Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Beggars Purses- A creative Crepe Presentation

I love to throw parties. Getting friends and family together and having good food, games, music, and conversation is one of the most wonderful things! I'm always looking for a reason to throw a party, be it a birthday, just a game night, or even a party to celebrate cheese (our third annual cheese party is coming up in march!).
When it comes to parties I am all about the food. You can't have a great party if people are hungry! I love to make a least one dish I make look especially cool, it tend to jump start conversation and make for a pretty presentation.
Enter the beggars purse.
The hardest thing about these is roasting the peppers, but they turn out so yummy and beautiful it is worth the time! I borrowed the steps on roasting the peppers and the pictures that accompany them from Allrecipes.com


Beggars Purse

One recipe Chive Crepe Batter
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped
3.5 oz Goat cheese
4 Bell peppers
3 tablespoons olive oil
One long fresh chive or green onion for each crepe

1. Pre-heat your oven's broiler.
Coat each pepper evenly with oil. A pastry brush is a useful tool to use when coating the peppers, but fingers will work in a pinch if a pastry brush is not on hand. Make sure to coat inside the folds of each pepper.

2. Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet on the highest rack in your oven.

3. Keep a watchful eye on the peppers to ensure that they do not become too scorched. When dark splotches begin to appear on the peppers, remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully turn each pepper over.

4. The peppers will be very hot, so use tongs or some other kitchen utensil to do this. Once all of the peppers are turned, return the sheet to the oven.

5. When the tops of the peppers begin to darken again, remove them from the oven and place them into a bowl large enough to accommodate all of the peppers. Cover the bowl. It is important that the peppers are in an air-tight container for this step of the process in order for them to be steamed. The trapped hot peppers generate the steam necessary to loosen their skins.

6. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle (probably about 15 to 20 minutes), pull the stems out of each pepper.

7. Hold one end of the pepper down on a flat surface and gently peel the skin off of each pepper. The skin should slide off fairly easily.

8. Lift each pepper up and hold it with one hand, while using your other hand to squeeze down the pepper's length. The bulk of the seeds and pulp should drop out the bottom when this motion is completed.

9. With the backside of the knife, slit open the side of each pepper and spread them out (ribbed side up) on your work surface. With the dull side of your knife, scrape off any of the ribs or membrane that remains in the pepper.

10. Dice up the roasted peppers and return to the bowl, add the chopped tomatoes and goat cheese, stir well

11. Place about two tablespoons of the pepper mixture in the center of a crepe, gather up the sides to make a "purse"(see picture), and tie together with a chive or green onion. Repeat for each crepe.
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