Green Pastry Puffs

January 20, 2013 at 18:12 (Other, Recipes)
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oliwkiOne of the things I’ve never mastered in the kitchen is making pastry. I’m hopeless at baking, I can’t even make dumpling dough, and certainly not other, more complicated types of pastry. Fortunately, it can be bought in shops nowadays, so even complete pastry incompetents like me can bake something nice.
Of course, being too dumb to make the dough is not enough, I’m also too lazy to make any complicated stuffing for these things, which I call puffs (for puff pastry, and because they look like small pillows) but which would probably count as… small pies? I don’t really know.

Anyway, if You can get Your hands on some ready-made pastry of sensible quality, You can make those easily. If not, well… I know of people who are actually able to make it, out of raw components, I’ve seen them do it even (mostly in France, as it comes from there, they call it pâte feuilletée, while we call it “french pastry.” Original, I know), but it still looks like sorcery to me. Or worse, because I have some understanding of magic ;)
It’s easy to make and can actually impress some people, even if You don’t pretend it’s all Your work, because these things are rarely done at home. So, if You have guests coming and want to treat them to something less usual, these are a good idea. Plus, You can always make bats and other witchy patterns on them, Magrat-style.

Ingredients

  • Package of puff pastry
  • Green olives, shallots or leek – something green and strong-tasting (broccoli or cabbage don’t work)
  • Feta cheese or plain quark if feta is too salty for you – something white and cheesy
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Spices : I put rosemary and thyme because I had them, allspice is also good, but not too much of it. Basil, oregano, pepper, but go easy on the salt because cheeses have lots of it already. Generally, depending on the vegetables and cheese You choose the filling will need stronger or milder seasoning.

Preparation

farsz

Heat up olive oil on a frying pan. Dice, or slice, all the vegetables and cheese. Fry all the stuffing ingredients on the pan for just enough time  to melt the cheese – it’s going in the oven anyway so there’s no sense in doing the same work twice.  I usually dice the ingredients really small because I like a more homogeneous filling, but I know of people who like big, distinguishable bits of various vegetables, too.

Once You have something resembling a mass, take it off the fire. Spread the dough on a clean, flat surface, and cut it in rectangles. This can be done in several ways – You can cut squares, put the filling on their center, and fold the corners inwards. You can cut squares, match them in pairs and only put the filling on every second square, then mold them together. You can cut oblongs and place the filling on one half, then fold them over to cover it.

For this case I took the second method, and on the picture here you can see half of my dough with filling. When using puff pastry for pies with filling, it’s a popular way to leave parts of the filling uncovered, but for this one I don’t recommend it. You need to make more filling if you want it to show and it dries up too much.
So, mold your pastries however you choose, and put them in the oven over medium-ish to small heat. For this kind of dough (and, well, generally) it’s always better to under-do than to overdo, because if it’s not done yet you can always keep it in the oven a little longer, but once it’s burned, you can’t un-burn it.

A good rule of thumb for this kind of pastry is – if you can smell it from the oven, it’s nearing completion. Take them out when their colour satisfies you, but be warned – letting it past honey-amber colour is a bad idea. Filling will be very hot, so watch out.

paszteciki

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Common yarrow (achillea millefolium)

August 6, 2012 at 23:51 (Basics, Herbalism, Ingredients)
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Herba millefolii

You have probably seen this plant thousands of times, because – on the Northern Hemisphere – it grows pretty much everywhere. It’s a modest, unassuming plant, though the deep green colour is rather nice. The small, white flowers aren’t decorative enough to make bouquets of them, and the smell is sharp, a bit “medicinal”. No wonder, really – it’s a very valuable medicinal plant, and one worth keeping.

You can easily recognize yarrow for its leaves : slim and feathery, with a mass of tiny strands (the Latin ‘millefolium’ translates to ‘thousand-leaf’, which is actually one of its common names). The stem is tough and stiff, so if you’re planning on harvesting some, don’t even try to break it by hand. The right way to harvest yarrow is to take a very sharp knife and cut the blossoming stem roughly in the middle – taking half away and leaving half to grow. Yarrow grows back very quickly, which is why it is prized as a pasture plant, said t o “grow back right under the beast’s teeth.”

  • Medicinal uses

    Close-up of the characteristic leaf

Yarrow’s most interesting qualities are those of a medicinal plant. Fresh or dried plant (millefolii herba) can be used –  in decoctions or macerates – both internally and externally. Drinking yarrow infusions is generally advised in gastrointestinal trouble, as its healing properties can alleviate inflammations and cramp pains (although with serious cramps, fennel is a better choice.) Externally, yarrow preparations can be used in compresses and poultices to speed the mending of wounds, in which task it is very effective. This property is so well known that most yarrow names deal, in one way or another, with healing wounds : nosebleed plant, herba militaris, sanguinary, soldier’s woundwort… and not just in English, either. I have come across one extreme case – a solitary person wounded in the wild – who found yarrow growing nearby, chewed it into a pulp in his mouth and put the resulting mass over a cleaned wound. This was very smart of her, I must say. Even if it didn’t miraculously close the wound in seconds, it was still the best thing she could have done.

  • Culinary uses

Yarrow has a bittersweet taste, and a strong, sharp smell. It does not come to mind as the best foodstuff when you pass it by in the park, but it used to be quite a popular vegetable, used similarly to raw sorrel – in soups, and salads of boiled leaves. Nowadays, we have more interesting vegetables and yarrow is hardly ever consumed, but it’s still worth you attention from time to time. Especially if you have any kind of skin trouble – acne or suchlike – you will often hear how it can be treated with zinc pills and drugs, many of them quite expensive. Whereas yarrow leaves, and especially flowers, contain a large concentration of this valuable mineral which can be ingested when eating the plant. Tea-like infusion is one good choice, but seasoning a salad with the small, white flowers is even better, because you get a medicinal, cosmetic, gastronomic and aesthetic effect all at once. Yarrow leaves can also be chopped and added to quark cheese with tasty results.

  • Magic uses

Due to its healing properties, yarrow in herbal magic is best used to symbolise just that – healing, mending and closing of wounds. Herbal talismans containing yarrow are often made to help with hurt feelings and aid in moving on with one’s life after a traumatic event, searching for closure. Dried flowers are the best choice for these purposes, due to their sharp smell and pleasing appearance.

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Penne Primavera

July 26, 2012 at 17:41 (Pasta, Recipes)
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The cheese didn’t make it to the picture… sorry about that.

So, this was going to be a french dessert made of peaches, but I’m waiting for a sunnier day to take pictures of that. What we have here right now qualifies for Summer the same way I qualify for a “happy young woman”. You know it could be it, but somehow, it never is. And, of course, when in doubt I tend to turn to pasta, which is all very well and delicious, but it does put those additional kilograms here and there. But, to hell with that – there has to be some pleasure in this life, otherwise what’s the point? Might as well take a big swig of hemlock right now if I’m going to deny myself even that.

This is a genuinely my recipe –  I’ve invented it. Of course, hundreds of people have probably invented it too, because it doesn’t take some huge leaps of imagination, but it’s good and easy and that’s what counts. I  call it Penne Primavera, because I like faux-italian names and alliteration, but it works just as well with tagliatelle, fettuccine or spaghetti. Actually, pretty much every pasta in existence (with the possible exception of orzo and other minute pasta, because they get lost in the sauce).

The only actual difficulty with this recipe is the timing, because the sauce is based on melted cheese so it sets if you take it off the heat. Which means you’ve got to time it with boiling the pasta so that you have both ready at roughly the same time. It’s generally better to have pasta waiting for the sauce than the other way around, because if you have the sauce ready, you either have to leave it on the stove, in which case it burns or gets too thick and dry, or take it off, in which case it sets and doesn’t spread like it should. But it’s nothing difficult, really.
Oh, and it’s probably the only pasta recipe in the world that doesn’t really benefit from being sprinkled with grated cheese. No, really – it won’t ruin the dish, but it adds… nothing very much. So leave that Parmesan for Aglio e Olio, Primavera doesn’t need it.

Ingredients

  • Shallots (whole) – one to start with and say half per additional person
  • Tomatoes – one fresh tomato per person
  • Feta cheese – about 80-100 g per person
  • Olive oil
  • Garlic
  • Spices – the good old mixture of pasta spices, as usual

Preparation

Shallots and un-melted Feta cheese

Start with putting on a pot for boiling pasta. Then, chop the whole shallots thinly, down to the last green strand. If you end up with a mountain of greenery, don’t worry – it’ll shrink in cooking. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and fry the shallots on mild heat, stirring from time to time. When they get supple and nicely warm (the colour doesn’t change much), slice the cheese into thin slices and put them on the pan. Thin slices mean it’ll melt faster, but still you should keep the fire small and cover the pan for a while – that way the cheese will melt and not fry.

In the meantime, peel the tomatoes with aid from some boiling water (I usually use the pasta water for that, since it should be boiling now ; if it is, put pasta in) and chop them into small bits – the smaller, the better.
Now check on the cheese – there should be a white-ish, grainy mass with bits of green in the pan. Put in the tomatoes and all the juice that might have spilled during chopping. Mix it all up, add chopped garlic and spices, and cook on mild heat until surplus water evaporates and you’re left with a thick, golden mass. It will stick to the spoon, it will stick to the pan, so frequent stirring is in order.

Once your pasta is ready, you can pour the sauce over it and serve.

Serving

With a cameo by Great-Grandma’s China Plate ™

This is a dish of distinct flavor, and a colorful, jolly appearance – hence the name. It is also quite full of calories, as pastas generally are, so accompany it with a salad at most, and not a fried-chicken-and-cheddar salad, either. Chilled white wine will suit it very nicely, but so will most pink wines and  some lighter types of red. There are no unpleasant odors involved so it’s a good dish for an elegant or romantic occasion.

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Cannelloni Verde

March 22, 2012 at 15:06 (Other, Pasta, Recipes)
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I’ve been facing quite a conundrum lately. You may have noticed already that I like cooking ;) . And I like eating, especially that which I have prepared myself – because I can make things exactly as I want them. However, those of you who do your own cooking will probably know that a cook shall always crave the consumer’s appreciation : we’ll put the plates on the table and then watch, hawk-like, for any telltale glances, eyebrow-twitching, tiny grimaces or sounds that can give us a clue. Do they like it? Or not??

Such is the fate of artists, I’m told, and a dreary one it is. I remember my father, for example, never muttering even a word of approval whatever Mother did, and actually deriding my brother for offering that which he knew she needed. Then again, no need to worry my readers about that kind of jerkassitude. Today, I’m facing a different problem. My new S.O. likes everything, will eat everything and be happy about it. Really.
And how’s  Kitchen Witch with cooking ambitions supposed to do? I mean, I can compose an exquisite symphony for a cheese quartet, and he’ll eat it and say, “It’s good, thank you” and then promptly give me a peck on the cheek and go to sleep. Or, I can bash some random vegetables into a pot, boil them yellow with a generous helping of groat, then proceed to add way too much salt, thus achieving something horrible and unfit for animals, because of the salt. And he’ll eat it and say, “It’s good, thank you”. And I know he means it, it’s not like he pretends so I won’t be hurt. It’s not really a problem, but it kind of demotivates me when it comes to cooking. In the end I just disregard him and do whatever I want, but feel bad about it.
All right, enough rambling. In spite of this terrible tragedy that is a partner easy to please, I have recently tried out a new recipe. It’s a pasta recipe and it’s got a faux-italian name,  so you can see everything is still normal around here.
Cannelloni is a type of pasta used for baking and not boiling. It’s made into tube shapes, not very long and with a large enough diameter (which varies) to allow stuffing. You can put pretty much anything in it, and here’s an idea.

Ingredients

  • Cannelloni pasta – you can buy it, it’s not that rare. The actual amount depends on how much can you fit in a baking dish.
  • Cheese – go with quark cheese if you want the spinach taste to come out. Feta cheese will get you a spicier, but still balanced dish (or you can mix those two). Choose camembert for a strong, piquant taste, though it will dominate.
  • Spinach – in 1:1 proportion with cheese
  • Leek (optional)
  • Onion – in 1:1 proportion with leek and 2:1 with spinach and cheese
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Sour cream
  • Herbal spices : rosemary, laurel leaf, black pepper, thyme, basil, tarragon and juniper are all good choices.

Spinach, onions, garlic and leek.

Preparation

Chop the onions and fry them on olive oil over medium heat. Add the spinach and garlic and  fry for a while (if you’re using frozen spinach, make sure you evaporate the water surplus). When you’ve got a nice, warm and not too runny green mass, add the cheese and leek. Simmer over medium heat to melt the cheese. At this point it will look utterly horrible, so you can frighten your kids with it. If you don’t want to, make sure they don’t see it as the sight will make them refuse to eat anything.

Once the unspeakable eldritch horror on your frying pan achieves a thick, smooth form, use a knife, a spoon, a kitchen baster or sheer force of will to stuff it into the raw pasta tubes. I repeat, just in case – you do not boil the pasta. If you do, it goes soft and you won’t be able to stuff it with anything. The stuffed tubes are then placed in a casserole (oil it up a little) and the surface covered in sour cream. This is important – if you bake them bare, the pasta will dry up even more and you’ll get hard, splintering shells. You need to keep the water in with a layer of cream. Some grated cheese can go on the surface, too. if you like.

Place it all in the oven and bake in medium heat – too much and it’ll just dry up to the point of in-edibility. It needs 30 to 40 minutes, when in doubt you can poke a pasta tube and see if it’s hard or softening.

This sounds a bit complicated, I know, but it’s actually a fairly simple recipe and useful if you want to create an illusion of haute cuisine without too much work. However, it has proven impossible for me to take a reasonable picture of the actual dish, so I’m sorry to say you’d have to take my word for it.
Serve with wine, depending on the contents (stuffing possibilities are endless). If there’s no meat in it, or it’s chicken, serve medium-dry white wine, as is the case with mine.

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Imbolc Blessings

February 2, 2012 at 18:16 (Basics, Candlemaking, Herbalism, Uncategorized)
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It seems my displeasure with the weather was taken into account – it’s even colder today. But we Witches know that the year is round, and the frost has the promise of fire deep within it, as a great author once wrote. So we wait, and do our best to pass the time reasonably and wisely. And we make candles, eat cheese and celebrate the day of Imbolc.

The recipe for the mulled wine will come up in the next few days, although to be honest You already have it all on the greeting card.

Blessings!

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Presents! And knives

January 4, 2012 at 14:08 (Tools)
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Oh, heads of lettuce will roll!

A year ago – actually, even more – when Kitchen Witchcraft was a debuting little blog, I’ve put up a short post on kitchen knives and their properties, because it’s very important to have proper tools for any job, and for cooking tasks especially. So You probably have grown accustomed to the sight of an old, short knife with a wooden handle that pops up every now and then on the photos.

Well, my knife family has expanded recently and the newcomer is pretty impressive. It was a holiday gift from – You guessed it – my brother, and damn useful as usual.
Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not throwing my old wooden friend away just because I got this sparkling, silvery eight inches of vanadium steel. But there was a lot of cabbage chopping to be done for Christmas, which my family celebrates, and even I was astonished at how effortless it was with my, admittedly, peculiar present. The long, annoying task that was usually shared between my Mother and myself, was done in the matter of minutes and without turning a hair.
I have to say I didn’t expect it to make that big a difference, but that’s the mark of a good knife – it does the cutting for You. The best ones are heavy, so that You only need to apply minimal force and their weight adds cutting strength ; the blade is thick on one side, for extra stability and to prevent it from bending, and only thins towards the cutting edge. All these qualities can be found in my new weapon of choice. And I do think of it like that, because it gives the awesome little kshing noise when drawn from the block, just like a sword drawn from a sheath. Trust me, I know ;)

So, why should this interest You? Well, I’m not sure, but since I’ve already done quite a lot of culinary exhibitionism around here, I might as well continue. And for those who do not care, here’s something more interesting:

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Golden cake

December 31, 2011 at 13:59 (Other, Recipes)
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You ask What is life? That is the same as asking, ‘What is a carrot’.
A carrot is a carrot and we know nothing more.

- Anton Czechow

Well, not to correct the great one, but we do know something more. Namely, we know that it’s a root vegetable, rich in vitamins and particularly good for the eyes. But I’m sure I’ve mentioned all that before, so let’s skip to the interesting part. Now you might have noticed that I’m not really all that big on desserts – there aren’t that much recipes here, but I did put some up and none of them had been for desserts so far. That’s because, although I do like sweets and suchlike, I’m not really crazy enough about them to justify all that work when I can buy some fabulous desserts ready, such as ice cream.

But carrot cake is different, because it’s very rare around here for people to even have heard about it, let alone bake it, and You certainly can’t get it in shops. So, once again, the Kitchen Witch is left to her own devices.
I’ve tried a few recipes, and regardless of their degree of complication, they all had one thing in common : they didn’t work. Something always went wrong along the line and I was left with a disgusting, dripping mass of semi-transparent carrotish goo. Unfortunately,  the same happens with this one, only rarer. And it’s the simplest one, so I’m sticking with it.

Ingredients

  • Carrots – one glass of grated carrot. Everything else should be measured with the same glass.
  • Sugar – one glass of sugar, or a little less if You so prefer. I find that one glassful does not make it overly sweet, but less does not ruin it either.
  • Flour – one glassful of Your regular white flour.
  • Vegetable oil – half a glass. You can use cinnamon oil for better effect.
  • Eggs – two
  • Cinnamon – one spoonful (large spoon, not a teaspoon)
  • Baking soda – one full teaspoon

Preparation

Now comes the good part. All you have to do is mix the ingredients until You get a sticky, orange mass – no grinding, no kneading, nothing. The only actual bit of work You have to do is peel the carrots and grate them, after that You’re practically done. Just throw it all into a bowl and mix, then pour into a baking mold of Your choice. Give it an hour in a solid heat, about 200 degrees. (I still sometimes get it almost raw, and have no idea why. If anyone has any thoughts, please share.)

This is especially good if You want to serve a dessert that will still have some reasonable health benefit (for a dessert, of course). Symbolically speaking, carrots have always been associated with wealth, due to their golden sheen. A popular Jewish dish for New Year around here is a special kind of cymes that consists of carrot slices fried in honey to give them the appearance of golden coins. These were believed to bring fortune and prosperity in the coming year.

Speaking of New Years, I hope 2012 is generous for You when it comes to health, happiness, and peace. So blessings for the New Year – those of You that still wait for it, that is – and see You in 2012!

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Winter Solstice! Again.

December 21, 2011 at 17:46 (Basics, Uncategorized)
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It’s Midwinter again – the second I am celebrating by, among other things, writing a post here. I know I’ve been neglecting my readers more than usual lately, and I also know you must be growing tired of constant excuses. So there won’t be any.

Let me just say something that hasn’t been said in here for some time. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time I wrote here and was not, in some way, depressed. It was probably some time around last autumn, although there have been plenty of reasons to feel lousy since. And yet, here  I am, all optimistic and eager to finally make something of my life. We’ll see how long this lasts.
And in the meantime,  we have the Solstice to celebrate! It’s not as astronomically significant as the last one, but hey, can’t have everything.  And the turning of the tide of darkness should always be a moment of joy. Which, of course, can be greatly expanded by right food, company and music.

I can’t promise to upload the recipe today, but I’m celebrating with a carrot cake this year and you will definitely hear about it in near future. Well, if it comes out all right.
So, there’s no pentagrams in the snow, no blood-shedding, just the warmth of candlelight and of the oven. Time for some plans, too, because it’s going to be all uphill from here.

And, as a small solstical bonus for my readers, here’s a ‘recipe’ – really, it does not deserve the term – for cinnamon oil macerate. It’s pretty handy for both solstical baking and prosperity charms.

Blessed be!

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Celery and pepita

October 28, 2011 at 13:24 (Recipes, Salads)
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Si la femme savait ce que le céleri fait à l’homme,
elle irait en chercher de Paris à Rome

I forgot to include mayonnaise. Sorry about that.

Celery root. Big, gnarled, over-all strange looking. Important ingredient of many soups and salads, although rarely eaten raw. Actually, in many countries the root itself  isn’t known to be edible – my Mother made a small sensation in her day when, travelling in France, she mentioned a recipe that called for “celery, but not the green parts that grow above the earth. The part that grows below.” It had subsequently proved very difficult to obtain. And yet, it is a very valuable vegetable (VVV) when it comes to health concerns. Full of vitamins and minerals, especially recommended in cases of exhaustion and depleted strength such as recovering from an illness. It is also said to have an… invigorating influence on men, as the proverb above demonstrates, although I have not yet had an opportunity (or, indeed, a necessity ;) ) to find out. But if You can either corroborate or disprove the claim, I’d be happy to know.

So, how to eat it? Well, the simplest answers are often the best and it is certainly so in this case : a raw celery salad is the thing to do if You want to profit of all its properties in an enjoyable way. It is the simplest recipe imaginable, although today we’ll be making it a little differently, because we’ll be adding pepita instead of the usual sunflower seeds.

Pepita, or pumpkin seeds, are one of my favourite snacks and a great thing all round. They are also very appropriate for the season, as we’re nearing Halloween. Strictly speaking, I do not celebrate Halloween as such, and my Samhain celebrations tend to be a little chaotic at best, as there’s another holiday around where I live in the same time and it tends to interfere. But while usually I do my best with what I have, this year will be different, the reason being appropriately related to pumpkin seeds.
Because even though I made the actual salad (and the pictures) at home, as usual, I have subsequently packed it and took it with me as I left to spend the next five days… elsewhere. I have met someone and pumpkin seeds tend to be the leitmotif of our meetings. Right now I’m sitting on his couch typing this, and there’s a 1 kg bag of them beside me. Madness, but of the positive kind.

So, even though I was planning a feast of Samhein-related Witchcraft for my dear readers, once again I am limited to apologizing for the scarcity of my updates and placating You with a primitive recipe. But hey, it’s really good!

Ingredients

  • Celery root – they tend to be big, so half a root is more than enough for two
  • Pumpkin or sunflower seeds – as much as You like
  • Sauce base – this should be suited to Your tastes. Take mayonnaise for a rich, elegant effect, cream if You don’t like mayonnaise, natural yoghurt for the ultra-healthy version or olive oil if You are lactose intolerant/vegan
  • Thyme – preferably fresh
  • Green pepper

Preparation

This salad is simplicity itself.  Simply peel the celery (or indeed cut off the outer layer, as it’s hard to call it “peeling”), rinse the root and grate it on a big grater to receive solid, thick strands. Mix the sauce base – I always go with mayonnaise, I like mayonnaise – with thyme and just a bit of fresh ground pepper (green is best, You can add black instead but not red it doesn’t fit). Mix everything – the celery, the seeds, the sauce – and you’re good to go. This is a sister salad for carrot and sunflower, but since celery root is a bit spicy in itself, we’re not adding garlic here. And it’s more decorative, although it looks its best if other food you’re serving isn’t white. Usually I pair it off with roast potatoes.

For a more “exotic” feel, add some raisins. If You like raisins. And have a Spectacular Samhain!
Blessings.

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Stuffed peppers

September 27, 2011 at 14:45 (Other, Recipes)
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Well, it’s Autumn and no two ways about it.  The mornings are chilly and most of the summer fruit is no more. But much more delicious stuff is still available, and ready to make the coming cold more bearable. Of course, now that the sun grows dim, we have to prepare more complicated meals, to make up the lack of fire without with the fire within.

So, as an autumnal treat, I have prepared one of my more complicated recipes for You : the Hungarian stuffed peppers. As with all stuffed dishes, it requires some work, since the stuffing has to be prepared first, and the actual meal later. However, it’s not as demanding as it could be, because the peppers themselves are practically ready to go. Well, what did You expect? I like cooking, but I’m allergic to hard work, so ‘more complicated’ means, around here, ‘requiring 40 minutes’ preparation.’

The peppers used here are ‘Hungarian wax’ peppers, not the more popular bell peppers (capsicum annuum ; English nomenclature is quite confusing here. Apparently, C. Columbus is to blame), which have the best shape for what I have in mind right now.

Ingredients:

  • Hungarian peppers – one or two per person, depending on their size.
  • Rice – usually a glass (250 ml) is enough
  • Onions – as much as You like
  • Garlic – three cloves minimum
  • Soy meat/meat/mushrooms – really, the last ingredient is entirely up to You. If You want it to be ready really fast, go with mushrooms, although this tends to give the dish a mild taste and somewhat spongy texture, as mushrooms do. If You’re looking for optimal nutritious value, soy meat is perfect, and it will make the peppers keep longer if there are any left over than actual meat.
  • Seasoning : cayenne pepper or chilli powder, oregano and basil, laurel leaves.

You will also need some tomatoes or tomato purée to prepare the sauce in which the peppers shall be cooked.

Preparation

First, prepare the stuffing. There are two ways this can be done, although one of them I have never tried. The old-fashioned way given by a Hungarian cookbook I have is to leave the rice raw while preparing the stuffing, and the other is to have it cooked beforehand. I will go with the latter, as this is the way I always do.

Frying the stuff

So, cook the rice. The actual amount of everything depends on how much peppers are You using, so I’m skipping quantities here. Dice the onions and cook them in a frying pan on a small amount of oil. Add some garlic and, as the onion changes colour (white to gold, never brown), put the third ingredient of Your choice. I always go with soy meat for a bit of protein. Fry all that for a moment, then add the rice. It can go straight from the pot, no worries here. Mix everything and season it to suit Your taste. ( Just a tip here – if You want the dish to be spicy, You have the choice of achieving this with the sauce or the stuffing. In my opinion, go for the stuffing. It’s easier to counter a hot meal with a mild sauce then the other way around. Of course, if You want to make both extra-spicy, be my guest.) Good seasoning choices here include chilli powder and all sorts of pepper, but also savory, oregano, basil and turmeric for extra colour.

Now that the stuffing is ready, leave it off the stove so that it won’t burn, and prepare the peppers. They need to be hollowed out, but left intact to accommodate the stuffing. Of course, they are hollow in themselves, so what You really need to do is simply cut out the stems and the cluster of pips underneath. The easiest way to do this is to take a pointy knife, stab it vertically into the pepper and cut around the stem. (Be sure to dislodge all the remaining pips, they aren’t tasty.)

Use a small spoon to put the stuffing inside the peppers and take care not to rupture them or they will fall apart during cooking.  This is where the difference between raw and cooked rice comes in : if You use cooked rice, it won’t change its volume anymore (well, not significantly) so You can fill them up. When dealing with raw rice, You must allow for the volume change and leave some space.
Once filled, put the peppers in a wide, flat pan (do not try to cook them vertically, this never works) so that You can turn them around. Now, there are two ways this could go : You can prepare a real tomato sauce, with onions, garlic and all that, or You can just pour some water, add some tomato purée and spices and be done with it. What You prefer is up to You, but if the peppers themselves are well made, they don’t really need an elaborate sauce. To get the best of two worlds, You can add a spoon of cream to the sauce near the end. Cover the pan and leave them to simmer in the sauce, remembering to turn them gently around from time to time. Don’t let them stick to the bottom – You won’t be able to free them without ruining the effect.

Serve them in their own sauce, accompanied by a salad or another vegetable – french beans are my favourite. Since they are stuffed with rice, these peppers don’t need a side order of it. Mostly, they are a meal in their own right, which is great.

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