I came across a Nigerian Jollof Recipe by Ozoz Sokoh that goes by Kitchen Butterfly. I enjoyed a no added meat version of Jollof Rice that I tasted at a restaurant called West Hut in Phoenix AZ. There are many varieties of jollof rice out there. There are over a dozen different West African countries and they all make Jollof rice different. When I read the Kitchen Butterfly Version I thought it might taste similar to what I tried at West Hut. Then I’m thinking that I don’t need a big pot of rice and really only need to cook vegetables today so I used her spices to come up with what I got here. I made my version FAT FREE and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS!!!! I think everyone out there would like this! Serving size may differ because I don’t know if you want a small side serving or a large bowl full.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 lbs carrots -peel if not organic, cut in chunks
1/4 cabbage – rough cut
1 onion – slices and cut the slices in half
4 oz celery – chop
hot pepper to taste – I use one hot hatch chile – fine dice
2 teaspoons Caribbean Curry Powder (I used Kitchen Butterfly’s recipe and 1/2ed her recipe and I still have quite a bit extra here’s 1/2 her recipe 1 1/2 Tablespoons turmeric, 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground coriander, 1 Tablespoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek, 1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon fennel)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
24 oz. tomato puree (preferably from Italy so it’s sweet)
1/4 cup water to get all the tomato puree out
12 oz peas (I used a bag of frozen that I thawed)
optional – sea salt – to taste
optional – ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl add the carrots, cabbage, onion, hot pepper, Caribbean curry powder, thyme, bay leaves, tomato puree. (water to the can or bottle) and that liquid gets added, Mix well.
This goes in a large covered pan (or two pans) on the middle rack till the vegetables are fork tender. Ovens do differ and so do the vegetables so it will take 90-120 minutes.
Your thawed peas should get heated up slightly. (microwave, oven or pan) and stir them in before serving.
West African Inspired Carrots, Cabbage & Peas
WOW! This came out so FORKING DELICIOUS!
A Special THANKS!!!!!! to Kitchen Butterfly (Ozoz Sokoh) and Food52 for your recipes so I could do what I got here.
My 2020 recipe for pastrami was the best ever. I wanted to delete my earlier pastrami recipes but as luck would have it I always got a complaint from someone that I deleted a recipe while they were working on it. I wasn’t planing on changing my 2020 recipe but I accidentally grabbed granulated onion so I’m giving it a try with the addition of granulated onion. Making pastrami is easy but is also very risky. Even if you are a professional sometimes the meat won’t cure and preserve everywhere because of the natural fat in it and it can spoil even if you did everything correctly. That is the reason most delicatessens who use a lot of pastrami pay companies to do the brining for them.
To start with you need a whole brisket…..The pounds of it can differ. (I think it’s a waste to do all this work for only a half brisket. After-all you can freeze the leftovers.
The hardest part is trimming the pastrami. You have to trim off all the really hard fat.
I might have trimed off more fat than you would? I also separated the point from the flat. After the trimming you need to puncture the brisket all over on both sides so it gets brined correctly.
Ingredients for the pastrami brine. (You might want to prepare the brine the day before because it takes a very long time to cool down. IT’S ESSENTIAL FOR THE BRINE TO BE COOL.
2 Tablespoons Prague powder (buy online…This makes the pastrami pink, helps to preserve it and you get that certain flavor that you can’t get without)
8 oz Crystal Brand Kosher salt (Mortons salt crystals are a different shape and don’t penetrate the meat as well)
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup honey
4 teaspoons juniper berries
6 Tablespoons coriander seeds
4 teaspoons allspice berries
6 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons whole cloves
4 teaspoons mustard seeds
4 Tablespoons Tellicherry black peppercorns (not the same flavor from other black peppercorns)
4 teaspoons white peppercorns
2 teaspoons ground ginger
6 oz garlic (around 40 cloves) rough chop or slice
2 Tablespoons granulated garlic
2 Tablespoons granulated onion
4 hot dried chilies – crushed
4 teaspoons smoked paprika
16 cups water
Directions – bring to boil and boil for about ten minutes. Let cool. Brisket can’t be added to a hot or warm brine.(I divide the brine into three bowls and make an ice bath to cool them down)
If you separate the brisket (or cut in half…but you will have a big line of fat in the middle with meat that needs to be cut in different directions….) You can use turkey cooking bags to hold 1/2 of each of the pastrami. You also try to squeeze as much of the air out as you can. Today I used canned sodas to help keep the brine all around the brining briskets.
The pastrami should be turned over every day.
I brine mine for 6 days. (the longer you brine the chances of spoilage are higher)
After 6 days you remove the briskets from the brine and blot them off.
Then you have to add the rub using a spice blender.
8 Tablespoons coriander seeds
2 Tablespoons Tellicherry black peppercorns
2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
This gets blended up and you rub it all over the brisket.
Smoke with pecan wood at least 5 hours but 7 hours is better changing the wood as needed.
This gets finished over night in a low 185- 200 degree F oven. (last time I did last time at 185.. did 200 this time because my oven doesn’t do 185.
If you make pastrami then you might want to make rye bread or rye rolls. (My recipes are in search)
Made Rye Rolls today!
Same recipe as before but in the Whirlpool Oven They needed 25 minutes at 425 degrees F.
Here is 1/2 of the pastrami cold. (it’s better to slice uo the pastrami cold)
BBQ Pastrami and Rye Rolls
I don’t mean to brag but The FORKING Truth is that the pastrami and rye rolls are far better than from most restaurants!
I came up with this recipe and it came out so tasty and so easy you will love it. You don’t have to use a piping bag like I did. I did mine with a professional sized tip and it was not real hard but some work to do. I found out on my 2nd try with a home cooks star tip that it was even harder because the tips are meant for frosting not dough. It’s easier and better to roll the dough. You can just roll the dough into 24 logs (half, half, half again, and so on). If you eat one then you have 24 servings. If you eat two at a sitting then you have 12 servings.
Ingredients for around 12 servings
3 ounces mature cheddar cheese (I buy the cheddar that Costco sells) – shredded
4 ounces flour
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
2+1/2 ounce sweet butter – melted
1 egg – lightly beaten
non stick spray.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Lightly spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.
In a large mixing bowl mix together all the ingredients (expect non stick spray) (cheddar, flour, smoked paprika, Old Bay Seasoning, butter, egg, baking powder)
Either pipe (with a large professional sized tip) or roll logs with the dough.
I piped and used a tip like this.
When you have your cheese straws made put the baking sheet on your middle rack and keep them in the oven until you start to brown. Ovens do differ and the size of your straw may differ. Mine took 25 minutes.
I really have no FORKING idea on what to name this dish. This dish was inspired and adapted by Milk Street Magazine from chef Zuber Momin for Masala fries. I did a spin on the Milk Street version with a couple changes and I used these flavors on spaghetti squash. The original recipe was made with Kashmiri pepper. I didn’t have any so I made mine with what I thought would be the closest substitute gochugaru pepper. One of the other changes I made to the recipe was to add butter. This came out FORKING AMAZING! Maybe the easiest recipe I ever did and maybe the most delicious spaghetti squash recipe ever.
Ingredients for around 6 side servings
1 good sized spaghetti squash (I think mine was slightly over 2 pounds)
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoon gochugaru pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons course sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 Tablespoons butter – room temperature (doesn’t matter if salted or sweet….I normally don’t use salted but had salted butter I had to use and I thought the taste was perfect. You can use sweet butter and add salt if you think it needs it)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Put squash on pan. Cover squash with foil. This goes on middle rack till squash gets cooked. Ovens and all squash do differ so each one out there might take a different amount of time. Mine I thought would take an hour so I left mine in for an hour and it was hard. So I turned it over and checked it after a half hour and mine was still hard so mine needed about 1/2 hour for a total of two hours. I doubt yours will take that long but it might?
While the squash is cooking mix up the spice-butter. In a small mixing bowl combine the cumin, ginger, gochugaru, salt, black pepper, and butter. Put to the side.
I used to say cook till fork tender but really it’s better if you can make a dent with your finger.
This squash came out really perfect.
When the squash is cool enough to handle…You cut it in half and pull out the guts (membrane) and seeds. It should be just like this and look like spaghetti. Mix in the spiced butter and enjoy!!!!! This came out so FORKING Tasty that I had to hold back on adding more. It’s just perfect. I think most people…Even people that don’t like Indian or Korean food will still like this.
Crazy FORKING Delicious Spaghetti Squash
A Special THANKS!!!!!! To chef Zuber Momin and Milk Street Magazine so I could get what I got here!
This is a variation of a brisket recipe I got by watching Diners Drive Inns and Dives on Food Network. Guy Fieri said this brisket was amazing and I think my last brisket recipe was pretty much what I saw on TV. There is no searing or smoking. The hard part is trimming off the hard fat and deciding on how much fat that you want to leave on. Briskets were on sale so I picked one up. It happened to be a small one (around 9 lbs) I cut off not all but most of the fat. Then I just cut the brisket in half. Sprinkled a whole 1.41 oz box of Sazon all purpose seasoning. One pan got 2 lbs onions and some garlic and a 1/2 cup of water, smoked sea salt and black pepper. The other pan got red peppers, garlic, smoked sea salt, black pepper, and 1/2 a cup of water. Cover pans tight and 6 hours latter we had really great flavorful brisket. (one pan didn’t contain onions so my dogs could eat some and it still came out delicious anyway) Serving size will differ dramatically on depending on how much fat you trim and how much fat you are willing to eat. Jiggly brisket fat grosses me out so I trimmed mine far more than you probably would. My 9 pound brisket only made around 9 not so big dinners……..(but I think they gave me more fat than meat …..).
Ingredients for at least 9 servings
1 brisket (mine was 9 pounds) – trimmed to your liking and cut in half
1 – 1.41 ounce package Sazon con Colantro & Achiote (cilantro and annatto)
15 garlic cloves – chopped
2 lbs. onions – sliced and rough chopped
3 red bell peppers – slices and rough chopped
4 sweet potatoes – peeled – cut in half if large
1 cup water
a good sprinkle smoked sea salt
1 good sprinkle fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F
Each pan gets 1/2 a brisket sprinkled with 1/2 the Sazon. One pan gets all the onions, 1/2 the garlic, a good sprinkle of smoked sea salt and black pepper and a half cup of water.
The 2nd pan gets all the bell peppers, the sweet potatoes, 1/2 the garlic, a good sprinkle of smoked sea salt, black pepper, and a 1/2 cup water.
These pans get covered tight with foil and go on the middle rack for around 6 hours.
I thought this was extra easy!
FORKING EASY and DELICIOUS Brisket
(Tip***** You will want to put the briskets in the refrigerator over night so you can slice them. The liquid you might want to chill overnight so you can remove the thick layer of fat. *****Another hint- You might want to keep that fat in your freezer. It can add a lot of flavors to other foods and it can also be used to make beef gravy.)
This recipe isn’t for everyone because you have to wing it depending on the heat and taste of your hatch Chile peppers. The Smith’s Grocery store near me has a really good Murray’s Cheese Counter and I almost always pick up the WOO HOO sales at the cheese counter for fun. As a result my hobby at Smith’s my refrigerator is usually packed with TONS of cheese that I hardly pay for. I know most people would never use this much cheese in a recipe but it came out really delicious. I also have many dried peppers I use to boost the taste since the hatch chilies I bought here are extra light on flavor and extra EXTRA light with heat. You will not be in the same situation.
I do make my macaroni and cheese different from most people no matter what flavor profile I’m doing. I do make a cheese sauce but I usually make it with a little corn starch (I HATE the taste of flour when I eat macaroni and cheese and cornstarch works better), nonfat dry milk, no butter, and LOTS of cheese.
Today I did something a little different. I was afraid I’d over cook the pasta. So I started the pasta out in a bowl of hot salted water for a few minutes. I noticed the pasta was softer and I drained it. Then I baked it with layers of cheese sauce and some added cheese.
When this all baked it did have some oil on the top and I added some crushed white tortilla chips and a masa, onion, crumb mixture that I added to the top.
Then I finished it with some chopped Mexican green onion, cilantro, and some pickled red onion.
According to my husband this came out to be a Masterpiece. It did come out FORKING delicious too!
Ingredients for around 12 servings
1/2 a pound box of pasta (either a point or twisty type) 8-9 ounces
1 teaspoon jalapeño flakes (or to taste) – cheese sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper – cheese sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper – cheese sauce
15 oz mature cheddar cheese – either shredded or chopped (This is used to layer between pasta and sauce)
4 oz butter – melted – I used salted but you can use either – crumbs
1/2 cup harina de maiz – crumbs
1/4 cup flour – crumbs
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used Mexican onion) – crumbs
1/2 cup hard shredded Italian cheese (I used grana padano) – crumbs
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper flakes – crumbs
1 teaspoon smoked paprika – crumbs
non stick spray
2 oz crushed white tortilla chips – for finishing
2 Tablespoons – scallions – for finishing
2 Tablespoons – cilantro , chopped – for finishing
Optional (but better if you make some) 2 Tablespoons pickled red onions – for finishing (EZ – 1 onion sliced thin, 1/2 C. water, 1/2C. white vinegar, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon g. black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon g. coriander)
Directions
Microwave or put on a pot of water with salt to boil. The pasta only needs around three minutes and then drain the pasta and put to the side.
Make cheese sauce. In a pot mix together the corn starch and milk powder. Then whisk in the water. This needs to be on medium heat until thickened. Keep stirring the bottom because it can burn.After it is thick add the cheddar, goat, brie cheese, and hatch Chile peppers. You will need to lower the heat to low. Add the hatch flakes, jalapeno flakes, black and white pepper.. Take off the heat.
This gets layered like lasagna.
Preheat oven to 350.
Use a big pan or 1/2 pan and spray with non stick spray.
Start with about three serving spoons of cheese sauce.
Next add about 1/3rd of pasta.
next add about 1/3rd of the cheddar cheese.
2 -3 serving spoons of cheese sauce.
1/3 of the noodles.
about 1/2 the cheddar.
1/2 the cheese sauce that is left. then top that with remaining pasta.
Add more cheese.
use the rest of the sauce.
Cover with foil that was sprayed with non stick spray. This goes on the middle rack of a preheated 350F degree oven till it’s cooked threw. Oven DO FORKING DIFFER. In my old GE oven this would take around an hour. In my Whirlpool oven this took 1 hour and 20 minutes.
While it’s baking make the crumb topping.
In a small bowl combine the butter, harina de mai, flour, onion, italian cheese, chipotle pepper flakes, and smoked paprika. This goes on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray. This goes on your upper rack till done. In my oven this took 30 minutes but oven do differ. I’d look at it in 20 minutes and then decide if it needs more time.
After 30 minutes mine looked like this.
By now your baked pasta dish will be ready.
You need to assemble it.
It will have some oil on the top that separated from the cheese.
The crushed tortilla flakes are perfect for that add them first.
Then add the crumb topping.
Next add the cilantro and scallions.
Finish with pickled onions.
Extra Cheesy Hatch Chile and Cheese Noodle Casserole
I was thinking about a recipe by James Beard winner and Top Chef finalist Shota Nakajima. It was his Watermelon Salad in Miso Honey Dressing Recipe. I did my twist on it and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS.
Watermelon Salad with Miso Honey Dressing
So I changed it up again and still came up with something delicious!
Serving size always varies. The vegetables are different in size and so are we with different appetites. This for me worked out to 6 side servings for dinner so I’ll say 6 servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings.
2 lbs carrots – remove skin if not organic cut however you like but that will change up the timing. I cut mine in a rough cut like this.
1/2 a cabbage – remove core and rough cut
1/2 onion – cut in slices and cut slices in half
2 Tablespoons butter – melted (doesn’t matter if sweet or salted because you adjust salt to your liking)
This is how I make my basic Deviled Eggs. If you eat two halves as a serving then this will make 9 servings with a few extra whites that you can snack on.
Ingredients for around 9 servings.
12 eggs – boiled till hard (10 minutes) soaked in ice bath till cold, then peeled, cut in halves. Rice the yolks.
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon piment d’ espelette + plus extra to sprinkle the cooked whites
2 Tablespoons Dijon but preferably Amora Brand
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
smoked sea salt – to taste
9 small celery leaves
Directions
Lightly sprinkle the egg whites on both sides with smoked sea salt and piment d’ espelette.
In a medium bowl the riced yolks, mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon piment d’ espelette, Dijon, dry mustard, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire sauce together.
This mixture gets spooned or piped into the egg whites. Finish with a piece of celery leaf.
I got some sweet potatoes so I threw them in the oven with a little water to steam them till they got soft. Then I got the idea to make them into hand pies. I made them up real fast. I did have extra filling left over that you can heat and then eat. I got lots of compliments on my unique crust. If you mix it up by hand real fast like I did it comes out light and flaky like from a master baker.
Ingredients for around 10 servings
2 cups flour
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon course sea salt
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs separated (egg whites for inside dough for sealing and yolks for glazing)
1 lb sweet potatoes – cooked, peeled, and mashed
1 egg – lightly beaten
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
Directions
In a large bowl mix together the flour, oil, vinegar, salt, water, and baking powder. Make it into a short fat log and wrap with plastic wrap.
Mix together the sweet potato mixture (sweet potatoes, 1 egg, cinnamon, ginger, dark brown sugar, and sour cream. If it’s lumpy use a mixer.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Either divide into 10 equal pieces or pinch off around a golfball 1.5-2oz piece of dough and roll it thin and flat and close to a round shape.
Brush the whole top with egg white.
Add small scoop or teaspoon of sweet potato mixture.
Bring up ends together.
crimp ends with your fingers or just use a fork.
These all go on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Brush the tops with all of the egg yolks.
These go in the oven till golden……depending on your oven around 30-40 minutes.
Mostarda is a spicy Northern Italian Condiment. It is usually but not always made with candied fruit and mustard syrup. I read at www.LaCucinaItaliana.com that there are SIX basic kinds of mostarda (cherry, apricot, fig, peach, squash, tomato). According to La Cucina Italiana instead of mustard they use something called mustard essence instead of mustard to make mostarda. I used a combination of mustard and mustard powder to make my inspiration. I previously made a FORKING DELICIOUS acorn squash with mostarda and taleggio cheese….so this is a spin off of that. Serving size is always difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want a small or large serving. For me this made 6 side servings so I’ll say 6 servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
1 cabbage – core removed, rough chopped
1 onion – rough chopped
3 carrots – peel if not organic – slice on a slight diagonal around 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup chives
4 oz gorgonzola – crumbled (or any blue cheese)
1 cup sugar
1 lemon – zest and juice but separate
2 Tablespoons mustard powder
3 Tablespoons whole grain mustard (I used Maille Old Style)
2 short Calabrian dried chili peppers – crumbled
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt – to taste
black pepper – to taste
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl (or maybe a few bowls if you bowl isn’t very large) mix together the sugar, lemon juice (zest is for finishing), mustard powder, mustard, oil, Calabrian chili flakes, and sea salt. Mix well. Mix in the cabbage, onion, and carrots.
This goes on baking sheets with rims in an even layer.
Add a light amount of fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.
This goes in your preheated 400 degree F oven for 30-50 minutes or until lightly charred.
