I watched The Talk TV Show and chef Shota Nakajima made his chicken teriyaki and gave the recipe for it on The Talk’s website….www.TheTalk.com I had a 1/2 turkey breast in my freezer that needed to be used so I thought I’d use chef Nakajima’s teriyaki recipe for it. Since I was using a boneless turkey breast I thought that I only need to marinate 4 hours so that is what I did then I fried it up in a stainless pan with non stick spray. It came out delicious and moist almost like I sous vide it. What a great recipe for teriyaki.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
1/2 a turkey breast off the bone. (mine had skin but you can do it with or without skin)
2 cups soy sauce
1 cup mirin
2 Tablespoons pure honey
1 Tablespoon garlic puree
1 Tablespoon ginger puree
1 Tablespoon tahini paste
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground sesame seeds
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
non stick spray
Directions
Whisk everything together (except the turkey and the non-stock spray) Bring mixture to a boil on medium heat. Let cool. Reserve 1/2 cup for serving.
Marinate the turkey 1/2 breast in a ziplock gallon bag refrigerated for NO MORE than four hours. Remove from bag and either grill till cooked threw (I do warn you that this will make a mess) or fry up in a pan on medium high heat sprayed with non stick spray around 10 minutes a side or till cooked threw. Serve with rice and drizzle sauce on the top.
turkey breast teriyaki
A special THANKS!!!! To chef Shota Nakajima for his FORKING Amazing Teriyaki recipe!
De Babel is a semi/fast casual Middle Eastern type restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. It isn’t a fancy place but seems shiny and clean. They offer many of the usual Middle Eastern Mediterranean offerings and some that are not that usual.
Some of sandwiches offered are falafel, meat shawarma, chicken tawook (classic Lebanese chicken marinated and usually made on skewers…), a burger, ribeye, wild mushroom and more. They offer some plates, platters, salads like tabouli, fattoush and freekah. Some of the sides they offer are truffle fries, cole slaw, mushroom soup, bread bowls, and roasted cauliflower.
You order at the counter, grab a beverage, pay, and seat yourself. They run your food to you when it is ready.
We shared a vegetarian platter of hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaf platter with added chicken shawarma so we could taste that too.
hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaf with added chicken shawarma
It’s very crisp, moist and green inside and flavored well. The hummus is nice and creamy and accented with oil, chickpeas, and Aleppo pepper. The baba ganoush is smoky and the top of it glistens with pomegranate. The grape leaves are very tender, rolled thinner than most and taste laced with allspice. I think that the chicken shawarma is seasoned nicely and it is flavorful but is a little dry today. Same with the meat shawarma…… It’s seasoned very nice but is a little dry. The tabouli is bright and lemony fresh and flavorful. The rice is also flavorful here too.
That was a little taste of De Babel in Scottsdale AZ.
I had a cauliflower and some leeks in my refrigerator so I searched for a recipe that uses those vegetables on the web and came across chef Pollyanna Coupland’s recipe. I found her recipe interesting and different. I kept her recipe mostly the same except for the cheese sauce. I thought everything was delicious and I never would have thought of roasting the cauliflower with all that lemon with all these flavors the recipe has….It is delicious. I am glad that I found her recipe so that I could have what I came out with. Her recipe says that it makes two servings……..maybe this is considered a whole meal? I guess it could be? It also depends on the size of your cauliflower. I find that the cauliflowers at the store differ GREATLY in size. Another little thing that I did different was cutting the cauliflower into florets…I like eating the cauliflower better that way. chef Coupland’s recipe serves you a full half a cauliflower on your plate so you can eat it like a steak. This recipe takes two days to make because the pickled leeks need to pickle for two days. Servings will differ. This recipe makes 2-4 servings. I think for most people that you will get 4 servings out of a cauliflower.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 bundle leek (this could be one big one, two smaller ones ((that is what I used)) or even three tiny ones)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
scant 1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt + more salt to salt the leeks
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 cauliflower – I broke mine down to florets but the original recipe has the cauliflower cut in half
2 pinches of thyme chopped
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 lemon juice and zest
2 Tablespoons olive oil
salt – to taste to season cauliflower
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
9 oz sharp cheddar cheese – shredded
3 oz brie cheese cubed small
1.5 oz havarti cheese shredded
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
bay leaf
1/4 cup corn starch
2 cups non-fat milk
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
dash hot sauce
liquid smoke and or smoked salt to taste (I used both)
2 Tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds
2 Tablespoons roasted hazelnuts (lightly crushed)
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds
fresh chives to finish
Directions
Slice the leeks into rings and sprinkle with salt. Leave the salt on for ten minutes and then rinse off. Chef Coupland says that this will help to keep the leeks crisp.
Combine the vinegar, water, thyme, sugar, salt, mustard seeds in a pan and heat till the salt has dissolved.
Blanch the leeks in boiling water for 20 seconds and then place the leeks in ice water. Squeeze off all the liquid from the leeks and then place them in the pickling solution. Make sure the leeks are submerged for two days in the refrigerator. I find that this is easiest to use a quart ziplock bag but you can use whatever.
After two days.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
If you are doing florets….Get a large mixing bowl and combine the oil, thyme, lemon juice, zest, , salt to taste, white pepper and the cauliflower mix well. If you are doing two halves. Mix the oil, thyme, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and rub it all over the cauliflower. Roast the cauliflower on a sheet tray for 20-30 minutes.
Next make the cheese sauce.
In a small bowl or cup mix together the milk and cornstarch. Put a sauce pot on medium high with the buttered bay leaf. When the butter is almost melted add the milk/cornstarch mixture. Use a whisk and stir until the mixture is thickened and is boiling. Turn down the heat to low. Take off the heat and gradually add all the cheese….mix till smooth. Use the low burner if needed…..Add the mustard, hot sauce, smoke flavoring, and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Take off heat.
Toast nuts
Serve however you like. Cauliflower with the cheese sauce over or under. Top with nuts, the pickled leeks and some fresh chives.
Roast Cauliflower with Smoked Cheddar Sauce, Pickled Leeks, Nuts and Seeds
ENJOY!
A special THANKS!!!!! to chef Polly Coupland for her Forking amazing recipe so that I could make this plate.
When I looked for weird food news the first thing I found today was that an officer threw a can of beans at a criminal armed with a hammer…….Guess that works better than bringing a lemon to a knife fight?
I read in FoodNetwork Magazine that a farmer in Japan invented Bananas that have very thin edible skin. These bananas currently are only being sold in Japan and coast $6.00 each. …..Why would FORKING ANYONE want to pay $6.00 for one banana to eat the skin? That is just BANANAS!
www.Pinterest
You might have noticed many unusual pastas at the supermarket. Many different beans and vegetables go into pasta these days. Did you know that Hearts Of Palm, Plantain and Mung Beans actually are in certain pastas too? Ah the Pastabilities! I read this one in FoodNetwork Magazine.
I think the strangest Food News I came across was sent to me in an email from Well Done. When I clicked to the article I was directed to www.MyRecipes.com .
Mayonaise Ice-Cream in Hellman’s and Miracle Whip.
www.Drawception.com
www.ThinkGeek.com
You TOO can be toasty in a sleeping bag that looks like a hot pocket microwavable pouch. You can purchase these sleeping bags at www.ThinkGeek.com
I was walking threw the floral department at my local Safeway Grocery Store and spotted bouquets of cabbage in there with the flowers. That’s kind of weird….
Maybe you can also eat them?
Christmas is just around the corner so maybe you need a CHEESY Gift?
You can give someone a bust of you or someone else sculpted from cheese.
Buut here might be the best one.
The man in the hospital bed is actually cake.
Those were the weirdest food related news that I read recently.
At the end of the week I had carrots and a cauliflower that were getting old and I just happened to get Food & Wine’s recipe this very day in my email for Sweet Cauliflower and Carrot Pickles so I thought I should make this recipe. I changed a few things…not really to change but only due to what I had at home. This pickling recipe is very different from any other pickling that I have done. I used much more spices and different spices than what I think of for pickling. I also didn’t use some things that I always use for pickling like garlic and black peppercorns….SEE I said it was different! Serving size is extra hard to tell on this one….I’m guessing at least 6 servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
1 Tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon allspice berries
1 whole clove
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
1 2in cinnamon stick – broken
1 Tablespoon fennel pollen
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons kosher salt
6 carrots sliced diagonally 1/4 inch thick
1 head cauliflower cut in 1 1/2 inch florets
Directions
Either in a sauce pan on moderate heat (till fragrant) or microwave (45 seconds till fragrant) combine the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, allspice berries, clove, anise seeds, and cinnamon stick. After it cools put it in a small bowl and add the fennel pollen, bay leaf, and crushed red pepper. Wrap well in cheesecloth. ( I used two tea balls I think that is easier)
Add water, vinegar, sugar, and salt to a sauce pan. Add spice bag or balls. Bring to a boil and then simmer for five minutes.
Add carrot slices to boiling mixture. Boil only up to three minutes or until carrots barely tender. Remove carrots. Then add cauliflower and boil the cauliflower till barely tender also up to three minutes. Then remove cauliflower. Toss the spice bag. Let liquid cool to room temperature. Pour the liquid (when cool) over the vegetables. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Drain the vegetables to serve.
Sweet Cauliflower & Carrot Pickles
A Special Thanks to Food & Wine Magazine for their recipe.
Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi is located in North Peoria Arizona in P83. This is an American Restaurant with a full bar, thirty two taps, over fifty HDTVs, and a food menu that is all over the place. It almost like you name it and they probably have it.
They try to please any appetite.
Maybe you want to start with something healthy like edamame?
Or something unhealthy but more fun like made in house macaroni and cheese bars with spicy ranch sauce.
You can have tacos (two chicken tacos one Korean Style beef).
You can also have sushi tacos ( fried seaweed shells, spicy tuna, shredded krab, avocado, choice of sushi). (I prefer the sushi tacos to their regular tacos)
tuna, smoked in house salmon, and salmon
They also offer a variety of burgers with a few different protein choices.
atomic beef burger
Or maybe a pulled pork sandwich.
A few of the other things on the menu are all sushi, sushi rolls, sushi burrito, sushi burger, tuna pizza, wings, pizzas, salads, rice bowls, fish and chips, spaghetti and meatballs, pan seared sirloin and desserts.
There is a lot to taste at Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi in Peoria at P83.
The Craftsman Cocktails & Kitchen is an American Restaurant and distillery located in North Scottsdale Arizona. If you were a fan of the now closed fine dining Italian restaurant called Sassi then you should be a fan of The Craftsman because the chef is the same. This restaurant offers lunch and dinner menus and a new brunch menu will start up sometime fall 2021. The patio is large and wraps around the restaurant and also is dog friendly.
They also have garage door windows that open during nice weather that expand the patio even more. It so airy and comfortable here….I think this is the most comfortable restaurant I ever dined in…..The air conditioner is blowing and the garage doors are open. It just feels great here.
There is a variety of indoor seating, a bar area and the distillery.
distillery
The dinner menu is made of small plates like AZ chicken lollipops, charcuterie curated by chef Chris, and the popular chips and dip or dips that I noticed every table ordering. So I came back after a few visits and tried it.
chips and dip
The chips are really great….So crisp and seem free of oil….really great chips. The dips are different. The dips aren’t bad at all but not my favorite thing here….(but others might disagree since this is the popular dish from what I observed dining here several visits)
I thought the shipwright ahi salad was very good and was made with exceptional produce.
It was made of togarashi coated ahi, local greens, three colors of carrots, watermelon radishes, marinated shiitakes, wasabi peas, yuzu aioli, and ginger, passionfruit, sesame, dressing. (FANTABULOUS)
There’s the tomato and melon burrata.
It’s made with DELICIOUS fresh sweet heirloom tomatoes, creamy burrata, arugula and sweet watermelon….It was so light and delicious! I really LOVE this one! (FANTABULOUS)
Sandwiches like the distillers porcini crusted burger (ground in house) is on the menu. (the salads here are unusually good)
distillers porcini crusted burger with side salad
A wagyu pastrami on pretzel bun is also a sandwich that is offered.
to go – wagyu pastrami sandwich
There is (or was?) also a porchetta sandwich called hammer and advil.
hammer & Advil porchetta sandwich
The last brunch menu offered a dish called short rib hash.
short rib hash AZ chicken lollipops, wagyu pastrami sandwich with side salad, hammer & advil porchetta sandwich with house chips
My husband really enjoyed the Craftsman muffuletta.
Craftsman muffuletta
The sand was made with delicious house made bread, capicola, cabernet salami, prosciutto, fontina, and olive salad. (FANTABULOUS)
Some of the dinners offered are the desert branzino..
desert branzino
It was prepared to perfection with some chimichurri and a very fresh high quality salad made with arugula, watermelon radish and farm fresh heirloom tomatoes. (FANTABULOUS)
According to my husband the volcano pork is a FORKING FANTABULOUS Dish!
volcano pork
It’s basically a southwest style osso buco. It falling off the bone tender as can be shank of pork that was slow braised with incredible flavors in a mild hatch green chili jus. There is also this amazing dreamy cheesy cilantro lime queso and spiced black beans. Tortillas and jalapeño slaw are on the side. (FANTABULOUS)
Sadly I haven’t saved room for desert yet but maybe next time.
The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen is Worth a Fork! Some FANTABULOUS dishes can be found here.
I had some yuzu juice that I had to use up and I thought it would go well with beets so I made infused red beets and marinated chioggia (candy stripe) beets with yuzu, honey, and ginger. This flavor goes pretty well with melon sweet basil and pistachios. You can add any greens that you have to go with it. I made a Chinese Mustard deviled eggs to go with it. I didn’t add that recipe because I only added Chinese Mustard to the egg yolks and nothing else. The egg whites were seasoned with furikake and the yolk part was deviled with togarashi seasoning.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 lb red beets – peeled and cut in slices
1 chioggia beet – peeled and thinly sliced across the beet
1/4 teaspoon + pinch ground white pepper separated
1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon Red Boat Salt separated
1/2 a small sweet melon of any sort. Make melon balls
1/4 cup torn basil
2 oz salted roasted pistachios – lightly crushed
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Mix together the marinate for the chioggia (candy stripe) beets. In a small bowl mix together the 3 Tablespoons yuzu juice, 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1 Tablespoon honey, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon Red Boat salt, and a pinch of white pepper. Mix well and add this and the thinly sliced chioggia beets to a quart size ziplock bag to marinate in the refrigerator.
Place red beet slices in a mostly single layer in a pan or baking dish.
In a bowl mix together the remaining yuzu juice, honey, vinegar, ginger, pepper, and salt. Pour this over the beets and cover the pan or dish. Place this in the oven on a middle rack till beets are tender (around an hour). You can serve the beets either warm or chilled with the marinated beets, melon balls, basil and pistachios. Add a few greens if you like.
SERVE.
Yuzu Honey Ginger Beets with Melon, Sweet Basil, and Pistachios
You wouldn’t understand unless you have or had dogs. Today is just a “FLUFF” story. This is what it’s like in my house when I’m cooking with dogs,
Up above is my big dog with my smaller dog in the kitchen. They were very interested in what I was making……I think they both are smiling at me trying to butter me up so I’d give them a taste of something.
There is cheese on the counter. The smaller dog thinks all the cheese in the house is his.
I am making polenta cakes. This dog is waiting for it.
Real polenta takes around 40 minutes to cook. This dog has been waiting 40 minutes.
I’m putting chicken in the sous vide. My bigger dog is very interested in that and stretches out to occupy almost the whole kitchen.
My smaller dog is eyeing up the eye roast I just made.
I just made Jodhpuri Tawa chicken and I’m also portioning pastrami. Looks like someone is hoping that I drop some his way.
He’s checking out a New York Strip that I sous vide and then seared. He’s hoping that it jumps off the plate.
He’s supervising me removing the silver skin from an eye roast.
Both of them are waiting for something.
He’s waiting for something cooking in the oven.
He’s waiting for some brisket.
He’s eyeing up another eye roast.
The big dog doesn’t usually get in my way. She admires from a far and is already licking her lips.
Interested in another steak I made.
Always interested in perfect chicken from the sous vide getting portioned out for lunches.
Both dogs are always interested in the food but the large dog has better manors and doesn’t get up in my way.
Smoking a pastrami
Large dog feels the need to guard oven with the precious pastrami.
They are delighted with the results.
Interested in oven fries. Well they were a really great batch.
I don’t know why but he is there for the vegetarian andouille squash sausage that I made.
I think I like this picture of both dogs in the kitchen best so I played with it on www.LunaPic.com and came up with this.
That was cooking with dogs. You wouldn’t understand unless you have or had dogs.
I subscribe to Milk Street Magazine. They sent me a recipe in an email called carrot-lime soup with cilantro that they say is a riff on a recipe by Alice Walters. I happened to have carrots and parsnips that I needed to use up so I thought this recipe seemed great since it comes out to be a creamy rich soup that is WITHOUT butter and cream. I made very slight changes. You can’t change this up too much because carrot doesn’t have a strong flavor. My biggest change wasn’t on purpose to change the recipe…I didn’t have enough carrots and happened to have parsnips to use. I think I might have accidentally improved the flavor with parsnips but parsnips can be difficult and sometimes you really need to remove the woody core they sometimes have. I also substituted onion for shallots and added a few garlic cloves. I thought a little added white pepper and a small pinch of cinnamon would be good so I added that too.
Ingredients for around 4 smaller servings
1 lb carrots – peeled, cut up in smaller pieces
3 large parsnips or around 1/2 lb parsnips (you might need to remove woody cores of parsnips. Peel and cut into smaller pieces
3 garlic cloves – chop
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + more for serving
2 Tablespoons cilantro + 1/2 cup – chopped
1 lime zest & juice separated
2 jalapeños – stem and core removed – small chopped and separate (you need one for the soup and one for the garnish)
1 sweet onion – minced and divided in half
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
small pinch cinnamon
optional some sour cream or crema for serving
Directions
In a large sauce pot heat up the oil till it is shimmering. Add the carrots, parsnips, 2 Tablespoons cilantro, lime zest, one jalapeño, 1/2 the onion, coriander, salt, stirring occasionally. Cover till vegetables are fork tender. Add 4-5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the remaining jalapeño, onion, cilantro and lime juice. season with salt and pepper. Set to the side. The soup is ready to puree…Be careful when using a blender. It is safer to use a blending wand. Taste and adjust if necessary.
Serve with cold vegetable garnish, a little olive oil and optional sour cream or crema.
Carrot Parsnip Lime Soup with Cilantro
Enjoy!
A special thanks to Milk Street to get me off my ass to prepare this healthy style soup that I needed to make.
