What to Do With Too Many Peppers: Make Hot Sauce

I bailed on my cooking challenge this week. I was supposed to make something cold, something I hadn’t made before. I made vanilla ice cream. That doesn’t really count, although it was very good with a compote of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. A real Fourth of July red, white and blue dessert.

Also, posting new challenges may become spotty over the next few weeks, since we are going to be traveling a fair bit. But I’ll try to keep posting little tidbits here.

For instance, if you are a gardener, or know someone who gardens, you may find yourself inundated with peppers this time of year. What do you do with all those peppers, especially if they’re hot chiles? Last summer, I discovered the solution: make hot sauce! This recipe comes from Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It, a very useful cookbook to have (by Karen Solomon).

You will need 2 pounds hot chiles: 1 pound jalapeno and 1 pound serrano for a really hot sauce, or substitute poblano or pasillo for some of the peppers. Wear gloves!

Wash and dry the chiles. Remove the stems. Slice in half lengthwise and scrape out most of the seeds. Grill or broil the chiles, skin side toward the flame, until blackened and charred.

Chop 3 cloves garlic in a food processor. Add the chiles with 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 2-1/4 cups white vinegar and 4 tablespoons sugar. Puree until well combined.

Refrigerate in a glass jar. It will keep for months. How to use it? I use it wherever hot chiles are called for: in sauces, salsas, soups, stews, curries, etc. It is great to have in the winter when fresh chiles aren’t so plentiful.

Bruschetta with Cheese and Peppers

I made these bruschetta for a light supper last night, and I thought they were scrumptious. The combination of spicy, tangy peppers and flavorful cheese just hit the spot. I might make these again for a party, a snack or lunch.

These bruschetta were inspired by a much more complex recipe that involved three kinds of cheese and getting the food processor out. I simplified the recipe a great deal, omitted some ingredients (like cream cheese, which seemed completely unnecessary), and decreased the amount of prep work required. I didn’t take note of the precise amounts I used, so all measurements in the recipe below are approximate — use your best judgment. Also, I would imagine that this recipe can be doubled or tripled fairly easily.

Bruschetta with Cheese & Peppers

Time to make: ~20 minutes
Yields: 4 lg. bruschetta

• 4 thick slices of sourdough, French or Italian bread
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved
• 3-4 hot or sweet marinated peppers — I used Italian hot peppers, which I think added just the right amount of bite; you might also try a combination of peppers or use roasted chiles.
  
• 2 scallions
• 4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 oz. ricotta salata, crumbled — If you don’t have ricotta salata, substitute any similar cheese, such as feta or goat cheese.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay out the slices of bread on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt over each slice. Rub each slice with a garlic half. Put the bread in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp and brown at the edges.

Meanwhile, mince the peppers and the scallions. Mix with the cheeses.

When the bread is toasted, mound some cheese mixture on top of each slice. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, just until the cheese is starting to melt. Serve immediately.

Garden Goodness: Mixed Sauteed Vegetables

When the garden starts really producing at the end of summer, you need to think of lots of ways to eat up all those lovely vegetables. You can’t go wrong with a mix of sauteed vegetables.

This versatile dish goes with so many things. Use it as a bed for grilled chicken, steak or fish, or top a heap of pasta or rice. Cool, toss with a vinaigrette and serve as a salad, or use them to top bruschetta. Sauteed vegetables also make a nice filling for tacos, omelets or sandwiches.

My favorite garden vegetables for sauteeing are onions, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, summer squash and zucchini. (The pictured mix is onions, cherry tomatoes and diced eggplant, sprinkled with parsley.) But experiment with different vegetables and combinations.

The technique couldn’t be easier:

1. Cut the vegetables into small slices or dice.
2. In a nonstick or well seasoned skillet, heat a small amount of oil over medium-high until the oil is shimmering.
3. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until they are browned and tender. Most vegetables take 10-15 minutes.
4. Season and sprinkle with fresh herbs to serve.

Note: Watch the vegetables carefully while they’re cooking. If they’re browning too fast, reduce the heat.

Roasted Red Pepper & Yogurt Dip

Another big-time party is coming up, so time for a couple of dip recipes to hit my blog. This dip is a very pretty coral color, super-easy to make, tangy and really good. It goes well with crudites and pita chips. No one will ever guess you used yogurt (yuck!) for the base. (Actually, I eat plain yogurt almost every day for breakfast, so I am a fan of the flavor.)

Roasted Red Pepper & Yogurt Dip

Serves: many people
Time to make: ~5 minutes with pre-roasted peppers

In a food processor, proccess together:

• 1 cup roasted red peppers — jarred or roast them yourself under the broiler until the skins turn black
• ½ cup plain yogurt (not low-fat!)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Notes:If you use jarred red peppers packed in olive oil or vinegar, substitute some of the liquid from the jar, but reduce the amount a bit.

If you roast your own red peppers, let them steam for about 10 minutes in a paper bag after roasting. This will make it easier to remove the skins. But don’t stress about peeling every bit of skin off, since the smoky flavor will just add to the flavor of the dip.

How to Make the Perfect Stir-Fry

The secrets to a successful stir-fry are organization and preparation, which are also the keys to accomplishing pretty much any complex task. Cooking is a small mirror held up to life (profound, huh?). If you can pull off a good stir-fry, you can probably successfully manage three complex software development projects with deliverables expected in late December, or the equivalent. We’ll see.

Before you even start cooking, you’ll want to get yourself and all of your ingredients organized. When the cooking starts, it goes fast, so you’ll need to have everything ready and at hand. The first thing I do is cook the starch, either rice or noodles, such as Chinese ramen-style noodles or angel hair pasta. The rice will steam and then stay warm while I’m preparing the stir-fry. The noodles will be done fast and then can sit in their pot until I’m ready to mix them in and reheat them.

Second, prepare the protein. I usually use boneless chicken breast for this dish, but turkey, pork, shrimp, scallops, fish or tofu should also work just fine. For 2 people, I use about ¼ pound of protein. Remember, traditional stir-fries are skimpy on the meat and generous with the vegetables. Cube the meat and let sit in a mixture of 1 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tbsp. sherry and ¼ cup water while you prepare the vegetables.

Choose 2-3 vegetables for the dish, enough to make ½ pound. Keeping it simple keeps both you and the stir-fry from getting overwhelmed. Dice or slice each vegetable into as nearly uniform pieces as you can make them. Arrange the cut vegetables in bowls in order of their cooking time, with the longest cooking vegetables first:

1. Mushrooms: 5-10 minutes, depending on type and thickness
2. Cabbage, spinach, other greens: 4-6 minutes
3. Asparagus, broccoli, carrots, green beans: 3-5 minutes
4. Peppers, snow peas, sugar snap peas, summer squash, zucchini: 2-3 minutes
5. Bean sprouts: less than 1 minute

These are just suggestions. You may want to try other vegetables.

In addition, mince 2 garlic cloves and ½ tbsp. ginger root, and place them in line behind all the vegetables.

Next, prepare the sauce. My base stir-fry sauce is a mixture of ¼ cup chicken stock, 2 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. cornstarch and 1 tbsp. flavoring, such as a bottled Asian sauce, sake or rice wine, or fermented black beans soaked in sherry. Feel free to experiment. I give a suggested variation at the end of this post.

Finally, get your garnishes together. Chopped nuts, sliced scallions, raw bean sprouts and minced fresh herbs all make good garnishes.

The last step is to prepare a coating for the protein for cooking it. Drain away the marinade and toss the chicken (or whatever you’re using) in a mixture of ½ tbsp. sesame oil, 1 tsp. cornstarch and 1 tsp. flour.

Now you’re ready to assemble the stir-fry:

1. Heat 1 tbsp. peanut oil in a nonstick skillet over high until shimmering
2. Add the protein in a single layer and cook without disturbing until browned
3. Flip each piece and brown the other side in the same manner
4. Remove the cooked protein to a plate
5. If needed, add another ½ tbsp. peanut oil to the pan
6. Add the vegetables in order of their cooking times and stir-fry, keeping the food moving constantly, until tender
7. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir-fry 30 seconds
8. Reduce the heat to medium
9. Return to the protein to the pan and mix in the sauce
10. Stir-fry until the sauce thickens
11. If using noodles, stir them in and heat through
12. Remove from heat, garnish and serve

Sweet Chili-Garlic Stir-Fry Sauce

Serves: 2

Mix together:

• ¼ cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. honey
• ½ tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1-2 tsp. chili sauce, depending on taste
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. cornstarch

Some Notes About Seasoning

When a recipe directs you to “season,” right off you should read it as: “add salt and pepper to taste.” Unless the recipe is already very salty or very hot from other ingredients, these are absolute essentials. But here is what the cookbooks won’t tell you: The rest is up to you. The seasonings you pick should depend on the ingredients you are working with, the flavor theme you are going for and your personal tastes. Forget what the recipe says!

There are only a few basic ground rules you need to know about seasonings. The first is that the seasoning should be entirely to your taste. What’s overly spicy hot for you may taste on the mild side to me. That’s another reason why you can’t trust cookbook recipes, which I think often err on the side of blandness, and you have to taste, taste, taste while you’re cooking. I usually like to taste and add seasoning at each major step in the recipe.

You should also know that cookbook recipes often make seasonings more complex and mysterious and time-consuming than they really have to be. Do you really have time to be grinding whole spices in a mortar and pestle, or mixing together 1/8 tsp. of 18 different kinds of powders? That’s not cooking, that’s witchcraft.

One of my favorite time-saving secrets is to use seasoning mixes and dried herb mixes. That way, I don’t have to painstakingly measure out all those different kinds of herbs and spices; I just throw in the equivalent amount of seasoning mix. It’s not cheating — it’s smart. I get my spice and herb mixes from Penzey’s, where the quality is really good and there are a lot of varieties to choose from. I like to have several on hand at one time, so I can make my meal taste Spanish, Southwestern, Indian or Thai — whatever I’m in the mood for that night. The mixes also make great rubs for meats, flavor spikes for vinaigrettes and marinades, and bases for salad dressings and dips.

Still, there are a few seasonings you’re going to want to have on hand at all times. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Fats: butter, olive oil, peanut oil and vegetable oil

We’re all so fat conscious these days, but fats are an absolute necessity for bringing out the essential flavors in foods. Each recipe will start with some fat. To maintain that essential balance between good health and good taste, I figure on ½ tbsp. or less of fat per person per dish, less if I’m using nonstick and cooking over a high heat (as in stir-frying). Also, avoid trans-fats; there’s nothing wrong with good, old-fashioned butter.

• Aromatics: onions (including shallots, scallions, leeks and all the various colors), garlic, bell pepper, chiles, carrots, celery, mushrooms, ginger

Pretty much every cooked recipe is going to start with sauteing some aromatics in some fat. They’re called aromatics for a reason: they add aroma to a dish. They are the building blocks of flavor. You can’t go wrong with onion and garlic, no matter what you’re cooking. Your mileage may vary but generally, you’ll want to figure on ¼ of a small onion, ½ shallot or 1 clove garlic per person. Beyond that, you can vary the aromatics to vary the style of the dish. Keep some of each in your fridge and throw in what seems right to you. As as general guide, use ½ pepper, ¼ carrot or celery stick, ½ tbsp. ginger and/or ¼ lb. mushrooms, all minced, per person.

Chef’s tip: Dried chiles and mushrooms keep forever and are always on hand for enhancing dishes. To rehydrate, just soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes. The soaking liquid makes a terrific flavor enhancer, as well.

• Seasoning and dried herb mixes: start with 1 tsp. per person and add to taste
• Fresh herbs: mince and throw in 1 tbsp. per person at the end of cooking (otherwise, they’ll lose their flavor)
• Lemon and limes: Use 1 tbsp. (½ fruit) juice and 1 tsp. zest per person; also best added at the end of cooking
• Vinegars: Have a full selection on hand, including balsamic, red wine, white wine and sherry; these are stronger than citrus juices so start with 1 tsp. per person
• Mustard: use 1 tsp. per person and buy lots of flavors
• Soy sauce, fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce: All essentials; generally use around ½ tbsp. or less per person
• Flavored oils (such as chile oil, sesame oil, etc.): use 1 tsp. per person
• Prepared sauces (such as barbecue sauce, hoisin sauce, plum sauce, black bean sauce, mayonnaise and horseradish): Use 1 tbsp. or less per person
• Spice pastes (such as anchovy paste, chile paste, curry paste and sun-dried tomato paste): These are great timesavers; figure on 1 tsp. per person
• Hot sauces: 1-2 dashes per person is usually sufficient, but again, tastes vary widely — pass more at the table