Last week I took on plantains to step into an unknown area of food. I was not that worried about plantains but capers? Capers kind of freak me out.
When I worked in publishing I went to a conference and they had one of my favourite dishes there for our lunch. Cream cheese and lox on a bagel (smoke salmon). Perfect! Then I saw the cream cheese was covered in these green things and it scared the crap out of me. I was a grown adult scared of food. Well I am done with that!
Capers are little buds of a flower that grows on a bush. What could be more natural and interesting than that? When I realized what they actually were, I was not scared anymore. I get to eat the center of a flower? How cool is that?!
I picked up a jar of capers and gave one a shot. You know what? All I tasted was brine but the texture was quite interesting, a little springy with a touch of earth.
I wanted to try using capers in a dish and not just chomping on them from the jar. They are most commonly used with seafood so I made this homemade spicy seafood sauce and chopped up a few and put the the sauce on some haddock:
Delicious! I really think the benefits of using capers (other than some nutritional value) is adding texture to a dish. A little something special that provides interest to the food. I would like to point out this was the best fish dish I have ever made and I am so glad that my food phobia ingredient helped knock it out of the park.
One of my favourite dishes of all time have capers. It’s a baked breast of chicken marinated in orange marmalade and balsamic vinegar. You marinate for at least an hour, then throw the whole mixture over the chicken and bake with capers sprinkled on top. Easy peasy and so so good!
I’m so glad you’re being adventurous! Yay!
Suzie,
Greatest salty snack ever……
Take a handful of capers and drain on paper towel. In a large pot, heat about 2 inches of veg oil. Heat over medium high heat. Drop in the capers when the oil is hot and fry until they are crispy and have surst open. Drain on paper towel and enjoy. Also makes a great garnish for caesar salad or fish dishes
Mmmm, your recipe looks delicious.
I love capers. There’s a classic Italian sauce called Puttanesca which is worth making. You can find a version at http://www.deliaonline.com/. (Delia Smith is a very well-known English celebrity cook. Not very cool, but who cares, her recipes are delicious.)
Also, if you can, try and get salted capers rather than pickled in brine. They’re lovely in one of my favourite easy meals: mix some capers with drained canned tuna and (low-fat) sour cream as a stuffing for potatoes baked in their skins in the oven. (We call these jacket potatoes but there may be a transatlantic language difference!!)
I did fried capers on a salad last week. Frying them makes them open up and releases more flavor-it was wonderful!
Yay you for being courageous with capers. I immediately thought you would like them because of its other definition, “spy capers” and the like, hehe.
I’m glad you enjoyed them. They’re a big n-o for me, but maybe because of your adventurousness day I’ll give them a second chance.
One of my top-ten favorite meals ever was in Kauai, Hawaii, and it was a steak of calimari (rather than the rings) in a lemon-caper-butter sauce. TO DIE FOR. I make a similar sauce that I’ve put on fish and chicken. YUM!
good for you for trying something new isn’t fun! looks great oh and theres an award for you on my blog
Capers! Hooray for little bursts of flavour. I love capers and sometimes pop them into spaghetti sauce. Also there is a great recipe for chicken with capers and black olives and artichoke hearts that I’ve enjoyed. Good for you to give them a go because they do look a bit weird. Lots of people turn their noses up at them.
I’ve never really had capers before. I think we used them once in my Chefs class… I can’t remember what the dish was or if I liked them though. xD
Glad you tried something new and loved it! <3
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I love Capers… My fav way to eat them is a croissant stuffed with goat cheese and Lox with a few spoon full of capers… YUM!!!