgating parties this fall. If you don’t
care for jalapeno peppers, try this with a miniature sweet bell
pepper.

Another utensil that was demonstrated at the class was the avocado
utensil that removes the pit, removes the fruit from the skin and
slices it all at the same time. This eliminates trying to work with
a slippery piece of fruit.

One piece of equipment I purchased was the dicing machine. It takes
grilled vegetables, that are very slippery, and with one press
through the machine, dices them into small uniform pieces and
places them in the container attached to the machine. This is great
for making black bean salsa or salad, which is so delicious.

Sometimes you need a gadget to make your work go faster and safer.
The newer lemon/lime squeezers extracts every bit of juice out of
the fruit with one squeeze leaving the seeds.

There is also the newer zester called a micro-plane for lemons,
limes and oranges. It resembles the rasp in the workshop, but is
made for the kitchen. It can also be used for grating garlic
cloves. Some micro-planes have a small container on it to catch the
zest or the garlic.

The classes at William Sonoma are free on Saturday mornings at 9
a.m. Call them or go on line (www.williams-sonoma.com) for
the schedule so you too can have fun learning something new.

Grilled Chicken Pietro

I had the most delicious chicken at Biaggi’s Restaurant. It was
grilled chicken breast topped with a homemade sauce of balsamic
vinegar, Dijon mustard, rosemary and a touch of honey. It was
served with sautéed portabella mushrooms and seasonal vegetables.
It was low in calories (534 calories in one luncheon serving) and
Simply Tasteful!

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons brown mustard

2 Tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons rosemary

2 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast

1 portabella mushroom, sliced

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive
oil, Dijon mustard, brown mustard, honey, rosemary, water and salt.
Whisk together until smooth.

Place chicken pieces in a large zipper-top plastic bag or bowl with
a tight-fitting lid. Pour half of the sauce over the chicken,
making sure all pieces are evenly covered. Refrigerate, covered,
for 2 to 24 hours.

Reserve the remaining half of the sauce separately.

In a bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 2
tablespoons of oil. Add portabella slices and toss to combine. Set
aside mixture for 15 minutes so mushrooms can marinate.

Prepare gas or charcoal grill for direct heat grilling. While grill
is heating, bring reserved half of sauce to boil. Reduce heat. Keep
warm.

Sauté mushroom slices with their marinade in a small pan over
medium-high heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Keep warm.

Remove the chicken from the marinade. Spray chicken pieces with
nonstick cooking spray, making sure to cover them on all sides.
Using tongs, wipe the grill grate with a paper towel saturated with
vegetable oil. (It is important to oil both the chicken and the
grill because the honey makes the marinade especially prone to
sticking.)

Grill the chicken just until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per
side. Serve hot, topped with warmed sauce and sautéed
mushrooms.

Makes 2 servings.

Suggested vegetables: red, yellow, and/or orange sweet peppers and
onion.

Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers

This was a hit at one of our recent club parties. This recipe can
also be made with a milder pepper such as banana peppers or small
baby sweet bell peppers. You do need a special rack but a mini
muffin pan would also work in a pinch but you wouldn’t get the
grill marks. They are Simply Tasteful!

18 Jalapeño peppers or peppers of choice

Stuffing:

1 (10 ounce) container cream cheese with chives or flavor of
choice

1 1/4 cup shredded melting cheese such as mozzarella, pepper jack,
cheddar

1/4 – 1/2 cup cream style corn or whole kernel corn

1/4 cup bacon bits or prosciutto bits

2 green onions, finely chopped, optional

1/2 small can mild chopped green chiles, optional (use with sweet
bell peppers)

Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cut 1/4 inch off the top of each pepper. Using a small knife, melon
baller, or the new jalapeño reamer, hollow out the center of the
peppers removing the seeds and veins. Do not cut through the flesh.
Reserve the tops.

 Prepare the grill for indirect grilling over medium-high
heat.

In a bowl, stir together the cream cheese, melting cheese, corn,
bacon bits, green onions and chiles. Roll like a tootsie roll and
stuff into the cleaned out peppers. Put each pepper into the pepper
roaster. Put on grill rack or muffin pan over indirect heat. Top
with cap (optional). Grill for 25 – 30 minutes or until tender and
cheeses are melted. Transfer peppers to a platter.

Serve immediately.

Armadillo Eggs

This is another way to make stuffed peppers in your oven. To feed
more people, cover half a jalapeño instead of a whole one with the
dough. A great appetizer.

8 whole pickled jalapeños

4 precooked breakfast sausage links, cut in 1/2 (recommended: Jimmy
Dean)

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 can croissant rolls (recommended: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut each jalapeño in half
removing the stem and seeds. Place precooked sausage in 1 half of
the jalapeño and sprinkle the other half with cheese, roughly
reforming the jalapeño or mix the cheese and sausage together and
stuff one half jalapeño for each armadillo egg.

Pop open the package of croissant rolls. On a work surface, unroll
1 roll placing the longest side toward you.

Place the stuffed jalapeño on top of the dough and roll away from
you. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining
peppers and dough. Sprinkle the tops with remaining cheese. Bake
10-12 minutes until golden brown. Serves: 8 servings

Corn & Black Bean Salad w/ Basil-Lime Vinaigrette

This is always a great dish to take to a picnic. The longer it
sits, the more delicious the salad gets when the flavors marry
together.

Salad:

2 ears fresh corn or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
(optional)

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch
pieces

1 orange bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch
pieces

1 red onion, grilled, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 mango, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Vinaigrette:

2 limes, zested and juiced

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad: Preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Peel back the corn
husks. Remove the silks and replace the husks. Soak the corn in
cold water for 30 minutes. Drain and place on the grill for 10 to
15 minutes. Cool completely and remove husks. Using a sharp knife,
remove the corn kernels. Grill peppers and onion. In a medium bowl,
mix together the grilled corn, black beans, garbanzo beans, bell
pepper, and mango.

For the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine the lime zest, lime
juice, balsamic vinegar, basil, sugar and cumin. Slowly add oil,
whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Season with salt
and pepper, to taste.

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well. Refrigerate for
1 hour, and toss again, before serving.

Serves: 4 to 6 servings