Padron peppers

[KeenCook2 Profile]

They weren't large enough to contemplate stuffing. Who was it that said "life it too short to stuff a mushroom'? Was it even a mushroom, I'm not sure!

We had a discussion on peeling cooked chickpeas for the perfect hummus on Wildies ...

[Stokey Sue Profile]

They weren't large enough to contemplate stuffing. Who was it that said "life it too short to stuff a mushroom'? Was it even a mushroom, I'm not sure!

It was Shirley Conran

It’s a great line, but actually stuffed portobello mushrooms are dead easy and delicious

She may well have been thinking of canapé sized ones of course, in which case she had a point unless you are very nifty with a piping bag

[Earthmaiden Profile]

She should have said cherry tomatoes .... (never again!).

[ZeroCook Profile]

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Very nicely done, Sakk. What did you stuff them with?

Was going to suggest the delights of Chiles Rellenos, or jalapeno cheese poppers - both Southwest/Mex both cheese filled and deep fried - which are fiddly anyway. I've never really understood the attraction of padrons - they're pretty small, very thin fleshed and don't have a particularly great flavour in my book but very ok as a Spanish tapa which is where they started out from. That said, any chile relleno is worth the faff imo.

Jeral - flat is the preferred shape for Mex style Chiles Rellenos- usually made with Poblano peppers or large long chiles/peppers but will work with any. The traditional batter is a whipped egg and flour batter which I like a lot - very light and tasty. I like to use oil with a high smoke point like avocado or grapeseed oil when I can but evoo or whatever is fine


Chiles Rellenos

Steam or boil chiles/peppers whole with stems until just tender. Drain, cool until they can be handled.

Meanwhile make the cheese filling from any mixture of grated/ crumbled meltable and crumbly cheeses, sharpness to taste - like queso fresco and/or feta and/or mozzarella etc or even blue. Anything goes.

Without removing the stems carefully make a slit on one side of each pepper and carefully scoop out the seeds (prob with the back of a teaspoon for these as they're small)

Make the batter: use one egg for each large chiles/peppers or 2- 4 padrons depending on size.

Separate the whites, set the yolks aside.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry.
Beat in the yolks.
Add and beat in a tablespoon of plain flour for every two eggs. You should have a thick but pourable consistency.

Stuff peppers by taking a requisite amount of cheese in your hand, gently squeeze to shape and insert into each pepper.

Put some oil in a pan for frying. About 1.25 cm / 1/2 " or slightly more. Heat to batter frying temp.

Dredge chiles/peppers generously with flour on all sides.
Dip into batter, making sure slit is well covered - use stem to hold if wanted - place carefully into hot oil - don't overcrowd - seam side down and fry until golden brown on each side taking care that oil is hot enough and taking care not to burn. Drain on kitchen towels.

Serve as a main course with Mex Spanish rice etc and a red or green chile type of sauce or with dipping sauce of choice or hot sauce as a tapa or that sort of thing.

Have a photo somewhere ....

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[Sakkarin Profile]

What did you stuff them with?

I'd linked to the Mamta recipe I used about six posts earlier. It uses a gram flour batter which is very simple...
https://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_di ... p?id=10277

I suppose I should really have a bash at the Mexican stuffed chillies at some stage, I've only ever had bought ones from Costco, can't remember if they were frozen or chilled, it was at least 20 years ago my Costco account ran out.

[Amber Profile]

Does anyone else remember the NB chillies stuffed with ice cream - a great hit here ?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I’m afraid jalapeño poppers come frozen from Sainsbury’s to me karadekoolaid
I don’t know how authentic they are but they are quite nice
If my jalapeño cultivation is successful I’ll have a go

[ZeroCook Profile]

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I seem to miss posts and bits of posts when I go on here with my phone. Should use the laptop more. That's an interesting recipe from Mamta, Sakk. Sort of going towards bhaji territory - been thinking about making bhajis recently - might have to too .....

I've never bought ready made chiles rellenos other than eating out at restaurants. They're a bit of a production in the kitchen but so good. Loads and loads of long green peppers - pimenton - are grown and eaten in Spain (technically a chile with no heat but hey), always dead cheap and I've often made rellenos there using those and always to rapturous reactions - don't know why Mex style stuffed are not made there. They'd be a big hit. Don't know why those long green peppers have never made their way to the UK either.

Padrons will work as will any of those long green chiles/peppers if ever come across or of course if you can find poblanos, especially ones that don't cost an arm and a leg. Definitely worth growing, too. But that's another project.

Stokey - great to grow jalapenos - unless you have tons, would not waste on poppers!



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[karadekoolaid Profile]

Great work, Sakks!!
I still think I´d stick to salt & EVOO, but still.
As for stuffing peppers: I reckon minced meat (in some kind of sauce) works well.
So does ricotta and spinach, or some kind of greens.
Rice works well, but I find it a bit bland unless it´s mixed with something.
I went to a restaurant called Hacienda de los Morales in Mexico City and had the most delicious stuffed Ancho Chiles - stuffed with pork/beef mince and a spicy tomato sauce on top.
I also once made an Afghani dish (can´t for the life of me remember the name) but it was a pepper stuffed with a spicy leek/potato filling.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

You can get long green peppers easily in London ZeroCook, and probably in other cities now

I can get what are called Romano peppers, usually red or yellow but also green, also known as corne de bouef just about anywhere, and the slightly smaller paler ones used in eastern Mediterranean and Asian cooking are easily found round here in Turkish and other shops. The Turkish shops also sell biber dolma, small, quite pale, thin walled squarish peppers for stuffing to make biber dolmasi

http://www.turkeysforlife.com/2012/01/t ... uffed.html

[Sakkarin Profile]

Follow up:

I was going to fry the other half of my pack of padron peppers on their own, but by the time I'd deseeded them, there wasn't enough for a portion, so I ended up sauteeing 1/4 onion and some garlic, then added the peppers, then finally a couple of mushrooms. Made a good veg for some roast chicken, along with herby ovened potato wedges. However I'd use a meatier pepper/chilli in preference both for stuffing and as a veg, they were paper thin, not much flesh on them.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I don't usually de-seed them - just cook intact, then pick them up by the stalk and hoover them in, leaving the stalk on the side of the plate
That's how I've had them as tapas

[Sakkarin Profile]

The big ones that I stuffed, I found that they had a huge amount of seeds, hence the need to deseed (apart from the fact that I was stuffing them...).

However I noticed halfway through the second batch of small to tiny ones that most of the seeds were in a coherent "ball" round the stem, and most of the "tails" of the chillies were empty. However the ball was enormous, maybe 40% of the inside of the actual pepper.

[ZeroCook Profile]

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Right, Stokey.
Haven't lived and cooked in and around London since before covid about 18 months so maybe there's been a change in that department.

Was talking long fleshy mild bright dark green peppers or chile 20 - 25 cm long. Green Romanos - many similar varieties of peppers & chiles specifically used very green for the flavour etc rather than at another colour/ripeness stage.








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[Stokey Sue Profile]

London being infamously a series of villages what I can get in an area crammed with hipsters, a few remaining proper east enders Turks, and E Europeans, plus a fair few west Africans, is not necessarily what you;d find in a more S Asian and traditional white middle class area. The veg in the Jewish shops up Stamford Hill are also slightly different

[Amber Profile]

I don't usually de-seed them - just cook intact, then pick them up by the stalk and hoover them in, leaving the stalk on the side of the plate
That's how I've had them as tapas

Me too, lots of Evo, s&p, and garlic, as gifted to me by some Basque friends. ( nearly 20 years ago )

I sure it used to be something like one in seven, but I haven’t had a spicy one in years.