Cookoff 2.0 #14 - Peppercorns

[Grovite]

Cookoff 2.0 #1 - Heat Infusion - Parrothead
Cookoff 2.0 #2 - Tomatoes - Unknown Foodie
Cookoff 2.0 #3 - Butternut Squash - Jackiecat
Cookoff 2.0 #4 - Fennel - Nolafoodie
Cookoff 2.0 #5 - Grains of Paradise - PattyE
Cookoff 2.0 #6 - Eggplant - Geimerst
Cookoff 2.0 #7 - Soup - Pixie
Cookoff 2.0 #8 - Ribs - Dan
Cookoff 2.0 #9 - Citrus fruit - Moonablaze
Cookoff 2.0 #10 - Clams - Thierry
Cookoff 2.0 #11 - Ground Beef - Parrothead
Cookoff 2.0 #12 - Olives - Grovite
Cookoff 2.0 #13 - Slaw - Nolafoodie
Cookoff 2.0 #14 - Peppercorns - Grovite

How 'bout another everyday ingredient? Peppercorns! Fresh ground or whole, it doesn't matter, let's hear some great recipes!

[eye4got]

"Eating Well Is The Best Revenge" Peppercorn Steak:

1 steak between 1 1/2 - 2 inches thick, at room temperature (Ribeye or Tenderloin work well but you can also use Sirloin)
1 palmful peppercorns, very coarsely cracked
kosher or sea salt
several disks of Maitre d' Butter (recipe follows), at room temperature.

Sprinkle both sides of the steak with the salt and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, fire up your grill. Make sure it gets good and hot.
Now would be a good time to slice off several discs of the butter to let them soften a bit.
Spread the peppercorns onto a platter or in a dish big enough to accomodate the steak. Lay the steak in the dish on top of the pepper.
Using a heavy hand, press the peppercorns into the steak. Flip the steak and do the same to the other side.
Grill the steak for up to a minute on each side, the rarer the better.
Move the steak onto a clean plate and top with one or more disks of the Maitre d' Butter.

Serve with warm, crusty bread - you're going to want to squeegee every last drop of goodness off the plate.

Maitre d' Butter
1 lb butter, at room temperature
3-4 cloves garlic minced fine
juice of 1 or 2 lemons, to taste
1 oz (or so) Worcestershire
several dashes Tobasco or other hot sauce, to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Move the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper and tightly pack into a log.
Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and freeze.
To use, remove from freezer, unwrap and slice off discs.

[Norm357]

My favorite peppercorn steak:

1 steak between 1 1/2 - 2 inches thick, at room temperature (Ribeye or Tenderloin work well but you can also use Sirloin)
1 palmful peppercorns, very coarsely cracked
kosher or sea salt
several disks of Maitre d' Butter (recipe follows), at room temperature.

Sprinkle both sides of the steak with the salt and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, fire up your grill. Make sure it gets good and hot.
Now would be a good time to slice off several discs of the butter to let them soften a bit.
Spread the peppercorns onto a platter or in a dish big enough to accomodate the steak. Lay the steak in the dish on top of the pepper.
Using a heavy hand, press the peppercorns into the steak. Flip the steak and do the same to the other side.
Grill the steak for up to a minute on each side, the rarer the better.
Move the steak onto a clean plate and top with one or more disks of the Maitre d' Butter.

Serve with warm, crusty bread - you're going to want to squeegee every last drop of goodness off the plate.

Maitre d' Butter
1 lb butter, at room temperature
3-4 cloves garlic minced fine
juice of 1 or 2 lemons, to taste
1 oz (or so) Worcestershire
several dashes Tobasco or other hot sauce, to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
Move the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper and tightly pack into a log.
Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and freeze.
To use, remove from freezer, unwrap and slice off discs.

Holy crap that sounds good!

ETA:

Did this Sunday. It is a WIN.

[carla]

So what DO you do with pepper besides steak au poivre?
No one seems to have anything to post. I'm obviously not competing.
I saw Batali do this on tv. I'm not a heavy pepper person; I just like Penzey's multi-color peppercorn mix in my grinder.

No way simple pasta can be bad.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 pound bavette or linguini fine
* 2 tablespoons butter
* Cacio di Roma, for grating
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Salt

Directions

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over high heat until it is almost smoking. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving the cooking liquid, and add to the saute pan with the oil. Add the butter and toss over high heat 1 minute. Grate plenty of cheese and black pepper over, add salt if necessary and serve immediately, divided evenly among 4 warmed pasta bowls.
foodnetwork.com

[eye4got]

So what DO you do with pepper besides steak au poivre?

Just off the top of my head and a quick Google search came up with these (they're not meant as contest entries):

Hot & Sour Soup

Parmesan-Peppercorn Salad Dressing

Bloody Caesar

Pear & Green Peppercorn Sauce

Pink Peppercorn Peach Honey Glaze

[nolafoodie]

Ooh, you know what? I forgot about Indian "pepper rice." That's a really good use of peppercorns.

My mother introduced me to this style of rice after she had eaten some lamb stuffed with it in Amman, Jordan.

There are generally two ways to make it, one fried-rice-ish and one pilaf-ish. I don't really use a recipe, honestly (just plenty of peppercorns and some other spices, including cumin and coriander). But I will say I prefer the pilaf-style preparation because the pepper and spices flavor the rice more thoroughly, and it's a little more mellow overall.

Pepper Rice (Fried Rice Style)

Note: This is not my own recipe. Here's the source.

Ingredients:

3 cups of cooked white rice (each grain should be separate)
1 1/2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 1/2 tbsp black pepper corns
1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
10-12 curry leaves (fresh leaves only)
salt to taste

Dry roast the black pepper corns, sesame seeds and curry leaves in a pan for a few minutes on medium heat tossing them around till the flavors come out and you find a nice aroma emanates the kitchen. Once the seasame seeds change color you can turn off the heat and make a coarse powder.

Heat ghee in a pan and add the mustard seeds and let them pop. Add the cumin seeds and let them brown. Add the cooked rice and combine it with the tempering. Now add the ground spice pwd and salt and combine the rice with it such that the spices coat the rice well. The full flavor of the pepper is obtained on freshly ground pepper corns which enhances the taste of the rice giving it a sharper, more lively flavor than the pre-ground pepper powder and also by adding it towards the end of the cooking process which further enhances its taste. Serve hot with any gravy curry or plain rasam, appadam (papad) and curds.

Note: Use only fresh pepper corns and not pre-ground black pepper powder as it won’t serve any purpose and you are definitely not going to enjoy the flavor of the rice if you use the store bought pre-ground pepper powder. If you venture into your kitchen to cook up this simple flavorful dish be prepared to use only the freshly ground pepper corns, I repeat..

My own notes on this recipe: If you don't have access to curry leaves, use a couple pinches of garam masala (but don't use curry powder, because that contains turmeric, which would color your rice, and then you'd lose the contrast between white rice and black pepper), though I don't think it's even necessary. Also, I really like a little coriander in this dish, so add it. Finally, topping it with chopped cilantro makes it especially tasty, IMO.


Pepper Rice (Pilaf Style)

1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and well drained
2 cups (or thereabouts) stock, broth, or water
2 tbs. oil or ghee
2 bay leaves
1.5-2 tsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds
salt to taste
Chopped cilantro (optional)

In a skillet over medium heat, toast the spices until fragrant, then grind them (keep them fairly coarse for visual contrast).

Add oil to skillet, and add rice. Stir rice for several minutes until oil is absorbed and rice is fragrant. Add spices, stir briefly, and then add liquid, bay leaves, and salt, to taste.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Fluff with a fork and top with cilantro before serving.

[Grovite]

Well, I let it run a little longer hoping that it would pick up, but no.

So, Eye4got is the winner of the Peppercorn cook-off. Have at it!

[eye4got]

Thanks, Chris. And thank you, Norm, for the props. You quoted my post in the minute or so between the time I posted it and decided to change the name to something more "marketable".

My recipe is based on my favorite preparation for tenderloin at the restaurant where I bartended about 10 years ago, but they didn't salt the meat first. I picked up that tip from -you guessed it- Good Eats. and it took the finished product from great to amazing.

But Eye digress...

After making a batch of this yogurt from an article in this thread (which turned out awesome, BTW! Bagels are next and granola isn't far behind), My cookoff ingredient is yogurt. Let's see your best/favorite recipes that contain yogurt as an ingredient!