Saturday, August 27, 2011

stuffed hot peppers, buffalo-style

Buffalo is a hidden food gem! After going to the food city of Montreal I've come to realize people who love food should trip to Buffalo as well. I can honestly say there are actually too many places I'd love to eat at and just not enough time. One item I've discovered over the past year is their infamous stuffed hot peppers. So I decided to make my own version of Buffalo's Famous Stuffed Peppers.
There wasn't really a recipe for this, I just did my best to decode the flavours. First I sauteed garlic and onion in butter until soft. Add breadcrumbs and a little Italian seasoning, Franks Hot Sauce and crispy proscutto. Once heated through, I blitzed everything in the food processor with Parmesan & Emmenthaler cheese (romano & pepper jack could work in substitution). 
We used a couple Cubanelle Peppers (mild & sweet for Owen) along with the traditional Hungarian Hot Peppers. The peppers were first baked for 10 minutes, cooled, then stuffed. A final bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes just before serving and they turned out perfect! Topping of fresh tomato and sprinkle of parmesan and these looked exactly like what you'd find in WNY. 
I also made a side of Corn Fritters.  I was initially going to use the recipe in Great Food Fast, but decided to use Jiffy Corn Muffin mix instead. The recipe is essentially the same thing and I had to try out my first ever box I picked up at Wegmans last week. Along with the mix you add fresh corn, an egg and some milk to a pancake-like consistency. They fry up just like pancakes and they are absolutely delicious! Great for kids.

This was an awesome American-inspired dinner that was a real treat. I'm sure we'll have both these recipes again but unless your dining with small children, I'd suggest sticking to banana peppers because the heat is what makes the stuffed peppers wonderful.

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