Suggest that you try some pimento peppers. These are very thick meaty ones and are almost twice the thickness of a bell pepper, as well as being sweet when ripened to red. The bottoms are usually pointed. I grilled them in my gas grill with mesquite wood chips to burn off the skins when they turn black. Then, I puree them with roasted onions and roasted garlic, also done on the grill. For canning they are all pureed and Balsamic vinegar is added. Really great spread on crusy bread or as a topping for roasted chicken. They also dehydrate a lot better compared to a bell pepper due to the thicker meat of them. Thats what is pushed into green olives. I may also roast and can as whole, but with stems and seeds removed.

A tip from one in Native "Smoke" country (Texas) Regardless of your chosen smoking wood there is a term often over looked,green wood and seasoned wood,knowing the true differences is the key to over all smoke quality. Mesquite is a very good wood when used with experience,that "toxic" flavor most describe is from the "green" and primarily from the bark. Remove the bark on wood that isnt at least a year/season old from cutting and the animal indeed changes spots. Using Mesquite as a finishing wood works very well over both pecan and oak for very distinct flavors with all meats(even fish,both fresh and saltwater species) These simple tricks are passed down thru generations and will not be seen on FoodTV. I cant wait to grow some quality strains and smok'em like we do old school wild game meats.

Made my first batch of stovetop lasagne and it is going to become one of my "go to" recipes. Great for using up spare pasta, which I almost always seem to have around, particularly lasagne sheets. Also great for when you feel like eating lasagne but don't feel like fussing with assembly. This is a combo recipe from Tyler Florence and Pillsbury. Skillet Lasagne Before starting the meat you can make a mirpoix of oil, onions, carrots and celery if you want, or some green pepper and mushrooms, whatever you would like in your pasta sauce, but if you use a jarred or canned sauce you don't have to do this, particularly if your sauce already contains onions, etc. So however much you want to flavor it up or not depends on your taste and time. Add garlic towards the end of this step if you want some. 1-2 tsp. is probably enough. I use the lower end of the garlic spectrum. Brown a pound of some type of protein. Most recipes call for ground beef but I used ground turkey and next time I make it I may use a mix of meat and beans, or perhaps some veggie crumbles, and I'll bet you could use part italian sausage for flavor it you're a big meat eater. Salt the meat to your taste as it is browning. If the meat is fatty, drain before proceeding with the dish. Add 1 large jar canned spaghetti sauce or Italian flavored tomato sauce. You need 26-28 fl. ounces of the sauce, so use whatever you have on hand that will equal that amount. I used a 24 oz. jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce and 2 oz. of my own home canned tomato basil sauce. You could also use canned tomatoes and canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, etc. to get the desired amount. Season to your taste with italian seasoning if you like. I tend to do this because I find store bought sauce bland, and if I am making the sauce from just plain tomato sauce, then I want a lot of seasoning. Add 1 1/2 cups water. When mixture is boiling lightly, add 3 cups pasta (you don't want a hard boil because too much of the water might evaporate if you do that, and then the pasta will stick--ask me how I know!). The pasta I used was broken up lasagne noodles and then some campanelii to supplement to 3 cups. You could also use mafalda ribbons. Cook the pasta for about 15 min. Test for pasta being done. Your water should be absorbed and the sauce thickened. Watch out, since this dish actually might get too thick if you're not careful. You can always add more water to it if it starts to get too thick. While the pasta is cooking, make the ricotta topping. The recipe says to use 16 oz. of ricotta, which is a typical container (although mine was 15). For my taste, this is too much, but your mileage may vary. Mix this with about an equal amount of chopped frozen spinach. I had a 16 oz. bag, which I used about half. If I had a 10 oz. package I would use it all. Mix the ricotta and spinach with 1/3 cup grated parmesean, a healthy pinch of basil or oregano or italian seasoning, and 1 TBSLP dried parsley if you have it. If you hate spinach you don't have to add it, just plain ricotta is fine, and if you have some other type of vegetable you would like ti mix in, like kale or shredded zuchinni or something else, by all means do it. When the pasta is done, mix up the casserole to make sure the meat, sauce and pasta are evenly distributed. Spoon the ricotta mixture on top of the casserole and cook 5-7 min. more until the topping is heated through. Then, top the dish with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella or italian style shredded cheese and broil for about 3-4 min. until cheese melts. Here's two pictures of my dish. I was out of shredded mozzarella so I had to use mostly cheddar in my dish.

Stainless will release meat when it is ready to turn. Do use a broiling pan. Your oven probably came with one - go find it and try it. Your foil just collects the fat right there under and around the meat, close to the broiler element do that it can pop, smoke and even flame up on you. Yes, your newer oven is likely to have options for either different broiling temps or settings that you likely didn't have in an older oven. Use the right tools and check out the options they give you. Now, I grew up here in Texas and we can grill most of the year -- so we grill burgers and steaks. If that's not an option for some reason, I pan sear or pan fry. I think you get a better sear and carmelization = better flavor. I started back when I was single and I didn't want meat fat smoking if I went to bake and I didn't want to have to clean my entire oven just to cook meat for one. I read a cooking magazine article about pan frying way back then - so the only meat cooked in my oven is roasted. You could try that. Use cast iron if you have it or stainless. Never a coated nonstick.