Cooking with Peppers

4 pepper recipes certain to boost an peculiar meal.

Malaysian Sambal Rooster

4 dried Thai (hen) chilies
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 slice of peeled recent ginger
1 ½ inch piece of lemongrass, white half solely
3 TBSP olive oil
4 rooster breasts, halved crosswise
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 plum tomatoes, diced
½ tsp. turmeric
1 cup coconut milk
½ tsp. cardamom
¹⁄₃ cup recent cilantro, minced
Salt to style

Take away stems from the peppers. Place in a small bowl with water to cowl; soak for a half hour. Drain the chilies, reserving one teaspoon of the soaking water. Place reserved water, chilies, salt, ginger and lemongrass in a meals processor. Pulse to grind. In a heavy, well-seasoned (or nonstick) skillet, warmth two tablespoons of oil over excessive warmth. Working in batches, sear the rooster items on either side and take away to a platter.

Add remaining oil and the chili combination. Sauté, stirring continuously, for one to 2 minutes. Add onion, garlic and tomatoes to the skillet. Proceed cooking and stirring for 3 minutes.

Cut back the warmth to medium. Add turmeric and coconut milk. Stir effectively. Return rooster to the skillet. Add cardamom and simmer 10 to fifteen minutes. Add cilantro and salt to style. Serve over steamed rice.

Makes 4 servings

Minorcan Clam Chowder

3 oz. slab bacon, diced
1 massive onion, diced
1 inexperienced bell pepper, cored and diced
1 rib of celery, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 datil peppers, minced
1 28-oz. can of crushed plum tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
5 cups clam juice
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
½ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 ½ cups minced clams
Salt and pepper to style

In a heavy soup pot, fry the diced bacon over a medium-high warmth. When the bacon bits have browned, take away them from the pot and reserve. Add the onions, inexperienced peppers, celery, garlic and datil peppers to the bacon fats. Sauté for five minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, clam juice and bay leaves.

Deliver the combination to a boil, then cut back the warmth to medium and simmer for half-hour. Add extra clam juice or water if wanted. Add thyme, cayenne pepper, potatoes and clams. Simmer for 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to style. Take away from warmth and let stand a couple of minutes earlier than serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Southern Pimento Cheese

3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. chopped inexperienced onion
¹⁄₈ tsp. cayenne pepper
8 oz. extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar cheese, finely grated
8 oz. sharp yellow cheddar cheese, finely grated
4-oz. jar pimentos, drained and finely diced
Sizzling sauce to style

Place cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, inexperienced onion and cayenne within the bowl of a meals processor. Course of till easy. Add extra-sharp and sharp cheese and pulse a couple of occasions, simply till the shredded cheese and mayonnaise combination is effectively blended. The combination shouldn’t be fully easy.

Scrape the cheese combination right into a bowl and stir within the diced pimentos. Add sizzling sauce to style, cowl and chill for a couple of hours to permit flavors to mix.

Makes about 3 cups

Poppin’ Piperade

3 TBSP olive oil
¹⁄₃ cup diced Bayonne ham, prosciutto or nation ham
1 massive candy onion, trimmed and lower into strips
6 plum tomatoes, peeled
1 sprig of thyme
2 medium purple bell peppers, cored and lower into strips
2 medium inexperienced bell peppers, cored and lower into strips
2 recent jalapeño or serrano peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. candy paprika
1 tsp. sugar
Salt to style

Place one tablespoon of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high warmth. When oil is sizzling, add the ham items to the skillet. Prepare dinner, stirring often, till ham is browned, about 5 minutes. Take away ham to a plate and reserve.

Add remaining oil to the skillet together with onion strips and garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes, or till onion begins to grow to be translucent. Add all peppers to the skillet and cook dinner, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Whereas the peppers cook dinner, lower the tomatoes in half lengthwise and spoon out the seeds. Lower tomato halves into strips. Add tomato strips, thyme, paprika and sugar to the skillet. Stir effectively and cut back the warmth to medium. Return the ham to the skillet. Cowl and simmer quarter-hour.

Take away cowl and cook dinner, stirring often, till combination thickens, about 5 minutes. Take away thyme sprig. Add salt to style.

Function a sauce for omelets, or as a mattress for roasted pork tenderloin, grilled meats and poultry, or seared fish.

Makes about 4 cups.

Notice: Traditional piperade would omit the recent peppers and the candy paprika. Of their place could be 1 to 2 teaspoons of Piment d’Espelette, a floor pepper created from a small, semi-hot chili grown within the Basque area of France. Like French wines, Piment d’Espelette is an appellation-controlled product. Purchase it on-line or at specialty outlets, or substitute sizzling paprika or a mixture of paprika and cayenne pepper.