Chief
09-02-2007, 06:35 PM
This is a favorite technique from culinary school that comes in really handy this time of year with all of the nice red and yellow bell peppers out there.
You need you have your grill heated up; I did some garden burgers at the same time I roasted my peppers over mesquite charcoal. I also smoke them with some of my own "Essence" seasoning mix that I keep on the grill. I used four peppers, but the variety I grew yields smaller sized peppers. If you buy some of the big colored peppers, one or two will do nicely.
Put the pepper on the hottest part of the grill, and let the skin blacken. Turn it periodically, and blacken all sides, the top and the bottom. Let it cool slightly, and when it's cool enough to handle but while still hot, remove all of the skin. Split the pepper open and remove the seeds and the bitter webs. Save the juice!
Put the cleaned pepper pieces and juice into a measuring cup, and add 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Using a hand-held mixer (a boat motor...) thoroughly puree the pepper and oil until completely smooth an emulsified and a beautiful golden or red color, depending on the pepper you used.. You should yield about 1 1/2 cups of pepper coulis.
Taste the coulis and add salt and pepper to your taste. You can also choose to add about 1/8 tea spoon of garlic powder. Continue the puree until the seasonings are well blended. Pour the coulis off into a dressing cruet, and add 1/2 c of sharp champagne vinegar and shake well. Taste the dressing and adjust for balance of the coulis, the vinegar and the seasonings.
Stored under refrigeration, this dressing should last for 2 weeks or so.
This is about as low-fat of a dressing as you can get. If you use a vegetable puree like this, you can reduce the oil needed for a proper emulsification to a bare minimum. You can successfully substitute almost any vegetable puree for most of the oil in a vinaigrette this way, and the variations are endless. Try mixing in a pinch of fresh thyme or some chives from the herb garden along with the pepper coulis.
The other variable is the vinegar you use. Try getting some of the smaller bottles of specialty vinegars that the higher end groceries carry. For an Italian dinner, you may want to make this with red peppers, and a red wine vinegar, and flavored with roasted garlic and fresh oregano, for example...experiment!
enjoy!!
;D
You need you have your grill heated up; I did some garden burgers at the same time I roasted my peppers over mesquite charcoal. I also smoke them with some of my own "Essence" seasoning mix that I keep on the grill. I used four peppers, but the variety I grew yields smaller sized peppers. If you buy some of the big colored peppers, one or two will do nicely.
Put the pepper on the hottest part of the grill, and let the skin blacken. Turn it periodically, and blacken all sides, the top and the bottom. Let it cool slightly, and when it's cool enough to handle but while still hot, remove all of the skin. Split the pepper open and remove the seeds and the bitter webs. Save the juice!
Put the cleaned pepper pieces and juice into a measuring cup, and add 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Using a hand-held mixer (a boat motor...) thoroughly puree the pepper and oil until completely smooth an emulsified and a beautiful golden or red color, depending on the pepper you used.. You should yield about 1 1/2 cups of pepper coulis.
Taste the coulis and add salt and pepper to your taste. You can also choose to add about 1/8 tea spoon of garlic powder. Continue the puree until the seasonings are well blended. Pour the coulis off into a dressing cruet, and add 1/2 c of sharp champagne vinegar and shake well. Taste the dressing and adjust for balance of the coulis, the vinegar and the seasonings.
Stored under refrigeration, this dressing should last for 2 weeks or so.
This is about as low-fat of a dressing as you can get. If you use a vegetable puree like this, you can reduce the oil needed for a proper emulsification to a bare minimum. You can successfully substitute almost any vegetable puree for most of the oil in a vinaigrette this way, and the variations are endless. Try mixing in a pinch of fresh thyme or some chives from the herb garden along with the pepper coulis.
The other variable is the vinegar you use. Try getting some of the smaller bottles of specialty vinegars that the higher end groceries carry. For an Italian dinner, you may want to make this with red peppers, and a red wine vinegar, and flavored with roasted garlic and fresh oregano, for example...experiment!
enjoy!!
;D