by Andrea Meyers of Andrea’s Recipes
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Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook
Peppers are a favorite of the culinary world with more than twenty species and many varieties of each specie. Flavors range from sweet to very spicy with heat levels rated according to the Scoville scale, which measures the amount of capsaicin, the chemical compound that gives peppers their famous heat. Bell peppers fall at the bottom of the scale with a rating of 0 Scoville heat units (shu) while the hottest pepper, the Naga Jolokia, can rate a staggering 1,050,000 shu. Even the hottest habanero chile only rates up to 580,000 shu, so I can’t even imagine what a naga jolokia would do to my mouth. Whether you want fresh bright flavor or something that will set your mouth on fire, you can find a pepper to suit your palate. A popular addition to summer gardens, peppers are generally easy to grow and have the best production in hot weather, making this the perfect time of year to find fresh peppers in stores, at the local farmers market, through your CSA, or in your home garden.
Sweet Peppers
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House of Annie
Colorful sweet peppers perk up the flavor of many kinds of dishes and really shine when the dish makes use of the myriad of colorful peppers available. Jen of Use Real Butter combines beautiful fresh peppers with onions, prosciutto, fresh herbs, and goat cheese to make a stunning roasted pepper tart which she says is perfect for entertaining. Peppers also go well with pasta as Kalyn demonstrates with her recipe for whole wheat spaghetti with Italian sausage and peppers, and they also make a splendid addition to tomato sauces such as a San Marzano Sauce with Peppers at Andrea’s Recipes. Many types of sweet peppers can be stuffed with your favorite fillings, whether it’s cheese, rice, meat, or vegetables. Karina of Karina’s Kitchen shows how to make buffalo sausage stuffed peppers that are perked up with Southwestern flavors, and Pille of Nami-Nami goes Italian with her peppers stuffed with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and basil. Use smaller sweet peppers to make appetizer sized stuffed peppers, or use roasted peppers in a dip such as Roasted Red Pepper Dip. Peppers also add flavor to chilis and soups such as Foodie Reflections’ Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Chili and Elise’s Roasted Red Pepper and Potato Soup.
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Life’s Ambrosia
Peppers make a perfect addition to salads and side dishes, and techniques such as roasting or grilling bring out more flavor. Farida of Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook shows how roasting peppers and tossing with simple ingredients produces a beautiful Tri-Color Bell Pepper Salad, Deborah of Italian Food Forever follows the same philosophy to create a simple roasted pepper antipasto dish, and Shez of One Bite More grills her peppers along with other vegetables to make a mixed grill plate for appetizers or a side dish. Peppers can also be pickled and turned into relish, and for inspiration check out the simplicity of Alanna’s Bell Pepper Relish and Pickles and the stunning red color of Alice’s Red Bell Pepper Relish.
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Phoo-D
The crispy crunch of fresh bell peppers can turn even the most basic salad or salsa into a delight. For an Asian twist try Alanna’s Daikon Pepper Salad with daikon radish, red pepper, and watercress, or Asian Cabbage Salad from Andrea’s Recipes. For more Mediterranean flavor, Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska put together a beautiful beet and red pepper salad with gorgeous colors, and Kalyn combines green lentils, red pepper, and feta cheese to make a very healthy salad that could be a light meal. For more fresh flavors, Inn Cuisine offers a Black Bean and Bell Pepper Calico Salad with corn, red onion, garlic, and red wine vinegar, or you can make a simple pepper salsa from Artichokes & Asparagus to top baked salmon
Hot Peppers
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Use Real Butter
Spicy peppers can give a little kick or a big jolt to any dish depending on how intense you like the heat. Fresh chiles lend plenty of flavor and heat to salsas, stir fries, soups, and many other dishes. Dried chiles are popular for marinades and sauces, just wipe them clean to remove any dust, dry roast them in a pan to bring out the flavors, then use according to the recipe. If it’s a really hot salsa you crave, try the habanero salsa recipe from Life’s Ambrosia, and if the fresh habaneros are too much you can use jalapeños instead. For a spicy meat sauce, Sounding My Barbaric Gulp has a Grilled Carne Asada with Cilantro Jalapeño Sauce that uses two fresh jalapeños, enough to give plenty of kick. You can pick up some great tips for working with chiles from Homesick Texan with a post on to turn a bounty of jalapeños into pickles, a Simply Recipes post proper technique for roasting fresh chile peppers, and The Perfect Pantry post on how to make your own dried red pepper flakes. If you want to make your own hot sauces, you can find instructions for making the popular Thai Sriracha Sauce at Viet World Kitchen, and for a real burn try Rick Bayless’ Chile de Arbol Hot Sauce at Orangette, which calls for 50 to 60 hot little chiles de arbol.
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A Veggie Venture
If marinading meat before cooking adds more flavor, adding spicy chiles to the marinade or using powdered chiles in a rub ensures the flavor will go to a whole new level. Phoo-D combines a spicy dry rub with an equally spicy braising liquid to make a Mexican Style Pulled Pork, perfect for sandwiches. Adobo is a common marinade or sauce, and the traditional Mexican
version uses dried chiles in a marinade with vinegar and spices. Chipotle peppers, which are smoked jalapeños, are often sold canned in an adobo, and are popular for sauces and marinades for the smoky flavor they add. We Heart Food uses chipotle peppers to add some smoky heat to their Chile-Marinated Pork, and The Perfect Pantry marinates skirt steak in chipotle sauce. Chicken is often marinated in adobo, and the grilled meat makes delicious tacos, fajitas, and salad meat. Ben’s recipe for chicken adobo uses ancho and pasilla chiles and adds a little orange zest for fresh flavor.
Chiles also add plenty of flavor to appetizers, soups, and main courses in Hispanic and Asian cuisine. One of the most famous Spanish tapas is the padron pepper, which is known for it’s pungent flavor and occasional very hot pepper, and eating them can become a bit of a game to see who gets the hottest pepper. House of Annie demonstrates the class method for preparing padron peppers simply in a saute pan until they blister and sprinkle on some good sea salt before serving. Jalapeños also make delicious appetizers, and Judy of No Fear Entertaining shows how to stuff, bread, and fry jalapeños to make poppers. Poblano peppers are another favorite spicy stuffing pepper, the type used for making chile rellenos as shown at The Kitchen Witch. Small spicy chiles are often used in Asian soups such as Rasa Malaysia’s version of Tom Kha Gai, a Thai coconut chicken soup, and Vietnamese Pho, a beef noodle soup, from Steamy Kitchen.
And of course, no matter which type of pepper you choose, the FoodieView Recipe Search can also help you find more inspiration for dishes with hot and sweet peppers.
Andrea Meyers writes about her adventures in the kitchen and garden with her four hungry guys.
