Roasting Peppers

Happy Memorial Day! To those service men and women who serve our country here and abroad, and for those who have fallen... I thank you for all you do to preserve our freedom in this great country!

Cooking Dad wanted to make some roasted red peppers for his Roasted Red Pepper Mayo which he is putting on our grilled corn on the cob today for part of our wonderful BBQ dinner. He really didn't know how to do it, so I told him. Here is the instructions for some wonderful roasted peppers. The key is blackening the peppers so they peel easily to then roast them in the oven.

The method I told him to do for blackening the skin on the peppers was the grilling method outside. A person can also use the cookie sheet under the broiler or an indoor grill for blackening the skins on peppers.

Here is when we first put the peppers on the grill, they are indeed red. (they changed colors as they cooked from red to orange before becoming blackened).


Then as they are grilling they start to turn black; and, they smell so good! They are starting to turn orange while they are blackening.


When he took them off the grill, they are pretty blackened. This way you can peel off the skins after they have sat either in a paper bag or under a kitchen towel for about 5 minutes.


Well, I should have told him to get a large red pepper, because then maybe the peeling would have been easier for him. Instead we bought a bag of small peppers at Costco so that I could have other peppers for cooking and those baby peppers make great snacks. Our kids love to just eat the sweet peppers right out of the bag. They are kind of funny aren't they? Most kids won't eat peppers like that, but ours love those peppers. But, for roasting you really need a bigger pepper; Cooking Dad had a hard time peeling these because they are small.


After they are peeled, you preheat an oven to 400 degrees. In a square baking dish, put down a little olive oil (about 1 Tbsp) and put in the peppers and roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.


Then you just chop them up and add them to your favorite recipe. In this case, Cooking Dad is making Roasted Red Pepper Mayo for our corn tonight. Very easy to roast peppers, just takes a bit of time and a couple different cooking methods to make some great roasted peppers.

How to Cut Up a Pineapple... Easily

Many people wonder when they buy a pineapple how to cut it. Sometimes it will just sit on the kitchen counter while they are wondering what to do with it now that they have it. Some people wait so long that it goes bad right on the counter, and then they are left still wondering how to cut up a pineapple so they can benefit from fresh pineapple in their dishes. Well, I just follow the directions that come with the pineapple and it is very easy. But what happens if the pineapple doesn't come with the little tag with the directions? Well, you just come here because I am going to tell you how to do it.

First off when choosing a pineapple, make sure it isn't too orange-yellow in color, you want one that is more green than orangy-yellow because that means that it may have already gone bad if you buy it when it is too ripe. Costco is a good place to go when you want one that is just right in ripeness. Ok the directions so you can quit staring at it sitting on the counter:

1. Twist off the top, do not cut it, you could lose some of the yummy flesh if you cut it down too much. It should twist easily when it is ripe enough, if it doesn't twist easily than it isn't ripe enough and you should wait another day.

2. Cut it in half, then into quarters.

3. With each quarter, take a sharp knife and slice out the core.

4. Then slice into wedges. If you are serving it for a party you can leave on the skin as it would look more festive. If you are making it into chunks, then you want to slice off the skin off of each wedge.

Notes:
- If you want pineapple rings, you should invest in a pineapple corer so you can slice, core, and peel a pineapple easily. It makes rings that you can easily have fresh pineapple for that Pineapple Upside Down Cake you have been wanting to make without having to open a can.
- Fresh pineapple tastes better in any desserts, pizza, sweet and sour chicken or pork, and whereever else needs pineapple.
- Much more economical than buying canned pineapple, especially when you get a great deal at the store on fresh pineapples. Costco has the best prices I have found at about $2.99-3.99 each and they have nice big ones.