Cocktail Confessions

A buddy of mine just sent this to me.  It’s a link for a huge BBQ festival held at the Sports Park in Fountain Valley, CA come August 18th thru the 21st this year.  I haven’t checked it out myself, but I’m surely interested.

You can buy tickets early and there will be 6 award winning BBQ teams present.

From the webpage:

Welcome to the official website of The Orange County BBQ Bonanza to be held August 18-21, 2011, at the Fountain Valley Sports Park in Fountain Valley, California. You won’t want to miss this event!

The West’s Best BBQ All-in-One Outdoor Family Festival!

Thursday, August 18th — 5 PM – 10 PM
Friday, August 19th — 11 AM – 11 PM
Saturday, August 20th — 11 AM – 11 PM
Sunday, August 21st — 11 AM – 9 PM

FREE Souvenir E-Picture!

The Orange County BBQ Bonanza is the largest four day BBQ Extravaganza featuring the WORLD’S BEST BBQ Ribs, Pulled Pork, Tri-tip, Sausages, Chicken and more. The competition is fierce and the flavors rich as National Award Winning Rib Cookers of America and local grillers produce the best that their secret recipes have to offer.

Come Have a Toe-tappin, BBQ-eatin’ Good Time!

We combine local and nationally known bands, the BEST BBQ IN TOWN, giant food court (chinese, mexican, local eateries and american foods — something for everyone), children’s area (including carnival rides, bounces, magicians, and storytellers) and stage, dance floor, arts and crafts, cantinas (serving water, beer, wine, liquor drinks — “The Screaming Cowboy” and Margaritas), to create the largest BBQ Extravaganza, right here in Southern California.

I came across these recipe pages today and thought I’d share them with you.

These come from the aggregate recipe site called Kitchen Daily, a site that collects various simple recipes based upon daily themes.  In this outing I have included on on gourmet hot dogs and sausages, the other on kebabs, skewers, and satays.

Most of all the recipes here can be made on a grill, great for summertime outtings, and on a level of beginner to slightly intermediate levels, which is nice.  Of course, you don’t need to follow these recipe directions to their scripts; I think they are all pretty open to interpretation, so go ahead an experiment with various condiments, toppings, sauces, etc.

Food on a stick: 25 recipes for skewers, kebabs, and satays can be found here.

18 gourmet hot dogs and sausage sandwiches can be found here.

(iGrill Probe)

With Father’s Day almost here, I’d like to think there are plenty of wives, daughters, and girlfriends putting some serious thought into their man’s gift.  But if you have any semblance of the life and relationships I do, that’s wishful thinking.  I’m sure my step-daughter will forget me on father’s day as she did on my birthday, and my wife will probably get me the standard bottle of Maker’s Mark…if I’m lucky (she didn’t get me anything for my birthday either). 

Yeah, that little bit of information may seem bitter and trite coming from me, but in all honesty (since this is Cocktail Confessions), I AM STILL bitter about that.  Lord knows I try my hardest to put some thought into their gifts for their special days, but hey, I still believe in family and traditional roles…so call me stupid.

ANYWAY…..it’s been a while since I talked about gadgets around here as well, so I got something that may be right up your mans alley, especially if he’s a techie as well.  It’s called iGrill, the progeny of taking an iOS App (read: iPad, iTouch, iPhone) and mating it with our favorite backyard sport of grilling. (*Android users will have to be patient…it was supposedly going to hit 2nd quarter 2011 and so far it hasn’t).

Starting at $99 (which includes a thermometer, probe and the ‘app’ itself), and coming in either white or black options, iGrill works via long range (200+ ft) Bluetooth technology. In a nutshell you stick your probe into your meat which is connected to the Bluetooh thermometer, and wirelessly monitor your BBQ or Grill via your iPad, iPhone, or iTouch.

Now via your electonic device you can monitor upwards of two seperate probes, review recipes and tips, use it as a kitchen timer, monitor by temperature (upwards of 400 degrees), and more.  Thier website even has a section called iGrill University which has some cool tricks of the trade that are applicable year round.

(My wireless probe - $35)

All in all, it’s a pretty cool idea if you don’t already own a traditional wireless temp probe (I actually do) and like cool techie animations and detail to wow your friends, but the price is a bit steep in my opinion. 

My own remote basically does the same thing but only cost me about $35.  The only really new thing they introduce here is a slick front end GUI and the ability to monitor two probes at once, (but if you’re an Apple fan…you’re already used to paying top dollar for stuff you can buy at half price anyway).  Still, I won’t deny, when it come sout for Android….I may take a second look.

Got an extra $400 laying around and want to have a backyard conversation starter reliving your glory days as a pledge with your fraternity?

Well, Huntingdon County Customs can outfit you with a cutom retrofitted keg within 2-3 weeks.  And if you supply your own keg, they’ll shave off an additional $99.  You can customize this further by adding an additional adjustable brass air intake (+$39), an additional grate (+$79), or even some custom lettering (+$49) as just some of the options (check the website for more).

It comes with one adjustable air intake, a stainless steel water pan, coal/wood basket, grill plate, removable exhaust stack, and a remote digital temperature gauge.

Looks like a great ways to make a smoked brisket or beer can chicken.

I came across this ‘classic barbecue rub’ recipe today by Taming the Flame author, Elizabeth Karmel.

I’m not exactly sure what constitutes this recipe as ‘classic’, because it seems many of the dry ingredients are found in just about any rub, and I one could always modify this to add or subtract thier own spices based on individual tastes.  For example, I love the smokey and heat profile of chipotle, so I may substitute this in for the chili powder.  I also personally love rosemary which I happen to think always goes well with chicken, pork, and lamb….but it’s noticeably absent here, something I’d more than likely add.

Perhaps it’s “classic” by the definition of what are the most common ingredients across various regions and therefor the basis for all rubs with minor tweaks here and there depending if your grew up in the south or west, or north-east.

Most importantly to me, however, is that you try and use the freshest spices that you can, meaning you may want to invest in a mortar & pistol to grind your own.  That’s where all the true flavor resides, in the natural oils being released for the first time, not those stagnant and lifeless spices that have been sitting in your pantry for the past year and a half. 

Anyway, the recipe below yields about 1 1/2 cups and can be kept in an airtight container for upwards of six months.

Classic Barbeque Rub

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all these ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  For smoother rubs, you can process this mixture in a spice grinder until all the pieces are uniform and becomes a fine powder which is tan in color.  However, I like the more natural and earthy feel of untouched herbs and spices.  It appears more rustic and hearty to me and when grilled, forms a bit more of a char than a fine powder would.

In the not so distant past, I would never have given the discount store Big Lots a second glance when planning a party, let alone when thinking about hosting a backyard BBQ.

However, on a recent trip to a local neighborhood shopping center, I decided to go on ahead and check Big Lots out.  I haven’t been in one of these stores since they used to be called “Pick and Save” here on the west coast back in the mid 80′s. 

I’m not sure what I expected.  I’ll be honest in my thinking when I say I suppose I was expecting cheap clothing, clearance Christmas ornaments, “As Seen on TV” trinkets, and other second hand and junk gernerally reserved for out of state truck stops or Goodwill, but instead I discovered a whole new world that I can apply to my backyard parties.

Namely, they have tons of party supplies, backyard decorations, picnic style foods, condiments, sauces, spices and much more for dirt cheap.  There’s nothing wrong with this stuff either, that is if you don’t mind an occasional dented can, off-kilter label, mis-colored packaing, or a crushed corner of a box.

It was total impulse that I went in this past weekend, and I also did quite a bit of impulsive shopping walking away with quite a few things for a grand total of under $20.  Some of my items included: 1 bottle of marinade, 2 jars of dry rub,  a jar of salsa, 4 packs of cilantro/lime rice, a few cans of pinto beans w/ diced onions, can of diced jalepenos, a few bags of chips and more.

I strolled around a bit and I made a mental note of more things I can use next time around, and many of these things are at least 50% – 75% off the price you’d find at your local grocery store or Target:

• Tiki Torch fuel
• Dixie plastic cups (the kind you see at parties), plates, utensils.
• Chips, dips, salsas, nuts and candies of various varities.
• Sodas, energy drinks, teas.
• Rubs, mustards, marinades, spices, crackers, canned beans.
• BBQ utensils, charcoal, lighter fluid, portable/disposable grills (for camping or the beach).
• Bug sprays, cintronella candles, solar lights, disposable towels, coolers, outdoor furniture, and more.

Most of the stuff is name brand, although there are a few ‘generic’ products in the mix, but I know I would have spent closer to $50 or more for the same excat stuff I bought for just under $20.

So try a Big Lots the next time you think about hosting a BBQ or backyard party.  You’ll be surprised what you’ll find for discounted prices, especially in this economy.

With summer just around the corner, I hope to be Q’ing a lot this season.  I really enjoy hanging out in my backyard, entertaining my neighbors and friends with good food and better beers.  So with the unusually warm weather this past weekend, I had the opportunity to fire up the ‘ole gas grill and get back into the groove of things.

But what to cook?

Burgers…..nah.  Chicken….not in the mood.  Sausage…next week.  Just so happened we had a nice 3+ lb of Tri Tip in the freezer that we purchased on sale some months back just taking up prized freezer space.  So I took it out Friday night and let it defrost overnight.

But first, what exactly is Tri-tip your asking?  Well for you curious types (like me), tri-tip is small triangular beef muscle from the bottom sirloin primal cut (see picture).  And to do my closest Alton Brown impression, the scientific name for this muscle is Tensor fasciae latae, the connective tissue covering the Quadricep (a group of four muscles) which in turn insert into knee cap of the cow.  It generally weighs 2-3 lbs, but can be a bit or less.  It’s generally smoked over red oak, baked in an oven, or roasted on a rotisserie. 

It’s popular for sandwiches, and more recently replacing ground beef on the competitive chili circuit because of its low fat content (when trimmed) and low cost.

So let’s get to cooking.

First things first……take a nice sharp paring or like knife and trim off any excess fat flaps dangling loose.  I also like to trim of some off the uneven extra fat off the fat-cap (generally on one side) so that it is more uniform across the entire surface.  But like a brisket, don’t cut off too much.  You’ll want a decent portion of the fat cap intact to maintain the moisture and to enhance the flavor during a slow cook.

Now that the tri tip is trimmed, I went ahead and prepared a chipotle flavored marinade from an over the counter dry spice packet from the super market, (Lawry’s brand).  It’s made with 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup vegetable oil and poured into a large plastic freezer bag which I then placed the tri-tip in and tried to get as much coverage as I could before placing it back in the fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably 4-8 hours if you can manage).

If chipotle is not your bag, go ahead and try another wet marinade, but you’ll want about 1/2 cup for every two pounds.  Otherwise you could do a nice dry rub as well.  Can I suggest something with a bit of rosemary or thyme in it, and go low on the sugar if you you do a dry rub.  Sugar may burn and carmelize a bit early on during the grilling and we’re going to get a nice crust anyway without having to complicate things.

About 1/2 hour prior to grilling, go ahead and take out of the fridge and allow the meat to come up towards room temperature.  During this time, go ahead and pre-heat your gas grill on high and after 10 minutes or so take your wire brush and clean off the grate as best you can so your tri-tip doesn’t stick.

Now that the grill is ready and your meat has been pulled out, there’s a few diffrent options/directions we can take this: 1) high heat sear followed by quick cooking at high temp, 2) smoking your meat, or 3) slow and low.

I’m opting for slow and low, meaning a longer cook time at a much lower heat.  This will help ensure a more evenly cooked product, reserving much of it’s internal juices, and also helping to tenderize the meat my breaking down that otherwise tough connective muscle tissue.  High cooking temperatures can result in fat flare ups from high flames.  I also don’t want to smoke it this time because my chipotle marinade already has a built in smoke component (chipotle is smoke-dried jalepenos afterall).

Now that my grill surface is clean, I turn my burners down to low and try to maintain an external temperature reading of 275-300 degrees F.  I then place my tri-tip on the grill, fat-cap side up initially, in the center of the bbq and walk away for a good 20 minutes (go ahead and have a beer now…you deserve it).  The reason I start with the fat cap on top is in theory, like a brisket, the fat will slowly melt and render downwards back into the meat itself, adding flavor and natural moisture.  If I placed it fat-cap down first, chances are much of it would drip straight into the grill….wasted flavor.

After 20 minutes, I break out my stainless tongs, and flip over once and leave for another 20 minutes.  Don’t worry if you see some crust or bark at this point.  It should be a nice dark brown color and look somewhat moist…all good and full of flavor.  As long as it isn’t charcoal black and flaking off like carbon (burnt), we’re in good shape…

Now that another 20 minutes have passed (40 total so far), go ahead and flip again to the orignal side.  Depending on how large your tri-tip is, you’ll flip it every ten (10) minutes from now on for the remainder of cooking time.  Since mine was just over 3 lbs, my total cooking time was about 1hr. 20 min. before I took it off to rest.  If yours is bigger…add time, if smaller…subtract.  But remember, as soon as you pull it off the grill, the carry over heat will continue to rise and cook from within for at least another 10 minutes….so its very important to let your tri-tip rest.

For those that are really skittish about meat temperatures, use a probe smack in the center.  Rare is considered to be 125-130 degrees internally, whereas ‘medium-rare’ is 130-135….and don’t forget about the carry over heat!

Place your tri-tip on a cutting board, and loosely cover with tin-foil undisturbed for 10-15 minutes.  This allows much of the juice to slowly flow back out from the center and distribute evenly before slicing.  Now’s a good time to get your side dishes out if any and call people to the table.

Go ahead and carve 1/3″ slices with a nice sharp knife.  Anything left-over (if there any leftovers) can be used in sandwiches teh next few days.

Enjoy.

Getting around to this entry has seemingly been an effort with no real excuse for the delay.  It just feels like I have been so busy as of late that there just aren’t enough hours in the day anymore to get done what I want to get done.

Case in point is not only making a few pounds of sausage, but then sharing this with you.

As I alluded to earlier in the year, I wanted 2011 to be the year where I start getting back into the various hobbies I find enjoyable and used to dabble in. I’ll be brewing beer in a few weeks from now (early March), I’m currently working on my train layout, been reading a lot more books as of late, and finally got back into making sausage.

My cousin Jayne sent me an old family recipe from notes her grandfather had when he used to make Italian sausage from the old country when he came over here to America. It’s pretty straight forward: 1 part pork to 1 part beef, a can of mace, some red wine (most likely chianti), and a few other spices.

On the surface, while this recipe sounds simplistic enough, after reviewing it a few times in my head I noted that I was getting more and more unsure about it as some key information seems to be missing.  Namely, what the hell is a ‘can of mace’ and what is its measurement? And as long as we are speaking measurements, how much wine are we talking about? How much and what other spices (I assume salt, pepper, and maybe some fennel) are required for equal parts beef and pork?

Well, it’s easy enough to find out what ‘mace’ is, that still doesn’t tell me what a ‘can’ of mace is. Is that 6oz? 8 oz? 12 oz? And another key ingredient seemed to be missing altogether….fat.

Fat is what gives a good sausage its moisture content. Too little fat can result in a very dry sausage, while too much may make it too greasy and a cardiologist nightmare.

To my families disappointment, I shelved the family recipe for the time being (I will eventually have to experiment with this on my own, coming up with measurements by trial and error), promising to get to it at a later date.

Earlier in the week I had called my local butcher and had him reserve for me roughly 4 lbs of pure pork back fat. I also grabbed 10 feet of natural hog casing (which is made from the intestinal lining of a pig) which resides in a small plastic bin of water and some brining fluid. *While hog casing can be frozen and will keep for a while prior to usage, I tend to like to use it as fresh and as chilled as I can. When it starts to warm to room temperature and left out for a bit, you can sometimes detect an odor. I don’t particularly care for this odor and since I worry a lot about accidental introduction of bacteria, I try to limit the handling of fresh casing until I start stuffing, and I try and make it as quick as I can and then return to the refrigerator or freezer when not on use.

In the meantime, I broke out an old standby, my ‘Complete Sausage Book’ by Bruce Aidell. I’ve had this book for a number of years, and while it’s a no frills book, it’s an excellent source of information and tons of regional recipes. In the past this book has guided me through Mediterranean and Southwestern fare, chicken sausage, turkey with pesto and artichoke, and many more.

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Looking in my pantry I saw that I had the dry spice ingredients to make two different varieties: Hungarian hot links and one of my old favorites, Mexican (although not chorizo).

Friday night it happened to be raining, so it was a great excuse to make my first batch, the Hungarian hot links. I broke out my Krups meat grinder, and went ahead and ground my fresh pork shoulder and beef chuck. I also added a good portion of pork fat, all my spices, mixed thoroughly and set in the fridge, covered, overnight to let the flavors blend and stabilize. It was the next morning that I went ahead and stuffed my casings. It was a little more laborious than I remembered only because the feed plate to the hopper kept coming off the base due to a vacuum effect of pulling and pushing the manual stuffer with one hand and guiding the actual output into a casing with the other.

While it can clearly be done this way, its definitely can proceed much faster with two people: one person feeding the hopper with the other guiding and controlling the casings. I will enlist my wife on round two.

Now with the first batch done, I turned my sights to the second batch, the Mexican varietal. What gives this variation its distinct flavor is the inclusion of ground chipotle and cumin along with some Negro Modelo dark Mexican Ale (my all time favorite beer) added for additional flavor and moisture. I think in the future when I make this again, I may also add a small can of pre-chopped jalapeño into the mix as well for some additional kick. (If not jalapeño, then maybe some mild diced pablano pepper instead just to bring a tad more south of the border flair to it.)

I more or less followed the same procedure and broke it up into two stages for overall ease. Saturday afternoon, I ground my meat and fat, added fresh ground spices and beer, mixed, and placed in fridge overnight. I also had a couple of Negro Modelo’s at this point to aid in the cleaning up process. Finally Superbowl Sunday morning came around and I got my wife to volunteer her services. She’d be placing the meat in the hopper and feed tube, and I’d be guiding the casings. In the end, it was much faster to produce almost twice as much finished links as it did when I made the Hungarian links the day before.

The final result: We tried the Hungarian hot links and they were very juicy and tasty.  The Mexican sausage had a great flavor, but maybe because my friend may have slightly ‘over grilled’ them, they were a bit drier than I expected (not enough fat?).  Although the weekend after we threw a sauage party at my house and I grilled them again with a few other varities as well, and they seemed to be much tastier and plump, but lacked the ‘kick’ I really wanted.  But it was my neighbors and friends that were the final judge.  I seemed to have gotten a thumbs up from everyone and a few of my neighbors are still talking about them today, so I’ll take that as a good sign.

Following on the tails of the previous entry (they were originally together, but my beer memories grew too lengthy), here’s my take on homemade sausage.

It’s another hobby I really enjoy.  There’s a lot of creative freedom in making your own sausage, the marrying of fresh meats such as pork and beef with all those fresh ground spices.  It’s very satisfying to stuff your own casings and see how very plump and juicy they are, and you know how fresh your ingredients are.  There is absolutely no comparison when it comes to store bought, pre-packaged sausage and the stuff you make on your own.  There’s no sulfates, preservatives, colorings, or questionable cuts of sub-par filler meat you have no idea what part of the animal comes from (lips and assholes anyone?).

And like brewing your own beer, there’s definetly some bragging rights somewhere in the mix when you can cut off your own links and grill ‘em up for your friends.

I was never too keen on breakfast sausage.  It’s okay, and I’ll eat it, but I normally don’t go for the little maple infused breakfast sausages.  They always taste either a bit too greasy or to burnt for my liking, and I know the meat in those comes from questionable sources.  I’m also not a fan off too much fennel seed, or sausages that have been frozen weeks ago in their travels to the store.  A lot of larger grocery chain stores will have their own ‘mild’ or ‘spicy’ Italian sausages, but I always think they lack the flavor I’m really expecting.

My favorites include the oh-so-bad-for-you Mexican Chorizo, and German (or is it Polish) Kielbalsa?  Of course a good beer-brat with grilled onions on an artisan roll is also divine.  And if you make your own beer, how can you deny the perfect synergy of craft beer and sausage…they go togother like Lindsey Lohan and….well…everybody I suppose.

Just over 7 years ago, (even before I started brewing my own beer), I got a small electric meat grinder by Rival, I think.  I even bought a book of professional sausage recipes that went way beyond just pork and beef.  There were exotic game ones that included venison, ostrich, boar and some to be made with poultry and veggies such as artichoke hearts and others that incorporate other mixtures such as pesto or a tapenade.

I also made them pretty traditionally, that is with actual hog casings (meaning cleaned intestine lining) and not this artificial paper-esque collagen stuff.  I used to go to a local butcher an get a few pounds of both beef and pork, and often needed to call ahead of time and ask them to same my all the back fat they could (a required ingredient for ‘real’ sausage making…by controlling the fat..you’re controlling the amount of flavor and moisture you introduce into the mix). 

And not being satisfied with over the counter spices that may have been sitting in my pantry for years on end, I even bought my very own stone morter and pistal to grind my spices and release their fresh aromas and oils.  You can’t beat the taste or smell of freshly milled spices, and that’s the sign of an above average sausage.

I made a chicken and artichoke pesto sausage once.  Turned out pretty good, but I was super nervous handling the chicken and keeping it cool while I worked.  Stripping raw meat off the bones was harder that you think as chicken tends to get a little slimy, and can cause major food poisoning if not handled correctly.  You must clean all your surfaces both before and after, at least twice, and I suggest using those new Lysol or Clorox towelettes to clean counter tops to avoid any change of contamination.  I’ve had food poisoning from bad and uncooked chicken before…..it is the worst!!

Of course, the beer infused ones are even better, because often during my mixing process, the recipe may ask for a few ounces of beer.  So what do you do with the rest?  Well, drink it of course.  I don’t think I ever made a round of sausage in my kitchen that I also didn’t have a buzz going on from Negro Modelo.

It was a sad day about 5 years ago when I made a fatal mistake of becoming lazy for a moment and put the plastic stuffing tube into the dishwasher.  It was only after I ran the dishwasher did I realize that the spinning arm inside took a chunk out of it and deformed it, and thus my electric grinding and sausage stuffing days were over….

Until now.

Today I found two replacement universal stuffing tubes on Amazon.com for the low, low price of $9.98.  I added it to my electronic shopping cart (as well as a copy of WoW: Cataclysm for all you gamers out there), and now I’m already salivating at the idea of breaking out my old grinder (wife says it’s in the garage somewhere….I’ll try and find it this weekend.) and getting wrist deep in ground meat in the coming weeks.  Oh the joy of soon calling my long lost friend, the butcher, to once again request he save me 2 pounds of back fat and make sure he has about 10 feet of hog casings.  I’m actually looking forward to making a nice spicy summer sausage.

This is a fairly easy recipe and even harder to screw up.  As a matter of fact, there really isn’t any hard measurements here at all, everything I did here was more or less by eye-balling it and made it up as I went along.  I like it because it only has a few key components and the rest is totally up for you to decide. 

You can take a lot of extra veggies, spices, and other extras you may have lying about the fridge or pantry and come up with a satisfying concoction of your own.

Since I’ve been on a diet lately and trying my hardest to drop a few extra pounds I’ve been lugging around, my main component here was ground turkey instead of beef.  Your local grocery store most likely carries Jenny-O brand turkey and they generally come in 1-1.25 lb packages, and that’s what I used here.  Also I’d like to think this is probably healthier that most stuffed peppers because I didn’t use any cheese or processed stuffing, and the peppers and spinach you’re going to use are both full of iron, vitamins, and of course fiber.

You can either finish this in the oven (preheat oven to 425, if you choose this route) or on the grill over indirect heat (more on this later).

So here are the key ingredients that you’ll need:

• 1 package (about a pound or slightly more) of ground turkey.
• 1 package of frozen spinach, thawed.
• 4-6 bell peppers, depending on their size and how much stuffing you make and can fit in them.
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup uncooked rice.  I used Jasmine rice, but if you’re partial to a wild rice blend, or want to mix a little long grain rice in with your white rice, then so be it.
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste.
• Instead of traditional tomato sauce or paste, I actually used fresh salsa, but you want to make sure it’s heavy on the pureed tomato side like Ortega or La Victoria brand, mild to medium.  Other salsa’s may be a bit to chunky, or heavy on spices, or too watery.  You can also do a 50/50 mix such as 50% salsa, 50% arrabiata pasta sauce.  As a matter of fact that’s what I did here.  In the end, you really can’t differentiate between salsa and pasta sauce if they are heavy on the tomato puree.

Finally, you’ll want some extra spices and content to make this yours.  For my southwestern blend, I used the following: 1/2 -2/3 cup diced white onions, 3 cloves diced garlic, white pepper and ground cumin to taste, pinch of ground chili pepper and/or chipotle powder to taste.  Optional ingredients include: black beans, 1/8 – 1/4 cup diced fresh cilantro, maybe some roasted corn kernels, and favorite shredded or crumbled cheese, sour cream, and sliced avocado for garnish.

Preparation:

• In a separate medium sauce pan, prepare cooked rice like you normally would.  Generally 1/2 cup rice to 1 1/4 cup boiling water and let simmer for 20 minutes or so until rice is cooked.
• While rice is cooking, heat some olive oil in large skillet over medium heat  and crumble in turkey to brown.
• Wash, stem (by cutting off the top 1/2“), and hollow out your bell peppers of any excess internal membranes and seeds.  You’ll want to make sure you cut the tops off straight so that peppers will stand up evenly when cooking in oven or grill.
• When turkey looks about 80% done (very little pink left) in skillet, go ahead and add your diced garlic followed by the diced onion.  Go ahead and cook an additional 5-10 minutes to get onions slightly translucent and garlic lightly browned. 
• OPTIONAL:  This is where you can choose to add a little bit of black beans, roasted corn kernels, diced cilantro, finely diced jalapeno, or any other goodies you like.
• Add a dash of your onion, chili, chipotle powders to taste.  Add a ‘few’ dashes of your Cumin powder.  The cumin really comes out here.  My ratios were like 3 parts Cumin to 1 part of the other dry spices. 
• Now reduce heat in skillet and begin to crumble in your entire package of thawed spinach and your cooked rice at this point. 
• Add approx 1-1.5 cups of your salsa/pasta sauce mixture (it was about 2/3 cup of each for me, poured straight from the bottle…remember, I “eye-balled” it).  Mix thoroughly.  We’re looking for the consistency of pre-cooked meatballs or meatloaf (see picture above and examine contents in skillet) so you may need to add a bit more salsa or tomoto sauce if mixture is too ‘dry’.
• Salt and pepper your stuffing mixture to taste.
• Now that your stuffing is thoroughly mixed, spoon into your hollowed peppers up to the top.  If you retained the pepper tops, you can go ahead and place them back on.  This isn’t crucial, but looks cool for presentation purposes (see picture).

Cooking:

The peppers themselves are pretty hearty critters so don’t worry about burning or drying out from the high heat and 1 hour cook time.  The pepper walls are full of water and will steam themselves over time.  If not cooked long enough, they don’t become tender and may be hard to cut through with just a fork and may still seem ‘firm’.  Don’t worry about the insides….you already cooked the turkey on the skillet…your just steaming the peppers at this point and melding the various flavors in your mixture.

Grill – If you choose to grill this on your BBQ, place stuffed peppers on proper grill plate or metal basket and arrange over indirect medium heat (Temp gauge should be between 400-425F) and close kettle to keep heat in and create convection.  Check once at 30 minutes and rotate peppers half turn.  Close kettle and continue to cook at least another 30 minutes.  Check again.  If pepper still seems a ‘little’ tough, give ‘em an extra 10-15 minutes. 

Oven – Arrange peppers in a ceramic or glass dish (or cookie sheet lined with tin foil) and place on middle rack.  Bake at 425F for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until flesh of pepper is malleable.

Serving:  Once removed from heat, let sit 5 minutes to firm up and steam to dissapate.  Careful, steam is hot and dangerous.  Remove tops and placeon side of plate (if you used them) and garnish with slices of fresh avocado, cilantro, a dollop of sour cream, and maybe some crumbled feta, cojito Mexican or like cheese.  Enjoy.