I recently discovered that steaks taste better with something pickled. I had some of the pickled vegetables leftover after we had steak and discovered that these pickled vegetables are even better on burgers..The combination of peppers…hot and sweet, carrots shallots and apple sort of POPS on beef. .One you try these pickled vegetables on a burger or a steak you will find out on what you were missing……Oh by the way….regular quality or frozen New York Strip Steaks get salt, peppered and Sous Vide at 130 degrees F for 3 hours and then you just sear them in a hot pan with oil for about a minute on each side and ends. They will taste like a quality steak if you treat them that way.

Ingredients for around 10 servings

4 Anaheim chili peppers (around 12 oz.) sliced up and remove core of seeds

1 carrot – peeled and sliced very thin on a mandolin

1 large apple – cut into thin smaller pieces

4 oz shallot – slice very thin on mandolin

1 serrano pepper – slice VERY THIN on mandolin – this will add a little heat but not a lot of heat – use 1/2 if you are a whimp. Day two not all but some of the heat goes away.

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

Directions

Get a sauce pan on medium high heat with the vinegars, water, bay leaf, sugar and salt. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer let it go a couple minutes.

The peppers, carrot, apple, dried oregano go in a container. (a tub or a jar)

Pour hot liquid into container with vegetables and let sit on counter till it cools down. Add lid and refrigerate when cooled down. Tomorrow these will be mighty tasty on something.

ENJOY!

WOWEE this cauliflower puree came out really incredible. I wish I could offer you a spoonful to try. It’s so cheesy and mousse-like. It’s the PERFECT Forking PERFECT macaroni and cheese taste. You can use it as is or as a healthier cheese dip. I think it work be great a number of ways. It could be used as spread for a sandwich, to top a flat bread or non-traditional pizza topping, a modern fancy adornment to upscale nachos, it could be a part of a filling for a lasagna or a topping for a baked potato. The flavors are perfection and it’s not too heavy either. To get the same results as I did you have to follow the instructions exactly. I used a commercial stick blender for blending that worked really well but if you don’t have as good a stick blender you might need to use a regular blender so you get the same smooth mousse-like texture.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 large head orange cauliflower (the orange cauliflower has a better flavor, is sweeter and isn’t as watery as the white cauliflower)

2 oz parmesan cheese – grated

2 oz sharp cheddar cheese – grated (I used Costal Brand English white cheddar from Costco)

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons Arla Brand cream cheese (Arla Cream Cheese is all natural and doesn’t have gum or chemicals in it I used reduced fat Arla cream cheese that is amazing)

1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

Directions

Remove the florets off the core and discard or pickle the core. The florets go in your steamer basket that you set over a sauce pot of medium/slow boiling water. About every 5-10 minutes you might have to lower the water temperature slightly to prevent water from boiling over. Cover the steamer basket with foil and steam till the florets are VERY SOFT….depending on size this should take around 15-20 minutes.

When the florets are soft remove the steamer basket with the cauliflower and set down on the foil you just removed. Throw out the water from the sauce pot. Add the butter and cream cheese to the hot pot you just used. If you have a good stick blender add the hot cauliflower and start blending. Keep blending and add the cheeses and remaining spices. Keep blending till smooth. If you have to use a standard blender you have to let the cauliflower cool slightly and do this slowly to you don’t have the hot cauliflower mixture bursting out of the blender.

Everyone will love this! Very Cheesy Tasting and mousse-like.

Who the FORK knew that Gordon Ramsay’s Quick Sweet Pickled Celery Recipe would make an INCREDIBLE FORKING GREAT Turkey, Cauliflower and Cucumber Salad. This how it all happened. It was around holiday time and I thought I had an extra celery to pickle so I wanted to try Gordon Ramsay’s Recipe…..for Quick Sweet Pickled Celery. I didn’t have much celery left so I used a cauliflower instead. This recipe was good on the cauliflower and after a few days of snacking on the cauliflower I got the idea to add cucumber and some PERFECT Sous Vide Turkey Breast I prepared (my recipe for Sous Vide Turkey Breast is here on The Forking Truth) I added just a few shaved slices of sweet onion and mixed them together and we couldn’t believe how FORKING DELICIOUS it all was together……I didn’t take a picture because this was just something I threw together. But it really was Forking Amazing Together! Here’s how I made the cauliflower. For my taste the cauliflower taste best about four or more days after you make it…..For when your ready for the salad just shave as much English cucumber as you like. Add some shaved onions. Break down cauliflower to manageable florets for your salad and add some of the liquid from the cauliflower as a dressing. For lunch add about three ounces of perfect Sous Vide Turkey Breast sliced thin or for dinner increase the turkey by an ounce and serve with some bread or crackers. The flavor is Forking Amazing….you and yours will be thrilled!

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 head cauliflower (mine was a large one) broke down into florets

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns (I used tellicherry)

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon whole cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt (for pickling I use kosher salt)

3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

Directions

Boil the water and sugar until sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and add the rest of the ingredients and pour over the cauliflower. It’s not enough liquid to cover the cauliflower so when it cools some you need to put the cauliflower and all the liquid and spices into a gallon ziplock bag that you should sit in a bowl. Every day turn the bag on another side twice a day so the cauliflower gets nice and marinated. Eat some when you like and use shaved cucumbers with some onion to your desired amount of cauliflower. Add Sous Vide Turkey Breast so it’s a Forking Delicious Meal.

To Sous Vide The Turkey Breast you need to vacuum seal it with a small amount of frozen roasted garlic confit, a little fresh rosemary, fresh sage and fresh thyme, sea salt and ground black pepper. Set the Sous Vide at 140 F and the turkey breast will be amazing in 4-5 hours.

The Flavors together are really Forking Amazing!

I had some tofu and some white miso hanging around and I was thinking about a marinade I might use on chicken and that’s how I came up with these Miso Glazed Marinated Tofu Skewers. Somehow they came out delicious! The whole house smelled delicious when I made them. My husband ran out from the other end of the house and said what smells so good? Well here are tasty Miso Glazed Marinated Tofu Skewers. The vegetables you use can differ because I would have used mushrooms if I had them…Use whatever vegetables you have in your kitchen. Today I used zucchini and bell pepper because that’s what I had.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 18oz pack of soft tofu – cut in cubes (about 1 inch cubes)

1/4 cup sriracha (I used shark brand) (marinade)

1/4 cup tamari (marinaide)

1 teaspoon honey (marinade)

1/4 cup reduced sodium miso (looks like white miso but doesn’t note on package I used marukome brand that notes all natural)

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon shaohsine cooking wine

1 Tablespoon black vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 garlic clove – either ground to paste or microplane

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon mirin

pinch crushed red pepper

pinch ground ginger

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (to finish)

1/4 teaspoon furikake (to finish)

2 teaspoons scallions – thinly sliced (to finish)

1 teaspoon fresh cilantro leaves – torn

some vegetables for your skewers a large bell pepper and a zucchini. Other vegetables that would be good are onions, tiny tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms and eggplant. You don’t want any vegetable that is too hard. The vegetables get cut to be put on skewers.

Directions

In a small mixing bowl add the sriracha, tamari and the honey and mix well. Get a gallon ziplock bag and add the small bowl mixture and the tofu cubes. Let the bag marinate in the refrigerator for two hours. Turn the bag over ever 1/2 hour so all the tofu gets seasoned well.

Now make the miso glaze. In a small bowl mix together the miso, rice wine vinegar, cooking wine, black vinegar, honey, garlic, sesame oil, mirin, red pepper and ginger. Refrigerate until the tofu is ready.

Set oven to 400 degrees F

After the tofu has marinated for two hours they get put on skewers that you alternate with vegetables. When you are finished brush the skewers with the miso mixture on all sides. Place on baking sheet(s) and then place in the oven until done and slightly browned. (about 25 minutes)

Finish the skewers with toasted sesame seeds, furikake, a little cilantro and scallions.

ENJOY!

Our local grocery store Sprouts has been having some really good sales on ground turkey lately so here is a Southwest Style Meatloaf. I use a lot of ingredients to make it but it’s very easy and pretty quick to prepare. It comes out very flavorful, moist, a little spicy and Forking delicious. You and yours will enjoy it if you like southwest flavored foods. I placed each meatloaf in half of a pepper (cut not sideways but north to south and removed core) that I broiled first for less than 10 minutes on high and then salt and peppered slightly….so the 1/2 pepper is optional…..I planned to buy mild chili peppers but my Sprouts didn’t have any so I used medium/small sized green bell peppers. So if you are doing the half pepper underneath you need 6 of them. Leftovers freeze and reheat perfect!

Ingredients for 12 servings

2 lbs ground turkey (I used 85% lean)

4 eggs – beaten slightly

2 Tablespoons vegetable base (instead of salt…more flavor and less salt too)

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1/2 medium sweet onion (or a 1/4 of a large sweet onion) – fine chopped

1 medium/small tomato – chopped

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 cup plain panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup masa (NO SUBSTITUTIONS because this is for flavor)

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup corn kernels

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with a little sauce – peppers fine chopped

3/4 cup scallions – thinly sliced

1 carrot – finely shredded

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

1 teaspoon ground annatto (also called achiote)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro – use only leaves and fine stems – chopped

non stick spray if you aren’t using peppers

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients

You divide the meatloaf mixture into 12 portions. It’s easier to divide in half…..than in thirds and each third in a half.

You either set each meatloaf into a broiled and seasoned pepper half or on a nonstick sprayed baking sheet(s)

The meatloafs go in the oven for twenty minutes.

Today I served them with roasted fresh salsa that I made but they would also be delicious with an enchilada sauce…..

They really came out Forking Delicious. I got lots of compliments on them and you can too!

If you are a fan of the Spicy Basil Dishes from Thai Restaurants then there is a good chance that you will enjoy this Beet Salad that taste similar to those dishes. It’s very easy to prepare. Just peel your beets toss them in a baking dish along with some ingredients. Cover the pan and it goes in the oven till the beets are tender. You remove the basil aromatics and add sliced shallots and radish to the contents…..Serve with fresh Thai Basil. I cut the beets and radish in a waffle cut but you can cut yours anyway you like. The flavors of this salad really are similar to spicy basil dishes. ….I do think that for some people this salad might not be sweet enough…..NO NO NO I take that back..The next day this salad is even better! It’s perfect! The flavors marry and balance even better. This is a very original recipe by me! I don’t think anyone else has a recipe out there like this for beets! Day one the flavors are different than day two. I thought day one the salad really popped with anchovies but after day one I didn’t think the anchovies worked for me…….so I took them out of the recipe.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 lbs beets – peeled

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable soup base

7 Thai Chili peppers – fine chopped

10 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

3 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce (Tuong Gia Vi) (It’s similar to soy sauce but taste better and I heard a Thai Chef say, “it’s the secret to everything Thai.” so that’s why it’s here.)

1 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 1/2 cup water

3 branches fresh Thai Basil – to infuse flavor

7 oz shallots – sliced very thin on a mandolin

6 oz radish (preferably cut the same way you cut the beets)

3 branches of basil – just the leaves – to garnish plate

Directions

Set the oven to 350 degree f.

In a large baking dish add the peeled beets (you cut them after they’re cooked), sugar, soup base, chili, garlic, golden mountain seasoning sauce, rice wine vinegar, water and three branches fresh Thai Basil. Cover the pan and place in oven till beets are fork tender…(depending on size of beets this will be usually an hour or up to one hour and a half) (will be less time if beets are cut in half ((45 minutes – around hour))

Remove the basil branches and toss them in the trash. Add the radish and shallots to the pan or dish.

When the beets are cool enough to handle cut them in desired shape. Slices and waffle cuts work well here. Either add the beets back to the baking dish or a new dish that you want to store them in.

When ready to serve add some fresh Thai Basil.

Delicious! Taste like Spicy Basil Dishes!

I thought today I’d make a Baked Ziti. Baked Ziti is just a pasta and cheese casserole. I used home made tomato sauce and home made ricotta cheese so it taste better. Half the cheese I kept plain and half was a seasoned spinach mixture. I didn’t want to just mix it all up and bake it so I used a pastry bag and just squirted the cheese mixture into the pasta in random spots. This way it is almost lasagna-like.

This recipe makes about 15 servings that freeze well.

1 lb twisted or hollow pasta- cooked two minutes less from package directions ( I used campanelle)

4 cups tomato sauce – preferably home made – plus extra for serving ( a recipe link for tomato sauce is at the bottom of this page)

4 cups ricotta cheese – preferably home made (easy to make but it takes an hour….recipe many places on this site)

13 oz Italian blend cheese – divide in thirds (my blend is hand shredded mozzarella, parmesan, mild provolone and sharp provolone)

4 eggs (one goes in each bowl of ricotta and two go in with the pasta)

5 oz fresh spinach

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

fresh crushed sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 garlic clove – ground to paste or microplane

pinch ground black pepper (for ricotta)

pinch dried oregano (for ricotta)

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a large casserole pan or a 1/2 pan with non stick spray and set pan to the side. Also spray aluminum foil on one side with non stick spray. (the sprayed side will go on top of the pasta).

Get out one large bowl, two medium sized bowls (one should be microwaveable).

In the large bowl combine the pasta, the sauce, one third of the Italian blend cheese and two eggs mix well and dump into large sprayed pan. Set to the side.

In the microwavable bowl add the spinach. Top the spinach with salt and pepper to taste. sprinkle the olive oil over the spinach and add the garlic. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave 2 minutes. This will be steamy so be careful and remove the plastic wrap. Mix well. This is one of the bowls that you will be adding the ricotta cheese to.

Two cups of ricotta go into each of the two bowls. Each bowl gets a beaten egg and each bowl gets 1/2 a pinch of pepper and 1/2 a pinch oregano. Mix well and set to the side.

Get out a pastry bag. If it’s a disposable one cut off the end about 3/4 of an inch. fill with ricotta cheese mixture and randomly squirt it into the pan of pasta. Repeat till done. Cover with sprayed foil and this goes in the oven for 75 minutes.

When it comes out it looks like this.

“Serve with extra sauce and parmesan!”

For best results you must use home made cheese and home made sauce.