Highlighting red peppers?

[tammylc]

I'm putting together a menu for a dinner party this weekend, and I have access to some really fantastic red peppers. Very flavorful. I still need to come up with a small first course/ canape/ amuse bouche, and would like to highlight the peppers in that spot, probably roasted. Any thoughts or suggestions? We have one pescetarian and a couple gluten free people, so ideally no meat or wheat ingredients, or ones that are easily substituted (like gluten free crackers for crostini)

[Emily_R]

Roast peppers and cut into slabs. Smear with softened goat cheese, and place a row of anchovies in the middle. Roll up, slice into bite sizes and skewer with toothpick, drizzle with olive oil and fresh black pepper...

Edited September 21, 2010 by Emily_R (log)

[paul o' vendange]

Tammy, this isn't a roasted pepper treatment, but it is an intensifying treatment with fresh peppers, enriched with a not modest amount of cream to smooth the palate and ease the vinegar. I use it with fish alot, but as the base for a nice vegetable timbale, croustade, etc., I enjoy it as well, there. This time of year, I'd tend more to roasted pepper like you're wanting, or a confit usage of some sort, but for what it's worth, my red pepper coulis:

Red Pepper Coulis

4 red peppers, deseeded

2 cups sauvignon blanc (a fairly austere one, grass and mineral over high-ester, Marlborough-style wines)

¼ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar*

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup cream

salt

white pepper

Blend peppers in blender with 1 ½ cups wine, vinegar, and garlic until thoroughly liquefied. Pour into saucepan and reduce to slurried paste over medium-low heat. Add remaining wine, deglaze, and reduce again. Add cream and thicken. Pass through chinois, season with salt and white pepper and reserve.

Edited September 21, 2010 by paul o' vendange (log)

[Peter the eater]

How about a roasted red pepper "gazpacho" in a shot glass?

[JAZ]

I like to pair roasted red peppers with aged gouda cheese. After roasting, chop or julienne the peppers, toss with sherry vinegar and olive oil (sherry vinegar complements the peppers nicely). Top crostini (or gluten-free crackers) with the peppers and a curl of aged gouda.

[lmarshal1]

I made a tasty salad just yesterday using sweet peppers instead of greens since I had an overabundance of peppers:

an apple cut up in bite-sized pieces

a large sweet pepper cut up in bite-sized pieces

a couple tablespoons of raisins

a tablespoon of sunflower seeds

poppyseed dressing

Very tasty and pretty to look at.

lkm

[andiesenji]

Buckwheat is gluten free.

I have prepared buckwheat blini for GF people many times.

Blini topped with a round of goat cheese, coarsely chopped roasted red peppers and drizzled with oil and a little balsamic vinegar works well.

Oil in which you have roasted garlic is even better.

[paul o' vendange]

Sorry! Should have read more carefully, thought you were looking for a means to showcase the peppers, but neglected you are doing a first/amuse. How about some sort of late summer/early fall puree...roast pepper, enriched with roast garlic and roasted walnuts, topped with creme fraiche or slivers of a somewhat nutty cheese, Jaz's Gouda, Ossau, Mahon, Asiago, Manchego? Can sit atop gluten-free crackers.

[tammylc]

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions.

Riffing off of the roll-up idea in the first response, I'm currently thinking of an eggplant/roasted red pepper/basil roulade. But I'm intrigued the buckwheat blini concept as a basis for one of the many good ideas for cracker/blini/crostini toppings.

I'll probably wait and see how the eggplant at the Farmer's Market looks and make a decision based on that.

The menu already includes a soup and a salad, so while those suggestions are also good, they don't work as well with the rest. Thanks, though!

[Marlene]

I was at a friend's cottage on the weekend and she roasted red peppers, then peeled them and tore into strips. In a pan, she sauteed garlic and onion till soft, then added some homemade marinara sauce and then added the roasted red peppers. This could be served on crostini as an app or as a side dish, but boy was it good.

[runwestierun]

How about a roasted red pepper and smoked salmon savory cheesecake? I normally serve it with crackers, but it is delicious stuffed into those little gluten-free Brazilian gougeres.

[merstar]

I love this bruschetta:

BRUSCHETTA WITH ROASTED RED PEPPERS AND GOAT CHEESE

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Bruschetta-with-Red-Peppers-and-Goats-Cheese-3237

Here's something to check out:

Roasted Pepper and Mozzarella Bites

http://www.erinsfoodfiles.com/2009/04/roasted-pepper-and-mozzarella-bites.html

Edited September 23, 2010 by merstar (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Eech is an Armenian bulghur wheat salad that a local chef here features with a roasted red pepper sauce instead of a tomato sauce. Perhaps you could make that and sub in quinoa or something similar.

[chezcherie]

thought i posted yesterday, but it disappeared...

muhummara or romesco are two great dip/spreads that feature red peppers. i like to dip cubed firm cheeses (like a basque shepherd's cheese i get at trader joe's), but you could use crudites, or gf crackers or bread.

[tammylc]

Thanks all for the tips. I ended up going with the roulade idea for that meal - tasty, but i had a hard time getting the structural integrity.

Now I have another dinner coming up, and I'm looking for a roasted red pepper canape soup. Anyone have a recipe/method they like? I want a bright red color, not a cream soup.

[JAZ]

Tammy, even if you don't add cream, you won't end with a bright red soup. Every soup or sauce I've made with roasted red peppers comes out a kind of reddish orange -- pretty, but not a true red.

That being said, I make an intense roasted red pepper and caramelized onion soup that's great as a soup shot (I assume that's what you mean by a canape soup). There's a little cream in it to smooth out the flavor, but I wouldn't call it a "cream soup." Here's the recipe.

[Edited to add link.]

[tammylc]

Thanks for the tips and the recipe, JAZ! That looks great.

[emilyr]

I make a pretty basic red pepper soup with out cream that can easily be "upgraded." Sautee peppers, onions, and garlic with some thyme. Deglaze with white whine. Add chicken stock, and simmer til softened. Then puree. I found to add a bit of pop to the color, just add one small peeled beet. It helps intensify the color and tone down the orange.