Fire Roasted Peppers
Making your own fire roasted peppers at home is easy, and the flavor and texture is so much better than anything you could get out of a jar or can. It also produces surprisingly low smoke and is fine to do indoors. You can easily adjust the technique depending on your equipment (gas stove, electric oven, or outdoor grill), and it works on any kind of fresh sweet or chili pepper. Once they're cooked, you can throw some salt and pepper on them and serve them warm as a vegetable with grilled meat, or you can preserve them in the fridge in a jar of olive oil, garlic, and herbs, and add them to salads, sandwiches, quesadillas, pizza, or an antipasto plate.
You will need:
- Bell or sweet peppers of any color, or fresh chilis like anaheim or poblano
- Salt
- Pepper
- Kitchen tongs
- A large paper bag
Directions:
Gas Stove Technique: This method produces a brightly colored pepper with a toothsome, slightly al dente texture. You'll especially need this sturdiness if you plan on stuffing your peppers.
Turn a burner on high. Set a whole pepper, or more than one, if they fit, on top of the burner grate, right over the open flame. You want the skin to completely blacken and blister where it directly touches the flame, but the flesh underneath to remain untouched and, ideally, bright in color. Turn the peppers with the tongs until the skin is black all over. This will take up to 10 minutes for large bell peppers, much less for chilis.
When the peppers are charred, remove them from the burner with the tongs, make sure that any embers burn out, and place in the paper bag. Close the bag and let the peppers sit in their own steam for 5 to 10 minutes. This steams off the skin and makes it very easy to remove. Take the peppers from the bag, set them on a cutting board, and scrape the blackened skin off with the side of a knife - it doesn't have to be sharp, a dinner knife works fine.
If you plan on stuffing the peppers, carefully cut a slit down the length of the pepper, but do not remove the stem. Clean out the seeds and ribs without tearing the pepper, and proceed with stuffing. If you plan on jarring the peppers or serving them plain, simply cut out the stem, open them up, and clean out the seeds and ribs. I like to toss mine with salt and pepper and a chopped clove of raw garlic (you don't need much, 1 clove is enough for 3 large bell peppers) andfresh herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, or fennel). I then pack them tightly in a recycled glass jam jar, fill the jar with olive oil (if you pack the peppers tightly enough, you won't need more than a couple of tablespoons of oil), and keep in the fridge for up to a week or two.
Electric Oven Technique: Without an open flame, you'll have to use your oven's broiler. This will take a bit longer and will produce a pepper that is slightly more cooked, softer in texture, and less bright in color, but still delicious and ideal for cutting into strips and serving as a side with meat or fish. Adjust the oven rack so that the peppers gets as close to the top element as possible without touching. Preheat the broiler and place the peppers on a sheet pan (or tinfoil, to catch the drips). Continue as with Gas Stove Technique.
Outdoor Grill Technique: Same as Gas Stove Technique above, but with a couple of things to keep in mind. You want open flame if possible, so obviously a gas grill is easier to control. If you are using charcoal, it's best to get as close to the hot coals as possible. Try to mound the coals up right underneath the grate, and place the peppers right over the pile. The farther the peppers are from the heat, and the longer they sit on the grill, the softer the flesh of the peppers will become as the skin blackens. There's nothing wrong with a soft pepper, it's purely a matter of choice and what you plan to use it for.