I was all set out to bake a coffee cake…..I had a bunch of ideas about how I’d make it and then thought to myself isn’t there a Bouchon Bakery Recipe out there on the web for me to try????? The first site that I found the Bouchon Recipe was on www.Joanne-EatsWellWithOthers.com Joanne made the recipe as it was written. I changed it up slightly so I didn’t have to run out and purchase creme fraiche, vanilla paste or some sort of 4 1/4 inch pans.Instead I used French style yogurt, regular vanilla extract and those higher liners that fit in my cupcake pan. (regular cupcake liners won’t work they aren’t high enough). I pick up the high ones at World Market, Target and I sometimes find them at HomeGoods. (I usually use them for Bouchon’s (also a most amazing recipe!) I figured out the timing to be about 26 minutes in my oven…(yours may differ slightly) The little coffee cakes are incredible. They are just light textured and scrumptious. The almond topping is so tasty and the cocoa center adds some interest. You do need a scale that reads grams to do this recipe because you have to weigh everything out. You might also waste part of an egg because I know I did. I weighed everything in a sandwich bag before I dumped the contents into the bowl. I thought it was an easy recipe to prepare. The original recipe requires a stand mixer but I thought it was easy enough to do by hand with a fork. Not always but usually cakes and cookies come out better if you mix them by hand so they don’t get over mixed.  I changed the recipe  only slightly to make it more user friendly so you don’t have to run out to buy so many things you don’t have or need.

Ingredients for about 12 servings

203 g ap flour – batter

1 1/8 teaspoon baking powder – batter

3/8 teaspoon baking soda – batter

1/2 teaspoon sea salt – batter

75 g unsalted butter – room temperature – batter

210 g sugar – batter

75 g eggs – slightly beaten – batter

1 teaspoon vanila extract – batter

1 cup French Style yogurt – (I really like that Oui Brand in the little glass pot) – batter

60 g ap flour – topping

60 g almond flour – topping

60 g sugar – topping

1/8 teaspoon salt – topping

60 g cold unsalted butter – cut in 1/4inch peices

15 g light brown sugar – the middle of batter

15 g unsweetened cocoa powder – the middle of batter

powdered 10x sugar to finish

ground cinnamon to finish

non stick spray

Directions

For Topping Ingredients- In a medium sized bowl whisk together ap flour, almond flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and coat the pieces of butter with flour mixture breaking the butter up. You are aiming for 1/8 inch size pieces. Place the topping mixer in the freezer while you are making the batter.

For the Batter Ingredients – Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl whisk together the butter and sugar. When mixed well add the eggs and vanilla. Now add about a half of the flour mixture and mix well and then add the yogurt and mix well and now add the rest of the flour mixture and mix well. THE BATTER NEEDS TO BE REFRIGERATED FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES.

Set your oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray 12 high type cupcake liners with non stick spray. Set each cupcake liner in a cup cake tray.

In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and cocoa.

When 20 minutes has pasted get out a pastry bag. Half the batter goes in the bag. You need to squirt out a circle of batter into each cupcake liner.

Now sprinkle the cocoa/brown sugar mixture over each half of batter.

Refill the pastry bag with the other half of the batter. Make another circle of batter over each.

Sprinkle the tops with the topping from the freezer.

In the oven they go on a middle rack till the tops feel down to the touch. In my oven they took 26 minutes….(yours might differ slightly).

 

The place smells so good!……

Have a half!

Finish them with powdered 10x sugar and cinnamon.

These Bouchon Bakery Mini Coffee Cakes are really great! A special Thanks to Bouchon Bakery for giving us this amazing recipe. It’s truly a gift! And another very special Thanks to Joanne @ www.JoanneEatsWellWithOthers.com because you did the recipe as suggested and showed us how the recipe should be.

 

 

 

After reading about a lot of mini spinach and feta pies I thought I could do the same thing but different with Spaghetti Squash Feta and Harissa and I did! I learned from dining at FnB in Scottsdale that Harissa is an AMAZING pairing with spaghetti squash….so I do that often. There are many styles of Harissa out there but the one I developed is absolutely delicious with many things so you might want to make a double amount…or use the extra to dip the mini pies in…?….I actually didn’t know if this recipe for crust would work out…since I just winged it….But it did…and very well I might add. These mini pies are very unique and also tasty!

Ingredients for about 9 portions

1 1/2 cup flour – plus a very small amount more for rolling out the dough..

1/2 cup chickpea flour

1 1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup spaghetti squash cooked and drained REALLY WELL.

4 oz creamy or fresh style feta cheese……NOT the salty tangy GREEK or substitute goat cheese

1/4 cup scallions – chopped

2 Tablespoons cilantro – chopped

1 Large egg – slightly beaten

2 red bell peppers roasted – skin, seeds & stem removed – rough chopped – PLUS ALL THE SWEET JUICE that comes out of the peppers from roasting

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves – grated

1 hot pepper – chopped (or to taste)

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

Fresh ground sea salt and pepper to taste

1 Large egg & 1 &tablespoon water

about 4 pinches of sesame seeds

Directions

Make dough

Set oven to 450degrees F.

In a large bowl combine flour, chicken pea flour, sea salt, water, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix and knead well. Wrap in plastic wrap and set to the side. Wrap in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out and keep to the side.

I do note YOUR SQUASH SHOULD BE DRAINED VERY WELL or this recipe won’t work out for you.

In a small bowl to the side make your wash,,,,,It’s just one Large egg and a Tablespoon of water. Set to the side.

Harissa is just 2 red bell peppered roasted with cumin, caraway, extra virgin olive oil, garlic cloves, hot pepper, lemon, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste blended well.

Add the harissa and the feta cheese, scallions and cilantro to the spaghetti squash.

Set a scoopful or two into each.

I didn’t take a picture but I tried to fold them like this.

They were too messy and I didn’t think they would come out right so I threw each one in a muffin pan.

Then I covered them with egg wash two times and sesame seeds.

After some time in the oven they looked more like this. I put these in the oven at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes……I thought they might need longer but I didn’t want to burn them so i turned the heat down to 350 for ten minutes. They came out perfect and lightly browned even underneath.

Delicious…You will love this.

Inside they also came out really well….

Whoo Hoo….This is a Forking Good One!

 

 

 

 

 

I had a cabbage that I had to use so I thought I’d come up with different slaw. Here’s Sriracha Ginger Apple Slaw! It’s very easy to prepare and taste great! I think most people will like it. It’s not too spicy and it’s not too sweet. It’s light and refreshing.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

1 medium green cabbage – shredded very thinly (don’t used bagged)

2 medium carrots – peeled and shredded

1/2 medium sweet onion – shredded very thinly

1/3 cup radishes – shredded

1 honey crisp apple (it will get shredded but do that at the end)

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons minced ginger

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoons canola oil

2 teaspoons Sriracha – or to taste because different brands will differ

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon cilantro chopped

1 Tablespoon parsley chopped

Directions

Put the cabbage, sugar and kosher salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix well and transfer to a colander that sits over a large bowl and let sit on the counter about 1/2 hour. Water will come out of the cabbage. Throw out the liquid and put the cabbage back in the large bowl.

Add the carrots, onion, radishes to the large bowl and set to the side.

In a small bowl add the dijon, honey, Sriracha and ground garlic and mix well. While mixing slowly add the oil and mix well. Slowly mix in the apple cider and mix well. Add the minced ginger and black pepper. Mix well.

Shred the apple and add it to the large bowl with cabbage. Mix in the dressing and lastly add the parsley and cilantro.

It’s ready to serve on a sandwich or on the side or wrapped with protein in rice paper.

Enjoy!

 

 

I was thinking that Buffalo Chicken Meatballs might be tasty so here they are. The meatballs come out just right tang, a little spicy, juicy but firm with little crunches of celery. They are delicious too by the way……You can top them however you like. I like to just use Frank’s Red Hot Sauce with a side of quality Blue Cheese. Feel free to make a more traditional wing-type sauce with a combination of equal parts of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and Butter…..Another alternative is to just pour Blue Cheese Dressing on the meatballs and then drizzle them with the aged Cayenne Pepper Sauce (Frank’s Red Hot). This recipe is very easy to make but make sure your rice is cooked properly or you might wind up with squishy meatballs. The rice is in the recipe to soak up all that delicious hot sauce. To cook rice correctly I do two (dry not liquid) cups of water to a heaping cup of rice and I use a little salt and either a pat of butter or a squirt of oil, then bring to boil then reduce to simmer then cover lightly for 15-20 minutes. I think these meatballs are great as appetizers or also just as good in a sandwich or wrap. Maybe serve with buttered rice, noodles or creamy potatoes as a dinner…….Leftover meatballs can be frozen.

This recipe makes about 10 servings.

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken

2 large eggs – slightly beaten

1 cup white rice (already prepared)

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1/2 cup aged cayenne pepper sauce – preferably Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

1/4 cup scallions – chopped

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 celery rib – chopped fine

1/4 cup carrot – finely shredded

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped

1 teaspoon paprika

2 pinches celery seeds

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons course sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup panko bread crumbs

non stick cooking spray – preferably canola or vegetable

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet(s) with non-stick spray and set to the side.

In a large bowl add eggs, rice, dijon mustard and aged cayenne pepper sauce and mix well. Then add all the vegetables and spices. Mix well. Now add the ground chicken and mix well. Lastly add the bread crumbs and mix well.

At this point you can do a smaller tester ball (a little smaller than a marble to test for seasoning and place in the oven for about 5 minutes or until done.

When you’re happy with the seasoning use a small scoop and make your meatballs. With my small scoop I made 44 meatballs.

Cook till done. In my oven they took 15 minutes.

Serve!

If you like that Buffalo Wing kind of taste then you should enjoy these yummy meatballs.

 

Several times a year the supermarkets will have Choice Grade Eye Round on sale for less than for $3.00 a pound. That is when I prepare Roast Beef…..I usually buy a 7.5 pound package of it that I cut in half. I Do Note THE RECIPE WON’T WORK if the pieces of beef differ from the 3-4 pound size. Of course you can purchase two smaller packages but I never find them in the right size so I don’t think they come that way….so I buy the full package. Sometimes I have to trim a lot of hard fat and skin off.

I’m not the greatest at trimming but if I can do it then you can do it too. I cut the beef in 3-4 pound pieces. Then they get rubbed with oil and next my spice rub. Use 1/2 the spice rub on each beef. You don’t actually rub the spice into the meat…..I put the meat in a bowl, oil it and sprinkle the spice all over like a crust. This time I put the beefs in pans lined with a few carrots as a rack.

The meats then go on the middle rack in a 500 degree F oven for 15-18 minutes. DON’T OPEN THE OVEN or you will FORK IT UP! ……Shut the oven off and LEAVE the beefs in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Pull them out and let them rest a half hour. Slice the beef and you will be FORKING AMAZED on how FORKING Delicious, Tender flavorful and Moist the beefs come out.

I didn’t invent this method for doing Roast Beef…..but a million people on the web do take credit for this method. The only difference is that everyone’s rub recipe will differ. I saw this method for roast beef on a bunch of TV Shows (including Rachel Ray) This method has been around forever but it is a great method. I’ve done it a bunch of times now. After doing it several times I suggest 15-18 minutes of 500 degrees F before you shut the oven off. REMEMBER 15-18 minutes at 500 degrees F and shut the oven off WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR FOR 2 1/2 HOURS or you will FORK it up!

The Beef below was in the oven at 500 degrees F for 18 minutes. Oven was shut off without anyone opening the door…and stayed in for 2 1/2 hours.

Here is my recipe for the rub I did this time (and it might have been my best).  I note I didn’t measure exact so this is a guesstimate.

Ingredients for about 7 1/2 pound eye roast

1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 Tablespoons black pepper

2 Tablespoons granulated garlic

2 Tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

big pinch of ground cloves

I promise that you will thank me for this recipe. You also should save the juice that is sitting in the pan. Use it for reheating the beef.

 

 

 

Richard Blais does some incredible things with carrots…..I enjoyed a very special Carrot dish at his restaurant Juniper and Ivy in San Diego CA a little while back that was to die for actually everything was great there….but those almond wood smoked carrots were.. Forking Amazing! The very BEST carrot dish I ever tasted in my life…..I found another Richard Blais Carrot dish called Ginger-Lime Baby Carrots. WOW if you come a cross a Richard Blais recipe you show most definitely try it!  I had to make a few minor changes…NOT TO CHANGE Richard Blais’s recipe but due to what I already had at home…(I was all out of limes….so I thought oranges would work..I used $2.00 carrots instead of $5.99 carrots w/tops and so on…)…..His recipe is so Forking Good that it came out really great anyway! It came out FORKING Delicious!

Ingredients for about 4 servings

12 average size carrots -preferably organic so you can leave skin on. Peel them if they are not organic.

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger

big pinch cinnamon

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 orange – the fresh squeezed juice and also the zest (separate)

1/4 teaspoon sriracha

1 Tablespoon furikake

course sea salt – for boiling water

Directions

In a large sauce pan get salted water on to boil and add carrots….Cook carrots till tender crisp. Timing will differ due to size of carrots.

In a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add the carrots,  ginger, and cinnamon and cook over moderate heat tossing occasionally till the ginger is fragrant, about 3 minutes, Add stock and boil at moderately high heat until reduced by half, about three minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and let cool 30 seconds. Swirl in the butter,  orange juice and sriracha. Either you are done with carrots at this point and just top them with the furikake and orange zest. OR you can slightly brown the carrots and put them on a sheet pan on the top rack of the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes and then serve the carrots in the Ginger-Orange Sauce and then top with furikake and orange zest.

I note my pan looks dry but I had a good amount of sauce on the carrots.

It’s really a delicious sauce….I think it would also be amazing on chicken or fish.

A special THANKS! to Richard Blais for coming up with this GREAT RECIPE! and putting out there on the web so we all can prepare it! Thanks so much..it’s like a gift!

 

 

This is a chunky salad of avocado, a couple types of oranges tied together with guacamole type seasoning. I used home made pickled jalapeños and a very special pepper called chile pequin to heat things up. You will have no trouble finding chile pequin at WinCo or any Mexican Grocery Store. The chile pequin pepper is very small and very mighty. It’s delicious and doesn’t seem hot at first but it builds. It’s very similar to the very expensive chitepin pepper. ($23.00 for two ounces). Anyway this is a tasty topper for tacos, nachos or grilled meats. This Avocado salad seems lightened up some with all the sweet oranges in it. I think the oranges cut the richness of the avocados and give this topping a unique flavor. I note that I used all small sized produce so your results may differ due to the size of fruit used.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

3 avocados (smaller sized)

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

2 clementines – peeled with a knife so the out side of the fruit is skin free and slice and peel out the segments. (In this step it’s very easy to remove the membrane)

2 smaller oranges – supremes (that means skinless if you can do it if not just peel the skin off with a knife so you remove most of the skin – then slice the orange across a few times. When you pull apart the segments you can also remove most of the orange membrane.

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

1/4 cup sweet onion chopped

2 home made pickled jalapeños -preferably my recipe on site or use someone else’s home made pickled jalapeños

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped

2 chile pequin

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

Directions

Get a medium size bowl.

Supreme the oranges. You basically are peeling the orange with a knife and are removing the outer membrane of the orange. Then slice into each segment to remove it from the orange.

I wasn’t able to supreme the clementines but was able to remove the outer membrane like from the orange. Then I just sliced the clementine across a few times and removed the segments and peeled the membranes off.

Put the oranges and clementines in your bowl.

Add the chopped onions, pickled peppers, cilantro, parsley, salt.

Cut the avocado in half around the pit. Score the flesh with a knife all the way but not threw the skin. Remove the avocado flesh with a spoon.

Add the avocado to the bowl.

Sprinkle the bowl with all the fresh lime juice.

Take the chile pequin and rub it with your fingers over the bowl and break it down the best you can over the bowl. Repeat with the second chile pequin.

Stir very gently and try not to mash things up.

Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

I made tacos and use sliced jicama for the shells and this topping went really great with them! The next day over maui maui….both were really great and the salad stayed fresh and didn’t brown.

 

I was at the Pinnacle Peak Farmer’s Market and Crooked Sky Farms usually has something interesting to try. I saw these really BIG Greens. I had no idea on what they were but I thought I’d try them. I asked the man at Crooked Skys what kind of green it was and not for all the money in the world can’t I remember the name of this vegetable but is is some sort of Chinese Cabbage. In studying pictures of Chinese Greens this one most resembled one of about 50 kinds of Chinese Mustard Greens. The most popular way to use Chinese Mustard Greens is to pickle and jar them. The second most popular way to to stir fry them simply with a Thai Chili little oil and some Garlic…..but it was suggested at www.ChinaSichuanFood.com to blanch the vegetable first. I prepared the cabbage similar to what and how www.ChinaSicuanFood.com did but I added a few extra ingredients for my taste.  In my research I don’t recall where I read this but someone suggested adding half a teaspoon of baking soda when you blanch the greens for when the stems are thick. So I prepared the vegetable and in the end this once bitter tasting green now taste very similar to spinach. I do note you might have to cut back on the Thai Chili peppers, garlic and sesame oil if your green is smaller than mine or for your taste.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 Chinese Mustard Cabbage (a really big one) – all cleaned up and chopped up like in pictures below. Put the pieces with wide stems in a separate bowl.

a few drops oil (this is for blanching. I used canola)

1/2 teaspoon salt (for blanching)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (for blanching)

5 garlic cloves – chopped fine – or to taste

3 Thai Chili peppers – chopped fine – or to taste

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil – or to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

fresh ground sea salt to taste

Directions

Put a pot of water on to boil with the few drops of oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

The wide stems need to boil 10 seconds. Take them out with a strainer or a wide slotted spoon and place in a bowl of ice bath. Mostly ice a little cold water.

The leafier parts only need 2-3 seconds. You will notice that the water left in the pot smells very unpleasant. You just removed this taste from the greens. Then take the greens out and they get the ice bath too.

Then put all the greens in a colander to drain.

Get your wok hot on high heat and add the Tablespoon of canola oil and the chopped garlic and Thai Chili peppers.

then stir in the greens.

season with salt, pepper and sesame oil. Mix well and serve.

They taste great and are suppose to be very healthy for you! A special Thanks to www.ChinaSichuanFood.com for directions on how to work with this type of green and another special thanks to Crooked Skys Farms for offering such great produce at The Pinnacle Peak Farmers Market too!

www.ChinaSichuanFood.com

 

 

 

I came across this Chipotle Buttered Corn Recipe on the Tasting Table by Chef Christopher Lee of Sophia’s a Philadelphia Restaurant. I know Chipotle goes amazing with corn but Star Anise is a flavor I never thought of to go with Chipotle and corn. I did some research and I tried to find other recipes combining Star Anise and Chipotle. In my search I discovered the EXACT SAME RECIPE is posted on Genius Kitchen by Cluich..?…..I don’t know if Cluich and Chef Christopher Lee are the same person or not???????? (thought that was interesting) I don’t know if either Chef Christopher Lee or Cluich would approve or want to have anything to do with what I’ve done with Star Anise, Chipotle and Corn but I can tell you that it’s delicious and great. I take what I did a little further. What might be even better is the amazing corn stock that you get if you make the dish my way. The leftover Chipotle Corn Stock is great for chipotle mashed potatoes. Just boil the potatoes in that stock and after the potatoes are fork tender add enough stock to make them moist and then they are delicious with almost no fat or dairy (or you can add some butter to make them a little rich and better). The other thing I did with the Chipotle Corn Stock was to blend butternut squash into it. I made a Chipotle laced puree and later thinned it down with vegetable broth to make a soup.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

8 ears of corn

4 oz unsalted butter

2 star anise

2 Tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce – chipotle peppers chopped fine

1 meyer lemon cut in half

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

4 cloves garlic

1 onion cut in 8 slices

8 cups water

1/2 cup chopped scallions

Directions

Set your oven to 350 degrees F.

Get out two large pans (1/2 buffet pans) and lay out the corn and ingredients just like the photo below.

Four ears of corn in each pan and half the ingredients (except scallions) in each pan.

Add the water – 4 cups in each pan.

Cover very tightly with foil.

In the oven they go for two hours at 350 degrees F.

After two hours pull the pans out and carefully loosen the foil – WATCH OUT! – there will be hot steam – but leave the foil hang over.

Let the pans cool on the counter for an hour. Then throw out the star anise and the lemon.

After an hour you can serve the corn….I think it’s better on the cob……You will get the most amazing taste like you can’t imagine….very sweet juice you can suck out of the cob that’s infused with crazy flavors. Most people I know prefer the corn removed from the cob. So you can move the kernels and mix with sliced scallions. Either way it’s delicious and you can’t do any wrong.

DON’T THROW OUT THE LIQUID FROM THE CORN.

Take it and boil peeled potatoes in it…..(used vegetables and all except the lemon and star anise you already threw out)

The potatoes will be delicious. Remove the potatoes from the pot. Make them more delicious and mash them with some of the strained liquid…….add a little butter if you want and these potatoes will be super yummy!

You can get one more use out of the liquid if you want……

Peel and roast up cubed butternut squash. Puree it up with some of this still very flavorful liquid. Now you have a flavorful figure friendly Butternut squash puree.

Maybe you’d enjoy the butternut squash more as a cream free soup. Just add vegetable stock and a small amount of finely chopped and sautéed carrot, celery and onion and puree again. You might want to add a small amount of more finely chopped chipotle pepper. I added a few peas for color and some really cute butternut squash pasta I found at Trader Joes.

The Anise Infused Chipotle Corn is Worth a Fork!

A special Thanks to The Tasting Table with Chef Christopher Lee’s Recipe and To the same recipe at Genius Kitchen by Cluich. That recipe inspired me and helped me to create all these dishes.

 

 

I was inspired to create this recipe when I read about Chef Binkley’s Pastrami Carrot Corn Dog on his menu this week……I know my creations can’t compare to the Great Chef’s Masterpieces …..but this one here is might be considered to be Forking Great! I had a pound  of beets and a pound of carrots in my refrigerator. I was thinking that beets might be great also to pastramize…So I did two pans, one with carrots and one with beets.Then I figure I have to make something to go the beets and carrots….I first thought of Russian Dressing….Of course a simple basic Russian Dressing is delicious with these carrots and beets…….Then I thought a better idea was my Kraut Style Spaghetti Squash but I didn’t think squash and root vegetables are very appetizing together so Chickpeas was it because they go great with Carrots and Beets……I did the quick soak method for beans but you are welcome to do the over night soak….I think the two methods produce different textures to the beans……The overnight soak makes the beans super creamy and sweeter….I wasn’t sure if I wanted super creamy beans so I did the quick soak for more texture. I think I would have been happiest with 1/2 and 1/2 but I didn’t think of that at the time.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 lb. carrots – peeled (needs to be peeled so the flavorings get in)

1 lb. beets – peeled and sliced in thick slices (needs to be peeled so flavorings get in)

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon juniper berries

2 teaspoons allspice berries

2 bay leaves

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons black peppercorns

1 teaspoon ground ginger

8 garlic cloves – smashed

1 hot dried pepper – torn in half

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

4 cups water

coriander to taste (to top carrots and beets)

fresh ground black pepper to taste (to top carrots and beets)

1/2 lb dried garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas)

3 cups water (keep the leftover bean water)

1/2 sweet onion – very thinly sliced and rough chopped

2 cloves garlic – ground to a paste

4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or a little more to taste)

4 splashes sherry vinegar

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon course sea salt

8 juniper berries – fresh ground in spice grinder

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seed

Directions

set oven to 350 degrees F

Get two baking dishes or two 1/2 pans.

Put all the carrots in one pan.

Put all the beets in the other pan.

Get out a medium sized mixing bowl.

add the salt, sugar, juniper berries, allspice berries, cloves, mustard, peppercorns, ginger and mix well. Put 1/2 the mixture in each pan.

Put one bay leaf, 1/4 cinnamon stick, 1/2 dried pepper and 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke in each pan.

Add 2 cups of water to each pan and cover tightly and lace in 350 degree oven.

Cook till fork tender. About one hour.

When ready to use drain.

Rinse and sort beans.

Put pot of 3 cups water to boil. When boiling add beans and boil the beans for two minutes. Then shut the heat off cover the pot and leave it alone for an hour. After an hour drain and rinse the beans. Put them back in the pot with three cups of water. Bring the pot to boil and then reduce to a low simmer covered. These beans should be done in about 90….. minutes….maybe 2 hours. (******make sure that any bean you prepare is fully cooked because undercooked beans can cause illness or be toxic!)

While the beans are cooking get a small mixing bowl and add the onion, garlic, sherry vinegar, sugar, 1 teaspoon course sea salt, ground juniper, caraway and mustard seeds. Cover and put in the refrigerator while the beans are cooking. This mixture will cook itself.

When the beans are done drain them. Add the small bowl of onion mixture to your pot. Add the drained beans and about 1/2 cup of reserved bean water and bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to simmer for 15 – 25 minutes…..you want things to get absorbed. Wa la Kraut Style Beans.

Plate it up! (make sure you sprinkle the beets and carrots with fresh ground black pepper and coriander.

WOW! I feel like I could stuff the beets in with rye bread and Swiss cheese! This is a FORKING Special vegetable plate. Ummmm I’m thinking of quick rye bread waffles and drizzling  everything with a Swiss Cheese Sauce….