Piquant Strawberry and Black Pepper Ripple

  

200 G Fresh Strawberries

2 TSP Honey

1/4 C White Sugar

1 TSP Balsamic vinegar

1/4 TSP Cracked Black Peppercorns

1/4 TSP Cracked Red Peppercorns

As promised last week on twitter, here is the recipe for my piquant Strawberry and Black Pepper Ripple, enjoy! Next week I will be continuing with the Asian Chopping Board series with a tantalising Thai Grapefruit, Coconut and Prawn Salad.

PREPARATION  

Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer of about 5 - 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Once the Ripple reduces to a thin syrupy consistency, remove from the stove and allow to cool.

Once the Ripple has cooled, add 2 drops of rose concentrate (optional) and stir. Serve with Greek Yoghurt and muesli for a delicious breakfast snack, or over ice-cream for a tasty dessert.               

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PANFRIED QUICHE

  

250 ML MILK

3 EGGS

2 ROUNDED DSP CORN FLOUR

2 CARROTS, CUT IN HALF AND QUARTERED

1 LARGE ONION, HALF AND QUARTERED

1 LARGE TOMATO, HALF AND QUARTERED

1 LARGE POTATO, SLICED

2 GRILLED PORK SAUSAGES, SLICED

1 TSP PINK PEPPERCORNS

1 TSP JUINIPER BERRIES

GROUND PAPRIKA, TO SPRINKLE

SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

PREPARATION  

Grill the quartered carrots, onion, potato (dusted with paprika) and tomato till golden, you can do this under the grill in the oven or as I did on a George Forman. Meanwhile, place the egg, milk, corn flour, pink peppercorns and juniper berries in a liquidizer and blend to a smooth liquid.

Preheat a heavy based pan on the stove, setting 4. Use preferably a non-stick pan, otherwise grease with a little oil. Place the grilled carrots, onion, potato, tomato and sliced sausages in the pan and slowly pour over the egg mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and cook for about 15 minutes, until the egg on the surface turns slightly dark in colour. Using a plate, turn the quiche over and slide it back into the pan to cook the other side. Do this by placing the plate on top of the quiche, while holding the base of the plate and the handle of the pan, flip the quiche onto the plate. Next, slide the quiche off the plate, back into the pan, do this carefully as it can be messy. Once on the other side, cook the quiche for another 3 to 5 minutes, then place on a clean plate. If you are going to use the same plate that was used to turn the quiche, ensure that it is washed properly as raw egg could contain Salmonella, which could make you ill.

To serve drizzle your favourite dark Balsamic vinegar over the quiche, with some coarsely ground black pepper and sea salt.

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PANFRIED QUICHE

GRILLED CHICKEN AND RED PEPPER SALAD

So the weather seems to have changed a little, starting yesterday. It was nice and hot, one of those typical Spring, beach days... Did I say Spring (Wow slow down, its still winter). Anyways, I decided to make myself a Grilled Chicken and Red Pepper Salad for lunch. 

Well, actually I had some of my Pink peppercorn and Juniper berry sauce left over and have been trying to get my pictures into one of these 'food porn' sites. So I thought I would drizzle the sauce over 'something' and take photographs. I scrounged around in the fridge for a while, found a red pepper, chicken kebabs, tomato and some salad leaves; so I decided I would make a salad. Grilled the chicken 'cubes' and red pepper slices and voilà! To my utter amazement the salad turned out to be really tasty (just kidding I knew it would be good) and I thought I would share it with all of you. 

You may have noticed the Foodista widgets at the bottom of a few of my posts, this is because I have recently joined the Foodista community. These widgets will link you to similar recipes on the Foodista website, it's an awesome website check it out when you get a chance.   

By the way if anyone has any photography tips or critique on my photographs they are more than welcome, after all I am here to learn as well! I thought this photograph was pretty good, but it didn't make the cut on two of the sites I submitted it to... any suggestions?

Ingredients

1	Small Tomato cut in eighths
1	Large Red Pepper, cored and cut into eighths
1	small bag of mixed salad leaves
2	Chicken breasts, depending on your required protein portion

Preparation

Step 1	Cut chicken breasts into cubes, spice and/or marinate.
Step 2	Grill on a griddle pan or electric grill, until chicken juices run clear.
Step 3	Dust Red Red Pepper slices with paprika and grill till slightly charred.
Step 4	Toss salad leaves, tomato wedges, grilled chicken and red peppers together.
Step 5	Drizzle over your favorite dressing. I used the Pink Peppercorn and Juniper berry sauce made in one of my earlier posts.

Grilled Chicken and Red Pepper Salad

PEPPERBERRY GAME SAUCE

"Try out this amazing saucy infusion, made with pink peppercorns and juniper berries. The piney notes are sensational and will spruce up any game. I even tried it on a cracker with liver pâté, it was divine, enjoy..."

¼ CUP RED GRAPE JUICE

1 TSP JUNIPER BERRIES, CRUSHED

2 TSP PINK PEPPERCORNS

1 TSP RASPBERRY/STRAWBERRY JAM

½ CUP SUGAR

1 CUP WATER

PINCH OF SALT

3 TSP LIME JUICE (OR LEMON JUICE)

PREPARATION: In a small saucepan place the crushed Juniper berries (can be crushed easily with a pestle and mortar), pink peppercorns, grape juice, jam, water, sugar and salt, and bring to a boil. Maintain an even heat, stirring while the sauce reduces; boil for about 10 minutes, until the sauce reaches a thin syrup consistency, then remove from the heat. Lastly stir in the lime juice while the mixture is still hot, and then leave to cool.   

The Pepperberry sauce is ideally served with game and veal, but is also delicious with chicken, pork, and even drizzled over, or mixed into liver pâté; it can also be used as a basting glaze. As an alternative you may replace the red grape juice with red wine of your choice, generally a good Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel or Shiraz pairs well with game.  

Flavour profile: Because this sauce has more of a sophisticated taste, I thought I would give you a breakdown of the flavor profile. The Pepperberry sauce has a sweet-sour base, with distinctive bitter-sweet, piney and resinous notes, imparted by the Juniper berries and pink peppercorns; as well as subtle lime undertones from the lime juice. The sweet, piney notes remain in the mouth as an aftertaste for a while after eating.

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PEPPERBERRY GAME SAUCE