Stuffed Bell Peppers... and a learning opportunity

One of the fun things about people sometimes not being around is that you get to enjoy things that they dislike.  So when the bell pepper-disliking part of my family gone and a bag of mini bell peppers from a friend sitting in my fridge, there were really only a couple options.  We went for stuffed bell peppers.

Rather than actually getting out all the recipes (we have several) and trying to figure out what ingredients we had or didn't, we turned to what ingredients were at our disposal.  A rice base seemed simple and filling.  We had rice.  Onion and leftover tarragon (from the Strawberry Marinara I posted about earlier) would be good flavors.  And cheese was a must.  I love cheese, and the idea of a cheesy bell pepper just makes my mouth water.  Since we were going to be grilling our peppers, I chose Halloumi, a firm-textured sheep's cheese that grills well.

We used:
8 mini bell peppers
1/2 C calrose rice
1/2 of a sweet onion, chopped
1 stalk fresh tarragon, chopped
1 piece of halloumi (or feta), about 1 inch by inch by 4 inches, chopped
extra 1 inch by 1 inch slices of halloumi

1)  Cook the rice, then combine it with the onion, tarragon, and chopped cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2)  Cut the tops out of the peppers, slit them down one side, and remove any seeds.
3) Pull the edges of the peppers away from the slit and fill with the rice mixture.  Arrange the peppers on a greased cookie sheet or grill rack.

4) Roast the peppers.  I recommend doing this on a grill, because then you're outside and you don't need to worry about lingering smells.  (I once broiled some bell peppers inside, and found that no matter how fantastic they were, after 2 days it is no longer a welcome smell, and I wound up spraying air freshener with fans on and the window wide open even though it was snowing.)  I have a propane-powered grill, so it was super-easy.  Even if you don't, just get the grill going, put the peppers in place (on the cookie sheet or rack still), and cover the grill to trap in the heat.  Peek in every once in a while to see how things are going.  When the peppers are ready, you should see some browning or blistering of the skin, and/or softening and browning of the cheese.  (Firm textured cheeses don't really melt the way things like American or cheddar do.)

We had just enough for two bell pepper-lovers.  Incidentally, the rice filling makes a fantastic dish on its own-- How fantastic?  It was made again the very next evening.  To me, if it's worth cooking 2 days in a row, it must be pretty yummy.

Alas, not everything turns out as wonderfully as that.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to share something that didn't turn out well, but I didn't want to give it its own post, because that would be kinda lame.  So I'm piggy-backing this disappointment onto the triumph of the peppers.  Actually, I made this first, and the bell peppers were the next thing I tried.  (Why I keep on trying.)

I made some Lentil Soup.  Now, I have a really great Lentil Soup recipe,  but, for whatever reason, that wasn't really what I wanted.  I wanted something different.  Something with less onion and more...  something.  So I had the idea of cooking lentils with beer.  Now, beer is actually a great thing to cook with.  Ever had beer bread?  Beer cheese sauce?  Those are wonderful!  My soup wasn't.  It turned out really bitter.  I tried to balance the bitterness by adding a some sugar (not enough to make the soup sweet, because that would be equally gross) and more salt.  To an extent, it helped.  I served toast on the side, because you can use it to soak up some of the flavor (it's sort of like dillution, but with a solid).  Ultimately, though, this was not one of my successes.  I threw out the leftovers, because no one wanted to eat any more of it.  But!  I really do believe that as long as you learn from a non-success, it's not a total failure.  So, what did I learn?  1)  Some beers are better to cook with than others.  2) When working with strong-flavored ingredients, add less, taste, and then add more if you want.  I had chosen to cook with a very bitter beer (Sierra Nevada's Ruthless Rye), because I figured the strong flavor would be balanced by the lentils.  Nope.  I should have either used a different beer, or just used less.  So, although this is just a quick, piggy-backing blurb right now, hopefully I'll try again and get it right.   It just might take a while.