When we think of peppers, it is often jalapeno or chipotle. Immediate fire in your mouth. Yes, those two offer flame but eventually you will want a different, a more sophisticated flavor. Think poblano!
Poblanos do not present you with fire up front. Just the soft afterglow of mellow heat. They are wonderful components to employ through the day. Add poblanos to:
- Scrambled eggs
- Salads
- Burgers [inside the meat or on top]
- Soups [atop as a garnish or blended in for impact]
- Potatoes [added with the onions to your home fries or mixed into your baked potato with the butter or added to your mashed potatoes for your Thanksgiving meal!]
You need to roast your poblanos before you can dice them or cut them into strips. Historically, poblanos have been prepared over a hot wood fire. Lately we use our outdoor grills. The intent is to get very high heat for a swift transformation from lovely green to deep black.
What if you don’t have a wood fire ready? Or your grill? Then you can use a stove top grilling element as you see on the picture. You just need heat. And that’s where the Pro-Style® Gas Rangetop from Jenn‑Air® proves so powerful. There are six burners in this unit: one 5,000 BTU burner for simmering, three 15,000 BTU burners for normal cooking, and two 20,000 BTU burners for full-force firepower.
I was able to roast my four poblanos in about seven minutes, gradually turning, making sure they blacken but do not disintegrate.
Once your peppers have been over the flame and blackened, then put them in a bowl, cover with foil or plastic wrap and let them steam for about 10 minutes. Once they have cooled, rub the blacked skin away, the cut the peppers into a dice or strips. Do NOT rinse the blackened peppers with water to remove the skin. Your hands will be a little messy, the flavor will be preserved.
Yes, you can do this exercise with any stovetop. But that Jenn‑Air® power makes this much swifter with a deeper penetration of heat into the skin. It’s not just a patina, it’s a real transformation of the pepper. What remains is that sublime poblano flavor waiting for you to enjoy at will.
Oh, I forgot. Make a frozen margarita and add some poblano strips to the fray. The combination of poblano and tequila is surprising and most, most enjoyable.