Tonight Earl and I had a good friend for dinner. I had warned her there would be a new recipe, one that I’d saved from a magazine since 2021, so there were no guarantees. But with my cooking there rarely are.
I’m not one of those people who photographs her every meal for Facebook, so perhaps you’ll indulge me this once as I blog about the entrée. It was called “Unstuffed Peppers,” and the recipe was accompanied by an attractive photo of the finished product.
Originally this recipe caught my attention because another friend of ours, M, makes the best stuffed pepper filling we’ve ever had. The thing is whenever he gifts us with it, we promptly remove the filling from the peppers and eat it unencumbered. We like peppers, but for some reason we don’t like them stuffed.
So when this recipe crossed my path, I thought it would be the perfect antidote to wasting the peppers. Yes, there are peppers in it; but they are diced along with the onions and garlic and are not so obvious.
Earl and I diced and sauteed and mixed the ingredients earlier this afternoon, using the recipe which, by the way, came from Costco. I had a sneaky suspicion as we worked that there was something amiss, because there were few herbs or spices in it. While the mixture was heating on the stove I tried a variety of go-to options for adding zip. There was Worchester sauce, chili powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, and basil.
I taste-tested after each addition to the mix, but it still remained bland to me. So when our friend arrived, I was already full of disclaimers. Even put all the aforementioned spices on the table so we could doctor the entrée as we saw fit.
The thing is Earl and our friend didn’t seem as concerned about the flavor as I did. They both went for seconds, although Worchester was a popular addition to their dinner plates.
I’m not sure what this experience means. Maybe I’m just tired of cooking and need a night at a pizzeria. Or maybe I should ask M for his stuffed pepper filling recipe and try again.
In either case, the ice cream for dessert was delicious.
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