Category Archives: Forking Recipes

Interesting twists on everyday things as well as the unusual

Yuzu Honey Ginger Beets with Melon Sweet Basil and Pistachios

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I had some yuzu juice that I had to use up and I thought it would go well with beets so I made infused red beets and marinated chioggia (candy stripe) beets with yuzu, honey, and ginger. This flavor goes pretty well with melon sweet basil and pistachios. You can add any greens that you have to go with it. I made a Chinese Mustard deviled eggs to go with it. I didn’t add that recipe because I only added Chinese Mustard to the egg yolks and nothing else. The egg whites were seasoned with furikake and the yolk part was deviled with togarashi seasoning.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 lb red beets – peeled and cut in slices

1 chioggia beet – peeled and thinly sliced across the beet

1 cup + 3 Tablespoons yuzu juice separated

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon honey separated

4 Tablespoons + 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar separated

1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger separated

1/4 teaspoon + pinch ground white pepper separated

1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon Red Boat Salt separated

1/2 a small sweet melon of any sort. Make melon balls

1/4 cup torn basil

2 oz salted roasted pistachios – lightly crushed

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Mix together the marinate for the chioggia (candy stripe) beets. In a small bowl mix together the 3 Tablespoons yuzu juice, 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1 Tablespoon honey, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon Red Boat salt, and a pinch of white pepper. Mix well and add this and the thinly sliced chioggia beets to a quart size ziplock bag to marinate in the refrigerator.

Place red beet slices in a mostly single layer in a pan or baking dish.

In a bowl mix together the remaining yuzu juice, honey, vinegar, ginger, pepper, and salt. Pour this over the beets and cover the pan or dish. Place this in the oven on a middle rack till beets are tender (around an hour). You can serve the beets either warm or chilled with the marinated beets, melon balls, basil and pistachios. Add a few greens if you like.

SERVE.

Yuzu Honey Ginger Beets with Melon, Sweet Basil, and Pistachios

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Carrot Parsnip Lime Soup with Cilantro Recipe Milk Street Style

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I subscribe to Milk Street Magazine. They sent me a recipe in an email called carrot-lime soup with cilantro that they say is a riff on a recipe by Alice Walters. I happened to have carrots and parsnips that I needed to use up so I thought this recipe seemed great since it comes out to be a creamy rich soup that is WITHOUT butter and cream. I made very slight changes. You can’t change this up too much because carrot doesn’t have a strong flavor. My biggest change wasn’t on purpose to change the recipe…I didn’t have enough carrots and happened to have parsnips to use. I think I might have accidentally improved the flavor with parsnips but parsnips can be difficult and sometimes you really need to remove the woody core they sometimes have. I also substituted onion for shallots and added a few garlic cloves. I thought a little added white pepper and a small pinch of cinnamon would be good so I added that too.

Ingredients for around 4 smaller servings

1 lb carrots – peeled, cut up in smaller pieces

3 large parsnips or around 1/2 lb parsnips (you might need to remove woody cores of parsnips. Peel and cut into smaller pieces

3 garlic cloves – chop

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + more for serving

2 Tablespoons cilantro + 1/2 cup – chopped

1 lime zest & juice separated

2 jalapeños – stem and core removed – small chopped and separate (you need one for the soup and one for the garnish)

1 sweet onion – minced and divided in half

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

small pinch cinnamon

optional some sour cream or crema for serving

Directions

In a large sauce pot heat up the oil till it is shimmering. Add the carrots, parsnips, 2 Tablespoons cilantro, lime zest, one jalapeño, 1/2 the onion, coriander, salt, stirring occasionally. Cover till vegetables are fork tender. Add 4-5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the remaining jalapeño, onion, cilantro and lime juice. season with salt and pepper. Set to the side. The soup is ready to puree…Be careful when using a blender. It is safer to use a blending wand. Taste and adjust if necessary.

Serve with cold vegetable garnish, a little olive oil and optional sour cream or crema.

Carrot Parsnip Lime Soup with Cilantro

Enjoy!

A special thanks to Milk Street to get me off my ass to prepare this healthy style soup that I needed to make.

The Forking Truth

Bok Choy Garlic Stems and Chestnuts in Asian Sauce Recipe

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I went to H Mart Korean/American Supermarket and got some interesting garlic stems….I’ve heard of garlic stems but didn’t buy them till today.

I washed a piece off to see what it is like.

Raw – it’s much more tender and sweet than I thought it would be. It does taste like sweet roasted garlic too! I thought it would go well with bok choy in an Asian type of sauce.

I was SMART….I like cooking the bok choy healthy style instead of fried because it comes out good blanched in water seasoned with a little sesame oil. I figured that I can blanch the garlic stems first in the same water to give the water a little garlic taste.

Then I made the sauce and it came to me that chestnuts would be delicious with these flavors and that is how this dish came to be. Serving size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want this as a meal or with lots of rice or as a side dish. I think this will make between 4 – 6 servings depending on portion.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 lb bok choy – cut in half long ways

1 lb garlic stems – trim off any dried end and cut in edible lengths ( around 1 1/2 inches)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2-3 Tablespoons gochujang – preferably purchased from an Asian Market (it will taste better….also the different brands taste different) (I buy the one from Korea that comes in tubes and use a whole tube)

1 Tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

7 oz roasted chestnuts – slightly crushed

2 Tablespoons chives for garnishing

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds for garnishing

Directions

In a small mixing bowl add the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and chestnuts.

Fill a sauce pot around halfway high with water and the sesame oil to boil. add the garlic stems. Boil them around 2 minutes but no more than 3 minutes. Remove after cooked and drain. In the same boiling water add the bok choy bulb end into the water. Let the bulbs boil around three minutes then stir the tops in the water for only a second or two to wilt. When cooked drain. Mix in the gochijang sauce and top with chives and sesame seeds. Serve.

Bok Choy Garlic Stems & Chestnuts in Asian Sauce

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Smoky Slightly Spicy Aleppo Pepper Cauliflower Vegetable Bowl or Side dish Recipe

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I’ve discovered that smoked paprika and Aleppo pepper taste really delicious together with a little saffron and a few other things. I make cauliflower a lot because it is healthy and low calorie. Another thing that is great about cauliflower is that it taste very neutral so you can jazz it up anyway you like. This was easy and delicious. I just mixed up my dressing for the vegetables in a big bowl with all the vegetables and then I roasted them. Mine got finished with pea sprouts, fresh basil, and roasted salted peanuts. I had a really big cauliflower and this made two meals and 4 side dishes for me. I do note if you only have a medium sized cauliflower that you will have too much seasoning for it and you might need to use slightly less of the dressing.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1 large head cauliflower broke down into manageable florets

4 radish – cut into thick slices

1/2 large onion – slices

5 oz. seafood mushrooms

1 carrot – peeled if not organic – sliced

1 container pea sprouts (2 oz) – cut off bottoms with peas

1/4 cup basil – torn

1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed

1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

1 pinch saffron – crumbled

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon granulated onion

2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons jalapeño brine (preferably from TheForkingTruth.com pickled jalapeño recipe or purchased from a farmer’s market.

Set your oven to 400 degrees F

In a large mixing bowl combine the Aleppo pepper, smoked paprika, saffron, white pepper, salt, black pepper, garlic, onion, oil, and brine. Now add the cauliflower, radish, onion, carrot, mushrooms. Mix well. Spread out on a baking sheet.

Roast on the middle rack in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F. Roast until you get brown crispy edges. (Mine took 35 minutes but timing can differ)

Take out and top with fresh basil, pea sprouts and crushed peanuts.

Smoky Slightly Spicy Aleppo Pepper Cauliflower Bowl or side dish

This is delicious as a bowl with or without meat and is also delicious ass a side dish.

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Three Cheese Mac and Cheese With Pickled Shallots and Mushrooms Recipe

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I had raclette cheese that was getting old and I also happened to have gruyere cheese, shallots and a few more things that I needed to use up. I came across a recipe for macaroni and cheese with pickled shallots and I thought that sounds interesting. I started to follow that recipe and found many errors in the recipe. The sauce was a little flat until I fixed it. The BIGGEST problem that the recipe had was that it used TWICE as much pasta as I put in it…..I’m thinking that it must be a misprint…It would come out bone dry with twice as much pasta……..I fixed up the recipe as I was going along. And it did come out FORKING DELICIOUS>>>>Serving size is difficult to judge. I don’t know if you want a lot of little portions or big portions. It will make around 8 good sized portions.

Ingredients for around 8 portions.

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

1/2 cup leftover mushrooms or around a cup of thin sliced mushrooms that you cook up

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon sea salt + salt to boil pasta

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup corn starch

5 cups non fat milk (I used nonfat powdered milk and added HOT water to it.) If you use regular milk you need to heat it up.

14 oz gruyere cheese – grated

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

8 oz cavatappi pasta

14 oz raclette cheese – Most of this cheese is for topping the dish…I only used around a 1/2 cup added to the sauce. ( mine came in slices from Costco and I reserved 10 slices for topping the dish…….You can grate it all and reserve a good amount for topping the dish.

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese – grated

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

non stick spray

chives for finishing

Directions

Combine shallots, vinegar, water, sugar, salt in a microwavable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave three minutes and set to the side. After around ten minutes remove the shallots and add the mushrooms the the pickling solution.

Set the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put a pot of water on to a medium boil with a generous amount of salt in it. When the water starts to boil you add the pasta. You want to cook the pasta 2 minutes less than suggested. Then drain it.

You can start the seconded pot while the pasta is boiling or wait a few more minutes and don’t dirty two pots.

Get out your sauce pot and melt the butter on medium high heat. Whisk in corn starch and whisk constancy till the cornstarch turns light brown and take off the heat. Whisk in the heated milk. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer and let thicken slightly. Take off the heat and whisk in the gruyere, cheddar and the around a half cup of the raclette cheese. Add the black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg, scallions. Drain the shallots and mushrooms. Add about 1/2 the shallots and all the mushrooms to the cheese mixture and leave it to the side.

Spray a BIG pan or 1/2 buffet pan with non stick spray.

The drained pasta gets mixed with the cheese mixture. Then you put it in the pan.

Top with raclette cheese.

Next top with the remaining pickled shallots

Put in the middle rack of a pre heated 375 degree oven for around 35 minutes.

Add chives if you have any.

Everyone will enjoy!

People will sample it all day long.

The Forking Truth

Spicy Basil Turkey Individual Meatloafs Recipe

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This recipe is only for the individual turkey meatloafs. They are easy, quick, and delicious to prepare. If you love spicy Thai Basil dishes from Thai Restaurants then you will enjoy this dish. I will tell you how I made the sauce and cured egg yolk too. I make a very concentrated spicy Thai Basil sauce. I used around 2/3 of the sauce to flavor the meatloafs. The remaining concentrated Thai Basil sauce went into a roasted squash that I pureed with a dash of honey and a little water to thin it down. You can take it further if you like by adding cream, coconut milk, butter, or stock if you like. Or maybe you might want to serve the meatloaf in a soup or with saucy noodles. Cured egg yolks are extra easy too but yolks take 4 days to cure so you need to start them in advance. Cured egg yolks are just 1/2 kosher salt and 1/2 sugar mixed together. You bury the egg yolk in the salt sugar mixture, refrigerate and wait for them to become ready.(around 4 days). The cured egg is whole but you have to grate it like cheese to use.

Ingredients for 6 servings

2 oz fresh Thai Basil leaves – rough chop – spicy Thai Basil sauce + extra basil leaves for garnish (holy basil would be first choice, Thai Basil second choice)

3 Thai chili peppers – stems removed – rough chopped – spicy basil sauce

3 garlic cloves – rough chopped – spicy basil sauce

2 shallots – rough chopped – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon Golden Mountain Soy Based Seasoning – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon fish sauce – preferably Red Boat Brand – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon pure honey – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon water – spicy basil sauce

1 lb ground turkey (I used 85% lean today)

1/2 cup scallions – chopped

2 eggs – beaten

1 cup – cooked white rice (I used leftover take out rice that I froze and thawed)

1/2 cup spicy concentrated basil sauce

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a sheet pan with non stick spray. Put pan to the side.

Make the spicy basil sauce. Blend together the Thai Basil leaves, Thai Chili, garlic, shallots, brown sugar, Golden Mountain Seasoning, fish sauce, honey and water till smooth. Set to the side.

Mix together the meatloaf mixture. In a large mixing bowl mix together the turkey, eggs, scallions, rice, and 1/2 cup of basil sauce. Let sit at least 15 minutes. The mixture will be soft. Cut the mixture into thirds and cut each third in half so you have six portions. Form 6 meatloafs and space them apart a bit.

Put the meatloafs on the middle rack of a pre-heated 350 degree F oven till cooked threw (20 minutes).

Add a sauce if desired. Add basil leaves.

Spicy Basil Individual Meatloaf

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Yotam Ottolenghi Style Oven Fries with Tahini Yogurt and Smoky Sweet Nuts Recipe

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This is an extremely easy and really delicious recipe by vegetable genius and award wining chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi. This time I really didn’t mean to change the recipe at all but I made some minor substitutions to what I had around the house. I will write out what should be used and next to it if I made a substitution.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 1/4 lbs Yukon gold potatoes cut in 1/2 inch matchsticks (I used 1 1/2 lbs red skinned potatoes)

2 teaspoons rice flour (I used 2 teaspoons Wondra flour)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt (I used sea salt….)

1 heaping Tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro or parsley stems or a mix of the two (I used a container of radish sprouts)

1 1/2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 Tablespoons olive oill

1/3 cup pine nuts (I substituted around a total of a 1/2 a cup of slightly broken walnuts)

1/4 cup chopped almonds (see substitution above)

1 teaspoon light brown sugar

1 teaspoon nigella seeds or black sesame seeds

1 teaspoon urfa pepper flakes

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika

3 Tablespoons Greek style yogurt

2 1/2 Tablespoons tahini

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves – minced

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F

On a large parchment lined baking tray, toss the potatoes with the flour, oil and one teaspoon of salt. Spread the potatoes out in a single layer. Cover the pan tight with aluminum foil. This goes in the oven for only 15 minutes just to get the potatoes to soften slightly.

Make the pickled stems (or sprouts). Add herb to small bowl and add the vinegar to pickle it slightly. Set this to the side.

Prepare the nuts. Add oil to a small frying pan on medium high heat. When hot add the nuts and cook stirring occasionally until toasted and slightly brown (around 1-3 minutes). Remove from heat and add the sugar, nigella seeds, urfa and Aleppo Chile flakes, paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Transfer this mixture to a bowl.

Make tahini yogurt. Add the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and a quarter teaspoon of salt to a bowl and mix well. You will have to thin this mixture down with water because it will thicken up even more. Start with 2 1/2 Tablespoons of water.

Up the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the foil from the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the oven for 15 minutes. Use a spatula and flip the potatoes over and cook them till nicely golden and crispy (around 20-25 minutes).

To serve transfer potatoes to a serving platter. Drizzle the potatoes with the tahini yogurt. Spoon the nut mixture on the top. Drain the herb and put them on the very top. Serve Immediately.

Yotam Ottolenghi Style Oven Fries with Tahini Yogurt and Smoky Sweet Nuts

ENJOY!

A Special THANKS to Yotam Ottolenghi for another FORKING Amazing recipe.

The Forking Truth

Beet/Apple Tartar with Jalapeño Cream Sauce herbs and Mustard Seed Pink Peppercorn Tuile Recipe

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I was reading the Joel Robuchon menu from Las Vegas just to know what was on the menu. I think the first appetizer I read was called La Betteraue that translates to the beet. The menu described it as beets and apple with herbs, and green mustard sorbet. I searched the web and couldn’t find a recipe for it but I did find photos of the plate with different variations. I came up with something different but it was inspired by what I saw and read from Robuchon’s menu. Serving size is difficult to judge and also makes maybe twice as many tuille as you really need. This is almost sweet and almost dessert like….I thought it is perfect as an appetizer or dessert for people who don’t like dessert. I like for the serving to be extra small….so this makes around ten extra small servings or really about 5 normal servings. This recipe will take two days to prepare.

Ingredients for around ten extra small servings

1 lb beets – peeled – cut into pea sized cubes

1 large apple – peeled, cored – cut into pea sized cubes

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup light brown sugar or natural cane sugar

1 cup water

3 Tablespoons tapioca flour (or just blend up tapioca)

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 egg – beaten

2 oz unsalted butter – room temperature

2 1/2 oz sugar

1 egg white

2 oz flour

1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon pink peppercorns (crushed with fingers)

8 oz jalapeños -core, stem seeds removed – rough chopped

6 garlic cloves

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 avocado

2 Tablespoons cilantro -chopped

big pinch ground white pepper

1 cup assortment fresh herbs and or sprouts to finish.

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the tuille dough

Mix together the butter, sugar, egg white, flour, mustard seeds, and peppercorns. Wrap with plastic wrap and now refrigerate.

Make the beets.

In a big mixing bowl mix together the beets, apple, vinegar, sugar, water, tapioca flour and salt.

Put this mixture in a large baking dish and cook it on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven for an hour and 15 minutes. Let cool till room temperature.

Now make tuile.

Pull dough out of the refrigerator and let warm to room temperature.

Turn oven to 300 degrees F.

Fill a pastry bag with a line tip. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Get creative and squirt out a design in a single layer with slight spaces. The dough will spread. This dough only needs a short time in the oven…You want them in the oven till the ends lightly brown. The timing varies depending on size. Mine took around 12 minutes. You can leave them harden on the baking sheet or lift them up and dry them on an uneven surface so you can make them into an interesting shape.

Make the jalapeño salsa cream.

Bring to a boil the water jalapeños and garlic and salt. Reduce to simmer and let it simmer ten minutes. Then add the oil, avocado, cilantro and white pepper and blend.

Finish up the beets

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix in the beaten egg into the cooled off beet mixture.

Spray a cupcake pan with non stick spray. Spoon in beet mixture and cook around 15 minutes. Let cool on counter till room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and chill over night.

The next day insert a butter knife at the edges and pop them out of pan. Serve at room temperature and top with herbs, jalapeño cream and serve with a tuile or two.

Not Robuchon Beet/Apple with herbs, jalapeño cream. and mustard seed pink peppercorn tuile

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Asian Style Mango Orange Slaw Recipe

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I had a couple mangos and some cabbage that I needed to use up and that is how I came up with this recipe.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1/2 small cabbage – shredded

1 small onion (I used a red one) – fine slice and then chop

1 carrot shredded

2 small mangos (mine were small) thin slices

1 orange – supreme if you can – or chop

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon fish sauce (preferably Red Boat)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons pure honey

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and only the fine stems) – chop

2 Tablespoons scallions or chives – sliced thin

Optional – pickled baby bell pepper rings ( I have a 12 ingredient recipe for pickled baby bell peppers on TheForkingTruth.com or you can simply do a less complex version of just slicing the baby bell peppers extra thin and just let them marinate in apple cider vinegar for a couple hours on the counter or over night in the refrigerator.

Directions in a large mixing bowl add the lime juice, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, honey and red pepper flakes and mix well. To that bill add the cabbage, onion, carrot, mango, orange, cilantro, and scallions (or chives) and mix that up. Add pickled baby bell pepper rings if using.

Asian Style Mango Orange Slaw

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Paccheri Pie Recipe

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Made a guess and it worked out! Had a bag of Paccheri Pasta. This pasta is shaped like large rings. I figured that I could turn it into something like a lasagna and not pre-boil the noodles and it worked out perfect. The cheese filling gets piped into the noodles with a pastry bag. This is just a basic sort of baked pasta recipe. Nothing fancy but it is a favorite of many. My idea of serving size will differ from your idea of serving size. For me this made 9 very small servings that you have to have with something else. I do note that I like smaller servings for a rich dish like this. So my guess is that for most people this might? make 6 servings that you still need with some vegetables or a salad.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1/2 lb paccheri pasta (could differ slightly..depending on how it fills your pan.

1 cup grated parmigiana + extra for serving

4 oz mild or medium provolone cheese – grated (or you can use mozzarella) + extra if you want to melt some on for serving

1 lb all natural fresh ricotta (I usually make my own)

1 egg – lightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

couple grates fresh nutmeg

1 teaspoon parsley – chopped

around 32 oz tomato sauce (you can get a recipe here on The Forking Truth or use what you normally use + plus extra for serving

non stick spray

Directions

Set your oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a springform pan with non stick spray. Use an aluminum lined baking sheet under the springform pan to catch leaks. (my pan always leaks)

In a large bowl mix together the parmesan, provolone (or mozzarella), ricotta, egg, white pepper, nutmeg and parsley. Mix well. Use a pastry bag and fill it with the cheese mixture. Put this to the side.

Pour 1/3-1/2 inch of tomato sauce in the bottom of the springform pan. Push in the pasta and try to get sauce up the edges when you push the pasta into the pan.

Fill the pasta rings with cheese.

Top this extra generously with the remaining sauce…Around 1/3-1/2 inch over the pasta.

Cover tight with foil.

This goes on the middle rack of a preheated 375 degree oven for 60 minutes. This needs to sit on the counter to cool down to room temperature. Then you refrigerate it over night to set up. You might want to reheat with some added grated cheese and maybe a little more sauce.

Paccheri Pie

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth