Monday, July 27, 2015

PopPops Fried Peppers

There are some things in life where it is not beneficial to take a short cut.  

1.  Roasted Peppers
2.  Fried Peppers 
3. Any food you can cook for yourself,  within reason.
4.  Alcohol---buy cheap,  pay the price for days......... the hangover is literally non-stop on going hangover-a-thon caused by $2.00 gallon vodka.   It's disgusting and involves 2 containers of supersize Tylenol, a cold rag on the back of your neck,  Pizza delivery which you receive in your pajamas at 3pm,  and an all day headache that would make you want to cut your head off,  oh and then Chinese food at night because "1 pizza" wasn't enough and they must have started making them smaller.....
Just cheaper to drink Kettle One my friends,  take it from me.


On a more serious notes,  they sell peppers pre-roasted and pre-fried and you can doctor them up,  but you miss out on a lot of the flavor when they are jarred.  This is a time intensive project,  but it's perfect to wow for a dinner party.

I called this PopPops' fried peppers because I happened to make these around the same time Santino was home,  and he is obsessed with PopPop (my dad) and my dad is obsessed with any food fried in oil.  My dad is a terrible person to trust olive oil around.  Talia used to chase him around the kitchen monitoring his oil useage when cooking.  I tend to take after him,  where I go a little oil crazy. Santino doesn't take after anyone,  because he hardly eats--which is a problem only he has in this family.  We all share one thing in common though,  his affection for Big Joe.  He is the center of our family,  the rock if you will.  Santino is constantly saying "Hi PopPop"  which he kind of whispers a lot,  which is weird,  because sometimes Pop Pop isn't even around.  None the less,  Santino loves Pop Pop,  Pop Pop loves fried peppers, Elyse loves food,  Talia hates Olive Oil...so on and so on.


This peppers are great on Antipasta platter,  mixed in with spaghetti with Parmesan cheese (DD's personal favorite),  or as a side on a table with a hearty Italian Loaf.


PopPop's Fried Peppers
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Serves: 8


Ingredients
12 Green and Red Peppers (mixed)
1 whole head of garlic
6 tablespoons of oil
2 cups of water
Salt and Pepper

Directions
1.  In a large deep pot heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat.
2. While the pot is heating begin by cleaning and cutting the peppers into long strips.
3.  In the pot place in 1/4 of the peppers.  Begin frying so they get a nice char on the outside.
4. After about 5 minutes add 1/4 of the water,  and cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid.
5.  Allow to cook until water is gone,  5-10 minutes.  If the water is gone before 10 minutes is up,  add a little more to let it cook until the peppers no longer are long stringy strips and more like "worms"---like this 
6.  To finish this batch,  move them to another pot off the stove with a tightly fitting lid.  Drop in peppers,  cover,  and let sit waiting for the next batch to be added on top.
7.  Repeat the process until all of the peppers are in the pot off the stove.
8.   Chop garlic finely and throw into the same pan you used to cook the peppers with 1 tbsp of olive oil.
9.  Cook on medium high heat until fragrant,  but not burned 3-4 minutes.
10.  Add into the pot with the tightly fitting lid with 1/2 tbsp of salt and 1/2 tbsp of pepper. Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
11.  Uncover and place in a tall mason jar with a screw on lid.  Leave the lid off until entirely cooled.  Place lid on and serve on the table in the jar for added flair :)

Time intensive yes,  but so well worth it.