Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009

Cook's Corner: Make a meal of stuffed peppers

Brad Smith is not a professional chef. He learned to cook, watching his mother and his uncle, “Papa Jack.”

Smith loves to cook with fresh, local ingredients. Saturday mornings, Smith visits Market Days on Broadway.

“Greek Peppers are part of my dinner when I come home from a long day of shopping and crave something good, but simple. The peppers can always be roasted in advance and kept in the refrigerator for any number of uses, which makes putting this together much faster and easier.

“Whenever possible, always buy brine-packed feta. It is far superior to the brands already crumbled. Keep any unused feta in the brine in a well-sealed container in the coldest part of your refrigerator.”

Today, Smith shows how to make Greek Peppers. Watch the instructional video.

Greek Peppers

2 roasted, peeled and chilled red bell peppers

Extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 package softened Neufchatel or cream cheese

2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped very fine

1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves

Fresh basil leaves, torn if large

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the two red bell peppers lengthwise into thirds, carefully removing seeds and membranes. Place on a baking sheet skin-side up and flatten out with the palm of your hand. Brush or drizzle with a bit of olive oil and roast at 500 degrees until skins become charred and slightly wrinkled. Upon removing from the oven, immediately place them into a sealed bowl or plastic bag.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off with your fingers and discard the skins — don’t rinse the peppers or you’ll rinse away that delicate smoky flavor from the roasting. Arrange on a plate and chill.

Combine cheeses, lemon juice, garlic, oregano and season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide mixture into as many portions as you have roasted pepper sections and shape it into a log. Mold the pepper over the cheese log and form it into a jalapeno pepper shape, lay it in the center of a salad plate. At the thicker end, tuck in a stem of fresh basil. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.