Author Archives: The Forking Truth

Bok Choy, Carrots, Lotus Root with Black Garlic

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Bok Choy, Carrots, Lotus Root, with Black Garlic

Bok Choy, Carrots, Lotus Root, with Black Garlic

This side dish is made of some Asian Ingredients in it but really is only mildly Asian scented and just delicious. The Black Garlic doesn’t taste like garlic it’s more of a sweet prune kind of taste. I think what makes the salad pop are the leftover Lotus Root I had. The Lotus Root was already boiled a few minutes in water with some white vinegar and a little salt. Then it was sautéed in a small amount of garlic and a hot chili so it already had a nice flavor and texture that adds interest to this combination. I also added non-traditional roasted pumpkin seeds to this dish. I thought the look and taste went really well with these flavors.

Ingredients

About 5 Baby Bok Choy (cut down the center in 4 -6 wedges)

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2 cloves Garlic (minced)

1 small hot chili (minced) either a Thai or Chili de Arbol

A big handful of Korean Leek Tops (already chopped up)

3 different Heirloom Rainbow Carrots (sliced somewhat thin)

about 1/2 a Lotus Root that was leftover from last recipe. (The Lotus was sliced somewhat thin. The root was already boiled a few minutes in water with some white vinegar and a little Kosher Salt. Then sautéed in a little oil with a small amount of garlic and hot chili.)

About 1/2 inch of grated fresh ginger root

2 heads of Black Garlic (just the clean cloves)

2 Tablespoons of Sugar

Splash of Ponzu

Couple Splashes of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 or 4 Splashes of Dry Sherry

A handful of Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

A few Cilantro leaves

Directions

Heat up your fry pan on medium high heat with your Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Garlic, Hot Chili, and ginger.

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When the garlic turns clear looking toss in the Carrots and Korean Leek Tops. They only need a few minutes.

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Now add the Ponzu, Sherry, Sugar and Black Garlic and stir and let it cook a few minutes.

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Place the Bok Choy on Top and cover with foil and let it steam only a few minutes.

Remove foil add The Already prepared Lotus Root stir and serve with some toasted pumpkin seeds and a small sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

Bok Choy, Carrots, Lotus Root, with Black Garlic

Bok Choy, Carrots, Lotus Root, with Black Garlic

The different textures and taste go together really well. The lotus root really adds interest to this dish.

Forking Good!

Forking Good!

WTFork is a Mangelwurzel Vegetable? (a lot of vegetable you never see)

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Unless you forking live on a farm you most likely never heard of or seen a forking Mangelwurzel (also spelled Mangel-Wurzel) Vegetable.

Rutabaga with attitude

The Mangelwurzel is a cultivated vegetable that has a swollen root in colors of white, yellow, or orange-yellow. The vegetable is really a type of beet developed for feeding mainly cattle livestock. Mangelwurzels can grow as large as 50 forking pounds.

The Mangelwurzel leafy top and root are edible but most people don’t forking eat them.

I never seen a forking Mangelwurzel carved into a Jack-O- Lantern but I read that people do carve these that way.

Forking Truth

Forking Truth

The Forking Truth about Baby Carrots

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According to Snopes.com those really cute Baby Carrots that you buy at your grocery store for snacks are really made from forking deformed Big Carrots.

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After being cut to the perfect size they are soaked in FORKING Chlorine.

After they sit a little while in your refrigerator  you will notice a forking white slime that’s the chlorine working it’s way out.

WTFork!

Are people really too forking lazy to cut up a fresh carrot?

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I have no explanation on why the FORK someone would think of doing this to a vegetable and sell this as food to mostly children.

Forking Truth

Forking Truth

WTFork is a Clafoutis Part 2

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Clafoutis Type of Dessert From Bottega in Yountville CA

Clafoutis Type of Dessert From Bottega in Yountville CA

Earlier this year I tasted a Clafoutis Dessert at Michael Chiarello’s Restaurant Bottega.  I thought it was the best new dessert I tasted this year. It’s not too sweet and it’s light and rich at the same time. I like that this dessert features fruit. The batter is described as a flan sort of recipe but it taste sort of like rich, airy, custard-like, smooth pancakes.

So I found Michael Chiarello’s Recipe for Apple Clafoutis on Foodnetwork.com and decided to make my first Clafoutis.

Apple Clafoutis

Apple Clafoutis

It came out very light, the lightest of the clafoutis I tried and tasty. I did look for other recipes for Clafoutis and they all differ a bit.

The traditional flavor for Clafoutis is Cherry with the pits. The pits give off a flavor that enhances the dessert. But today nobody leaves the pits in.

I found a recipe for Cherry Clafoutis from Chef Raymond Blanc. He owns a two star Michelin Star Restaurant/Hotel and is one of Britain’s most respected Chefs.

I didn’t use the proper cherries but other than that I followed his recipe and came out with this.

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It’s still light and rich at the same time. The ingredients are slightly richer and uses more butter with more flavor because the butter is toasted and poured in warm.  A slight layer of crust is formed from buttering and dusting the baking dish with sugar. You also count the drops of vanilla you use and lemon zest brightens the fruit.  Other than that the only interesting differences is that only castor sugar is recommended as a garnish and the dessert should be served shortly after it comes out of the oven. The Clafoutis should always be served warm.

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All the Clafoutis were good and all were different.

Found a recipe on BBC that they say is Gordon Ramsey’s for a Clafoutis….His differs and involves ground Almonds in the batter and is an even richer recipe.  I might try that one in a few weeks.

Forking Truth

Forking Truth

“Cereal Killers”

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I guess my days were the Forking Old Days when it comes to boxed cereal. I remember when most of the cereals you ate from your childhood were mostly normal.  We’d get cereals like Corn Flakes, Wheaties, maybe once in a while Frosted Flakes, and sometimes something a little crazy like Snap Crackle Pop Rice Krispies, Quisp or Freakies. But Normal has been killed and is dead now. These days kids get…….

Cereal that looks like a Jar or Peanut Butter.

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Cereal that looks like Forking Chocolates.

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Cereal that looks like Sprinkled Donuts.

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Cereal that looks Really SCARY!

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Cinnamon Buns?

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I bet some kids just pull out real cinnamon buns and eat them in the cereal bowl. (I would)

Even some of the cereals I remember look different to me now.

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Captain Crunch looks Crazy doesn’t he? Maybe that’s what the “C” on his hat is for.

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Ooou! It’s magically weird!

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That rabbit looks forking twisted. New Fruitier Taste? What was it before the old forking rotten something like fruit taste?

I don’t want to (excuse the bad pun) milk it for too long. I’m forking out of here.

Forking Truth

Forking Truth

Braised Korean Leeks, Lotus Root, Heirloom Carrots and Soft Egg

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Braised Korean Leeks, Lotus Root, Heirloom Carrots and Soft Egg

Braised Korean Leeks, Lotus Root, Heirloom Carrots and Soft Egg

Ingredients

One Bunch of Korean Leeks

A few Pats Butter

Maybe two Cups of Vegetable Stock

Lotus Root

Some White Vinegar

Fresh Crushed Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

A few Eggs

One Heirloom Carrot

2 Cloves Garlic

1 Thai Chili

A couple Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I like Korean Leeks because they taste more like green garlic and  less dirty than regular leeks.

Korean Leeks

Korean Leeks

You need to remove the Green Tops and Roots. Save the Green Tops and use like green garlic that’s a little tough.

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Braise the Korean Leeks for about 10 minutes on medium heat with either butter or oil and let them brown.

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Cover the Korean Leeks with Vegetable Stock, cover with foil and turn the heat to low and let it go about a half hour till soft.

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Lotus Root is back in season so I picked up one.

Lotus Root

Lotus Root

Last time I made the Lotus Root I made it into tasty chips but this time I thought I’d cook it more traditional that means boiling a few minutes in water with vinegar. First I pealed the Lotus Root and then sliced it somewhat thin.

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The Lotus root goes into boiling water with a little salt and a couple splashes of vinegar. The vinegar removes any bitterness the lotus root might have.  Just Boil it a few minutes.

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Remove the lotus root and set aside. Since you still have boiling water you can drop in a few eggs and let them go 5-5 1/2 minutes pull out and carefully peal and you will have easy soft cooked eggs.

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Next you heat up some oil in a pan and then add your minced garlic and one small minced hot pepper till soft.

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Add your Lotus Root and your carrots. They only need a few minutes. Then add your Green Tops from the Korean Leeks and cook that maybe a minute more. Add Fresh Crushed Sea Salt and Black Pepper.  Serve on top of braised Korean Leeks and add your soft cooked Egg and season the egg.

Braised Korean Leeks, Lotus Root, Heirloom Carrots and Soft Egg

Braised Korean Leeks, Lotus Root, Heirloom Carrots and Soft Egg

Forking Good!

Forking Good!

Dragon Fruit

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Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit is stunning to look at.

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But doesn’t have a big personality when it comes to taste.

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It’s very mild and similar to a Kiwi kind of taste and texture with just a hint of sweetness. They are very low in calories and have quite a bit of nutrition.

Dragon Fruit grow on Cactus Plants that originated from Mexico.  These days Dragon Fruit are grown in many parts of the world.

Forking Truth

Forking Truth

 

 

 

WTFork is Jujube Fruit?

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I came across Jujube Fruit at the Asian Market so I wanted to try some.

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They are like forking small very dry but very sweet tiny apples.

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It’s like you mixed a very sweet apple with styrofoam and made a very tiny apple.

Jujube Fruit

Jujube Fruit

I read that the Jujube is also has other names such as, Chinese Date, Red Date and Korean Date.

You eat the Jujube as a snack like regular fruit. You might find the fruit candied and dried, smoked, as a syrup, a juice…………….

PICKLED…….

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Or if your lucky some sort of alcohol.

Forking Truth

Forking Truth

Lithuanian Lay’s Creamy Forest Mushroom Potato Chips

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I was Forking wandering threw the Asian and International Market and in the Polish Aisle were these bags of Lay’s Creamy Forest Mushroom Potato Chips so I had to forking try them.

Nearly all of the other flavored Lay’s Potato Chips that I tried were forking disgusting (particularly the Mango Salsa)  or disappointing (like the FORKING WASABI GINGER) (( that I submitted for the Lay’s 2014 do me a flavor contest, but my submission wasn’t forking picked))…  For some unknown reason I was possessed to try these Creamy Forest Mushroom Chips.

These flavored chips are unlike any other I tried. The aroma is odd and you question yourself if you want to eat them. For a split second when you taste them your not sure what your tasting but then they suddenly turn very “natural tasting”. They taste just like creamy very fresh mushroomy soup.  They taste like mostly natural mushrooms with a little seasoned cream sauce but way more mushroom taste than sauce. The after taste just get more mushroomy and the finish is a very tasty natural potato taste.

I’m not sure if I want to buy them again but these were the forking best of the flavored Lay’s Chips I have tried.

I haven’t found the European Lay’s Do us a flavor contenders but the one running are-

Chop Shop Chicken Curry

Pulled Pork in Sticky BBQ Sauce

Sizzling Steak Fajita

Cheesy Beans on Toast

Hot Dog with Tomato Ketchup

and if those weren’t bad enough….get ready to forking GAG!

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Ranch Raccoon

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The European Lay’s Contest Winner is to be announced October 17th 2014

Forking Truth

Forking Truth