Flavour Experiments with Puréed Peppers
15 October 2007
I first prepared this purée made of red peppers some years ago, inspired by an orange-coloured sauce I had once been served in a Spanish restaurant. My purée mainly consists of red peppers boiled in salt water, peeled and blended; sometimes I also add some crème fraîche to refine the taste. I have often used this purée as a basis or as garnish for various starters, sometimes in combination with a blend of basil and olive oil, which I find is an excellent match (both in taste and colour!).
Today I decided to use my blended peppers in a slightly different variation. Although I really like the natural taste of the purée just as it is, I found it exciting to experiment a bit with different flavours. On the market I bought not only red but also yellow peppers to compare the more spicy taste of the former to the sweeter taste of the latter. Then I tried to think of different spices which would even reinforce the characteristic taste of each and I came up with a “café de paris” herb mixture to season the yellow and some nutmeg and balsamic vinegar to season the red peppers. They tasted very different and charismatic, but also very nice in combination. I topped the two sauces with some fried scallops:
Scallops on Puréed Red and Yellow Peppers
| serves 4 as a starter |
| 8 scallops |
| 2 red peppers |
| 2 yellow or orange peppers |
| some nutmeg |
| a dash of special reserve balsamic vinegar |
| some café de paris (herb mixture) |
Slice the red peppers along their long side and remove the stems and the seeds. Cook them in salt water until the peel loosens, then take them out and peel them. Blend the red and yellow peppers separately, so you get two differently coloured pulps.
[more on how to prepare puréed peppers]
Season the red pulp with just a little bit of freshly ground nutmeg and a dash of special reserve balsamic vinegar. If you do not have any aged vinegar with sweetish taste, just melt a teaspoon of icing sugar in a pan, add a dash of “normal” balsamic vinegar, stir and let it reduce for a few minutes until you get a semi-fluid sauce. Season the yellow pulp with some “café de paris” herb mixture, or alternatively any mild curry mixture. For both sauces use the spices very cautiously; it would be a shame to cover the taste of the peppers.
Let the two purées rest in the fridge. Once they have cooled down, you can decoratively arrange them on plates, or fill them into glasses one on top of the other so you can see the two layers from the outside. I always prepare this before frying the scallops, so they can be served right away.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan. Slightly salt the scallops and place them in the pre-heated pan; sear them for approximately 2 minutes on either side, so they are browned on the outside but still very soft inside. Cut the scallops in thin slices and arrange them on the plates with the peppers, or on top of the filled glasses. To finish you can sprinkle some more nutmeg on the scallops and decorate with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.
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