Oh Capparis spinosa, how I enjoy you! You make my mouth water in so many tasty dishes. I would never make deviled eggs without you, last night I ate you in tomato sauce on pasta, and today I devoured you in this quick ‘n’ easy dish of my own invention:
Creamy Couscous with Capers
Dump all of the following into a microwave-safe dish:
[ul]
[li]1 part capers, drained[/li][li]2 parts dry quick whole wheat couscous[/li][li]1 part half-and-half[/li][li]1 part water[/li][li]sweet red pepper, chopped[/li][li]dab beef bouillon paste[/li][li]sprinkle garlic powder[/li][li]sprinkle ground chipotle powder[/li][/ul]
Stir, zap until boiling, stir again, and let sit a few minutes.
Persons who do not love capers might think this recipe has too much of you but oh, capers, we know better, don’t we?
I love capers. I do field work in Pantelleria, Italy, which has the best capers in the world. I brought back 1 kg of salted capers from my 2009 trip; I’ve got 500 g left. Luckily, I’m headed back next week where I’ll pick up another kg… oh, and some rocks, too, or something.
I love capers too. Once, in a case of drunken grocery shopping, I accidentally bought a jar of green peppercorns (they were adjacent to the capers). I didn’t notice my mistake until I was eating my pasta with my favorite caper-laden sauce. THAT was an eye-opener!
I like them, but I’ve never had a chance to try the salted ones yet. I had to laugh when I read someone (Nora Ephron? I can’t remember who) write that any dish that tastes good with capers, tastes better without them. Tapenade with capers on top helped bring me around.
The same thing you do with the brined ones, but they take a bit more preparation time. As soon as you decide you want to use them, place them in a bowl with some clean water and let them soak. Change the water once or twice and then give them a final rinsing before you add them to your dish. That’s it! They’re much crisper, and much more piquant.
Capers are essential in Caponata and Puttanesca, but I like them best in “Insalata Pantesca.” For my version, you make a dressing of anchovy (at least three, but I use six), garlic (equal in volume to the anchovy), oregano (Pantescan, too, if you’ve got it), parsley, and a good 1/4 to 1/2C of capers, combined with olive oil in a blender or food processor. Toss with your cooked and diced potatoes and serve at room temperature. (I’ve got a bunch more–you don’t burn through 500 g of capers in a year with only one recipe!)
My absolute favorite use for capers is to fry them. They make a great crispy garnish, although I’ve been know to fry up a batch just to eat them plain.
Don’t just drop them into hot oil, though - too much moisture, they’ll splatter hot oil everywhere. Before frying, mash them between two paper towels under something flat and heavy (I use the back of a cast iron skillet) until each one is flattened, then let them sit for a minute or three while the paper soaks up the brine. THEN fry in some oil. (I’ve done it in good olive oil and then re-used the caper-flavored oil as a bread dipping oil.)
emmaliminal, here’s a quick one–“Sciakisciuka,” which is similar to caponata:
Fry up some onion in olive oil. Add diced zucchini, eggplant, potato, and tomato, and cook for about 10 minutes. Add a little water, the rinsed and drained capers (about 1/4 cup, assuming about two each of the above vegtables and just one large eggplant), and cook it all for another 20 minutes. Add chopped basil and some oregano before serving. Top with some cheese (I think it’s better without it, though.)
A Google search suggests that mine (adopted from “Sapori di Pantelleria” by Silvio Palazzolo) is but one of a thousand versions…
Yossarian: thank you and thank you! I am strongly tempted to order a big ol’ bag of Pantellerian capers online.
purplehorseshoe: ooooh, I may have to try that once the heat wave breaks here. How did you happen to discover that? I don’t fry things very often… well, to be truthful, I don’t cook much at all, let alone fry, but you know what I mean.
Love love love love. Pizza with capers and anchovies, for example
I’ve had the exact same experience! Was living in Belgium and had a brother visit and we were shopping for puttanesca ingredients and I didn’t notice as he switched out the jar of capers I’d grabbed for the much less expensive jar which (he couldn’t read Dutch) were peppercorns.
Indeed, it was. I purposely specialize in the Geology of Places with Awesome Food.
Pizza is probably one of the single best uses for capers. In Pantelleria and Lipari both, the “Pizza Rustica” is topped with cheese, tomato, anchovy, caper, onion, olive, and oregano… absolutely the best.
Come to think of it, tartar sauce is also much improved by replacing the pickle relish with chopped capers.