Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com. Today, I’m going to show you Fried Padrones Peppers, very rare and exotic Spanish pepper.
They’re only in season for a couple of weeks and this came from a famous legendary teacher at the California Culinary Academy, Steve Elliot who is the father of the lovely and talented Shannon Elliot from foodbuzz.com. So anyway, this recipe is dedicated to them and this recipe is about as simple as you can prepare them, which really is the best way.
So what we’re going to do here, we’re going to take these peppers. You see, they’re kind of varied in size. We’re going to rinse those off and just tap it on some paper towel. A little bit of water on there is fine because that’s going to help blister the skin.
In a heavy duty saute pan, what you’re going to do is you’re going to put some olive oil in there. This is on high heat. Do not use non-stick. Not the best to heat those to really high heat. People say they give off toxic gases. So if you’re not into that kind of thing, use a regular steel pan. I’m going to throw in my peppers. There’s a little bit of water on the skin and it’s going to kind of crackle and steam and sear and blister, and they sound really cool, too. Let’s just listen for a minute. The other really interesting fact is that only one out of every about 10 or 12 is spicy. The rest are, you know, mild, complex, kind of bitter flavor. And then every once in a while, you get like really spicy ones. So it’s kind of like an adventure to eat these.
So what you’re looking for here, I’m going to show you a close-up. The peppers are going to kind of—the skin is going to blister a little bit. They’re going to brown. Do you see that, how it’s kind of getting deflated? That’s how you know they’re almost done. So they’re going to from like a very firm exterior and feel and they’ll just start to soften and then they’ll kind of collapse. But they’re still going to have some good texture to them. It’s not going to be falling apart.
Alright. Now, the little bit of olive oil I put in there, about a tablespoon or so that’s left, I’m going to just drizzle that over the top. That’s the sauce, and then I’m going to put on some sea salt. This is Fleur De Sel. This is a famous French sea salt, very large grains, very big crystals. It gives the beautiful crunch, so good, so unusual.
Now, to serve these, a couple of ways. I like it just with a little garlic mayonnaise. You just dip it, you can chew around it. There’s a little seed pod at the top. You just bite around that. Some people even eat that, whatever. People are in all kinds of things. So if you want to eat the seeds, go ahead. I don’t; I just nibble around it.
If you ever come across Padrones Peppers, buy them, saute them, just simple, hot pan, olive oil, salt. Also, these are unbelievable dipped in egg yolk. I mean, look at that. That was great. It looks like a picture, alright? Well, it is a picture. You know what I’m trying to say.
Anyway, go the site. There’s not really a recipe because it was like two ingredients. And as always, enjoy.
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