About Peppers
(Page 4 of 5)
May/June 1988
By Sara Pacher
When frost is predicted, harvest all the remaining fruit, and—once the last pepper is picked—pull up and compost or burn the plants to prevent future pest and disease problems. To avoid damaging the plant, use a sharp knife or pruning shears to cut off the peppers and handle them carefully, because they bruise easily.
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Sweet peppers are excellent eaten like apples. You can also, of course, slice them up in salads, stir-fries and meat loaves, or stuff them with brown rice, soybean grits or meat/vegetable/egg mixtures and bake them or simmer them in a covered casserole.
Hot peppers should be fully ripe for drying or pickling. Thin-walled varieties are easy to dry and can be ground and stored in jars. (This method is also used for paprika peppers.) To dry them, either cut the whole plant and hang it in an airy place, or string individual pods to hang in the kitchen for both ornamental and culinary use.
Peppers don't need blanching before freezing. Just chop and freeze them in jars, or core and freeze them whole for future stuffed dishes.
To can red sweet peppers (or even hot ones), wash and remove the seeds, fill pint jars to ½ inch from the top, cover the fruits with boiling water, seal, and process for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.
Chiles Rellenos
6 large, fresh, green chili peppers
½ pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 egg yolks, beaten
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons flour
4 egg whites, beaten stiff
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Sear peppers on all sides under high broiler heat. Quickly wrap in damp towel to steam for a few minutes until the skins peel off easily. Split the fruit and remove seeds. Stuff with cheese. Make a batter of egg yolks, flour and salt. Fold in stiff egg whites. Dip stuffed peppers into batter one at a time, slip into hot oil, turn immediately, and allow one side to brown. Turn again to brown other side. Put on platter, and cover with Mexican sauce. Serves 3 to 6.
Mexican Sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced green pepper, sweet or hot
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup stewed tomatoes, fresh or canned
½ teaspoon salt
Sauté onion, garlic and pepper in oil. Add tomatoes and salt, and continue stirring over medium-low heat until sauce reaches boiling point. Pour over stuffed peppers.
Stir-Fried Sweet Peppers
6 sweet peppers, red and green
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato juice
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
½ teaspoon oregano
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