Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Padrón Peppers

"Padróns are the new jalapeños!" DeeAnn exclaimed to me (after dictating the recipe below). It's a good thing she's so excited about these little peppers, because we have a TON of them.

We have just shy of two acres of padróns in the fields, and the recent heat has made those plants very happy. If you've come into the farm store recently, we probably haven't let you leave without at least a handful of them!

When the peppers are small, they're almost always sweet and mild. Every once in a while, though, you'll get a spicy one. According to Wikipedia, there's a bit of a saying to go along with this: "Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non" (Galician for "Padrón peppers, some are hot and some are not") The larger peppers are more likely to be spicy, but like all hot peppers, that capsaicin in the seeds is the culprit for the most part -- so removing the seeds makes them quite a bit milder.

Stuffed Padrón Peppers

Grab your favorite cheese and you'll have a classy summer appetizer in no time. Serves 4-6
    Ingredients
  • 12 medium to large padrón peppers
  • about 1½ cups grated monterey jack cheese or queso fresco
  • oil
  • salt
  • juice of 1 lime or lemon
  1. Cut tops off of peppers and scoop out seeds. Discard.
  2. Stuff each pepper with about 2 tablespoons of cheese.
  3. Brush or rub each pepper with a very small amount of oil.
  4. Bake on a baking sheet for 10 minutes in a 400°F oven. Sprinkle with salt and lime juice and allow to cool briefly before serving.

3 comments:

  1. Just got a huge sack of padron's from my co-op. Can't wait to stuff em in my mouth! Thanks for the easy, simple recipe.

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  2. I hope you have a nice day! Very good article, well written and very thought out. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts in the future.

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  3. that is very interesting I did not know that there were those chili peppers called Padrón, I think it has a Mexican origin, I will try to get some and use them in a recipe

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