I was reading a recipe about Turkish Stuffed Pasta that was served over yogurt leeks. They made a green Chile butter for the Turkish pasta….So I thought that a Calabrian Chile Brown Butter would taste good on any pasta. I made my own ricotta gnocchi…you can make any pasta that you desire. I don’t have a pasta recipe with this one but I do have ricotta gnocchi recipes on my blog so you can find them if you want. I didn’t think that yogurt leeks would be very appetizing so I made up a creamy version that taste delicious. The recipe might need some adjustments to the leeks because I thought mine were unusually small inside….This makes only enough brown butter and leeks for only around two portions. You might get more if your leeks are bigger than what I had.
Ingredients for around two servings
2 ounces unsalted butter
1 dried Calabrian chile – crumbled
pinch dried mint
2 leeks – cleaned, dark greens removed, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon flour
4 Tablespoons white wine
1 ounce cream cheese (or a splash of heavy cream)
1/4 cup vegetable stock
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
Directions
Heat the butter on medium heat till it turns brown. Strain it and add the crumbled Calabrian pepper and a pinch of dried mint. Set to the side.
The leeks take 15-20 minutes to prepare. Have you pasta done accordingly.
Make your leeks – Melt butter on medium/low and add the leeks. Cover pot and let them go around ten minutes. Add garlic and cook another two minutes. Stir in flour cook one more minute. Add wine and cook till the wine has evaporated. Then stir in cream cheese and vegetable stock. Stir till smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning (add salt and or pepper)
Plate the leeks. Toss the pasta in the Calabrian Chile Brown Butter. Top on top of the leeks.
Calabrian Chile Brown Butter Pasta and Creamy Leeks
We used to have a Mediterranean/Israeli Restaurant in Phoenix Arizona called Zabari Mediterranean Grill. It was there I tasted an amazing salad that I never heard of before called Matbucha (a slightly spicy cold cooked tomato and roasted pepper salad). My gosh it was one of the most delicious things that I never knew that I liked. So I studied every recipe that I could find for Matbucha, made a chart of every ingredient that every recipe had in Matbucha and picked the ingredients that I wanted to use and the amounts that I thought were correct and tried to make a salad similar tasting to the Zabari’s Matbucha. I think I did it right because it came out amazing…..like I can sell it amazing…..Anyways today I made an even better batch of Matbucha (I got the textures better and the flavor even better) I started to think that since these flavors are so great that I can make a completely different salad with the same flavors and I did! I had around 5 cucumbers that I had to use….added onions and celery and then I was thinking chick peas but went with butterbeans because butterbeans have a more melt in your mouth texture that I thought would be better. Anyway it’s a winner. This will make around 4 servings. Feel free to add a few small sweet tomatoes if you have any…I would have added a few if I had some.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
5 cucumbers – peeled and seeds removed and sliced
1 large onion – sliced very thin and lightly rough chopped
2 stalks celery – small dice
1 – 15 oz can butterbeans drained and rinsed three times
11/2 – teaspoons sea salt (or to taste)
3 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon hot paprika
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
big splash (I didn’t measure but think it was about a 1/3 of a cup of rice wine vinegar)
ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Everything above goes in a large mixing bowl. Mix and season to taste!
I bought Morita Chili Powder from Milk Street so I thought that I should make a morita chili salsa. I think your results will differ if you use whole dried morita chili peppers because there is. more work to them…The powder was easy. Whole dried chili peppers usually need to be fried and soaked. This recipe is easy. Just burn all the vegetables under your broiler. They all get blended with a few other things…..Mine came out spicy but not too spicy. Serving size is very difficult to judge because I don’t know if you are using it for a few chips or coating a big ear of corn with it…..but it goes really well on steaks. Based on the amount of tomatoes I used I’d guesstimate between 8-16 servings depending if it’s a small or large portion.
Ingredients for around 12 servings
2 oz morita chili powder
1 fresh habanero (wear gloves and goggles, mask for safety…at least gloves) cut in half and remove core and stem
2 pickled jalapeños – (preferably home made) – cut in half long ways
2 pounds tomatoes rough cut – You should use sweet tomatoes, pre roasted, or italian canned for best results.
2 heads of garlic – break out all the cloves but leave the garlic cloves in their skins. (you broil them with skins on and then peel)
2 onions – remove skin, cut in half, slice thin.
1 Tablespoon sea salt
4 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
3/4 C apple cider vinegar
3 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Water to thin sauce
Directions
Set your oven to broil.
You need sheet pans.
Put the peppers (peppers skin side up) onions, tomatoes and garlic in single layers on sheet pans. They all go under the broiler until they look burnt. A WORD OF WARNING…They all get done at different times Most of the garlic gets done first and the peppers get down next. Onions in my oven got done next and the last to burn were the tomatoes.
When the garlic cool a little they will slip out of their skins easily.
After the garlic is peeled been together the dried morita chili powder, habanero, jalapeños, tomatoes, garlic, onions, salt, sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar and sesame seeds. You can thin if you care to with water.
Had an idea today and thought about making Mexican flavored meatballs. I did something similar before but today I thought that instead of adding breadcrumbs I’d add crushed tortilla chips instead for more of a taco taste. Then I needed sauce so I thought a guajillo chili laced tomato sauce would be good with them. This came out tasty and delicious. I note that I did use lots of ingredients for the meatballs that you might not have. I also might have made more sauce than you will use for the meatballs. Extra sauce can be used for tacos, enchiladas, and burritos or can be frozen for. a latter use. For most people the meatballs will be six servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
2 oz guajillo dried chilies – washed off, stems off, shake out the seeds (sauce)
4 cups hot water (sauce)
2 lbs tomatoes (skins removed and slow roasted) or use Italian canned (sauce)
6 garlic cloves – ground to paste (sauce)
1 onion – fine dice (Sauce)
2 Tablespoons (slightly heaping) reduced sodium vegetable bouillon paste (I use Better than Bouillon Brand…..(this is healthier and tastier than salt) (sauce)
4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (sauce)
2 Tablespoons fresh epazote – chopped (sauce)
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped (Sauce)
1 lb ground meat (I used lean 93% ground turkey)
2 oz tortilla chips crushed to crumbs (preferably Calidad Brand White Corn Chips)
2 eggs – lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon (slightly heaping) reduced sodium vegetable soup paste (preferably Better Than Bouillon. Brand reduced sodium vegetable soup paste…this is less sodium than salt and better tasting than salt)
1 hot chili (or to taste) (I used one fire roasted hatch chili) – chopped fine
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1. teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground annatto (also called achiote)
1 teaspoon ground chipotle
1/2 cup. scallions sliced thin ). a few. extra. for finishing
1/2 cup cilantro chopped (fine stems are ok to use) a few extra for finishing
1 Tablespoon fresh epazote
3 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1/4 small onion – grated or mince fine
1 Tablespoon water
non stick spray
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
The guajillo chili pods go in a single layer on a sheet pan to toast. Put them in for two minutes on the middle rack and then turn them over and give them one more minute. The pods should have darkened and should smell aromatic. Many more seeds are in them and now you can shake the rest of the seeds out.
Put the chili pods in very hot. or boiling water 4 cups of water. Leave them soften up. for around 30 minutes. After 30 minutes put this water and chili pods and soup paste on medium high heat. Add the onions and when this boil use a stick blender to blend it. up. Let it cook about ten minutes. Now add the tomatoes and blend again. Add the garlic, vinegar, epazote, and cilantro. Blend again. Taste and adjust seasoning iif necessary.
Make the meatballs. Set oven to 350 degrees F.
Use non stiick spray and spray sheet pans for around 20 meatballs.
In a large bowl mix together ground meat, tortilla chips, eggs, soup paste, hot chili, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, annatto, chipotle, scallions, cilantro, garlic, epazote, onion. Mix well. The mixture will be kind of soft. But might need to be slightly softer. I added just one tablespoon of water. Too much water will make mushy meatballs. Not enough water and the meatballs can be dry. I do warn you that this mixture will be sticky and is hard to work with but does make great meatballs. I make my meatballs about 1.3 ounce each and space them out a little so they can cook. Use the middle rack for most of the meatballs and the lower rack for the rest. Cook till cooked threw. In my oven this takes 15 minutes.
Serve with the guajillo sauce. Finish with a small amount of fresh cilantro and epazote.
Mexican Flavored Meatballs with Guajillo Tomato Sauce
This goes well with chipotle lime butter green beans.
Mexican flavored meatballs with guajillo tomato sauce and chipotle lime butter green beans
I had cucumbers and tomatoes to use up so II thought I’d make a basic gazpacho. I was considering adding my extra mandarins to blend in but ten the idea of yuzu kosno just popped into my head……and I went with it….You might be wondering what is yuzu kosho? Yuzi Kosho (also spelled koshu) is a Japanese condiment of yuzu zest (a citrus) garlic, hot pepper that is fermented…It doesn’t taste as savory or as funky as you might think……To me it taste sort of like a delicious tangerine zest that finishes with a little heat….You can mail away for yuzu kosho or fake it with the zest of one grapefruit, lemon, lime, 2 tangerines, one garlic clove, and one small hot pepper. Usually I only think of yuzu kosho to enhance a fish dish but it is delicious to flavor gazpacho. I think I really came up with something! Serving size is impossible to say for sure because the vegetables differ in size and some people want tiny servings and other people want big servings. This makes around 4-6 servings or around 7 cups.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
4 heirloom tomatoes – stem removed, rough chop (mine good medium sized)
1/4 onion – rough chopped
1 red bell pepper – stem, membrane, seeds removed, rough chopped
1 1/2 English cucumber rough chopped ( I was going to use two but one of mine was 1/2 not good)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon yuzu salt (you can substitute sea salt)
2 oz yuzu kosho (you can substitute citrus zest ((grapefruit, lemon, lime, tangerine)) with ground garlic and a ground small hot pepper)
This is the recipe for the meatballs I made. I warn you that they are FORKING Scrumptious. The rice and cabbage that went around it was part of a different recipe that I think can be too troublesome. I spoke about it yesterday so if you want more details read yesterday’s post.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
1 lb ground meat (I used turkey 93% lean)
1/2 cup panko (I used Whole Wheat panko)
1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup scallions – cut thin
3 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 eggs – lightly beaten
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/4 teaspoon Szechuan pepper – toasted and ground
1 Tablespoon (slightly heaping) reduced sodium Better Than Bouillon vegetable soup base (this is instead of salt….less sodium and more flavor)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons fresh basil (or other basil) chopped
3 ends of lemongrass – hard outer skins removed – fine chopped
non stick spray.
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a baking sheet (or two) with non stick spray..
Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Make small scoop sized meatballs…. (about 1.3 ounces each)
You should have around 21 meatballs.
They go in the oven until done. In my oven they took 15 minutes. I put most of the meatballs on the middle rack and the rest on the lower rack.
I served them two different ways. The way you see in the picture with a small amount of vegetable broth. For another meal I just mixed up some hoisin sauce with a small amount of ketchup and that was tasty with them.
Asian Style Turkey Meatballs with Lemongrass Stuffed Cabbage
I have a large pantry and have more spices and ingredientsnthan most people. I was going to make a Sichuan type of eggplant dish and when it came time to do the recipe I realized that I didn’t even have half of the ingredients…….So I made my substitutions and some things I cut out and some things I added and I wound up with something delicious but not authentic. Serving size is difficult to judge…My guess is that you will get between 2-4 servings depending if you want a side serving or if you want to make this into a full meal.
Ingredients for around 3 servings
1 eggplant – cut in half long ways and scored one the top in diamond shapes
2 teaspoon red chili oil
2 oz gochujang
1 Tablespoon black bean paste
2 Tablespoons Shaoxing wine
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
non stick spray
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds (for finishing)
1-2 scallions – cut thin diagonal (for finishing)
Directions
In a small mixing bowl mix together the oil, gochujang, black bean paste, Shaoxing wine, red wine vinegar, and sugar. Mix well. All this to a gallon Ziplock bag and place eggplant halves that have been scored cut side down win the bag. Leave this sit out on the counter for around 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray a baking sheet with non stock spray.
After 30 minutes place the eggplant halves cut side down on the baking sheet but reserve the liquid in the bag and put the bag to thee side.
The eggplants on the baking sheet go on a middle rack for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes the eggplant halves need to be turned to cut side up. Now pour reserved liquid over and into the eggplant halves. Put back in the oven till caramelized. (around 30 minutes)
I’m not a big fan of grapefruit. If it is plain grapefruit usually taste like vomit to me. But I do know that if grapefruit is a supporting player in a dish it can be wonderful. I read about a top chef dish that contained grapefruit and was amazing…..The recipe is nowhere to be found and mine isn’t close to what the top chef did but I did use some of the same ingredients and it became magical. I added a can of sardines to mine so it would be a complete meal. I think any fish or chicken would go well with this salad. This recipe makes two meal sized portions. You can add protein if you desire it.
Ingredients for 2 servings
4 carrots – peel if not organic, cut in long planks no more than 1/2 inch thick
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon Aleppo red pepper
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 pound beets, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch slices
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon ground star anise
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 onion – peel, cut in 1/4 inch slices
smoked salt (I used alder smoked salt)
ground pepper to taste
1 grapefruit – peel and supreme (you cut thee segments out of their skins…you can only do this with a sharp knife) ((P.S. the grapefruit will be less sour/bitter w?o skin))
1 apple (or pear) cut in thin slices
1 cucumber (if regular remove skin and seeds) cut in long slices
1 medium/small avocado – cut in thin slices
2 limes (one to squirt on apple and avocado slices) (the other is for the dressing)
2 Tablespoons Red Boat Fish sauce (dressing)
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar (dressing)
2 Tablespoons date syrup (substitute honey) (dressing)
1 garlic clove – ground to paste (dressing)
1 Tablespoon lime juice (dressing)
2 Tablespoons – Add a fresh herb – either or a combination of mint, basil, Thai basil.
Directions
Set your oven to 425 degrees F with an oiled grill pan on the middle rack.
In pan with raised edges add the three tablespoons of oil, ginger, red pepper, salt, cayenne, a carrots. Mix them together well so the carrots are coated with all the spices. They go in thee oven for around 7 minutes on each side. Take out of the oven when done. (put to the side or refrigerate for tomorrow)
In a small mixing bowl mix together three Tablespoons oil, star anise, salt and the beet slices. The beet slices go on the grill pan. Turn them every 15 minutes until they are done (I turned them 3 or 4 times) (Put to the. side or refrigerate for tomorrow)
You should have room with your beets to also. do. the onions. The onion slices get coated with oil. on each side and sprinkled with smoked salt and pepper to taste. They go in the oven till caramelized on both sides. About 15 minutes on each side. (Put to the side or refrigerate for tomorrow)
Make the dressing. In a small bowl mix together the fish sauce, vinegar, date syrup, garlic, and lime juice and either use or refrigerate.
When ready assemble the salad with all the ingredients. Add a protein. if you like. Dress with the dressing and top with a little bit of a fresh herb.
Cold Roasted Vegetable & Fruit Salad with Lime Fish Sauce Vinaigrette
This recipe is by Great British Chefs dot com (I rounded some ingredients slightly). It’s called Charred Green Beans with Sauté Potatoes, Chermoula, and Fried Almonds. I didn’t call it Charred Green Beans because my green beans were kind of hallow (maybe old?) so when I took mine to char they got all soggy. This recipe is tasty and is a more epicurean version of green beans almandine. Here you fry up the almonds in oil and use the infused almond oil to fry up the potatoes and then fry up the green beans. To make things more interesting you toss the green beans in chermoula (a Moroccan pesto made with preserved lemon). Serving size is difficult to judge. For me this makes a little more than 4 side servings. You will also have extra chermoula leftover that would taste amazing in a tuna salad or on top of grilled fish.
Ingredients for around 5 servings
1 cup almonds
3 Tablespoons olive oil
pinch sea salt
pinch sugar
2 potatoes – peeled (original recipe suggest a dice cut but I cut mine into long thin fry shapes ….do whatever. you want)
flaky sea salt
black pepper
1 lb green beans – trimmed
3 Tablespoons chermoula
1 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup parsley leaves chopped
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1 preserved lemon (just the rind scrape out the segments and white from rind as much as you can) – chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice
Directions
Make chermoula and set to the side. In a large bowl combine the cilantro, parsley, garlic, preserved lemon, oil, salt, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and lemon juice. Set to the side
Fry up the almonds. Put the oil in a fry pan on medium high heat. Fry up the almonds till they turn light brown. Remove almonds without removing the oil and drain on towel lined pan. Sprinkle the almonds with sugar and salt and seed to the side.
Fry the potatoes till they are golden brown. Drain and then season with salt and pepper and set to the side.
Fry up the green beans to desired wrinkle…..Drain green beans when done. Add the green beans to the big bowl with the potatoes and chermoula and toss. Top with the almonds and serve and enjoy!
Fried Green Beans with Potatoes, Chermoula and Fried Almonds
A special THANKS!!!!!!! To Greet British Chefs so I could come up with these amazing green beans!
I had 3 1/2 pounds of tomatillos to use so I wanted to make tomatillo salsa. I made up my own recipes for tomatillo salsa and they were both good. One was raw and one was for roasted salsa. I started looking up other people’s recipes and they were all surprisingly different. I also read that some chefs strongly prefer the raw to the roasted salsa. I did base what I did on Chef Nud Dudhia’s recipe. His recipe was the only one that I saw that used almonds. The almonds really push this recipe above the others. It’s simply scrumptious. I really don’t want to make tomatillo salsa any other way now! This is so FORKING delicious that you are going to want to use this sauce on everything. He says that you can do this roasted or raw. I did roasted because I liked my last roasted tomatillo salsa better than the raw. I rounded some things and changed a couple things because I need to keep this salsa good for at least a month so I made it with home made pickled peppers and I added home made jalapeño brine instead of lime juice….To get the lime taste I’d recommend to add some lime zest. I made around 7 cups. Serving size is difficult. to tell because I don’t know if you need a spoonful for a taco or a cup to cover a burrito. I’ll guesstimate 10 servings.
Ingredients for around 10 servings
3 1/2 pounds tomatillos husked, washed
2 pickled serrano peppers (preferably home made) – rough chopped
2 pickled jalapeños (preferably home made) – rough chopped
6 garlic cloves – ground to paste
6 oz roasted salted almonds – crushed
2 shallots- peeled, chopped
1 avocado- remove pit and avocado flesh – rough chop the flesh
1/4 cup cilantro – chopped
1/2 cup Jalapeno brine (THIS MUST BE HOME MADE by you or purchased from a farmers market to taste good)
1 teaspoon sea salt
optional but recommended – lime zest for finishing
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Put the tomatillos in pans with edges on a middle rack and keep them in the oven till they char up. Remove when done.
If you have a stick blender you can blend everything together now. If not you need to wait till the tomatillos cool.
Blend together the tomatillos, peppers, garlic, almonds, shallots, avocado flesh, cilantro, jalapeño brine and salt. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Tomatillo Salsa (suggested serve)
Chicken thigh covered in tomatillo sauce, pickled red onion, radish pico and served with grilled zucchini topped with pumpkin seed pesto and cilantro oil.
A special THANKS to chef Nud Dudhia for sharing his FORKING Amazing recipe so I could come up with what I got here.
