What is Green Peppercorn Sauce?
Green peppercorn sauce is made with cream, beef stock and under-ripe peppercorn berries. It has a rich, creamy texture and a peppery, savory taste. Green peppercorn sauce is a classic accompaniment to filet mignon or other steaks, but is also served with grilled pork chops, chicken or salmon.
What does Green Peppercorn Sauce Taste Like?
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
Beef stock is made from boiling beef bones in water, often with vegetables and seasonings. The stock boils for twelve to twenty-four hours typically. The result is a brown colored liquid with a thin layer of fat on top. The flavor is rich, meaty and somewhat vegetal. Beef stock is used in soups, sauces, and as a cooking liquid for many dishes.
Heavy cream has a high fat content, giving it extra flavor and richness. The cream usually comes from cow's milk and generally floats to the top of milk, from which it can be skimmed. The cream is cream colored, or a pale golden color. The texture is thicker than milk with a flavor that is mild, rich and creamy. Heavy cream is used to make whipped cream and many desserts.
Brandy is commonly made from grapes or apples, though it can be made from many sources, fruit is the most common. Brandy is a liquor that has been fermented and distilled and has an amber color. Brandy has a strong alcohol flavor with notes that vary depending on the fruit that is used and how long it is aged. Flavors examples range from fruity to oak-like. Brandy is generally served on the rocks or as a cocktail. It is also used in desserts for additional flavoring.
Butter is made from churned cream, usually from a cow. It has a cream color and a texture that is smooth and melts easily. The flavor is mild and creamy. Butter is often sold in square sticks, or as a flat or round block. It is delicious on bread. It pairs better in baked goods than salted butter, due to its more neutral taste. It also makes an excellent cooking fat.
Shallot are a type of onion with a milder flavor than the large bulb varieties. Shallots are small onions in a lumpy oblong shape. They have a papery dry, brown skin that protects the ringed layers of the onions flesh. These layers are white with hints of purple and are juicy and crunchy. The shallot has a sweet and gently sharp taste that once cooked lends a silky and savory sweetness to a dish.
Peppercorns grow on a flowering vine and look like tiny round berries. Green peppercorns are the fruit of the black peppercorn, before it is ripe. These green peppercorns are rarely used as a dried seasoning; they don't last long and are preserved in salt or vinegar to maintain freshness. They are a bit bigger than a large pinhead and soft yet dense, with a vegetal flavor, not at all like the spiciness of a black peppercorn. Green peppercorns are used in South Asian cuisines, including Thai.
Wheat flour is a product made by finely milling wheat grains until they form a powder-like substance. Wheat flour is denser than powder and comes as whole wheat flour; a semi-dense flour with a beige color and full flavor. All- purpose flour is refined, white, lighter in texture and more bland in flavor. There are other varieties of wheat flour with these two being the most common. The flavor is mild and nutty. Wheat flour is used in the making of a huge number of foods across all cuisines. It is used as a binder as well as the basis for breads, baked goods and coating for breaded meats and vegetables. It is used in sauces and even some candies.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Olive oil is extracted from the fresh olive, which grows on a tree. Many olives are needed in the extraction of the oil. This is done by a mechanical process and sometimes by a chemical process, though the mechanical method is highly preferred. Olive oil is a golden color and changes slightly due to whether it is extra virgin, or first cold pressed. The flavor of olive oil depends on how it was processed. Lower quality oils will taste mild, while high quality olive oils will have a robust flavor that is green, or may have a spicy quality. Extra virgin and first cold pressed or preferred. Olive oil lends a depth of flavor to any savory dish.
