You Lika da Peppa- Part Dos

After preserving over a dozen jars of pepper jam, my fridge still contained a large quantity of red peppers and what better to do with red peppers than Roast them! Now I love buying those lovely yellow cans of roasted red peppers in the store and eating them with crispy bread and cheese but have never tried to create myself. It was intimidating and seemed time consuming.. how could I possibly get regular fresh peppers to that deliciously slimy consistency that they were in the can? Well, my friends never think those thoughts again because these peppers were a snap!

Simply place 4-5 red peppers on a cookie sheet preferably with parchment or foil. Turn your oven to 325 degrees. Place peppers in oven for one hour. Turn every 20 minutes or so. Remove from oven and cover with a towel for about an hour.
Now this seems like a long time but while roasting these peppers and letting them sit under the towel I multi-tasked and managed to clean my kitchen sink, do laundry, go the gym and do grocery shopping and when I returned these little babies where ready to have their skins slipped! I sliced of the top stem and peeled the skin right off! Then rinse out the seeds and boom RoASTED! You can throw a splash of olive oil and salt on them and eat right away on crispy bread but I took this one further to make a spread.
Now keep in mind the amazing red pepper spread that is to follow can also be prepared with your everyday roasted red peppers from a can as well if you don't feel like getting fancy smancy but let me also say that roasting your own peppers in not only significantly more delicious but also significantly more satisfying.

Roasted Red Pepper Spread
In a food processor or blender, combine 2 cups of roasted red peppers, 2 Tbl of olive oil, 2 tsp of salt, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup of fresh basil. Blend to a spread.
While preparing this spread, I sauteed some onion, garlic and Italian sausage, then boiled some pasta and wilted some spinach in with the sausage when done cooking. I coated the pasta with roasted red pepper spread and topped with spinach/sausage mixture and asiago cheese... Voila. Dinner.

Two days later with more spread to spare, I smeared toasted baguettes with goat cheese and topped with pepper spread alongside some kalamata olives and wine.



 

You Lika Da Peppa... Part 1

September is my favorite month for a variety of reasons but one of the best of these reasons is the plethora of produce just waiting to be frantically canned or preserved in some manner before the long cold winter comes upon us. My garden is brimming with tomatoes and peppers, trees are becoming heavy with pears and apples  and so I fire up my stove (once again wishing it had six burners), crank the tunes, tie on my apron and cook, cook, cook.

Last week, I put in a request for my little market girl to bring me some peppers from the market for my summer stash of hot pepper jam had been depleted by some hungry boys. Fortunately/Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what to make of it she procured 3 large bags of peppers for a mere seven bones, enough for pepper jam and so much more. You may notice the part one on this post because I created far to much amazing deliciousness with these peppers than can be described in one post. First, I will share with you what I stored in my little Ball jars in my "Long Cold Winter Cupboard" which I once again wish was larger, ahh the foolish dreams of a food freak!

Hot Peppa Jam
Chop finely 1 cup of jalapeno peppers and 3 cups of sweet peppers (mix of red and green). I highly recommend the use of a food processor for this or it will take you forevverr! Place peppers in a large pot with one packet of Sure Jell and 1 cup of cider vinegar. Let come to a rolling boil ex: you try to stir down that boil and you can't Buster! Stir in 5 cups of sugar and return to a boil. Cook for 1 minute. Put in sterilized jam jars and can. It will set up when cool.

Now you may be asking... What do I do with a jam of hot peppers.. put it on my toast??
Answer: Yes! and more!
1. Best used on crackers with cream cheese or regular cheese
2. On Grilled/ baked fish
3. On grilled cheese, eggs... with a spoon??

And the best part of these little jars of heaven... Gift for a friend? Jam!!  Dish to pass? Pepper Jam!!! Spontaneous Happy Hour with Friends and No Hors D'overes?? Pepper Jam. In fact, the last time this happened to me I had people throwing money at me begging for pepper jam party favors.