Pepperberries are more versatile than conventional peppercorn, able to be used in sweet and savoury dishes.
Although Native Pepperberry can be used in the same way as conventional pepper, it has an added herbal dimension, particularly towards the end of the palate. The dark Pepperberries also infuse a rich plum color to sauces.
The Mountain Pepperleaf has a more subtle, organic herbal flavour than the berry and is ideal where the intensity of the pepperberry is too dominant.
Pepperberries will bleed a soft pink colour into marinades or pickle solutions, pale sauces and yoghurt.
Use it for preparing savouries and soups, vinaigrettes, ice cream jellies, candy, pasta, and game, etc.
Taste Australia Bush Food Shop has Pepperberry either ground, or air dried whole
Guacamole style Pepperberry Sea Salt Dip
Use with vegetable sticks, bread sticks, turkish bread, corn chips or on nachos or enchiladas!
INGREDIENTS
| 2 ripe avocados 1/4 cup natural yoghurt 1/2 teaspoon Pepperberry Sea Salt |
1 clove crushed garlic 1/2 teaspoon Saltbush |
Method – Blend all ingredients. Serve!
Smoked Paperbark Vegetable
Par cook the vegies and then layer into moist paperbark
with Swagmans Salt between each layer.
Char grill each side for 5 minutes and then bake 180C for 15 minutes. Serve with Spiced Lilli Pilli Conserve
Marinated Pepperberry Crocodile with Lemon Myrtle, Orange and Ginger Sauce (4 entree portions)
Ingredients:
400 g crocodile meat – cut into 2 cm cubes,
40 ml orange juice,
200 ml chicken stock,
30 ml honey,
5 gm ginger – finely diced,
30 ml Macadamia Nut oil,
10 gm corn flour,
salt and pepperberry to taste,
8 bamboo skewers.
Method:
Thread crocodile meat onto bamboo skewers, place in flat dish, season with salt and pepperberry, pour orange juice over it and place in fridge for about 1 hour.
Heat oil in a frying pan and sauté crocodile for about 2 minutes per side, set aside and keep warm.
Combine residual orange juice, honey, ginger, chicken stock, and corn flour in a saucepan.
Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
Place skewers on plates, spoon sauce over meat and garnish with fresh herbs.
Kakadu Plum and Pepperberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
250ml white wine vinegar
100g frozen Kakadu plum
30g sugar
50gm shallots peeled and fine diced
Juice of one Lime
1 tspn ground pepperberry
Slice most of the flesh off from the kakadu plum stone.
Place the stones into the vinegar & sugar and boil briefly.
This will soften the remaining flesh.
Strain through a coarse sieve, working the pulp through the mesh.
Add the other flesh and puree finely.
Stir pepperberry, lime juice and shallots into the mixture.
Pepperberry Emu Pie
Ingredients
500gm emu rump
2 teaspoons of macadamia oil
half cup pepperberries
2 onions
375ml good Australian red wine
1 cubed/skinned egg plant
2 cubed/peeled sweet yam (the orange ones)
2 cups of beef stock – leave a little for sauce.
packet of puff pastry or shortcrust pastry
Australian honey
For the Meat Mixture
Place the the cubed emu rump, cubed and skinned eggplant and sweet yam in a large pot.
Pour in 2 cups of beef stock and cup of red wine. Add 3 – 4 pepperberries.
Leave to stew for about 30 mins stirring every 10 mins so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
Add 2 tablespoons of flour and a tablespoon of butter to thicken the sauce.
Assembling the Pie
Cut 15cm square piece of pastry.
Add about a 2 heaped tablespoons of meat in the centre.
Pull up the sides of the pastry to make a parcel – and pinch in the middle.
Bake at 180C for 15 – 20 mins.
Pepperberry Sauce
1 sliced onion
teaspoon ground pepperberry
splash of wine
splash in beef stock
2 tablespoons of honey
Cook sauce until it reduces a little. Serve with the pies
Marinated Tofu and Vegetable Kebabs
Ingredients:
1/2 large red capsicum cut into squares
3 pickling onions quartered
1 zucchini cut into 2.5cm chunks
250gm firm tofu cut into 2cm cubes
Soak 6 wooden skewers in water for 10 mins. Thread vegetable and tofu alternately onto skewers. Place in a rectangular baking dish.
Combine 3 teaspoons white miso paste, 100ml honey, 1.5 Tbspn Sesame Oil, 1 Tbspn water and 1 teaspn each of Lemon Myrtle, Sea Parsley, Pepperberry, salt.
Pour over the kebabs. Cover with plastic wrap, Marinate for at least an hour.
Heat the BBQ. Cook for approx 6 mins, brush frequently with the marinade.
Pepperberry Oil
INGREDIENTS
2 cups Macadamia Nut Oil
1/2 tablespoon Whole Pepperberries
1/2 tablespoon Ground Pepperberries
Place oil and Ground Pepperberries into a saucepan and heat to not more than 70C (160F). Strain into a sterile oil bottle; add the whole Pepperberries. Seal.
Allow to infuse for at least four weeks when the oil will turn a shade of purple and infuse the oil with the delightful flavor, aroma and heat of the Pepperberries.
Pepperberry and Kalamata Tapenade
Ingredients
350gm Kalamata Olives
1 teaspoon Ground Pepperberry
75g anchovy fillets in oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons Macadamia Nut oil
Pepperberry Oil (see recipe above)
Method
Pit the olives and then blend with Pepperberry, anchovies and garlic in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed. (Approx 5 minutes).
Store the tapenade in sterile glass jars and pour just enough Pepperberry Oil over the top to seal the tapenade from the air. It will continue to develop its flavor, so make it at
least a day before you want to use it. Put the lids on the jars and the tapenade will keep refrigerated for several months.
Serve with crusty bread, or in sandwiches (with ham, tomato and bocconcini or goat’s cheese), or toss through pasta. Use as a dip or serve with poached eggs.
Pepperberry Potato Cake
Ingredients
½ tspn Ground Pepperberry
1 tspn Ground Lemon Myrtle
60g melted butter
4 large potatoes, peeled, boiled but firm and very thinly sliced
60g parmesan, flaked
Mix Pepperberry and Lemon Myrtle into the melted butter.
On an oiled tray, arrange 4 piles of potato slices brushing each layer with the flavoured butter.
Top with the parmesan
Bake 180C for 15 minutes.
Lemony Kale Salad
Ingredients
1 bunch Kale
1 Shallot (minced)
1 Red Capsicum (minced)
4 Tablespoons Macadamia Nut Oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspn Native Thyme
1/4 teaspn Salt
1/4 teaspn Ground Pepperberry
Chop Kale into bite size pieces
In a separate bowl mix the shallot, red capsicum, oil, lemon juice, Native Thyme, salt and Pepperberry.
Then pour it over the kale briefly rubbing in with your hands until the kale softens.
Serve.
(Kale is easy to grow, is rich in Vitamins A & C as well as anti-oxidants.)
Slow cooked Pepperberry Wagyu
Ingredients
2 small red onions
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 red capsicum
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
420gm cubed Wagyu Chuck Beef
1 Tablespoon Ground Pepperberry
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon crushed bush tomato
Dice the vegetables and place in the slow cooker, add garlic, beef, Ground Pepperbery, Tomato paste and water. Mix well to combine.
Slow cook for 7 hours.
10 minutes before serving add bush tomato and a salt to taste. Serve with pasta, steamed beans and wild rocket salad.
Pepperberry Macerated Berries
Put 1/3 cup honey into a small pan and heat on low until the honey liquefies. Pour into a bowl and add 1-1/2 teaspoons ground Pepperberry, stir well and allow to cool slightly. Add 1/4 cup orange juice, and stir until combined.
Put a punnet each of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries (cut into bite size) into a large bowl. Pour the syrup over the berries and gently toss.
Let sit at room temperature for about an hour, stirring occasionally. This will help the berries break down and absorb the flavours in the syrup.
This tastes just as good on pancakes as it does on ice cream, or even just mixed in with Greek yogurt.
Chilled Macadamia and Cucumber Soup
Place 2 cups of raw macadamias in a pot with 6 cloves of peeled garlic and 3 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 mins. Cool. Pour into a blender with 2 telegraph cucumbers (reserve 1/4 cup for garnish), 1/2 cup macadamia oil, 1/4 cup pepperberry vinegar, 1 tspn salt, 1/2 teaspn pepperberry. Blend until smooth and add 2 cups of cold water and blend until combined. Chill for a min of 4 hours.
Just before serving stir in a cup of cold milk, season to taste. Garnish with finely diced cucumber and drizzle of macadamia oil.
Pepperberry Casserole
50ml Macadamia Nut Oil
500 g chuck/casserole steak
1 large onion
2 potatoes
2 carrots
1 parsnip
1 stick celery
1 tablespoon flour
1¼ litre beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½-1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 dessertspoon crushed Pepperberries
1 dessertspoon crushed Bush Tomato
Brown the meat in 15ml of the oil and in several batches. Add the rest of the oil and heat before adding the flour. Stir until it browns a little. Remove from heat and gradually add the stock while whisking. Add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Tasman Sea salt and Pepperberries. Bring to the boil while stirring. Add meat and bring back to the boil, let it simmer for 1½ -2 hours.
Add the vegetables and cook for a further 30 minutes without a lid. Add the bush tomato for the last 15 minutes.
Serve with rice.
Garlic and Mountain Pepper Cream
Combine 4 minced garlic cloves with 3gm crushed Pepperberries. Whisk into 3 egg yolks with 200ml Champagne Vinegar, and slowly add 600ml Macadamia Nut Oil in a stream until incorporated. Season with 5gm Ground Lemon Myrtle and salt to taste.
Pepperberry infused Vinegar
Use a good quality vinegar. (white wine, balsamic, red wine, rice wine, or apple cider vinegar)
Place 3 tablespoons of whole Pepperberry into a clean sterilized jar or bottle. Heat 600ml vinegar to just below boiling,then pour over the pepperberry and cap tightly. Allow to stand for 3 to 4 weeks for the flavour to develop fully. Strain the vinegar through a damp cheesecloth or coffee filter one or more times until the vinegar is no longer cloudy. Discard the pepperberry. Pour the strained vinegar into a clean sterilized jar. Seal tightly. Store in the refrigerator for best flavour retention. Use in cooking in equal amounts where wine, fruit juice, plain vinegar, lemon, or lime juice is called for.
Pepperberry Kangaroo Shasliks
Cut approx 500gm kangaroo fillet into 3cm cubes. Mix a tablespoon of ground pepperberry into kangaroo, cover & refrigerate overnight.
Soak wooden shaslik skewers overnight in water. Thread pepperberry crusted kangaroo onto shaslik skewers, alternating with vegetables of choice, cut to similar size as kangaroo. Onion & red capsicum work well, so do mushroom and zucchini wedges.
Brush a grill or bbq with oil. Cook shasliks until medium-rare. Do not overcook as kangaroo will become tough & dry.
Mountain Pepper Fish Marinade
2 or 3 tbsp of sweet Chilli sauce
2 tsp of fresh ginger
1 clove of garlic
1 or 2 tsp of fish sauce
2 or 3 tsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of mountain pepper leaf
½ cup Mountain Pepperberries
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Lay whole fish or fish fillets on foil and rub in marinate. Wrap up fish in foil and let stand for 1 hour. Bake in oven on 200°C for 20 to 40 minutes, depending on size of fish size.
Pepperberry Jus
750 ml Australian Shiraz
1 onion, finely diced
¼ bulb garlic
30g (2 tablespoon) pepperberry
1 bouquet garni
8 litres beef stock
salt
Sauté the onion, garlic and half of the pepperberry in a little oil (Macadamia Nut Oil is recommended). You want to get a little caramelisation happening before you add the red wine and bouquet garni, then reduce over low heat until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the beef stock and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 2-3 hours or until the liquid is the consistency of light syrup and coats the back of a spoon lightly. Finally add the rest of the pepperberry, then strain with a fine sieve and season to taste.
Pepper Beef Stew
1 kg beef chunks
1 large onion
1 dessertspoon pepperberries (ground)
1 teaspoon sugar
water
1 large carrot
1 large potato
2 teaspoons ground bush tomato
1 tablespoon corn flour
extra water
Brown the meat in a little oil. Add the chopped onion, ground pepperberries, sugar and enough water for simmering. Cook over very low heat until the meat is tender (about 3 hours). Add the diced potato and carrot. Let it simmer until cooked. Add the bush tomato. Mix cornflour with some water and add to the stew to thicken the sauce.