Jack-O-Peppers

Isn't he cute?

Today is Halloween—in our circle of friends, we focus more on the Reformation than on ghosts and goblins, but it's still fun to carve pumpkins and dress up in silly costumes. This year I'm showing up as a mom who doesn't get enough sleep. (I'll bet that's most of you too!).

This morning my older daughter said she wanted to prepare a Halloween-themed meal for dinner. She tossed out a few ideas (make spaghetti and pretend that the pasta is worms and the sauce is blood), but that REALLY didn't sound like something I'd want on my table. But we like stuffed peppers, so I suggested that perhaps we could carve faces in orange bell peppers, and so the idea of "Jack-O-Peppers" was born.

Carb Diva's Jack-O-Peppers (makes 4)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
• 1/2 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage
• 1 cup jarred marinara sauce
• 4 orange bell peppers
• grated Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook the orzo according to package directions. Drain, rinse, and set aside. 
3. Cook the turkey sausage over medium heat in a large saute pan, breaking it up as it cooks, until crumbled and no more pink remains—about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked orzo and marinara sauce.
4. If you want to go with the Halloween theme, carve "jack-o-lantern" faces in your orange peppers. Next gently cut and remove the tops and shake out the seeds. Stuff the peppers with the sausage/orzo mixture.
5. Place the stuffed peppers in a baking dish. Pour water into the dish to about 1/2 inch up the sides of the peppers. Place the peppers in the preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour. Garnish the top of each pepper with parmesan cheese.

How to Chop an Onion

I love to watch cooking shows on television—Master Chef, Chopped, and the wonderful chefs on PBS. I'm pretty confident about my cooking skills, but am always in awe of how quickly a professional chef whips through dicing/mincing an onion.

Do we need to chop onions like a pro?

If you are going to be a professional chef and create amazing dishes for an innumerable list of guests, you need to know how to whack through those onions in a hurry! But that doesn't describe me, and probably isn't you either (I'm guessing). We just want to prepare a lovely meal for ourselves, our spouse, our family, our friends, or neighbors.

So what's the hurry?

This is all you really need to get started:

• good-quality cutting board
• sharp knife
• firm onion

The Cutting Board - You can "fake" some kitchen tools (for example you can use a mesh sieve in place of a flour sifter, or use a drinking glass as a cookie-cutter), but you must have a real, honest-to-goodness cutting board to save your countertops, your knives, and your fingers and thumbs.

Cutting boards come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices. Before making that purchase, consider that wooden boards need to be seasoned with oil. They don't hold up well after being washed in the dishwasher and can become a breeding ground for bacteria. I avoid them.

My favorite cutting board is the plastic variety. They are easy to keep clean (sterile), don't splinter or chip, and typically have grippers on the bottom so that they will not slide away from you.

The Knife - There are only a few features of a knife that determine its quality. The most important part of any knife is the blade. Although ceramic blades are now the "in thing" and have an amazing sharpness, they are also fragile and can break easily. I prefer forged stainless steel.

The next consideration is the shape, material, and structure of the handle.

• The shape of the handle should be comfortable in your hand. Pick up the knife, hold it, and imagine using it in your kitchen. Is it comfortable? I'm petite (5 feet tall) and so large tools feel very unwieldy for me.
• The material of the handle is also very important. Plastic handles will splinter and shatter easily. Look for a polycarbonate--dishwasher safe and sturdy.
• Another common feature of the best quality knives is the tail of the blade called the tang. It should be solidly riveted into the handle. The steel should be visible from the tip of the blade to the butt of the handle. If the handle solidly encases the blade, walk away.

But (you might ask), what is wrong with using a cheap knife? Less expensive knives are made from a much lighter gauge of steel which means that they will not keep a sharp edge for very long. The blades of cheaper knives are also often very thin, making them brittle and more likely to break or for the edge to chip. Handles made from wood or plastic perish very quickly and are usually not dishwasher-safe. Also, the blades are not always set into the handle very securely. All of this makes cheap knives more likely to be blunt which forces you to use more force. That in turn makes them more likely to break or for the blade to come loose from the handle.

It's important to keep your knives sharp. Dull knives are a safety hazard and can be very dangerous.

The more blunt a knife's edge, the more pressure it takes to cut something. The more pressure your hand and the knife apply to a piece of food, the more likely you are to slip and cut your finger instead. Sharpened knives also reduce the time it takes to prepare your meals since your cuts will be faster and more accurate.

The onion - This might seem a little obvious but...you need to have a firm onion. Any signs of mildew (the black stuff), large soft areas, or serious sprouting means that you should probably send your onion to that great compost bin in the sky.

A squishy onion is not a good onion to chop/mince/dice or slice.

So, are you ready to get started?

• Begin by placing the onion on the cutting board and slicing off the top and bottom ends. Your onion now has two flat sides and isn't so likely so roll around and slip away. Flip the onion over so that it is resting on one of the flat ends.
• Now place the blade of your knife across the center of the upward-facing flat end. The edge of your blade should aim for the center of the onion. Slice straight down.
• You now have an onion approximately cut in half. Set one half aside (for now).
• Peel off the skin from one half and then place it on the cutting board, flat side down, the curved side facing up. The top and bottom ends should be pointing left and right.
• Next, you are going to slice through the onion from right to left (if you are right-handed) and left-to-right if you are a lefty. You will end up with semi-circular sections. (No fingertips, please!
• (For the sake of brevity and my sanity, let's assume from now on that you are right-handed. Only 10 percent of the population (like me!!) is gifted with being left-handed).
• Now take a moment to read and understand this next step before you proceed.

Depending on how thin or thick you made your slices, you are now looking at one-half of an onion that has been turned into maybe 8, 10, or 12 slices. Take 3 of those slices and lay them down on the cutting board. Turn the stack of slices so that the flat side is near you (south) and the round side is to the north.

Working from right to left, cut through the semi-circles and turn those long curves strips into little chunks. Be careful when you get to the end because there's not much room for your fingers.

I know that this isn't the chef-taught method of dicing an onion, but it works for me. 

Pumpkin Risotto

Today the sky is gray and dreary and I'm in need of some comfort food. There's a package of Aidell's chicken/apple sausages in the freezer. I'll saute those with some Granny Smith apples from a friend's orchard. That's a good start, but I need something more--something toothsome and creamy.

I bought a sugar pumpkin a few days ago at the produce stand, there is a sack of arborio rice in the pantry, and I still have some fresh sage in the garden. So, all I need is about 45 minutes at the stove and we can have a wonderful dinner of sausages, apples, and risotto.

Risotto is a rice dish common in the northern region of Italy. The type of rice used is very important. Don't run to your cupboard and grab the box of Minute Rice, or even Uncle Ben's. It won't work. You need a short-grain arborio rice. Arborio rice has a higher starch content and remains firm (al dente) when cooked--that is exactly what you want and need for a proper risotto. Risotto is creamy, but not mushy. The grains remain gently "toothy" but are enveloped in a creamy cloak which results from the mixing of the starch with the liquids in which the rice simmers.

Pumpkin Risotto (serves 6)

Ingredients

• 1 small sugar pumpkin (or any other hard winter squash such as acorn), about 1.5 lbs
• 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth, brought to a simmer
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine (not too dry—a Riesling is nice)
• 1 teaspoon finely shredded fresh sage
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup Gorgonzola (or other bleu cheese of your liking, optional)

Instructions

1. To begin, cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and then peel. Cut the flesh into small (about 1/2-inch) dice. Saute the pumpkin in the butter on low heat until it begins to caramelize and softens. (You want it to "give" when pierced with a knife--think texture--done but still slightly firm,  not soft and squishy). Remove the pumpkin to a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan saute the onion over medium heat in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook, stirring occasionally until it begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and the rice; stir until the rice is coated with oil.
3. Add the white wine and then about 1 cup of the stock, stir and let simmer over medium-low heat until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat this process, ladling in stock, stirring, and simmering until all the stock is used and the rice is cooked through. This will take about 20 minutes.
4. Stir in the pumpkin and then the parmesan and fresh sage. Stir until the cheese is blended in and the mixture appears creamy. If desired, crumble a bit of Gorgonzola on top of each serving.

Photo courtesy https://cookieandkate.com/roasted-butternut-squash-risotto/