black peppercorn

A little parfait makes Christmas complete, try making your own with Barney's festive recipe

Velvety duck liver parfait

duck or chicken liver

pack butter

shallots

garlic

brandy

tomato purée

butter

thyme leaves

tsp black peppercorn

toast, gherkin and chutney, to serve

Cut away and discard any large sinews from the livers, then set the livers aside. Heat about a third of the butter in a large frying pan, then gently fry the shallots and garlic for 3-4 mins unti l soft. Turn up the heat, add the livers, then fry until just browned on all sides. Add the brandy and port, boil down as quickly as possible – if the sauce catches light for an instant, then all the better. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool completely.

Season the livers generously, then tip the contents of the pan into a food processor with the tomato purée and remaining butter, and blitz until smooth. Push the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, taste for seasoning, then tip into a serving dish, banging the dish down on the tabletop to smooth out the surface. Place in the fridge to set.

Once the mixture has set, make the topping. Gently melt the butter in a small pan or in a bowl in the microwave, then leave for a min to settle and separate. Pour the yellow butter that has risen to the top into another bowl and discard the milky liquid. Leave the yellow butter to cool slightly, then mix in the thyme and peppercorns. Pour the mixture over the parfait and leave to set in the fridge. Serve with plenty of toast, sliced gherkins and chutney. Will keep for 2 days in the fridge.

Duck breast is perfect for entertaining - it's easy to cook, readily available, yet not something you eat every day

One-pan duck with Savoy cabbage

duck breasts

tsp black peppercorns

potato

parsley

rashers smoked streaky bacon chopped

Savoy cabbage trimmed, quartered,

tbsp balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Lightly score the skin of the duck breasts, then generously season with the peppercorns and a sprinkling of salt. Lay the duck breasts, skin-side down, in a non-stick sauté pan, then place over a low heat. Leave the duck for 15 mins to brown and release its fat, then flip over onto the flesh side for 5 mins.

Remove the duck from the pan, then turn up the heat. Add the potatoes to the pan, fry until brown and crisp, then scatter over the parsley and garlic. Scoop out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, then season with salt.

Keep the pan on the heat. Fry the bacon until crisp, then add the cabbage. Cook for 1 min, add a splash of water, then fry for 2 mins, just until the cabbage is wilted. While the cabbage is cooking, whisk any juices from the duck with the vinegar and olive oil. To serve, carve the duck breast into slices. Fan out on large dinner plates, spoon a neat bundle of cabbage on one side, then pile a serving of potatoes on the other. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.

A rustic terrine with French toasts makes an excellent starter for a special meal and it costs very little to make

Country terrine with black pepper & thyme

streaky pork rashers

thyme

chicken livers thawed

tbsp red or white wine (optional)

rashers smoked streaky bacon

cocktail gherkins

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and butter a 1kg loaf tin. Roughly chop 3 of the pork rashers and mix with the thyme and peppercorns. Set aside. Put the remaining pork rashers into a food processor with two-thirds of the chicken livers, the wine (if using) and 1 tsp salt, then blend to make a smooth pâté.

Spoon half the pâté into the loaf tin, then top with the chopped pork mixture and remaining livers. Spoon the rest of the pâté mixture over the livers, then lay the 5 smoked bacon rashers lengthwise over the top.

Cover the loaf tin with foil and put in a roasting tin. Pour cold water into the roasting tin until it is half-filled, then bake for 1½ hrs until the terrine is set. When the terrine is cool, put another loaf tin on top and weigh it down (with cans from your storecupboard) to compress it. Leave overnight in the fridge. Can be made and chilled up to 2 days ahead.

To serve, turn the terrine out of the tin and carefully cut into slices with a sharp knife. Serve with the French toasts (recipe below) and cocktail gherkins or chutney.

Hold the steak. This vegetarian take on steak au poivre, from Manhattan’s Café Chelsea, boasts the same generous application of crushed black pepper, mellowed with cream, stock and a vibrant splash of Cognac, but calls for slabs of maitake mushroom instead of beef. To strut its meaty swagger, the dish is listed on Café Chelsea’s menu among the grilled choices (a grill pan or skillet works just as well) rather than being relegated to the vegetable section. The restaurant opts for large slices of maitake, but the recipe works with several smaller pieces as well. Though quick to assemble, it’s not easy to scale up, so think intimate dinner or Valentine’s Day.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/12/04/multimedia/04MUSHROOMS-1rex-fvbc/13MUSHROOMS-1rex-fvbc-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.

Maitake au Poivre

dried mushrooms, preferably porcini

unsalted butter,

mushroom soy sauce (see Tip) or regular soy sauce

garlic clove, thinly sliced

shallot

black peppercorns

Cognac

heavy cream

Salt

NYT Cooking

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Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl, add 1/2 cup hot water (tap is fine) and let soak at least 30 minutes. Strain the mushroom stock through a mesh sieve into another small bowl, gently squeezing the mushrooms to release more of the liquid. (Save the softened mushrooms for another use.)

While the mushrooms soak, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan over medium, swirling occasionally. After about 3 minutes, when the foam subsides and the melted butter turns nut-brown with browned bits at the bottom of the pan, add 2 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce to the pan, swirl to combine and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-low. Add garlic and shallots and cook until softened and barely starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add peppercorns, cook briefly and then add Cognac. Step back and flame the mixture by carefully lighting the sauce with a long-reach lighter or long fireplace match; it will ignite quickly. When the flames die out (about 30 seconds), add the reserved mushroom stock and the cream, swirling to combine. When the mixture returns to a simmer, cook 3 to 4 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce and then add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter bit by bit, swirling to combine. Season with salt, if necessary, and set aside.

Shortly before serving, brush the maitake slices to remove any grit. Then brush them with the brown butter-soy sauce and season lightly with salt.

Heat a grill, a grill pan or a cast-iron skillet over medium for 1 to 2 minutes. Cook the mushrooms, gently pressing them down with a spatula, until nicely browned and slightly crisped, about 3 minutes per side. Reheat the peppercorn cream sauce on low. Divide the mushroom slices between dinner plates, pour the sauce over and around them and serve immediately.

When I was first dating my husband, he made dinner one night and did that thing in Step 3:  "...add Cognac. Step back and flame the mixture by carefully lighting the sauce with a long-reach lighter or long fireplace match." I have the photo. The flame is nearly three feet tall. I said to myself, "This is the guy for me."

So yummy! Used regular soy sauce not mushroom & thought it was a tad too salty, also used regular butter, otherwise made as instructed and I loved it, I’ll start with less soy sauce next time

Loved this dish, especially that sauce; it was so satisfying and umami with the butter and soy flavors and it was simple to prepare and clean up! A winner all round. We served it with pork chops which was a great flavor combination but it was a heavy meal and we could not finish it! Leftovers…

Here in northern Connecticut the season is late September through mid October, annually emerging from the same  roots of long gone cut oaks as well as the base of living oaks. I’ve found the best way to preserve them after they are cleaned is to divide the fan like pieces, spread them on a sheet pan, freeze, and once frozen place in heavy duty plastic freezer bags.  Try to get as much air out as you can. They will keep longer than a year (we learned that by finding a previous year’s stash in the back of the freezer.)

Fabulous!  Made extra and served leftovers on pasta!

I made this with maitake and a mixture of other mushrooms in the fridge. It was delicious, but heavy and hard to digest. It's a best consumed in winter kind of dish.

to answer Scott's question regarding where to get Miatake mushrooms. I am lucky to have a Farmers Market near me that is open on Sunday.  There are two vendors there who sell a variety of mushrooms one of which is Miatake.

I love maitakis and prepared this dish *almost* exactly as written. Dirtying 3(!) pans for one dish seems excessive so instead I heated one sauce pan with a little oil. I seared the mushrooms on medium high heat until golden on each side, pressing down on them to get them to remove some moisture. I removed the mushrooms and set them to the side, added the butter to the pan and waited for it to brown a bit. Next in were the aromatics and soy sauce, browning the garlic and shallots. After that deglazed with the cognac and added the cream, then poured over the mushrooms. Served with mashed potatoes and haricot verts. Delicious.

Maitake mushrooms can be usually found at Wholefoods, Wegmans, upscale groceries or Asian Markets. They are difficult to substitute for in dishes like this because they are shelf type mushrooms and when flattened they make reasonable facsimiles of steaks. Possible options could be Chicken of the Wood or Lions Mane 

Use a good vegan butter such as Miyokos and vegan heavy cream is available from Silk, Violife and others to make it vegan. Heavy cream powders are also available to mix your own.

This was a totally delicious entree and  very satisfying to cook.   Made this for an intimate  dinner party of four.  Rave reviews and clean plates all the way around.  Followed and doubled the core recipe with only one change: tasting along the way, I followed other commenters recommendations to cut the total amount of mushroom soy sauce in half.  This was a good call. The resulting balance of flavors was bright and rich.  Also, a note about doubling: the sauce took a long time (30 min) to reduce but it got there!  And the mushrooms can be seared in batches and kept for a bit in a warm oven to good effect.  The browned butter with mushroom soy sauce brushed on before searing is both a brilliant layer of flavor and makes the searing quick and yields a beautifully caramelized finish (I used a 16 inch cast iron skillet at high flame).  

As a vegetarian for nearly a decade, few entrees come close to the delicious sophistication and relative ease to prepare this recipe has to offer.

This was wonderfully delicious. Next time I will double the mushrooms. Davidson Exotic Mushrooms in Kennet Square, PA sells Maitakes at farmers markets. I got mine at the Princeton,NJ farmers market but they also go to West Windsor, Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia and other markets.

Since « it » will be covered by a flavorful sauce, any large mushroom should do - a commercial portobello or a puffball from the wild (perhaps even a slice of grilled tofu, tempeh or roasted cauliflower).

If you skip the soy and add sage, rosemary, parsley and time you have the classic French
Forrestier sauce.

In Chicago, we have Asian grocers (Joong Boo on Kimball comes to mind) where they sell 10-15 types of fresh mushrooms, including Hen-of-the-Woods, at very reasonable prices. You can also buy them online at places like Northspore.com

I am a huge fan of mushrooms and pepper and steak au poivre is one of my favorite dishes. I would love to try this, but am curious to know what would bring it up from a 4 to 5 star rating - not a discussion about miatake mushrooms. Any pointers/opinions appreciated!

Every Mid-October I know of a ~400 year old Grandfather Oak tree that I get between 10 to 30 pounds of wild Miatake. Except for this year. I was out of town during the entire 2.5 weeks of my forage window. When I finally got to "my tree" there were two nice 6 to 7 pound chunks of Maitake sitting right there - rotting. Bad news was I missed the window, Good news is nobody else has discovered my tree. Crossing fingers, I'll put this in my recipe box, and make it in 2025.

@home cook. To make this vegan try using Miyokos unsalted plant based butter and make some cashew cream instead of dairy cream.  Just look up a recipe for cashew cream.  It’s quick and easy.  You could also try any other unsalted vegan butter you find and some non-dairy “half & half” or non dairy “creamer”.  There are many different brands in store.  Another option for cream is nondairy sour cream (like Tofutti brand) or a plain, unsweetened yogurt (like Forager).

Can portobello mushrooms be substituted for Maitake?

Maitake are not always easily found in the wild. I've looked at over 750 oak trees with no luck, and finally found half of a tree (the top was cut off years ago) and discovered a large 8-10lb beauty! It took months to find, and I was quite disheartened by it all, until the discovery. My question is, are there any other ways to get Maitake? Can you grow them? Buy them anywhere?

@Scott S. Try your local farmers market. Despite having a couple of absolutely wonderful mushroom “farms” where we are (Asheville, NC), as well as a number of foragers, the only place to acquire their rich bounties are the farmers markets.

This looks lovely but is really inaccessible to a lot of people that might not be able to find maitake mushrooms (like myself) - even those that can find it probably only have it seasonally. 

It would be nice if an alternative could be suggested - it might change the dish but I'd love to try this. Might fresh shiitake mushrooms work? I wonder if dried white & black fungus could be incorporated. Anyone try this with more commonly available mushrooms?

Miyoko's cultured plant butter is great and I like using Califia Farms heavy whip as a substitute!

I have been foraging for Maitake Mushrooms for 25 years and have learned much over the years.  99% of the time they are found at the BASE of an  BIG Old Oak tree, or up to 6 feet away, growing on large raised Oak Tree Roots.  The tree will ALWAYS have some stress: damaged limbs, lightening strike crack, or simply a downed tree or stump!  I generally harvest 80-120 lbs of Maitake during the 3 week season, so we eat ALOT of them!

I would love to try this recipe but am quite scared of lighting the Cognac on fire in a home kitchen - will the smoke alarm go off?  Will the flames cause damage to the kitchen vent?  I think I’ll just add less Cognac and skip that step. And for all the people looking for Maitake mushroom sources, here in the southwest US we have a natural foods store called Sprouts that carries them regularly.  Try your local natural food stores.

Could I use large Portobellas for this recipe?

Puréed cashews are a nice sub for heavy cream, and especially in a dish like this the nutty flavor would be nice. Look up a simple recipe for making a cashew cream, it’s very easy.

Cut back on the mushroom soy.  1 Tbsp for the butter glaze is plenty.  Also for the sauce, I would just add 1 tsp or less of the soy-butter glaze.  I used 1 Tbsp instead of the 2 Tbsp in the recipe and it was way too salty already.

Does anyone have good substitutes for making this dish vegan? I have one vegan teen and one allergic to dairy so recipes that are vegan rather than just vegetarian or tested with a vegan ingredient alternate are super appreciated!

I agree with the commenter who offered vegan substitutions for the dairy in this dish. I would slightly alter those suggestions by suggesting Miyokos salted cultured butter rather than unsalted. The salted version has superior flavor, and you can adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly. In my experience, Miyoyos salted cultured butter is the best vegan butter out there and tastes like high-quality dairy butter. I would suggest using Silk brand vegan heavy cream. Excellent.

If you have a Wegmans nearby, organic maitake are easy to find.

It’s hard to resist a quick, five-ingredient recipe, especially when it yields such a comforting meal. While fish paired with cheese is often deemed unconventional, in the right context, the two can complement each other in a memorable way. Canned albacore tuna is sprinkled in this cheesy cacio e pepe pasta for added protein, making the final dish more filling and satisfying. When it comes to emulsifying the often-temperamental sauce, the recipe offers two tips to nail it every time: Boil the pasta in a smaller-than-usual amount of water to really concentrate the starch level, then blend the cheese with the starchy pasta water like chef Luciano Monosilio does, letting your blender do the emulsifying for you. The result is a luscious, silky pasta ready to be paired with a crisp, cold glass of white wine. Watch Carolina Gelen make this dish in this video.

Tuna Cacio e Pepe

Pecorino Romano

spaghetti

(7-ounce tuna

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/07/30/multimedia/cg-tuna-cacio-e-pepe-mlwh/cg-tuna-cacio-e-pepe-mlwh-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600.jpg

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

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Bring a 12-inch skillet filled with water to a boil.

While the water is coming to a boil, add the peppercorns to a mortar and pestle and crush them until coarsely ground. You can also crush the peppercorns by adding them to a zip-seal bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.

Using a Microplane or the fine side of a box grater, grate the cheese and add it to a blender or tall container you can blend in using an immersion blender.

Season the boiling water with a hefty pinch of salt. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until al dente, about 3 minutes less than what the packaging instructions call for.

Meanwhile, open the can(s) of tuna and drain the liquid.

When the pasta is close to al dente, scoop out 3/4 cup pasta water. Using an immersion blender or countertop blender, start pulsing the cheese while slowly streaming 2/3 cup of pasta water in the container. The cheese will seem clumpy at first, then smooth like heavy cream once you add most of the water. Add the rest of the water if needed to loosen the consistency.

To a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the crushed pepper. Toast for 1 to 2 minutes, until you see a wisp of smoke. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water over the toasted pepper (careful, the water will splatter) and simmer for a minute or so, until the water turns a dark brown color.

Using tongs, add the spaghetti to the saucepan and toss to coat in peppercorns. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Pour the Pecorino Romano mixture all over the pasta. Using a flexible silicone spatula, vigorously stir the pasta to emulsify the sauce. Add the drained tuna and mix to combine. Add another splash of pasta water if needed.

Serve right away with more pepper on top.

I made the following changes and it came out great. 4.5-5 cups of liquid per 12 ozs pasta. Bucatini instead of spaghetti. Full bottle of dry white wine and at least 2 cups of chicken stock as well as some TJs mushroom powder for umami and the juice of one lemon for the pasta water. I reduced tuna to 5 oz (or less) per 7 oz of pasta, making it more like a hint of tuna. I used about 3/4 pecorino and 1/4 parmigiana. I added about 3 tbs of room temp butter and some cream while blending the sauce.

I used jarred tuna (1 jar). The bigger pieces took the dish to another level. I also substituted parmigiana for about 1/4 of the cheese. 
Using the immersion blender felt like cheating, but it made it super easy to achieve the desired result.

great variation on cacio e peppe. I would just have the amount of tuna 1:1 ratio for pasta:tuna is too much. As some suggested lemon juice is a great addition, freshens up the dish for summer!

I haven't seen 7-oz. cans of tuna in a long time. Most are 5-oz. Where does one find them?

I only have a nutri bullet which makes it difficult to drizzle. Should I just add, blend, add, blend? Tx.

Delicious but messy and not for beginning sooks.  No oil in it.  Not sure pan will ever get clean.  Use a little more pasta water in the cooking and watch intensely. Add a little more water to the dish. Do NOT grate your own cheese.   Prepare more ahead (open tuna and break up pieces, bruise peppercorns) and it if it your partner's birthday send him out to the movies while you stay to do the clean up go to bed,  say your peace, and soak the pans overnight.

Actually anchovies in mac and cheese sounds terrific! Maybe some crispy anchovy breadcrumbs on top? I'll have to try that

Cacio e pepe, done right, is a masterpiece — who looked at it and thought, ‘you know what this needs Tuna.’ While we are at it, why not add anchovies to macaroni and cheese?

I loved this.  Seemed like too much pepper, but it wasn't and the pepper imparted a mineral quality that made the dish special.  I did 50/50 parm and pecorino to back out some salt.

I made this last night and was not happy with the results. The tuna seemed to overpower the other tastes. Today, I had the leftovers for lunch, but first I added some lemon rind and juice. Then a splash of heavy cream and some capers. The tastes were better balanced, except for the capers, which were overpowering when they landed in fork full pasta and tuna. The cream also helped to bled the flavors. I will make again with the added lemon and cream but not the capers.

I've been making this recipe at home for years. I like to add 1/2 a cup of green peas to brighten up the flavors. Around here, we call it Tuna Surprise.

@Ella it doesn’t say to drain because she says to scoop it out into the other pan. I use a pasta fork/scoop.

This was the first time I was able to successfully emulsify a cacio e pepe sauce. The result was super silky and cheesy. I will definitely revisit this technique!

Looks more like a fancy quick twist on tuna casserole. I think I'll throw in some peas and capers when I try it, while I'm at it.

I’m not sure why the recipe specifies albacore tuna. I never use albacore since it contains the most mercury of any type of tuna. Wouldn’t yellowtail or skipjack be just as delicious?

This was delicious and I was skeptical, being a big Cacio e Pepe fan. I would say, use a good tuna obviously. I used two cans and while it was delicious, one may be better, since even a mild tuna will dominate over the Pecorino. The pepper is a perfect amount of spice. Also, I put just a sprinkle of Za’ atar which complimented both the tuna and the pepper really well.

“That was good. Perfect. Perfectly peppery,” said my dad after finishing his plate. I will definitely make it again.

So delicious and so different from anything we normally cook/eat. Easy to make as well. Not only was this delicious, we learned two new cooking techniques - toasting peppercorns and re-using pasta water. Will make this over and over again.

Pre-ground pepper would be better than omitting it. But for a recipe called "cheese and pepper" you might want to consider taking "pepper" more seriously. You can buy peppercorns at any market, and they are easily smashed by putting a few in a zip-loc bag and having at it with a hammer. The freshly released oils and fragrance will make the exercise worthwhile.

Yes, I made it with tuna packed in oil and it was great. Used some of the oil to toast the peppercorns in, it was a 10/10

I've been cooking this dish for over two decades. My older sister discovered this recipe when she was pregnant with her first child and she shared it with me. It's absolutely a comfort food in our family.

Top 5 black peppercorn recipes from across the web

The most viewed black peppercorn recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

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Velvety duck liver parfait

One-pan duck with Savoy cabbage

Country terrine with black pepper &...

Maitake au Poivre

Tuna Cacio e Pepe

Top 5 black peppercorn recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Velvety duck liver parfait

One-pan duck with Savoy cabbage

Country terrine with black pepper &...

Maitake au Poivre

Tuna Cacio e Pepe

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