I got these rare beautiful Pink Lemons. The pink lemon differs from regular lemons and does have a more intense lemon flavor. It’s the lemon you really want. The pink lemon is also the lemon the got it’s fame from being known for “Pink Lemonade.” Because of the stronger lemon taste these also are the lemons that are best for dessert use. The lemon juice is really pink but the lemon filling does come out looking like a regular lemon bar.

I recently tried a lemon bar I was very disappointed with from a professional bakery

so I was inspired to bake a superior lemon bar to the one I recently tried and that I did.

I decided the crust of the lemon bar should be thin tender and buttery and not sweet. The filling is intensely lemon. The crumbs are almost shortbread like and do melt in your mouth. The crust and crumbs are pretty easy to prepare. You start them off together and then eyeball 2/3rds of the dough to be the crust and the remaining 1/3rd of the dough for some added ingredients to be the crumbs.

Ingredients to make around 16 servings

8 oz.  unsalted butter (2 4oz. sticks melted)

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter (for the filling)

1 3/4 cup flour

2 Tablespoons flour (added to the crumbs)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (for dough)

1 pinch salt (for the filling)

1 XL egg beaten (for the dough)

3 XL egg yolks beaten (for the filling)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon sugar (for the dough)

1 1/4 cup sugar (for the filling)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (for the crumbs)

3 Tablespoons corn starch (filling)

3 pink lemons + zest from 3 pink lemons

5 teaspoons 10X sugar

nonstick cooking spray for your baking pan.

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and you need two baking pans that are around 8 in. x 12 in. Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray and set to the side.

Mix your melted butter, 1 3/4 C. flour, 1/4 t. salt, whole egg, baking powder, 1 Tablespoon sugar together. Eyeball the mixture in thirds and set one third aside.

Take the 2/3rds of your pastry dough and pat into your sprayed baking sheet and pierce randomly with a fork.

Now for your remaining 1/3 of dough add the 2 Tablespoons flour, 4 Tablespoons sugar and cinnamon.

Your mixture should look like this.

Spread it out on your other baking sheet like in the photo above and in my oven they took 20 minutes. Set them to the side and now make the filling.

In a bowl add your cornstarch, sugar (not 10x), lemon juice, lemon zest, yolks, pinch salt and mix well. Add the bowl mixture to your sauce pan on medium heat and stir and add the Tablespoon of butter. The mixture does need to boil a minute or so. When you got the filling cooked pour it onto the crust and then arrange the crumbs over the lemon filling.

Place in the refrigerator to cool a few hours.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and now serve.

These are FORKING GOOD!

And that’s The Forking Truth

Eggs in a South West Cloud

This recipe is a little different and better than some of the other recipes out there for eggs on a cloud. It’s tasty because you add a little tomato, scallion, cilantro and roasted poblano pepper. I thought it would be better to do the eggs two at a time instead of the traditional one egg cloud with one egg yolk in the center. Guess what your two eggs look like. I’m not even going to say. Two eggs at a time is a much better presentation and it’s more family friendly also. I found it easy to do two servings at the same time so I actually used 4 eggs. To prepare these eggs you need parchment lined baking sheets and your oven set to 450 degrees F to bake.

Ingredients for two servings

4 eggs (whites in one large bowl and yolks in a small bowl)

4 grape tomatoes chopped up

1/2 roasted poblano pepper chopped up

2 Tablespoons Scallions chopped up

2 Tablespoons cilantro torn off

fresh ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

Directions Set your Oven to 450 degrees F on Bake and you need baking sheet(s) lined with parchment paper

Whip up your egg whites till they are thick and fluffy.

Pour out two servings on your baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Make a well in the center and pour 1/2 the mixed yolks into each well. Sprinkle the whites with the tomatoes, scallions and poblano peppers. Place in your 450 degree oven for 4-5 minutes. Remove and serve on plates and sprinkle with fresh cilantro and fresh ground salt and pepper. I served the eggs with a small amount of refried beans and a creamy polenta corn cake.

This is Forking Good and that’s The Forking Truth

NonTraditional Baked Chicken and Rice Croquettes

Technically this isn’t a true or typical croquette. Croquettes are traditionally fried and must be crispy on the outside. The insides of croquettes are usually meat like your leftover turkey from Thanksgiving mixed with potato and bread stuffing and served with a gravy. they are very delicious and some people look forward to eating them after Thanksgiving.

I decided I could make  nontraditional croquettes from pulled dark meat chicken and rice. I added extras to regular rice including extra liquid to get the rice malleable to hold the chicken in a croquette shape.  Instead of frying them I just rolled the mixture in whole wheat panko bread crumbs and I got a satisfying crispy exterior. This recipe seems indulgent but compared to a true croquette this recipe is very reduced in fat.

These came out satisfying and delicious.

Ingredients for 6 servings of two croquettes each

1/2 medium sweet onion – chopped

1 carrot – chopped

1 celery stalk – chopped

3 garlic cloves – minced

1 small hot pepper (I used 1/2 an unusually hot banana pepper)

1/4 cup dry white wine  (1/4 cup is used latter in the recipe) so it’s 1/2 cup total

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup white rice

2 3/4 cups water

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 Tablespoon chicken base (think of it as chicken flavored salt)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 XL egg beaten (latter 1 more egg so it’s a total of two eggs beaten)

15 oz. pulled dark meat chicken that was roasted and is very flavorful and moist (like from my recipes, don’t even attempt if your chicken isn’t moist and super tasty) – chopped

1 XL egg beaten

1/4 cup fresh parsley – chopped

1 cup whole wheat panko

non-stick cooking spray for your baking sheet pan(s)

Directions set oven to 350 degrees F

On medium high in in a large sauce pan add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, hot pepper, 1/4 c. wine, olive oil, 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. black pepper. Cook till liquid is reduced. Stir in your rice for a couple minutes to set some of the flavors into it. Now add water, remaining white wine, chicken base, basil, rosemary and oregano. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer and cover with foil for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes it should look like this.

Take off the heat and stir in one beaten egg.

Add your chicken.

Now stir in your second beaten egg and it should look like this.

At this point it smells so good I get visitors.

“You better FORKING give me some. I don’t FORKING care if it has onions in it. I’m 14 1/2 years old and life is short. I need to Forking Eat That.”

Mix in fresh parsley.

Prepare your baking sheet(s) with nonstick spray and your oven should be set at 350 degrees F.

Using a serving spoon, scoop and form croquettes and dip them in panko and set on baking sheet(s) till your finished.

You should have 12 croquettes.

They take about 20 minutes in to oven and when you pull them out. Season them with a small amount of fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Serve with either chicken gravy ,  marinara sauce or seasoned fresh tomatoes.

Chicken Rice Croquette

Just about everyone would love them. They are forking Delicious.

These are Forking GREAT and that’s The Forking Truth

Creamy Slightly Crispy Polenta Cakes

I’ve been told my polenta that I prepare that even when I don’t add cream, butter or cheese is creamier than polenta we try when we go out. I always use regular polenta and NOT the quick cooking kind. To prepare it creamy you need to stir it just like you do when you prepare risotto. I bring it to a boil and then reduce to simmer. It takes 45 minutes to prepare polenta stirring often. I usually just prepare polenta cakes in a big batch that makes 24 cakes and a little extra is left that I make evil or special occasion style with some cheese and butter. I freeze the polenta cakes and use them for side dishes, breakfast sides and croutons for salads. For basic polenta the formula is 2 cups polenta with 9 cups of water and around a heaping teaspoon of kosher salt. I do note with the very basic polenta recipe you won’t have much leftover.

I made this batch of polenta 2 ways that were both extra special.

I recently cooked fresh sweet corn in the oven. I covered the corn (4 or 5 ears)  with water two Tablespoons of unsalted butter and about a teaspoon of kosher salt. I covered the pans with foil and let the corn go about two hours at 350 degrees. Pull the pan out and let them cool about an hour and a half. When cool enough to handle I save the liquid and that is now my corn stock. Then I slice the corn kernels off the cobs. I now have fresh corn and tasty corn stock.

Ingredients for Good Creamy Polenta makes 24 servings but you will have leftover that you turn into Evil special occasion Polenta that is 5 generous servings more.

2 cups polenta

5 cups corn stock

4 cups water

2 cups fresh cooked corn

Nonstick cooking spray

Fresh ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

Put all your ingredients on medium high heat and blend (except for fresh ground sea salt, black pepper and nonstick cooking spray). Bring the pot to boil and stir often then reduce to simmer, cover with foil and keep stirring occasionally. This needs to go 45 minutes. Pour into nonstick sprayed muffin pans and let set about a half hour or so. I had my oven already on and put the muffin pans on the top rack. It took about one half hour to get slightly crispy tops. Then I took them out and added the fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. I do note I had other things in my over so the timing will probably differ.

I had some polenta left in my pot so I made it special occasion style. For my household it became 5 servings.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 oz. habanero pepper jack cheese

2 oz. sharp cheddar cheese

A big pinch of parmesan

two thick slices of sharp American.

The heat was turned off under my pot and I just stirred till every thing was smooth. To serve I put some in a small bowl and topped a little more shredded sharp cheddar fresh ground salt and pepper.

Evil Creamy Polenta

If you prepare this polenta the evil way be prepared for someone to help themselves to a bowl and a refill. You then might be left with two dinner servings and another side serving.

These are really good and That’s The Forking Truth

You can have yummy roasted brussels sprouts  roasted right on the stalk and will impress a crowd easily. However you will need to use a whole oven for these brussels sprouts.

The hard part is making a foil and parchment bag to fit around your brussels sprouts stalk.

You leave it open and then fill with some water, olive oil, garlic cloves, sliced onions, and some sliced red pepper. wrap up and toss in a 350 degree F oven for around 2 hours.

Ingredients about 10 servings (extras can be frozen)

1 large brussels sprouts stalk – already laying in your open parchment paper and foil with ends folded up to hold everything in. That sits on a baking sheet for support.

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 sweet onion sliced thin

1 red bell pepper in small slices

big handful of pealed garlic cloves (don’t worry it won’t get that garlicky because the garlic just turns sweet and buttery)

fresh ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

optional pinch of red pepper flakes

optional grated parmesan cheese

Directions

In your open bundle with the brussels sprouts stalk add the water, olive oil, garlic cloves, red bell pepper, onion,  Cover tightly and place in your 350 degree oven for around 2 hours. You want the brussels sprouts to be fork tender and slightly caramelized. When done trim the brussels sprouts off and add fresh ground sea salt and pepper. Depending on your taste or what your serving with the vegetable you might want to add a little crushed red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

This is Forking Good and that’s The Forking Truth