Category Archives: Forking Recipes

Interesting twists on everyday things as well as the unusual

Cranberry Roselle Lime Sauce Recipe

 

Cranberry Roselle Lime Sauce

Roselle

I never saw or heard of Roselle before and saw them at the Pinnacle Peak Farmers Market and purchased a small bag of them. I found out the Roselle is a wild relative of the Hibiscus Flower. While researching the Roselle I came across a lot of websites claiming the roselle flower has many health benefits. According to Wikipedia the Roselle decreases blood pressure by 7.5/3.5 units. (whatever that means) One website claimed it helps to reverse the effects of diabetes. According to www.Airytea.com the Roselle is very high in vitamins and minerals and cures almost any infliction that you can think of….of course I don’t know if any of this has any truth to it. I read that most people just make beverages from the Roselle flowers (but other parts of the plant are also eaten) so I boiled the Roselle to keep the liquid. I thought they taste sort of like a floral kind of cranberry taste so I just added it to cranberry sauce and I thought lime and a hint of cayenne would be good in the sauce and it is.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

12 oz cranberries  – soak and rinse them a few times

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups Roselle liquid – Bring to boil about 2 1/2 cups of water with 10 Roselle Flowers reduce to simmer about 40 minutes – toss out Roselle keep all the liquid. (if you have more than 1 1/2 cups use it and decrease the water)

1 cup water

1 lime – the fresh squeezed juice and all of the zest

pinch course sea salt

pinch cayenne pepper

Directions

Pot a sauce pot on medium high heat and add the Roselle liquid, water, sugar and salt. Bring to boil. Add cranberries, lime juice and cayenne. Reduce to medium heat and stir occasionally. You need to cook it until all the cranberries pop. When the cranberries are popped turn it down a little. You might want to cover it loosely with foil so it doesn’t splatter on your stove. Let it reduce to desired consistency. Lastly add the lime zest. Take off heat and refrigerate. Cranberry sauce also freezes well.

Cranberry Roselle Lime Sauce

Cranberry sauce that is a little different. It’s not too sweet. It a little floral with a nice texture. It taste good. It might even be super healthy and cure all your ailments. Who The Fork Knows.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush Recipe

 

Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush

I was watching Rachel Ray (a cooking variety and lifestyle TV show). I heard her saying that a  favorite restaurant in Philadelphia for her was Zahav ( a multi award wining restaurant with a multi award wining James Beard wining Chef who is also the 2017 James Beard outstanding chef). Rachel Ray also named a list of about a half dozen celebrity Chefs including Amanda Freitag stating that Zahav was also their favorite restaurant in Philadelphia. WOW that really spoke to me because I happened to have dined at Zahav and also had the most amazing experience   there…..Then on the TV Screen was Chef Michael Solomanov from Zahav via some sort of TV Cam. He was only on TV for what seemed like 30 seconds and in that short time he whipped up Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush. It happened so fast I’m not sure I remembered everything but I think I did. I happened to have a Brussels Sprouts stalk in my refrigerator SO I HAD TO TRY! This recipe didn’t have any measurements given so I just had to wing because that’s the way I saw it done on TV. It’s pretty darn delicious! Maybe even FORKING AMAZING! You might want to give this a try! I cooked up all my brussels Sprouts and made about FOUR servings of the Brussels Sprout Baba Ganoush. This recipe is my interpretation of what I saw Chef Michael Solomonov do on the Rachel Ray TV Show.

Ingredients

Brussels Sprouts – I used one stalk

Canola oil for frying (I covered the pan well with oil)

1 lemon (just the fresh squeezed juice

1/3 cup tahini (only purchase tahini that you can pour or it’s too old to eat) ((I like the one that comes in a glass bottle that they sell at Walmart)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

2 oz roasted garlic (whipped or mashed very well) ( half heads of garlic and drizzle them with olive oil and roast in a 350 degree F oven about an hour)

1 cup (packed tight) of the dark charred Brussels Sprouts

water to thin to your desired consistency

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

8 Tablespoons creamy mild not tangy feta cheese (for finishing – 2 Tablespoons a serving)

4 Tablespoons toasted hazelnuts slightly crushed (for finishing – 1 Tablespoon a serving)

2 Tablespoons parsley chopped (for finishing)

4 Tablespoons harissa (condiment for finishing) (preferably a fresh made kind and not from a jar or can)

4 Tablespoons tahini  (condiment for finishing)

2 cups of fried Brussels Sprouts – about 1/2 cup portions for each serving

Directions

The brussels sprouts get cut in half.

Put a large fry pan on medium heat with a good amount of oil. (about 350 degrees F)

When the oil is hot use tongs and fry the Brussels Sprouts till browned (about 6-7 minutes) each brussels sprout is a different size. Some you have to turn over and brown the other side.

It’s a good idea to use a screen for less oil splats. You WANT about a cup of the brussels sprouts to get VERY DARK.

It’s just like when you make eggplant baba ganoush. You need it charred for flavor. The char also turns the sprouts sweet. The darkest Brussels Sprouts you use for the Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush. It’s best to get a paper towel under the fried sprouts and then hit then with fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Now pack a cup real tight of the sprout that are the most charred. (the darkest ones)

Fine chop the sprouts and put them in a medium sized bowl. (Chef Solomonov said Baba Ganoush should always be chunky)

Add fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/3 cup tahini, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 2 oz roasted garlic (whipped or mashed very well). Add water till it get to your desired consistency. It should look similar to this. Add fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Now you build it like a sundae.

On the bottom is a layer of the Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush. Use about a quarter of the mixture for a serving.

Top each serving with at least a 1/2 cup of brussels sprouts.

Top the brussels sprouts with about 2 Tablespoons of feta cheese.

Next about 1 Tablespoon of toasted hazelnuts.

finish with a small amount of parsley, a little harissa and a little tahini.

It’s really delicious! All the different flavors and textures go together well. It a Forking Great Brussels Sprouts Dish…Glad I caught Chef Solomonov on the Rachel Ray Show doing this dish!

Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush

The Forking Truth

 

 

Most Viewed and Pinned Recipe of 2017

 

Cook’s Country Potato Cheddar Pierogi

On PBS TV they featured Cook’s Country Recipe for Pierogi. My site has gained a massive amount of followers since. I noticed on days that the Pierogi recipe is aired on PBS I always get 100 to over 200 views on the Pierogi. It was a no brainer…….. I had to prepare the Pierogi recipe as soon as I noticed it in the Cook’s Country magazine over a year ago. I thought the dough was amazing…It was so easy and came out so well….You don’t even need a pasta maker…just roll the dough out easily. I did my own few minor tricks to the filling to add a little more flavor….My trick of just boiling the potatoes with onion, garlic and a hot pepper do make a difference…I also know that pierogis are just boiled the first day and the leftovers are usually fried with some onions. I know that hundreds of people a week have searched for this recipe….on The Forking Truth…..so here it is again because everybody loves this recipe. I do note that I didn’t change Cook’s Country Recipe but I am only telling you that I boiled the potatoes with onion, garlic and a hot pepper to add more flavor to the filling.

Ingredients for about 33-44 pierogi….about 8 servings. (leftovers freeze well and don’t get soggy)

1 lb russet potatoes cooked and pealed (I added onion,a hot pepper (I used a banana pepper) , and garlic to boil with potatoes for more flavor…then threw them out)

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded

2 Tablespoons butter

salt and pepper to taste

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sour cream

1 large egg

1 large yolk

salt

Directions

Sift dry ingredients together. Use stand mixer with dough hook and mix on medium high for 8 minutes. Transfer dough to a floured board. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Once dough is chilled roll dough 1/8 inch thick in 3rds. use 3 inch cutter and add a spoonful of filling and shut and seal with water.

 

The potatoes, cheese, butter salt and pepper get mashed together and set to the side.

Boil the pierogis in salted water.

Fry leftovers with onion and butter.

Everyone will FORKING Love this recipe! A great big THANKS to Cook’s Country for coming up with this FABULOUS Recipe!

This was the most viewed and pinned recipe on The Forking Truth in 2017.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Stuffed Tomatoes with Israeli Couscous, Feta and Harissa Vinaigrette Recipe

 

Stuffed Tomatoes with Israeli Couscous, Feta and Harissa Vinaigrette

I had these campari tomatoes that I had to do something with so I thought I’d stuff them. I didn’t feel like the usual bread or rice stuffing so I stuffed them with Israeli Couscous. I like the texture of Israeli Couscous…..It almost pops in your mouth. It’s like pasta caviar. I also happened to have two extra roasted red peppers hanging around and had creamy mild (not tangy) Feta Cheese in my refrigerator so the recipe pretty much happened by it’s self. I do note that due to the size of your tomatoes you might have slightly extra or not enough filling. I had 16 tomatoes that weighed two pounds. I think for this recipe you will want to use small tomatoes that are campari sized. I also (before I hollowed them out.) made slightly more harissa vinaigrette than I needed…maybe a 1/3 of a cup extra.  But this harissa vinaigrette is pretty darn amazing. You will want to use it on eggs or slather it on bread maybe with some creamy mild feta cheese, or just use it over grilled meat that you might want to serve with these tomatoes. This dish can be served at room temperature or slightly warmed up.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

2 lbs campari tomatoes about (16 tomatoes) ((The campari tomato is a small sweet tomato but bigger than a cherry tomato) – slice the top off and hollow them out really well with a teaspoon

2 red bell peppers – roasted with stems, seeds, skin removed and rough chopped and include any roasted pepper juices

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves – grated

1 hot pepper – chopped fine ( I used a fried reddish serano pepper – chopped) ((I suggest to use any hot pepper you like and to use it to taste because they all run hotter sometimes than other times…you might want more or much less pepper))

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup Israeli Couscous (I like the Tri Color one)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup  vegetable stock

3 oz feta cheese – preferably the mild creamy kind without a strong tang or substitute a creamy goat cheese – crumbled

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped

Directions

Add one tablespoon olive oil to a small pot on medium high heat. Add the couscous and fry it a couple minutes or till slightly toasted. Add the vegetable broth and lightly cover and reduce to simmer. Cook till couscous is tender. (about ten minutes) Fluff couscous and set to the side.

In a small blender or with a blending wand blend up the roasted red peppers, cumin, caraway, 2 Tablespoon olive oil, garlic cloves, hot pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, tomato paste. Blend till smooth. Add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Add at least half of the harissa vinaigrette to the couscous and mix well. Now add in the feta and parsley.

Scoop out the tomatoes really well if you didn’t already. (you want them to be like shells)

By now the couscous absorbed the harissa and you need to add more or it will be dry.

Stuff the tomatoes and serve at either room temperature or warmed up.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Israeli Couscous, Feta and Harissa Vinaigrette

Tasty and different! Not the same old stuff! You will be pleasantly surprised! When I served these at dinner my husband made a face…..”what’s that?” I told him and then after he ate them he said, “you know that was really very good!”

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

 

Mediterranean Style Lemony Cucumber Apple Salad Recipe

 

Mediterranean Style Lemony Cucumber Apple Salad

This salad is made with lots of unusual ingredients. I used LEMON CUCUMBERS, Lemon Verbena, Preserved Lemon and Lemony Sumac. The lemon cucumbers do taste different than regular cucumbers.They are very crisp and sweet. I’ve never come across lemon cucumbers in the store and I only find them at Farmers Markets. The Lemon Cucumbers I’m using today I purchased at the Pinnacle Peak Farmers Market but I remember last year I purchased them from the Anthem Farmers Market. I also just came across Lemon Cucumbers at the Scottsdale Farmers Market. These Lemon Cucumbers go extremely well with honey crisp apples. Lemon Verbena, Preserved Lemon, Sumac, Urfa Pepper, Walnuts and Feta sort of gives this salad a Mediterranean Accent.

The salad is easy to prepare. I also used walnuts in this recipe. I heated the walnuts for a short time in the microwave with water to remove some bitterness from the walnuts. Then  put a little oil, sugar and salt and pepper on them and just ten minutes in the oven so they were nice and lightly seasoned.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

8 lemon cucumbers – skin removed, sliced up and cut in halves

1 cup assorted bell pepper slices

1 large honey crisp apple cut in slices

1 celery rib – cut in thin slices on an angle

1/4 cup sweet onion sliced very thin

12 dates (preferably local Arizona Grown) – pits removed and chopped

1 preserved lemon – fruit and white on skin scraped out well and rind chopped

3 sprigs lemon verbena (about 100 leaves) – chopped

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon sumac

1/2 teaspoon urfa red pepper

1 cup walnuts – slightly broken

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon sugar

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 oz sheep’s milk feta cheese crumbled (preferably the mild and creamy kind without tang) to top salad with

Directions

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F.

Put the walnuts in a microwavable bowl and add one cup of water. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 3 minutes. You will see a lot of brown water that is very bitter. You’ve just removed much of the bitterness from the walnuts. Drain the walnuts well and put in a small mixing bowl and add I tablespoon olive oil, I Tablespoon sugar and fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and place in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Then set to the side. Top salad with walnuts and feta cheese when it’s ready to be served.

Get a large bowl and everything left expect the cheese gets mixed together.

When ready to serve top with walnuts and cheese.

I know it’s pretty darn tasty and I also was told that this was really good!

Mediterranean Style Lemony Cucumber Apple Salad

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Duchess Potatoes – The Special Occasion Potato Recipe

 

Duchess Potatoes -The Special Occasion Potato

If there is a place in your heart for potatoes then there should be a place in your stomach for Duchess Potatoes. You ask, “What are Duchess Potatoes?’ Duchess potatoes are a level up from a mashed potato. They are a slightly richer due to egg yolks and are presented in a more elaborate way. Fine dining restaurants used to serve Duchess Potatoes on the menu. They were usually served with something like Chateaubriand (savory tenderloin filets with bernaise  sauce) that is usually served table side. It’s very rare these days to see Duchess Potatoes on any menu anywhere. Actually it’s very rare to come across any table side food anymore like Fish en Papillote, Steak Diane, Baked Alaska and so on. Sadly classic fine dining has gone out of style.Gone are the days when dining out was a big deal and people would dress their best to go out. I am lucky that I have experienced classic fine dining before it went out of style. One dish I really loved was Duchess Potatoes.I always looked forward to Duchess Potatoes when I had a fine meal out. These are the potatoes you wouldn’t normally prepare at home because THEY ARE A LOT OF WORK FOR WHAT THEY ARE. You WANT to dine out and have these potatoes. Here is what might be considered a lost recipe. Duchess Potatoes….Perfect for a special occasion! Not your everyday potato. These potatoes freeze very well so you can use what you need and freeze the rest and pull them out when you need.

Ingredients for about 16 servings.

3 lbs potatoes – peeled and cut in half – covered well with cold water in a sauce pot

1/2 onion – to boil with potatoes and discard afterwards

1 carrot – to boil with potatoes and discard afterwards

1 celery rib – to boil with potatoes and discard afterwards

2 garlic cloves – to boil with potatoes and discard afterwards

2 Tablespoons kosher salt – to boil potatoes

8 oz unsalted butter – 4oz to put into potatoes and 4 oz to finish potatoes

1 1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon white ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

3 large egg yolks (just the yolks) – slightly beaten

16 pinches piment d”espelette

2 Tablespoons fresh either parsley, thyme or celery leaves finely chopped

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F and spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray. Set to the side.

In a sauce pot add the potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, kosher salt and medium boil till potatoes are fork tender. About 15 minutes.

When the potatoes are fork tender drain the water and throw out the onion, garlic, celery and carrot.

At this point you should rice the potatoes…….

After all these are special occasion potatoes so you SHOULD rice the potatoes for the fluffiest potatoes….but you can mash them only if you have a very good masher that looks like a disk with holes in it. It’s almost as good as a ricer. So either rice or mash if you can but don’t get mad at me if you mash and have lumps later from mashing that screw you up.

Hand mix the butter in now while potatoes are still hot or warm.

Hand mix in the sea salt, black pepper, white pepper, fresh grated nutmeg.

Taste for seasoning ….make any adjustments you want but it’s pretty close to perfect if you measured correctly.

Hand mix in the egg yolks.

Get out a #6 Ateco Star tip and a disposable pastry bag. Snip the end off the bag to insert tip. Fold the bag half way down and add potato mixture.

Twist end to hold in potatoes.

The bag is easy to use now.

If you aren’t used to piping do a practice swirl in the pot with potatoes. You just swirl.

Get out your sprayed baking sheet(s)

Now pipe out swirls well spaced like this.

20 minutes later …….

Melt the extra butter you have left and finish the potatoes with your choice of fresh herb and pinches of Piment D’ Espelette pepper.

Duchess Potatoes (The Special Occasion Potato)

Everybody will FORKING LOVE THIS! Man and Beast!

“DANG!” “THOSE ARE FORKING GREAT POTATOES!”

“That Runt is just being a suck up but them potatoes are lip smacking!”

“I FORKING LOVE Duchess Potatoes”

“Make any day a Special Occassion with Duchess Potatoes!”

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

 

 

Rocco DiSpirito’s 90 Second Microwave Bread in a Mug Recipe

 

Open Breakfast Sandwich made with 90 second Microwave Bread in a Mug.

Rocco DiSpirito’s 90 Second Microwave Bread in Mug

This recipe is a variation of Rocco DiSpirito’s recipe for 90 second Bread in a Mug from his latest cook book. I saw Chef Rocco make this kind of bread on the Rachel Ray TV Show so I thought I had to give it a try. I can’t do his recipe as written because it was based with Buckwheat Flour and my husband is allergic to buckwheat so I don’t use anything with buckwheat. The other ingredient that I swapped out was light coconut milk because I had light soy milk in my pantry and needed to use it. So I really did Rocco’s Recipe but I used Whole Wheat Graham Flour and Soy milk instead of buckwheat flour and light coconut milk . I also added some seeds to the bread for flavor. This is a Fun Recipe that is easy and quick. You can play around with it like I did. Thank you Rocco for a really fun and really easy recipe.

Ingredients for 4 servings

2/3 cup graham flour (Rocco’s recipe calls for buckwheat flour)

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (no seeds in Rocco’s)

1 teaspoon caraway seeds (no seeds in Rocco’s)

1 teaspoon poppy seeds (no seeds in Rocco’s)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch course sea salt

1/4 cup plain low fat soy milk (Rocco’s recipe calls for light coconut milk here)

2 large eggs

non stick spray

Directions

Spray two coffee mugs with non stick spray.

Put all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix with your fork.

Spoon the mixture into the sprayed coffee mugs.

 

Microwave about 90 seconds.

Pop the breads out.

My mugs are Ikea slim on the bottom

It’s not bad….just slightly dry.  It taste better than it looks. I think this would be good for little cocktail sandwiches. Chef Rocco DiSpirito made breakfast sandwiches with his Buckwheat and Coconut Milk Breads that looked good!

I don’t know if every flour and every milk out there will work with this recipe or not…You just have to give it a try if you care too.

Thank You! Rocco DiSpirito for sharing your 90 second Microwave Bread in a Mug Recipe.

The Forking Truth

 

Spicy Mexican Style Cole Slaw Recipe

 

Spicy Mexican Style Cole Slaw

This is a light and refreshing slaw with many Mexican Food flavors. Some of the ingredients are harder to find like fresh epazote. You should purchase fresh epazote from your closest Mexican grocery and keep some in your freezer because epazote freezes well. It also is a very strong flavor so you always use very little but it’s that flavor in Mexican Food that’s gives the food a closer to authentic taste. The recipe has lots of different kinds of pepper in the recipe but the slaw isn’t fiery hot it’s just on the spicy side. DO NOT USE GROCERY STORE pickled peppers….because they have an awful taste to them and your slaw won’t come out tasting  good. You can almost always find pickled jalapeños at farmers markets and Mexican grocery stores.

Ingredients for 6 small servings

1/2 head of cabbage – sliced very thin on a mandolin

2 carrots – thinly shredded

1/2 small sweet onion – very thinly sliced

1/4 cup pickled jalapeños (preferably my recipe or house made by someone) chopped small

1 pickled serrano (preferably mine or a house made one) chopped fine

1 garlic clove ground to paste

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons canola oil

2 Tablespoons lime juice  (fresh squeezed)

2 Tablespoons cilantro

1/4 cup scallions (chopped)

1/4 teaspoon fresh epazote

Directions

In a large bowl combine cabbage, onions, carrots, salt and sugar and mix well.

Let sit about 1/2 hour.

Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Chill and serve.

Spicy Mexican Style Cole Slaw

It you enjoy Mexican Style Food you should enjoy this slaw.

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi with Pesto Recipe

 

 

Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi with Pesto

Gnocchi are Italian dumplings. There are many variations of Gnocchi out there. Potato, semolina, flour, ricotta, with or without spinach and other vegetables or prunes, bread crumbs and cornmeal. My husband strongly prefers the fresh made ricotta gnocchi that I make so much so that he has said on more than one occasion that my ricotta gnocchi would be his last meal if he could choose. These ricotta gnocchi are light in texture and very flavorful. They are done in the lump style, extruded from a pastry bag and are not rolled out. Less handling of the dough does produce a more tender gnocchi. Mine come out almost like gnudi. This recipe is harder to explain than most recipes I publish. I feel it’s essential to prepare your own ricotta cheese since it’s FAR SUPERIOR and far more flavorful than store bought ricotta cheese. Maybe the most difficult part of the recipe is that I can’t give you an exact measurement of flour since the amount with differ depending on how dry you got your ricotta cheese. You might want to prepare the ricotta the day before and let drain slowly overnight wrapped in cheese cloth in a colander to drain. If you use a mesh strainer to drain cheese I find you can get the same results very quick. I do recommend doing one tester gnocchi so you can figure the amount of flour out. It’s better to start with too soft a dough and add 1/4 cup more flour at a time till it’s correct. This time instead of my usual light coating of tomato sauce I used pesto. Other sauces that would be delicious with these gnocchi would be  browned butter with sage or a light cream gorgonzola sauce or a home made red sauce. You will have extra ricotta cheese and extra pesto from this recipe that you either use in another dish or freeze. The pesto recipe is just a guild and it does come out too thick because I try to use as little extra oil as possible. FEEL FREE to add all the oil you want or some water to thin it down to desired consistency. Read all the directions first and the recipe will be much easier to understand.

 

Ingredient for about 6 servings

1 gallon whole milk

1 pint heavy cream

3 lemons (just the fresh squeezed juice)

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups ricotta cheese (fresh made from above recipe)

1 L – XL egg beaten

1 cup parmigiana reggiano – shredded

1 1/2 cup flour *****NOTE this is approximate  ******(…If your ricotta is nice and extra dry you only need one cup of flour. This would be ideal. Do tester gnocchi and add 1/4 cup flour more and repeat if necessary……you shouldn’t need more than 1 3/4 cups flour…if you do your cheese was way too wet)

few grates fresh nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

pinch white pepper

1 tablespoon kosher salt (to boil gnocchi)

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (to coat gnocchi with so they don’t stick) ((YOU CAN SKIP THIS INGREDIENT if you have your pesto made)

3 cups basil leaves

2 garlic cloves – grated or ground

2 oz pine nuts – toasted – 225 degrees F 10-15 minutes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil ****** ( you will need to thin this down by adding at least 1/2 cup more oil or water)

1/2 cup Italian hard cheese shredded preferably Sardinian Fiore Sardo or pecorino or parmesan

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

pinch or two of sugar

Directions

Make Ricotta.

In a large pot on medium low heat add milk, cream and salt. The contents need to go to a slow boil. This will take at least an hour. Once it’s at a slow boil….VERY SLOWLY….SLOWLY drizzle in the lemon juice into the parts where it’s boiling. The contents will curd. Let it slowly boil a few minutes. Use a wire strainer or a colander lined with paper towels and slowly drain contents. Put cheese in a container in the refrigerator. Leftovers can be frozen.

Make the pesto.

Blend together basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, Italian hard cheese, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, black pepper and sugar. Thin as needed with either more oil or water and  adjust seasoning if desired. Set to the side.

Make Gnocchi.

In a medium bowl mix together 2 cups of your fresh made ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 1 cup parmigiana, 1 cup flour, few grates nutmeg, 1/2 t. sea salt and a pinch of white pepper. Mix well.

Put a pot of salted water on to a medium boil. You might want to add kitchen twine to one side of the pot because the string can slice off the gnocchi you push threw the pastry bag.

To fill the pastry bag fold it half way down, add dough and twist the end shut.

Do one tester gnocchi.

It should float within a minute. Test for flavor and texture but it should be right. If you want them firmer you can add slightly more flour but a gnocchi is suppose to be a very light tender pillow. The best ones are made with as little flour as possible. Once you have the gnocchi the way you like them squeeze out the gnocchi one bag at a time and use twine wrapped on the pot handle to slice off each gnocchi.

let the gnocchi boil till after they float. Take them out with a slotted spoon and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil or pesto on them so they don’t stick together.

Serve. Should you happen to have leftovers they freeze well.

“All Beagles are Italian.” “There will not be any FORKING leftovers.”

“Hey Runt, you are only 50% Beagle so that means you are only 50% Italian”. “You are a runt and you come from a long line of runts…..according to your DNA your Mom was a runt, your dad was a runt and 6 generations back you all were runts!” “I’m a BIG Aussie Shepard and I’m getting Gnocchi first!”

“I still love you no matter what you say you really big beautiful Aussie Shepard.” “We can gnocchi together.”

Enjoy!

Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi with Pesto

The Forking Truth

Asian Slaw Recipe

Asian Slaw

Cabbage is almost free this time of year. I saw cabbage for 33 cents a pound this week so I picked one up. I was thinking about that amazing sandwich I had at Ocotillo in Phoenix. It was a brisket sandwich topped with Asian Slaw and maybe a gochujang mixed with kewpie mayo on the bread….It was so FORKING delicious! Brisket was also recently on sale for only $1.99 a lb. so I have brisket. This slaw is very close to the taste of the slaw I had at Ocotillo so I’m set. WooHoo  this brisket sandwich with this slaw and gochujang mixed with kewpie mayo spread on the bread does taste just like the delicious sandwich I had at Ocotillo.

Ingredients for 10 servings

1 head cabbage (sliced very thin…use fresh do not use bagged)

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 carrot – shredded very thin

8 oz radish – shredded very thin

2 .. .14oz-.18oz pack roasted seaweed – sliced very thin and cut across in half

1 Tablespoon garlic (around 7 cloves) ground to paste

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger – grated

1/2 teaspoon ginger (dry spice)

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (scant)

2 Tablespoon sesame oil

1 Tablespoon ponzu

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 Tablespoon toasted black sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

Directions

In a large bowl add cabbage salt and sugar. Mix well. Let sit one hour on counter. After one hour there will be a lot of liquid from the cabbage. Drain the cabbage water.

Mix in all the remaining ingredients.

I’d serve the next day because the flavors do mellow and marry.

Asian Slaw

I suggest to make a spread of Kewpie brand Mayo (it taste different than regular mayonnaise) mixed with a little sriracha and enough gochujang to look like the color of Russian Dressing. It’s FORKING delicious you will love it. The spread combined with this Asian Slaw on a sandwich is epic!

The Forking Truth