by Ed Dugan

Created on: January 13, 2009   Last Updated: January 28, 2009

Roasted red peppers are showing up with increasing frequency in menus and recipes and for good reason. They add beautiful color to a dish, take a routine sandwich to a different dimension and taste great. If you roast a batch and preserve them in some good olive oil they add another condiment to your table. You can, of course, buy a jar in the supermarket but that takes the entire sense of accomplishment away. Roast your own red peppers, or yellow peppers if you prefer, and you have actually created a great food product.

Roasting your own peppers is not difficult at all and there are several ways to do it. The preferred way, and one that requires a gas stove, is to pierce the end of the pepper with a fork or a kitchen skewer and hold the pepper over a medium flame. The fork is preferable because it won't allow the pepper to rotate. Keep a close eye on the pepper and turn it almost constantly. Don't be afraid if you see the skin turn black - that's exactly what you want. Make sure the skin is discolored all the way around the pepper.

Now, remove the pepper from what you are using to hold it and place it in a brown paper lunch bag. Be sure to seal it up good and in about 5 minutes, the steam created in the bag will make the skin slip off with hardly any coaxing. Be sure to allow the pepper to cool a little before you peel the skin off. Get as much off as you can but don't worry too much about the ends. You now have a naked pepper and all that remains is for you to trim it up and cut it into strips.

Well, you might say, that's easy enough but I don't have a gas range. Do not despair there is more than one way to skin a pepper. If you have an electric range, place an oven rack about four inches from the broiler turn the oven on to the highest setting, usually 500 degrees, and let it get good and hot. This time forget the fork or skewer and use a set of kitchen tongs, maybe one from your barbecue set. Keep the oven door slightly cracked, turn on the oven light and rotate the pepper, or peppers as they start to scorch. Again, make sure there are charred spots all around. Take the peppers out and do the same thing with the paper bag. The advantage to using the broiler is that you can do more peppers at once, provided you pay close attention to what you are doing.

The final method, one you have probably already thought of, is to use your charcoal or gas grill. We all have used a charcoal grill, taken the steaks or burgers or chicken off the grill and gazed sorrowfully at all that charcoal being wasted. The next time you are grilling have some peppers handy and even if you don't plan on using them for that meal, put them on the grill, let them char, and follow the methods just mentioned. You will always have a good supply of roasted peppers. I mentioned in the beginning that preserving them in olive oil is one way to keep the peppers around for quite a while.

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