Ricotta Gnocchi

Ricotta Gnocchi are very quick and Forking easy to make. My method differs slightly. Instead of rolling out the dough in flour that toughens the gnocchi these are more tender and light because the dough is extruded threw a pastry bag into the boiling salted water. The Gnocchi are so Forking easy to make you don’t need to measure really. you just need these ingredients and a pastry bag.

Ricotta Cheese ( fresh made from Forking easy previous recipe)

Egg (beaten)

Flour (smaller amount than Ricotta Cheese)

Grated hard Italian Cheese (I used Parmigiano Reggiano) (about a cup)

White Pepper (about 1/2 Teaspoon)

Nutmeg (about 1/8 Teaspoon)

Kosher Salt or Sea Salt (About 1/2 Teaspoon)

Extra Virgin Olive (as gnocchi’s come out of boiling water you drizzle the olive oil to prevent sticking and it also adds flavor)

All you really have to remember is that you want to add as little flour as possible so your Gnocchi isn’t heavy. So eyeball your ricotta cheese and you add in a smaller amount of flour than what you have of ricotta. Add the rest of ingredients. Don’t add much Forking nutmeg you will only need 1/8 of a teaspoon or less you don’t want to taste it but it adds something really nice to the flavor.

This much Flour to Ricotta Cheese

Combine ingredients and fill your Forking pastry bag. (not a Forking Ziplock bag)

Make them this big and knock them off with your finger.

When they float to the top they are done and remove with slotted spoon.

Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Ricotta Gnocchi

Ricotta Gnocchi are Forking Easy to Make!

Forking Good!

All you need to make Ricotta Cheese is Whole Milk, Heavy Cream, Salt and Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice. You don’t even need to measure or use a thermometer. Any Forking Person can make delicious Fresh Ricotta Cheese that taste better than most store purchased and will also have less stabilizers and Chemicals in it.

Some Heavy Cream

Use some heavy Cream maybe 1/4-1/3 to your ratio of whole milk and some Kosher or Sea Salt. (1/4t.-1t. depending on how much your making) (I used heavy whipping cream because I couldn’t get regular heavy cream from my market, it’s similar enough where it works in this recipe)

Added Milk to the Cream

I put my pot on a medium heat and let it slowly boil for about 5 minutes.

Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Then I added my fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice and let it boil about 5 minutes.

Cuddles after Lemon Juice

Then I pour into Colander with Paper Towel as a liner. I think Paper Towel works better for Ricotta than Cheese Cloth.

Colander with Paper Towel Liner

You need to wait maybe 20 minutes for the whey to come out and then your ready for Fresh Ricotta Cheese.

Forking Good!

This time of year I came by Corn priced 5 for a $1.00. I didn’t get the best corn as it might have been old since the kernels were kind of dried out. I also had Corn Pasta in my pantry.

Trader Joe’s Corn Pasta

I thought I could make patties with them using Corn Masa Flour.

Corn Masa Flour

All I needed to add was a few eggs, a little melted butter, (because butter just taste good with corn) Chopped Green Onions, Fresh Crushed Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper. I kept it simple but could have added Fresh Cilantro, Hatch Chili’s, Jalapeño and a garlic clove.

Corn Pasta-Corn Patties

They cooked up real easy on Medium High Heat with just a light spray of canola oil. I lightly salted and peppered each side. They could be kicked up with toppings like sour cream and salsa.

Forking Good!

Red Lentils with Rainbow Chard, Dates and Almonds

This dish is inspired by a side dish I had at Deseo Latin Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ. It’s not the same and isn’t soup like the way it is made at Deseo,  but the combination of Red Lentils with Dates, Almonds, Greens and Cheese is the same.

Ingredients

Vegetable Stock

Rainbow Chard or whatever Fresh Green you can get. (save and chop stems if using Chard)

Onion or Shallots

Red Lentils

Pealed Tomatoes (Cooked or Canned)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Dates Chopped

Roasted Broken Almonds (I used lightly salted)

Fresh Grated Aged Gouda Cheese or any Cheese with a good flavor that can melt. (Deseo uses Mahon Cheese)

Fresh Crushed Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper.

Cooked Rainbow Chard with Onions Salt and Pepper

I started this off by cooking the cleaned up Chard in Vegetable Stock then removing from stock setting aside with some onions I fried up in olive oil and then tossing them in with the salt and pepper.

In my pot of vegetable stock I added a can of pealed whole tomatoes that I broke up slightly. I added maybe 1/2 the tomato can size of red lentils and 1/2 lb. or a little more of chopped dates and maybe a cup of broken roasted almonds.

Then I added the Chard Onion Mixture and Grated Aged Gouda Cheese.

Rainbow Chard Stems

Lastly I add the Saved Rainbow Chard Stems and then shut the heat off and let it sit a little. The chopped stems are like super delicate watery celery with little flavor but I think they add some interesting texture and color to the dish. Between the cheese, stock and nuts you might not need any more salt but maybe some more pepper. Using a flavorful vegetable stock is part of the key to this recipe. The dates add pops of sweetness and the tomatoes add a little tang. The  browned onions echo threw the dish and the Roasted Almonds add another layer of flavor along with texture.

Red Lentils with Rainbow Chard, Dates and Almonds

I top the serving with a little cheese and an almond so my guest know what’s in the dish.

Forking Good!

I roasted my Beets up with Apple Cider Vinegar and a little water to start with.

Usually I peel my beets but these had super thin skin so I didn’t need too and then I grated them on my box shredder and made them into a thick shredded shape.

I thought the beets would taste good with Lemongrass, Green Garlic, Thai Chili, Asian Pears, Bean Sprouts, fresh crushed Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper.

Asian Pear, Lemongrass, Thai Chili and Green Garlic

I mixed them together and added a Big Splash of Mirin, and small amounts of Soy sauce and Rice Vinegar, Some Chopped Green Onion and Fresh Chopped Fresh Basil.

I boiled off some Whole Wheat Spaghetti and added beaten eggs and Sorghum Flour to look like pancake batter and added the Beet mixture till it looked right to me.

Then on med/high heat I almost dry fried them using just a light spray of canola oil.

I lightly added Crushed Sea Salt and Pepper to them.

They came out very tasty. I think most people would like them.

Forking Good!

I purchased these delightful looking Mandarin Oranges from Sprouts. To my surprise they tasted too tart for me to eat.

I didn’t want to throw them out or make a dessert out of them so I made them into salsa.

Salsa is very easy to make. All I added to the Mandarin Segments were…….

Sweet Onion Chopped

Jalapeño Chopped

Fresh Cilantro Chopped

Garlic Chopped

Some Apple Cider Vinegar

Some Sea Salt fresh Crushed

Some Black Pepper Fresh Grind

Then I just used my Hand Blender and made salsa.

Now it’s Tasty on Grilled or Pan Seared Meats or Seafood.

Mandarin Orange Salsa

Forking Good!

Parsnips are very delicious in a number of ways but at the moment I’m liking them Oven Fried with Ginger Cream and Green Garlic.

Oven Fried Parsnip Fries with Ginger Cream and Green Garlic

They are very easy to make as you just wash then cut the Parsnips into  French Fries Shapes. Place on pan to roast and drizzle with oil. Roast them till just fork tender and then let them go a little more on upper rack to crisp and brown them slightly.  Add fresh ground Sea Salt and Crushed Black Pepper.

To make the Cream you can use or make Cream Fraiche and strain. But I make my cream with less fat so I use a combination of Whipped or Light Cream Cheese mixed with Nonfat Greek Yogurt. I grate a good amount of fresh Ginger into it till it’s strong of ginger.

I then top with Chopped Green Garlic.

Green Garlic

There is no substitute for green garlic. The freshness and milder garlic flavor is delicious here and goes insanely well with the ginger cream. You can use chives or green onions but it won’t be the same. These Parsnip Fries are so tasty you will make them again and again!

Forking Good!

Carrot Ribbons around Parsnip Fries

Roasted Carrots, Grape Tomatoes and Black Garlic

I purchased some Black Garlic at Trader Joe’s.

Trader Joe’s Black Garlic

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it so then I tasted the Black Garlic.

To me it seemed more like fruit than garlic and was sort of like a fig and a prune mixed together but with a little twang going on.

I thought since Black Garlic is only Garlic I thought it would go with my Grape Tomatoes I had.

So I put my Grape tomatoes and Black garlic with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan to roast.

Grape tomatoes with pealed black garlic

Till they looked like this.

Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Black Garlic

I also just roasted red carrots from the farmers market.

Roasted Red Carrots

So I tasted them together and it is a very good match. The sweetness of the carrots and Jammy from the Black Garlic almost candies the carrots and the tomatoes are already sweet.

Roasted Carrots, Grape Tomatoes and Black Garlic

Forking Good!

Asparagus Guacamole

Asparagus Guacamole is Forking easy to make.  It’s just like regular Forking guacamole but you need to work with cooked asparagus (over cooked asparagus works best) and then process it. (Smooth or Chunky)

This isn’t  Forking Rocket Science and it’s just a combination of.

Asparagus

Lime

Salt

Onion

Fresh Cilantro

Tomato

Garlic

Cayenne

Jalapeño

Forking Good!

Green Skhug Sauce also called Yemenite Sauce

Skhug Sauce also called Yemenite Sauce is made up of Spicy peppers, Garlic, Fresh parsley and or cilantro and a variety of spices.  This sauce can be made red with the use of red peppers or brown with tomatoes but at the moment I’m liking the green one best.

I never knew what I was missing till I was first served Skhug Sauce with my Falafel, Hummus Combo Plate that I like to get at those Mid East kind of Eateries.

The Skhug sauce adds life to food. The Spices are complex and lingering. Hummus and Falafels are boring to me now with out Skhug Sauce.

I developed my own recipe after experimenting with it for a while and this is what I came up with. I DO WARN YOU a little goes a long way this sauce is very spicy!

Green Skhug Sauce

1/2 Bunch Fresh Cilantro rough chopped including stems (Some people like more like a whole bunch but for me 1/2 taste good in this recipe. Some people only use parsley and some use 1/2 and 1/2. I’m not the biggest fan of Cilantro but in this sauce it shines.

12 Cloves Garlic Chopped

6 Thai Chilies (Rough Chopped)

4 Jalapeños (Rough Chopped)

2 t. Cumin

2 t. Coriander (Heap them a little I go a little heavy on the Coriander)

1 t. Black Pepper

2 t. Cardamon (I fresh grind mine and never go over on this one or it’s too much)

1/4 t. Cloves

1/4 t. Caraway Seeds

1/2t. Kosher or Sea Salt

Juice of one small or 1/2 large Lemon

About 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Enough Water to get it Processed in your Processor or Blender.

I usually make it slightly thicker than what I just made. It should be a little chunky. A little goes a very long way.  Sometimes I use a little Green Skhug to flavor dressings or Mayo for a spread on a sandwich or Burger.

If you like Spicy and Hummus you’ll be hooked on Green Skhug Sauce!

This Batch is a little different. I made it more relish style and made with the same spices but I used different peppers, and brine from some jarred Cherry peppers instead of Lemon Juice. I also added some fresh mint. The Peppers I used were Shishitos, Cherry Peppers and a few Thai Chili’s.

Forking Good!