It’s very trendy these days to Roast your radishes. So I roasted a bunch of them up with a branch of Bay leaves, Fresh Crushed Sea Salt, Fresh Ground Black Pepper thinly sliced sweet onions and drizzled them with Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil at 400 degrees for about two hours. The Radishes lose the peppery flavor and become sweet. The Balsamic reduces and gets really sweet and flavorful and the Onions are really forking good. I reserved some onions for my meatloaf sauce.

I also Roasted up and browned my Carrots.

Roasted Red Carrots

I then decided they really compliment each other and should be served together.

So this is how I put them all together for dinner.

This is something you might try for dinner.

Forking Good!

Duchess Style Parsnips

Going out to dine is different these days and certain meals sort have gone out of style like Chateaubriand with those insanely good Duchess Potatoes. You sure haven’t seen that on a menu in decades.  I guess that’s an old fashioned meal but it also seemed so special. Going out to dine with someone special and sharing a special platter for two with really great Potatoes!

I thought maybe an updated version of “Duchess”  just might be Parsnips! And Wow they did come out delicious! They have even more flavor than a Potato.

Ingredients makes about 12 servings

About 3 lb.s of Parsnips cut in small pieces

About 1/2 C of Heavy Cream

4oz. of soft butter

about 1/8t. of Nutmeg

About 1/2 t. of Fresh Crushed Black Pepper

About 1/2t. of Ground White Pepper

3 Beaten Egg Yolks

My parsnips seemed very fresh since I purchased them from the Farmers Market. I thought the skins were thin and the cores didn’t seem too woody so I used them and roasted them all up in a covered pan with a little water a sprinkle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and fresh Ground Sea Salt and Fresh Crushed Black Pepper. Normally you do have to remove skin and woody part of the cores. It just depends on how your parsnips are.  My oven was set at 400 and they took only 45 minutes to become fork tender.

I used my Emersion Blender and whirled up everything. I then checked seasonings and made adjustments. Then I filled my pastry bag with my widest Star Tip I had and piped the Parsnip mixture onto a greased pan.

My oven was set at 400 degrees and the Duchess Style Parsnips  took about 20 minutes.

Forking Good!

Blue Cheese, Balsamic & Walnut Focaccia and a Gilled Vegetable Focaccia & Italian Style Sushi.

Focaccia is traditionally seasoned with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt and Herbs. It’s considered a side but can be used to make a sandwich.

Focaccia is NOT FORKING Pizza.

Pizza

Pizza is round and has a crisp crust. Focaccia is square and is cut into squares. Focaccia doesn’t have a crisp crust. Focaccia dough differs in taste from pizza dough. It’s essential to taste Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the salt when you eat Focaccia and shouldn’t be too many toppings.

All you need to make Focaccia is.

Bread Flour

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Water

Yeast

Sugar

Salt (Sea Salt or Kosher Salt)

Water, Yeast and sugar till it bubbles.

After your Water, Sugar and Yeast Bubbles  add your Bread Flour, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Salt. Leave your Dough Ball in a warm place covered with plastic wrap. When it doubles punch down dough and let it rise again.

Oiled and salted Dough in an oiled pan

I dotted the dough Oiled and salted it.

This one I topped with Sauce, a Cheese Blend and Herbs. And baked it off at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Then I cut a piece to try.

It came out pretty good!

Forking Good!

Pickled Beet and Watermelon Salad

I like Pickled  Beets and make them often. I recently made a simple batch of them. I just roasted them up in a covered pan filled with some Cider Vinegar, Some water and some Nectresse (or sugar) . I let them roast at 350 for about an hour till they were fork tender. When they were cool enough to handle I slid the skins off. Sliced them up with very thinly sliced raw onion and let the mixture with it’s  juices  sit. This way they come out nice and not over pickled or too sweet. I added fresh chunks of watermelon to my beet mixture and I think the Pickled Beets with Onions complements the sweetness of the watermelon without overpowering it. This is a very light and refreshing salad that also looks pretty and is something different that I haven’t seen before.

Forking Good!

Ricotta Gnocchi

Ricotta Gnocchi are very quick and Forking easy to make. My method differs slightly. Instead of rolling out the dough in flour that toughens the gnocchi these are more tender and light because the dough is extruded threw a pastry bag into the boiling salted water. The Gnocchi are so Forking easy to make you don’t need to measure really. you just need these ingredients and a pastry bag.

Ricotta Cheese ( fresh made from Forking easy previous recipe)

Egg (beaten)

Flour (smaller amount than Ricotta Cheese)

Grated hard Italian Cheese (I used Parmigiano Reggiano) (about a cup)

White Pepper (about 1/2 Teaspoon)

Nutmeg (about 1/8 Teaspoon)

Kosher Salt or Sea Salt (About 1/2 Teaspoon)

Extra Virgin Olive (as gnocchi’s come out of boiling water you drizzle the olive oil to prevent sticking and it also adds flavor)

All you really have to remember is that you want to add as little flour as possible so your Gnocchi isn’t heavy. So eyeball your ricotta cheese and you add in a smaller amount of flour than what you have of ricotta. Add the rest of ingredients. Don’t add much Forking nutmeg you will only need 1/8 of a teaspoon or less you don’t want to taste it but it adds something really nice to the flavor.

This much Flour to Ricotta Cheese

Combine ingredients and fill your Forking pastry bag. (not a Forking Ziplock bag)

Make them this big and knock them off with your finger.

When they float to the top they are done and remove with slotted spoon.

Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Ricotta Gnocchi

Ricotta Gnocchi are Forking Easy to Make!

Forking Good!

All you need to make Ricotta Cheese is Whole Milk, Heavy Cream, Salt and Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice. You don’t even need to measure or use a thermometer. Any Forking Person can make delicious Fresh Ricotta Cheese that taste better than most store purchased and will also have less stabilizers and Chemicals in it.

Some Heavy Cream

Use some heavy Cream maybe 1/4-1/3 to your ratio of whole milk and some Kosher or Sea Salt. (1/4t.-1t. depending on how much your making) (I used heavy whipping cream because I couldn’t get regular heavy cream from my market, it’s similar enough where it works in this recipe)

Added Milk to the Cream

I put my pot on a medium heat and let it slowly boil for about 5 minutes.

Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Then I added my fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice and let it boil about 5 minutes.

Cuddles after Lemon Juice

Then I pour into Colander with Paper Towel as a liner. I think Paper Towel works better for Ricotta than Cheese Cloth.

Colander with Paper Towel Liner

You need to wait maybe 20 minutes for the whey to come out and then your ready for Fresh Ricotta Cheese.

Forking Good!

This time of year I came by Corn priced 5 for a $1.00. I didn’t get the best corn as it might have been old since the kernels were kind of dried out. I also had Corn Pasta in my pantry.

Trader Joe’s Corn Pasta

I thought I could make patties with them using Corn Masa Flour.

Corn Masa Flour

All I needed to add was a few eggs, a little melted butter, (because butter just taste good with corn) Chopped Green Onions, Fresh Crushed Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper. I kept it simple but could have added Fresh Cilantro, Hatch Chili’s, Jalapeño and a garlic clove.

Corn Pasta-Corn Patties

They cooked up real easy on Medium High Heat with just a light spray of canola oil. I lightly salted and peppered each side. They could be kicked up with toppings like sour cream and salsa.

Forking Good!