Meatloaf with onion sauce

For the whole month of September I have eaten and drunk as if it where the holiday season, partly because I was trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer, party because my birthday is on Spetmeber 29th, which means that I feel entitled to party for the whole month.

The result is that now I feel full even before I start eating and that my clothes are a little tight on me, especially my beloved jeans. This, of course, means that I have to lose a couple of pounds and that I have to watch what I eat for a couple of weeks.

What does all this have to do with meatloaf, you might ask? Well, everything, if the meatloaf in question is nutricious yet low fat. And tasty, of course, because I'm a firm believer that if somethig tastes horrible it won't help your diet.

TURKEY MEATLOAF WITH ONION SAUCE

Cooking spray

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup minced mushrooms

6 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs  

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground turkey breast

1 large egg   

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

For sauce:

• 3 onions, chopped
• A glass of white wine
• Chicken broth

Preparation

To prepare loaf:
Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

Combine onion, breadcrumbs, and next 7 ingredients (through Tabasco) in a large bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons ketchup.
Shape mixture into a loaf shape. Wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for an hour.

Heat a large pan over medium high heat, coat with cooking spray. Sautee loaf on all sides, turning carefully. Add onions to pan and wine. Let onions cook for a few minutes. Continue cooking loaf for about 30 minutes, basting with broth if sauce gets dry.

Fondue chinoise

There are a few things that are very Swiss. Most stereotypes are... well, just stereotypes. Case in point: the famous punctuality of Swiss trains. Yeah. Right. I take a train from here to Milano twice a week because it's more cost effective than driving and let me tell you, Swiss trains are NOT always on time. This particular one is almost always 10 to 15 minutes late and it comes from Zurich, mind you. Swiss people from Zurich speak German and like to think of themselves as "the real Swiss", implying that the Swiss from the south, who speak Italian, are not as Swiss as them. Well, I guess that regardless of that, they still cannot get the train to Chiasso in time. Unless I'm running late, of course. Then it's there early, of course. 

So if we cannot count on Swiss trains being on time, what can we count on? Amazing cheese. Even better chocolate. And fondue. Fondue is quintessentially Swiss, in all its forms. There's of course cheese fondue. And chocolate fondue. And then there's fondue Bourguignonne —cubes of filet mignon cooked in sizzling hot oil— which is delicious but makes your house, your clothes and your hair smell like a cheap Chinese restaurant for days. Which is why, when I eat fondue at home, I prefer the Chinoise (Chinese) version: thinly sliced beef —think carpaccio— served raw, then cooked by each guest in an aromatic broth, and accompanied by the same dipping sauces you would use for a Bourguignonne. 

So here's the thing. First you have to have good meat, as good a meat as you would use to make carpaccio. Second, you have to make a good broth —it's simply not enough to throw some random canned broth in a pan and use it. If you can't make your own broth, which is understandable because it takes a long time, at least use the best cubes money can buy and add some herbs and spices to it. Last, but definitely not least, don't buy crap jarred sauces. Seriously. I'm famous for my hatred for jarred mayo and the reason is if you have an immersion blender there's absolutely no excuse not to make your own mayo and, therefore, your own sauces. It takes literally two seconds to make the basic mayo and a few more to customize it into four delicious dipping sauces. Traditionally, fondue is served with white rice and french fries as sides. If you ask me, making the rice is pretty much superflous since everyone attacks the fries and nobody eats it, but it's tradition. So I make it anyway. 

  

FONDUE CHINOISE

1/2 pound of thinly sliced beef tenderloin per person

Note: slice the beef right before serving so it doesn't get dark around the edges. 

For the broth:

8 cups of water

4 beef broth cubes

Fresh thyme

One onion, chopped

A few black peppercorns

Prepare the broth in a regular stock pot or directly in the fondue pot, then place in the middle of the table and fire up the flame to keep it nice and hot. 

And now, for the dipping sauces...

Basic mayo recipe:

Place 1 egg, 1 cup of oil, a pinch of salt, the juice of a half lemon and a teaspoon of mustard in a cup. Place immersion blender all the way to the bottom, turn on and slowly lift it to the surface. Done. It's that easy. 

Curry sauce:

Add garam masala, cumin, turmeric and onion powder to basic mayo recipe.

 Cocktail sauce:
Add two tablespoons of ketchup, a splash of cognac and a splash of Worcestershire sauce to basic mayo recipe.

 Tartare sauce:
Add one chopped hard boiled egg, three minced gherkins, and a tablespoon of minced capers to basic mayo recipe.

 Horseradish sauce:
Add horseradish to taste to basic mayo recipe.

Barbara's "Southern Italian" lasagna

First things first: my friend Barbara is NOT from Southern Italy. She's not from Italy, period. She's from Lugano, Switzerland, land of sharp cheeses, decadent chocolate and very precise (and expensive) watches. Definitely NOT the land of lasagna, if you know what I mean. 

Still, Barbara makes a mean lasagna —one of the very best I've ever had. She learned to make this particular recipe from the mother of her ex boyfriend who is from Naples, hence the "Southern Italian" in the title. It differs from regular Bolognese style lasagna because it has layers of ham and mozzarella added to the usual meat sauce and bechamel layers —which makes it delicious, but not too light in the calorie department. 

Oh well. It's cold outside. I guess we can all use the extra calories to keep warm, right? 

SOUTHERN STYLE LASAGNA

Serves 8

1 package fresh lasagna sheets

4 cups meat sauce

2 cups bechamel sauce

12 slices of ham

3 cups shredded mozzarella

2 cups grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spread a little bechamel sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Make a first layer with lasagna sheets, then cover it with meat sauce, bechamel, ham slices. Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat with another layer of lasagna sheet, meat sauce, bechamel, ham and cheese. Repeat until you run out of ingredients, finishing with a cheese layer.

Cook in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Ossobuco with risotto Milanese

This is embarrassing. I hail from Milano, the mother land of ossobuco, and I had never eaten it before Tuesday night. When I used to work at Bice Ristorante in Naples, Florida, there were customers who would happily dish out more than $40 to eat an ossobuco with risotto. I used to think they were crazy. Turns out, I was wrong. I was the crazy one. Because, my friends, ossobuco with risotto is an amazing dish, one that I now want to prepare over and over again to make up for all the ones I haven't eaten before.

See, the thing is that for the longest time I dreaded eating meat cooked in tomato sauce. It has something to do with a childhood trauma of having to finish a particular meat and tomato dish I didn't like in preschool. It happened in 1984, but for many years afterwards I just couldn't bring myself to eat any type of meat that had touched a tomato. So no meatsauce. No meatballs. And no ossobuco.

And while I got over the meatsauce and meatballs phobia during my teenage years, the ossobuco remained a pariah in my book —mostly because I had this absurd idea that the shanks would be incredibly expensive. Well, the other day I bought four for less than 8 Euros, so I guess I was wrong on that too. What can I say? You live, you learn. Anyhow, not only were they cheap, they are also incredibly easy to prepare —and outstanding once they are served over freshly made risotto with saffron. You can find my risotto recipe here. Buon appetito!


OSSOBUCO MILANESE STYLE

For 4 people:
4 veal ossobucos
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 glass white wine
1 can chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind

Pierce the sides of the ossobucos with a knife, so they don't curl up when they cook. Dredge them in white flour.

Heat up oil and butter in a large casserole. Add onion and sautee until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove onion form pan, but leave the butter and oil mixture in the casserole. Add the meat and sautee on both sides until browned.

Pour wine over meat, add reserved onion, season with salt and pepper, add tomatoes and cook, covered but leaving the lid slightly open, on very low heat for about one hour and a half.

MInce parsley and garlic together, stir in grated lemon rind.

When the meat is ready sprinkle with parsley mixture and serve over polenta or risotto Milanese.

Veal roast with mushrooms and potatoes

The other day I was thinking about things that I'm thankful for and things that make me happy about my new (or not-so-new-anymore) life here in Switzerland. The list is very long and, knowing me, you can guess that a lot of the things that make me happy have something to do with food and wine. But there's one in particular that makes me incredibly happy, which is cooking for a crowd. After years of cooking for two or, once in a blue moon, four, I now find myself cooking for eight or ten on a fairly regular basis —and I love it. I just love seeing a bunch of people scarfing down the food I've prepared, smiling and telling me that it's really good. And when it's a recipe I've never done before, like in this case, I like it even more. I'm a bit of a show off I guess, but I like to see the look on their faces when I tell them I had never made the recipe before and that I'm glad it turned out to be a keeper.
Which is what this roast is. Definitely a keeper.

VEAL ROAST WITH MUSHROOMS AND POTATOES

For 4:
2 pounds veal roast
2 tablespoons butter
a few rosemary sprigs
1 pound wild mushrooms, washed
2 garlic cloves, sliced
a glass of dry white wine
2 cups beef broth
4 potatoes, cubed

Using a sharp knife pierce the roast on both sides and insert a slice of garlic in each cut. Tie the rosemary sprigs to the meat, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Melt butter in an oven safe casserole. Add meat and cook on high heat until browned on every side. Add potatoes to the casserole, pour the wine and one cup of broth over the roast and cook for 20 minutes in a 350F oven.

Add mushrooms and broth (if needed) and cook in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Of carpaccio and memories

Memory is tricky. And I'm not talking —as many of those who know me might think—of the kind of memory trickiness that makes you remember your fifth grade best friend's phone number —236024— and not how Faraday's cage works when your Physics professor asks you in the 11th grade.

I'm talking about a different kind of memory. I'm talking about the truest, more pure kinds of memory. The kind that is spontaneous. The kind that is not summoned. The kind that is, pretty much, a mere reflex.

Take a simple red plastic comb, resting on a wooden shelf, next to a vintage shaving kit. I rested my eyes upon it for a few seconds tonight, as I was drying my hair. And all of the sudden I felt an odd wave of affection towards both them cheap comb and the vintage shaving kit. They used to sit by the bath tub in the house where I grew up, and I used to see them on a daily basis. What I found funny tonight, as I was trying to get excess water out of my hair, is that I've been here since April 22nd, and only tonight, more than two months later, did I notice these memorabilia from my childhood. Of course the house I'm staying at right now is not that same house I grew up in, because in the mean time my parents have moved —here first, to the US afterward— but this house in Switzerland is filled with a lot of random objects that belong to them and that, for one reason to another, didn't quite make it to the "let's take these to Florida" list.

Nevertheless, they are cool. Nevertheless, they make me feel cozy, and happy, and somewhat safe in the knowledge that you can indeed come and go, and travel around the world, and then come back to find that some things have never really changed. Like my grandma's china in the cabinet or a picture of a 5-year-old me staring at me from a frame that is almost 25 years old. The house, although not big especially by American standards, is literally permeated with my parents' and grandparents' history.

For crying out loud, I cannot even go to the bathroom without remembering when my mom used that red comb to comb my hair ("Don't tell dad, we used his comb or he'll complain that we leave hair in it") or when, as a teenager, I would still my dad's super sharp, three blade razor hanging from the the little vintage shaving stand to shave my legs ("Mom, don't tell Dad, or he'll complain that the blades are dull").

Then there are all the other rooms. The bedroom where I sleep, in the very same bed I slept in back then. Some glasses in the kitchen that actually pre-date me. The Encyclopedia Britannica, mocking me from a shelf in the living room: you'll never know enough, as I mock her back: you'll never be updated enough.

All these trips down Memory Lane, of course, have some effects. One is that, never before I've felt more like a teenager than I do now. And I'm not only talking about the lack of job and the bizarre sleeping habits. I have also started eating like a teenager again. And before you picture me scarfing down McDonalds and washing it down with gallons of coke, let me tell you: I never ate crap when I was growing up. But I did eat a lot more pasta then I have eaten later on in my 20s and these days I'm eating tons of it again. And I'm loving it. Which explains why I've been posting so many pasta recipes lately. The other related effect is that I have been cooking Italian recipes only, like they were going out of style. No Asian food. No Mexican. Very unlike me, but —hey— it's the truth.

So here's another one. A non recipe really, since all you have to do to make carpaccio is buying it, placing it on a large dish, cover it with arugola and shaved Parmesan and drizzle it with salt and olive oil. But it's delicious and definitely worth trying.

Corned beef and cabbage dinner

   

I like the Irish, which is why I went out of my way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a slow cooked meal of corned beef and cabbage. Mind you, I don't have any Irish blood in me —at least none that I know of— but Italians and the Irish are kindred spirits. We are both easy going people who love to drink —who cares if we prefer wine and they favor beer?— we both like to celebrate life and we both have a good sense of humor. Unlike us, the Irish are not known worldwide for their fabolous food, which is a pity because they have some wonderful dishes everyone should try. Corned beef and cabbage is one of them and I found this Cooking Light version to be absolutely fantastic: the horseradish crust over the meat really gives it a kick and the lemony potatoes and cabbage round up the meal nicely. Eating the corned beef dinner and soda bread last night made me want to go to Ireland real bad, something I usually would disregard as a "maybe one day" kind of dream, but since soon I'll be in Europe with low cost flights at my fingertips, I think Dublin will see me sooner than later. 

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DINNER

From Cooking Light

• 1  (4-pound) cured corned beef brisket, trimmed
• 16  cups  water
• 2  cups  chopped onion
• 1  cup  chopped celery
• 1  cup  chopped carrot
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  pickling spice
• 3  garlic cloves, peeled
• Cooking spray
• 1  tablespoon  caraway seeds
• 1  (2 1/2-pound) head green cabbage, cored and cut into 1-inch strips
• 4  pounds  small red potatoes, quartered
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
• 2  teaspoons  butter
• 2  teaspoons  grated lemon rind
• 2  teaspoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/2  cup  dry breadcrumbs
• 1  (5-ounce) jar prepared horseradish, drained and squeezed dry
• 3  tablespoons  Dijon mustard

Place brisket in a large stockpot; add water and next 5 ingredients (water through garlic). Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 3 hours. Remove brisket from pot.
Place brisket on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Strain cooking liquid through a colander into 2 large bowls; discard solids. Return liquid to pot. Add caraway seeds and cabbage; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Drain.
While cabbage is cooking, place potatoes in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return potatoes to pan. Stir in parsley, butter, rind, juice, and pepper; toss to coat.
Preheat broiler.
Combine breadcrumbs and horseradish. Spread mustard over one side of brisket. Press breadcrumb mixture onto mustard. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve brisket with cabbage and potatoes.

Spicy pasta bake

I'm sure you've all had a bad day, here and there. Maybe even a bad week. Shit happens. No big deal, right? Right. Well, I guess I'm having a bad-few-months. First I break my knee. Then I get laid off. Then, last night, I get an e-mail from Columbia University saying thanks for your interest, but we are not accepting you into our journalism program. Alright. It kinda made me feel like the clumsy kid who gets picked last when the cool kids are making teams. It also made me laugh out loud for a few seconds —a weird reaction I tend to have whenever something sucky happens to me. And then, after I was done with my brief auto-commiseration pity party, I thought it wasn't all that bad. I guess things come in threes, so this should be it. Or at least I'm hoping so, because really, why is the universe conspiring against me?

Unless...

Unless, maybe, said universe is conspiring towards greater things. Like moving to Europe. Which, for those who don't know it yet, is the next step. A big step. A huge step. I was born and raised there, but haven't lived there for almost 10 years. And all of the sudden I know that sometime in late April I'll grab my suitcase and a bunch of random crap I can't live without and propel myself into my next adventure. It's exhilarating and scary at the same time. Which, I guess, is why I've been finding myself cooking lots of comfort classics —dishes that make me feel warm and cozy and happy even when life seems to be spinning out of control at the speed of light all around me. I've also started cooking strictly out of the freezer and pantry, buying only perishables and using them right away. Emptying the fridge, the freezer and the pantry is a challange, but it's also going to be fun. Kind of like an episode of Iron Chef, with the bonus that no one will critique my food. This pasta bake is great both because it definitely falls into the comfort food category and because it made me get rid of the last of my elbow macaroni (which I use only to make this dish!), the last of my carrots, some of my canned tomatoes and random cheeses I had laying around the snack drawer.

Oh, yeah, and it's delicious.

SPICY PASTA BAKE
Adapted from Cooking Light

4 ounces small elbow macaroni
Cooking spray
1  cup  chopped onion
1  cup chopped carrot
2  teaspoons garlic
1  pound  lean ground sirloin
1  cup  tomato sauce
Crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper
1  cup  milk
2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
1/8  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.
Cook pasta according to the package directions, drain. Lightly coat pasta with cooking spray.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and carrot, and sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add ground beef, season with salt and pepper; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add tomato sauce, season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Cook for 2 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates.
Add pasta to beef mixture in pan, stirring to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Place milk, flour, nutmeg, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan; stir with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add cheese, stirring until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over pasta mixture; stir. Sprinkle evenly with grated cheese. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Killer ribs

If you like ribs, this recipe is a must try. My mom got it from the local Roy's restaurant (part of Roy Yamaguchi's empire), slightly tweaked it to better fit our taste and started serving it whenever she needs to feed a crowd. The major change she made is the quantity of marinade, which she makes more of, so that the ribs are tastier and more tender. Also, instead of finishing them off under the broiler we throw them on a hot grill, which leaves those lovely grill marks on the meat. Either way they are delicious and the meat literally falls off the bone. They make a great appetizer or a main course, depending on how much food your serving.

ROY'S KILLER RIBS:

4 pounds pork baby back ribs
2 /1/2 cups hoisin sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
3 tbsp minced ginger
3 tbsp Chinese chili garlic paste
3/4 cup honey

Cut the slabs in half and place in a pot full of boiling water. Gently boil for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until rib bones pierce through the meat and meat looks cooked.

Remove from water and let cool off.

To make marinate combine remaining ingredients and place in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Baste ribs with marinade on both sides, place on a cookie sheet and cook in hot oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes. Separate ribs, baste with remaining marinade. Either broil for a few minutes or cook on grill for 3-5 minutes. Enjoy!

Chili (chili dog version)

What's the difference between normal chili and chili made specifically for hot dogs? I didn't know either until a while ago, but apparently it's a capital sin to put beans in a chili that is destined for hot dogs. Not that I load my chili with beans anyways... but to make everyone happy I started making my fiery chili without beans when I know it's going to be used as a hot dog topper. This recipe makes a very, very spicy chili. For a tamer version you can substitute regular tomatoes and regular tomato juice for the hot ones.

Pretty much my whole family is in town right now and we are constantly trying to come up with meals that easily serve a crowd (if we all go to my parents' house at once -like we did last night- there is 16 of us!). Yesterday, while the kids played in the pool, I made a batch of this chili and we made wonderful chili dogs. My mom also made her killer ribs -I'll post the recipe for those as soon as I get it from her.

CHILI (WITH NO BEANS)
1 pound ground sirloin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 onions, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
2 stalks of celery, finely diced
1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 10-ounce can Rotel tomatoes with habanero peppers
1 10-once can V8 tomato juice hot and spicy
1 10-ounce can tomato paste
3 tablespoons cumin powder
6 tablespoons chili powder

Place meat in a large dutch oven and season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for a few minutes, stirring to crumble. Add chopped vegetables, tomatoes (with their juices), tomato juice, tomato paste and spices. Stir well to mix. Lower heat to low. Simmer, covered, for about two hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with sweet pepper relish on hot dogs.

Tommy's famous cheeseburgers

I kid you not, these cheeseburgers are famous around here. And around Italy, which makes them famous in two different continents. Now THAT is something, right?
Growing up I was always unimpressed with McDonald's overcooked, thin patties of mysterious "meat". Barbecues at friends' houses -the kind where they cook the meat to death until there isn't one drop of juice left in it- didn't help the matter at all. So when my boyfriend made me his famous cheeseburger for the first time I was like "WOW". All of the sudden cheeseburgers were my favorite food and my family quickly converted as well. We now request his burgers every time there is something to celebrate and he's more than happy to make them even fore crowds of 20 or more. What makes them special is that the cheese instead of being on top, is inside the patty and it oozes out when you bite into it. Yummy!

TOMMY'S FAMOUS CHEESEBURGERS

Ingredients per person:
5 oz. ground sirloin
1 slice American cheese
1 leaf crunchy lettuce
2 slices of tomato
a few very thin slices of onion
a table spoon of chopped green olives
bread and butter pickle chips
Ketchup
Mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
Martin's hamburger potato bun (no substitutes!!)

Divide the meat in two equal parts and, using your hands, make two thin patties. Fold cheese slice in four, place it in the middle of one patty, place the other patty on top and seal the sides with your fingers. You know have a cheese stuffed patty.
Cook on a medium/hot grill until medium rare or medium. Don't overcook!
On the bottom bun place the leaf of lettuce. This will keep the bun from getting soggy. Top with ketchup, tomatoes, burger, mayo, onions, olives and other half of the bun. Enjoy!

Steak tartare

Yes, I do enjoy eating raw meat. I love carpaccio and I love steak tartare. Of course the meat has to be of the finest quality and it definitely pays off to spend the extra bucks and buy top quality ground sirloin for this recipe. Steak tartare has always been a treat in my family and although I have eaten good renditions at several restaurants in Europe, my dad's recipe remains the best. Last night we were celebrating the fast that -by coincidence- we both received our bachelor's degrees on July 29th. He got his in Engeneering in 1960. I got mine in Communications in 2005. And what better way to celebrate than with this lavish, decadent meat recipe?

STEAK TARTARE

1 pound ground sirloin
1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 big tablespoon of capers, chopped
1/2 tablespoon of capers, whole
Worchestershire sauce
Tabasco
Salt and pepper
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon hot mustard
1 shot of Brandy
Chopped parsley, to garnish

Steak tartare turns out better if ou keep the meat cold. To do so, use two concentric metal bowls of different sizes. Place water and ice in the bigger one and carefully lower the smaller one into it so that the water and ice will keep it cold while you work on the tartare.


Place egg yolks in the small bowl, season with salt and pepper and slowly incorporate mustard, lemon juice and olive oil stirring constantly:


Add Worchestershire sauce, tabasco, onion and capers to the egg mixture.

Add ground beef, season it with freshly ground pepper and mix well, using two spoons.
Add Brandy, taste to make sure seasoning is to your liking and serve immediately. If you want to go all out and have a truly decadent dinner serve with a side of french fries as they do in Switzerland. Delicious!

Peppers stuffed with meat, rice and cheese

A while ago the local Albertsons had a crazy ground beef sale -it was such a good deal it sent me into a crazy buying frenzy. So aftern making burgers, meatloaf and chili I still ended up with a freezer full of ground sirloin, which is good if you don't need to put anything else in there. Last night I decided to get rid of some of the meat and made a recipe my grandma used to make. Now one thing about my grandma is that she never wrote down her recipes, so I kinda had to wing it, but I have to say that I was very satisfied with the result.

STUFFED PEPPERS:

1/4 cup long-grain rice
2 medium bell peppers
1/2 pound ground sirloin
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups bottled tomato pasta sauce
1/2 cup grated fresh Romano cheese
1/2 cup dry red wine
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°.

Cook rice according to directions and set aside.

Cut tops off bell peppers, discard seeds and membranes and set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion, paprika, salt and allspice and cook until beef is lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat. Add cooked rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and cheese to beef mixture. Stir to combine.

Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce and wine in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Be careful not to overcook it!

Spoon beef mixture into each pepper. Place peppers in a baking dish coated with cooking spray and add wine mixture to pan. Cover with foil.

Bake at 450° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.