Red Pepper, Poblano, Jalapeno, Honey and Lime Sauce

I was reminded when I was making this red and green pepper sauce for pork last week what a leap of faith it was the first time I made it. I admit it…I have a huge, big, very bad aversion to green bell peppers. Just cringed even typing that sentence (I’m not kidding!). Although I discovered years ago that this aversion to bell peppers did not carry over to hot peppers (whew!) I kept my distance from yellow and red bell peppers just by association; knowing they are really the same thing. I’ve often wondered..is it nature or nurture? Neither my sis, my kids or my ex like them either!

Then one day, in the most inauspicious way, things changed. I used to get together with some neighbors and girlfriends on an regular basis for what we like to call  ‘The Martha’s Brunch.’ Yes, that Martha. We all loved to cook and I was the original Martha since I cook, decorate, sew, garden…well, you get the idea! One of the guests had her sister in town and I remember a big production was made of a dish she was making; all red and yellow peppers with onion, potatoes, cheese and butter. So much I loved but still, I knew I would not like it but I also knew I would try it and not moan about it. My aversion is taste, no horrible physical reaction would be the result of that taste so I just suffer in silence when the occasional bell pepper moment appears and no one is the wiser.

No one was more shocked than I was when I loved that dish. Don’t get me wrong; I’ll probably never move to cutting raw strips for salads, but cooked and seasoned with onions and potatoes…it was simply divine.

My next shopping trip to the market I acted on my more adventurous spirit and bought a couple of red peppers determined to do something with them. Enter this sauce. The pork is not the star of this dish, it’s the sauce…just a terrific blend of flavors, the milder red pepper with some of that heat I’ve grown to love combined with honey, lime and cilantro? Perfect! If you have the same aversion to cilantro that I do to green peppers, just omit it. I like it but the sauce is great without cilantro too.

Sometimes I’ll put a crust on a pork tenderloin before baking it but this last time I simply rubbed it with salt and pepper before baking it for 50 minutes; so simple and yet so elevated with some simple ingredients.

Know what else is perfect? This same sauce poured over a block of cream cheese and served with crackers. Yes friends…this is what you had the other day at the Super Bowl party!

Tagged as: chile, cilantro, cream cheese, honey, jalapeno, lime, poblano, Pork, red pepper