Strawberry, vanilla and black pepper preserve

Some days are all about serendipity. Lately I've been reading Robin Mather's book, 'The Feast Nearby: How I lost my job, buried a marriage, and found my way by keeping chickens, foraging, preserving, bartering, and eating locally (all on $40 a week)'. It's a lovely collection of seasonal essays written while she lived in her cottage near a lake in Michigan coming to grips with eating locally and sustainably. In chapter 2 titled, 'On snapping turtles and strawberries', she outlines her recipes for french method strawberry preserve and for whole strawberries in balsamic black pepper syrup.

I was interested in this chapter of the book because I have strawberries on the kitchen counter begging to be processed and I need inspiration. I generally make a few jars of strawberry preserve each year for the express purpose of mixing it into fresh natural yoghurt as a sweet treat. You will never eat bought flavoured yoghurt again if you begin mixing your own with home made fruit preserves. Twice the flavour sensation and none of the nasties.

In a weird kind of way the idea of strawberries and pepper sounds like it could make a good partnership in a sweet dish. Strawberry preserve is always super sweet and the addition of a little heat on the back of the palate from the pepper is worth exploring.

There are lots of peppercorns in the pantry carried back from a trip to Cochin (Kochi) on the west coast of India, the Malabar Coast. I love opening that jar and smelling the pepper. It takes me back to washing elephants in the river with the Mahouts from the elephant sanctuary, watching the local kids playing cricket in the park, visiting the spice markets in Mattanchery, crazy tuk tuk drivers and the fishing nets at dusk in Jew Town. When I finally finish that jar I'm going back for more. The other half says we'll just have to eat more pepper.

So today's kitchen experiment is Strawberry, vanilla and black pepper preserve. Sweet with just a little heat on the back palate made by crushing the pepper, tying it into a muslin bag and macerating it with the strawberries, a vanilla pod and sugar for 24 hours prior to cooking. I followed my usual strawberry preserve recipe for amounts with the addition of the cracked pepper and made it loosely following Robin Mather's instructions, adding the juice of a few lemons during cooking as she does.

It's Valentines Day and what more perfect dessert than fresh yoghurt swirled through with today's experimental jam and a little dark chocolate. I think I'm in love!

I will share this recipe soon but I want to experiment a little more and try it with just a bit more pepper. I'll keep you posted.