This recipe is loosely based on a Food and Wine Recipe called Epazote Pakoras with Turmeric Raita. To make the story as short as possible I flavored almost everything different, made a completely different batter and flavored a different based sauce different but with the same main flavors….So it’s fair to say that I was inspired by Food and Wine Magazine. I never would have thought about battering epazote leaves if I didn’t read the recipe. This particular day I found myself with more fresh epazote than I needed and remembered the Food and Wine Recipe and that’s how we got here. The turmeric ginger mayo dipping sauce I winged and didn’t measure but you can wing it too. You might not have a pinch of black cardamon hanging around but your sauce will taste close.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 bunch fresh epazote (preferably a bunch with large leaves) – washed – dried off – leaves removed from stems (you are only using the leaves)

1/2 medium sweet onion (cut the half in half and separate the petals)

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup chick pea flour

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup corn starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1/2 cup water

oil to fry like canola oil

3 Tablespoons mayonnaise (guesstimated) (sauce)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric (guesstimated) (sauce)

1/2 teaspoon granulated ginger (sauce)

small pinch mustard seeds (sauce)

small pinch cumin (sauce)

small pinch ground coriander (sauce)

small pinch cloves (sauce)

small pinch ground black cardamon (sauce)

small pinch ground fennel (sauce)

tiny pinch cinnamon (sauce)

garam masala to taste (to finish the epazote and onions)

Optional a fruity medium pepper to finish like Aleppo

Directions

(this recipe I winged and didn’t measure but this is similar to what I did) Mix up a dipping sauce. In a small mixing bowl add the mayonnaise, turmeric, ginger, and small or tiny pinches of cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, cloves, black cardamon, fennel and cinnamon. Set to the side.

Get a frypan on medium high heat with canola oil. In your spice grinder add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns and grind. Add the spices to a small mixing bowl and add chili powder, salt, chick pea flour, flour, corn starch, baking powder, egg and water and mix well.

By now your oil should be hot.

Dip a leaf into the batter and pull it out. carefully place in hot oil. Do about 4 or 5 more. They cook pretty fast. When you get a brown side turn it over. Place them on pan that’s covered with pepper towels to absorb oil. Repeat with the leaves and onion petals till you are done. Sprinkle everything lightly with garam masala. Add a small amount of Aleppo pepper if desired (it’s a mild fruity heat)

Nothing is too aggressive here. I think everyone would enjoy!

This dish is an inspiration of the classic Persian Style Rice Dish (Tahdig) and a nod to Chef Stephen’s Jones Forking Amazing Hopping John’s dish. Chef Jone’s dish was so Forking amazing I wanted to try to make it but I didn’t find the ingredients in my local store so I didn’t make it yet and made this instead. I got it delicious! and you can see the rice came out crispy and crusty like it should!

Ingredients for about 12 servings

2 cups basmati rice

1/2 pinch saffron

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoon Zatarain’s crab boil seasoning

1 orange – just the zest

1 carrot – shredded

1 celery stalk – fine chopped

1 green bell pepper minced.

1 medium sized sweet onion – minced

3 garlic cloves – grated

1 Tablespoon canola oil

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon vegetable base

I orange – just the zest

1/2 cup white sonaron berries

1 cup lentils

2 large or three small bay leaves

1/2 cup white sonaran berries

Some greens are suggested

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse rice very well till water turns clear and marinate the rice in water with about 1 Tablespoon of sea salt for two hours and set to the side.

Prepare vegetables, lentils and sonaran berries while rice is marinating.

The Sonaran Berries go in two cups of of boiling water that get reduced to a simmer for about an hour or until cooked.

Lentils go in a pot with two cups boiling water with two or three bay leaves. bring to boil and then reduce to simmer. About 30 minutes. When done remove and discard the bay leaves.

The vegetables that you just prepared get sautéed till cooked (about 10 minutes) 3 Tablespoons canola oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons Zataraines’s crab boil seasoning, 1/2 pinch saffron , 1/8 teaspoon turmeric , zest of one orange, Garlic, celery, green bell, onion, carrot and when cooked set to the side.

The vegetables, lentils and sonaran berries get combined.

The rice gets boiled for seven minutes.

Then you combine 3 tablespoons water with three tablespoons canola oil with 1/2 teaspoon vegetable base and this gets boiled in a non-stick pot.

Add rice on high and let it go 10 minutes.

Cover loose with foil and reduce heat to around medium low for about 45 minutes.

Mix crusty rice with lentil, vegetable sonara mixture.

Add some greens.

Serve.

Very tasty…Enjoy!

This doesn’t look as special as it taste. The corn gets sort of brined as they are cooked and absorb to get southwest flavors. The liquid that cooks the corn transforms into a southwest seasoned corn stock that is incredibly delicious. You pull out all the big stuff from the liquid and add rice and cook till done and when done add scallions and mix together….You won’t believe how FORKING TASTY this really is…..You just won’t believe it.

Ingredients to make 8 servings

8 ears of corn – peeled

4 oz unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons sea salt

2 large jalapeños – sliced in half

6 scallions – cut in half

8 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground achiote (also called anatto)

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 dried chiltepin peppers – crush with finger tips (very difficult pepper to find ….but it will make your food taste better….you can order it online)

I Tablespoon epazote leaves (sometimes Whole Foods sells them…but you can buy from any Mexican Grocery…..I buy them and freeze them so I always have some….if you freeze them take leaves off the stem because the stems get mushy from freezing)

1 bunch cilantro stems

4 teaspoons adobo sauce (from a can of chilies in adobo)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

water to cover corn about 3/4s

2 cup rice

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin.

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Use two 1/2 pans and put 4 ears of corn in one and 4 ears of corn in the other. Half of almost everything goes in each pan. In each pan add 2oz butter, 1 Tablespoon sea salt, 1 jalapeño, 3 scallions, 4 garlic cloves, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground achiote, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 chiltepin pepper (crushed), 1/2 Tablespoon epazote, 1/2 bunch cilantro stems, 2 teaspoons adobo sauce, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano.

Fill with water till the water covers about three quarters of the corn. Cover both pans tightly with foil.

They stay in oven till done….about 90 minutes.

When corn is done remove ears from the liquid.

Remove most of pieces of stuff from the liquid and throw out pieces but keep liquid…..you should have 4-5 cups of liquid.

Put all the liquid in one pan.

In your empty pan add the two cups of rice.

Measure out 4 cups of liquid and add the liquid to the pan of rice…..(this is really going to be forking amazing delicious rice)

Cover tightly with foil and it goes back in the oven till the rice is done……about 50 minutes.

During this time cut the corn off the cobs and set in a bowl.

Pull out the rice and fluff. Add the corn and scallions and mix.

You and yours will be surprised on how Forking Delicious this really is.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower is a blank slate. No other vegetable is as versatile as cauliflower. I came up with this recipe after I made a batch of potato salad with slightly similar flavors so here it is.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 large cauliflower – broke down to florets and in a large bowl

1 apple – cut in cubes (about the size of two green peas)

3 Tablespoons dijon mustard

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Frank’s Red Hot)

1 Tablespoon paprika

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons scallions – sliced thin

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F

To your big bowl of cauliflower add the apples and set to the side.

In a small mixing bowl add the mustard. With either a fork or a whisk drizzle in the oil and whisk till the mixture emulsifies. Slowly stir in the vinegar until it combines. Slowly stir in the hot sauce until it combines. Drizzle the mixture over the big bowl of cauliflower. Mix well till it looks evenly coated. Add the paprika and stir some more.

Spread the mixture out on baking sheet(s) and put in the oven till the edges start to brown and the cauliflower is tender. (30-45 minutes) I did mine on three 1/2 baking sheets and maybe due to my oven’s uneven cooking mine were done in 30, 35 and 40 minutes.

Finish with salt and pepper to taste and a sprinkle of scallions.

Another Tasty Way to do Cauliflower.

I had a bunch of beets hanging around and I wanted to do something different so I made them into a delicious Tunisian Inspired Treat!!!!! A traditional Harissa is made from roasted bell peppers, garlic, a hot pepper and spices. Harissa taste great embellished with pistachios, creamy not too tangy not too salty feta cheese (high quality feta or substitute goat cheese), cilantro, scallions and mint. I thought mini peppers would be a good and healthy way to scoop up the Beet Harissa along with the embellishments. Trust me on this one……even if you don’t love beets you are going to LOVE this dish. My husband had no idea what this was but said it was delicious and he isn’t the biggest fan of beets either. Packaged harissa of any kind doesn’t compare at all to this harissa or my recipe for traditional harissa. This is something really special that most people will find FORKING DELICIOUS!

Ingredients for around 8 servings

1 lb beets

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

1 red hot pepper or to taste (I used one unusually HOT Fresno that was roasted (maybe it was mismarked?..I think it was too FORKING HOT to be a Fresno) – fine chopped

1 blood orange (just the fresh squeezed juice)

4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

small amount of salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Wash the beet roots very well, While wet wrap each one of them up in aluminum foil and place each one in a baking pan. (Beets will leak slightly while cooking)

The beets need to cook until fork tender. Depending on the size of your beets this might take between 60-90 minutes for average size beets.

When the beets are cool enough to handle you either slip the skins off or peel them off with a peeler. Then chop them up and put them in your blender or in what you use for your stick blender. All cumin, caraway, oil, garlic, hot pepper, juice and vinegar and blend till smooth.

Pretty much prefect now. A very small amount of salt and pepper to taste if desired.

Suggested embellishments are creamy not too tangy or too salty feta cheese (or goat cheese), fresh cilantro, thinly sliced scallions, mint, sumac and pistachios.

This really is FORKING DELICIOUS! I don’t know how to make it look as good as it taste. The Harissa that comes in a tube or jar doesn’t even come close….Maybe you don’t know that you would really enjoy Harissa…Traditional or this unusual Beet Variation.

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Believe it or not each pepper contains a whole zucchini that was spiral cut, salted, drained, mixed with a few vegetables and a small amount of Bomba……… Bomba Calabrese is an Italian spicy pepper condiment that is a POWERFUL BOMB of flavor. Only a very small amount of Bomba transforms zucchini into something delicious. It’s next to impossible to find Bomba Calabrese at any store so you have to mail away for it. I prefer the brands that are made with multiple vegetables but I do find that Bomba is a very inconsistent product. It goes from a little over mild to HOTTER THAN HELL even if you buy the same brand over and over but in general it is suppose to be spicy and it’s always delicious. You only need to use a small amount to make sauces and various dishes delicious.

Ingredients for about 6 side orders or 4 vegetarian meals

4 medium/small zucchini (around 2 lbs) – spiral cut

4 mild peppers for stuffing (today I used Anaheim Peppers…I note that when you use a thick skin pepper like a bell you might want to pre-cook it a little)

1 cup corn kernels

1 medium/large sweet onion – sliced up very thin on mandolin

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon (or to taste) Bomba Calabrese

10 grape tomatoes – cut in quarters

1/2 cup parmesan cheese – grated

1/2 cup panko unseasoned bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a baking sheet with non stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine zucchini, onion, corn, salt and pepper. Let the mixture sit for around a 1/2 an hour. Lots of water will come out of the zucchini so dump the zucchini mixture in a colander and squeeze the water out. Now you can mix in the Bomba Calabrese and the tomatoes. Set to the side.

You have to put slits in the peppers for stuffing. Make the slit with a slight “T” shape towards the stem part of the pepper so they are easier to stuff. Pull out the seed core.

It’s easier to fill the peppers if you squish the filling down to the bottom first and work your way up.

Repeat till you’re done and place peppers on sprayed baking sheet.

In a small bowl mix together the cheese, panko and dried basil. Sprinkle over the top.

I put them in a 350 F oven and after 20 minutes They smelled done but I wanted them to cook more so after 20 minutes I loosely covered with foil so they wouldn’t burn and let them cook another 20 minutes.

They are very tasty with a cheese crisp bottom and top.