8.02.2010

couscous stuffed gypsy peppers

I'm harvesting at least 1/2 a dozen of these babies a day so I've had to come up with a variety of uses!  A great article from the SFGate gave me a number of ideas :)

To store the peppers until I had a chance to cook them, I followed Deborah Madison's suggestion from her book: "Local Flavors"  Instead of flowers, fill a bowl with the vibrantly colored peppers to create a beautiful centerpiece: "The price of a bouquet will buy you a bag full of glossy color and sensual form simply to look at."

When I finally got a chance to do some cooking I took the advice of David Stevenson, formerly the chef and general manager of Downtown restaurant in Berkeley.  "What I really like about [gypsy peppers] is they're thin-walled, which makes them good for stuffing," he says.  "You can cook the stuffing without undercooking the outside."  Stevenson might fill them with a mixture of Manchego cheese and corn or with a savory bread pudding. Then he roasts or grills the peppers until tender.  The night before, I boiled 2 cups of mirepoix (onions, celery, green peppers) in vegetable stock and then mixed in organic whole wheat couscous.  The night I wanted to serve the peppers, I scooped the couscous mixture into the uncooked peppers and roasted them in the oven for a few minutes until the couscous was re-heated and the peppers were tender... DELICIOUS!!

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