Fire Roasted Red Peppers Preserved

Roasting the peppers

Every fall, baskets of peppers appear at all of the Italian markets in town.  I first began roasting peppers with my friend Cathy on the roof of a building on Queen Street in the eighties.  Cathy had been introduced to roasting peppers by a friend from one of those Mediterranean countries that have such great food traditions, and suggested we try preserving roasted peppers.  The first year we made our best guess, and by the second year we had the process down, and began including our friend Sean in what became an fall ritual for a number of years.

I had an old Weber barbecue that we would load up with charcoal and then spend the evening roasting peppers and drinking wine.  At the end of a long night we would have a counter full of bottles of red peppers that we would split up and use for the winter.

Fire Roasted Peppers in Olive Oil

I now make the peppers in the country over coals from an open fire.

1 case of red peppers
1 litre of olive oil
6 organic lemons
24 - 250 mm preserving bottles
lots of old newspaper

Build a fire a couple of hours before you are ready to start.  Build a deep bed of coals.  Keep at least one log on the edge of the fire so that there is a constant source of new coals to complete the job.

Place grill close to the coals. Arrange peppers on the grill, making sure that there is room around each pepper.  Allow the skins to become black and then rotate the peppers, so that all sides of the pepper are black.

Remove peppers from the grill, and wrap groups of 4 to 6 pepper in newspaper to allow to sweat.

Meanwhile, sterilize bottles.

Wash lemons and cut into sections.  Place one section in each of the sterilized bottles.

Peel the blackened skin off the peppers and remove the core and seeds.  Discard skins and seeds.  Tear peppers into strips and pack into the sterilized bottles to about a half inch from the top.

Fill bottles with olive oil to about a !/4 inch from the top.  Tap bottles on counter, and run sterilized knife around perimeter of bottles to dislodge any air bubbles.  Seal jars and process for 15 minutes.

Because the peppers are preserved in olive oil, the oil is fabulous to use as well.

Pork Tenderloin Two Ways Over an Open Fire

My sister MJ visited this fall and brought beautiful pork tenderloin for  Saturday's dinner.  We were having difficulty deciding on whether to make the tenderloin with oranges and brown sugar, or wrap then in prosciutto, and so MJ suggested making the tenderloin two ways. 

MJ built a spectacular fire using a traditional log cabin setup and started it with only one match inspite of my wood being wet from a week of rain. Very impressive.  

Pork Tenderloin Two Ways                                           photo by MJ

Fire Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Oranges and Brown Sugar Crust  

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 organic orange
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• fresh thyme
• salt and pepper 
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup of white wine

Build fire about an hour before you plan to cook the meat to allow for a good bed of coals.  Place heavy cast iron griddle over fire and heat. Lightly olive oil the grill.   

Cut orange in quarters  and squeeze out juice.  Place  orange quarters in stainless steel pot with wine and 4 or 5 pepper corns and a dash of olive oil.  Top up with water. Boil for 20 minutes and let cool in liquid.  Remove from liquid and scrape off all of the white pith. Tear each quarter into two or three pieces. Remove membrane and fat from tenderloin. Pat dry. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Arrange the orange skin pieces on the top of the tenderloin, then cover with the brown sugar and pat into the surface.  

Place on griddle and cook for 5 to 10 minutes on each side depending on thickness of the tenderloin.  Brush with olive oil.  Take off grill and let rest before cutting.  

Fire Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sage in Prosciutto Wrap

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 5 or 6 thin slices of prosciutto
• good dijon mustard
• 6 fresh age leaves
• olive oil
• salt

Build fire about an hour before you plan to cook to allow for a good bed of coals.  

Salt tenderloin lightly, and then cover with a thin coat of mustard.  Arrange the sage leaves over the mustard and then wrap the tenderloin with the prosciutto. Brush lightly with olive oil. 

Brush olive oil on the griddle.  Place tenderloin on grill and cook for 5 to 10 minutes and flip over. Lightly brush with olive oil. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes depending on size of tenderloin. Take off grill and let rest. Cut and serve.  

Cauliflower Chicken Curry

In the fall there are big beautiful heads of cauliflower in the markets and stores and I am always in awe of their perfection.  Every year I try to grow cauliflower in my garden and every year I fail.  This year one of my plants produced maybe twelve flowerettes in total and they were a sickly pink colour, so once again I bought one of those beautiful heads from the market.  

One of may favourite things to make as the first cold days of fall hit, is this curried cauliflower with chicken.

Cauliflower Chicken Curry

• 1 head of cauliflower cut into large flowerettes
• 1 chicken
• 1 large can of stewed whole tomatoes
• 2 large onion, coarsley chopped
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, finely chopped 
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp of coriander power
•  1 tsp of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 1/2 tsp of garam masala
• 1 dried chili pepper, seeds removed
• olive oil
• 1 can of coconut milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut chicken into pieces, salt and pepper and then brown in a large heavy pan.   Remove chicken and set aside.  Add coriander, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, and garam masala to pan and heat. Add the onion and garlic, and olive oil and sauté. Add tomatoes and stir to loosen bits on bottom of pan. Add browned chicken, cauliflower and ginger. Bring to boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour, or until chicken is done.  Remove lid, and skim off any excess fat.  Add coconut milk and taste. Adjust for salt. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.  

Thanksgiving Squash with a Moroccan Twist by Andrea

Last weekend, Andrea and friends were visiting and because I had a number of squash from the garden sitting on the counter, Andrea decided to make a variation on the squash dish she made for  her family's Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a fabulous combination of sweet and savoury.

 Thanksgiving Squash with Moroccan Twist                            photo by Mark

1 winter squash
1 tsp of smoked paprika
12 walnuts
8 medjool dates pitted and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon  of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Cut squash in half and clean and remove seeds.  Divide halves into wedges and paint with olive oil.  Lightly sprinkle smoked paprika and bake place on baking sheet.  Put in preheated oven 350F, and bake for about 15 minute s depending on size of squash, until it begins to soften up, but still has some bite.  If it were pasta, I would say al denté.  Do not over cook.  Remove from oven and scoop squash out of skin and into bowl.

While the squash is baking, spread walnuts on baking sheet.  Place in oven and toast.  Watch carefully, and remove when they begin to brown.  Should take about 3 or 4 minutes.  Be careful not to burn.  Coarsely chop and set aside.

Toss dates, walnuts and squash together and serve.