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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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RED PEPPERS IN SEPTEMBER…...

I was just ECSTATIC when I got to FOODMAXX the other day….there was a big display of beautiful red peppers, and the price was right…..four peppers for a dollar!! Since I’ve been paying anything from 50 cents to a dollar each for red peppers recently, I chose four of the largest and freshest I could find, even though I already had a red pepper in the refrigerator at home:
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My four peppers weighed in at just over a pound.

Next day, I was back at FoodMaxx to pick up bananas or something, and there was the same display of peppers beside the entrance….only this time, the price was FIVE peppers for one dollar…..

What’s a guy to do? I got a plastic bag and picked out five of the biggest and freshest peppers I could find, figuring that I could chop and freeze them, at the worst. Actually, I’m going to go online and see if I can find a recipe for soup made of red peppers….

Anyhow, when I saw the produce guy, I asked him about the pricing, and he said they had four bins of peppers in back, and would continue to drop the price until they sold them all. I asked him if there were still peppers on Sunday would FoodMaxx pay me to take them away, and he smiled…..

So, when I got home, I put the five peppers alongside the four peppers from the day before, and here’s the photo of the nine peppers:
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That’s not an illusion—they really ARE that large. In fact, the four peppers weighed about 1 pound…..while the five peppers weigh about 3.25 pounds!!

I’ve used two of them making spicy garlic eggplant (thanks to Candy and Victor for the eggplant), and I’m posting our favorite of the two recipes below. Gail is going to stuff and bake the remaining three giant peppers…..and this afternoon, Ben and Brenna brought us a couple of cups of chopped green and red peppers that were left over from a taco bar at their house!!

We’re inundated with peppers at the moment - not a bad place to be! Herewith, the recipe:
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Spicy Eggplant – modified from Yan Can Cook http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spicy-eggplant-recipe2/index.html
I like more sauce, so what’s here is double the original amount - just right.

Ingredients

Sauce:
¼ cup chicken broth
2 Tbs hoisin sauce
2 Tbs Low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs + 1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp dark brown sugar
¼ Cup plum sauce
2 tsp chili garlic sauce (more if you like a kick)
½ tsp ground black pepper

4 Chinese eggplants (about 1 pound), stems removed
Vegetable oil (I use toasted sesame)
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs minced ginger
2-4 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths
¼ # chicken apple sausage, chopped small (optional)
1-2 Cups thinly sliced red, green, orange peppers
½ Cup chopped cilantro leaves and/or sliced green onions
1 tsp corn starch stirred into 2Tbs water

Directions

Sauce: Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl; mix well.

With a vegetable peeler, remove 1-inch strips of the eggplant skin, leaving a 1-inch strip of skin in between. Cut the eggplant into fourths lengthwise, then cut each section crosswise into 3-inch pieces. (Or just cut in one-inch cubes)

Place wok (or pan) over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat the sides. Add the garlic, ginger, dried chiles and green onion; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add a bit of oil, then ground meat and cook, breaking up pieces with back of a spoon, until brown and crumbly.

Add oil if needed, then eggplant and sauté five minutes, stirring.

Add sauce - simmer 12 min.

Add sliced peppers, simmer another 3 minutes.

Stir cornstarch mixture, pour into pot, stir and heat until thickened.

Stir in chopped cilantro and/or green onions.

Serve.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/25 at 09:32 PM

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