Wednesday, June 9, 2010

October is for Peppers

 ... I should have posted this a while ago but if you're reading this now, go put your peppers in the ground so you can make this come October! :)

When most people think about food in October they think about apples, pumpkins, or maybe even cranberries. Some people think about beer and Oktoberfest, but around these parts we consider this pepper season.  In Michigan we wait all season for lovely sweet red bell peppers but they seem to elude us until the beginning of Fall.  It seems that the chilling weather sends the plants into a mad dash to ripen their fruit before the frost can claim them thus giving us a bountiful harvest.  We also have a penchant for hot peppers, and this year has been plentiful for them as well.  My kitchen has been adorned with ristras, the cupboard is full of jalapeno jelly, and we've been choked out of the house several times by drying and grinding chiles.


This year we grew some amazing sweet peppers which I regretfully should have taken photos of before I chopped them up and cooked them.  Our most impressive peppers came from a packet of seeds labeled 'Sweet Heirloom Pepper Blend' so we will never know exactly what they are, but I saved the seeds.  They were huge, thick walled, delicious, and even the plants were attractive.  The neighbors even commented on how big they were!

In honor of our bountiful sweet pepper harvest I present you with a wonderful roasted red pepper recipe.



 Roasted Peppers with Herbs
adaptation from Williams-Sonoma Simple Classics

2 lbs or sweet red bell peppers

3 tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 small sweet onion or shallot (1/2 cup chopped)
2 tbs chopped fresh oregano, thyme, or your favorite herbs
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
coarsely chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Roast peppers under the broiler, peel, seed, and cut them into 1/2 inch strips.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm 1 tbs olive oil.  Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent.  Remove from heat and stir in the herbs.  Transfer to a baking dish and spread the onion mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan.  Arrange peppers evenly in the dish on top.
In a small bowl combine the balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, 2 tbs of olive oil, and whisk together.  Spoon evenly over the peppers.  Cover and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes or until peppers are tender.  Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Are those your pictures and harvest? Great shots and great looking peppers. I'll have to give the pepper recipe a try once I track down some shallots (I've struck out my last two times out looking for them).

Flavor Farm Girl said...

Thanks! All the photos are mine and all veggies are from my garden!

Simply Life said...

thanks for all the kind words on my blog -those peppers look great!