DoughSeeDough

a balanced plate with room for dessert

Monthly Archives: January 2010


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Stuffed Bell Peppers – with Venison!

These stuffed bell peppers went from good to great with the addition of venison! Mike got a deer this year and we have so much venison now! Though there are a lot of venison recipes out there, I’ve been trying to think of ways to incorporate it into unexpected places. The ground venison is perfect for that since it is easy to cook with! I’ve already put it into pasta sauce and now I’ve tried it in stuffed peppers, too! Both had really tasty results.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
serves 2

1 cup cooked white or brown rice
2 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
1/2 pound ground venison
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, divided
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
  2. Place the peppers cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast 25 to 30 minutes or until tender and skin starts to brown.
  3. While the peppers are roasting, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook half the green onions, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in ground venison and cook until browned.
  4. Spoon in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and the remainder of the green onions and stir until heated through. Remove from heat, mix in the feta cheese, and spoon the mixture into the pepper halves.
  5. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.


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Sweet and Sour Pork

I originally made this dish in my Food Science lab during fall semester using seitan, a meat substitute. The entire lab was really interesting, since it was based on using meat-substitutes. We used tofu, seitan, tempeh, and beans to make a huge variety of delicious dishes. This one was my favorite, and I decided to recreate it at home. While I enjoyed the seitan, I opted to use pork, since that was what I had on hand. Since then, I have also made this dish with chicken – both are very good!

Sweet and Sour Pork
serves 4

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 pound pork chops, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large bell pepper, cut in strips
1 large onion, chopped
1 20 ounce can pineapple chunks with juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork and cook until browned, stirring occasionally. Add the bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook until tender-crisp, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in the pineapple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and cornstarch. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir until thickened. Mix in pineapple chunks just before serving.
  3. Serve with white or brown rice.


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Apple Crisp

Apple crisps are tricky. They almost always look and smell great, but only sometimes taste good too. It’s hard to find the right balance between tart and sweet; more times than not I think an apple crisp is too sweet. This recipe, however, is a perfect match of the sourness of Granny Smith apples and the sweetness of the sugar.

Apple Crisp

10 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup water

2 cup quick-cooking oats
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, cubed

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F .
  2. Mix sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Pour in apples and stir to coat evenly. Pour into a 9×13 inch pan and pour water on top.
  3. Combine the oats, 2 cups flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda together. Cut in butter until crumbly and sprinkle over the apple mixture.
  4. Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes.


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Caramel Apple Pie

This pie was made a while ago, during a “family” Thanksgiving dinner with my friends and it turned out wonderfully. Unfortunately, we were too full from dinner to enjoy the pie while it was still warm. The good news is that it still tastes good right out of the fridge! If you like apple pie, try this recipe. I can guarantee that you will never make apple pie without caramel again. I only have a picture of the top of the pie; the next time I make this I will try to remember to take a better picture!

Caramel Apple Pie
makes 1 deep dish pie

1 deep dish pie crust (homemade or frozen)
6 granny smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1/2 cup  sugar
4 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 jar caramel topping

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
  3. Prepare the crumb topping by cutting the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter and mix in brown sugar, oats, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
  4. Pour apples into pie crust and top with crumb topping. Wrap pie crust edges with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil from crust and sprinkle pecans onto pie and bake for 10 more minutes.
  5. Remove pie from oven and pour the caramel topping over the pie. Cool slightly before serving alone or with some ice cream. Enjoy!


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Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes

I can’t believe it’s been over 3 months since my last post. Life had gotten just a little too crazy for me and sadly, my blog was left unattended to.I swear I have not forgotten about it, and I thank all the people who are still reading. I’m actually surprised that I’m getting this many hits!

A lot has happened in the past 3 months, but the biggest news is… Mike and I are engaged! So, with this upcoming semester, 2 puppies to take care of, and a wedding to plan, I know that I am going to be busy busy busy. My plan? Create as many blog posts as I can between now and Tuesday when classes begin!

I think I”ll start off with these mint filled brownie cupcakes! I saw this recipe on The Busty Baker a while ago, bookmarked it, and promptly forgot about it. Then one day as I was organizing my bookmarks, I found it again and decided to make it. Bookmark organization was abandoned, and these heavenly cupcakes were created.

Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes
copied from The Busty Baker

8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
12 small (1 ½-inch) chocolate-covered peppermint patties, such as York Peppermint Patties

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally just until melted, 4 to 5 minutes.
  2. Remove bowl from heat. Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth; whisk in eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa until just smooth (do not overmix.)
  3. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place one peppermint patty on top, gently pressing into batter. Top with 2 tablespoons batter, covering patty completely. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway in centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Mint Frosting
From Joy of Baking.com
Makes enough to spread a thin layer on 12 cupcakes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 – 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract or 1-2 tablespoons creme de menthe
green food coloring (optional)

  1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat all the ingredients until smooth. Add a few drops of green food coloring if you want the frosting green. If the frosting is too thick, add a little extra cream. (The frosting should be just thin enough to spread.) Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled brownies.

Chocolate Glaze
From Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Makes 1 ¼ cups

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

  1. Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium high heat; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.
  2. Using a flexible spatula, gently stir chocolate and cream until totally combined; begin near the center of the bowl and gradually work your way toward the edge, pulling in as much chocolate as possible, until the mixture is smooth and glossy. (If any chocolate pieces remain, strain mixture through a fine sieve and discard solids.) If not using immediately, glaze can be refrigerated up to 5 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently before using.