The Day I Clicked Myself Into Three Pounds of Peppers!

So probably like many of you who have discovered GrubMarket you got a little excited, as did I. So excited that you were clicking the “order ONE” button like a newly minted 21-year-old in Vegas. Don’t feel bad. I have a professional background in food. I have spent hours checking in produce for restaurants…after I have ordered all the produce for said restaurants. I too have gotten a little out of control with this company. So when Cinco de Mayo was coming around I got all these ideas about how I would expose my wussy family to a little bit more Elevated Spice.

When my fabulous box arrived I was stunned to see that I had a POUND each (as opposed to the single unit I thought I was ordering) of Jalapeno, Poblano, and Anaheim Peppers…or maybe TWO pounds…it’s all a little fuzzy at this point. What to do…what to do?!? My slightly more expensive than I could afford at the time 10 years ago gas BBQ had said it’s final goodbyes that week AFTER my order and the whole pickling and canning thing was slightly beyond my reach with children and husband crises peaking as they are wont to do whenever you try to Do Something New. It was looking like we were A) going to Don-whoever, the local awesome Mex Food Joint where the entire population of the town would also be…or B) eat something that was “vaguely Mexican” that was put out in lieu of…OR….C) I could “HATCH” a new plan. I am not a baker. Baking requires precision, counting, paying attention, and math. It is also most times a field where you can think about what you are going to do, and then do it or not. Fresh Produce is not that. It is unforgiving. It will look at you with its wilted eye and say, “I have died, unused, untasted, and it is YOUR FAULT.”

So enough with the theatrics in my head, I was on a mission to SAVE THE PEPPERS. I have a gas stovetop in my kitchen and I have roasted peppers before so I thought maybe I could use my Cookie Cooling Rack (which I never use…see above) to do the same in quantity. I just plopped that guy down with a slash of olive oil and roasted every single pepper. After I used the majority of each for various dishes at my Cinco de Extravaganza I just put the rest in jars with olive oil in my fridge and have been using them ever since for everything from jacking up a burrito to smoothing out a creamy dip. Olé!