Caliblini Personal Chef's Blog

Today I prepared my largest menu, what I call 7×6: 7 entrees, with appropriate side dishes, 6 servings of each, and a pot of soup. I also packaged half of it in vacuum bags for my clients to freeze and take on vacation next week. Sure, I’m exhausted, but also very proud of myself. This menu made using fresh organic produce from San Rafael Farmers Market, and free range meats and poultry, mostly from our local Tara Firma farm, and all came out very well. The herbs I cut in my garden in the morning.

Here is the menu:

Potato and meatballs soup
Roasted Alaskan salmon, mushroom sauce
Mashed new potatoes with fine herbs
Mushroom, pea, and spinach frittata
Slow cooked greens with bacon
Chicken saltimbocca
Gnocchi with herbs and garlic
Duck with figs and port sauce
Rice pilaf with vegetables
Stuffed peppers
Lamb burgers
Whole-wheat buns, marinated onions, fire-roasted peppers, baby greens
Beef and vegetable stew

I was delighted to find real new potatoes at the market. Most potatoes sold as “new” in the supermarket are just regular potatoes, small size. Real new potatoes are only available in the very beginning of the season. They are picked before the potato plant matures and the green tops die. They have paper-thin skins that you can rub off with your fingers, very delicate taste and texture, and they take minutes to cook. They shine in simple preparations:
- boiled whole and served hot with sour cream and chopped parsley
- parboiled, then briefly sautéed in clarified butter, finished with sea salt of fler de sal
- boiled and coarsely mashed, with chopped parsley, tarragon, and chives

Of course, for a large service like this I selected either relatively simple dishes, or the ones that I cooked thousands of times, and can probably cook blindfolded, with my right hand tied up, in a kitchen full of two-month old kittens. This actually spears in favor of these recipes: it means that they are everyone’s favorites!

I have made the last stuffed peppers of the season. The rains are coming this weekend, and the farmers have to pick whatever peppers are left on the plants, less they will be destroyed by the weather.

For stuffing, select bell peppers of uniform, relatively large size, and flat bottoms that they can stand on. Red and yellow peppers are fully ripe and have the sweetest flavor, and hold the shape best. Green and purple are good for stuffing too, just watch them close as they cook: they are underripe, soft peppers, that can overcook and lose their shape quickly.

I leave the cream out of the sauce for those who are on a dairy-free diet with very little loss of flavor.

Stuffed peppers
Makes 6

6 large bell peppers

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 carrot, cut into match sticks
1 small onion, cut into small dice
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
3/4 pound lean ground beef
2 cups cooked basmati rice
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt, pepper

2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock, or as needed
2 Tbsp heavy cream (optional)

Cut tops off the peppers. Remove the white pith on the inside of the tops; reserve the tops. Remove the seeds and ridges from the inside of the peppers, taking care not to damage the peppers. Blanch peppers and tops in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove, drain, let cool.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and carrots, sauté until light golden, 5-7 minutes. Add celery, reduce heat, cook until the vegetables are soft, stirring frequently. In a large bowl combine ground beef, cooked vegetables, and rice. Season with thyme, salt and pepper to taste. If you have quality fresh ground beef, it’s ok to taste the raw stuffing. Or, take a teaspoon of stuffing, cook in a little olive oil over medium heat until the meat is done, taste, adjust the seasoning, repeat.

Fill peppers with the stuffing. Set them upright in a deep roasting pan or a braising pot. Select a pan or a pot that fits the peppers tightly, so they support each other as they cook and soften. Add tomato paste and chicken stock to come half-way up the sides of the peppers (use more or less stock if needed; if short on stock, it’s ok to use water).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Bring the pan or pot to a boil on the stovetop. Place in the oven. Cook until the peppers are tender and the stuffing is fully cooked, about 1 hour. Alternative method: if using a braising pot, bring to boil on the stovetop, reduce heat so that the sauce barely simmers, cover with lid or aluminum foil, cook on the stovetop until done,about 1 hour.

Carefully remove peppers to hot serving plates. Boil the sauce over medium heat to thicken it. If desired, stir in cream. Pour sauce over peppers. Serve hot, or let cool, place in covered containers, and refrigerate up to a week. Reheat in a microwave, on medium setting.

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Location:San Rafael, CA