To fuck or to cook?

[tmdiva]

So I sat down to my latest issue of Cook's Illustrated (Sept/Oct 2006), and on the very next page from where I'd left it was a recipe for Arroz con Pollo that uses green pepper!! Here goes:

Arroz con Pollo
serves 4 to 6

To keep the dish from becoming greasy, it is important to remove excess fat from the chicken thighs and trim the skin. To use long-grain rice instead of medium-grain, increase the water to 3/4 cup in step 2.

6 med garlic cloves, minced or pressed (about 2 T)
table salt
1/2 t dried oregano
1 T plus 2 t distilled white vinegar
ground black pepper
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3.5-4 lbs), trimmed of excess skin and fat
2 T olive oil
1 med onion, chopped fine (about 1 C)
1 small green pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine (about 3/4 C)
1/4 t hot red pepper flakes
1/4 C minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 3/4 C low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 C water
3 C medium-grain rice
1/2 C green manzanilla olives, pitted and halved
1 T capers
1/2 C jarred pimentos, cut into 2 by 1/4-inch strips
lemon wedges, for serving

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place garlic and 1 t salt in large bowl; using rubber spatula, mix to make smooth paste. Add oregano, 1 T vinegar, and 1/2 t black pepper to garlic-salt mixture; stir to combine. Place chicken in bowl with marinade; set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Heat 1 T oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, green pepper, and pepper flakes; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, 4 to 8 minues. Add 2 T cilantro; stir to combine. Push vegetables to side of pot and increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken to clearing in center of pot, skin skide down, in even layer. Cook, without moving chicken, until outer layer of meat becomes opaque, 2 to 4 minues. (If chicken begins to brown, reduce heat to medium.) Using tongs, flip chicken and cook on second side until opaque, 2 to 4 minutes more. Add tomato sauce, broth, and water; stir to combine. Bring to simmer; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Add rice, olives, capers, and 3/4 t salt; stir well. Bring to simmer, cover, and place pot in oven. After 10 minutes, remove pot from oven and stir chicken and rice once from bottom up. Return pot to oven. After another 10 minutes, stir once more, adding 1/4 C water if rice appears dry and bottom of pot is beginning to burn. Cover and return pot to oven; cook until rice has absorbed all liquid and is tender but still holds its shape and temperature of chicken registers 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes longer.

4. Using tongs, remove chicken from pot; replace lid and set pot aside. Remove and discard chicken skin; using 2 spoons, pull meat off bones into large chunks. Using fingers, remove remaining fat or dark veins from chicken pieces. Place chicken in large bowl and toss with remaining tablespoons olive oil, remaining 2 t vinegar, remaining 2 T cilantro, and pimentos; season with salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken on top of rice, cover, and let stand until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.

Enjoy! (sorry if any typos)

tm

[Fugee]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I would also let them ripen on the vine but Farmer Steve has not yet asked my opinion.

I also haven't been able to give them away, which is generally what I do with the yellow squash and beets. Green peppers have been a harder sell.

Don't throw away the beets!!! Beets roasted with rosemary are yummmmmmmmm.

Do green peppers turn red if you let them ripen more? I've never had this happen, though Minnesota isn't exactly prime pepper growing country. (Except for this past summer, which was way hotter than normal.)

ETA: Do you have a lunch room or large coffee room at work? Just leave the peppers in there with a note that says "Please take these." Someone will.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by Fugee
Don't throw away the beets!!! Beets roasted with rosemary are yummmmmmmmm.

Do green peppers turn red if you let them ripen more? I've never had this happen, though Minnesota isn't exactly prime pepper growing country. (Except for this past summer, which was way hotter than normal.)

ETA: Do you have a lunch room or large coffee room at work? Just leave the peppers in there with a note that says "Please take these." Someone will.

Don't worry, I never throw away the beets. My SIL loves them and they last so even if I don't see her for a few weeks, they're fine. I also sometimes roast them for her. I don't know why I can't get myself to like the roots because I like the greens. Some of it is undoubtedly residual childhood trauma from being forced to eat the canned form.

I did manage to give 3 peppers away to a family member last night.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Fugee

Do green peppers turn red if you let them ripen more?

No, at least not at an edible point.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I'm pretty sure that the skins don't really come off the green ones when you try char them, since they are effectively unripened red peppers. They just kind of disintegrate.

Last season, we did get some red peppers at some point. I charred the skins off and put them in oil. They are yummy. It's the green ones I can't really abide, both from taste and indigestability.

Slice them lengthwise, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, and roast them with Italian sausage, potatoes, and a little bit of rosemary and garlic. The roasting will sweeten the peppers, as will the garlic. This is a very traditional Italian dish called giambotto, and it's delicious.

You can add some red onion as well, if you'd like.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by ltl/fb

PPS how did I end up in back-to-back meetings with someone I really can't stand????

It's not all strawberries and cream on the Gerbil farm once you move into management.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by tmdiva
So I sat down to my latest issue of Cook's Illustrated (Sept/Oct 2006), and on the very next page from where I'd left it was a recipe for Arroz con Pollo that uses green pepper!! Here goes:

Arroz con Pollo
serves 4 to 6

To keep the dish from becoming greasy, it is important to remove excess fat from the chicken thighs and trim the skin. To use long-grain rice instead of medium-grain, increase the water to 3/4 cup in step 2.

6 med garlic cloves, minced or pressed (about 2 T)
table salt
1/2 t dried oregano
1 T plus 2 t distilled white vinegar
ground black pepper
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3.5-4 lbs), trimmed of excess skin and fat
2 T olive oil
1 med onion, chopped fine (about 1 C)
1 small green pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine (about 3/4 C)
1/4 t hot red pepper flakes
1/4 C minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 3/4 C low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 C water
3 C medium-grain rice
1/2 C green manzanilla olives, pitted and halved
1 T capers
1/2 C jarred pimentos, cut into 2 by 1/4-inch strips
lemon wedges, for serving

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place garlic and 1 t salt in large bowl; using rubber spatula, mix to make smooth paste. Add oregano, 1 T vinegar, and 1/2 t black pepper to garlic-salt mixture; stir to combine. Place chicken in bowl with marinade; set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Heat 1 T oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, green pepper, and pepper flakes; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, 4 to 8 minues. Add 2 T cilantro; stir to combine. Push vegetables to side of pot and increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken to clearing in center of pot, skin skide down, in even layer. Cook, without moving chicken, until outer layer of meat becomes opaque, 2 to 4 minues. (If chicken begins to brown, reduce heat to medium.) Using tongs, flip chicken and cook on second side until opaque, 2 to 4 minutes more. Add tomato sauce, broth, and water; stir to combine. Bring to simmer; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Add rice, olives, capers, and 3/4 t salt; stir well. Bring to simmer, cover, and place pot in oven. After 10 minutes, remove pot from oven and stir chicken and rice once from bottom up. Return pot to oven. After another 10 minutes, stir once more, adding 1/4 C water if rice appears dry and bottom of pot is beginning to burn. Cover and return pot to oven; cook until rice has absorbed all liquid and is tender but still holds its shape and temperature of chicken registers 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes longer.

4. Using tongs, remove chicken from pot; replace lid and set pot aside. Remove and discard chicken skin; using 2 spoons, pull meat off bones into large chunks. Using fingers, remove remaining fat or dark veins from chicken pieces. Place chicken in large bowl and toss with remaining tablespoons olive oil, remaining 2 t vinegar, remaining 2 T cilantro, and pimentos; season with salt and pepper to taste. Place chicken on top of rice, cover, and let stand until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve, passing lemon wedges separately.

Enjoy! (sorry if any typos)

tm

This dish will be five times better if, in addition to the chicken, you add some cured chorizo. If you can't find chorizo, then andouille is a good substitute.

[dtb]

Originally posted by tmdiva
I
Back to fresh uses: what about stuffed green peppers? It's very retro, but quite tasty.

We have this from time to time - it's delicious. I wouldn't have thought that I would care for it - but it rocks.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Fugee
Don't throw away the beets!!! Beets roasted with rosemary are yummmmmmmmm.

Do green peppers turn red if you let them ripen more? I've never had this happen, though Minnesota isn't exactly prime pepper growing country. (Except for this past summer, which was way hotter than normal.)

ETA: Do you have a lunch room or large coffee room at work? Just leave the peppers in there with a note that says "Please take these." Someone will.

Peppers will only ripen on the plant. Once picked, they either stay the same, rot, or get dried. Bell peppers don't dry well, though, because they have too much internal moisture.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Slice them lengthwise, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, and roast them with Italian sausage, potatoes, and a little bit of rosemary and garlic. The roasting will sweeten the peppers, as will the garlic. This is a very traditional Italian dish called giambotto, and it's delicious.

You can add some red onion as well, if you'd like.

This sounds perfect, particularly since I have everything in the house already except the sausage. Thanks.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by dtb
We have this from time to time - it's delicious. I wouldn't have thought that I would care for it - but it rocks.

Don't the red ones taste even better than the green ones in this dish though?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Slice them lengthwise, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick, and roast them with Italian sausage, potatoes, and a little bit of rosemary and garlic. The roasting will sweeten the peppers, as will the garlic. This is a very traditional Italian dish called giambotto, and it's delicious.

You can add some red onion as well, if you'd like.

At a new- trying to be upscale- Itie restaurant the other day, my wife ordered a homemade pasta with some greens and garlic/oil BUT with the Sausage that is use in another red sauce dish.

The waiter was pissed (I think heavy faked accent) and said the chef would never allow it (even though I had ordered it 2 weeks ago). the chef has carefully balanced all flavors blah blah blah....

He did allow her a side of the crumbled sausage which she mixed in. So after, like as a softening thing, she told the waiter that it was really great and they shouldn't fight that option.

Waiter said "the recipe has been fixed in our region for 700 years we wouldn't change."

i was going to say "my family owns several restaurants in Calabria and my grandfather always would accomodate a customer- you know if you really want to be authentic." That would only have been 80% a lie, but it left open the door for fact checking- so instead i went with "Marco Polo only introduced pasta about 700 years ago. He brought it right to your family?"

I was guessing on the 700 years thing- but it turns out I was pretty accurate. so score one for Hank- except he bent my credit card- passive aggressive shit.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
Don't the red ones taste even better than the green ones in this dish though?

It's a matter of taste. The red ones are sweeter and many people prefer them. The green peppers are a bit more bitter, but I like the bitter agains the sweetness of the onion. Italian country cooking has many dishes and ingredients that use bitterness as a flavor element. Think brocolli rabe or escarole, for instance.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
At a new- trying to be upscale- Itie restaurant the other day, my wife ordered a homemade pasta with some greens and garlic/oil BUT with the Sausage that is use in another red sauce dish.

The waiter was pissed (I think heavy faked accent) and said the chef would never allow it (even though I had ordered it 2 weeks ago). the chef has carefully balanced all flavors blah blah blah....

He did allow her a side of the crumbled sausage which she mixed in. So after, like as a softening thing, she told the waiter that it was really great and they shouldn't fight that option.

Waiter said "the recipe has been fixed in our region for 700 years we wouldn't change."

i was going to say "my family owns several restaurants in Calabria and my grandfather always would accomodate a customer- you know if you really want to be authentic." That would only have been 80% a lie, but it left open the door for fact checking- so instead i went with "Marco Polo only introduced pasta about 700 years ago. He brought it right to your family?"

I was guessing on the 700 years thing- but it turns out I was pretty accurate. so score one for Hank- except he bent my credit card- passive aggressive shit.

I hope you stiffed him.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by taxwonk
It's a matter of taste. The red ones are sweeter and many people prefer them. The green peppers are a bit more bitter, but I like the bitter agains the sweetness of the onion. Italian country cooking has many dishes and ingredients that use bitterness as a flavor element. Think brocolli rabe or escarole, for instance.

As it happens, I am back here with my Silver Spoon in hand to check the name of your recipe --I want to look up proportions because I'm anal. I will also look through to see about other pepper recipes. I looked through a bunch of cookbooks (and online) for pepper recipes before posting but I didn't actually check Silver Spoon. I just got it recently and it's a little overwhelming. I've also acquired about 10 cookbooks in the past year (and am now getting *6* cooking and food magazines) so I haven't digested (heh) all the recipes yet.