Bulgarian sweet pepper can be eaten both raw and cooked. Like the related chili pepper, sweet varieties are sometimes dried and ground. Such powdered spice of non-volatile varieties is called paprika. Although in Hungarian culinary practice, where paprika has become particularly widespread, there is also a sharp burning paprika, which includes pepper seeds containing burning capsaicin. All kinds of paprika are added to dishes to give them varying degrees of spice and special flavors. In addition, paprika is often used as a dye in the manufacture of sausage and other meat products. Peppers of any color are used for food, but when selecting fruits, it should be taken into account that green (unripe) and purple vegetables have a slightly bitter taste, and red, orange and yellow have sweeter, almost fruity “notes”.
How to Cook with Bell Pepper?
Sweet peppers perfectly complement fried meat dishes, go well with stewed pork and chicken. In real French ratatouille, Hungarian and Bulgarian lecho, Hungarian goulash and paprikash, Turkish gyuveche, sweet pepper is one of the important ingredients. Fruits baked in the oven or on a charcoal grill acquire a particularly expressive aroma and taste. Fresh and pickled peppers get along harmoniously with scrambled eggs and omelette.
How to Choose and Store Sweet Bell Peppers?
When choosing sweet pepper, preference should be given to hard-to-the-touch fruits of bright color with glossy, dry and smooth skin without damaged areas (without dark putrefactive spots and cracks). On yellow peppers, spots of red, green or orange colors are acceptable, on orange – red or yellow. Bright spotting, as a rule, will indicate incomplete ripening of fruits, although such peppers can be bought. The peduncle from which the fruit is torn off should not be dried or black. Its drying is a sign of long–term storage, and the moisture content of the skin around the “tail” is a sign of the beginning of rotting. Regardless of the degree of ripening, it is better to keep pepper in the refrigerator, but at the same time, unripe fruits (at the stage of technical maturity), when stored for up to 2-3 months, are first placed in a relatively warm compartment of the refrigerator (about +10 ° C), and then, after acquiring a bright uniform color skin, they are moved to a cold compartment (0-1 °C).
Peppers already ripe at the time of purchase are placed in the cold compartment immediately. They are packed in plastic bags or placed in trays lined with crumpled porous paper to absorb excess moisture and create air pockets that provide ventilation. To preserve Bulgarian pepper until the next season, freezing in the freezer is used. To do this, the pepper is washed, the stalk and seeds are removed, and then dried well. You can freeze whole cups by inserting them into each other, as well as sliced fruits. But it should be borne in mind that even in frozen form, pepper gradually, albeit slowly, loses its flavor.
I suggest cooking stewed chicken liver with apples and plums. In this recipe, in my opinion, liver is successfully combined with fruits and vegetables.
Carrot salad with cucumber, sweet pepper, egg and cheese. This salad turned out to be hearty and very tasty. But in order to fully benefit from these salads, it is recommended to fill them with vegetable oil (preferably olive oil), which helps the body better absorb carotene. For lovers of spicy, you can add garlic.
This salad is simply AMAZING!!! I tried it at dinner with my husband and with great difficulty broke away from him when I was already scraping at the bottom of the salad bowl. This salad has a zest that gives it this incredibly spicy, fresh, new, unusual taste!
A hearty and at the same time fresh salad, which is not a shame to put on the festive table, because it looks very elegant. The number of products is arbitrary, something more, something less, according to your taste. I put it together literally from what I found in the refrigerator. It was amazing.
Take note of this simple recipe. Anyone can handle it. These canapes with chicken fillet and vegetables, which can be dipped in a very tasty sauce, are suitable for an aperitif, a party and any other occasion when you need a light snack.
A bright festive snack immediately sets you up for a positive mood! It looks and tastes good! And don’t be afraid of an unexpected combination of products – it’s really delicious!
This original, attention-grabbing snack will decorate any festive table! You can cook the day before, as well as slice and serve on the day of the holiday. I invite you to try it! Your friends will love it.
