Local Joy: Fire Roasted Poblano Peppers

Mole sauce... pumpkin poblano corn pudding... pineapple poblano salsa... polenta with mixed pepper sauce... caramelized onion & poblano enchiladas...

It's not difficult to admit that I'm a huge fan of roasted poblanos. 

However, I'm a little bit hesitant to admit that it's almost therapeutic for me to venture out in the midst of winter to pick up a few imported poblanos from the Mexican grocer & throw them underneath the broiler to give them a good char.  The roasty toasty smell of the peppers, combined (if I'm fortunate) with the refreshing taste of one of Peef's famous margaritas, transports me somewhere far away from the Wisconsin winter snow -- and to a place that's almost, well, tropical.  Best of all, a couple of the sweet roasted peppers pull in an awful lot of flavor into an otherwise bland winter dish -- saving me from the winter cooking doldrums.

But, we've been trying to commit to eating more and more locally as time wears on.  So, a couple of Saturdays ago, I decided to take the bull by the horns and head off those mid-winter temptations.  We headed off to the farmer's market in search of a small goldmine of those lovely green peppers. About fifteen minutes and $10 later, I had myself a half a bushel of them -- and I was pretty excited to get home.

Originally, I planned to roast the peppers in the oven, before peeling off the charred skin, extracting the seeds, and packing the peppers into containers to pop them into the freezer.  But, it occurred to me that there was an even better way to deal with a boatload of peppers.

It might sound silly, but pulling out the charcoal grill was a bit of a revelation.  First of all, I don't think I realized quite how much time we'd save (the direct flame really goes to work on the peppers, and chars them in about half the time).  I also didn't exactly think about all of that sensual, smoky flavor that would be imparted to the peppers from the hardwood charcoal.  But, as the peppers roasted, I found myself feeling a little bit giddy. And, as I stood over the island, scraping charred bits of skin and seeds from the green flesh,  I started to envision the roasted poblano rice... the chiles rellenos... and the southwestern corn chowder made with poblanos & frozen grilled corn... And, by the time we'd packed all of the peppers away, I was seriously stoked.

Even if I'm not particularly looking forward to that first winter snow storm, I'm definitely looking forward to pulling some of these babies out of the freezer in mid-winter.  Talk about therapy...


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