When I was young I wasn’t the biggest bell pepper lover. But in one dish I always like them, when my mother roasted them. She would fill them with rice and prepare them in a oven. This was really delicious.

Bell peppers still are delicious prepared like this, but nowadays I do in fact like them in other dishes like a salad. But I wanted to combine those two thing for my lunch. The roasted bell pepper and a salad. I used a sweet bell pepper filled with couscous and added some fresh flavours like yoghurt & mint.

The result was very good. Nice colourful salad, with refreshing taste. A good way to start an afternoon of work and of course a new year.

Entry #1 to #8 (from left to right)

#1 Mustard-Mint Rotini (recipe) by Johnson

I thought the mustard would overpower the mint at first. but it seemed as if the mint and pepper had neutralized a lot of the acidity. i was surprise by how good it really was and will make it again.

#2 Cold cuts with mustard-mint-sauce (recipe) by Robert

I have prepared one half of the sauce with chopped mint leaves, the other half (as usual) with chopped dill and tested then both sauces together with the meat. Both sauces were excellent, light and very well suited to be served with cold cuts of meat (veal, roastbeef).

#3 Mint & Mustard Pasta Salad (recipe) by Mehgan

I do know that I will definitely be making this one again. It was so simple and quick, and I didn’t have to worry about it like I would have had I made a salad with dairy ingredients in it like potato salad has. All in all, it was a hit!

#4 Peppermint flavoured cauliflower gratin with cheese and mustard (recipe) by Evelin

I do feel I used the right amount of peppermint – it calmly reminded itself in the dish, without shouting I’m here! Mustards are of course different, I used Finnish mild mustard and the amount seemed okay. I even got a good comment from my mother – something like ‘quite good’ which means more than the usual Estonian ‘normal’ and should – I guess – be taken as a compliment.

#5 Trout with peppermint and mustard sauce (recipe) by Martin

The sauce has a fresh, light tartness. Peppermint and mustard compliment each other very well. All in all a very delicate sauce. I wish I had made some more!

#6 Mint Gazpacho With Musterd Ice Cream (recipe) by M.

The idea was to make an ice cream which gives a cold and ‘burning’ sensation [painful cold perception is associated with feelings of burning] at the same time in a cold soup that can cool a ‘burning’ tongue because of it’s oily- & mintyness.

#7 Mustard seed and mint rice (recipe) by Swaha

The resulting dish came out very minty but the mustard and jalapenos lend it a spicy kick. When you taste it at first, you notice the refreshing mint. But then as you let the taste permeate in your mouth comes the heat from the mustard and jalapenos.

#8 Mustardsoup with mint (recipe) by yours truly

I’m a big fan of mustardsoup. It has a nice rich spicey taste. Adding some chopped mint creates great contrast. The freshness of the mint is big plus for the soup!

Update: added two late entries

#9 Sarina’s Savoury Peanut Chicken (recipe) by Sarina

The final result was a crunchy and surprisingly savoury delight. Contrary to my expectations the peanut flavour was quite muted as was the mint and mustard, in fact none of the flavours particularly stood out. Instead they formed a harmonious backdrop, enhancing the chicken without overpowering it.

#10 Mustard and Mint Sauce (recipe) by Andreea

His sauce is very simple and although I was weary at how it would taste (the recipe does sound like a mustard/mint mayonnaise) it was delicious! Very refreshing, very light and a great sauce to go with beef. I kept the quantities as suggested in the recipe, as the sauce keeps till the next day.

I hope everybody enjoyed this round as much as I did. I was honoured to host it and I’m looking forward to the next round.

Note: Johnson hasn’t got a blog, so I will post his recipe overhere.

Recipe: Mustard-Mint Rotini

6 mint leaves
20 ml of prepared mustard
15 ml of olive oil
approx. 2 handfuls of rotini
30g of lightly salted chicken
Dash of pepper.

shred 3 mint leaves and mix with mustard and olive oil. then stir into the rotini pasta with pepper.
take 2 mint leaves and rip apart in hands then stir into pasta. top with chicken and remaining mint.

I’m a big fan of mustardsoup. It has a nice rich spicey taste. Adding some chopped mint creates great contrast. The freshness of the mint is big plus for the soup!

Ingrediënts (2 persons)
1 onion
75 grams bacon
100 grams butter
100 grams wheat flour
1 liter beef flavor broth
white wine
2 tsp mustard

First of all chop up the onion and bacon. Heat the butter in a pan and cook the onion and bacon. Don’t overcook it by letting it turn brown. After a few minutes you can add flour to create a light roux. Add the hot broth in small quantities to the roux while stirring, to ensure proper mixing. Let it boil a bit and then add some white wine and mustard. Softly boil it for about ten minutes. When served add chopped mint on the soup.

(Source recipe: Kookotheek.com)

De combinatie sperzieboon pasta is erg lekker als ze allebei beetgaar zijn. Daarnaast geeft de komijn en azijn het gerecht wat pit.

Ingrediënten (2 personen)
150 gram sperziebonen
150 gram fusilli
100 gram cherrytomaten
1 teentje knoflook
2 takjes munt
100 ml crème fraîche
2 tl balsamico azijn
1 tl korianderpoeder
1 tl komijnpoeder

Kook de pasta in een minuut of 7-8 beetgaar. Bak de uitgeperste knoflook in wat olie. Voeg de sperziebonen, cherrytomaten, koriander, komijn en de azijn toe en roerbak het nog 3 minuten. Voeg tenslotte de crème fraîche toe. Serveer het groentemengsel met de fusilli en bestrooi met gesneden blaadjes munt.

(Receptbron: Gratisrecept.nl)

Get some inspiration, more information or get overexcited and take a look at the challenging pairs of the last few rounds.

TGRWT #1 hosted by Martin coffee, chocolate & garlic (round-up)
TGRWT #2 hosted by Tara banana & parsley (round-up)
TGRWT #3 hosted by Evelin strawberry & coriander (round-up)

So are you up for the challenge? The pair of this round is:

mint & mustard

A powerfull combination which hopefully will lead to some interesting dishes. Still interested?

This is how you can participate in TGRWT #4:

1. Prepare a dish that combines mint and mustard. You can use any type of mint or mustard. You can either use an existing recipe (if there is any) or come up with your own.

2. Take a picture of the dish and write an entry in your blog by August 1st with TGRWT #4 in the title. Readers will be particularily interested in how the flavour pairing worked out, so make an attempt at describing the succession of taste and aroma and whether you liked it or not.

3. A round-up will be posted here (with pictures). Please send me an email to info (at) kookjegek (dot) nl with the following details: Your name, URL of blog, URL of the TGRWT #4 post and a picture for your entry in the round-up. If you don’t have a blog, email me your name, location, recipe and a brief description of how it worked out and I’ll be glad to include it in the final round-up.

Good luck with this combination!

Ingrediënten (2 personen)
500 gram watermeloen
250 gram feta
100 gram groene olijven
1 rode ui
1 limoen
1 takje munt
1 takje peterselie
olijfolie

Deze salade is eigenlijk heel simpel. Gewoon alle ingrediënten in stukken verdelen en mengen. Daarna wat sap van de limoen en olijfolie erover heen en je bent klaar. Ik heb overigens groene in plaats van zwarte olijven gebruikt. Die vind ik wat smaakvoller.

(Receptbron: Nigella Lawson)

Ingrediënten (2 personen)
250 ml kippenbouillon
250 ml yoghurt
125 ml slagroom
snufje komijnpoeder
2 takjes munt
citroensap

Kook de kippenbouillon kort en laat hem dan af koelen. Meng ondertussen de yoghurt en slagroom in een kom. Voeg de afgekoelde kippenbouillon in gedeeltes toe aan het yoghurtmengsel. De komijn, munt en citroen kan daarna naar eigen smaak toegevoegd worden. Zet dit ongeveer 30 minuten in de koelkast.

(Receptbron: Aziatisch koken)