Black Pepper

[merstar]

Another idea: Parmesan Black Pepper Crisps.(Frico)

Edited February 28, 2011 by merstar (log)

[Snadra]

Second on the pfeffernusse - they improve with age too.

I've been making Chicken in Caramel Sauce a few times a year since it appeared in the Washington Post (couldn't find a link to the original article). I gather it's not quite the traditional way to make this dish (apparently it's a clay pot dish?), but it's delicious and the black pepper flavour is a definite highlight. Plus it's one of the dishes that's slowing converting me from white to dark meat.

[Chris Amirault]

I've made the shrimp, black pepper, and cilantro dish that Peter references here from the great Riviere Cambodian Cuisine book and it's easy-peasy and very, very good. I've also subbed other herbs in for the cilantro; thai basil works well in particular. Up your alley, I'd think, Erin.

[nakji]

I'd love it, but the shrimp are a no-go in my house, I'm afraid. Steak's out of the question - no access to decent meat. I like the idea of using them in sweets, though - the gingerbread, the strawberries, or the pfeffernusse sound like great ideas.

[Chris Amirault]

Sorry -- I missed that in the OP. Still, I think that it'd work with, say, chicken thigh meat.

[Paul Bacino]

I was thinking of a good ole fried egg!!

[judiu]

Check out the stewed beef recipe in post 14 of the World's Simplest Recipes thread. Calls for "several teaspoons of pepper". Woo!

[helenjp]

Jhatpat Fruit Chaat...winter fruit salad with black pepper, from Zaiqa, a Toronto-based foodblog devoted to Hyderabadi food. This extremely well-organized blog has been fascinating me for a while. I haven't made this dish, but it stuck in my memory as a promising proposal.

[tpogue@comcast.net]

The pepper is the star of this dish. No fancy just flavor. I put this together after having a meal out that was so timid in flavoring it annoyed me.

Terry's Smashed Pepper Potatoes - Serves 3

Recipe By: Terry Pogue

Ingredients

5 medium Red Bliss Potatoes -- skins on

3/4 container Sour Cream

3 tablespoons Ground black pepper -- medium grind - freshly ground

Instructions

Cook unpeeled whole red skin potatoes until tender. Just to give you an idea of the proportions I used 5 medium size potatoes tonight. When cooked (and dry) place them in a mixer, Using the paddle attachment smash up a bit, add 1/2 to 3/4 a container of sour cream (I use full fat), and this is the important part, a good hefty 3 tablespoons of freshly ground pepper. The pepper is more an ingredient than a seasoning. Lots of good salt. Beat with the addition of each ingredient.

Keep tasting as you add all the elements until they are just right for you. Delicious and spicy with the pepper.

[DanM]

You can make a Yerushalami Kugel, which is cooked vermicelli baked with eggs, sugar,and lots of black pepper.

Dan

Edited March 4, 2011 by DanM (log)

[Tri2Cook]

One of my Thai books has a recipe in it for a black pepper pork dish. I don't remember which book and don't remember the name of the dish but I've done it. It's tasty if you like heavy on the pepper (which I do). I'll have to browse through my books and figure out where I saw it. It's a book I've had for at least 15 years so it's not new. For some reason I'm thinking it was really simple with cracked pepper and fish sauce featuring prominently but I could be wrong, it's been a while.

Oh, that sounds excellent and quite up my alley. Was it minced pork or strips, maybe?

Haven't found the book yet to check on the recipe. The book is True Thai by Victor Sodsook and I'm 100% sure I have it but I can't find it or remember the name of the dish. I'll keep digging through my books.

[Kerry Beal]

One of my Thai books has a recipe in it for a black pepper pork dish. I don't remember which book and don't remember the name of the dish but I've done it. It's tasty if you like heavy on the pepper (which I do). I'll have to browse through my books and figure out where I saw it. It's a book I've had for at least 15 years so it's not new. For some reason I'm thinking it was really simple with cracked pepper and fish sauce featuring prominently but I could be wrong, it's been a while.

Oh, that sounds excellent and quite up my alley. Was it minced pork or strips, maybe?

Haven't found the book yet to check on the recipe. The book is True Thai by Victor Sodsook and I'm 100% sure I have it but I can't find it or remember the name of the dish. I'll keep digging through my books.

Thought I had that book around here somewhere too - but my search has been in vain so far as well.

[Jenni]

I'm not sure if this will fit your requirements, but for me it is a dish where the black pepper is very important: ven pongal. This a tamil dish, pure comfort food and perfect for breakfast. Some people serve it with sambar and coconut chutney, others just with chutney, and others still with gojju, which is a tamarind-y dish half between a relish and a vegetable. I prefer it with gojju. Here is a recipe, you can find subtle variations by googling:

1 cup rice

1/2 cup moong dal

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Salt, to taste

Ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

A very small lump of asafetida (the real stuff - if you can't get that, I guess you could use the powdered kind but the flavour will not be the same)

A few fresh curry leaves

A few cashews (halved or whole as you desire)

Toast the dal in a dry pan until it is golden and smells fragrant. Then cook with the rice until very soft. The texture should not be too wet, it should be like moist pudding. In the last 10 minutes add the salt.

Powder the asafetida in a mortar and pestle, then add the cumin and black pepper and crush coarsely. The quantities of these spices are loose and you can play with them a bit to your taste. Heat some ghee in a pan. You can use as much or as little as your conscience allows, but it must be ghee, not oil. When hot, add the crushed and powdered spices and the curry leaves, followed by the ginger. Stir and fry until the spices release their fragrance, but don't let them burn. Add to the rice and dal and cook for a few more minutes.

Roast the cashews in a little more ghee and add to the pongal. Serve with chutney/sambar/gojju/etc. as you desire.

Some people add green chillies to pongal, but personally I don't like it as much this way as I like the black pepper to shine. Actually I had this pongal for breakfast yesterday, but I would happily eat it again right now!

Edited March 5, 2011 by Jenni (log)