Birthday Wrap Up and a Recipe

How great is it NOT to feel like sh*t?

Seriously. Nothing makes you appreciate feeling fine more than a week's worth of feeling utterly sh*tty. I'm so glad to be on the other side of it now. Whew!

So even though I was feeling wretched and low last week because I was bedridden and lousy on my actual birthday, my party this Saturday MORE than made up from it. About 20 of us descended on Tavolo in Dorchester for some cocktails and antipasti and delicious Italian food. They treated us like gold and I would like to give a special shout out to Megan, their events planner. If you are planning a special dinner/party I would definitely recommend checking Tavolo out.

Anyway it was so great to see my lovely friends who spoiled me rotten and I appreciate everyone coming out! Ever the deadbeat, I took not one picture. But I did steal a few from other people and threw them in my flickr stream. Holla.



Moving on.

Yesterday I was quite productive for a Sunday. Adam had to go off and study for a math test and so I felt somewhat industrious so I decided to whip up some Roasted Pepper Sauce. Here is the thing about Adam and me. We are food shopping opposites. I will go and buy two peppers for a recipe and get home and realize I need three. Adam will go and buy eight peppers then come home and realize he only needs one. So since Adam was on food shopping duty last week, we have an overabundance of peppers in this piece and I decided, why let them go to waste? I found this delicious sauce recipe in my Joy of Cooking Cookbook and it is just PERFECT for any kind of roast meat. I served it over roast pork last night but I think it would be amazing on roast beef or chicken and well. It's a great way to use up some extra peppers and kill a few hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Roasted Pepper Sauce
(makes about 2 batches..I froze 1/2 for later)
3 large red or green peppers
vegetable oil
1/5 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 tablespoon pepper
2 cups beef or chicken broth.

Preheat your oven to 400.

Brush peppers with oil and place on foil lined baking sheet that has rims (or the peppers will slide right off).



Roast peppers, turning about every 10 minutes as black spots appear, for 40 minutes.

Place roasted peppers immediately in a bowl and cover with a plate. Let steam for 10 minutes. This will make the skin super slippery. SO much so that you can peel it right off the peppers once they are cool enough to handle.

Blot skinned peppers with paper towel and roughly chop.

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Heat about 1 tbsp veggie oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until just beginning to brown, about 7 minutes.



Add pepper, garlic and spices. Cook for about a minute.



Add broth and bring to a boil. Partially cover and simmer for about an hour.



It smells SO GOOD! All smoky and sweet and delicious.

Remove from heat and let cool until you can safely blend it in the food processor or blender. Process until smooth.

At this point the sauce is done! You can portion out half and freeze it for later and then keep the remainder in the fridge until you're ready to serve it. When you are done cooking whatever meat you plan on serving with it, remove the meat from the pan to a warmed plate and pour the sauce into the pan drippings and heat until hot.



It's really a simple but elegant sauce. This would be great for a dinner party since you can make it ahead and then just have it ready for whatever meat you are serving!