Peppadews

I recently entered a contest on Foodbuzz where the prize is something from the folks who make Peppadew Peppers.  As I write this, I'm still eagerly awaiting my prize.  Eagerly is pretty much an understatement since these things are killer.  I'm not one for super hot and spicy.  You can keep your habaneros.  Nope, jalapeno is about as spicy as this gal ever gets.  How did I come to love Peppadews?  A couple of years ago before the big holiday party, I saw a container of a Peppadew dip at Sam's.  Now, I'm known for making all the food for this open house.  About 150 people.  30-40 appetizers.  I bought two so I could test one beforehand.  And, I served the other one.  Folks loved it as much as I did.  Then, of course, Sam's quit carrying it.  Time to create my own.  Fortunately, Frasiers had a couple of jars.  I bought them and started experimenting.  The dip turned out to be pretty similar to the original.  Piquant.  Not burn your tongue hot, but you still knew there was pepper in there.  A bit sweet.  Not cloying by any means.  Just that perfect mix of spicy, sweet, piquant. 


When I did the first read through of the Food and Wine magazine for the month's worth of F and W recipes, I saw a chicken thigh recipe with a lemon glaze.  I filed that under the sounds good category.  Then, when I read the recipes in depth and saw it had Peppadews in it, it immediately went on the make soon list. 

This dish was about as close to perfect as a dish gets.  The flavors were incredible even though I reduced the amount of butter by a bit and thickened the sauce with some cornstarch.  Connie had the leftovers for lunch and I snuck a bite and I've got to say this was equally good leftover.  The sauce would have been perfect with couscous.  An absolute make again!!!

Side note - in the mis en place photo I couldn't bear to crop the persimmons.  We put a tree in last year and this year I had 13 persimmons.  Not enough by a long shot to really do much.  But, I'll figure out something!

Chicken Scarpariello


Ingredients:

4 small skinless, boneless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
flour
2 T olive oil
4 garlic cloves, halved and smashed
2 large rosemary sprigs
1 c chicken stock
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T unsalted butter
1/4 c Peppadew peppers or other pickled peppers, sliced


Directions:
Heat the oil in a small skillet until it's shimmering.  Dust the chicken with the flour, salt and pepper.  Saute the chicken in the oil over high heat.  It'll take about 10 minutes per side.  The chicken should be brown and crusty. 

Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for an additional three minutes. 

Remove the chicken to a plate, leaving the rosemary and the garlic in the skillet.  Add the stock to the skillet and cook until reduced by half.  Scrape any fond up as you stir.  Add the lemon juice.  I added about a teaspoon of butter and an equal amount of cornstarch instead of the tablespoon of butter.  Or, you can throw caution to the wind and add the whole tablespoon!  Add the peppers. 

Stir until the sauce thickens.  Put the chicken back in the skillet and coat it with the sauce.    Cook for about 3 minutes. 

adapted from Food and Wine


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This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD and WINE archive. As a FOOD and WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD and WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD and WINE for my participation.