So, on my way back home to Greece from California last month, I took United through Paris (incidentally so much more comfortable than Lufthansa for the cheap seats), and they had an endless entertainment menu, including Funny Face and An American in Paris. Our introduction to Gene Kelly comes in this clip here of him starting the day in his petit Garconiera. And this, precisely, captures the essence of a good day in the kitchen- one motion flowing to the next and everything falling perfectly into place- not a motion wasted (nor in our case, a crumb).
Just like we do before a big holiday, I start a good market week with a walk-through in my mind. The first recipe of the week is the one that uses the most perishable ingredients- the softest tomatoes and the herbs- and the bulkiest- the peppers. They also make good use of the food processor, which I take down only when it is really, really worth it. I look at what I am using for the recipe and what the waste will be (the herb stems, bits of onion and tomato). I also look at what is on hand that is in danger of going to waste (today, that's a loaf of day-old bread and some heels of three day old bread- bread is such a symbolically precious thing).
1. One thing the food processor is good for is making bread crumbs of these stale ends of three day old loaves. I cut them roughly into chunks and pulse them in the dry, clean processor before getting it all messy with the wet things. I'm already making a mess, and I already have the food processor out, so this adds only a minute of extra work. I put them in a jar and set them aside.
2. The first step in making the peppers is to assemble everything together- the peppers, tomatoes, herbs, onions, rice, salt, and oil. Choose the roundest firmest tomatoes for stuffing- 5 or so?- and choose another 3 of the softer ones for the herb filling.
3. The next step in making the peppers is to strip the leaves and fronds from the stems of the herbs. I do this over some newspapers, gathering the stems in a little stack as I put the leaves in a big bowl of water.
The three big bunches of herbs (parsley, mint, and fennel or dill) fill the bowl, and the stems left on the newspaper smell wonderful. Wrap them in the newspaper and put them aside.
4. Change the water in the bowl once to make sure there is no more dirt clinging to the leaves, and squeeze them before putting half of them into the bowl of the food processor, along with a peeled onion or two, cut in half. The outer layer may seem a little tough- put it in a bowl to the side. Pulse until well chopped and put in a large bowl. Take the next half of the herbs and another onion and now the insides of the tomatoes you want to stuff alongside the peppers, and blend.
5. There won't be enough tomato, so take the other soft ones and, instead of blending (you'll have those little bits of skin all over), grate them over the large holes of the standing grater.
This is a brilliant commonplace Greek kitchen practice- you get a bowl full of sweet smooth/chunky pulp and the tomato skin helps protect your knuckles from getting cut by the grater. Toss the tomato skins into the same bowl where the outer layers of the onions are.
So we have a bowl very full with a slushy mixture of herb and onion and tomato. This recipe has always, always magically worked out for me. But this is too vague to be helpful. So I measured what I ended up with the last three times i made them and it was always pretty close- about 7 or 8 cups, just shy of 2 l.
6. To this I add an astonishing amount of olive oil- a cup and a half. We're making a very large pan of peppers- it will last for two days of proper meals and midnight snacks eaten with the refrigerator door open, fork in hand, for four people who really like them. And to this, 2 and a half Tablespoons of salt (about 40 ml.). Now the surprising part: having chosen a short-grained plump rice that absorbs moisture with generous hospitality (arborio, carolina, sushi rice....), we will need just under three cups. Rice, by volume, comprises no more than 1/4 of the total filling mixture. (really- it's like magic.)
7. Now get out the biggest roasting pan in the house if you haven't already, and arrange the washed peppers and the hollowed out tomatoes, fitting them close and arranging them so they look nice- colors and shapes scattered throughout. Slice the tops off and take out the core, saving the lids to put back after you fill them. Peppers and tomatoes together, you will have 25 to 40, depending on their size. You might wonder how much to put in each- they'll swell, so don't fill all the way to the top. Generally it works out perfectly, like getting on an escalator- just
go ahead and it works out fine. Put them on a low-ish rack in the oven, at about 160C/325F, for a long time, maybe even 2 hours. They are not nice if the rice is crunchy, and soft rice regains its texture some as they cool. the vegetables should be a little withered looking, and there should be some liquid in the bottom of the pan.
8. After tidying up a bit, I take the saved stems (washed), and tomato skins, and layers of onion, and put them in a small pan of water, along with some salt, a few pepper corns, and a clove of peeled garlic. this takes no longer than throwing them out! To keep a vibrant taste, I let it simmer for just about 20 minutes,
until the onions look translucent, let it cool, and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. I give the vegetables a good squeeze before throwing them away- that last drop of liquid is the strongest and best. I put it into a glass jar and into the refrigerator. If I don't use it tomorrow, I will freeze it to keep it fresh. It's so nice to have these in the freezer- it turns a handful of pasta or green peas and a shaving of cheese into a fine little meal.
9. The oven is hot, the peppers are almost done, and we still have that loaf of day-old bread, so I tear it into long pieces- the ragged shape makes a nice crouton. Little hands would be good at this. With a little olive oil drizzled over them and a sprinkling of salt, they are ready to go into the oven just before the peppers come out. After they do, we leave the croutons in the hot oven, and turn it off as they continue to brown. It would be a shame to turn on the oven just to brown some old bread- now it crisps as the oven cools.
I'm not going to say this isn't work- stuffed peppers are an intricate dish- beautiful and delicious and worth the time because you will end up with a lot of them and they keep for days and are nice warm or cold.
The nice thing is that for really very minimal extra effort, and really no extra mess, we took some things that were otherwise going to end up as mold or trash, and turned them into this: Bread crumbs (for the eggplant parmesan?), enormous jagged croutons for a panzanella and to top pastas or soups, and a fresh green broth for an acqua cotta or a spring minestrone.
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