 |
 |
 |
Marinated Peppers This is a very useful concoction to have on hand. It keeps well in the refrigerator and it can be used in many different ways. We make it often as it's a favorite of my wife, who has it for lunch, spread on a slice of toasted French bread, maybe with a few anchovy fillets on top. It is ideal served as an antipasto or as a garnish. It supplies color and flavor when mixed into a green salad, bean salad, or potato salad. Fleshy, round sweet peppers are excellent for this dish. They come in green, red, and yellow, but yellow ones are rarely available, and red ones appear on the market in summer only. The taste of all three is basically the same. Avoid buying soft, wilted, or wrinkled peppers. Look for shiny, plump ones with thick flesh. The long, tapered, pale green peppers—so-called Italian peppers—are sweet and also excellent for this recipe. Removing the skin greatly improves the dish. Roasting the peppers to release the skin partially cooks them and makes them more tender and sweet. Removing the tough skin imparts delicacy and removes bitterness from the peppers. Peeled peppers can also be stuffed with a mixture of rice and meat and baked in the oven to be served hot or cold. We used a tomato in the following recipe, mostly to give color and replace the red peppers which were not available. 3 thick, roundish green peppers (12 to 14 ounces) 3 long Italian peppers (7 to 8 ounces) 1 ripe, red tomato 3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and chopped very fine (1 tablespoon) 1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Roast the peppers on a rack under the broiler, about 1 inch away from the flame, for approximately 12 minutes, turning them every 4 minutes or so until they are black, charred, and blistered all over. Immediately enclose them in a plastic bag and let them steam for 10 minutes. The steam releases the skin, making it very easy to slide the skin off. Pull the skin off; it will release easily. Split the peppers in half. Remove the stem and scrape out the seeds. Cut into 1/2-inch strips. You should have approximately 2 1/2 cups of strips. Peel the tomato (see Tomato Salad with Basil). Cut it in half crosswise and press it to extrude the seeds. (The seeds and skin can be saved for stock.) Cut the flesh into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice and mix with the pepper. Add the garlic, oil, salt, and pepper, and mix well. The mixture can be kept in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks. Serve with crunchy French bread. 6 SERVINGS Return to Top | Back to Recipes |
|
© 2001 jacquespepin.net |