Refreshing Cucumber Herb and Lime Ice

I had extra cucumbers hanging around so I thought I’d make them into some sort of frozen ice dessert. Cucumber doesn’t have much flavor so at first I added just a teaspoon of fresh mint….often mint needs a companion herb so I added a small amount of dried basil and I thought it was good but needed just one more flavor and one lime was it…..the finishing touches were just a pinch of course sea salt and a secret small pinch of ground white pepper. This one came out with an icy texture. This cucumber ice might not be for everyone but it’s light, balanced and refreshing.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

2 lbs cucumber I used English. (was slightly over the 2 lbs)

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 teaspoon fresh mint – finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

pinch course sea salt

pinch ground white pepper

Directions

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Reduce to simmer for a about ten minutes. Turn off heat and put pot to the side.

Chop up cucumbers. If the sugar-water is cool you can use a blender and add cucumber. OR- Add cucumber and the rest of the ingredients back to the pot and use a stick blender to blend. Pour in freezable covered tub and let sit over night. Next day scrape it up and it’s ready to serve.

Refreshing Cucumber Herb and Lime Ice

It’s Cool as a Cucumber and You can be too!

The Forking Truth

Sous Vide NY Strip

Who knew that tasteless tough steak could be delicious via the Sous Vide? We received a gift of frozen steaks. My husband cooked some up one night and he’s very good at cooking steak but these steaks came out tasteless and tough…we were about to throw the rest of them out. I said let me give them a try with the Sous Vide. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. I was watching Rachel Ray ( a cooking variety lifestyle TV Show). A Sous Vide Cooking Expert happened to be on and said NY Strip comes out amazing from the Sous Vide. All you do is set the Sous Vide to 130 degrees F (for medium/rare….that he recommends). Leave the meat out to warm to room temperature (at least 30 minutes)

Give the steaks a sprinkle of salt and pepper and then vacuum seal.

All three steaks I salt and pepper on both sides. The one in the middle I added some frozen garlic confit, cilantro and a jalapeño.

The steaks now go in the Sous Vide. I let them go 3 1/2 hours. One up to Four hours is recommended for best results.

(make sure the steaks are under the water)

After 1-4 hours (I always think the meat comes out best towards the higher recommended time)

Remove and you might want to stop the cooking process with an ice bath if you are not searing right away.

When ready to use remove from pouch. Blot dry. If you are using in a few hours you can leave out in the refrigerator a few hours uncovered to dry up (so you can get a better sear). Leave out in room temperature at least a half hour to warm up some before you sear.

Get a regular fry pan (don’t use non stick) on with a little bit of oil on medium high heat and sear about one minute on all ends.

Make sure you sear the sides too! (this was the other steak with garlic confit, jalapeño and cilantro…..I added garlic, hatch chili and cilantro to the pan to add a little more flavor).

Your steak should look something like this.

You don’t need to leave the meat to rest because it’s already cooked inside. Slice up and enjoy!

Sous Vide NY Strip served with my Sweet Corn Cake Surprise (I will publish that recipe soon)

Easy Salt Crusted Potatoes

I normally do my potatoes more like the one above…But I used a leftover potato from something else for the steak.

Sous Vide NY Strip

The Forking Truth

Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a cold raw vegetable soup. It’s light, refreshing and very healthy for you. My variation here is even lighter than most others because I don’t feel it’s necessary to add bread or olive oil like most people do. This is flavorful, a little spicy but not too spicy. I’ve been told it’s very good! Actually I’ve been told told I should bottle and sell this one!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings

2 lbs vine tomatoes – (about 6 tomatoes) cored and an X on the bottom (you will remove skins after boiling for 30 seconds)

1 English Cucumber – chopped (about 12 oz)

6 mini sweet baby bell peppers – remove stem and seeds then chop

1/2 large sweet onion – (about 9 1/2oz) – chopped

3 garlic cloves – grated or ground to paste

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 pickled jalapeno – stem and seeds removed – preferably my recipe or home made from a farmer’s market – chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon course sea salt

3 chitepin chilies –  THIS WILL NOT BE AS DELICIOUS IF YOU LEAVE CHITEPIN CHILIES OUT…….I know this pepper is expensive and hard to find…..but it a delicious taste with a building heat….It’s the secret here…….The only substitute that is close are Chili Pequin peppers…..they are inexpensive and easy to find at WinCo or any Mexican grocery store.

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

.7oz fresh cilantro – (about a small handful) – chopped

Directions

Put on a pot of water to boil.

You core the tomatoes and make a X in the bottom of each tomato.

The tomatoes get placed in the boiling water for only 30 seconds.

After 30 seconds remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon. You can chill them with ice to stop the cooking process.

If you didn’t chop up all your vegetables you can do this now.

You need to peel the tomatoes when they are cool enough to handle.

The skins should come off very easily. You should do your tomatoes like this for other dishes too.

Blend up everything together. Chill and serve.

Gazpacho

It’s Forking Delicious!

The Forking Truth

Potato Fennel Apricot & Green Garlic Salad

I had two fennels I had to use and didn’t want to do the usual fennel orange salad. I also recently got the most unusual giant red colored green garlic from Crocked Sky Farms at the Pinnacle Peak Farmer’s Market…..

A GIANT RED Green Garlic

I had to buy it when I saw it. I was thinking about treating it like a leek but the bulb had a very sweet onion kind of taste laced with mellow garlic and the tops are much more tender and sweet garlicky sort of…..fennel and this green garlic isn’t enough for a salad….I needed something starchy so I thought creamy red potatoes would work well and dried apricots helped to add a little maybe Moroccan kind of interest to this potato salad. My photo isn’t so great of the salad…It’s really more colorful than my photo shows.  This comes out to be a REALLY DELICIOUS Potato Salad. The potatoes are creamy and flavorful. you get sweet, tang and sour from the rest.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 lb red skin potatoes – already boiled (I like to boil potatoes with salt and a banana pepper because it adds TONS of delicious flavor) ((***I get the banana peppers from Asiana Market …they usually run ultra spicy and I only use to cook with but not to eat…they are very flavorful)

2 fennel bulbs  + some fronds – cores and tough outer removed and then sliced very thin

1/4 cup dried apricots – in a cup of hot water to add some life back then slice up

1/2 cup green garlic bulb – chopped (I think a sweet onion of any sort would work here)

1/4 cup green garlic  top – chopped (a substitute could be scallion tops and a shredded garlic clove)

1 celery rib + some leaves – peeled and sliced very thin on an angle

1 Calabrian Chili pepper – chopped fine (this is a pepper that’s spicy but has great flavor)

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons course sea salt

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil – to add to salad before you serve

Directions

In a large bowl add the apricots (drained and sliced up), sliced fennel, green garlic bulb + tops, celery, Calabrian Chili mix. Add the salt and sugar and let sit to the side.

In a small bowl add the mustard, 2 Tablespoons olive oil and mix well. Add the vinegar mix well. Add the lemon juice and mix well.

The potatoes should still be almost hot. Chop them in large pieces. Add the potatoes to the large bowl and while the potatoes are still hot add the small bowl of dressing.

Toss in the remaining ingredients except for the 1/4 cup of olive oil.

Mix.

The hot potatoes probably drank up all the liquid. You add the 1/4 cup of olive oil just before serving.

Potato Fennel Apricot & Green Garlic Salad

Chance are if you make your potato salad the same way you are going to get compliments on this salad. It’s flavorful, delicious and unique!

The Forking Truth