Category Archives: Forking Recipes

Interesting twists on everyday things as well as the unusual

Momofuku STYLE Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette & Shichimi Togarashi Popcorn Recipe

My local supermarket had Bussels Sprouts on sale so I wanted to make Brussels Sprouts. I did a search on the computer for best Brussels Sprouts Recipe. One that was on the top of someone’s list was Momofuku Brussels Sprouts. I looked it up and found three slightly different versions…..So I’m not entirely sure what is closest to the original recipe but I can say for sure that it is Brussels Sprouts maybe pan fried and finished in the oven with a “to Taste” fish sauce vinaigrette. I think? The original recipe might be topped with seasoned Rice Krispies. I did mine to taste with ingredients that I had around the house. I also don’t buy boxed cereal so I thought up seasoned pop corn would be closest to cereal of what I had around the house. I think one crucial part of the recipe that differs the most is the amount of fish sauce to use. I imagine that every brand has a different amount of salt in it. If I used as much as one of the recipes I read I wouldn’t be able to eat these Brussels Sprouts because they would have turned out too salty.I used Red Boat Fish Sauce….It’s suppose to be the best one and it’s only made from anchovies and sea salt. The other crucial part of the recipe also is the size of brussels sprouts that you are using because small ones require a different amount of cooking than large ones………..This recipe makes around 8 side servings. Anyway this is a very easy and fairly quick recipe to prepare. Oh and I forgot to mention that this really came out FORKING Great!

Ingredients for around 8 side servings

3 lbs brussels sprouts – cleaned, trimmed, cut in half

3 Tablespoons canola oil

4 Tablespoons fish sauce (or to taste – I used Red Boat Brand Fish Sauce)

4 Tablespoons water

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

4 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 red chili (or to taste…you might want more or less) – minced

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

a couple squirts canola oil

2 pinches shichimi togarashi

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh mint or substitute two pinches of dried mint

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F and have a rack in the top third position.

Mix together the vinaigrette. In a small bowl add the fish sauce, water, vinegar, lime juice garlic, sugar, and red chile. Set to the side.

The Brussels Sprout need to be fried. You can do this in batches with a fry pan or with a fat side of a grill tray (this works much easier and faster than a fry pan). Squid the oil on your flat side of your grill tray on medium high heat. Add the Brussels sprouts cut side down. In a few minutes they will brown and turn them over. Remove Brussel sprouts when done on both sides. If you have bigger Brussels Sprouts they might still be slightly uncooked in the center. They go on a baking sheet. If you have small ones they might be done…..

Spoon a teaspoon of vinaigrette over each Brussels Sprout. This goes in the oven for no more than 15 minutes. (If your sprouts are small and done then you might want to cook the vinaigrette minus the lime juice and add latter and then apply the vinaigrette and possibly skip the oven time…..)

While the Brussel Sprouts are roasting in the oven put a quarter cup of popcorn kernels in a lunch bag and roll the top down a little. This gets microwaved for about one minute and fifty seconds. When this is done spray a couple squirts of oil on the popcorn a two small pinches of shichimi togarashi….(be careful this is strong). Shake bag.

Serve up your Brussels Sprouts. Top with seasoned popcorn and herbs.

Momofuku STYLE Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and Shivhimi Togatashi Pop Corn

ENJOY!!! A Special Thanks!! To Momofuko so I could come up with what I got here.

The Forking Truth

EZ Gochujang Roast Chicken with Kimchi Rice Stuffing and CRISPY Skin Recipe

I made an EZ Roast chicken that was delicious but the skin didn’t crisp up like I thought it would so I remedied. I pulled the skin off didn’t add a thing and in around 30 minutes shattering crisp skin. By The Way…The stuffing was EXTRA EASY and also came out extra delicious. I just used 1 cup of leftover take out rice that I saved, added some store bought kimchi and a few minor things, stuffed it into the bird and it came out FORKING Delicious too. Serving size is always difficult to judge. Chickens run different in size and people run different with their portion sizes. I got 6 – 4oz dinner portions and two – 3 oz lunch portions of chicken. I only got 4 small servings of the delicious stuffing……….You can double the stuffing recipe but you won’t be able to fit the stuffing all inside the bird so it won’t taste as amazing…..Do what you need to do.

Ingredients for at least 4 portions

1 whole chicken (remove packet of insides….I cooked some of it and sprinkled with olive oil on tray for around 25 minutes 350F and gave as treats to my dogs….gizzards you have to slice)

2 oz gochujang -(or to taste…they all are different. I recommend to buy one from an Asian Market because it will taste better. I used one small tube that I buy from Asiana Market. ( like buying the tubes because when I used to use the tubs they’d dry out before I could finish them.

6 cloves garlic – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 cup cooked rice – stuffing

1 cup kimchi (you might need to lightly chop) – stuffing

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin – stuffing

2 teaspoons ginger – grated – stuffing

1 teaspoon soy sauce – stuffing

1 teaspoon rice vinegar – stuffing

2 tablespoons cilantro – chopped – stuffing

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix together the gochujang, garlic and canola oil. This gets rubbed all over the chicken, under the skin, and into the cavity.

Then you mix up the stuffing mixture. In a medium bowl mix together the rice, kimchi, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, cilantro.

Stuff the rice into the cavity.

Roast for 30 minutes uncovered. Then cover with foil and cook another hour. You can shut the oven off for an hour or so and then heat the oven up again to 350 F to crisp the skin.

This needs to rest and cool down for an hour or more. When cool enough to handle just pull off the skin and place in a single layer on a sheet tray. The chicken skin goes on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. After 12- minutes turn the skin over and cook another 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

The whole house smells really great. If you have dogs they will stay in the kitchen for food.

To serve – pull the chicken, remove stuffing, serve gochujang chicken stock on side, and crispy skin on side.

Gochujang Roast Chicken with Kimchi Rice Stuffing and Crispy Skin

ENJOY!!!!

The Forking Truth

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cabbage, Chorizo, Chestnuts & Chimayo Chili Hot Honey Sauce Recipe

I had sweet potatoes, cabbage, chestnuts, one homemade turkey chorizo link and chimayo chili powder that needed to be used so this is what it became. It did come out delicious……I’m so glad I thought of using the chimayo chili powder…..It has a unique delicious taste. It’s almost raisin-ee and also almost chocolate-ee.It is also smoky, and has a mild delicious heat. Chimayo chili powder is hard to find. You have to look it up on-line and find it. Serving size is always difficult to judge. I’d say that this makes either 4 small side orders or two meals…..so I’ll round it to three servings.

Ingredients for around three servings

1 lb sweet potatoes – peeled, diced (around 3/4 inch I used two different types of sweet potatoes but it doesn’t matter)

1/2 medium cabbage – core removed, diced (around 1 inch)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

2 1/2 oz chorizo

3.5 oz packaged cooked peeled chestnuts – slightly chopped

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 Tablespoon chimayo chili powder

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Sweet potato cubes and cabbage cubes go on sheet pans. Spray or sprinkle generously with olive oil. Then salt and pepper them to taste.

This goes on the middle rack of your pre-heated 400F oven until the cabbage is crispy and the sweet potatoes start to brown. In my oven this took around 25 minutes but all ovens differ.

While the vegetables are roasting heat up your chorizo in a fry pan on medium-high heat. If yours has casing squeeze it out of the casing and cook it up. Then toss in the chestnuts. Take off heat and set to the side.

In a small mixing bowl combine the lemon juice, honey, and chimayo chili powder.

In a large bowl toss the cooked sweet potatoes, cabbage, with the chorizo, chestnuts, and small bowl of lemon hot honey with chimayo chili.

Serve and ENJOY!!!!!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cabbage, Chorizo, Chestnuts, and Chimayo Chili Hot Honey Sauce
The Forking Truth

FORKING Easy & BEST Chocolate Pots De Creme Recipe

This recipe method was adapted from Food Network Magazine. I cut out the coffee, cut back a little on the sugar, and added more chocolate, rounded some things. This was my latest spin on this recipe. This is a recipe that is not to skip. It’s one of the biggest crowd pleasers ever.

In case you didn’t know….Pots de Creme is the ultimate chocolate pudding. If you like chocolate pudding then you will LOVE chocolate pots de creme. I tried this dessert for the first time at a small French Bistro Restaurant that used to be in business called Amuse Bouche. As soon as I tasted it I had to learn how to make this dessert. Most methods require a hot water bath in your oven that can be dangerous. The Food Network method is brilliant. On the stovetop you thicken your milk, cream and yolk mixture and then add your chocolate and blend till smooth. This is best done with a stick blender. You pour into cups. Chill over night and you have incredibly rich, smooth, chocolaty, FORKING AMAZING pots de creme. You can top with a little whipped cream if you desire. I do very small servings for this because it is very rich and satisfying……but you might want larger servings. For me this made 20 small servings. For you this might make 10 servings if you do them in coffee cups like they are normally done…..so I will round the servings to 15. This freezes perfect. When you thaw from frozen it still seems fresh made.

Ingredients for around 15 servings

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

12 oz 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips

4 oz milk chocolate chips

3 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

12 egg yolks – beaten

10 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

In a sauce pot on medium-ish heat (just slightly more than medium) add the milk, cream, beaten yolks, sugar, and sea salt. Whisk or blend. Occasionally whisk until thickened and then take off the heat and add the chocolate. Blend till smooth and pour in cups. When they cool down to room temperature refrigerate over night.

You might want to serve with a dab of whipped cream. (1/2 cup heavy cream blended with 1 Tablespoon 10x sugar is very good for whipped cream but I find that for a crowd people enjoy playing with the canned stuff more)

pots de creme

It’s so rich and so smooth and so CHOCOLATEY!

A Special THANKS!! to Food Network Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.

ENJOY!!!!!

Chocolate Pots de Creme
The Forking Truth

Vietnamese Inspired Meatballs in Soup Recipe

Our local supermarket often has specials on ground turkey. I also happen to have lots of turkey stock in my freezer. I was reading a Vietnamese watercress soup recipe………Then I got the idea to do something Vietnamese Inspired…… So then I read a few Vietnamese meatball recipes. This came out to be a mishmash of my thoughts and what I read. it’s different from the way I’d normally make a meatball. I do note that the meatball raw meat mixture comes out very loose and is impossible to roll into balls. I used my small scooper and didn’t even worry about rolling them. This recipe makes 4 servings.

Ingredient for around 4 servings

1 lb 93% lean ground turkey – meatballs

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin – meatballs

1 egg beaten – meatballs

1 Tablespoon fish sauce (preferably Red Boat Brand) – meatballs

2 teaspoons ginger – grated – meatballs

1 Tablespoon sugar – meatballs

1 garlic – ground to paste – meatballs

1 Tablespoon lemongrass powder (fresh is better but it’s always rotten at the stores near me. Powdered lemongrass is easy to buy on-line) – meatballs

3/4 teaspoon sea salt – meatballs

1 teaspoon ground white pepper – meatballs

neutral non-stick spray

2 Tablespoons canola oil – soup

1 onion – chopped – soup

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste – soup

6 1/2 cups stock (I used home made turkey but you can use what you want or have) – soup

1/2 small cabbage – chopped – soup

1 Tablespoon sugar – soup

1 Tablespoon rice vinegar – soup

1 teaspoon lemongrass powder – soup

2 teaspoon ginger – grated – soup

1 teaspoon fish sauce – soup

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (or to taste) – soup

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste) – soup

Lime wedges for serving (1/2-one lime)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Set oven to 350 F degrees.

Spray a sheet pan with non stick spray and set to the side.

Put a sauce pot on medium high heat and add the canola oil. When the oil is hot add the onions and cabbage. Lightly cover with foil. Stir occasionally. Cook till vegetables are moist. Add the garlic. Cook till you smell it (around a minute). Then you can add the stock, sugar, vinegar, lemongrass, ginger, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer.

Make the meatballs. In a large mixing bowl combine the ground turkey, scallions, egg, fish sauce, ginger, sugar, garlic, lemongrass, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Scoop out 16 balls. This goes on your middle rack of a 360 F preheated oven for 15 minutes or until done.

Serve 4 meatballs per person with soup. Add a lime wedge or two. Top with some fresh cilantro.

Vietnamese Inspired Turkey Meatballs in Soup

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

FORKING EASY Parmesan Crisps Recipe

Parmesan Crisps are FORKING EASY to make. I think the trick is to shred them just so. Follow the photos and you will get it right!

Ingredients for 4 servings

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (shredded the way I did)

Directions

Set oven to 325 degrees F

Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.

Fill a circle cookie cutter with a handful of cheese.

Space them out and keep going till you are done.

If you did them like me you should have made 8.

They go in the oven on the middle rack till they are cooked.

Around 7 minutes.

My one dog is crazy about cheese and stayed nearby to observe and to get cheese.

Then when they come out of the oven they looked like this.

You need to put them on a baking sheet or plate lined with paper towels to drain the oil.

They are delicious, crispy, and easy to make!

Parmesan Crisps

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Crispy Parmesan Italian Potato Recipe – Variation of Robin Miller’s Crispy Garlic Potatoes Recipe

Recently Robin Miller’s recipe for crispy parmesan garlic potatoes was in our local newspaper and I thought it looked good and sounded really tasty. Safeway had some really great sales on russet potatoes so I have a bunch of them to cook with. I had to make some changes to Robin Miller’s recipe in a few different ways. One I’m using russet potatoes instead of small red skin potatoes because that is what I have. I also added the seasonings and the cheese to the tops of the potatoes instead of all the seasoning and cheese on one side because that little Emeril Lagasse quote just kept rolling threw my head…….”I dunno where you get your (insert ingredient) ……”Where I get mine it don’t come seasoned on both sides.” So I thought that the potatoes might be a little better if I seasoned them the same on both sides. I also have a fully packed spice cabinet and I make up my own blends of spices so I had to change up the spices since I used my Italian spice blend. In the end this did come out delicious and it is a variation of Robin Miller’s recipe so I have to give her credit. My Italian spice blend makes around twice the amount of seasoning that you need for the recipe. But it is amazing in sauces and on chicken.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1 Tablespoon sea salt – Italian seasoning

1/2 Tablespoon granulated garlic – Italian seasoning

1/2 Tablespoon granulated onion – Italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon dried basil – Italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon dried oregano – Italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon fennel seeds – Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons ground black pepper – Italian seasoning

1 small Calabrian chili – crushed – Italian seasoning

4 oz unsalted butter

2 pounds potatoes – If using russets Cut Diagonal in thirds and score one side 1/8-1/4 inch deep like a hash mark.

3/4 cup parmesan cheese – grated or shredded (divided in 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup) (it will stick better if grated fine)

2 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the Italian seasoning. In a small bowl combine the sea salt, garlic, onion, basil, oregano, fennel seeds, black pepper, and Calabrian chili. Mix well and set to the side.

The 4oz of butter goes on a baking dish or pan with sides. This goes in the preheated oven until it’s melted and bubbling then take it out.

In a small bowl mix together the parmesan cheese with a heaping Tablespoon of the Italian seasoning. Put at least half on the pan.

Potatoes go on pan score side down. Spray or brush the tops of the potatoes with oil. Add the rest of the seasoned parmesan on top.

This goes on the middle rack for around 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and soft.

Someone thinks they smell very good.

Crispy Parmesan Italian Potatoes

You should let them cool a little before you scrap them off.

Crispy Parmesan Italian Potatoes

A special THANKS!!!! To Robin Miller for her scrumptious recipe so I could make what I got here!

The Forking Truth

Some of the 2022 Recipes on The Forking Truth Part 2

Strawberry Aguachile
Avocado Wasabi Slaw with Furikake and Bonito Flakes
Rye Rolls and home made mustard
Humane Society Vegan Carrot Lox on home made mini bagel
Moroccan Style Turkey Meatballs with Harissa Vinaigrette
Pistachio Pesto
Roasted Vegetables with Poppy Seed Black Garlic Kalamata Olive Condiment and Urfa Peppered Feta Cheese
Roasted Broccoli and Onions with Tomato Butter and Crushed Taralli Crackers
Roast Cauliflower & Carrots with Pickled Onions, Smoked Cheese Sauce & Toasted Nuts
EASY FORKING Delicious Acorn Squash with Mostarda & Taleggio Cheese Side Dish
Baked Corn Patty with Sofrito Frosting, Pachamanca sauce, Huancaina sauce, Achiote oil and Sherry Soaked Figs
Citrus and Beet Aguachile Cold Soup
Kombu Roast Chicken with Acorn Squash and Radishes
Spice Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots with Dates
Pistou Sauce (Original Style)
Japanese Style Potato Salad with Ramen Eggs and Bonito Flakes
Potato String Wrapped Mexican Style Tuna Stuffed Peppers
Potato Topped Peruvian Style Turkey Meatloafs with Onion Salsa
Spiced Custard Filled Acorn Squash with Maple Bourbon Walnuts
Chocolate-Hazelnut Crostata
Middle Eastern Mac & Cheese with Za’atar Pesto & Crisp Onions
Pretzel Buns
Italian Inspired Carrots
Spinach Cheese Potato Pie with Seeded Crust
Potato Cannoli
Roasted Broccoli with Orange Aioli and Almonds
Ful Mesdames with Malawach Style flat Bread
Sake Butter Scorched Cauliflower with Yuzu Marmalade Soy Butter Sauce
Vietnamese Inspired Turkey Meatballs in home made Vietnamese style Turkey Soup

That was part 2 of the 2022 recipes on The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth

Ful Medames with Malawach Style flat Breads Recipe mostly by Chef Helen Graham

We were dining at our favorite Moroccan Restaurant in Phoenix Arizona called Alzohour Market. I picked up dried fava beans there.

The owner and chef Zhor told me that fava beans are a popular breakfast dish in Morocco. Latter I read that the fava bean dish called Ful Medames is the national breakfast dish of Egypt but is very popular across North Africa and the whole Mid East.

There is a recipe on the back of the bag that I was going to try until I came across Chef Helen Graham’s recipe. I picked her recipe because it also involved making a pesto topping for the fava beans and even included a recipe for a Yemenite type flatbread called malawach so it seemed like a much more special recipe…….To be honest I did have a slight issue with the recipe. When I went to make the malawach (flat bread) I had a feeling that my dough was too dry. But I resisted changing the recipe because for this one I really didn’t know what I was doing….and I measured and weighed everything to the exact. I’m also making a dough that I am not familiar with. The recipe also states that you might not need all of the water……..So I thought that I shouldn’t add extra water?………The problem I had was that I couldn’t fold the dough as much as it should have been folded. So I folded as much as I could.

You are suppose to roll the dough as flat as you can. Brush it with butter. Sprinkle with nigella seeds and Maidon salt.

Then roll it up.

Coil the dough.

Roll it flat again. Butter it and nigella seeds and salt……Then you repeat two more times …By rolling it up and coiling again but I couldn’t……My dough was too dry…….Maybe my flour was ground different?……Sometimes that is an issue in recipes……..so I folded it less. Still came out FORKING GREAT!!!!!!. Maybe I just need to be stronger to make this dough to fold it more?

Malawach is supposed to be a fried bread but I knew my dough was off and thought that it might fall apart in the fry pan so I baked it instead……and the flat bread came out crispy and really different. It’s kinda like a cross between a cracker and a croissant.

I think that it is really great anyway……… Don’t know..I never had or heard of malawach before. This was my only real issue with the recipe but it all came out delicious!

This makes around 4 servings

280g dried fava beans – soaked over night in cold water in the refrigerator – ful medames

1/2 teaspoon baking soda – ful medames

splash olive oil – ful medames

1 large onion finely chopped – ful medames

5 cloves garlic finely chopped – ful medames

2 teaspoons ground cumin – ful medames

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon – ful medames

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper – ful medames

2 teaspoons sweet paprika – ful medames

1/2 a large lemon – the zest and the juice – ful medames

2 tomatoes – fine chopped – ful medames

4 Tablespoons yogurt (for serving)

200g AP flour + more for dusting – malawach

10g sugar – malawach

1/2 teaspoon sea salt – malawach

100ml water – malawach

1 Tablespoon nigella seeds – malawach

Maldon salt – to taste – malawach

125ml clarified butter – melted to brush and fry malawach

5 cloves garlic – rough chopped – pesto

45g parsley leaves – rough chopped – pesto

20g basil – rough chopped – pesto

10g preserved lemon – blended – pesto

1 teaspoon lemon juice – pesto

150g olive oil – pesto

Maldon salt to taste – pesto

neutral non stick spray.

Directions

Drain the fava beans and add them to a sauce pot with the baking soda. Cover at least with over an inch of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer….You will need to add more water every so often. Drain the beans when they turn tender (usually 2 hours set to the side when done)

Make the Malawach. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. gradually add the water and knead it for 5 minutes. Then cover it and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 4 balls. Dust your surface with a little flour. Start with one dough ball. Roll it out as thin as you can. Brush it with butter and sprinkle it lightly with nigella seeds and Maldon salt. Roll it like I described in the beginning if you can…….If not just fold in half and roll as thin as you can. Then butter it again and add another sprinkle of nigella seeds and Maldon salt. If you can repeat again. Roll as thin as you can. Butter again, spring again with nigella seeds and Maldon salt. Fold one more time and roll as thin as you can. If you can fry yours in butter that is what you are suppose to do but I thought mine would fall apart so I baked mine at a pre-heated 350 F oven on a non stick sprayed sheet pan. I also gave the flat breads a brushing of melted butter. They went in for 15 minutes and then I flipped them over for another 10 minutes. I thought they came out nice.

Heat oil in a sauce pot. sauté the onion and garlic till soft and not brown (about 7 minutes). Add the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and paprika. Cook till fragrant. Then add your cooked beans that are on the side. Take out a few spoonfuls of the beans to blend with the tomatoes. Add to bean mixture. You might need to thin with some water. Add lemon juice, zest, and salt

Make the pesto. Garlic, parsley, basil, preserved lemon, lemon juice all get bended. Slowly add the olive oil and blend that in too. Add Maldon salt to taste.

The Ful Medames (fava beans) go in each bowl with a Malawach (flat bread) cut in half, topped with pesto and a tablespoon of yogurt.

Ful Mesdames with Malawach Style flat Bread

A SPECIAL THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! To Chef Helen Graham for sharing her FORKING FANTABULOUS Recipe so we all can enjoy it!!!!!!

The Forking Truth

Shaved Yellow Squash with Spicy Apple Salsa and Pecorino Cheese Recipe – Variation of Yotam Ottolenghi’s Marinated Summer Squash with Kiwi Salsa

I was sort of gifted with a lot of yellow squash and I wanted to do something interesting and different with them. Often I use my spiral cutter and make spaghetti strings with the yellow squash that kind of cook its self from being marinated. Then I heat it up and it isn’t so squashy and it is stringy instead. Today I thought that I would try shaving the squash instead. But what flavors should I do today?…..For inspiration I was searching the internet for Top Chef recipes, a few other chefs, and award winning chef, restauranteur and cook book author Yotam Ottolenghi recipes. I do Ottolenghi recipes a lot because he is one of the most gifted vegetable chefs in the world. Yotam Ottolenghi does a COLD marinated yellow squash salad with kiwi salsa. I changed it up a little and I thought a spicy apple salsa just when real nice with squash this time of year. I used 3 pounds of yellow squash. So that makes 6-8 servings depending on how big you make the servings. This takes a few hours for the squash to marinate or just do the squash the day before.

Ingredients for around 7 portions

3 lbs yellow squash – ends cut off and sliced very thin like a shave

1 teaspoon fennel seeds – toasted – ground

1/2 teaspoon dark brown sugar

1/2 lemon – juice and zest

6 cloves garlic – ground to paste

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese – grated

2 apples – coarsely grated

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 red chile – fine chop (I used a Fresno that was spicy)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro – chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley leaves – chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground dry mint (if you have fresh mint use about 2 Tablespoons)

2 Tablespoons fresh basil – chopped or torn

optional 1/2 cup of either dried corn kernels or 1/2 cup toasted salted pepitas

Directions

Put the shaved yellow squash in a gallon ziplock bag. Keep in the refrigerator or set to the side.

Put a small fry pan on medium high heat and add the oil, sugar, garlic, and the toasted and ground fennel seeds. Cook only a minute or two till the garlic is cooked and take off heat. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix well. When this is room temperature add it to the bag of shaved squash. Squish it around to distribute. This needs to marinate at least 1/2 a day or overnight.

Make the apple salsa. In a medium bowl mix together the apples, vinegar, ginger, chile, cilantro, mint, parsley, and basil.

To serve – you can serve either cool as a salad or heated up as a side dish. The original recipe adds toasted hazelnuts….For the salad version (cold)……If I had those dried corn kernels I would have added them to this recipe for a little crunch.

Shaved Yellow Squash with Spicy Apple Salsa and Pecorino Cheese

This recipe is GREAT cold or hot……I think I actually like it better hot with added pepitas. Below is warmed up with pepitas.

Shaved Yellow Squash with Spicy Apple Salsa Pecorino Cheese and Pepitas (hot)

A SPECIAL THANKS!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for sharing his amazing recipe so I could come up with what I got here!

The Forking Truth