2 tablespoons green peppercorns, drained. WTF?

[eridani]

I found some green peppercorns at Fred Meyers in one of those grinder thingies, dried like your typical white or black peppercorn. Looked all over the condiments section and the spices section for something in liquid that looked like green peppercorns, but no dice.

The original recipe is this--

Chicken liver pate

Ingredients
1 pound fresh chicken livers, cleaned
1 cup milk
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup chopped yellow onions
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons green peppercorns, drained
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup Cognac or brandy
Chopped parsley leaves, for garnish
French bread croutons or toast, accompaniment
French cornichons, optional accompaniment

Directions
In a bowl, soak the livers in the milk for 2 hours. Drain well.

In a large saute pan or skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken livers, 1 tablespoon of the peppercorns, the bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until the livers are browned on the outside and still slightly pink on the inside, about 5 minutes. Add the Cognac and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated and the livers are cooked through but still tender.

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Discard the bay leaves.

In a food processor, puree the liver mixture. Add the remaining butter in pieces and pulse to blend. Fold in the remaining 1 tablespoon peppercorns and adjust the seasoning, to taste.

Pack the pate into 6 individual ramekins or small molds, about 4 ounces each. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 6 hours.

There was about 1/4 pound of stuff from the insides of the whole free-range fryer I've been converting into meals, so I modified it.

Ingredients
1/4 pound stuff inside the chicken, cleaned
Fuggedabout the milk--we never have any on hand
2 tablespoons schmaltz
1/4 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons ground green peppercorn
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
Skip the ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dry sherry (No cognac in the supermarkets, it seems. Have to get it at one of the state liquor stores and they were closed.)


Pretty much followed the cooking instructions and got about 1/2 a small yogurt cup of final product. It's setting up in the fridge overnight, and will be sampled by my pate loving DH on crackers tomorrow. I'm getting a weird feeling that those not dried green peppercorns might really have been necessary, sort of like chili powder in chili. Any contrary opinions?

[hippywife]

1. I have bought them before totally by accident...

because they are sitting on the shelf next to and look so similar to...capers! :hi:

[eridani]

2. I saw jars of capers, but they were far larger than the peppercorns

Are the non-dry peppercorns really similar to capers? If so, next time I could cut capers into smaller pieces for folding in at the end.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. I made the same mistake as hippywife.

Green peppercorns in brine do look like capers but the flavor is totally different.
Here's a good description of the forms
http://www.spicelines.com/2008/01/green_peppercorns.htm

[eridani]

4. Are they ever in average grocery stores?

Or is this strictly an upscale gourmet shop thing?

[Gormy Cuss]

6. They used to be common on the gourmet shelf in average grocery stores.

I can't recall the last time I saw them though.

[hippywife]

7. In the average grocery store

is where I picked them up by accident. They were right next to the capers and were in similar small jars. I didn't look closely enough at the labels on the jars and grabbed the wrong one. And, no, they don't taste like capers, which are one of my favorite things to use with steaks and roasts. :9

[eridani]

5. Verdict from DH

He thought it was pretty good anyway. There is maybe a half a cup of final product, which is just as well as it isn't exactly health food.