Your kitchen will smell like a fantastic campfire cookout without the smoke -- mild Anaheim chile on the left and pasilla on the right

Summer meals cry out for the sweet, smoky flavor of roasted peppers. They really are easy to make and are far superior to the ones in jars or cans. And if you need one more reason, the sagebrush-y, best-cookout-you-ever-had smell will draw everyone to the kitchen, clamoring for the results.

The directions here are for roasting sweet red, orange and yellow bell peppers and mild chiles like Anaheims and pasillas. Hot peppers require a more cautious approach, which I’ll address in a future post. Though it’s best to start with fresh, unblemished peppers I have been known to “salvage” some rather withered-looking citizens. You’re roasting the skin off, after all. But do toss out peppers that are moldy or mushy. They are beyond saving.

The object is to blister and blacken the skin of the pepper, and there are three ways to accomplish this: gas burner, gas or electric broiler, and gas or charcoal grill. Essential for this task are a set of tongs. I use them to turn the pepper frequently as it roasts. To roast over a gas flame, balance the pepper on the burner grate over medium heat, turning it as it chars. The burner flame will be touching the pepper, as you can see.

Keep rotating the pepper as it blackens

To roast under the broiler, move the oven rack up close to the broiler element. I use a cookie sheet or a piece of foil under the pepper since it will sometimes drip liquid onto the bottom of the oven and I hate to clean that up!

Set the oven rack close to the broiler without jamming the pepper up against it

These peppers are on my little gas grill, which I use like an outdoor oven. When I light my charcoal grill I try to remember to roast a couple of peppers. A good time for that is after the coals are flaming but before they are quite ashy enough to cook over.

Keep rotating the peppers with tongs so that they blacken evenly

There will be the occasional little flare-up as the pepper roasts, but nothing dramatic. Stick around, though, to monitor it unless it’s out on the grill. Keep turning the pepper to char it evenly and all over.

Sometimes the pepper needs to assume a strange angle to blister all over

Nicely roasted under the broiler

Almost there...

This is completely charred, ready to remove from the flame

Once the pepper is completely blackened, remove it from the heat and put it into a paper bag. I use lunch bags, which I happen to have on hand, but you can use any brown paper bag. Close the bag and let the pepper rest for 10 minutes or more.

Shhh, the peppers are resting in their bags

Tear open the bag and lay it flat.

The bag just makes the whole job much easier to clean up

Starting at the stem end and using the back side of a knife, scrape down the length of the pepper to remove the charred skin. Move the black bits away from the pepper so you don’t have to keep scraping them off.

There will be big and small charred bits

Don't worry about getting off every last blackened flake

Move the pepper to a cutting board and throw away the scrapings and brown paper.

These are nearly ready to use

If you are making a dish requiring whole peeled peppers or chiles, such as chile rellenos, make a long slit the length of the pepper to remove the seeds and ribs but leave the stem attached. Here I’m making sliced peppers, so first cut around the top of the pepper and remove the stem.

Cut out the pale rib of the pepper

Next scrape out the seeds and trim off the ribs.

In the pasilla the ribs are stringy

Slice the peppers into strips lengthwise.

Don't worry about leaving a seed or two on the pepper

The roasted peppers have a natural oiliness

To serve with bread or on pasta or pizza, I like to marinate the peppers. Add a few sprinkles of red or balsamic vinegar, a couple of drops of olive oil, chopped fresh herb like rosemary or marjoram, salt and freshly ground pepper. Roasted peppers will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.

What's colorful here is also tasty

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

With grilled tri-tip or a poached egg, dreamy

I got over my dried bean hesitation some years ago, thanks to Lulu. Lulu babysat occasionally for Daughter #2, but we spent a good deal of the time talking about food while Daughter #2 played in the tupperware drawer. Lulu is from Guadalajara, where they really know something about cuisine. Together Lulu and I frequented the home take-out kitchen (yes, against all the rules) of one fellow Guadalajaran named Eva. Sheesh, “drunken” beans, guava tamales, meltingly tender carne asada. Lulu translated, I ate. One day Eva vanished — poof — though I think her loyal clientele knows where she is. I don’t ask.

Even though she bowed to Eva’s hefty talent, Lulu was and still is a fantastic cook. I’m not the only one who offered to watch my own child so she could whip up some basic beans or fresh salsa or paper-thin omelets (I’ll post those soon). One lesson I came away with was that beans do not need all that pre-soaking. My avoidance of dried beans stemmed from that plan-ahead step, because by the time I was thinking of cooking beans, the night before was last night. Yesterday’s news. Gone and gone. And that hour pre-soak — well, why not just make that an hour of actual cooking? Lulu made beans the day of, though she would usually start them in the morning. That way the smell was enough to drive you mad by lunchtime.

This recipe will work with canned black beans, but there is a joy and an amazing smell that comes from the burble of the bean pot. No surprise that folks have been comforted by this legume for more than 4,000 years.

I have found a stone -- but only once

Black Beans with Roasty Green Chiles | 6 to 8 servings

If you start with dried beans, give yourself plenty of time. It’s an easy dish but the beans do take 2 1/2 hours to cook. Dried beans can lose their freshness, so don’t store them too long. A year in a sealed package is probably nearing the end of that time.

2 cups (about 1 pound) dried black beans (or three 15-ounce cans black beans)
1/2 yellow onion, cut into wedges
3 garlic cloves, whole and peeled
Salt
3 pasilla or Anaheim chiles, or any mild green chiles, roasted, peeled and chopped (or one 7-ounce can roasted whole green chiles)
Olive oil
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaping cup cooked chicken or any cooked meat
Juice of 1/2 lime
Fresh salsa
8 sprigs cilantro, leaves chopped
More salt to taste

Spread the beans out on a light-colored surface, working in several batches. Sort through and remove any little stones, dirt or odd-looking beans. I usually remove the extremely withered ones. Put all the dried beans in a large pot with some water, shuffle them around with your hand, and pour the water out, using a strainer or colander to catch the beans. Repeat this a couple of times to wash them. Fill the pot with 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a very low simmer and add the onion wedges and 3 garlic cloves.

The garlic is supposed to keep the "bean" effect of the oligosaccharides -- nudge, nudge -- down to a dull rumble

The Kitchenelly way to store leftover onion. It's odor proof and the little package lets you know exactly what's inside...

Cook the beans covered at the lowest simmer. The surface should be just moving a little. Boil them hard and they’ll get tough (thanks, Lulu!).

If you are using canned black beans, drain them but retain about 1/2 cup of the liquid. To that liquid add 1/4 cup water.

After two hours of cooking, add a handful of salt to the beans, stir well and continue cooking for another 15 minutes, or until the beans are tender but not mushy. They may take longer, so go by texture rather than time. Turn the heat off and let them sit until you need them.

This is about a heaping tablespoon of salt

While the beans are cooking (which will take about 2 1/2 hours so you have time to put your feet up) roast the chiles. Over a medium gas flame, under a broiler or on a gas grill, blacken the chiles all over.

Next week I'll be posting a more in-depth description of how to roast chiles and peppers

After the chiles have cooled, scrape off the blackened skin, remove the stems, seeds and stringy ribs, and chop coarsely.

If you are using canned green chiles, chop them coarsely.

In a large pan heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and a sprinkling of salt and cook until starting to color, about 10 minutes.

The sprinkling of salt brings out the sugars in the onion, which helps it to brown or "caramelize"

Add the chopped green chiles to the onions. Add the beans by scooping them out of the cooking liquid with a slotted spoon (or add the drained canned beans). There will be 5 to 6 cups of cooked beans.

Just scoop them out with the slotted spoon, and don't worry about bringing along some of the cooking liquid -- some of it will be used anyway

Add 3/4 cup of the bean cooking liquid and cook, stirring, over medium heat until much of the liquid is cooked off, about 10 minutes. Add a little more liquid if the beans get too dry. Stir in the cooked chicken and heat it through. Turn off the heat.

Stir in the lime juice, salsa, cilantro, and salt to taste. Serve with extra lime wedges and salsa. You can also serve it with queso fresco (a crumbly Mexican cheese), feta, sour cream, or grated sharp Cheddar. Throw in some tortillas, shredded lettuce, crumbled tortilla chips, hot sauce. Make a few margaritas from the extra limes — watch out, it might be a party.

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.