Today I want to share why I choose to grow these peppers and how I cook with them.
The padron peppers are my favorite of the three and are very similar to shishito peppers.
My girlfriend introduced me to them and we could only find them at the farmer’s market downtown every saturday morning so I decided to grow them myself to have free access to them.
I usually prepare them as a nibble | appetizer with a really simple treatment.
I saute them in a hot fry pan with extra virgin olive oil and salt & pepper {which you an adjust to your taste}.
I simply saute the peppers until they start to blister and wilt just a little bit.
That’s it! You can eat them as is, which is our preference, or you can serve them with an aioli.
Just beware that some are super hot, spice level, or simply mild.
That’s part of the fun, not knowing what your going to get exactly, but you need to be prepared because sometimes they are super hot!
That’s why they are served with an aioli, to soothe the heat if necessary.
The biggest variety we grow are the anaheim peppers, which I grow to make sausage and peppers.
One of the things I really like about this meal, actually there are various reasons I like it, but I really enjoy dishes where Mr. Masterpiece and I work together to bring the meal together. He grills the sausages while I roast everything else in the oven.
Other great reasons include that the entire family likes it, it’s a one dish meal, it’s easy to assemble and it frees me up to tend to other things while it roasts in the oven.
I start by marinating the sausages in white vinegar for about 1-2 hours. I use mild Italian sausages but you could use hot if that’s your preference.
For the vegetables, I cut up in long strips, 1 yellow onion, 4-6 peppers, and 2 russet potatoes. This feeds our family of 4.
I toss all the vegetables in a roasting pan with extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper and cayenne pepper. I eyeball these quantities leaving them up to flavor preference.
Then I simply roast them starting at 350o. after 20 minutes I give them a toss and check if they need any more oil. Then I turn up the heat to 375o and let them roast for about another 40 minutes. I keep an eye on them to make sure they do not over roast and probably toss one more time.
In the meantime the sausages are grilled and then top off the vegetables once everything is cooked.
Mr. Masterpiece usually sprinkles some of the left over vinegar marinade over the top. It adds a bit of brininess, if you like that flavor.
As much as we all love sausage & peppers we can not eat it enough to keep up with the healthy crops we have had so I also use them for my stuff pepper recipe. In the winter I use regular bell peppers but in the summertime while we have a plethora of anaheims, I substitute.
Last but not least, we have been growing the jalapeño peppers the longest. I started growing them for my Mexican salsa, taco tuesdays, etc., but once again it yields incredible quantities so I started making jalapeño poppers.
6 benefits to planting your own vegetable garden
