[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]e use capers a lot. A scary lot. Their bright, briny tang quickly elevates everything from seafood to chicken, meats, pastas and potato salads. And capers keep forever—unless you use them like we do. Here are six recipes to help you use up the capers in the back of your fridge. You know, so you can buy some more.
Sole Fillets with Lemon Caper Butter
Looking for a quick, lively finishing touch for fish (or just about any animal protein dish)? Lemon caper butter comes together in just minutes—for the sole dish above, I started making the lemon caper butter when I flipped the fish to cook the second side. You’ll find the crazy easy recipe—and a little background on capers—right here.
Chicken Piccata
Capers hail from the Mediterranean, so leave it to Italian cooks to know how to make great use of them. As with the sole above, lemon and team up with capers here. That’s a combination you will see with many recipes using capers—and for good reason: it works. With this recipe, thin chicken breast cutlets are quickly sautéed, then topped with a pan sauce of lemon, wine, chicken broth, capers and parsley.
Potato Salad with Capers, Shallots and Mustard
Based on a Mark Bittman recipe, this mayonnaise-free potato salad is served warm. Whole grain mustard adds to the tang of this sophisticated, goes-with-anything dish.
Scallops with Smoky Chipotle Butter, Tomato Salad and Cornbread
Marion based this delicious trio of recipes on an outstanding meal she had at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain in New York. As she says, each item is good on its own, but together, they are restaurant worthy. Chipotle butter adds a smoky/spicy note to the butter/lemon/caper mix.
Pan Seared Lamb Chops with Lemon Caper Sage Butter
These lamb chops come with a story on the side: All-Clad asked if we’d like to try one of their pans and possibly win even more of their cookware. Being no fools, we said yes. Sage teams up with the usual lemon, butter and capers triumvirate in this quick, meaty dish.
Grilled Steaks with Sauce Vierge
And finally, a caper recipe that uses neither lemon nor butter. Sauce vierge, an uncooked French sauce, combines tomato, basil, garlic, shallots, capers and Dijon mustard. It’s lively and fresh tasting on grilled steaks, chops, fish and more.
Nice recipe roundup! And neat idea for a post — I usually have capers in my refrigerator. These are all great uses for them. Thanks!
Mmmm, capers! They add a bright spark of flavor to whatever they grace. I’m going to make a batch of Sauce Vierge soon – if my tomato plants on the deck cooperate.
I recently saw someone mention using fried capers… have you tried doing anything with them?
Thanks, John!
Eeka, you reminded me of a recipe we did some time ago, Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms and Fried Capers. Frying the capers lessens their vinegary tang, but they deliver a nice salty crunch.