Focaccia di Recco

I heard about a Killer Dish from my local Newspaper the Arizona Republic. Our food critic (Dominic Armato) said it was the Ligurian Style Focaccia from Pomo Restaurant. It was  a focaccia that I was not familiar with but had to try. When I tried this focaccia at Pomo it was two very thin sort of something like between a super thin Sardinian like cracker called music paper and a tortilla with melty flavorful cheese in the middle. It seemed light as heaven and was very tasty……I mean FORKING DELICIOUS…. I had to try to make one at home. The cheese used for Focaccia di Recco must be either crescenza or stracchivo cow milk cheese…..it is a cheese that is what mozzarella wants to be….It’s creamier and tastier than mozzarella.  These cheeses are not available anywhere that I know of except the internet so I used taleggio ……..I know my bad but I needed something Italian and I had that at home……. This recipe is from Ciao Italia…YOU KNOW…The Award Winning PBS TV Show with multi award winning Mary Ann Esposito. Did you know her Cooking TV Show is the longest running Food Show on TV?…..I thought I’d try out her recipe. Mary Ann’s recipe for me came out ,more cracker-like than the Focaccia I had at Pomo. (I have Ideas on how to tweak)…. But I also note that the different flour brands, different water, different ovens and different humidity all will differ any recipe. I also found my focaccia cooked up in half the time of the directions from Ciao Italia (I think there was a typo). Anyways this was my first try to make a Focaccia di Recco. Now I sort of have a better understanding of it and Thank Mary Ann Esposito for her wonderful recipe.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

3 cups ap flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons cold water

12 oz crescenza cheese

Directions

Set oven to 450 degrees F

Mix up ingredients in a large bowl.

Knead till smooth.

Cover and let rest 1/2 hour.

Divide dough in half.

Roll into a 16 inch circle and prick dough.

Place dough on an oiled 16 inch round pan.

Dot the dough with cheese.

Roll out the other half of dough and also prick and then place over the dough with cheese.

Seal the dough slightly.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with course sea salt.

Put in the 450 degree F oven till browned, puffy and bubbly.

In Mary Ann’s Oven this takes 30-35 minutes but in my oven it took 15 minutes.

SERVE

If you use the crescenza or stracchino it taste even better with a very small amount of warm honey. If you use taleggio like I did a little bit of reduced balsamic is delicious too!

“That smells heavenly to me.” “You know I want some.”

Focaccia di Recco

Very Tasty. Someone requested me to make another one.

The Forking Truth

No Dairy Potato Stuffed Quinoa Chicken Meatloaf

Today I thought I’d come up with another kind of Chicken Meatloaf. This one is basically doughnut shaped and filled with potatoes. To make the meatloaf I used Quinoa instead of bread crumbs for the meatloaf. and made it with ground chicken 96% 4%fat that seems so much lighter than beef.  Since I didn’t have any dairy in the house I used flavorful chicken fat (schmaltz) that I saved in my freezer and used it like butter for the potatoes. I sautéed finely chopped onions in the chicken fat till the onions were clear and then mashed them into the potatoes….WOW FORKING INSANELY AMAZING FLAVORFUL POTATOES! These potatoes came out so good you just might want to do these potatoes for Thanksgiving. If you chop the onions as fine as I did the onions just melt into the potatoes and come out smooth. It’s a possibility that the potatoes are even lighter than mashed potatoes because I added only chicken fat with the cooked onions……no butter, cream or dairy. Even the cooking water from the potatoes is so good you need to save some for the meatloaf but the rest you should use for other things. Either make a soup or sauce with it. Reheat meats or vegetables in it. If you make it exactly the way I suggest it will come out surprisingly great! The Chicken Meatloaf also comes out very flavorful and MOIST. Even re-heated this meatloaf still comes out moist. I think this meatloaf doesn’t really even need a sauce but you can embellish slightly if desired with a suggested thyme butter, thin chicken gravy or a small amount of a traditional kind of meatloaf sauce. This is so tasty that just a small forkful of the potatoes with the meatloaf is enough.

Ingredients for 6 servings

2 lb russet type of potatoes – peeled and cut in halves and in a pot of cold water

1 Tablespoon kosher salt (to add to pot of potatoes)

1/2 large sweet onion – peeled (to boil with potatoes- discard after potatoes are cooked)

1 hot banana pepper – cut longways in half – to boil and flavor potatoes – discard after potatoes are cooked)

1 garlic clove – to boil with potatoes – after potatoes are boiled smash the garlic and fine chop it into the onions that get sautéed and added to the potatoes

1 cup sweet onion – VERY finely chopped or grate (for potatoes)

3 ounces schmaltz (chicken fat) (for potatoes)

1 egg beaten (for Potatoes)

2 teaspoons course sea salt (for potatoes)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (for potatoes)

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (for potatoes)

1 lb ground chicken (I used 96 lean with 4% fat)

1 cup quinoa (already cooked)

2 L eggs – lightly beaten

1/4 onion – finely chopped

2 garlic cloves – grated

1/2 celery rib – finely chopped

1 carrot – peeled and finely shredded

1/4  cup – fresh parsley – finely chopped

1 teaspoon – fresh thyme

1  teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons chicken base – preferably reduced sodium Better Than Bouillon Brand (it’s like chicken flavored salt)

2 Tablespoons cooking water from potatoes

non stick cooking spray

Directions

Put the pot with water (water should cover the potatoes by between 1-2 inches) and the potatoes on to a medium boil with the kosher salt, 1/2 onion, garlic and banana pepper) You MUST purchase the banana peppers from Asiana Market…..They are too hot to eat but cooked with other things give off an amazing flavor. Cook the potatoes till they are soft (fork tender) about 15-20 minutes. DO NOT THROW OUT THE WATER! you need 2 Tablespoons for the meatloaf and you might want to save the rest for a soup or something else you might prepare. You can leave the potatoes in the water so they stay hot while you make the meatloaf mixture but take pot off the burner and place somewhere else on the stove. You can throw out the used banana pepper and the used 1/2 onion.

In a medium-large mixing bowl add the ground chicken, 2 eggs, quinoa, 1/4 c onion, 2 garlic, celery, carrot, parsley, thyme, black pepper, chicken base, 2 Tablespoons potato water and mix well and place to the side.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

In a fry pan sauce the cup of finely chopped onions with the chicken fat till the onions are clear and soft with that one clove of mashed and finely chopped garlic that you saved from the potato water. Add the onion mixture to your just drained potatoes and mash. Add the remaining course sea salt, black pepper, white pepper and one egg and mash very well till smooth.

Either pipe or scoop 6 piles of potatoes with lots of room around them on a sprayed baking sheet(s)

The meat gets piped around each mound of potatoes. (or you can spoon)

Put them in the oven and remove when done. (In my oven they took 25 minutes).

Then I hit it with a small amount of meatloaf sauce I made from slow cooked tomatoes, spiked with pickapeppa sauce.

No Dairy Potato Quinoa Chicken Meatloaf

Even when you re-heat leftovers the potatoes are creamy and flavorful. The chicken meatloaf is delicious, well seasoned and also stays moist.

No Dairy Potato stuffed Quinoa Chicken Meatloaf

These meatloaves would also be good with a splash of thyme butter,some thin chicken gravy or a small amount of a traditional type of meatloaf sauce.

The Forking Truth

Parmesan Cauliflower Recipe

Sometimes you just have to think up another way to serve up Cauliflower. This is a not too heavy but easy way to prepare flavorful Cauliflower. All you need for serving is some grilled meat, some bread and your set for a meal.

Ingredients for around 4 servings.

1 medium cauliflower – broken down in bite sized florets

2 Calabrian Chili peppers – fine chopped

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves – shredded

4 Tablespoons marinara sauce -preferably  fresh made and flavorful

1 cup parmesan cheese – grated

black pepper – fresh ground to taste

non stick spray

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

pinch dried oregano – for finishing

pinch dried basil – for finishing

1 teaspoon fresh marjoram – chopped – for finishing

1 teaspoon fresh celery leaves – chopped – for finishing

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine the cauliflower, peppers, garlic, marinara, parmesan and black pepper. toss ingredients till they look mixed.

Pour the cauliflower mixture on to the sprayed baking sheets. The florets should be separate but not too far apart because some of the cheese mixture will stay in the bowl and you have to scrape it out and redistribute the cheese over the cauliflower.

Sprinkle the olive oil over the cauliflower and put in oven till cauliflower is cooked. (About 35 minutes……. but it could be more like 30 minutes up to 45 minutes depending on your oven and how you cut the cauliflower.) I know when I have many pans in oven it takes even longer like an hour.

When the cauliflower is done sprinkle it with the remaining dry herbs and the fresh herbs to serve.

Parmesan Cauliflower

Parmesan Cauliflower Recipe

Most people will enjoy this.

The Forking Truth

Pad Kra Pao Style Jackfruit

This is a very easy recipe that anyone can do. This recipe is similar to dishes you see on Thai Restaurant menus called Sweet Basil. My recipe is NOT authentic because I used anchovy oil and anchovies instead of fish sauce or oyster sauce. In my home I don’t use enough fish sauce for it to stay fresh in my house. I use a bottle and then the next time I go to use it the bottle is always spoiled. Anchovy is what not all but what the better fish sauces are made from. I don’t mean to brag but this version of Pad Kra Pow does taste better than from many of the restaurants I order it from. I had some Jackfruit and somehow I thought it would be good this way and it was! For this recipe you boil a piece of Jackfruit for 45 minutes. Cleaning it up is easy. put the sweet yummy bulbs from the jackfruit and the delicious edible peeled seeds to the side. The meat of the Jackfruit (parts between the bulbs) you only use when the Jackfruit isn’t ripe or it doesn’t taste good and it will be hard to take out……So do a taste test and figure out if it’s good…Use it if it’s good. It’s easy to peel the membrane off the seeds. The seeds are the best as soon as they are cooked because under the membrane the seeds sort of have an edible shell that is difficult to peel…..it’s not so hard as soon as it’s cooked. The seed is like a mix between a bean and a chestnut. The next day the outside of the seed gets crunchy but keep in mind it’s edible with a delicious center. Get a pan on high with anchovy oil and fry the bell pepper, than add the rest and it’s just yum! Of course if you don’t want to mess with Jackfruit you can use the recipe with whatever chopped protein you like.

Ingredients for about two servings.

One piece of cut jackfruit from the Asian Market….(I didn’t weigh but they are always the same size…..and look like this.

Water to boil jackfruit

1 Tablespoon kosher salt (to boil jackfruit)

1 2oz can anchovies (just the oil and 3-4 anchovies***amount might differ depending on anchovies)

5 cloves garlic – ground to paste

5 Thai Chilies – fine chopped – then ground to paste with garlic

1 red bell pepper – seeds and stem removed – thin slices

big splash soy sauce – (I used Lee Kum Kee Brand)

big splash Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

big handful thai basil leaves – (would be better with holy basil leaves…but impossible to find mostly all the time)

Directions

Put Jackfruit in a pot of water with salt and boil 45 minutes. Remove from pot and when cool enough to handle remove the jackfruit bulbs and the seeds. The seeds must be peeled….(please use them as they are DELICIOUS….taste like a cross between a chestnut and a bean) If the meat is unripe you can scrap out the meat too……but do a taste test first…..on ripe fruits the meat part usually isn’t good.

Orange are the bulbs to the side. Meat is still in fruit

Remove skin on seed

Get the fry pan on high heat with anchovy oil and about 3-4 anchovies (maybe less if you have really nice plump ones) Stir them around about a minute and they will break down.

Add bell pepper next. Let them go till they look almost cooked.

Turn down to medium add the garlic/chili mixture.

Give it a splash of soy sauce and golden mountain sauce. Stir it a little. This should smell very appetizing now.

Stir and then you can toss in the jackfruit and seeds

Shut off heat and stir in the basil and serve.

You can serve with rice or noodles and if you want to go authentic style you can top with a crispy fried egg.

Pad Kra Pao Style Jackfruit…

My husband was afraid to try this one….but he couldn’t believe how delicious it was…..He said I really nailed it. This really came out better than many Pad Kra Pows we had out………….Enjoy!

The Forking Truth