anders ousback's grilled pepper relish

the first time i had this was july 1st, 1999, 13 years ago. i was at simon johnson's pyrmont store for the vogue cookbook launch and need i tell you that it was delicious? it was served with a beautiful artisan sourdough baguette and the creamiest ripe brie.

8 large red capsicums, halved and seeded.
olive oil
3 teaspoons cracked peppercorns
3 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
3 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 knobs ginger, peeled and shredded
3 chillies, finely sliced
2 large onions, diced
2 large apples, peeled and diced
6 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 bay leaves
4 tablespoons currants
4 tablespoons honey
200ml port
200ml white wine vinegar
sea salt to taste

preheat the oven to 200°C. place the capsicums, cut side down, on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 30 minutes or until the skins start to blister. cool, slip off the skins and slice into long strips. set aside.

place a little olive oil into a heavy based saucepan and roast the peppercorns, mustard and corriander. add the garlic, ginger, chilli and onion and cook until the onions are translucent. add the apple and cook a further 10 minutes.

add the tomato, bay leaves, currants, honey, port, vinegar, salt and capsicums and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours or until the mixture has thickened. remove from the stove and spoon the relish into warm sterilised jars. seal whilst hot and allow to cool. store in the refrigerator or a cool cupboard.

a dip with sundried tomatoes and capsicum

my friend, bez, has just opened up her own studio for alternate therapies and invited me to the opening, and i couldn't resist asking if i could bring food. that's me, i can't help it. so from the title you're thinking i brought a dip...but i brought more - little rolls. little rolls about 7 centimetres long and 2 centmetres wide, if you must know. up until the day, i was toying with making pizzettes, passionfruit curd tarts ... anything and everything. it finally dawned on me that unless i make something less fiddly (yet delicious), the party would be over before i even got there. so i made these little rolls, for the first time, and definitely not the last. when the rolls were done, it all looked a bit boring, so to spice things up, i went with a dip. this dip .... because it was so fast (and yummy)!

100 grams sundried tomatoes
1 red capsicum, seeded and cored, cut into chunks
100 grams roasted cashews
50 grams verjuice
50 grams extra virgin olive oil

pop everything into the thermomix bowl and set the dial to close lid position. pulse the turbo button 2-3 times for a second each, or until the dip is the consistency you like.

did you know contribution disappeared even before the party had started? and i made a mountain of rolls and dip...

roasted capsicums

on the tail of my post about convenience foods, i like finding easier ways of doing things without sacrificing taste. roasted capsicums have always been one of those things which finds itself in the "fiddly" basket....much loved, but fiddly.......gone in a blink, but forever to prepare...sort of...
so......i did a bit of a taste test thing with roasted capsicums: capsicums roasted whole and sliced off the core.
roasted whole requires the capsicum to spend more time "cooking" and as such, the fruit releases a lot of juice. slices spend less time being grilled and are firmer than their whole counterparts and retain their juices.
another consideration is capacity. one capsicum, sliced, takes up more tray space, but doesn't take so much time to get to the point of being peelable. more whole capsicums can be placed on a tray, but has to be turned until blackened all around, and by that stage has collapsed and is mushier in texture.
slicing the capsicum also enables the bottom of the capsicum to be blackened easily (when left whole, i always think it's that awkward spot) and there is also not the problem of having capsicum seeds scattered throughout.
so were the capsicums sliced off the core and roasted able to meet the deliciousness of whole roasted capsicums? i loved them. this is a personal opinion. i loved them because they still had a bit of chewiness and bite...they weren't as messy to prepare...and i like how they quicker to prepare, getting them closer to instant gratification.
i used capsicums which had nice thick flesh, so the resulting roasted capsicums were nice and meaty.