Mystery Solved

In addition to Fathers' Day this weekend, we also had a housewarming party to attend. Because I have the continued itch to create in my kitchen I decided to take on the task of making blueberry cupcakes, and 2 different kinds of hummus to bring to the party. My Kitchen Aid mixer & food processor have been calling to me & I was happy to oblige!

Love 'em!

I started out with the blueberries

Very light & fluffy...

...and pretty

Whipped cream frosting with fresh blueberries on top!

Lookin' good...

...but next time I might try a pastry bag to put on the frosting...

...would probably look neater/cleaner/prettier that way.

Ready for the cupcake carrier!

Crazy cupcake carrier!

The next task of making hummus was a little scary... for one reason & one reason only...

JALAPENOS!

arch nemesis

You may recall my recent issues with jalapenos. I decided to put our issues aside & use the remaining jalapenos to make a Jalapeno Lime Hummus. I've made it before & it was good, so I decided to just go for it.

Interesting thing happened right around this time in my cooking that is worth mentioning. I checked my mail & as luck would have it my favorite magazine was awaiting me on my front porch!

Oh, how I love getting new issues!

Because I just couldn't contain my excitement I flipped through the magazine & saw this:

Do you see it?!

Yes, that's right!

They are extra big!!!

I was so excited to see this article! I thought it was hilarious since Peter & I were so confused about the size of our jalapenos! Apparently there really are big ones out there. The article said that you could find them at your local farmers' market, but ours were from good ol' Wegmans... now back to the hummus!

Chickpeas

Jalapenos

I used plastic bags on my hands as I dissected the jalapenos before putting them into the food processor. It was a bit cumbersome, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to avoid capsaicin contamination! (I hadn't planned on making this, so I didn't have a chance to get any latex gloves to use instead). I realized around this time that I also needed a blender for this hummus recipe, so I had to bring out more of the Kitchen Aid collection!

Peter wanted me to choose between the two of them on our bridal registry, but so glad I didn't

Below are the final products. In addition to the jalapeno lime hummus we invented a garlic scape hummus as well. I personally preferred the garlic scape one. The jalapeno hummus wasn't spicy at all! I even put in extra jalapenos! The last time we made it the spiciness was evident, so my conclusion was that after sitting in my refrigerator during the last two weeks, the jalapenos lost a lot of their spiciness. Does anyone know if this is in fact what happens?

Beautiful presentation by my husband!

Jalapenos & Rhubarb

Memorial Day: Part II

Allow me to preface this post by saying that as Peter & I were departing for our picnic Monday afternoon, he asked me why I couldn't just make potato salad like a normal person. Well, that would be boring I told him... easy, but boring! I also told him that he should be proud of me for being so adventurous & embracing such an undertaking... I don't really recall his response, but I'm sure it included him rolling his eyes...

Alas *sigh* I was excited for a Memorial Day picnic because my most recent issue of Food Network Magazine had a couple recipes I wanted to try. So, in addition to my sangria making, I decided to venture into the world of jalapenos & rhubarb. Recipe #1 was for jalapeno poppers. They just sounded yummy. Pulled pork & cheese in a fried pepper- sign me up! I should've known this was going to turn into a debacle when the only jalapenos I could find were giant mutant ones.

Peter insisted something was wrong with the peppers I purchased

Once washed I had to take out all the seeds & membrane. I wasn't looking forward to this, but how bad could it be, really? Answer: bad. My hands are still infested with capsaicin. Apparently my gellish manicure that I've been raving about likes to absorb capsaicin & not let it go. I begged Peter to take my contacts out for me the night after dealing with these peppers... he refused. After he refused I began to quote our vows, "for better, for worse, etc." That didn't sway his decision at all. So, I had to stick my jalapeno contaminated fingers in my eyes to remove my contacts. It burned. My husband's gonna regret not helping me one day.

The next step was soaking the peppers in milk. I'm assuming this was to get rid of some of the heat. Side note: Soaking my hands in the milk did nothing to remove the pepper remnants from my hands.

Peppers in milk

Lots of jalapenos

For some reason this next step didn't seem weird for us to do, but now it kinda does... I do always say, "go big or go home." Since we needed pulled pork for the stuffing Peter went to the Brighton Farmers Market & bought a pork shoulder that we cooked in the slow cooker.... We used half a cup of the pork for the peppers... the pork shoulder was 2.5 lbs. Good thing we like pulled pork!

Pork shoulder in the slow cooker

Peter pulling pork for the peppers & for dinner

Around this point in the night (this was all Sunday night prep work) Peter noticed that my peppers were drying out & weren't really closing ... that's a problem... I'd prefer the stuffing to stay inside of the peppers. I got to thinking about it & realized that there was no way these peppers were going to cook adequately by just frying them in a pan for a few minutes as the recipe called for. These puppies were thick peppers! So, after refrigerating overnight I popped them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes before frying.

Stuffed, partially dried peppers

Close up of my peppers

Post baking peppers... honestly, they could've used even longer in the oven

My breading station

The finished product

They looked pretty nice upon completion. Despite that, I told Peter that unless someone told me they were the best thing they've ever eaten, I would not be making these again. While I was complimented numerous times on the peppers, no one said they were the best thing ever... this recipe is history!

Finally, the last recipe I was ready to dominate was Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp! I was really excited about this one. Peter even went to the farmer's market to get me some rhubarb! This recipe was far easier that the jalapenos!

Fresh, homegrown rhubarb

Strawberries & rhubarb

The recipe called for a 8 x 11 pan, but all I had was a 9 x 13, which actually worked out perfectly & I didn't have to worry about it "boiling over"

Crumbs on top!

Voila!

The final product served with ice cream

The crisp recipe is definitely being saved. It was a big hit & not difficult at all!