Happy Monday to you all! I must apologize for my absence on WordPress. I will admit I owe everyone a Sunday’s Crazy Ingredient Recipe. This past weekend has been slammed for me, I drove to the Bay Area to work an event as the event coordinator/ manager. I want to thank my friend Charmaine Drona for helping me set up and enjoying the event.

• In this post I will be sharing two recipes!!

I must say this cold weather we are having in Sacramento calls for a warm dish. How does stuffed mini peppers sound?? Similar to Gemista but a bit of a change.

Stuffed Mini Peppers Recipe

Ingredients:

• 20 mini sweet peppers a mix of colors
• 2/3 cup of arborio rice
• 3 tablespoons of extra Virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of white wine
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup of kalamata olives chopped
• 1/3 cup of freshly grated pecorino Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees or 230 Celsius.
2. Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet.
3. Bake peppers for about 10 minutes.
4. Cool on baking sheet.
5. To prepare the peppers, use a paring knife to cut along the opening of the side of the pepper.
6. Scoop out all of the seeds.
7. Repeat with each pepper.
8. Place the rice in a saucepan, cover the saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil.
9. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes.
10. Whisk together the oil, wine, oregano, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.
11. Add in the kalamata olives.
12. Add the rice to the mixture and stir to combine.
13. Stuff each pepper with the mixture and add the cheese.

Preserved Lemons Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 lemons
• 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf

Directions:

1. Prepare the lemons by slicing off the ends.
2. Chop lemons into 1/4 inch pieces and discard the seeds.
3. In a medium bowl, place the chopped lemons, salt, brown sugar, red pepper flakes , and bay leaf.
4. Transfer to a clean mason jar and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface.
5. Let the preserved lemons stand in room temperature for 2 days then store in refrigerator.
6. This is good for 3 months.

Kali Orexi!