6 bell peppersFor the Stuffing:
5 cloves garlic – chopped15 oz. can of red beans – drained2 tablespoons - raisins1 jalapeño pepper - diced2 carrots – diced1 bunch scallions – choppedHealthy handful of Italian parsley – chopped1 ½ lbs. ground beef6 slices of bread 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes1/2 tsp salt½ tsp black pepper 1 tsp chili powder½ tsp cinnamon ¼ tsp nutmeg2 cups chicken brothOlive oilGrated Parmesan cheese
Carefully take the tops off the bell peppers and setaside. Carefully take the ribs and seedsout of the bell peppers and set the peppers aside.
Heat a griddle and place the slices of bread on the griddleto toast. Drizzle each slice of bread witholive oil and dashes of garlic powder. Let each slice get golden. If you do not have a griddle you may do thisin the oven.
For the Stuffing:Heat a large frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and addthe ground beef. Sauté until the beef iscooked.
Add the carrots, garlic, scallions, raisins, jalapeño. Add the seasonings and continue tosauté.
Add the beans, crushed tomatoes and chopped parsley. Cube the toast and add the cubes to the panand toss. Season the stuffing again totaste.
Preheat Oven 350 degrees:
Stuff each pepper with the mixture, top with grated Parmesancheese and a drizzle of olive oil over each pepper. Top with the pepper caps.
Add the chicken broth to the bottom of the dish.
Bake for 40-45 minutes.
This is a delicious dish served with a nice side salad.
Enjoy with Love,
Catherinexo
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Mark Taira, son of founder Robert Taira spoke about his dad founding the bakery in Hilo, Hawaii in the 1950's. Mr. Taira's neighbor would bake a Portuguese round sweet bread that only lasted one day. Mr. Taira perfected the recipe to last much longer and an industry was born. After setting up in Honolulu in 1963, on King Street, his bread became known throughout the state. Then, in 1977 they opened the factory in Torrance, California. We visited the second factory in the South Bay. What was even more exciting? It was the very first time non-family and friends of the founders were allowed to tour the facility!
Nothing like seeing thousands of fresh hot dog buns whirling along conveyor belts...from rolling out, proofing, baking and packaging. We saw the new hot dog buns being produced as well as the delicious honey wheat rolls. At the end of the tour, they lifted a few boxes off the belt and served them up with butter. Literally, hot from the oven!
After the tour, we were treated to a wonderful lunch. King's brought in the best food trucks to make special meals on King's Hawaiian bread. Lobsta Truck rolls with butter on the new hot dog bun? OMG....so delicious! The Buttermilk Truck made french toast sticks with King's bread for a sweet treat. The Ludo Truck makes crispy, perfectly seasoned chicken, and the Kogi Truck short rib sliders on King's rolls were amazing. In addition, the King's family made delicious tail-gate treats - great ideas for the upcoming football season!
Three generations of Taira's work at the King's Factory and Restaurants including the founder's brother (not pictured) who rises everyday and works in the bakery. With so much of our food made by large multi-national conglomerates, it was special to see a successful, Southern California family business. And, as my mom would say, "Okinawan too!"
The dessert buffet was outstanding...including two types of bread pudding made with King's Hawaiian bread. Have you been to the King's Hawaiian Restaurant and Bakery in Torrance? Another reason to visit the cool ocean breezes in the South Bay of Los Angeles. I love the Paradise cake, and blogged about it here and here.
I went home and opened the largest swag box ever. It contained every one of King's products, an apron, Hawaiian coffee & candies - oh my! I made a simple dessert with mascarpone fruit toasts - find the recipe in the next post.
I wanted to make a super easy treat you can throw together in a flash. Just cut King's Hawaiian bread into shapes, toast with butter, and top with a sweetened mascarpone cream mixture and fresh fruit. How easy is that?! I used some Ateco rounds and scalloped edge cutters.
I toasted the bread pieces in my cast iron pan with butter. You can adjust the amount of butter to suit your tastes...it only takes a few minutes. A simple mixture of mascarpone cream, sugar and cream is spread on the toast pieces.
Top with any fruit you have available... a slice of peach, nectarine, pear or kiwi would be nice too.
I used a mascarpone, sugar and chilled heavy whipping cream mixture on top of the toasted Kings Hawaiian bread similar to this one I used to fill pastry shells for a wedding.
The grinder is full of sugar and cinnamon chunks that you can grind into your own topping. I've used it on toast, but it would be great on baked apples, warm fruit, or as a easy topping when you bake muffins. 
Don't have a Trader Joe's near you? Well, let me pause for a moment to feel sooooo bad for you! I have a friend who lived in Colorado for some time and finally moved back to California, yelling the whole drive back, "I'm going to live near Trader Joe's again!!"
I added some corn to the cornmeal to make it corny. Hee hee. This isn't "cake" with some cornmeal (like the Marie Callender's type), this is cornbread. It would be great as a base for stuffing.
Ouch! Stitches in the thumb!
Texas Sheet Cake comes together quickly because you boil the butter, water and cocoa together for the batter, and then boil the icing or frosting while the cake is baking in the oven. Instead of waiting for the cake to cool like most other frostings, with Texas Sheet Cake, you pour the frosting on a WARM cake. Easy peasy, no?
I found the cake really yummy. I like baking it in a 9 x 13 pan (compared to the larger half-sheet pan) so you can make it a bit taller - more like a sheet cake instead of brownies. The baking time was very different than the recipe (recipe: 12-14 minutes, me: 21 minutes). Also, I prefer the Pioneer Woman's icing. Martha's recipe has heavy cream in the frosting - while yummy, sometimes I don't have cream in the house.
As summer winds down, give it one last shout out with this easy cake. It's perfect for Labor Day brunch...right before you turn on the BBQ.
Sweet fruit. Light cake. Simple recipe. It's summer on a plate.