A while ago I read that many produce items can regenerate. One vegetable they recommended was the scallion. They said to put the root ends in water and the plant will regenerate. I tried this a few times and hit did grow but always eventually rotted like after a week. I find that basically doing nothing and letting the ends stay in the refrigerator produces results in about two weeks time and haven’t rotted yet.
You will get even better and faster results if you just plant them.
You can get mini romaine heads off of your romaine ends with just water.
It takes about a week to grow a mini head…..But then you have to use it or it will rot.
Before you toss out scallion or romaine ends consider produce regeneration.
One of my favorites…Seasoned Heirloom Tomatoes on top of Cheese Blend
Bread recipes are NEVER exact. Every time I follow a bread recipe I have to make adjustments. I didn’t know until a few years ago I found out that every brand of flour is ground differently and produces different results. Humidity and elevation also produce different results. I find that my pizzas come out best when I don’t measure. I just go by how it feels. I tried to measure for here so you can learn. I think it would be best to watch a video on pizza making. It’s too hard to photo when I’m all doughy. Remember that this is just hints and a guide for pizza making. You can top it however you feel like. This recipe makes enough dough for TWO 14 in pizzas. A total of 16 slices or 8 light servings. Or in my house about 5 servings depending if you have big pizza fans in your house. This project will be easier and quicker with a double oven.
Ingredients to make 2 pizzas or about 8 servings
1 packet 1/4oz active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups water 100-110 degrees F
3 cups bread flour ( more flour is needed)
1/4 cup (scant) extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon course sea salt
1 cup bread flour ( knead in what you need and more flour to rest the dough ball)
2 teaspoons semolina flour (or corn meal)m(1 t. each pizza)
2 big pinches semolina flour (or corn meal) ( 1 big pinch each)
Directions
In a large bowl add the yeast, sugar and water (around 110 degrees F) and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for a half hour. After a half hour the mixture should look foamy on the top and you can precede.
Add the three cups of flour and hand mix now. After well mixed add the 1/4 cup oil and salt. Hand mix. The dough will be sticky. Add the remaining cup of flour to the bowl. Knead in what the dough needs and when you are able to make a nice dough ball let it rest in the flour that’s left and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for an hour. The dough should have doubled in size.
After an hour punch the dough down and make into another dough ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about an hour again.
After another hour leave on your counter and take your time. The dough needs at least few hours to develop flavor. Some people let the flavor develop longer (up to three days but with refrigeration and a few hours to warm to room temperature to bake) and you can if you want to but really a few hours is enough. I like to make my dough early in the morning and usually bake it in the afternoon.
Set the top oven to 500 degrees F. (this is easier with a double oven) Set your bottom oven with a seasoned baking stone on a middle rack and set the bottom oven also to 470 foo start with. Get a 14 in pizza pan and rub it well with olive oil and sprinkle it with semolina flour. Take out half the dough from the big batch of dough. Knead it up into a ball and place it on the pan. Sprinkle a little semolina over the top and now slowly stretch the dough out with your hands and fingers. When done place in the oven till it looks just cooked. (turn light on so you can view) It will take around 5-6 minutes.
Turn up your lower oven to 475 degrees F. But just about 5 minutes before the pizza goes in crank it up to 500 degrees F **************WARNING that this is indeed DANGAROUS and the stone might crack or burst************ONLY DO THIS IF YOUR STONE IS SEASONED!!!!!!OR YOUR STONE WILL BURST! You won’t get the same crust but it’s much safer if you follow recommended manufacturers heat tolerance for your stone….I think mine is safe up to 460 degrees…….
When you dough shell is out of the oven turn it upside down on to a pizza paddle or very large cutting board. Top the pizza however you like. You will need to drizzle the top with a little olive oil for flavor and to slow down the burning of the cheese or topping. Burnt cheese is not good…you don’t want burnt cheese.
Slide the pizza onto the stone. It’s going to be done in about 5-6 minutes. Have the light on and watch. You want the crust to brown up a little and you want the cheese melted but not burnt.
ENJOY A FORKING DELICIOUS PIZZA!
Arugula Balsamic and Taleggio Pizza
Pepperoni pizza
Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella
Great Crisp Crust
My Heirloom Tomato Pizza
NEW Favorite Italian Style Cauliflower with Taleggio ad Robiola Cheese
One of my favorites…Seasoned Heirloom Tomatoes on top of Cheese Blend
Another FAVORITE……Crispy leek gruyere cheese blend with cheddar mushrooms evoo and fresh thyme The Forking Truth
I was sort of gifted with a lot of cucumbers so I had to make a really nice cucumber salad to eat all week instead of my normal salad. I came across chef Binkley’s recipe for marinated cucumber salad on the web. I figure since he is one of Arizona’s greatest chefs that his recipe has to be really great so I sort of based my recipe similar to his. I do note my idea of serving will differ from yours. For me this will make around 10 lunch size meals. This takes two days to prepare for the pickling.
Ingredients for around 10 servings
12 cucumbers – peeled, seeds removed, cut in slices
2 pickled jalapeños (preferably home made) – chopped
2 cups rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup sea salt
1 cup bell peppers – diced
1 large red onion – sliced paper thin on mandolin
1 cup lime juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3 cups roasted corn
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh mint – chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped
2 Tablespoons scallions – chopped
Directions
Rice wine vinegar, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup salt get mixed together in a large bowl. Add cucumbers and jalapeños. Let sit out around one hour and stir occasionally. Refrigerate separate from other vegetables going into the salad.
Get a sauce pot on medium high and heat up the water, remaining sugar and remaining salt till dissolved. Let cool and mix in lime juice. Pour into the onions mixed with bell peppers. This needs to pickle over night. put it in the refrigerator and put the salad to gather the next day.
Next day put the salad together and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Marinated Cucumber and Vegetable Salad with Lime Pickled Onions
Special THANK YOU to chef Binkley for posting his recipe on the internet so I could come up with this delicious salad.
We are in a serious health crisis and it is advisable and also the law depending on your location to wear masks when you are in a public space. Scientist have proved that much of the virus can stop spreading if we all wear masks. This mandate upsets some people but wearing a mask is the right thing to do. People who don’t wear masks are selfish and can unknowingly be carriers of the virus. They can unintentionally infect others. I was looking at masks for sale on eBay and I noticed that many people now are selling eating and drinking masks.
I don’t think any of these mask can possibly be effective because they all have openings in them.
For a mask to be effective it is suppose to be tight but breathable. It’s suppose to have layers. I’m not a scientist so I Don’t know if this is true but I read that not all but some masks actually provide partial protection against the virus. The bad news is that you can still the catch the virus wearing a better mask that offers partial protection. (kn95, mask with hepa filter are considered better masks. Best masks are reserved for health care workers) The good news is that chances are that you won’t catch as much of the virus with a better well fitting mask. That can make a difference that is more valuable than any amount of money.
If your FORKING Mask has a hole or slit in it you are spreading germs and more germs can spread to you.
#Don’t Kill Grandma Wear a sensible Mask
There is a bunch of Forking Weird Eating and Drinking Masks Out There for sale during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Every FORKING THING is subject to change and we hope IT DOES CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!
I found a page of recipes for Din Tai Fung Style Cucumber Salad when I searched Persian Cucumbers on the web. I read each recipe. Most were the same or similar but a few were different. Since I never tasted Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad I don’t know what it taste like or what recipe is the most similar. I came up with something that is similar but different. They came out light and refreshing and would be a great appetizer to an Asian Style meal. My idea of serving size will differ from your idea of serving size. I can see two people eating this batch since it doesn’t make much but I can also see this as four lighter small servings.
Ingredients for 4 servings
5 Persian Cucumbers – ends trimmed – cut in inch high chunks
1 1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt (to sweat cucumbers)
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons mirin
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil
1 1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (or to taste)
splash soy sauce
Directions
In a medium bowl add the cucumber chunks and the salt. Mix well and leave the cucumbers sweat for 20 minutes. Then rinse and dry the cucumber chunks. In a small bowl mix up the vinegar, mirin, honey, oil, chili paste and soy sauce. In a zip lock bag (I only needed a sandwich size bag) add the rinsed off and dried cucumber chunks and the liquid mixture. Try to push air out as you zip lock the bag and refrigerate over night and serve tomorrow.
Dining out can be deadly these days during the pandemic. Take out is a less risky option. All restaurants are struggling and we have little else to do these days anyway so we are giving as much support as we can to restaurants.
Our first take out of the week was from a small casual Mediterranean/Greek restaurant Pita Kitchen in Glendale (#UpperWestSide). I didn’t go in to pick up but my husband said that they installed more plexiglass inside for our safety.
Pita Kitchen bakes their own fresh pita bread that is always delicious. I usually get the chicken kabob Greek Salad. The kabob always taste delicious with lots of flavors and always has a delicious char. 18 out 20 times it is also juicy. My husband usually gets the gyro meat on a Greek Salad.
My dogs always love Pita Kitchens’ food.
Next Take Out was from Fabio On Fire in Peoria (#UpperWestSide). This is a small Italian Restaurant that offers Neapolitan Pizzas, various Italian dishes, amazing breads and desserts (FORKING FABULOUS Gelato). They have a 100% contact free curbside transaction. You order and pay online and all the communication is done by text. They sanitize a table and your order is placed there.
We got family style pear salad, pappardelle con fungi and peach gelato. Everything was very good. Portions were very large. P.S. That peach gelato is the best in the whole wide WORLD. Fabio should go to shark tank to sell his gelato across America….YES IT’S THAT FABULOUS!
Pups were happy to try a little cheese from the salad.
We also did take out from Scotts Generations Restaurant and Delicatessen in Phoenix. They offer breakfast dishes and delicatessen favorites.
My husband got a pastrami sandwich (or actually 2) I got the smoked fish supreme platter and tomorrow we will try the latkes for breakfast. My platter is a really great value. My platter is large and I get three meals out of it. One of the fish I pick is Lake Sturgeon…..I don’t think any other restaurant sells it in Phoenix and it cost around $40. a pound. My platter also comes with a bagel, cream cheese, cole slaw, potato salad, fresh made pickles and vegetables. It’s a nice treat to have once in a while. We also like that Scott’s is open on most of the holidays.
Our dogs were very excited to try some of Scott’s.
FnB in Scottsdale had a take out special on fried chicken so we got two. In case you have been living under a rock…..FnB is co-owned by a James Bead award winning chef Charleen Badman so if she offers a take out special like this it would be advisable to try it.
Half a fried chicken with a peach and feta salad, macaroni and corn salad and potato salads. This is also way more food than anyone can possibly eat. But WOW! This take out was GREAT! Reminds me oof a similar take out from Thomas Kellers’ Ad Hoc. His fried chicken was also fabulous but FnBs’ sides are far more detailed and delicious!
Dogs are yappy….I mean happy to try some.
Last Take Out of the week was from Aioli Burgers in Phoenix. I heard about a Nashville Hot Chicken Style Sandwich that was on special for the Fourth of July….But it was Sunday the fifth and they were still offering them so we decided to give them a try.
We each got a Nashville Style Hot Chicken Sandwich with a side of roasted vegetables. Our sandwiches were suppose to come with green chili aioli but the aioli was forgotten….or maybe they ran out?. The sandwiches are tasty and the chicken is moist. They aren’t very spicy but they are tasty as chicken sandwiches. As per usual my dogs helped with the large portion of chicken. (I removed the coating for them since it might contain spices and vinegar that are not good for dogs)
“We are in this thing together!”
That was take out in metro Phoenix week 16 of the coronavirus pandemic.
We went to-
Pita Kitchen – Glendale/#UpperWestSide
Fabio On Fire – Peoria/#UpperWestSide
Scott’s Generations Restaurant and Delicatessen – Phoenix
FnB – Scottsdale
Aioli Burgers – Phoenix
Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.
Safeway had ten pound bags of chicken quarters (8 quarters) on sale for 59cents a pound and I was thinking about a delicious Ethiopian dish I had at Abyssinia Restaurant and Cafe in Phoenix AZ called Doro Wat. It’s the national dish of Ethiopia and is a delicious spicy robust chicken stew served with a hard boiled egg and it normally comes with spongy but light Ethiopian Bread called injera. It might not be for everyone because it is spicy…..but it truly is really delicious. Another thing you must know is that this takes two or three days to prepare. One day to make the onions and to let them cool overnight. Next day cook the chicken. Third day is optional…..I used third day to chill the Doro Wat sauce to remove the fat that comes to the surface (some people might prefer to keep the fat) I make chicken stews all the time but I wasn’t sure of the seasonings that go in Doro Wat so I read every recipe that I could find on the internet for Doro Wat. The base of the sauce besides all the spices are onions. Different people prepare the onions differently but I read on one website that the onions are traditionally cooked in the oven. Anyways I picked the seasonings from the recipe from food.com because the person that wrote the recipe was someone named Zurie from Africa. Also Zurie’s Berbere seemed the most complex of the Berbere Mixtures I came across. I made her stew different because I used whole chicken quarters with skin and bone so I have to cut out all the extra fat that she put into her recipe from using boneless. I also added around a cup of red wine. I read on someone else’s recipe that Ethiopian Mead is normally added to this dish so I got the idea to add red wine. Did a few other minor changes. You might not need to make as much as I did but this freezes well incase you want to know. My 10 pound bag of chicken quarters made 10 four ounce portions of chicken and a little extra chicken. I cut Zurie’s recipe for Berbere in half because she makes enough Berbere for TWENTY POUNDS of chicken. Half is just right for 10 pounds (my bag contained 8 quarters). This recipe makes around 10 servings. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size.
Ingredients for 10 servings
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cardamon seed
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup cayenne powder
1/4 cup sweet paprika
10 pounds chicken quarters
3 large sweet onions – fine chopped or grated
1 whole head garlic – peeled – fine chopped (around 13 cloves)
13 oz slow cooked peeled tomatoes (you can use canned but you might need to adjust sugar and or salt)
1 Tablespoon honey
1 cup red wine
1 Tablespoon vegetable soup base (instead of salt is less sodium and adds more flavors)
non stick spray
optional water to thin sauce to your liking
Directions
Get two small bowls. Make the Zurie’s Berbere Spice Mixture.
In one small bowl add all the spice powders (ginger, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, clove, allspice, salt, cayenne, paprika). In the other small bowl add all the spice seeds (cardamon, fenugreek). The spice seeds get heated till fragrant. You can do this either in a pan, the oven or the microwave. (I like doing it in the oven best………like 300 degrees 5 minutes). Then the seeds have to cool off. Then you can grind them and add them to the powders and mix well. This is the Berbere Spice Mixture. Set to the side.
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a large pan or 1/2 buffet pan with non stick spray.
In a large bowl add the onions, garlic, 3 Tablespoons berbere spice, cooked tomatoes, wine, honey and salt. Mix well and add to pan. Cover with foil and cook for an hour. Leave on counter to cool off and blend. Refrigerate over night and cook tomorrow.
Next day cook chicken.
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
You will need about three big pans. Rub chicken all over with all the remaining berbere spice mixture. Lay out the chicken in the pans and add the onion mixture on top of the chicken.
Cover tight with foil and cook still chicken is tender and falling off the bones (skin will not be edible). (timing will differ but this will be 2 hours or slightly less like one hour 45 minutes) While the chicken is cooking you might want to boil some eggs to serve with the meal…..
Use tongs and remove the chicken quarters from the sauce. They are too hot to mess with so you need to let them cool some. At this time you can blend the sauce again to get it smoother. Depending on how thick the sauce came out you might want to add some water to thin it down.
Next part is optional……I like to remove the fat from the sauce so I chill the sauce over night.
The next day.
The fat is easy to remove from the top. You can save it because it full if delicious flavors and can make a delicious dumpling or pastry if you care to.
It’s a Forking Delicious dish!
Ethiopian Style Chicken Stew
A special THANKS to Zurie from www.Food.com for her amazing Berbere Recipe. Without it I wouldn’t have made such a delicious dish.
I thought it would be fun to try some foreign Lay’s Potato Chips that I can’t buy here in America. Thailand seemed to offer the most flavors at reasonable pricing so I tried a few bags. I liked that these are extra small snack bags. They only contained HALF OUNCE of potatoes chips in each bag.
The first one I’m trying is the Salted Egg Flavor.
I open the bag and take a whiff…..It smells sort of like an egg yolk.
I taste a chip.
It has a nice texture. It kind of taste like it was rubbed with an egg yolk…..It’s not bad…but it’s not a chip that I crave….But not bad…so that’s a win! (Ok-Good)
The back of the bags do have the ingredients in English but they are very hard to read.
Now I’ll try the Extreme Hot Chili Flavor.
I open up the bag and spill some out. These smell kind of good….sort of cayenne pepper. I eat one. YES very hot but it doesn’t hurt or sting. Yipes they do build with heat…..still good…not bad…another win. (OK-Good)
I was saving the Sweet Basil for last because I thought it would be my favorite since I love sweet basil.
I open the bag and take a whiff………I was expecting basil but this isn’t basil…….These smell strange. They smell like burnt cake. YUK! THESE ARE REALLY AWFUL! They don’t even taste like food. Sorry I can’t eat them. (The BIG SUCK!)
Just like American Lay’s the flavors go all over the place – from surprisingly good, good, ok, not so great and the big suck!.
Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Thailand Lay’s – Salted Egg, Extreme Hot Chili Flavor and Sweet Basil.
Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
You know that saying when life gives you lemons that you got to make lemon-aid? Well I was sort of gifted with more yellow squash than I could eat. So I made my last two pounds of yellow squash into faux sour kraut that isn’t too sour. Actually it taste better than most sour krauts out there and it’s quick and easy to prepare. Two pounds seems like a lot of squash but this shrinks down a lot. This will stay fresh around up to three weeks. My idea of serving size will differ from yours. This makes at least 6 servings.
Ingredients for 6 servings
2 lbs yellow squash – thin spiral cut
1 large sweet onion – sliced very thin on mandolin
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
9 juniper berries – ground
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
Directions
In a large mixing bowl combine the spiral cut yellow squash and mix well with the thinly sliced onions and set to the side.
In a small bowl combine the vinegar, sugars, salt, juniper berry powder, caraway seeds and mustard seeds and mix well. (you can heat to dissolve sugar and salt but it isn’t necessary because it melts as it sits)
At this point it is easier to put the squash/onion mixture in a gallon zip lock bag and pour the vinegar mixture into the bag. Scrape out anything that didn’t dissolve in the bowl and add it to the squash mixture. Squeeze the bag mixture and squash things around to distribute as best as you can. Squish out as much air as you can and let this sit out on the counter for an hour. The sugar and salt will cook and sweat the squash. It will be delicious on your food.
Add some to a hotdog, or pastrami or whatever you like kraut on.
Forking Fabulous Almost Instant Kraut Style Yellow Squash
