Doctoring Pepper

During chile harvest and roasting week in Santa Fe, N. M., the air is filled with the incense of smoky peppers, a sure sign of fall in the Southwest.

Last October, I visited Santa Fe for the first time and experienced the harvest myself. I saw the amazing roasting apparatus that many Santa Fe produce stores have in their parking lots: a rotating mesh cylinder about three feet long and some 18 inches in diameter that is half-filled with chiles, with four nearby jets spitting fiery flames as the peppers are tossed about. Even now, as spring turns to summer, it is the aroma of Southwestern smoke and chile that inspires me when I roast a pepper.

When I first returned from Santa Fe, I put chiles into almost everything I cooked. In spite of my enthusiasm, I soon discovered that chiles fit and taste best in their native dishes. My interpretations of what’s become known as “eclectic cuisine” just didn’t work.

I did, however, find a very old early-California recipe that turned out to be delicious and included a traditional use of roasted chiles. It works well with sweet red peppers, which are now in markets. The dish, called tostones (in the Caribbean, tostones are fried green plantains), makes a splendid meatless dish served hot with warm tortillas.

For dessert, you might try bizcochitos , a short cookie found in the Southwest. Sometimes it’s flavored only with toasted pine nuts; around Christmas it’s flavored with anise. The cookies are wonderful served with hot chocolate.

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To roast and peel peppers for tostones or any other dish, place the peppers on a baking sheet under a broiler. You must keep an eye on them. Turn them as they blacken under the heat until all sides are blackened. Remove them from the oven . While they are very hot, put them into a plastic food bag and twist the bag, or use a tie to secure. Let the peppers steam in the bag for five minutes. Remove and peel the skin off, then remove the veins and seeds.

TOSTONES 3 cloves garlic Salt 2 pounds red new potatoes, boiled until barely tender, with skins on Freshly ground pepper 2 to 3 large red sweet peppers, roasted, peeled and veins and skins removed 1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons shortening or lard 1 tablespoon cider vinegar 1 bunch fresh cilantro

Finely chop, then mash garlic with 1 teaspoon salt to get rough paste. Set aside.

Slice potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Spread in baking dish. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Puree roasted peppers to get 1 to 1 1/2 cups.

Put flour in small skillet over medium-low heat. Watch carefully and stir flour until it turns light-brown. Then stir in shortening. Continue stirring until smooth, thin paste forms. Add garlic paste. Stir 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove mixture from heat and add to pepper puree. Add vinegar and stir well to blend.

Spoon pepper sauce over potatoes and mix thoroughly.

Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes, or until very hot. Serve with warm tortillas. Garnish with cilantro. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about: 172 calories; 60 mg sodium; 2 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.80 grams fiber.

BIZCOCHITOS 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 2 teaspoons anise seeds 2 cups flour plus extra for dusting 1/8 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup toasted pine nuts

Beat butter in mixing bowl, add sugar and beat again until mixture is smooth and blended.

Add egg yolks and anise seeds. Beat well to combine. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until well blended. Add toasted pine nuts and mix well.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap or place in plastic food bag. Chill in refrigerator about 1 hour.

Lightly flour board and rolling pin. Roll dough out in rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough into squares, or use cookie cutter of any shape. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet leaving little space in between (they don’t spread much).

Bake at 350 degrees about 8 minutes or until very lightly browned (don’t bake until golden). Remove cookies from oven. Cool 10 minutes on baking sheet. Remove and freeze what isn’t to be eaten in 1 day or 2. Makes about 50 cookies.

Each cookie contains about: 80 calories; 51 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.05 grams fiber.