Today was a very nice day - cold as hell, but nice. It was one of those Sunday mornings where ya don't want to get out of bed - because you don't have to. I had a few things that I needed to catch up on in bed - reading the paper, sleeping. I didn't get out of bet unlil around 1pm. Sluffed around, put on some clothes to do some minor errands and packed up to head out for a really frigid bike ride.

Headed out to Vienna - and boy oh boy, twas cold. But not as cold as the weather people claimed it was going to be. Suited up in the community center, then assembled my bike - I was almost frozen in the 8 minutes it took me to assemble my bike, put on gloves, et al. I set out towards Reston - as only going to do a short stretch, maybe 20-25 miles. A I get into the groove, I came across one of my buddies from the bike club I belong to, and his Girlfriend - both of whom are amature racing celebrities in the local circuit. We pacelined it on out to Sterling and back - it was nice to see them. Dinner party is in order. We said farewell, I came home and cooked an amazing meal (added to my cookblog):

Photo credit: d. scott gregory

Spicy Italian Sausage, Roasted Garlic, Shitake Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Peppers

6 Bell Peppers (Capsicums - variety of colors, 2 red, 2 orange, 2 yellow), top sliced off, cored of seeds
6 medium links Spicy (hot) Italian Sausage, cubed
1/2 cup re-hydrated shitake mushrooms (in warm chicken broth, reserve broth)
large 1lb bag fresh leaf spinach
6 cloves garlic, roasted and minced
1 large vidalia onion, minced
1/4 cup romano/pecorino cheese, grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated (separated into 1/2 cup portions)
1 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Lightly oil a high edged casserole dish.

In a large saucepan over high heat, add olive oil - heat until glassy then toss in garlic, onion and shitake mushrooms - saute for about three minutes until onions become transparent, then throw in cubed sausage chunks, stir quickly - until nicely browned. Add reserved chicken broth that shitake mushrooms were in. Spoon scrape brown from bottom of pan into sauce while folding in all elements. Add salt and pepper, add a handfull of spinach over top and cover, let steam for a minute, take off lid, add another handfull, repeat until all spinach is added. Remove lid and cook until most liquid has evaporated.

Put this cooked mixture into a bowl to slightly cool while you add the bread crumbs stirring quickly and then 1/2 cup pecorino and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheeses. Stir liberally until everything is thoroughly mixed.

Spoon in this mixture into the peppers and place into the oiled casserole dish, then use the rest of the mozzarella to cover the top. Place in preheated oven uncovered for 25 minutes. Remove and enjoy! Great served with polenta.

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