Supper Club Fourth Course - Baked Bell Peppers and Banderdillas
Here are the recipes for the fourth course of the Supper Club meal we hosted on Saturday. Having fortified ourselves with some good wine, it was time for something more substantial.
Both recipes in this course came from Franco again; at this rate I'll need to pay her royalties. How many can I post before fair use gets violated?
Baked Bell Peppers
Serves 8.
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
1 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, halved
6 plum tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup black olives [omitted for Supper Club]
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons sherry
4 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper
[1] Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
[2] Seed the bell peppers, then cut each into twelve strips.
[3] Place the bell peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes and olives in a large roasting pan. Sprinkly with sugar then pour over the sherry. Season well with salt & pepper.
[4] Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
[5] Stir the vegetables. Add the rosemary. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for another 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
We first tried this recipe in March. It was a huge success and since then we've made it several times and it feels like an old familiar friend. inastateofhope and onabus both liked it a great deal when we made it for them a few weeks ago. For Supper Club we made a double batch and left out the olives. We also had to use beefsteak tomatoes because we couldn't find plum tomatoes.
This recipe has a number of advantages. First, it is dead simple to make, and cheap to boot. Second, it is totally vegetarian friendly. Third, it creates lots of juice that is perfect for sopping up with bread. It has a nice sweet flavor, and it makes enough that leftovers are a probability even with four people. I have to admit that after Supper Club we had half a pan left, but it wasn't the main attraction so that is not too surprising. People seemed to like it.
Banderdillas
Makes 12
12 small capers
12 drained anchovy fillets in heavy oil (approximately one 2 ounce can)
12 pitted black olives
12 gherkins or cornichons (tiny pickles)
12 pickled onions
toothpicks
[1] Place a caper at one end of an anchovy fillet and roll the fillet around it.
[2] Thread one caper-filled anchovy, 1 olive, 1 cornichon/gherkin and 1 pickled onion onto a toothpick.
[3] Chill and serve.
This recipe was the very last thing prepared prior to the start of the meal, and I didn't do a bit of it. CGM stepped in and prepared two batches of banderdillas while I juggled baking pans. She said that opening jars with anchovy oil on her hands was the hardest part.
Per the cookbook, you are supposed to eat these in one bite. The flavors go together very well, and even people who claimed not to like anchovies were seen scarfing these down. The saltiness of the anchovy contrasted nicely with the baked peppers.
Tomorrow: Pastry-Wrapped Chorizo Puffs, Sweet Crust Lamb, Broiled Bell Pepper Tartlets, Tres Picos Garnacha (Spain, 2006)
Both recipes in this course came from Franco again; at this rate I'll need to pay her royalties. How many can I post before fair use gets violated?
Baked Bell Peppers
Serves 8.
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
1 red onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, halved
6 plum tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup black olives [omitted for Supper Club]
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons sherry
4 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper
[1] Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
[2] Seed the bell peppers, then cut each into twelve strips.
[3] Place the bell peppers, onion, garlic, tomatoes and olives in a large roasting pan. Sprinkly with sugar then pour over the sherry. Season well with salt & pepper.
[4] Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
[5] Stir the vegetables. Add the rosemary. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for another 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
We first tried this recipe in March. It was a huge success and since then we've made it several times and it feels like an old familiar friend. inastateofhope and onabus both liked it a great deal when we made it for them a few weeks ago. For Supper Club we made a double batch and left out the olives. We also had to use beefsteak tomatoes because we couldn't find plum tomatoes.
This recipe has a number of advantages. First, it is dead simple to make, and cheap to boot. Second, it is totally vegetarian friendly. Third, it creates lots of juice that is perfect for sopping up with bread. It has a nice sweet flavor, and it makes enough that leftovers are a probability even with four people. I have to admit that after Supper Club we had half a pan left, but it wasn't the main attraction so that is not too surprising. People seemed to like it.
Banderdillas
Makes 12
12 small capers
12 drained anchovy fillets in heavy oil (approximately one 2 ounce can)
12 pitted black olives
12 gherkins or cornichons (tiny pickles)
12 pickled onions
toothpicks
[1] Place a caper at one end of an anchovy fillet and roll the fillet around it.
[2] Thread one caper-filled anchovy, 1 olive, 1 cornichon/gherkin and 1 pickled onion onto a toothpick.
[3] Chill and serve.
This recipe was the very last thing prepared prior to the start of the meal, and I didn't do a bit of it. CGM stepped in and prepared two batches of banderdillas while I juggled baking pans. She said that opening jars with anchovy oil on her hands was the hardest part.
Per the cookbook, you are supposed to eat these in one bite. The flavors go together very well, and even people who claimed not to like anchovies were seen scarfing these down. The saltiness of the anchovy contrasted nicely with the baked peppers.
Tomorrow: Pastry-Wrapped Chorizo Puffs, Sweet Crust Lamb, Broiled Bell Pepper Tartlets, Tres Picos Garnacha (Spain, 2006)