Sauteed Red Peppers and Spinach 8/325

The Relation

Jim Eagleson is Dot's second youngest child and her youngest son (the logic puzzler inside all of you should have inferred that Dot's youngest child is a daughter). Jim gets an extra special shout out as he was the one who procured the digital copy of the receipts book for me. Can you imagine if I had to re-type all of these recipes on here? Absolutely not an option. More importantly, he also was one of the main organizers of some of the more recent Cousin Club events. Overall, great guy and completely by accident, this blog was originally published on his birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!!). Jim is my first cousin, twice removed. 

The Process

Guest Sous-Chef Maria

This will be the first of three blogs on a night where I made three receipts for a dinner party I had with some of my Old Co-Workers. On this particular dish, I want to highlight my dear sous-chef, Maria. More on her level of assistance later (look at how cute she is though!!!).

I did double this recipe, so if anything sounds a bit off, let's just chalk it up to bad math and call it a night. I personally have never sauteed two different fats together, so the whole olive oil and butter combo threw me for a bit of spin. I used extra virgin olive oil as it was all I had on hand. I think there is a rule against using extra virgin olive oil for high-temperature cooking because of its low burn temperature, but I was living on the edge.

Had to use a big pot instead of pan

I am getting dangerously good at chopping bell peppers. I'm no expert (yet) but I think I am well on my way, especially after slicing my way through four of these on a bit of a time crunch. It's all about the seeding of the pepper and membrane in the most efficient way possible. Also, I dislike immensely that the process of removing seeds from a pepper is called "seeding". I think it should be called "de-seeding". But that is neither here nor there.

Four handfuls, or in this case, eight, of spinach, is all fun and games until you have to snip the stems. Which, to Jim's credit, I totally understand. I very much prefer my spinach with no tail. It ruins the whole consistency. This is where Maria comes into play. This lovely goddess of a woman snipped the stems of a whole 10oz bag of spinach like it was her job for 20 minutes (she was compensated in dinner, don't call the labor union please). Upon adding the spinach to the sautee-ing peppers, I asked her "hey, how many large handfuls do you think that was?" hoping she would say eight. She paused and thought for a moment and then say, "maybe four?". And so we got the other bag of spinach out, said to hell with snipping, and tossed it in the pot. In our defense, we were hungry and rushed.

Stem snipping never looked so good

I confess that the dish was on the table about to be served when I realized I had forgotten the heavy splash of red wine vinegar. I dashed back to the kitchen shouting "Don't touch the peppers!!!" snatched my red wine vinegar, and heftily splashed some into the dish. I took a group consensus on if I had added a "hefty splash" (as opposed to a paltry splash, I suppose) and the room gave me the affirmative. So we ate.

The Feedback

Personally, I am a huge fan of bell peppers and spinach, so this was right up my alley. My dinner guests gave it good reviews as well, specifically stating it paired really well with Mary Beth's Chicken and Couscous and Savory Scalloped Potatoes. Old Co-Worker Beth was a particular fan (granted, she had some dietary restrictions, so this was one of the only things she could eat on the table). I also had it as leftovers with some salmon a few days later, and let me tell you... phenomenal *chef's kiss*.

The Recipe

Pre-Red Wine Vinegar Splash

SAUTEED RED PEPPER AND SPINACH CC90

Jim Eagleson

Time: 10–12 minutes

Required: Stove at medium high flame and sauté pan – do not use an iron skillet

Tbs pure virgin olive oil

Tbs butter

Pinch of salt

2 sliced red peppers

4 large handfuls of well cleaned – hate that sand – fresh spinach, snip stems

Hefty splash of red wine vinegar

Heat olive oil and butter in sauté pan. Fry pinch of salt. Sauté red pepper. Add handfuls of spinach, stirring and turning constantly with wooden spoon. Sauté until heated through – 3–4 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. If the spinach starts to turn an olive color, you’ve overdone it. Remove from heat. Stir in a hefty splash of red wine vinegar. Serve immediately.

The New York Italian lady whose receipt this is fried fresh garlic before adding the red pepper – it’s better without. Get the garlic on the bread or in the sauce. For a change, try yellow peppers. Don’t use green – will clash with the spinach.