12:00 AM Roasted bell peppers, one of my favorite foods. Easy to prepare in the COSORI oven. Remove label, wash them, put them in a vertical position in middle of the oven (there is room for 9 or more depending on size) and set it on bake at 390 F for about 40 minutes.

Move them while hot and let them rest in a covered glass or ceramic vessel for about one hour. Do not throw the juice they let. Peel the fine peel, break in smaller pieces, add a bit of vinegar, oil, salt, diced onion. Serve with tomatoes and feta cheese. Makes a great side dish for roasted meat.

Another favorite. Roasted eggplants. Preparation is the same, if they are not fully ripe baking till softening will take more time.

After baking, pinch them, put them in an inclined position for an hour and throw the bitter juice. A bit more difficult to peel because they collapse when baked enough. Chop them on a nylon kitchen board with a heavier knife until they become a paste. Add salt, diced onion and oil and mix. They go well with the first one.

Just did 6 peppers and 2 eggplants in one single batch.

BTW i love the smell of roasted bell peppers. Yeah i know. I called them roasted and then instructed to set the oven on bake. That is because the oven does not have a roast setting.

Of course you can do this on a BBQ grill (until softening) with a slightly better result or any other device that would produce the same result.

Romanian (Bulgarian, Serbian, etc.) zacusca, a preserve done traditionally in fall by dicing peeled roasted peppers and eggplants, adding sauteed onions and then boiling with tomato juice (for at least one hour) and then put it in sterilized heated jars.

Need to pour when both the still boiling zacusca and the empty jars are at the same temperature for the jars not to break and then immediately add the sealing lids and it can last (and provide vitamins) all winter. We reuse jars like from pickles.

Some call it vegetable caviar (great for parties) and by me it deserves the title though it may be better (and way cheaper and healthier).

Adding one aspirin per jar would increase chances of staying unchanged for a long time (months) but it may be just a myth.