Farmer’s Market Stuffed Pepper Fun Time: Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Dibs on the red one!

The vast majority of our meals start out at the local grocery store chain with the question “what do you want to eat tonight?” We wander the aisles looking for something fresh or on sale to spark our interest. On this particular Tuesday, however, we limited our search by heading for the local farmer’s market instead of the grocery store. Fresh fruits and veggies would be the centerpiece of Chris’s creative spark this evening and all three of us were excited about it.

Actually, Ivan was more interested in the giant Halloween pumpkins but he was a big part of the adventure nonetheless. 

Anyways, Chris and I looked at all the farm-fresh goodness as she spit out a variety of ideas. A simple vegetable stir fry and butternut squash soup were the first ideas she threw out when the meal took a completely unique turn. I was looking at the assortment of peppers while Chris stumbled across locally made grits from the restored mill right up the road from us in Pendleton, SC.  She suggested stuffed peppers with grits and we were on our way.

Them's some happy grits!

It is important to note here that even though we live in South Carolina, we are not grit eaters. She admitted that she had never made them and I have only had grits once or twice since I was a child. This was uncharted territory for us but I was looking forward to seeing how it worked out.

What We Bought

                One bag of Timms Mill yellow grits

                Cubanell peppers

                Freshly made sharp cheddar cheese from Foothills Hoop Cheese out of North Carolina.

The Grits

Four cups of milk brought to boil. You can also use water or chicken stock but Chris went for the milk because she wanted a creamier texture.

Add one cup of grits.

Chris – “These are some nice looking grits!”

Me – “What does a nice looking grit look like?”

Chris – “I dunno… happy?”

Did I mention we are not regular grit eaters?

Add teaspoon of salt to grits and milk and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

“And now we wait.”

While We Wait

Of course there was a delicious microbrew involved.

Cut tops off of the peppers and clean out the insides. Even I could do this part. This meal is ridiculously easy.

Cut up the shrimp from that we did not use (or rather, spared) from my attempt at gumbo on Saturday. It had been cooked on Sunday but we did not want to waste it all in the abomination that was my gumbo, so it seemed like a good fit for this experiment.

Shred the cheese. This is my job because shredding cheese in on the short list of things I excel at in the kitchen.

Finish waiting

Put It All Together

            First we taste the grits. I have to say they were pretty darn good by themselves.

Add the cheese.

Chris – “Wow, wow, wow!” I think she likes it with the cheese.

Add shrimp

Add a little bit of scallion.

Mix well and stuff the peppers “to the gills”

Drizzle the stuffed peppers with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and a smattering of the raw grits.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes, Chris sprinkled a little more cheese on the peppers and kicked the broiler on for just a minute to get them to brown.

Take out the peppers and gather around as a family and say “Wow!”

The Result

I forgot to tell you about the Asian broccoli slaw.

For a woman that has never made grits cooking for a family that does not eat a whole lot of grits, I have to say that this was an amazing meal. Previously, I have only eaten stuffed peppers when they were bell peppers and at no time were they ever filled with shrimp and grits. The entire process was inexpensive, easy to make and absolutely delicious.

At the end of the meal we held a round table discussion* about what we might do differently next time. Chris and I thought things could get a little spicier and Ivan’s request was for a higher shrimp content. I am sure there are a lot of things we could do to kick this meal up a notch and I am looking forward to seeing what Chris comes up with on the next go-round. We will let you know what she comes up with and if you try it out in the meantime, let us know what worked for you!

*Okay, technically it was not a round table discussion.  We sit at a rectangular table but with only three people it takes on more of a triangular effect. I am a math geek, so this is important for me to note.