Recipes for salsa, pesto and bruschetta get a new twist thanks to a technique I learned about recently for pan roasting peppers and garlic in a small cast iron pan on the range-top.
Credit for this goes to Rick Bayless, as mentioned in his book "Mexican Everyday"
The first question you might ask is "why?" What's the benefit? It both adds something and takes something away. Pan-roasting takes some of the heat out of the chili and some of the bitterness out of the garlic. What you gain is a bit of smoke, color and texture.
It is pretty simple and quick. Simply put, take a small pan, place it on medium or hotter heat on top of the stove. I use a spray or paper towel to apply the smallest amount of oil to the pan. Then, place whole jalapeno or Serrano chiles along side unpeeled individual garlic cloves in the pan. Heat the garlic for about 10 minutes and the chillies for about 15 minutes, or until they are black and blistered on all sides. The garlic cloves can then be peeled after they've been seared and the stems should be removed before use. The peppers can be frozen and used later.
The recipe I really liked was for fire-roasted salsa, including cilantro, diced fire-roasted tomatoes (I bought a 15 ounce can), a bit of lime juice, a small diced onion, salt, ground pepper, three pan-roasted garlic cloves and two (or even one) roasted Serrano chili. By using a food processor to combine the items to the desired consistency, you get salsa that's much better than what you get in a jar. Be careful with the amount of chili-induced heat. I love spicy food but have found that other folks aren't as tolerant of too many Scoville units. One to two roasted Serranos were enough. And if you find you need to add heat, you can always turn to your favorite hot sauce to season to taste.
Of course, you can always heat to the grill to do the pan roasting, but this method is quick and easy and only takes a small amount of space on the range-top. And given our recent heat wave, standing in the sun was not on the top of my to-do list.
Since my initial trial, I've used one or two of these pan roasted items for Huevos Rancheros, Bruschetta (with roasted tomatoes and garlic) and pesto (roasted garlic).
Since the Rick Bayless cookbook was the inspiration for this, I'd obviously recommend you pick up a copy.
Credit for this goes to Rick Bayless, as mentioned in his book "Mexican Everyday"
The first question you might ask is "why?" What's the benefit? It both adds something and takes something away. Pan-roasting takes some of the heat out of the chili and some of the bitterness out of the garlic. What you gain is a bit of smoke, color and texture.
It is pretty simple and quick. Simply put, take a small pan, place it on medium or hotter heat on top of the stove. I use a spray or paper towel to apply the smallest amount of oil to the pan. Then, place whole jalapeno or Serrano chiles along side unpeeled individual garlic cloves in the pan. Heat the garlic for about 10 minutes and the chillies for about 15 minutes, or until they are black and blistered on all sides. The garlic cloves can then be peeled after they've been seared and the stems should be removed before use. The peppers can be frozen and used later.
The recipe I really liked was for fire-roasted salsa, including cilantro, diced fire-roasted tomatoes (I bought a 15 ounce can), a bit of lime juice, a small diced onion, salt, ground pepper, three pan-roasted garlic cloves and two (or even one) roasted Serrano chili. By using a food processor to combine the items to the desired consistency, you get salsa that's much better than what you get in a jar. Be careful with the amount of chili-induced heat. I love spicy food but have found that other folks aren't as tolerant of too many Scoville units. One to two roasted Serranos were enough. And if you find you need to add heat, you can always turn to your favorite hot sauce to season to taste.
Of course, you can always heat to the grill to do the pan roasting, but this method is quick and easy and only takes a small amount of space on the range-top. And given our recent heat wave, standing in the sun was not on the top of my to-do list.
Since my initial trial, I've used one or two of these pan roasted items for Huevos Rancheros, Bruschetta (with roasted tomatoes and garlic) and pesto (roasted garlic).
Since the Rick Bayless cookbook was the inspiration for this, I'd obviously recommend you pick up a copy.
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