Ah, That's the Way, Uh-huh, Uh-huh

Stuffed Peppers with ground turkey

Served over barley cooked in garlicky stock and a light cucumber salad

I love stuffed peppers a hundred ways and I filled these with black beans, corn, ground turkey, tomato, cilantro and cheese and topped with Panko crumbs.  I lightly salt and pepper the insides of the peppers before stuffing, as well as add a painting of olive oil on the insides and that allows their true essence to shine through after roasting. I don't want a sauce to mask any of these textures.  The cheesy bite with the crunchy bits of Panko underneath and then slightly charred pieces of ground turkey when it hits the juicy tomatoes, that's what life is all about right there.  It's a celebration of mouth feels.

You can add the grain to the stuffing but this time I kept it out and served them on the bed of barley, which I prefer when there is time to cook them separately.   Cutting the peppers in half allows them to cook through faster and without needing a water bath.  This gives them a roasted flavor rather than a boiled one and locks in the juicy smoke flavor. 

Our neighbors have a newborn baby girl and we snuck little knit Jordan's on their shoe rack in the morning and then texted them to tell her to stop leaving her kicks in the hallway. 

Hillarious and adorable!

Another adorable thing is this thinly sliced cucumber salad with Vidalia onions, fresh dill, a touch of sugar, rice wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Let it set out for a good 1/2 an hour.  Simple, elegant and refreshing. 

Go on Now Go, You're Not Welcome Anymore!

I have a fear of cooking large pieces of meat.  The London Broil had me perplexed for decades.  It's not a cut of meat, yet it's the way it's prepared but it is what they call it in the store.  That alone, kept me away for years.  It used to be highly affordable but has now gone the way of the flank steak in pricing.  

But today I conquered that fear.  The key is marinading overnight and you should pull the meat out of the fridge to get room temperature well before cooking.  Dab the meat so that it will brown (I forgot that part).  Broil 5 to 7 minutes each side and let rest.  Cut against the grain.  

It's surprisingly tender and juicy.  By the way. I just added a little butter to the cooking juices in the pan for a nice quick sauce.   Even though it's not cheap, it's still a good bargain as you can make many meals from it, like thin steak sandwiches, slice into strips for beef burritos, a steak salad with tomatoes and bleu cheese.  Lots of great uses.  

This year might be the one I tackle some of my other idiotic fears. I have so many.  Fear can stifle your ability to live your life.  Sometimes I don't even understand what exactly I fear, it just fills the air and I become frozen, unable to perform.  That's one good thing about getting older.  You hang out for a long time with your faults and they become very familiar.  You get to know them like separate entities, that are not you but can come inside like an unwelcome guest.  Depression, fear, dread, they are stealers of time and seem hell bent on keeping you down.  If they are not us, then we must be able to escort them out of the door onto some other unsuspecting fool.  

I Want it That Way

I awoke today craving corn bread, coincidentally when I was to write about this past meal, featuring you guessed it, cornbread! I also planned to make corn meal muffins, something I've not done once in my life.  This is the universe sending food signals and I will follow the laws of nature and do as I'm told. I am nothing if not obedient.  To my stomach, that is. 

Skillet Corn bread  

Cucumber and Melon Salad

Roasted Herb Chicken

When you look to see if anyone has written a song about cornbread and you find the band is Cornbread and the song is The Chicken Song.  Can the world be more in sync today?