Goat Cheese Stuffed Peperoncinis

We went to Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Brian's cousin and I decided on a whim to bring a little appetizer made up of my two favorite things, something pickled paired with any kind of cheese. So I invented these. I did some research and found that someone else had made them as well but they didn't use goat cheese and they included a sauteed bell pepper and onion mix. I suppose that would be ok too, but I like my recipe better.

Yummy!

 The receipe goes like this-

What you will need

1. 32 oz jar of Golden Peperoncini (pickled peppers) mild or hot your preference, and the bigger the peppers are the easier they will be to stuff

2. 4 oz of softened or room temperature cream cheese.

3. 4 oz of softened goat cheese, your choice of style or brand

4. 1/4 cup of crumbled bacon

5. 1/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese

6. 1/8 cup of chopped green onions or chives

7. 1 tbsp of milk

8. Flat leaf Italian parsley for garnish (optional)

What you will do

Fry up the bacon in a pan and do what ya gotta do to crumble it and set it aside. Do a fine chop with the green onions and set them aside as well.  In a bowl mix the cream cheese, goat cheese and milk till its a smooth consistancy kinda like frosting on a cake, add more milk if you need to. Throw in the bacon once its cooled off but save about a tbsp to garnish, throw in the grated cheddar, as well as the green onions again save some of the onions as a garnish. 

Next, get a plastic sandwich bag, the zip-close bags work the best, spoon the mixture into the bag and squish it down to one of the corners, clip the corner, make sure its big enough that the bacon pieces can fit through and set aside.  Grab your peppers and one by one make a slit from the stem length-wise to the tip of the pepper, careful not to slice the pepper all the way through to the bottom part (leave the stem attached btw). Once you've sliced all the peppers, grab your cheese filling and start piping it into each pepper. Note: This is monotonous work but it's so worth it. Once the peppers are filled and arranged on your platter sprinkle with the left over bacon and onions and garnish with parsley(optional). Its probably a good idea to cover them and put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until you are ready to serve them. 

Enjoy! 

Oh yeah, and I had a bit of the filling left over so we enjoyed it on crackers the next day, would also be good in celery.

Delicious asparagus!

I attended Burning Man this year and pickles were a big hit, I even heard someone say through a megaphone, way too early in the morning to be using a megaphone I might add, "pickles are the new bacon" which I totally agreed with, however, not only did I enjoy our favorite pickled cucumbers, and peppers but someone in camp had pickled asparagus. It was delicious. And it goes like this.

 

What you will need

• 30 asparagus spears
• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 2 quarts cold water
• 1 2/3 cups distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed
• 1 white onion, sliced into rings
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
• 2 sprigs fresh dill

What you will do

1. Trim the cut end of the asparagus spears, and cut them into 3 inch lengths. Place them in a large bowl with 1/3 cup salt, and cover with water. Let stand for 2 hours. Drain and rinse under cool water, and pat dry.
2. Sterilize two pint size wide mouth jars in simmering water for 5 minutes.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the vinegar, sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, mustard seed, dill seed and onion rings. Bring to a boil, and boil for one minute.
4. Pack the asparagus spears, tips up, in the hot jars leaving 1/2 of space from the rim. Tuck one dill sprig into each jar, and sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Pour hot pickling liquid into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the rim. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth, and seal with lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
5. Cool to room temperature. Check seals when cool by pressing the center of the lid. It should not move. Label and date; store in a cool dark place. If any jars have not sealed properly, refrigerate and eat within two weeks.

How To Pickle Anything Even.... Eggs?

Basic pickle instructions from Instructables
There is also a pdf download available.

But today I'm gonna talk about a European favorite..... PICKLED EGGS! Yup, I said it, pickled eggs. Like they say, don't knock it till you try it.  I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to go with the recipes below, but someday when I take some I'll post them.

First things first, in order to pickle the eggs first you have to hard boil them. That's why I will first tell you how to make the perfect hard boiled egg and peel it too!


What you will need

-Egg(s) duh
-Salt
-Water
-Heat source
-Pot (the kind for cooking)


What you will do

Put the egg(s) in the pot fill the pot with room temp water until the eggs are fully covered, set the stove to medium heat When the egg reaches a full or rolling boil cover the pot and start your timer for 7 minuets. When the timer goes off, put the pot in the sink and run cold water into the pot for 2 - 3 minutes, then with a spoon remove them and put them in a bowl in the fridge for no less than 30 minutes.

When they are cool enough to peel, take the egg and hit it on a hard surface, turn it 90 degrees and hit it again. then squeeze the middle until its cracked all the way around. Then, with your fingernail, begin to peel the egg, note: there is a "skin" type layer under the shell you'll want to get under the that too. The shell should come right off with no problems.


Now the fun part!

Pickled Eggs


What you will need
 
-Hard boiled eggs (peeled)
-Malt pickling vinegar
-Salt (2 tbsp)
Spices (either pickling spices or your own mixture of spices)
I recommend the following
Dried chillies
Cloves
Cardamon pods (split)
Black pepper (cracked)
-A sauce pan with a lid
-A clean glass jar


What you will do


To the pot add a pint of pickling vinegar (6% acidity) and your spices cover and heat on medium-low heat for 1 hour before binging to a boil.

Meanwhile add the cold peeled eggs to a clean glass jar. Then carefully pour the boiling vinegar over the eggs. Let some of the heat release before you put the lid on the jar, about 5-10 minutes. Store the jar in a dark room temperature place for about a week, the longer they are stored the tougher they will get but they will also be more flavorful.
 
Most ingredients can be changed, but it is important to use good eggs, strong vinegar and flavorful spices.

Different parts of Europe use different kinds of vinegar so feel free to switch it up. Note that the color of the vinegar will change the color of your eggs as well.

 Now ENJOY! be creative! Pickled deviled eggs? Pickled egg salad? Pickled eggs added to a warm spinach, mushroom bacon salad? The sky is the limit.