3 Recipes

So this week at the grocery store I found this.

5 lbs of FRESH really good blueberries for only $8.89. I know, seriously, say WHAT?! and as a blueberry fanatic, it is my favorite food after all, I couldn't wait to come up with ways to use all 5 lbs... which isn't hard for me.

I also felt it deserved a blue ribbon award. And just last week I had a blue ribbon for being a "presenter" at the Cambodian and Filipino Heritage Camps.... so that's as good as I had on hand.

When I was recently home, I dug through my mom's family and friends recipes. One such recipe was Blueberry Kuchen. Perfect, no?! I am guessing she got this recipe while living in Germany.

3/4 Cup butter

1.5 Cup flour

Pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

1.5 Tablespoons cider vinegar

Mix together butter, flour, salt, and sugar. Add vinegar and mix well. Pat onto bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan. Freeze until firm.

2 Tablespoons flour

Dash of cinnamon

1 Cup sugar

2 Cups blueberries (*or blackberries, but then it wouldn't be a blueberry kuchen now would it? No, it would be a blackberry kuchen. Which sounds delicious, but I have FIVE POUNDS of blueberries...)

Combine all ingredients.

Pour into crust. Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from heat, add 1 cup fresh blueberries (*or blackberries) if wanted. Cool.

You have to let it cool. It will burn your mouth. However, I suggest leaving the house as it cools. I stayed. I could smell it wafting around. I was drooling all night - its not a good look on anyone.

So YAY! dessert first. A) because it is so mouth watering good. I make killer blueberry pie, and this is better than my blueberry pie. (b) as good as the following dinners are... they are not as visually appealing. I promise, they still taste good, so excuse the photos and give 'em a go anyway!

Stuffed Peppers.

(the recipe says 3 peppers serve 2. I wasn't sure about how to cut one in half... so hubby got 2 and I got 1. It was plenty and worked for us, but I don't know how you want to go about adjusting it and I thought I should warn you!)

3 medium green peppers

1/2 onion, finally chopped

1 lb hamburger

1/2 tablespoon garlic salt

1 bay leaf

1 egg

1/2 box rice

1 small can tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup bread crumbs

American cheese

Saute ½ onion; add hamburger and brown well. Add dash of salt and pepper. ½ Tablespoon garlic salt. Saute 1 bay leaf; cook rice; add to hamburger. Mix tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, and egg. Add hamburger mix. Stuff peppers; top with strips of American cheese. Place peppers in shallow pan lined with foil. Bake 45 minutes.

So I cut the tops off (but keep them for later... not the seeded part though!) and cored the peppers.
And then I stopped following the recipe (gasp!) I decided that since I really shouldn't eat egg, bread crumbs, or cheese (Fibromyalgia has led to some funky food sensitives) that I would make a different stuffed pepper. HA! Tricked ya. But now you get two stuffed pepper recipes!

So I browned my hamburger meat. I added taco seasoning.
I then browned the onions separately. And placed the finished onions on top of the meat already stuffed into the peppers.
This was then topped with salsa. My husband does like cheese, so I put that on his. Then all the pepper tops went back onto the peppers.

These were cooked for 45 minutes!
and voila. His above and mine below. This was served with some yummy Spanish rice (make white rice with chicken broth, salsa, and onion.)
Now you can choose between meatloaf style or Mexican style stuffed peppers! (and if you choose the meatloaf style tell me how it tastes!).

The next night I tried another recipe stolen from mom's folder.

Lime Chicken with Salsa Verde.

The recipe serves 4.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 lime, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lime

8 garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken broth

This time, I follow the recipe... I swear... well, for the most part.

Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and lime slices. Cook 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of lime juice (about 1 lime worth), turn chicken and cook 3-4 minutes more. Remove chicken and lime; set aside. (I threw out the lime... but that isn't in the recipe)

Add 6 cloves garlic to skillet and cook while stirring constantly for 30 seconds. Add wine.

Add chicken broth (I would like to be Martha-y and use homemade stock, but as you can see... sometimes short cuts are luxurious in and of themselves).

Reduce wine, broth and garlic by half - about 5 minutes or so. Return reserved chicken and lime slices (if you followed the recipe and reserved them, but I figured it was the flavor that was important and they had done their job...). Drop heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile,

1 bunch cilantro

1/4 cup mint

2 scallions, minced

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon honey

Puree remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 garlic cloves with cilantro, mint, scallions, lime and honey in a food processor until smooth. (Okay... so I didn't mince the scallions nor did I zest and juice the lime... I figure the food processor will do all the work for me!) Oh, and I added tomatoes because the red looked pretty with all that green. I apparently have an issue with authority. Recipe, shmecipe.

Mix it up and you have Salsa Verde.
Top the chicken with the salsa verde. Serve with rice pilaf (so says the recipe, um below, you will see chips and salsa).

YUM! Enjoy!