One of the hot ingredients of the past year seems to be Padron peppers or pimientos de Padron as they're known in Spain. These mildly hot peppers are crunchy and easy to eat, and appeared in many of the appetizer sections of restaurants in town. People say it's like playing Russian roulette when eating the peppers because they're mild and sweet, but there's always one in the bunch that will be fiery hot. So far (knock on wood), I have yet to experience a really hot Padron pepper (or maybe I'm just used to heat, not).
I found a bunch of Padron peppers at the farmers market and they are such a quick and easy snack to make. All you do is sauteed them in a really hot cast iron skillet with olive oil until they blister and brown and then they're ready to eat with a sprinkling of sea salt. It's nice to balance the heat of the peppers with fruit like apricots, peaches, or (what's currently in season) persimmons.
It's so easy you don't even need a recipe. Just these easy steps:
- Rinse padron peppers and pat dry
- Heat a skillet on high heat. Toss your padron peppers in extra virgin olive oil and then throw in pan. Cook until blister or brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Slice the persimmon (get the fuyu, which is the crunchy persimmon) in thin slices and then toss into the pan just to warm up with the peppers.
- Transfer everything onto a plate and sprinkle with sea salt.
5 comments:
This sounds like a really good dish - I'll have to try it. I also like cooking with shishito peppers which don't have the random hot factor. I also use them on pizzas,and in quesadillas.
ooh, which farmer's market did you find them? I love those little peppers. how were they with kaki? I love their sweet and cinnamony flavors but can't imagine sauteed and sprinkled with salt!
I am addicted to Padrons. I even grow a Padron plant each summer to have my own tiny stash of these tender, juicy little peppers.
That sounds delicious! Could you send me another photo of them, so I know which ones they are? Thanks!
Librarian, I love shishito peppers too. They seem similar to padron. I wonder if they're maybe the same and just different names for the same pepper?
Foodhoe, I bought the peppers at the farmers stand at Grand Lake farmers market. Forgot the name of the farmer, but they're also at Sunday Temescal's market. They're the big one with lots of vegetables.
Carolyn, I would love to grow some if I had a garden. How fun.
Kim, email me your email and I'll send you a photo. I don't have ones of the one I bought but can send you one I took at Lafitte, where I first ate it and loved them! (Or I guess you could go to the archives and see my review of Lafitte and the picture of the padrons.)
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