How to Roast a Pepper

I made up this post a long time ago, to go with my White Bean Chili with Rajas post. In order to make this chili, you need rajas, and if you wanna make rajas, you need to roast some poblano peppers. Luckily, roasting peppers is super easy. Don't stop with just this kind though, you can roast red peppers the same way! 

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Wash the peppers, dry them, and then give 'em a good ol' rub down with some olive oil.  Place them on a small baking sheet and let them blacken in the oven for about 30 minutes. Using a pair of tongs, turn the peppers over occasionally so they can blacken on all sides. You want them black because it's this roasting process that really brings out their flavor.

2. Remove the peppers from the oven and place them in a small dish. Cover them and let them steam for about 15 minutes or so.

3. Once the peppers are done steaming, you can easily peel off the outer skins and remove the seeds and stems. They actually come out rather easily.

So peel, peel, peel that pepper. Pick out the seeds and stems. Feelin'... aww, nevermind. 

4. Slice the peppers into strips and you're ready to finish making the rajas (or anything else involving roasted poblanos).

Just a hint: when you're shopping for these babies, pick ones that are nice and shiny and squeak when you rub them together. You don't want a soggy pepper.

This is why it takes me so long to go grocery shopping. If I'm not reading the labels or figuring up the prices, I'm out there squeaking my peppers. Geez. 

On an unrelated note, I've somehow acquired a large assortment of gluten-free flours so in an attempt to get them out of the kitchen, I'll be experimenting with a little gluten-free baking. I envision a post on gluten-free cornbread, butter beans, and greens sometime soon as well as a quiche. And potatoes. Lots of potatoes.