Sunday, October 11, 2009

Roasting Peppers


By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

We have bushels of red peppers ripening in my garden shed and I am roasting them to make ajvar. I finally discovered an easier way to roast the peppers so that they are evenly charred.

First, wash the peppers, remove the core and seeds, and cut in half. Place the halves on a lined cookie sheet--foil works best. As the peppers roast, they let off juices and under the broiler, these juices are difficult to clean from a baking sheet.

Flatten each pepper half with your hand. This trick makes the peppers brown evenly. Turn the oven to broil and put the baking sheet about 8" under the broiler--you want them to char but not turn to mush.

Broil the peppers until they are evenly blackened turning the pan after about 5 minutes. The peppers will blacken in about 10 minutes.Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit for for 15-30 minutes. The heat from the peppers steams the blackened skin away from the peppers so they are easy to peel. If you have used foil to roast the peppers, just wrap the foil around the peppers and let them sit.

Remove the plastic wrap or foil and let them cool. Then pull the skin away from the peppers. Voila! That's it.

One of our favorite summer dishes is grilled chicken breasts brushed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil served with slices of roasted peppers and fresh basil.



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