Ajvar Recipe (Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Dip)
This is a delicious roasted red pepper and eggplant spread called Ajvar.
Tag: appetizers
Summer Garden Gazpacho
Gazpacho is such a delicious way to take advantage of your summer garden harvest and (bonus) it’s easy to throw together. Look up gazpacho recipes and you’ll find a ton of them, each unique in their own way, but there are basically two gazpacho camps: …
Charred Shishito Peppers
If you’re a home gardener, shishito peppers are an easy-to-grow, heavily-producing plant that bears fruit earlier than a lot of other types of peppers. These peppers are fast growers too; two plants easily produce about 10-20 peppers every week or so during peak growing season.
Because these aren’t easy plants to find, I start seeds indoors, typically in mid-February. This gives me about a 6-inch plant to put into the ground come early May, which jump-starts the growing season here in zone 5 Northern Illinois.
If you’re not much into growing your own peppers but lucky enough to come across these delights at your grocery store or farmer’s market, I suggest you scoop some up. These are mild peppers packed with great flavor. People will tell you that every so many of these peppers are hot and that’s true but “hot” here is not anywhere near a jalapeno. Yes, some peppers have more heat than others but it’s not anywhere near an unbearable or uncomfortable heat, at least in my experience.
One of the easiest and most typical ways to cook these peppers is to roast them or char them with a drizzle of oil and some coarse kosher or sea salt. This method brings out their flavor and makes it easy to eat a couple of handfuls in one sitting.
You can accomplish cooking them this way in a number of ways, via a hot grill, a hot, heavy skillet or under a broiler. All you’re looking to do is char the skins a bit and give them a beautiful roasted flavor. If your peppers are large enough, you can actually place them directly on the grill, just keep a close eye on them. You can char them a little or you can char them a lot but, either way, I think you’ll like the end result.
How to Make Charred Shishito Peppers
- Shishito peppers
- Olive oil
- Coarse kosher or sea salt
To cook these on the grill, toss them on a grill pan or sheet of aluminum foil with the olive oil and salt and spread out into a single layer. Place the pan on a preheated grill and cook for about 7-10 minutes, tossing them around occasionally, until they’re browned a bit on all sides. Use this same method if cooking under a broiler.
To cook them on the stovetop, heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes. Add oil and heat the oil for a minute or so – do not let the oil become smoking hot.
Add peppers in a single layer and let brown slightly on one side then, using a pair of tongs, flip them over and let brown on the other side. Salt while hot and toss well.
These are perfect for cookouts and parties and are always a huge hit. The bonus is that there isn’t a simpler dish to make.
To really kick them up a notch, toss in some minced garlic and shallots before cooking; I promise you won’t be disappointed.
If you’ve ever seen these and wondered how to cook shishito peppers, now you know how easy it is. Now get out there and enjoy your summer while it lasts.
Bloody Mary Shrimp
This is a ridiculously easy recipe that’s just as fun to serve as it is to eat. I love a good Bloody Mary and I love shrimp, so these Bloody Mary Shrimp are the best of both worlds. I keep my recipe pretty simple, with …
Chicken Liver Pate
Liver. You either love it or hate it; there’s rarely an in-between. I grew up with parents who liked liver and onions so it was an occasional dinner of my youth and one I’ve always enjoyed. And it wasn’t just liver and onions we ate, but …
Asian Style Steak and Veggie Rolls
I had steak and vegetable rolls similar to this many moons ago and finally decided to make them myself. The steak is sliced thin, pounded thinner, then marinated and stuffed with barely-cooked veggies that add a flavorful, nutritional punch. These work as an appetizer or a meal and all of the work is in the prep. They’re a little time-consuming to put together but once there, these cook in under 5 minutes.
You don’t want to skimp out on the meat for these – I use Black Angus Sirloin and it’s worth it, even if it makes these more of a “special occasion” treat than an every day treat. These 2 steaks were 1 inch, 3/4 of a pound and well-marbled.
Beef (and veggies!)…It’s what’s for dinner.
The steaks here have been trimmed of excess fat and frozen for 40 minutes, making them ready for easy and consistent slicing. When I slice them, I slice the steak on the diagonal at an angle.
The steaks are the easy part of this. The vegetables require a bit more effort.
Julienne the veggies into about 2-3 inch long strips. I don’t get overly worked up about the length, as long as they’re approximate. Lifes’ too short to go crazy over julienned veggies. Besides, I like them to look a little crazy sticking out of my rolls. 🙂
The best way to prepare these – at least for me – is to get the meat sliced and marinating and the veggies cleaned and cut the day before making them. This way, everything is ready to go and throwing them together and cooking them takes me less than 30 minutes.
Are you ready to put together some awesome steak and veggie rolls? Okay…let’s do this thing.
Asian-Style Steak and Vegetable Rolls Recipe
Marinade
For the marinade, I use my basic marinade recipe, with a few additions, to add some Asian flair.
- 1/2 cup oil – I typically use olive oil (+ 2 tablespoons for cooking rolls)
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (+ 1-2 tablespoons for cooking rolls)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 thinly sliced scallions
- 1 teaspoon white miso paste
Prepare the Beef:
- 2 sirloin steaks, about 1 inch thick and 3/4 pounds each, frozen for 40 minutes and sliced thinly on the diagonal (see photo above)
- When steaks are sliced, pound them on both sides until thin
- Place beef slices in a shallow dish and cover with marinade. Cover dish and marinate for anywhere from 4 to 12 hours.
Prepare the Veggies:
- 8 asparagus spears, julienned
- 8 scallions, whites and greens, julienned
- 8 small sweet peppers, julienned
- 10 baby carrots, julienned
Quantities are approximate and attributed to what I actually had on hand when recording it for this post. Obviously, if you’re using regular bell peppers, it will only take 1 or 2, the same with regular size carrots. For the record, I also added some fresh pea tendrils to some of this batch, but hey…I like to play with my food.
To Make the rolls:
- Meat
- Veggies
- Toothpicks
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
Remove the beef slices from the marinade and blot well well with paper towels. Set aside.
In a heavy pan or grill pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and some minced garlic over medium-high heat. Add julienned vegetables, keeping them in groups, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. I prefer my peppers and carrots cooked a minute or so longer and my onions cooked about a minute less…adjust to your preference. Set aside.
Place a few pieces of each veggie on the end of a slice of beef and roll, securing with a toothpick. Repeat with remaining beef slices and vegetables. Now we’re going to cook our rolls.
Heat another tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat and saute 1/2 batch of rolls for about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat with 2nd batch. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and sliced scallions.
This made about 35 rolls for me, There are so many veggies that will work in these – you should use whatever you have on hand and truly love. Broccoli or broccolini, mushrooms (especially shiitake or enoki), baby leeks, kohlrabi, cabbage, greens, and even eggplant will all work. Think of the veggies you love and put them to work here. Fresh cilantro or parsley…Yes! Add them. Greens, such as kale, pea tendrils or arugula (my favorite!) – please add them.
I’d love to hear your variations on these – I’ve had a lot of fun playing with different variations.
Do you play with your food? I hope so. Enjoy!
Hot Cherry Peppers Stuffed with Prosciutto and Provolone
In case you didn’t know it, I’m huge on Pinterest! Okay, well, my Pickled Hot Cherry Peppers recipe is huge, anyway. One of the things I miss most about living in Connecticut is being able to find both fresh and pickled cherry peppers at the …