I saw the first episode of Mr Hopkinson's new beeb series 'The Good Cook' on Friday evening. I have had a copy of 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories' for many years, and while it's a lovely read I have never used it as a cookbook (I am the kind of person that reads cookbooks like novels). But seeing the programme, and watching him cook, made me want to dig it out again, so i'm making a small diversion into this book for a few days. Its very meaty and creamy so not everything appeals but certainly worth a look!
So I started this evening with the first dish Simon cooked on the programme, Piedmontese Peppers. I have come across this recipe so many times, originally brought to our attention by Elizabeth David, but taken up by various chefs such as Delia, Skye Gyngell and no doubt many others. I have always thought, mmm, I like the sound of that but for some reason have never made it.
Instead of using regular red peppers, I used those long, thin, Romesco ones, sliced lengthways and deseeded. I then blanched, peeled and deseeded a punnet of cherry tomatoes, which was a bit of a labour of love. Then all you have to do is season inside the peppers, lay them in a baking dish, add some sliced garlic, about half a clove to each pepper half, then the tomatoes equally divided. A tablespoon of really nice olive oil to each pepper half, and then bake in a really hot oven for 30 minutes. Mr H then reduces the oven and bakes for another 30 minutes: the peppers I used were quite thin fleshed, and so only needed a few more minutes. Then take them out of the oven, let them cool down a bit, then serve with tinned anchovies and maybe a few fresh basil leaves. You definitely need lots of nice bread. This is a seriously impressive dish and I wish i'd made it before!!!
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