Roast Peppers Preserved Under Oil
I began writing this post two weeks ago. The world was a completely different place then.
Here is a link to agencies assisting Afghan refugees, from the New York Times.
Here is a link to help those impacted by the earthquake in Haiti, from National Public Radio.
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It’s late August now, prime preservation season. California produce is at its glorious best, piled high at farmer’s markets, cheap, abundant, delicious.
Normally I’d be canning madly now, but we’re in the midst of drought. A bad one. Surely you know this.
Pressure-canned broth and tomatoes. Tomatoes are safe to water bath can, but I used the pressure canner, as it uses far less water. The above is all I’m doing for the year, a far cry from past years, when I canned almost 200 pounds of tomatoes.
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People preserve food for all kinds of reasons, but very few of us are doing it to stave off death during the winter months. Given an internet connection and the right app, damned near anything will appear at your doorstep in minutes. Little House on The Prairie this is not. Winter is not closing in. (We should be so fortunate.) The days of squirreling away stores of food lest we perish are long behind us.
Photo from another post; I had to stop in the middle due to migraine. This is from last week.
Having said this, it is true that any food you preserve at home will taste better than store-bought, from the plainest jar of boiled corn to the fanciest conserve. You may realize, with a shock, how incredibly sweet and/or salty commerically canned foods are, and how much more control you have making your own.
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To read about canning is to encounter, in some form, the rows and rows of jars trope. They’re always gleaming, and they’re always lined up in the cupboard of a perfect home. The cupboard may be a larder; this depends on where you are. Regardless: the home housing the cupboard of gleaming jars is never yours.
Another from the migraine post that never happened.
My own jars live in a deep corner cabinet in my kitchen. There is nothing remotely romantic or charming about this cabinet, which, like the rest of the house, was built in 1962. To access the cabinet, I must first move the garbage can, which lives beside it. Then I must roll the kitchen cart, where I do the majority of my prep, out of the way. The cabinet stays cool on the hottest days, and because it’s on the floor, nothing can fall out of it. This is a consideration, because I live in California, which is earthquake country. Open shelving may look very nice, but it’s a terrible idea in a place where violent shaking is commonplace.
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Returning to drought. I cannot, in good conscience, do my usual canning, which calls for filling a gigantic pot with insane amounts of water. Instead, I’m doing a great deal of preservation under oil. For example, these peppers. Kept under oil, and properly refrigerated, roasted peppers under oil should keep for months.
You can roast the peppers in the oven, or broil over a gas flame. Whatever method you use, don’t take them to the point of complete collapse. You want enough flesh to work with.
A few seeds are okay–in my experience it’s impossible to get every last one out.
To use your peppers, take the jar from the refrigerator 10-15 minutes before eating. Use a clean fork to remove however many peppers you wish to eat from the jar. Be sure the remaining peppers are beneath the oil before sealing and returning to the fridge. Top up with more oil if necessary.
If the oil drips around the jar’s lip, wipe it with clean rag or paper towel dampened with white vinegar.
Once the peppers are consumed, the oil may be used for cooking or as a salad dressing.
These are delicious in salads, sandwiches, or added to pasta, rice, or atop pizza. I am fond of them in a sandwich with Fontina cheese and tomato.
Roast Peppers Preserved Under Oil
This is scarcely a recipe, but I will write out what I did. The most important part is to have everything clean.
I used 10 ounces/284 grams of peppers; you can use more or less. The jar held 3.5 cups/875ml. You can divide peppers into smaller jars, if you prefer.
If using hot peppers, wash your hands with hot water before touching eyes, nose, or contact lenses.
10 ounces/280grams mixed peppers
fine sea salt or canning salt
garlic, peeled and lightly crushed, optional
olive oil, enough to generously cover the peppers: use decent oil that isn’t harsh, but this isn’t the place for your finest Ligurian, either.
one or more jars with either lids and bands or rubber gaskets
Sterilize jar(s) by washing in hot soapy water and placing in warm oven or dishwasher. Set aside while you prepare peppers.
I use the stove burner for this, but if you prefer the broiler element, use it. Char the pepper skins. As the peppers are done, lay them on a wide platter or bowl.
Have the jar(s), garlic, if using, salt, and olive oil ready.
Drop garlic into jar, if using. Add about half teaspoon salt. Then, with clean hands, remove charred bits and the seeds from pepper. I find I can’t get all the seeds, and do the best I can. Tear peppers into strips and drop into the clean jar as you go. As you finish with each pepper, add about a half teaspoon salt. Keep going until all the peppers are done. Pour in olive oil to cover. Gently tap jar on counter to break up air bubbles. If bubbles persist, run a long spoon handle or chopstick under hot water, dry it, and use that to break them up.
Cap fingertip tight, label peppers with date and contents, and allow to cool. Once cool, refrigerate.
To use peppers, remove jar from fridge about 15 minutes before you want to eat them. Remove desired amount with an immaculately clean fork. The peppers will keep longest if you use clean implements when retrieving them and ensure peppers are always covered with oil. Once the peppers are used up, the oil may be re-used: either cook with it, use it for salad dressing, or to cover another preserve.
These roasted peppers are delicious in salads, with tomatoes, with rice, in pasta, atop pizza, and especially in sandwiches with soft cheeses like mozzarella and Fontina.
Notes:
Use either fine sea salt or canning salt. Don’t use salt with preservatives, as this will affect keeping qualities of the preserve.
By fingertip tight, I mean don’t screw the lid on so tightly that you need assistance getting it off or so lightly your toddler can get into the jar without help. Middle-of-the-road–something people are forgetting about. It’s useful here….and elsewhere.
You can use any kind of peppers here, mixing them or sticking to one type. I used to mixture. I had ten ounces, but that was not deliberate; preserve as many or little as you wish.
