When I was on vacation in Napa we enjoyed our dinner at La Torque. It was there that I tasted for the first time Fennel Marmalade. It was amazing with fish but I was thinking today that it would also be amazing stuffed into a turkey breast that I prepared in the sous vide. It would have also come out great doing the turkey breast stove top in a fry pan too. Anyway this is how I made fennel marmalade. I got 6 generous servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
2 fennel bulbs – core removed, remove dry outer coating, save fronds for garnish, slice thin
1 sweet onion – peeled, slice thin
1 hot pepper or to taste – sliced thin (I used 1/2 spicy banana pepper
1/4 cup sugar
2 lemons – the fresh squeeze juice and zest (save zest for garnishing)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons white wine
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds – crushed fine
Directions
Everything (except garnishes fennel fronds & lemon zest) goes in a pot on medium high heat. You need to bring this to a boil and then reduce to simmer till thickened like marmalade. I think this took close to an hour.
When ever I don’t know what I want to make I have a list of creative chefs that I like. Safeway had a sale on corn so I needed a new idea for corn. I came across Yotam Ottolenghi & Ramael Scully’s recipe for corn cakes. They were seasoned a little differently than what I would normally do with fennel, cumin, celery seed, and tarragon. But what I really liked about the recipe was that it was nearly free of flour…..only two tablespoons for 5 ears of corn so it also seemed like a healthy recipe and that is a big bonus to me. I didn’t change much in the corn cake recipe….but I did make them much smaller, added more cheese to each one and didn’t bother buttering the cups I put them in. The beet-apple salad is suppose to be creamy with yogurt. I left the yogurt out so it would be just a nice light salad that isn’t drippy. The recipe is pretty easy but the hardest part of the recipe is to know how much to process (or blend) the corn mixture. You want the corn ROUGHLY CHOPPED BUT NOT A WET PUREE….some kernels will still be whole. This came out delicious…..The corn cake is sort very creamy and tasty. It did come out extremely delicate. I was sort of lucky that mine came out of the pan. I should have used cupcake liners. I thought that they would pop out more easily so I will recommend to use some sort of liner. The original recipe says 6 servings. I got 16 much smaller corn cakes. Depending on how you are serving them you will want to use either one or two a serving. Serving sizes are going to differ here. I don’t know if you want only one corn cake or three corn cakes. I’ll say that this recipe makes around 8 servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
5 corn on the cobs – peel corn, remove kernels with a knife or use 500g frozen corn kernels thawed
100g shallots – rough cut
3 garlic cloves – chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds – lightly toasted and coarsely crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin – lightly toasted
1 teaspoon celery seeds
15g small tarragon leaves rough chopped
1 teaspoon baking powder
80g sweet butter melted (original recipe calls for 20g more butter to grease the molds….I used non -stick spray)
2 large eggs – yolks and whites separated
2 Tablespoons flour
90g feta cheese (original recipe calls for 60g…I think I actually went slightly over 90g) The cheese needs to be cut into a chunk for each corn cake. You can make any size you like because they are YOURS! The original recipe suggest 6-12 corn cakes…I got 16 corn cakes ……so I needed 16 chunks of cheese.
1 teaspoon course sea salt (or to taste)
1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (or to taste)
2 raw beets – peeled and cut in very thin shreds
1 apple peeled, cored, cut in very thin shreds
1 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon (just the juice)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds – roasted and coarsely crushed
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
15g parsley leaves – rough chopped
5g small baby basil leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line your cupcake pan with either cupcake liners, Elongated cupcake liners, or parchment. Then either butter the liners or spray with non stick spray.
Combine the corn kernels, shallots and garlic until the corn kernels are rough cut but not a wet paste.
add the fennel seeds, cumin, celery seeds, tarragon, baking powder, butter, egg yolks, salt, and peppers.
Whip the egg whites till stuff. Fold a little in till gone.
Time to fill the cupcake pan. I didn’t use liners so some of mine were a little harder to get out. I don’t want you to have any trouble so I recommend to use liners.
Next I squish down a chunk of feta into each of the corn cakes.
After I patted the edges down on top of the cheese.
Then I put them on the middle rack of my preheated 400 degree F oven for 25 minutes till they gave off aroma and looked toasty done. If you did yours bigger they will need more time. Maybe around 40 minutes.
While the corn cakes were in the over it only took a few minutes to make the beet-apple salad.
In a large bowl combine the beets, apple, sherry vinegar, oil, lemon juice, fennel seeds, celery seeds, parsley. Finish with the tiny basil leaves.
Soon the corn cakes will be coming out of the oven. They need around 10 minutes to cool a little before you can serve.
Feta Stuffed Corn Cakes with Beet-Apple Salad
A special THANKS!!!! to Yotam Ottolenghi & Rameal Scully for sharing their AMAZING Recipe so I could come up with what I got here.
I had three leftover corn cobs from the recent 8 for a $1 corn sale from Safeway. My last recipe I published was Italian Chili Crisp. In case you didn’t know chili crisp is this amazing condiment that adds textures and delicious flavors, crunch and some heat to food. Anything plain can turn FORKING amazing with the addition of a chili crisp. This corn salad came out BOMB!….. Just so you know I didn’t measure the chili crisp and sherry vinegar exactly, I guesstimated and just threw it together but it truly did come out amazing. Since I used three ears of corn I will say that this makes around three or more servings because most people will eat one ear of corn most of the time…..but I got 6 servings because I like smaller portions so I’m going to call it 4 servings.
Approximate Ingredients for around 4 servings
3 Tablespoons canola oil to grill the vegetables (approximate)
3 ears of corn – peeled (boiled or grilled or parboiled and grilled) , cut off cob
6 baby bell peppers – core and stem removed, grilled then rough cut
1/2 large red onion – peeled, grilled then rough cut
sea salt – to taste for the grilled vegetables
fresh ground black pepper- to taste for the grilled vegetables
3 small dried figs – rough small cut
3 tablespoons (I might have used more) Italian chili crisp
3 tablespoons (I might have used more) sherry vinegar
1/2 cup fresh basil – torn or cut
Directions
In a large mixing bowl combine the corn kernels, baby bells, onion, figs, Italian chili crisp, sherry vinegar, and basil.
FORKING Delicious Corn Salad made with Italian Chili Crisp
In our local newspaper recently they had a recipe for Italian chili crisp with tomatoes. I thought the idea was really great because……..Chili crisp is an amazing condiment. It adds textures, flavors, crunch, and heat to different foods. It makes anything that is plain really special…..The recipe in the paper might be good but looked a little too basic. I thought I’d see how other people make an Italian version of chili crisp. I came across www.CookingWithKerry.com and I thought her recipe was closer to the way I would make an Italian Chili Crisp. I made some modifications and slight changes. But I have to give Kerry her credit that she deserves because this came out insanely delicious. I made it and my husband said what did you make that smells so good? Try the Italian Chili Crisp in sandwiches, pasta, vegetables, pizza or a chicken. According to Kerry this recipe makes around 32 servings.
Ingredients for around 32 servings
1/2 cup dried Calabrian Chilies – stems removed and crush pods (I recommend gloves and a mask, onion goggles just in case so none gets in your eyes)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3 Tablespoons capers – drained & dried off
3 anchovy filets – minced
1 Tablespoon dried thyme
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 Tablespoon white sugar
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup shallots – sliced very thin on a mandolin
1 regular sized head of garlic – cloves sliced very thin (I used a truffle slicer)
Directions
In a large heatproof bowl mix together the chili flakes, pine nuts, capers, anchovies, thyme, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper. Set to the side.
Add olive oil to a medium sized pot on medium high heat. When the oil is hot add the shallots. Remove the shallots with a slotted spoon when they turn light brown. Have a paper towel lined pan for the shallots. (around 6 minutes)
After the shallots are removed you need to turn the heat down to medium. Wait two or three minutes and add the garlic. If you sliced thin the garlic gets done pretty fast….Like 2-21/2 minutes. Take the garlic out with a slotted spoon and drain the garlic on a paper towel lined pan.
Add the hot oil to the bowl with the crushed chili. Let this sit out until it cools.
When it’s cool you can mix them up together and put in a container. Refrigerate and enjoy!
Italian Chili Crisp
I used it on a heirloom tomato and butterbean salad.
Tomato and bean salad with Italian Chili Crisp
A Special THANKS to www.CookingWithKerry for her Forking Amazing Recipe so I could come up with what I got here.
I am always looking for beet recipes. I read this combination of beets, orange, mint, cheese and salsa macha on a menu somewhere and wrote it down so I could prepare it. Everything here is easy but I had to learn how to make salsa macha. I studied several recipes and they all were somewhat similar but also were different. Salsa Macha is basically a rich Chile oil from Veracruz Mexico. It’s basically made up of chilies, garlic, nuts, and seeds that are fried in oil and then chopped or blended. I picked chef Nud Dudhia’s recipe because I love some of his other salsa recipes. I added four ingredients to his recipe. These ingredients make it pop just a little more and also happen to add a little more shelf life to his recipe. Portion size is difficult to judge. I don’t know if you need a very small amount for a small taco or more to cover a vegetable. I think salsa macha would be delicious on almost any vegetable. This recipe makes around a cup so I’m guesstimating around 6-8 servings.
Ingredients for around 7 servings
1 habanero pepper – (you need to wear glove) – stem removed. quarter it
1 dried pasilla or guajillo chile pepper
1 dried chipote pepper (I used a tablespoon of chipotle flakes)
1/2 star anise
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 oz peanuts
1 Tablespoon jalapeno brine (only use homemade or just add plain vinegar)
2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon honey
Directions
Heat up the oil in either another pan or in a microwavable dish in the microwave oven (about 90 seconds in microwave)
Toast the chiles, garlic, cumin seeds , habanero, and star anise in a dry pan on medium high till the pan gets fragrant.
Add the heated oil and let it cook up for a few minutes. Then add remaining ingredients (brine, sesame seeds, peanuts, salt, and honey. You can take it off the heat. If using a stick blender you can transfer to your blending container and blend. If you are using a traditional blender then you should wait till it cools off and then blend.
ENJOY! Use the salsa macha however you like.
Beets with Orange, Mint, Cheddar Cheese, and Salsa Macha
A Special THANKS!!!!!! To chef Nud Dudhia for sharing his FORKING Amazing recipe so I could come up with what I got here.
I was thinking about doing a honey miso butter sauce for a vegetable…..I thought that it would work best on carrots so here it is. Serving size is always difficult to judge. I don’t know if you want a small serving or a big plate. I see this as 4 servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings.
2 lbs. carrots – scrubbed, peel if not organic (two carrots cut in thin match sticks or shred)
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoons sweet butter
2 Tablespoons white miso
2 Tablespoons honey
1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh mint leaves – chopped or torn
2 Tablespoons cilantro leaves (fine stems ok) – chopped or torn
sea salt – to taste
black pepper – to taste
Directions
Set oven to 420 F.
If you have a grill pan use it or a baking sheet. Lighty oil it with a small amount of canola oil. Use the rest of the canola oil to oil the whole carrots.
In a medium mixing bowl add the carrot shreds, olive oil, paprikas, Aleppo & cayenne peppers and sea salt. Mix well. Shred this mixture on a baking sheet.
Put the whole carrots on the middle rack of your oven and the carrot shreds on a lower rack.
In around 20 minutes the shreds will be done. Mix in the peanuts to it.
It is also time to flip the whole carrots. They will need around 10 minutes more. (maybe slightly less or more depending on size)
Make the honey miso butter. Melt the butter in a small dish in the microwave or oven (since it’s on) mix in the honey and miso and it’s done. Keep to the side.
When the carrots are done salt and pepper them lightly. Spoon the honey miso butter butter over the carrots. Top the carrots with a spiced carrot peanut shreds and top the shreds with the fresh mint and cilantro.
Roasted Carrots in Honey Miso Butter with Roasted Spiced Carrot Peanut Crumbs
This recipe is sort of a spin off of Food & Wine Magazine’s recipe Sweet Potato Gyoza with Beet Puree. I wanted to make my own pasta instead of buying gyoza wrappers. I also needed to change a few things. But I did the beet puree almost the same. This recipe made me 22 half moon ravioli. Serving size is difficult to judge…It depends if you only want a couple of ravioli or a whole plate of ravioli. I’ll guesstimate this to be 4 servings for the majority of people.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
2 eggs – pasta
3 egg yolks + 1 egg white – (the egg white is for sealing the ravioli) – pasta
1 cup ap flour + a few tablespoons + a sprinkle for rolling (different brands are ground different you might need up to 1/3 cup more than one cup)- pasta
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil – pasta
2 pinches sea salt – pasta
8 oz beets -peel, cut in half or thirds depending on size -beet puree
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter – beet puree
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar – beet puree
2 Tablespoons cooking water from beets – beet puree
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest – beet puree
1 lb sweet potato – peeled, sliced 1 – 1-1/2 inch disk -filling
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter – melted – filling
2 Tablespoons hazelnut butter (I made mine in a spice grinder) – filling
1 teaspoon sumac – filling
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander – filling
1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt – filling
1.4 teaspoon ground black pepper – filling
2 Tablespoons scallions – sliced thin for finishing
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves – chopped or torn for finishing
Directions
Set oven to 400 F.
Put the sweet potato slices in a pan and add about 1.2 cup of water and cover the pan with foil. Do the same with the beets. Timing might differ some. In my oven on the middle racks the beets took 90 minutes and the sweet potatoes took 60 minutes. Take them out of the oven when you can piece them with a fork.
Make the pasta dough.
In a medium sized bowl mix up the two eggs with the three egg yolks, oil, and salt. Mix well. Add the cup of flour and mix well. I suggest to have up to 1/3 cup of flour on the side. Each brand of flour is ground different so it is impossible to give an exact measurement. Today I needed to add about half of the 1/3 cup of flour that I had on the side. You knead the dough and you can tell it’s right with it doesn’t stick to your hands. Wrap the dough up in plastic wrap and leave out till you are ready to roll it out. (You will need a little more flour for rolling.
Mash the sweet potatoes with the butter, hazelnut butter, sumac, coriander, salt and black pepper. Set to the side.
Blend the beets with butter, rice vinegar, beet water, and lemon zest. Set to the side.
Roll out the pasta dough around 20 x 15 inches.
I used a three inch cookie cutter and painted the edges with egg white. (I also didn’t re-roll the pasta scraps. You can re-roll the scraps but the dough will be tough…Instead it’s a better idea to just hand cut the scraps into strips and make something like a macaroni and cheese….
Anyway…back to ravioli
Then I used my smallest scooper and scooped out the filling.
I think it is easiest to start in the middle……and just pinch your way down on each side.
Have a pot of salted water boiling.
Boil up your ravioli. They don’t need too long maybe up to two minutes. If you aren’t eating them all now you might want to give them a spray of oil so they don’t stick together.
Serve with beet puree and top with cilantro and scallions. (I had some leftover squash puree so I added that for a pop of color.
Sweet Potato Ravioli with Beet Puree
A Special THANKS!!! To Food & Wine Magazine for inspiring me to come up with what I did here.
I had half a cabbage head and potatoes that I had to use up so this is what I came up with today. I made the kimchi and then I thought that it made sense to add the potatoes “Peruvian Potato Salad Style (partly mashed in)” so they’d just soak up all the yumminess from the well seasoned kimchi. That made the potato salad healthy style. This whole batch of kimchi potato salad only has one tablespoon of sugar and one teaspoon of sesame oil. Also the potato ratio is far less because it is a lot of cabbage too. Serving size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want a small side serving or a dish full. Based on the amount of potatoes in this I’d guesstimate this to be eight servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 lbs potatoes. – peeled, cut into large cubes ( I cut each potato into 6 big chunks 1/3 and half the third)
2 Tablespoons sea salt (to boil the potatoes)
1/2 cabbage medium/small – shred thin on mandolin
1 red bell pepper – shred thin on mandolin, rough chop slightly
4 radish – shred
1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin
1 Asian pear – peeled and shred (you can substitute an apple)
2 Tablespoons gochugaru (This needs to be kept in your freezer or it goes moldy….closest substitute is Aleppo pepper)
3 Tablespoons sriracha – (I like Shark Brand..It’s very smooth)
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sugar
4 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1. teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (I use Red Boat Brand)
Directions
The peeled potatoes go in a pot with water covering them well. Add sea salt to boil the potatoes. Boil until very soft. (around 15-20 minutes…maybe a little longer if your potatoes are very large)
In a big bowl combine the cabbage, bell pepper, radish, scallions, Asian pear, gochugaru, sriracha, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and fish sauce. This mixture needs to sit and marinate it’s self for about an hour on the counter. When the potatoes are soft you can drain them and stir them into the cabbage mixture. You need to brake them slightly but you don’t want to completely mash them either…you want them nice and lumpy but slightly mashed and creamy for your salad. Liquid will come out of the salad. Mix it a few times gently so you don’t break the potatoes too much. This needs to get refrigerated. You can serve cold, room temperature, or warmed up.
I had a lot of zucchini to use up so I was looking for zucchini recipes. The most interesting one that I found today was one by Great British Chefs called Harissa Hasselback Courgette Recipe with Dukkah. I liked the idea of the recipe but changed many things. The zucchini white bean dip I did not exact but from memory of a Michael Solomonov recipe of Brussels sprouts that I thought made sense….I also flavored it with his recipe for zhoug sauce since I have a jar of it that I made. The dukkah recipe from G.B.C. tasted ok but I thought it was missing something….. I happen to have Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for dukkah and I added the ingredients that he put in his and it tasted much better. I also didn’t use purchased harissa and have my own recipe for it so I used mine. So this recipe is a mash up of Great British Chefs, Michael Solomonov, Yotam Ottolenghi, AND ME! I had enough zucchini for a party. You might want to cut this recipe down in half or a quarter depending on your needs. I had 4 pounds of zucchini to use. It’s at least 8 servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
4 lbs zucchini
6 Tablespoons harissa – preferably home made (2 CLEANED UP roasted red bell peppers chopped, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon caraway, 2 Tablespoons e.v.o.o., 3 garlic, 1-3 hot peppers-chopped, 2 Tablespoons tomato paste, juice of 1 lemon, 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, s&p to taste Blend)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (leaves and only the tender stems) for finishing
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F.
In a bowl (med-large bowl) combine the harissa, olive oil, and lemon juice and set to the side.
Hasselback 3 pounds of the zucchinii using either chop sticks or a wooden spoon next to the vegetable so that you don’t cut threw. You can pick up the zucchini and fan it open and dip it into the harissa to coat it.
After the zucchini get coated with the harissa the zucchini go on sheet pans.
They stay in till they look slightly caramelized. About 40 minutes..The other pound gets sliced up and drizzle a small amount of olive oil on it. Also give it a small amount of salt and pepper. This also goes in the oven with the rest of the zucchini.
While the zucchini is cooking make the dukkah. Combine hazelnuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sea salt, black pepper, paprika, and oregano. Mix and put to the side.
The sliced zucchini is done when it gets charred.
The last thing to make is the zucchini white bean dip. Blend but leave chunky the charred zucchini slices, beans, tahini, lemon juice, zhoug, yogurt. Add salt and pepper to taste.
SERVE! Put the dip under or on the side of the zucchini. Top with dukkah and fresh cilantro.
Harissa Hasselback Zucchini with Dukkah and Zucchini White Bean Dip
It’s FORKING Delicious!
Harissa Hasselback Zucchini with Dukkah & Zucchini White Bean Dip
I read about a different method for crispy breaded eggplant that I had to try to believe. The award winning celebrity chef and food author chef Selin Kiazim said that for the crispiest eggplant to peel and roast it first before basic panko breading and to fry in ghee (clarified butter). Today I didn’t follow her recipe but I did sure try her method and it gave me the greatest results. Shattering crisp eggplant that isn’t soggy or oily at all. The inside is only creamy and meaty. This is the best eggplant that I have ever fried. I had to try it to believe it. *********A word of warning…To pull this off you will need a very good vegetable peeler. Not like one you buy from Walmart or the grocery store. You need a heavy duty vegetable peeler. I got mine from a home show. This thing can peel a butternut squash.
First the eggplant gets peeled and partially sliced…..(leave connected at stem) because the breading slides off of the skin sometimes.
Then do your basic flour, eggs, panko crumbs. Make sure that each bin is seasoned along the way.
I rubbed a small amount of non-stick spray on the bottom of my baking sheet…..Nothing else…no salt or added oil. This goes in a 400 degree F oven until the eggplant is soft……Timing can differ greatly……really TINY eggplants might only need 20 minutes and if you have a REALLY BIG eggplant it can take maybe up to an hour. I think for the best results you will want to use smaller eggplants that are a little sweeter.
After the eggplants were roasted I let them cool till I could handle them and dredged them in the flour mixture.
My trick for the eggs is to add a spoonful of Amore French Mustard….It’s mild but delicious and very smooth and does a great job to season the eggs and it also makes any breading stick better. Last is a coating of seasoned panko (I used whole wheat panko).
Then on just slightly over medium heat you fry up the eggplant in butter. It fries up pretty fast. Men were smaller eggplants and only took around 2-3 minutes a side.
A cooling rack is the correct way to let the eggplants cool.
I’ll be honest and admit that I didn’t use my coloring rack today and used paper towels on sheet pan and this still worked out perfect.
Then you get these adorable eggplants that might look like this.
FORKING Crispy Breaded Eggplant
What you do with your eggplant is up to you.
Today I reheated mine with a mixture of cheeses, tomato sauce on top of the cheese and fresh basil. Still CRISP not soggy anywhere and meaty not soggy eggplant.
A special THANKS!!!!!! to Chef Selin Kiazim for this eggplant method. This makes GREAT Crispy Eggplant!
