I needed to cook some carrots and I came across Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for Roast Baby Carrots with Harissa and Pomegranate. I figure I can do his recipe with regular carrots and they would be more delicious than plain carrots. WOW! They really are FORKING DELICIOUS! I used my own harissa recipe that I developed for the carrots. I don’t mean to brag but my recipe is also FORKING GREAT! My recipe makes around three cups of delicious harissa that stays good for at least a week. You only need 2 Tablespoons of harissa for the recipe but it won’t come out as delicious if you use harissa from a tube or a jar. This recipe is close but not identical to the Yotam Ottolenghi recipe because his is all in metric and Celsius. I rounded the conversions. My idea of serving size may differ from your idea of serving size. This makes around 8 small side servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 lbs carrots – (regular supermarket carrots need to be peeled. Depending on size cut in half long ways so you have 2 long half pieces)
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons honey
2 Tablespoons harissa (strongly suggest www.TheForkingTruth.com recipe – 4 or 5 roasted peeled deseeded red bell peppers, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoon caraway, 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 6 garlic cloves, 2 roasted red hot peppers, juice from 2 lemons, 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar, $ Tablespoons tomato paste – Blend) You are welcome.
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter – room temperature
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons cilantro – chopped or torn
1/4 cup pomegranate
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
Set oven to 450 degrees F.
In a small mixing bowl combine the cumin seeds, honey, harissa, butter, olive oil, and salt.
Put your carrots win one layer on a sheet tray.
Drizzle the mixture in the bowl all over the carrots. Try to distribute the mixture all over the carrots.
The carrots go in the preheated 450 degree F oven till just starting to brown and fork tender. You want the carrots to still have bite to them. This might take 12-20 minutes depending on size and freshness of carrots.
Finish carrots with cilantro, lemon juice and pomegranate.
ENJOY!!!!!!
Yotam Ottolenghi Style Roast Carrots with Harissa & Pomegranate
A Special THANKS!!!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for coming up with this FORKING AMAZING Recipe!
I make a really great Mexican or Southwest Style Marinade for chicken. I got the idea that I can infuse those flavors into beets to make them interesting. I didn’t know what my dish would turn into. I played around with my recipe a little for the beets. After I made them I found that the braising liquid was too delicious to toss so I called this dish soupy beets. This dish is very vegetable heavy and doesn’t end up with a lot of liquid as you can see in my pictures but it is FORKING AMAZING Delicious! It’s does come out with all kinds of flavors and also is a little spicy. It just dances with all kinds of flavors and textures. You can just make the beets or take it further and fry vegetables for it and make a few eight minute eggs. I happen to have some leftover lime pickled shallots so I added them too. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. This makes about 4 really large servings or 8 smaller servings. I make more fried vegetables than I needed so extras will go on sandwiches or salads. This recipe takes two or more days to prepare if you are pickling the egg. More than two days if you are adding lime pickled shallots because they take at least three days to pickle.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 pounds of beets peeled (bigger beets you might need to cut in half or quarter)
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
4 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground anatto
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle powder (they sell this at Sprouts…if you don’t have use a chipotle pepper- chopped – in adobo sauce and maybe a teaspoon of the sauce)
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup rice wine vinegar
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
2-3 (or more if you want more) eggs (eggs go in gently boiling water for 8 minutes and go in ice bath. Peeled eggs sit over night in beet liquid. (I only used half egg on some servings and a quarter egg in most of my servings)
oil for frying – maybe two inches in your pot on medium heat. I used canola oil.
1 carrot – peeled sliced extra thin on mandolin
1 onion – peeled sliced extra thin on mandolin
4 radishes – sliced extra thin on mandolin
2 shallots – (If you are added Lime pickled shallots this needs to be done at least three days in advance) Sliced thin on mandolin.
1 Tablespoon sugar (for lime pickled shallots)
1 teaspoon salt (for lime pickled shallots)
1/2 cup lime juice (enough to cover shallots) (for lime pickled shallots)
1 cup small sweet tomatoes sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro – chopped or torn
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves – chopped or torn
1/4 cup fresh mint – chopped or torn
1/4 cup scallions – chopped
Directions
At least three days before you make this make the lime pickled shallots. Sliced shallots go in a ziplock sandwich bag. Add lime juice salt and sugar. This just sits in the refrigerator till you are ready for it.
Either earlier in the day or the day before get a sauce pot halfway filled with water. Get the pot on a gentle boil. Carefully place the eggs in and set your timer for 8 minutes. When they are done place in an ice-bath. Peel when cool and place in the refrigerator.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and get a middle rack ready for the beets.
Your beets and seasonings go in a pan. (beets, salt, garlic, sugar, black pepper, oregano, cumin, anatto, coriander, chipotle powder, vinegars, water and bay leaves.)
You might need to mix up the water a little.
This gets covered and goes in the middle rack of a preheated 400 degree F oven till the beets are tender. Depending on size and freshness of beets this will take 60-90 minutes.
While the beets are cooking you can fried vegetables today or wait till tomorrow if you are pickling the eggs.
To fry vegetables add about 2 inches of oil that you start just a little over medium heat. You might need to turn it down slightly maybe half way though. The vegetables are done when they start to brown. This takes a LONG time. Carrots were faster than the radishes. Onions were the slowest to get crisp. I did one vegetable at a time. When done they go on either a cooling rack or a sheet tray that is covered in paper towels.(towels will need to be changed or vegetables will be sitting in wet oil)
Beets are done by now so take them out. (test and make sure that they are tender). Add peeled eggs so they can pickle (make sure that they are covered with beet juice) Leave this out on the counter till it gets to be room temperature. Refrigerate over night. The next day you need to cut up the beets in any shape you like. I made thin strips.
When you are ready assemble. This can be served either cold or warm.
Dish out the soup, add an egg or 1/2 an egg. Add fried vegetables, add some lime pickled shallots and add fresh herbs. Some people might want to add sour cream.
Southwest Soupy Beets With Crisp Fried Vegetables and Pickled Egg
1 lb boneless chicken breast – pounded – cut in bite size pieces
2 Tablespoons Guchugaru Pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon Korean Curry Powder
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine
1/2 Tablespoon corn syrup (I used honey)
2 Tablespoons Gochujang (I would recommend to only use a Korean Brand….American Brands do not taste similar)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon grated ginger
Optional – This is not in the recipe but I added some chicken stock to the recipe to make it saucy. (didn’t measure but I think it was less than a cup)
1 lb brussels sprouts – shaved
1 medium onion – sliced extra thin on a mandolin
a carrot – sliced very thin
5 oz red skin potatoes – sliced very thin
a little seaweed for finishing
a few chopped scallions for finishing
Directions
In a small mixing bowl mix up the sauce/marinade combining the red pepper flakes, sugar, curry powder, soy sauce, rice wine, corn syrup, gochujang, garlic, sesame oil and ginger. Put your chunks of chicken in a one quart zip lock bag and add the sauce you just made. Massage it all around the chicken and let marinate 30-60 minutes.
Get a large fry pan on medium high. Add the chicken and then add the vegetables. The pan will be crowded but melts down reasonably fast. Occasionally stir. When it starts to look dry add some chicken stock. By the time everything looks almost ready turn down to simmer and let it go about 15 minutes.
Serve with a little seaweed and scallions.
Korean Inspired Chicken and Vegetables Dak Galbi Style based on KoreanBapsang.com
A Special THANK YOU! to www.KoreanBapsang.com for sharing your world with us.
I came across chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe for Brussels sprouts with burnt butter and black garlic. Wow what a genius combination of things that I never would have thought of. Bunt butter, caraway seeds and black garlic is quite a combination. I didn’t have brussel sprouts at home but I did have cabbage so I thought that I can make a similar dish with cabbage. My recipe isn’t exactly the same but offers similar flavors. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. I also used a small cabbage so a bigger cabbage might give even more servings and also might take a little longer to cook.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 cabbage – cored – quartered – each quarter gets cut in 3 or 4 smaller wedges (I used a smaller cabbage)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil – to be sprayed or brushed on cabbage (I used a spray bottle so I didn’t measure…I honestly don’t think that I used this much oil)
fresh crushed sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1.75 oz black garlic (maybe around 2 Tablespoons chopped)
1 Tablespoon dried thyme
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
1 Tablespoon tahini
2 Tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Directions
Set oven to 500 degreed F.
Use a sheet pan (or two) and spray or wipe lightly with extra virgin olive oil.
You remove the core of the cabbage.
Then you quarter the cabbage.
Then each quarter gets sliced into 3 or 4 smaller wedges that go on your sheet pan. Then the slices get either sprayed or brushed with extra virgin olive oil and get seasoned with fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.
This goes on preferably a middle rack in your ore-heated 500 degree oven for around 15 minutes. It’s not done yet. Flip the cabbage wedges over on other side so you can brown up the other side. Depending on size if will need 10 to maybe 15 minutes more.
While you are roasting the cabbage you should make the sauce.
In a small bowl add the caraway seeds, black garlic, thyme. Leave it on side.
In a small fry pan on high heat add the butter. It will turn brown quickly. Then take it off the heat. Now add the caraway seeds, black garlic, thyme, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Blend till smooth.
Pour over cabbage.
Add toasted pumpkin seeds.
Finish with a little tahini and pomegranate seeds.
Yotam Ottolenghi Inspired Cabbage with Bunt Butter, Black Garlic & Pumpkin Seeds and pomegranate
Serve right away and enjoy!
A Special THANKS! to Yotam Ottolenghi for coming uo with his FABULOUS Brussels sprouts with burnt butter and black garlic recipe. Without it I never would have made cabbage in a similar way.
Fry’s had a buy one get one free sale on ground turkey and I had two heads of cabbage. I was thinking cabbage rolls…then I thought maybe they’d come out if I just made them in a bundt pan. The recipe might come out slightly better if you can find a very large head of cabbage. I had two small heads that have smaller leaves so I used around one and a half small cabbage heads..I don’t know if one large cabbage head is enough. Your cabbage bundt roll will taste better if you use left over rice that you made from stewing a chicken with some vegetables but many rice dishes will work here. I recommend to make this the day before you are serving it because it needs to chill over night and set. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. For me this makes 8 portions that I would serve with vegetables or a salad.
Ingredients for around eight servings
2 heads cabbage – remove cores (I used around one and half small heads the rest I just roasted till crispy in the oven with a little oil salt and pepper)
splash vinegar – (I used rice wine vinegar but my next choice would be apple cider vinegar)
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable soup base (instead of salt in the meat. Adds more flavors and cuts salt content a little)
6 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons Aleppo pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pounds ground turkey (93%)
1/2 medium onion – fine chopped or minced
1/2 cup parsley leaves – chopped
3 eggs – slightly beaten
3 cups rice – (any kind of leftover rice but preferably from a stewed chicken dish)
neutral non stick spray
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion – fine chopped or minced
3 small Calabrian chili peppers – fine chopped (or to taste any hot pepper you like)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
14 oz crushed Italian tomatoes
3/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
Directions
In a big sauce pot add the cabbage leaves. Cover with water. Add a splash of vinegar and a tablespoon of sea salt. Boil cabbage leaves for 15 minutes. Drain cabbage leaves. Put them to the side and let them cool a little.
In a BIG mixing bowl add the soup base, garlic, 2 Tablespoons tomato paste, Aleppo pepper, paprikas, ground coriander, ground turkey, 1/2 minced onion, parsley, eggs and rice. Mix well.
Spray a bundt pan with non stick spray.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Cover pan well with cabbage leaves and place leaves in a way so that they will fold over the meat.
Add more cabbage leaves and fill with meat mixture.
Cover with more cabbage leaves.
Spray some aluminum foil with non stick spray and cover the pan tight and squish the cabbage down so you don’t have big spots that are empty.
This is very full so you need a pan under it so you don’t get spills in your oven.
This goes in a preheated 350 degree oven on the middle rack for ninety minutes.
While the Cabbage Bundt Roll its cooking make the sweet and sour tomato sauce.
Heat up 2 Tablespoons of olive oil bon medium high heat. Add the remaining onions, hot pepper, tomato paste, sea salt, ground black pepper. Cook til onions are transparent. Add crushed tomatoes, water, balsamic vinegar and honey. It’s done. Take off heat and let cool and then refrigerate.
The cabbage bundt roll also needs to cool on the counter and get refrigerated over night so it can set. Squish the top down carefully because you want the bottom cabbage to lie flat as it cools and sets.
The next day heat them together. (whole or in sliced portions…I do sliced portions)
Bundt Turkey Cabbage Roll With Sweet And Sour Tomato Sauce
The last time I made a delicious butternut squash I did it two ways that was a mixture of pan seared and mashed that we really enjoyed. I did it in a southwest style that I winged and didn’t publish yet. So I did a similar recipe but with an Italian kind of twist that also came out really delicious. My guess is that this makes around six servings but my idea of serving size might differ from your idea oof serving size. It makes what you see in the picture. My picture is of the dish cold and did look better all melty but I did that in sections and didn’t think it would look good that way….I was wrong I guess….
Ingredients for around 6 servings
1 red onion – slice extra thin on a mandolin
1 cup white vinegar
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 bay leaf
2 lbs butternut squash – peeled, seeds removed, cut in 1 inch cubes
2 oz sweet butter
big pinch sea salt
big pinch ground black pepper
big pinch dried rosemary
big pinch dried thyme
big pinch granulated garlic
splash sherry vinegar
2 oz sweet butter (this is for whipped squash)
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 dried hot pepper crumbled (I used a Calabrian peri peri pepper)
a few grates fresh nutmeg
4 oz walnut halves (this is really more than you need I discovered afterwards..use rest for salads or snacks)
1 Tablespoon sugar ( I used turbinado…any sugar will be fine)
1 Tablespoon oil (I used walnut oil but would use canola in a pinch)
2 dried hot peppers or to taste (I used two Calabrian peri peri peppers)
big pinch sea salt
1-2 oz gorgonzola cheese – crumbled – to taste
8 amarena cherries in syrup cut in half (plus around 1/4 cup of the syrup to add on just before serving…..If you aren’t using amarena cherries then a little drizzle of honey or date syrup would be good) If I was substituting cherries I’d use golden raisins or chopped dates)
garnish with a little fresh chopped thyme or rosemary
Directions
Put a sauce pot on medium high with the vinegar, kosher salt, bay leaf and 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Bring to boil and when it’s dissolved you can pour it over the onion and let it sit to the side. (This is best if down the day before) Leave on counter till it gets to room temperature and then refrigerate.
Melt two ounces of butter in a big fry pan on medium high heat with big pinches of sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, granulated garlic and a splash of sherry vinegar. Add squash and brown it up a big
Set oven to 350 F.
Get out sheet pans. You squash might not be cooked all the way so put the squash on sheet pans on top rack for about ten minutes or until cooked though and then remove from oven.
Make seasoned walnuts. Set oven to 250 degrees F.
In a small mixing bowl add 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon oil, 2 dried crumbled hot peppers, and a big pinch of salt. Mix well and add walnuts and mix well. Spread out the walnuts on a sheet pan. Put them in the oven on a middle rack till fragrant. (about 10 minutes) leave on counter to cool.
Half the butternut squash gets whipped with 2 oz butter, I dried hot pepper, a few grates nutmeg and three tablespoons heavy cream. Whip or mash well.
Everything is done so just put together to serve.
Put the mashed or whipped butternut squash on a plate for in a bowl. Surround the squash with the seared squash. Top with pickled onions, amarena cherries, spiced walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and a small amount of fresh thyme or rosemary and the cherry syrup (not pictured because I figured this out after I snapped picture).
Butternut Squash Two Ways with Spiced Walnuts, Pickled Onions, Amarena Cherries and Gorganzola Cheese
I got the idea to make Asian Style Vegetables. I thought they’d be healthier with the sauce on the side. That way I don’t use as much sauce. That means less fat, sugar and salt. The vegetables are very easy to prepare. Just set your oven to 500 degrees F. Spread out a single layer of the same kind of vegetable on a baking sheet spray with neutral or peanut oil. Most vegetables go on the middle rack. Depending on the vegetable and size of cut they usually take either 10 or 20 minutes. Vegetables I used were cauliflower, shishito peppers, celery, shallot and a red bell pepper. You can use whatever vegetables you like.
1/2 teaspoon granulated ginger (you can substitute about an inch of fresh grated ginger……I didn’t have)
1 Tablespoon chili paste (or to taste..the different brands taste different)
2 Tablespoons honey
pinch allspice
pinch ground star anise
hot pepper flakes to taste
neutral or peanut oil I think I used around a quarter cup of oil (for spraying vegetables)
cauliflower – cut in florets
3 shallots – cut in slices
8 oz shishito peppers – trim off stems
4 stalks celery – cut on diagonal around one inch pieces
1 red bell pepper cut in strips
2 Tablespoons scallions – for finishing
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds – for finishing
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro – for finishing
sea salt – to taste
ground black pepper – to taste
Directions
Set oven to 500 degrees F.
In a small mixing bowl mix together the shaohsing wine, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame paste, black vinegar, hoisin, ginger, chili paste, honey, peanut butter, allspice, star anise, and hot pepper flakes. Set to the side and use when ready.
Each kind of vegetable that you are using gets done at a different time. but they all get sprayed with oil and go on their own baking sheet. Your results might differ from mine.
Cauliflower I put in the middle racks. Mine took 20 minutes. Celery took close to 20 minutes to but I cooked my celery on the low rack.
My shishitos, bell peppers and shallots got done pretty fast. Around ten minutes at 500 degrees F. I cooked them on my lower rack of the oven.
Season vegetables with fresh crushed sea salt and ground black pepper.
Serve with sauce and finish with scallions, sesame seeds and cilantro.
I had some tofu that I had to use so I thought up marinated tofu in tomato curry. Tofu is very versatile and can be used many ways. I think if you are just using plain tofu to eat that it taste better marinated. I made a simple marinade for it with sriracha.
Shark brand sriracha is on left…I think any of the bottles on right will work with it
I used the Shark brand that taste sweet and tomato-ee so that was the inspiration to do tomato curry. If you use a different brand of sriracha yours will come out different and might need some adjustments. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. To me this makes about three smaller servings. You also need to add some vegetables to this dish. I didn’t have much around the house so I only used onions, a few extra tomatoes and a carrot. You can use whatever you like.
Ingredients for around three servings
14 oz tofu – I used firm – cut in bite size pieces
1/4 cup sriracha – preferably Shark Brand (marinade) With a different brand you might need to add sweetness.
1/4 cup – tamari or soy sauce or Golden Mountain (whatever you like best) (marinade)
1 teaspoon honey (marinade)
1 – 13.5 can coconut milk
2 hot chili peppers or to taste – fine chop
1 inch grated ginger
3 garlic – ground to paste (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamon
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon vegetable soup base (instead of salt and adds more flavors)
12 oz peeled cooked tomatoes
1 sweet onion – chopped or small slices
1 carrot sliced
a few roasted small sweet tomatoes (tossed in at end)
handful fresh basil – torn
small amount of oil, non stick spray or a little oil that might be on tomatoes
Directions
Start by marinating tofu. The tofu goes in a gallon ziplock bag and you add the sriracha, honey and tamari (or soy sauce or Golden Mountain) This needs to marinate about 90 minutes. Leave it sit one your counter for around an hour and then start up the rest.
A little oil goes in your fry pan or sauce pot on medium high heat and you cook up the onions and hot pepper till soft. Then add in garlic. Then add coconut milk and ginger, cardamon, turmeric and vegetable base and thin carrot slices. I let it cook down a little and when the carrots are soft I added the roasted tomatoes. Next add the roasted sweet tiny tomatoes.
By this time it’s around 90 minutes for the tofu so I drained it and add to the curry. Finish with fresh basil.
Fry’s had corn on sale for almost free so here is what I made with some of the corn. These corn cakes came out FORKING AMAZING! They are full of flavors and finish with a little heat. Some of the ingredients might be hard to find but can be found at Mexican Grocery Stores. Your corn cakes won’t come out as delicious unless you make these corn cakes the way I did. Also my idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. I made 16 very small corn cakes so I would say two corn cakes is a small serving but I can totally see many people would prefer the serving size to be larger like 4 corn cakes each. So this recipe makes between 4-8 servings depending on your appetite.
Ingredients for 8 very small servings
2 cups corn kernels – cooked (my corn was cooked in covered pans of water in the oven with 2 oz of butter and small amount of sea salt 350 degrees F for 90 minutes. The corn comes out juicy and sugary sweet)
1 egg – beaten
2 oz cotija cheese = shredded + plus extra for serving
1/4 cup flour
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 Tablespoon hatch chili – (fire roasted peeled seeds removed) – fine chopped
2 Tablespoons scallions – sliced thin
2 Tablespoon cilantro – chopped
1 Tablespoon (heaping) epazote – chopped
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 chile-tepin peppers – crumbled
1 garlic clove – ground to paste
non-stick spray or oil to fry if you prefer frying with oil
optional a little sour cream to serve with
Directions
One cup of corn kernels goes in your mixing bowl. The other cup of corn kernels gets blended smooth. Mix them together and then mix in all the remaining ingredients. Spray your fry pan with non stick spray. Get your pan fully heated on medium heat. Use a teaspoon and make smaller sized cakes. They will need 3-4 minutes a side. Keep going till you are done. Serve with some grated cotiija cheese and maybe a little sour cream.
I was sort of gifted with a case of Mexican Mangos. We don’t eat many mangos. I don’t want to make a dessert I don’t need. So I got the idea that mangos are sort of creamy naturally and they are very sweet. I thought I can just blend them up and freeze them.
So I blended them up.
I poured them into a container and put the container in my freezer. For the next day about every 8-10 hours I’d scrap the harder frozen ends to distribute the freezing mango.
Around 24 hours latter I have a tub of frozen dessert without any added sugar, colors or added fat.
Easy One Ingredient Mango Ice
This would be amazing with added strawberries. It would be great with pineapple and or coconut. I would also like it with little chunks of crystalized ginger. Maybe shaved chocolate would be tasty too.