Ode to the Red Pepper and Putting Up

I love this time of year when we have abundant leeks, peppers and tomatoes. These are things that I really have no problem eating everyday.  I also know that now is the time and they won't be here forever. In the past few years we have had nice long runs of red peppers and we've enjoyed them from August just about into October. But you never can tell if this is the year an early frost will take the peppers away from us. Here are a few recipes for eating now or for freezing to brighten up a winter day.

Piperonata
adapted from Darina Allen

This delicious dish can be eaten as a side dish - especially delicious with a dollop of cream added at the end - or as a kind of sauce for chicken or fish, on top of pizza, pasta...etc.

olive oil
1 small onion (leek would be fine), sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 red peppers
3 medium tomatoes
1/2 fresh chile (optional), chopped
a few fresh basil leaves

Heat a glug of olive oil in a deep pan and cook the onion on medium heat. Meanwhile halve the peppers, take out the seeds and slice cross wise. Add to onions. Cover and cook until soft, while preparing the tomatoes. Score the tomatoes on the bottom with an x and drop into a bowl or pan of boiling water for 10 seconds. Peel the tomatoes, cut in half to squish out the seeds and chop. If these two steps seem to fussy to you it would be fine to leave them out. But if you'd like to have a sauce with out tomato skins (that aren't very digestible, by the way) go for it. Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook for about another 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, the chile and fresh basil.

Roasted Red Peppers

There are a couple ways of going about roasting peppers.  If you are a griller, go ahead and throw them on the grill whole until charred all around. Otherwise you can char them under the broiler in your oven or over the flame on a gas range, turning with kitchen tongs. You want to put the hot peppers in a bowl and cover right away tightly with plastic wrap. You can also throw them in a paper bag and fold over the top. What you need is to have them sit a bit in their own steaminess. This helps the skin come off easily. After about 5 minutes or later after the peppers have cooled you can peel them, rinsing them under cool water. Also cut them in half, take out the seeds and cut off the stem. Cut in strips or keep as halves. Store in the fridge covered with a little olive oil. Use right away or with in a few days or freeze.

Did you know? Peppers also freeze beautifully. Wash, seed and slice. Throw them in a bag and freeze or if you are a little bit fussy or want to take the time you can lay them on a tray lined with baking paper and stick them in the freezer first. This is a great way to freeze berries so they don't come out in one solid blob when you want to use them. When they are frozen bag them up and pop back into the freezer.

I could go on and on about freezing and canning, as I'm spending a bit of time trying to do what I can while we have the veg - tomato sauce, salsa, pesto, etc....
I have a feeling there are a bunch of csa members out there doing the same. Sounds like a great idea but I'll throw out one caveat.... what are you going to use this winter? Pickled beets might sound great now, but is that what you really want to pull out of the cupboard this winter? If yes, great! If not, savor the best of the season now and try to think of what is the most practical use of your veg.... soup is great to put up.....

Any thoughts or questions on putting up food? Is there a csa veg you still can't get your tastebuds around?
Just let me know!
Thanks and have a great week.
Tracy