How can I make the best use of chocolate peppers?
One grower at the farmer's market in the alley near my work recently started selling a crop of chocolate peppers. I've had some moderate success using them as an ingredient, but am looking for tips on additional uses for them; particularly in how to make them more expressive of their flavor (i.e. is it particularly important to roast them before use, etc).
(If you're unfamiliar with these, they are poblano-ish looking peppers with a purple-ish color to them; they have a subtle, sumptuous chocolate-y profile and pair very well with very hot peppers.)
For example, I have made Chile Rellenos with them and they were very good; but recently I tried to incorporate them into a simple rice and eggplant dish and they didn't flavor the dish very well at all. I'm wondering if pre-roasting them ahead of time might have made them a better ingredient or if perhaps some other technique could have made them more worth including.
What sorts of preparation techniques or ingredient combinations would best utilize this unique ingredient and help enhance its flavor?
Best Answer
In general, you can roast peppers to develop a richer flavor. Then skin the pepper and you can use it for salsas, sauces, or just slice/dice it up for a sandwich.
Pictures about "How can I make the best use of chocolate peppers?"
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What to Do With an Abundance of PeppersWhat does a chocolate bell pepper taste like?
The Chocolate Bell Pepper is a Chocolate colored bell pepper with a very sweet flavor. This early maturing bell pepper turns dark brown on the outside and a deep red on the inside when fully ripened. This Bell Pepper is beautiful raw in salads and roasted in other dishes.What can I do with a ton of sweet peppers?
How to Use Up Your Extra PeppersDo chocolate peppers taste like chocolate?
Taste and Appearance The peppers start out green and look just like other bell peppers in the garden, but then the fruit starts to turn deep chocolate brown as it ripens. The flesh inside is crispy, sweeter than a classic bell pepper and dark red in color.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Andres Ayrton, Yan Krukov, SHVETS production, Ena Marinkovic