Auguste Escoffier's Peppers for Cold Meats

Cranberry sauce is all well and good. Chutney serves a purpose or two. But peppers for cold meats? Well, welcome to your new obsession. You can thank me later. But wait, can I tell you how good this stuff is? So good that I went out and bought a two-pound pork loin, just so that I could use it as a vehicle for more peppers for cold meats. It's true.

I suppose it should come as no surprise - the recipe is none other than Auguste Escoffier's, published in a Thanksgiving leftover story by the L.A. Times a few years ago. Though I dare say that this will become a staple in your home, not only for Thanksgiving, but every time you roast a piece of meat, period. I admit leeriness when it comes to historical recipes, but this recipe has passed the test of time with flying colors.

What you do is cook together an onion and some red peppers, along with a few warm spices and some salt. In go a handful of raisins, some tomatoes for juice and body, and a goodly amount of sugar and vinegar. After a period of slow-cooking on the stove, what comes together is a thick, sweetly spicy, appealingly vinegary sauce. Leave it to cool overnight and the flavors develop, the raisins plump up, and you find yourself dreaming up ways to consume it.

We're all about leftovers these days; it's my attempt to save money and waste less food. It makes me feel virtuous and housewifely to scrounge up things for our lunches or make dinner from the bits and pieces lurking in the kitchen. (Like this, for example, if only I were organized enough.) Having this savory compote in the fridge as a secret weapon made life a little easier last week, as I served it willy-nilly with a number of different things and it just got better each day.

We ate it one night, dolloped alongside crispy-skinned roast chicken, and the next day, mixed with the leftover shredded chicken over rice. We ate it another night, served with juicy roast pork hot from the oven, and made sandwiches the next day, layering appealingly pink slices of leftover pork with the cold, sludgy peppers. Next up, I'm dreaming of some sharp cheddar on good country bread, with the last spoonful of piments on top.

Turkey, look out.

Peppers for Cold Meats (Piments pour viandes froides)
Makes 4 cups

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
1 pound red sweet peppers, washed, cored, seeds removed, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon mixed spices (allspice, nutmeg)
1 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I drained a 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes and used 3/4 of them)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup red wine vinegar

1. Put the oil in a saucepan. Chop the onion very fine, add to the pan and fry over low heat until softened. Add the peppers, salt, ginger and mixed spices, and cook for 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, raisins and sugar. Add the vinegar; cook over very lot heat, covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover the pot and cook with the lid off for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Comments

[Leah]

Ooh, this sounds just like something I want to have in my fridge very, very soon. Just the thing to ease us into rainy season! Once again, my theory that food is a vehicle for condiments and sauce is supported.

[Blushing Hostess]

This reminds me of the "Rivera Sauce" in Barbara Kaftka's book Roasting which she uses to accompany roasted meat as well. It uses the same basic concept but golden raisins and saffron and requires you leave it in the fridge at least overnight. I make a big jar at one time, it is absolutely magical. I hope you get to try it as well!

And I love. Love. The new header.

[Victoria]

Oh, Luisa,

This is almost exactly what my Italian grandmother used to make, but hers was without the "warm" spices. I want this NOW because I have two cold crisp-roasted, salt-infused chicken legs (and some leftover turnip and parsnip puree and Molly's newest recipe for kale), and THIS would be perfect with it.

By the way, my friend is taking a memoir course, and I had him read your post about getting engaged - how you got to the surprise ending without giving anything away. What a delight it was to read.

Thanks for this great-sounding recipe.

[charlotte s]

sounds delicious! and i LOVE peppers, so i'm already dreaming about this!

[Victoria]

Sorry about a second comment - I just saw the one ahead of mine. I think Barbara Kafka herself is magical; Roasting is wonderful, and Food for Friends is just as good but, unfortunately, out of print! It's worth locating a copy.

[Bri]

Sounds divine! How long do you think it would keep in the fridge?

[Stacey Snacks]

I love roasted peppers and I love chutney, so this recipe will be tried!

[Jennifer]

This looks SO amazing. I want to go to the farmer's market ASAP to buy sweet peppers! Tangy? Sweet? Vinegar-y? I am soooo there.

[EB]

Go Auguste! I'm with you, historical recipes can make one leery... at best. I'm glad this works out. It sounds like it really is the perfect post Thanksgiving sandwich filling. Mmmm. Wait, I'm more interested in the leftovers than the main event? Awesome.

[Luisa]

Blushing Hostess - thanks!

Victoria - you're so sweet, thank you.

Bri - well, we ate ours over the course of one week and it was fine. My mom says that it will keep for longer, too, what with all the vinegar and sugar...but we just kept ours for one week.

[Kathy]

Dear Luisa:
You have been given a Smile Award. Please stop by my blogspace to check it out.
Love your recipes!

[kathy]

www.leohaven.blogspot.com

[Sylvie]

I was just going through my reader to catch up on posts. As they have been loads since I last checked, I was just gonna quickly move on without taking the time to leave a comment, but OMG I just had to tell you that that looks like my idea of a perfect lunch!

[Hillary]

I'll add this to the long and growing list of peppers and pepper mixtures I love on my sandwiches: banana peppers, giardiniera, jalapenos...

[Lisa-Marie]

Leah- Its nice to know that for someone, the rainy season is just beginning. In scotland, it has been consistently raining in a lovely freezing, torrential way for 2 weeks now.

I am going to make this today, whilst I am making caramelised shallots, and french onion soup. When cooking recently, I've been making 3 things at a time for freezing/our preserve shelf. Quite a few of them have been your recipes, so thank you! Your lovely food makes my very busy life a bit easier!

[Sophie]

Yum! What a tasty way to add flavor to a sandwich! :)

[Sues]

Sounds absolutely perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers! Thanks :)

[Biz]

I like everything but the onions!

I'll definitely have to make this - but I'll probably be the only one in my family to eat it.

No worries - more for me!

Thanks!

[Shauna]

just an aside - you will now need to change your profile picture to include your new hand jewelry :)

[redclay]

oh, honey, this is so good.

[andy abraham]

What a great way to liven up a boring basic sandwich...Thanks for posting the Pepper sauce recipe...thanks

Andy
www.recipebuddys.om

[Caroline]

Just stumbled across your blog and have spent past 30 minutes here. Beyond the recipes your clear expression of your relationship with food is excellent! I head to Rome for Thanksgiving every year and start to dream of insalada puntarele and those divine smashed Roman artichokes about October 1st. Friends comment my description is boarderline intimate! I look forward to introducing your recipes to my kitchen.

[Chrissy]

This looks really interesting. It sounds like it'd be great on a sandwich; I will definitely give it a try. Thanks!

[Kristin]

Okay so I made this... and it's way good. The only problem is, I made a TON of it... I can't eat that many sandwiches. Does anyone else have more ideas for ways to eat this delicious condiment?

[valerie]

great receipe !
have a nice day
val from france

[Luisa]

Kristin - you could mix it with some canned or cooked dried beans, heat them up, and serve it over rice, or you could poach a couple of eggs and serve them on top of the peppers piled on toasted bread or you could simply roast a different piece of meat every night and eat this alongside...though that might be a little meat overkill. :)

[Melynda]

I have this in my fridge, thanks for the post. It is delicious! I had it on a chicken breast sandwich for dinner the next evening, yum.

[Kristin]

Yay! Yes, the different piece of meat every night would be too much. The pork loin I cooked to eat this with was quite enough! I cooked a pot of beans the other night so I'll definitely try that idea and the eggs and toast sounds like tomorrow's breakfast. Thanks Luisa!

[Marcus]

Escoffier notes in his book 'Le Guide Culinaire' that the big Spanish pimentos are best but goes on to say that "whatever way pimentos are to be prepared they must first be skinned either by grilling them under a salamander or by plunging them into hot deep fat. The skin should be removed as quicly as possible and the seeds removed by cutting the pimento open at the stalk end."
Do you belive this is unnecessary or should we let Escoffier be our guide?

[Luisa]

Marcus - Interesting! Many people don't digest red pepper skins which is why so many recipes call for the peppers to be skinned (especially older recipes). But here I think that step is unnecessary. :)