This is one of those recipes where I got the idea from a chef on the internet but his recipe didn’t work out at all so I had to figure out on how to make it because it did sound interesting to me. I figure that much of the recipe was missing because I had to figure out a lot and I had to change almost everything including the meringues. But in the end meringues are GENIUS and do taste marvelously GREAT on bok choy with black bean sauce. I think the meringues are actually better if you break them up over the bok choy and sauce……Ingredients for around 4 servings. (you might end up with more meringues than you need but they stay fresh for a long time.)
Ingredients for around 4 servings
2 egg whites
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1/3 teaspoon granulated ginger
1 1/2 lbs bok choy (I got three in my bag) – cut in half long ways
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 garlic clove – ground to paste
1/2 teaspoon granulated ginger (fresh is better here butI didn’t have any)
2 Tablespoons black bean sauce
1 Tablespoon sherry
1/4 cup scallions (to finish)
Optional mushrooms (around 5 ounces go well with bok choy and these flavors)
Directions
Preheat oven to 185 degrees F.
Use silicon lined baking sheets.
Whip egg whites to firm peaks. Whip in sugar. Slowly stir in soy sauce and ginger. Give it a little whip if it needs it. Put mixture in a pastry bag and squeeze out little mounds until you are out of mixture. (they spread slightly so leave a little room). They stay in oven till crisp. Timing will differ because size will differ. This will take maybe one hour – 1 1/2 hours.
Fill a sauce pot with water around three quarters high and add a teaspoon of sesame oil. Bring this to a medium boil. Carefully place the bok choy in bulb sides down into the water and let it cook around 2 minutes. Shut off heat and dip the leaves in so they cook slightly. Then remove the bok choy from the water and drain. Put the bok choy in a serving dish. Put to the side. Dump the water out of the pot.
(cook mushrooms if you are adding optional mushrooms)
The pot is still hot so just use it to whip up the sauce. Add a teaspoon of peanut oil. Then add the ginger, garlic, black bean sauce, and sherry. Pour it over the bok choy. Add Meringues and scallions.
Bok Choy in Black Bean Sauce with Ginger Soy Meringue
I was reading about Cabbage Tacos with Celeriac and date barbecue sauce by Yotam Ottolenghi. I was very intrigued and wanted to do his recipe. I thought I was reading a story about that dish but found out that I was just reading an ad for the Flavor Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi. That recipe is not (as of yet) posted anywhere on the internet. I had some Brussels sprouts that I had to cook so I thought that the sauces and seasonings from the Ottolenghi recipe would be delicious with Brussels sprouts and they are. My GOSH they really are darn scrumptious! I don’t have the Flavor Cookbook (yet….) But I was able to find the ingredients for the Yotam Ottolenghi recipe from an on-line recipe grocery shopping site that I found by accident. I figured out something a little different but close to his recipe so I must give Yotam Ottolenghi some credit for this amazing recipe. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 pound brussels sprouts – cut in half
canola oil to fry Brussels sprouts
sea salt – to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 shallot fine chopped
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
2 ounces balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 ounces dates – chopped
3 Tablespoons black garlic
3 ounces water (maybe a little more)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 red chillies – chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons chives – chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese – crumbled or cubed
Directions
Make the black garlic date bbq sauce.
In a fry pan on medium high heat add about a teaspoon of canola oil. When it is hot add the shallot and cook till soft. Then add the garlic, chili flakes, vinegar, smoked paprika, cumin, dates and water. Cook briefly. Take off heat and add the black garlic. Blend this up and add some water to get to the right consistency. Put to the side.
Make the seasoned oil. Blend together the olive oil, red chillies, coriander and chives. Pour this over your crumbled feta cheese and put to the side.
Fry up your Brussels sprouts. Put around a quarter inch of canola oil in your fry pan and put the heat on medium high. When the oil seems hot put the Brussels sprouts into the pan cut side down. Fry them till they have some color on them. Put them on a baking sheet that is lined with paper towels.
Plate it out and serve. Brussels sprouts topped with the seasoned feta cheese and spoon on some black garlic date bbq sauce.
Brussels Sprouts with Black Garlic Date BBQ Sauce and Seasoned Feta Cheese
Enjoy!
A Special THANKS!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for his recipe for this inspiration.
Dining out with dogs is just a “FLUFF” story about dining out with my dogs. It all sort of started when my dog Louie was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. We were told that he only had 3 or maybe up to 6 months to live. Louie was already elderly and couldn’t do a lot but he always loved to eat and also loved going out to eat so I took him out to eat as often as possible. Instead of the diagnosed 3-6 months Louie made it another 17 months. Today I took my current dogs out to eat.
There are things that you need to know about dining out with dogs. Not all restaurants with patios are dog friendly. It is always best to call a restaurant first and ask if it is ok to dine there with your dog. You never know if the patio is booked already. It is also always BEST to avoid as many other people and other dogs as possible so it is best to dine with your dog at off times. Some people hate dogs and other people can be allergic to dogs. It is also best to avoid other dogs because dogs enjoy barking at each other and this can be considered a disturbance and you might be asked to leave. Avoid as many potential problems as you can and dine out with dogs at off times.
You need to get a list from your veterinarian of food and drink to avoid giving dogs. Much of the food and drink that is yummy for you can be harmful or toxic to your furry best friend. Usually a small lean piece of meat without sauce might be a safe choice. You should also bring a water bowl so you best friend has a drink. Here in Phoenix the temperature is an issue. All dogs do have a different heat tolerance but also all dogs are less heat tolerant than people. They wear fur coats. They absorb heat up the paws and they can’t sweat. 90 F degrees and above is too hot to safely dine out with dogs. Maybe up to 90 F but only in full shade might be ok for younger healthy dogs? Hopefully you can judge your dogs needs. When there is any doubt leave your dog at home.
When you are ready to dine out with dogs you need to know that your dog (s) needs to be by your side at all times. Dogs are also not to sit on restaurant furniture. Dogs are not to eat off restaurant plates.
Our first dining out was to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They specialize in serving Banh Mi baguette sandwiches and offer around a dozen different varieties. They also offer many Vietnamese favorite dishes EXCEPT FOR PHO. Today I got a chicken rice plate.
I haven’t gotten this one in a while because it is usually 2 dinners for me. But gosh that chicken is really FORKING DELICIOUS.
It’s around 8 ounces of JUICY DELICIOUS FLAVORFUL slightly charred DELICIOUS chicken. The plate comes with some pickled vegetables, lettuce, seasoned rice, egg roll, fish sauce (for dipping the chicken) and some chile sauce. This plate makes anyone with a mouth happy.
My husband got the pork rice plate. He also enjoyed it. The dogs AND MY HUSBAND helped finished off my plate because that chicken is really great. (I honestly think it’s one of the best chicken dishes around this part of town)
We always enjoy Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix.
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
We enjoy going to Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in North Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. They serve Neapolitan Pizzas, house made pastas, Italian dishes, seasonal specials and more! They offer a nice patio with heaters, shades and misters for our comfort.
Today I got the strawberry chicken salad.
My husband got the piccante panino (imported prosciutto crudo, spicy soppressata, flor di latte, lettuce, house made spice sauce).
Dogs got to eat some of my chicken and cheese from the side salad. They were pretty excited about that.
www.BottegaRistorante.com
Next trip out was Phila-Deli in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. They are a small hoagie and cheesesteak place but I like the build your own salads. (at the moment subject to change they serve these salads for $8.99. Avocado is 75cents extra).
There is plenty of chicken to share with the dogs.
They also got some beef from my husband’s cheesesteak.
We always get a filled belly from Phila-Deli.
www.PhilaDeliAZ.com
We also got to take the dogs to Cucina Tagliani in Glendale/Arrowhead/#UpperWestSide. This restaurant is an American Restaurant that offers American-Italian style food, some healthy choices, and a menu of pork ribs and New York Strips, plus more. They offer a large spacious officially licensed dog friendly patio and it usually isn’t crowded during the day.
Today I got the strawberry chicken salad and my husband got a lasagna with extra hot sausage.
This salad is refreshing on a hot day.
The dogs always enjoy eating at Cucina Tagliani’s.
www.CucinaTagliani.com
That was dining out with dogs in Metro Phoenix for April 2021. The weather is turning hot so we will have to get out early before the temperatures rise too much for Dining Out With DOGS if we can……we hope to see you next month!
The Forking TruthIn Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017
April 25th 2021 was the first celebrity chef star studded food festival at Ocotillo Restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. There was food and drinks inside for VIPS and outside for everyone else. Tickets were $100. for general admission $200 for V.I.P. admission and up to $1,000. for extra special admission.
VIPVIPVIPVIPVIPVIP
That was the 2021 Aaron May’s Big Boy Cook Club Cookout at Ocotillo in Phoenix AZ.
I thought that I knew what Peruvian Potato Salad was after I had some from a Peruvian Restaurant. I made up my own recipe on here that was very similar. After researching many recipes I’ve found that Peruvian Potato Differs even more than American Potato Salad. I think after reading many recipes my conclusion is that texture is an important factor. The other important factor might be less or no mayonnaise. So this is what I came up with for Peruvian STYLE potato salad today. Texture is important so I boiled, mashed and fried the potatoes to give three different textures. Instead of mayonnaise I made a spicy yellow pepper and cilantro sauce to flavor the mashed potatoes and latter got drizzled over the top to add more flavor. OH and I added those Peruvian sweet drop peppers because they are essential here. Serving size might be slightly different. This makes 4-6 servings depending on portion size. This recipe will make more spicy cilantro sauce than you need but it is so delicious that you won’t mind keeping some in your freezer.
Ingredients for around 6 portions
1 onion (or a few small onions like one white and one red or a shallot) sliced thin but kept in half moons if you can. – onion salsa
1 garlic clove – ground to paste – onion salsa
Yellow Peruvian dried chili to taste – substitute any chili that you like – onion salsa
1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice – onion salsa
sea salt to taste – onion salsa
black pepper to taste – onion salsa
2 teaspoons cilantro – torn or chopped – onion salsa
Put potatoes in a sauce pot on medium high heat and cover with water and add a Tablespoon of salt. This needs to boil until potatoes are tender. Timing might differ but this usually takes 15-20 minutes. Peel the potatoes when cool enough to handle. Save the peelings for frying.
Make onion salsa – onions get laced out on a baking sheet. They get sprinkled with the garlic, pepper flakes, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Top with some fresh cilantro. Put to the side.
Make cilantro sauce. – Blend together the cilantro, peppers, soy milk, garlic, lime juice, oregano, salt, dijon, honey cumin and olive oil. Put to the side.
Around half the potatoes get mashed with 6 Tablespoons cilantro sauce, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. The other half of peeled potatoes get cut into bite size shapes (salt and pepper them lightly)
Get a sauce pot on slightly over medium heat with around an inch and a half of oil and when the oil is hot fry up the potato skins. When they are crisp take them out of the oil and put them on a drying rack or a paper towel lined baking sheet. Hit them with some salt and pepper to taste.
Now put it all together.
On the bottom goes the onion salsa. Next is mashed potatoes topped with boiled potatoes, topped with crispy fried potatoes. Add Peruvian peppers. Serve with extra cilantro sauce.
cilantro saucePeruvian Inspired Purple Potato Salad with Onion Salsa and Spicy Cilantro Sauce
Optional additional Peruvian style toppings are cooked eggs, feta cheese, carrots, radish, corn, peas, tomatoes, avocado and olives (preferably Peruvian Black Cured Olives)
Universal Yums is a international snack box gift box or subscription service. You have a choice of a few different size boxes.
They all come with snacks and a booklet with games, trivia and a recipe.
This month the snacks are from Spain. My expectations were pretty high because Spain is well known for having amazing foods and astonishing canned fish. (I was hoping for some really great canned fish)
I got a squashed cake. The cake is soft and the filling is very paste-tee……
Next are spicy mango gummies. They smell sort of like mango. They are not spicy. Not a favorite. It’s like gummy whipped taffy with a weird flavor.
These smell awful. They smell just like when you walk by an old fryer with old oil. They are suppose to be bacon and cheese flavored bugle shaped corn snacks. But they don’t have bacon or any cheese in them. Won’t get fat eating these….
This month I got a Yum Bag….Usually we get a Yum Bag but last month I didn’t. the top candies are Spanish Chocolate Toffee. They are soft like Tootsie Rolls…After a few chews all the chocolate flavor disappears and it’s like edible plastic. The pistachio candies on the lower end of the Yum bag are suppose to be soft and rich?….I think I got defective candies because mine are hard and are strong enough to pull my teeth out. It taste like the flavor is sprayed on. After about a second you don’t need the candy anymore.
Next are little sugar coated caramels……..They taste good but do have a slightly artificial finish……
Last snack
Lemon pepper potato chips……They smell like normal potato chips…..They are nice and crisp in texture. For me they are too acidic….I can’t eat them but my husband can…Bah they were almost good with a nice potato flavor.
Those were my thoughts on Universal Yums Spain 2021 Your opinion may differ!
The supermarket had an amazing sale on Asparagus and eggs so this is what I came up with. Frying the breaded eggs is very easy and quick to do. They are so tasty that you might want to make a few extra eggs.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
4 eggs
1 egg – lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon dijon
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup panko
canola or vegetable oil to fry with
1 bunch asparagus (around one pound) woody ends removed
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts – lightly crushed
1 lemon just the zest
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons olive oil
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste
Directions
Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl add the dijon mustard, vinegar and oil. Mix well and set to the side.
Put a pot of water on to a medium high boil. Once the water is boiling add the four (or more if you want extra) eggs and shut the heat OFF. Leave the eggs in the water for 6 minutes for a loose center or up to ten minutes if you want a hard center. Then take the eggs out of the water and put them in a bowl of ice water to cool.
Put oil in a sauce pot around thumbs length high with oil. Turn the heat up slightly past medium.
In a small bowl mix together the beaten egg and the dijon.
Put the flour in a small bowl.
put the panko in a small bowl.
Now peel the eggs.
Dip eggs first in flour.
Next coat eggs with egg/dijon mixture.
Then roll them in the panko.
The oil should be hot now and start frying the eggs. They get done very quickly. After eggs are fried set them on a cooling rack or a baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb oil.
Boil water in a sauce pot and cook the asparagus till tender. Drain the asparagus.
Assemble
Put the asparagus on a platter. Pour on vinaigrette. Add hazelnuts, lemon zest and fresh thyme. Add eggs.
Asparagus with Hazelnuts, Dijon Vinaigrette and breaded fried egg
The FANTABULOUS dish means – Top of the line, marvelously good, peachy keen and dynamite!
Valentine is a small restaurant located in a vintage furniture store in the Melrose District of Phoenix Arizona. They serve high quality coffees, brunch foods, cocktails, nature wines and dinner on the weekends. Most of the food served is wood fired and laced with the southwest.
I was planning on trying the grouper that I saw on the on-line menu but on my arrival it wasn’t on the menu so I went with the chicken…………
They use high quality Two Wash Ranch Chicken and you get not half but a whole small bird. OMG it is SOOOoooooooooo tender, SOOOooooooooo moist and SOOOOooooooo flavorful. It’s magical. It’s like a million bucks….Every FORKING bite is an explosion of flavors. It’s smoked but not too smoky and it’s unbelievably delicious. It’s just FANTABULOUS! The sauce is so chicken-eeeeeee and a little smoky. It taste amazing with the chicken, cabbage and durum wheat berries. To me the little white pile on the plate is a little odd but also delicious….There is this pile of kerned yogurt with dill…It makes me crave a pita…..Oh and did I mention that this is a large portion? I’ll eat the rest another day.
The chicken from Valentine in Phoenix is one FANTABULOUS Dish.
I had to use up a butternut squash and I came across this amazing recipe for butternut squash and fondue with pickled chiles by Yotam Ottolenghi on the internet. It wasn’t my plan or intention to change the recipe but I didn’t have puff pastry so I made my own pastry. I didn’t have white wine either so I guessed that the amount of rice wine vinegar might be a similar taste. Also didn’t have Fresno chiles (I pickled baby bell pepper slices in jalapeño brine) at home so I made something slightly different. This pie does come out delicious but it is rich with lots of cheese and a thin delicious crust. I think it is most suitable as either a slice for breakfast or an extra small slice as an appetizer. So serving size is difficult to judge. It makes as least 8 servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
1 cup flour – pastry
1 stick unsalted butter (8oz.) – pastry
1/4 teaspoon sea salt – pastry
1/4 teaspoon baking powder – pastry
1/4 cup cream cheese – pastry
optional 1 teaspoon sour cream – pastry (only use if dough is too dry)
non stick spray
1/2 cup jalapeno brine (preferable home made or substitute apple cider vinegar with big pinch of salt)
6 smaller peppers or chiles – sliced thin in rings
1 smaller butternut squash – peeled, seeds removed cut in 1/2 inch 1/2 moons
1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 onion – peeled and cut into 5 slices
1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves ground to paste
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves + a few sprigs to finish
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg + 2 yolks – slightly beaten
1 Tablespoon corn starch
4 1/2 oz gruyere cheese – grated
4 oz raclette cheese – grated
optional 1 egg beaten for egg wash
optional 2 Tablespoons everything bagel seasoning
Instructions
Grease and line spring form pan with non stick spray . Set to side.
Make pastry. All dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder,) go in a large bowl. Use a medium size grater and grate the butter into the dry mix. Add the cream cheese and knead it a little bit. Usually this is enough. One time it was still too dry so I added a teaspoon of sour cream. Wrap the dough up with plastic wrap and either set to the side or chill in the refrigerator. The dough will get very hard in the refrigerator and will need a while to warm to room temperature when you need it.
Set Oven to 450 degrees F.
Make pickled peppers. Brine or vinegar (with pinch of salt) goes in a small bowl or container with pepper rings. Set to the side.
In a large bowl add the butternut squash, oil, Aleppo, black and white peppers, cinnamon and 1 Tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Combine and mix well. (don’t clean mixing bowl.The squash go on a parchment lined baking sheet in one layer.
In the same mixing bowl add another 1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Mix the oil up well with the remaining spices sticking to the bowl. Dip each onion slice on both sides into the oil ring to keep the slices together. The onion slices also go on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer.
Put the baking sheets in the oven. Butternut squash baking sheet on middle rack and onion baking sheet on lower rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes carefully turn all the butternut squash over and all the onion slices over. They go back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and reduce the heat to 375 degrees F.
Next – In a large mixing bowl combine the garlic, vinegar, thyme leaves, heavy cream, 1 egg + 2 yolks, cornstarch, and cheeses and mix well. Put to side.
Roll out the dough as thin as you can. It goes into the spring form pan. You might need to mold the sides up a little bit. Add around three of the onion rings to the bottom and then add around three quarters of the butternut squash. Fill next with the cheesy liquid. Add remaining squash and onions last.
Put filled spring form pan on a lined baking sheet because it might leak some.
This stays in the oven 30 minutes. Then it comes out and it is very hot so be careful. You need to release rim of pan and remove it and side lining papers and place this back into the oven for 20 minutes. It is optional that you might want to brush the pastry with egg and pat bagel seasoning on it……Cut out a round of parchment paper to stop the top from browning more.
Let it sit out to cool some. Serve at room temperature or slightly heated.
Butternut Squash and Fondue Pie with Pickled Peppers
ENJOY!
A Special THANKS to Yotam Otttolenghi for sharing his Forking Amazing recipe so I could make this!
Every now and then I like to stuff a pepper and wrap them with a potato string crust. Never did a hot dog before so that is what I did today.
I got Anaheim peppers today and removed the core inside and stuffed each one with one hot dog and very thinly sliced onions. A few of the hot dogs didn’t fit in perfect so I had to cut them some to make them fit…and managed to get a whole hot dog in each one. I was one Anaheim short so I used a half hot dog each in smaller yellow chili peppers.
I got out my Paderno spiral cutter and did a potato.
Then I wrapped some potato around each pepper. I sprayed my baking sheet with non stick spray and sprayed the potatoes with the non stick spray. They went in a 450 degree F oven for 30 minutes.
My peppers got done at all different times. I turned the heat down to 350 and just left peppers in till done. some needed 10 minutes and two needed 20 more minutes.
