Category: Peppers Sweet

Carmen Peppers are a favorite crop of everyone one working at Red Wagon. They are a thick-walled sweet Italian red pepper.

Because of their thick sturdy walls they hold up to stir-frying, (think fajitas) grilling and stuffing. When they are roasted they make great sauces and dips too. They don’t weep when they are blended with other ingredients and add a unique sweet-fruity richness. Here is a delicious recipe using roasted Carmen’s.

Try adding them to your favorite tomato sauce recipe.

As good as they are roasted and grilled, you can use them raw just like you would any bell pepper. The flavor is more complex than bell peppers, even red or orange bell.

Try them with a dip.

Or in a salad.

Carmen’s will store in a plastic bag in your refrigerator for at least a couple weeks.

If you haven’t tried them yet, try something new this week.

 

One of the sweet peppers we grow at Red Wagon is called Jimmy Nardello aka ‘Jimmy’s’. It is classified as an Italian Frying pepper, it looks like this.

Jimmy’s are long irregularly ‘finger’ shaped, medium thick walled very sweet almost fruity flavored peppers. They are about twice the size of a shishito.

In my mind they are more versatile than a shishito. You can prepare and eat them like a shishito. Pan fry them whole in olive oil and a little salt, hold them by the stem and enjoy.

One of my favorite ways to eat Jimmy’s is to cut them in half and seed them.

Fry them cut side down with a little olive oil and salt until they are a little soft.

Then flip them over and add some mozzarella, provolone or Manchego cheese and cook until it is all melty.

Jimmy’s are much more flavorful than bell peppers, even better than red bells IMO, so they are good in egg dishes like omelets or scrambles , add them to roasted or pan fried potato dishes, pizza, sandwiches or any pasta dish.

I made a simple marinara sauce last night and added some Jimmy’s. Unless I am putting cheese in Jimmy’s I leave them basically whole. I cut the stem off and dig the seeds out with my fingers then rinse them in water to get the seed all the way out.

You can see I kind of broke the wall of the pepper to get the seeds out. That’s ok. I think it is easier than cutting them in half and seeding and I like the texture of the pepper cut into rings for the most part.

I fried those and added some sauce and eggplant I had in the refrigerator.

Bell peppers are good, but Jimmy Nardello’s are special. I hope you try them.

Have a great week, see you at pickup.

Mo

Grilled peppers are one of my favorite summer foods. I love love love grilled peppers of all kinds.

Poblano, Jalapenos, Jimmy Nardelo, Carmen, Bell and especially Shishitos. I have posted lots of Shishito recipes here.

This is as easy to make as it is delicious.

Just wash the peppers and cut them in half and clean out the seeds and membranes, except for Shishitos, leave them whole.

I like to toss the peppers in olive oil and sprinkle some salt on them before grilling.

Grill the peppers on both sides so they are pretty much done, then add the cheese. My favorite cheese for grilled peppers is Manchego, especially for sweet peppers like Carmen and Jimmy Nardelo.

It doesn’t take much cheese, in fact, don’t put too much on or it won’t melt properly.

That’s it. We had this for dinner with some grilled corn on the cob with lots leftover. Leftovers are great for breakfast with eggs (grilled pepper and egg tacos anyone?!).

Today it feels like Fall is around the corner. Enjoy the Summer’s bounty.

Have a great week. We’ll see you at pickup.

Mo

I   Love Shishito Peppers .

I saw this recipe and was inspired to make a similar dipping sauce to the one in the recipe but use shishito peppers for the vehicle to move the sauce from the dish into my mouth. Broccoli, beans or snap peas would be good vehicles too.

I gathered these ingredients

And I made a sauce. I didn’t measure, I eyeballed and tasted. It was pretty basic, some yogurt, a dash of soy sauce and a squeeze of lime and a squeeze of sriracha. It’s not a great picture, but it gives you an idea of proportions.

Mix that up and cook your shishitos either in a pan with oil or on your grill. Sprinkle some  sesame seeds on and enjoy the heck out of this dish!

We grilled some beans and made another sauce (that recipe is here) and had that with some gazpacho and margaritas for a great end of summer dinner.

Happy Labor Day Weekend. Be safe.

Mo

Oh Shishito peppers, how do I love thee?

This is pretty much a re-post of the blog I did last year. Is that bad?

In my defense, I did it because I don’t think enough can be said, or blogged, or consumed when it comes to these peppers. I also wanted to blog again, in case some of you don’t look back at the recipes.

Shishito’s are possibly one of my top 5 favorite vegetables. Oh, wait, it is a fruit isn’t it? It doesn’t matter, it is complex, smokey, deep flavor is like the best part of every pepper and chili you have ever had in one delightful bite.

Most pepper seeds are bitter or very spicy and you discard them, but not these. They add a creamy taste and texture and add to the overall experience.

I like Shishito’s best roasted or grilled. Put a little olive oil and salt on them and cook them on a hot grill.

Keep turning them every few minutes. They will pop and steam as the inside of the pepper cooks and as the outsides char.

Almost done.

Done.

This isn’t a great picture, but it shows how the peppers collapse down after you take them off the grill.

I made an omelette with Shishito’s and some shallot, it was so good.

Again, not a great picture. I ate it all before I realized I didn’t get a good photo. I never do that. I always check to make sure I get a decent picture but got lost in my omelette…that how good these peppers are.

I hope you like them too.

One of the restaurants we sell to asked Wyatt to grow these peppers and boy am I glad he did. This is probably my favorite new crop this year. These are mild and so flavorful. The seeds of most peppers are bitter and you almost always discard them. But the seeds of the Shishito pepper are almost a caviar texture, creamy and succulent and very juicy. They are a thin-walled pepper, sort of like a Jimmy Nardelo if you are familiar with those. I prefer the Shishito pepper to the Jimmy.

You can grill the Shishito or just pan sear them. I have done both and both are equally delicious.

Just heat a pan with some olive oil in it and put your washed peppers in the hot pan.

Sear the peppers on all sides. The peppers will puff up and some even pop open, that’s ok.

Now you can just eat them as a side dish or snack. Eat the whole pepper, but not the stem!

Or you can cut them up and add them to a dish like you would any roasted pepper. I made some eggs and added these to the eggs.