Holy Shishito, I'm Fifty!

There’s an old Saturday Night Live sketch in which Molly Shannon plays a character named Sally O’Malley - a middle aged dancer in a red stretchy jumpsuit who kicks her leg out and exclaims “I’m fifty”. I’ve spent a lot of time this year doing my Sally O’Malley imitation as I, along with most of my friends, have reached our half century mark. My dear friends Devon and Kelly both succumbed to fifty in August. To celebrate, we headed up to San Francisco with our husbands in tow for a weekend of fine wine and delicious food.

A Saturday morning visit to the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market provided the makings of an amazing meal.

The house we had rented came with a shiny new Weber barbeque which we put to good use grilling some of the most spectacular rib eyes I’ve ever eaten. Another highlight was the discovery of shishito peppers. They were the first we’ve seen this season so we jumped at the chance to have them as a starter course for our Big Five-Oh celebration. Simple and delicious.

These peppers of Japanese origin have a lovely pepper flavor and are usually mild– although on occasion you may get a nice snappy surprise. In fact they may cause you to kick your foot up into the air and exclaim “I’m fifty”.

Shishito Peppers
Toss a couple handfuls of fresh shishito peppers into a hot skillet with a thin layer of olive oil. Sauté on medium high heat until the peppers are blistered. The peppers are best cooked in a single layer so they can blister and brown rather than steam. Remove from heat, sprinkle with sea salt and place in a serving bowl. These little morsels are finger food, though you may want another bowl that guests can use to deposit the stems.