ricketyclick

A riff off a suggestion from my Mom. Thanks, Mom!

Makes one serving
1 red bell pepper OR 1/2 red and 1/2 yellow
1/2 small onion
1-2 garlic cloves
1 stalk celery, chopped (optional)
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp bacon fat
2 tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
1-2 tsp chicken stock paste or 2 bullion cubes
1 cup water
splash Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

I just threw this together for the first time today, so it still needs a bit of adjustment, particularly the seasoning.

Chop the peppers and onion into 1″ squares (spoon-size).
Mince garlic.

I expect some people will want to use green peppers, but I prefer the less bitter red and yellow varieties. I like reds the best, but the red and yellow combo is visually appealing.

Actually, this first time I used shallots, which I’ve never used before. Frankly, I can’t tell ‘em apart from onions, which are a lot cheaper. A purple onion would add even more color.

Sautee gently in oil and fat (or use all oil, or fry up one or two strips worth of bacon) until onion is transparent and peppers begin to soften.

Next time I’ll probably throw in some celery. I like to pull the strings out, and I’d want it pretty well cooked, so I might sautee it first, then add the onions and peppers.

A carrot probably wouldn’t hurt, but now you’re dangerously close to plain old vegetable soup. Like the celery, I’d want the carrot pretty thoroughly cooked.

Thin the paste with a little bit of water in the measuring cup, then top it off and add it to the vegetables.

The water amount is, frankly, a guess. What I really did was to add water to cover the vegetables, then a bit more.

Or, just use a cup of chicken stock if you have it on hand. The Better than Bullion base is very good, though; I’ve also used the beef version. They’re both excellent for adding flavor to many recipes. A teaspoon in a cup of boiling hot water sooths a sore throat.

Add balsamic vinegar, dash Wustershustershire, other seasonings to taste.

Wine might be an interesting alternative to the vinegar.

Bring to a boil, then let simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes until the peppers are al dente–firm but not crunchy.

I recently acquired a crock pot; I suspect this would be really good prepared that way. The crock pot wants at least two quarts, though, which is about 8 servings of this recipe, so I’ll do a bit more tweaking before committing to that much.

Mom’s original suggestion was to simply sautee the peppers and onions together as a side dish. I want to work with that, too. I’m thinking maybe a dab of sour cream on top….

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 1:42 pm and is filed under Bachelor Chow, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.