cuchi cuchi

i was inspired by an old episode of Julia Child: Lessons with the Master Chefs. this episode featured Zarela Martinez preparing stuffed poblano peppers with dried fruit and placing the stuffed peppers on a sauced plate. ok, only half of that sounded good to me. i picked up a bag of roasted anaheim peppers from Cedar Acres booth at the argenta farmers market (CAFM) and the rest of this recipe was another clear out the fridge delight. i figure you can stuff the peppers a thousand ways and if they are swimming in this sauce, they’ll be good. i was right. below is the sauce recipe, the full recipe can be found at pbs.org.
for my stuffed anaheim peppers, i made a slit in each of the roasted peppers and rinsed out the seeds. or, you can roast peppers on the griddle or on an open gas flame via stove top, or you can fry peppers like at the pbs link above, until black, then peel. i sautéed a diced small onion in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. i added 1 zucchini diced and when the zucchini softened, i added 1 garlic clove squeezed through a garlic press. to finish the stuffing off, i added leftover cooked chicken that i shredded by hand, just heat the chicken through, do not overcook. or, stuff ‘em with what you have on hand, use leftover beef, pork, shrimp, rice, the options are endless. mine didn’t close because anaheim peppers are long and very narrow. stuff and place in a casserole dish then into a 450℉ oven for 10 mins. sauce the plate and top with a couple stuffed peppers. eat with some griddle heated tortillas. delicioso.




Salsa de Tomate Asado - Roasted Tomato Sauce
1 cup heavy cream

1 medium onion, unpeeled, halved
8 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 to 4 large ripe tomatoes, unpeeled
Salt
Pour cream into the saucepan & simmer over moderate heat until reduced by half.
Meanwhile, set the griddle over high heat until a drop of water sizzles on contact. Spread the onion and garlic on the hot surface and brown on all sides, turning frequently until the garlic is softened and the onion is partly blackened & fragrant. Set them aside. Then pan-roast the tomatoes, turning several times until blistered all over. Set aside.
Peel the onion, scraping away any extremely charred bits. Cut out and discard the root and then cut the onion into chunks and drop into the blender. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the blender. Peel the tomatoes directly over the blender (leaving on a little of the charred skin) and drop them in, seeds and all. Puree on medium speed until smooth.

Finishing the Sauce:
 Stir the puree into the reduced cream. Season with salt and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce loses its raw taste.