I whipped up these potato cakes without measuring but it was pretty easy and I don’t think you need an exact recipe for this kind of thing. You can do this kind of thing free style and maybe add an interesting ingredient to the potato cakes if you want to make them fancier than I did. I wasn’t going to publish this recipe since I didn’t measure but these potato cakes came out really great. My husband really enjoyed them. He said they are really perfect. The ingredients were all guesstimated…….This is the kind of thing you just guesstimate. They would be really good with added spinach or even seafood…ummmm!

Ingredients for about 25 potato cakes about 6 servings

2 lbs potatoes (peeled)

2 jalapeños (cut in half longways for boiling with the potatoes just to add flavor and you throw them out after the boiling)

2 XL eggs – slightly beaten

1/4 cup flour

1 Tablespoon kosher salt (for boiling the potatoes)

1/2 onion – grated and in paper towel squeeze all the juice out)

1 fried serrano chili – finely chopped

about 2 teaspoons sea salt

about 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Canola oil for frying

Directions

Boil the potatoes with the jalapeños and salt till they are almost fork tender ( about 15 minutes)

Put them away in the refrigerator and let them chill three or more hours.

When the potatoes are chilled grate them on the bigger holes and add in the eggs, onions, chili, flour and salt and pepper. Mix. This should be like extra thick mashed potatoes.

Put your fry pan on medium high heat with about a 1/2 inch of oil.

Use a fork and grab about a meatball size amount of potato mixture and made it into a patty shapes.

When the oil seems hot carefully fry up the patties. They need a few minutes on each side.

They should look like this.

Really yummy! Give them a try and you will enjoy!

 

 

 

 

It’s Hatch Chili Time again in Phoenix so I have to come up with more ways to use Hatch Chili Peppers. Here are my fudgy Brownies that I added some fire roasted hatch chilies too and added some peach to counter the heat. For a little added taste and texture I topped the brownies with just a Tablespoon of Turbinado Sugar and just a Tablespoon of Salted Roasted Pepitas. The brownies are moist with a great deep chocolatey flavor with heat and sweet and more! If you can handle a little heat and you like chocolate then you should love the brownies. BTW- they are super easy to prepare.

Ingredients for around 18 servings

ingredients

4 oz unsweetened butter

10 oz 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

3 large eggs – beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1/4 cup fire roasted charred hatch chili peppers – stem and seeds removed – chopped

1 large ripe white peach – pit and stem removed – cube the peach

non – stick spray (either canola or vegetable)

1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar (to finish brownies with)

1 Tablespoon pepitas  (pumpkin seeds) – roasted with sea salt

Directions

Turn oven on to 350 degree F

Use an oblong cake pan that is around 12 1/4 inch by 8 1/4 inch in size and spray the pan with non-stick spray.

Put a small fry pan on medium heat and melt the butter. When the butter is melted add the chocolate chips and stir. Shut off the heat and take the fry pan off the burner. Stir again and set the pan to the side. Doesn’t matter if the chips aren’t all melted yet.

In a large mixing bowl add the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, beaten eggs and vanilla and hand stir till 1/2  mixed. Now stir in the butter/chocolate mixture. Stir. Add the peppers and the peach and gently stir. Pour into sprayed pan and top by sprinkling the turbinado and pepitas across the surface of the brownies.

Put in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the center feels just cooked.

After 25 minutes mine came out like this.

I let the brownies rest and set on the counter for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes they were still warm and ready to serve.

We got a FORKING WINNER here!

These brownies are smooth, rich and moist with that just right chocolate flavor. The Hatch Chili peppers, peach go well with the rich brownie. A little crunch from the turbinado sugar and salted pepitas add another layer and texture that makes the brownie more interesting and not too sweet.

Better than many of the desserts I eat out!

 

 

 

Mexican Food is very flavorful and Avocado is very rich. I felt I could come up with a healthy oil and mayonnaise free potato salad and use heart healthy avocado as the fat that potato salad needs.  I also used my pickled jalapeños and some of the brine for seasoning the potatoes while they were hot to infuse more flavors into the potatoes. If you don’t want to prepare pickled jalapeños skip over this recipe because the pickled jalapeños from most grocery stores don’t taste good. You might be able to find good pickled jalapeños at farmer’s markets or perhaps a Mexican Grocery Store. PLEASE READ****I DO NOTE!!!!!! There is a price to pay for not adding oil or mayonnaise! The salad is great and delicious and keeps it’s flavor and stays delicious for about a week but over night the salad gets drippy and everyday the salad needs a drain. If I was doing this salad again I think I’d put it in a colander over a bowl to catch the liquid that comes out.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 lbs brown skinned potatoes peeled and cut in halves

1/2 small onion – to boil with potatoes to infuse flavor and toss out afterwards

1 garlic clove – to boil with potatoes to infuse flavor and toss out afterwards

1 hot pepper – to boil with potatoes to infuse flavor and toss out afterwards

1 Tablespoon kosher salt or sea salt to boil potatoes

1 med/small mango – diced

3 small avocados – sliced in very large pieces – they will break down (my avocados were the really tiny ones)

4 Tablespoons fresh lime juice – to squeeze over avocados

1/2 small sweet onion – chopped

2 large garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 celery rib – finely chopped

3/4 cup sweet grape tomatoes – cut in halves

1/2 cup low sodium black beans – rinsed three times and drained

1 cup – heaping – pickled jalapeños – my recipe preferred – chopped including onion and leave carrot slices whole

4 Tablespoons brine from pickled jalapeños – to pour over potatoes as soon as they are done

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon mild chili powder

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup scallions – chopped

Directions

Put a pot of water on to a medium boil with the potatoes, 1 Tablespoon salt, a hot pepper, 1/2 onion and a garlic clove. The potatoes need to boil till they are fork tender. That should take 10-15 minutes.

When the potatoes are done you might or might not want to break some of them down just slightly more while they are still hot…but keep in mind you need them larger than you want them because they will break down when you stir. When potatoes are the size you want them you need to pour the jalapeño brine on them to infuse flavor. Let the potatoes sit to the side. Let this bowl sit out at least 15 minutes.

In a large bowl combine all the remaining ingredients. Fold in the potatoes. Serve now preferably. I note tomorrow the salad will need draining.

The salad is rich, flavorful and creamy with avocado. It has some heat and some sweet but mostly flavor with lots of texture.

If you are a fan of Mexican Food you should love this salad.

 

 

 

 

Here are meatballs that are a little different. They contain a bonus surprise in the middle and you get an amount of delicious flavor and medium heat from Calabrian Chili Peppers and then you get  sweetness from raisins and yummy tasty nutty  pine nut punch….Tasty, Juicy, delicious and a little spicy. The meatballs got lots of flavors going on and are seasoned really perfect. The meatballs come out very juicy so you don’t really need sauce and just a light grating of cheese if you desire.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 lb ground turkey (85/15)

2 XL eggs – slightly beaten

1 cup whole wheat panko

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/4 cup sweet onion – chopped fine

1/2 cup (scant cup) vegetable stock

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

2 Calabrian Chili peppers – stem removed, chopped fine

1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

32 jumbo raisins (give or take a few depending on size of meatball)

3 Tablespoons pine nuts (give or take…about 3-5 pine nuts a meatball)

non-stick spray canola or vegetable

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray

Everything goes in a big mixing bowl except for the turkey. Mix well and let it sit about ten minutes so the panko can absorb. After the ten minutes mix in the turkey. The mixture will be wetter than a beef mixture. Use a small scoop and scoop out the meatballs. I do note again the mixture is soft so you won’t be able to roll the meatballs and you just have to scoop them.

Indent each meatball with a butter knife or your finger.

Insert with a jumbo raisin and a few 3-5 pine nuts.

Wet your fingers and pat the meatballs closed.

After about 15 minutes in the oven (350 F) the meatballs should be done.

“That smells Forking Great!”

“I Forking Want Some Meatballs”

Unfortunately the meatballs contain several ingredients that are NOT Dog Friendly…..The dogs can’t taste these meatballs.

Oh well…….more for the humans…..

The meatballs came out Forking Delicious! Most people will love them!

 

 

I made these dumplings from roasted, riced, brown skin potatoes and masa flour with some other ingredients. The masa flour gives the dumplings a corn tortilla kind of flavor. You can serve them anyway you like. My first thought was that the dumplings would be very good in corn stock with some corn, jalapeño and cilantro. I also cooked the dumplings in corn stock to infuse more flavor and saved the starchy corn stock cooking liquid for the soup I served it in the cooking liquid because it had great corn flavor. You can also serve the dumplings in any other vegetable soup or stew and I imagine they would go well in a chicken based soup or stew. They would be delicious in a tomatillo gravy or salsa.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 lb peeled brown skin potatoes that were already roasted, peeled and riced

2 L eggs – slightly beaten

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground annatto

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 cup AP flour

1 cup masa

1/2 cup (about could be slightly more or slightly less) corn stock – you can substitute water, vegetable stock or chicken stock – You want just the right amount for a smooth dough

Directions

Add all the ingredients expect for the corn-stock. Mix and drizzle in corn-stock until you get a nice feeling dough that’s not too dry and let it rest about 20 minutes.

Put a pot with what stock you are using to a medium boil.

Trim your disposable pastry bag and add some dough with the end folded down. (use less dough than I did if you are not used to working with a pastry bag)

Bring the folded end up and twist the dough down.

Tie some kitchen string on the handle of your pot being careful not to let the string make contact with the burner. The string will cut your dumplings off the pastry bag.

Let each batch rise to the surface and let them cook two – three minutes. Spoon them out with a slotted spoon. If you did them in corn stock you are fine but if you did them in vegetable or chicken stock you might need to add a small amount of oil to the dumplings so they don’t stick. Keep going till you are out of dough.

These are very tasty. I think most people will like them.

 

If you can bake Focaccia Bread than you can bake Onion Rolls. I read somewhere that onion rolls are basically the same dough as focaccia dough. So I whipped up a batch of my focaccia dough and just winged it. After I made the dough I cut the dough ball in quarters and then halved again to make eight portions. I kneaded each portion and rolled each into a log and then just tied each one in a knot. I let the dough sit out maybe another hour and brushed them with olive oil and a beaten egg, then topped them with a sprinkle of poppy seeds and finely chopped onion that I briefly heated in oil and then I brushed the rolls with a little egg again. Half an hour latter in my oven and the rolls were done. I knew they would be good but really was surprised how Forking great they really are…..Somehow the way I cut just heated the onions they infused the sweet just right onion flavor into the roll. The rolls have a nice crust and are moist, light textured and flavorful inside.

Ingredients for 8 servings

1 packet active dry yeast

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cup water (100-110 degrees F)

3 cups bread flour (PLUS 1 extra cup for kneading till just right and to let the dough rest in. Don’t toss out the extra till done because you will use a little when you roll the log shaped dough)

1/4 (scant) cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1/4 large sweet onion – I sliced thin on a mandolin and then chopped)

teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle over rolls before baking)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl add the sugar, yeast and the water. Mix well and let sit in a warm place till foamy (about a half hour)

Once foamy add the 3 cups of flour and mix most of the way by hand. The mixture will be dry so stop and add the olive oiled the salt. Now mix well. Lift the dough ball up and add the remaining cup of flour. Now knead the flour in till it doesn’t stick to your hands. Make the dough into a ball and let it rest in the flour.

Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for at least an hour and it should have doubled in size. During this time you can quickly heat the onions in oil. Don’t cook them all the way…just heat them in the oil and set to the side.

Punch the dough down and knead it some more. Make the dough into a dough ball again and wrap the top of bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for at least an hour again.

Punch the dough down and knead it again. Make it into a ball and on a cutting board cut it in quarters and then cut each quarter in half so you have 8 pieces.

Use some of the extra flour from the bowl and on a floured surface roll each section of dough into a log.

Tie each log into a knot and place on a baking sheet that is topped with parchment paper.

Leave the rolls sit out for about 30 minutes so they rise a little again.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F.

Drizzle the rolls with oil.

Brush them with beaten egg.

Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Top with about a teaspoon of onions.

Brush carefully again with egg.

Put in the oven for about 30 minutes or until done.

They came out Forking Great! Nice crust….moist, tender and oniony inside. I’m going to have to make my own rolls all the time now…

These came out so FORKING Delicious! I wish I could offer you a piece to try! My husband couldn’t stop talking about them for a few days. We had a few of the very best sandwiches ever on them.

 

I had a Tuna Sandwich recently at Stock and Stable in Phoenix AZ and it was Forking Delicious! I would never guess in a million years that Calabrian Chili Peppers and Muenster Cheese would taste so forking awesome in the basic tuna sandwich. I made a similar but different sandwich. I didn’t have muenster cheese so I substituted sharp American that has a similar creamiest and sharp taste. I made a few other changes too mostly due to what I had in my pantry and refrigerator.  I do want to let you know the above photo isn’t very good and is very yellow and that color wasn’t on my sandwich.

Ingredients for about 3 large sandwiches (I only used bread for two sandwiches and made another sandwich the next day)

6.4 oz drained wild caught light chunk tuna

1 tiny celery rib with leaves – chopped fine

1 Tablespoon sweet onion – chopped fine

2 Calabrian Chili peppers – chopped fine

1 teaspoon oil from jar of Calabrian peppers

squirt fresh lemon juice – from like a half small lemon

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 XL eggs cooked medium (like photo below) (bring eggs to boil, then shut off heat and leave in water up to 5 minutes and shock with ice) separate the yolks from whites and fine chop the whites. (you will be mashing the yolks into the dressing.

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 anchovy – chopped fine

splash soy sauce

squirt of Asian mayo

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 Tablespoons raisens

fresh crushed black pepper to taste.

4 slices of Noble Bread

maybe a teaspoon of sweet butter

4 Calabrian Chili Peppers – chopped fine

about 2 Tablespoons Asian Mayonnaise

2 romaine lettuce leaves

4 slices of sharp American Cheese (Fry’s is the only grocery store that I know of in Metro Phoenix that sells sharp American) The best xtra sharp cheese is Cooper Sharp. The second best xtra sharp is New Yorker. Here in Phoenix the only sharp American that I know of is Boarshead Brand ((Sprouts sells sharp but not xtra sharp)) or substitute muenster cheese)

In a small bowl you can whip together the Calabrian Oil, lemon juice, olive oil, egg yolks, balsamic, dijon, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, anchovy, soy sauce, squirt Asian Mayo, sugar and black pepper to taste.

In a large bowl add the tuna, celery, onion, egg whites and raisins.

Now combine the bowls and mix and season as needed.

Put in the refrigerator.

When ready to eat.

Get a fry pan on medium high heat and add a dab of butter and brown each piece of bread on one side so it looks sort of like this.

In a small mixing bowl add about 4 finely chopped Calabrian Chili peppers and add about two Tablespoons of Asian Mayonnaise to stand mix well. It’s enough for the two sandwiches. It should be about this color…..a little more orange or darker than thousand island.

Spread the insides of the bread with the dressing. On the bottom bread add a lettuce leaf so the sandwich doesn’t get soggy and add the tuna filling. Above the filling add the cheese and then top the sandwich with the top piece of bread.

The sandwich came out really Forking delicious! I don’t have to change a thing but my mind keeps working on it…………..

The changes I might make next time are-

To use white tuna instead of light for a better color and texture. Maybe a better quality tuna packed in oil and wing the oil and mayo add ons.

A light color vinegar instead of balsamic.

The eggs to be sliced layer instead of chopped in.

The smoke flavor to be added to the sandwich spread instead of the filling.

Maybe add a little preserved lemon or…

Marinate the raisins before hand for an extra burst in the mouth maybe with limoncello….ummm!

 

 

This no-mayo Potato Salad recipe is easy to prepare and is delicious with great flavor and a little heat from Calabrian Chili peppers. If you don’t like heat I doubt you will make this recipe. I thought fennel, fresh marjoram and toasted pine nuts rounded out the salad in a vinaigrette. I do note I started with about 3 pounds of potatoes but after I peeled and trimmed off the spots I bet I had maybe 1/2 a pound less. I do also recommend to let the salad sit at least half a day before trying it out as the flavors will change and to pull it out of the refrigerator and warm to at least room temperature to serve.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

3 lbs potatoes – peeled, cut in halves, in a pot of cold water with a Tablespoon of salt

1/4 large sweet onion – to boil with potatoes to infuse flavor and toss out when potatoes are boiled.

1 garlic clove – to boil with potatoes to infuse flavor and discard when potatoes are boiled

1 hot pepper – to boil with potatoes to infuse flavor and discard when potatoes are boiled

1/3 cup sweet onion – very thinly sliced

1 baby fennel with some of the fronds – remove core – slice very thin. (bigger fennel will need a peel) Save some of the fronds

2 Calabrian Chili Peppers – stem removed and chop very fine

1 teaspoon of oil from Calabrian Chili Peppers

2 sprigs fresh marjoram

1/4 cup toasted pinenuts (I put in a 350 degree F oven and they took a little over 5 minutes to get color)

4 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 Tablespoons lemon juice – fresh squeezed

4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Set your oven to 350 degrees and set a timer for 5 minutes and put your pine nuts in the oven. They will be done in 5-10 minutes. After that they burn.

Get your potatoes in a pot with the hot pepper, 1/4 onion, 1 T salt and one clove of garlic. Put the pot on to boil (a little under high so it doesn’t boil over). Depending on the size of your potatoes they should take between 10-15 minutes. You want them to be fork tender. When done drain and set to the side. (Throw out the onion, pepper and garlic clove..they were used only to infuse flavor and they are garbage now)

While your potatoes are cooking you can prepare the vinaigrette. In a small bowl add olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, dijon, garlic (ground to paste), 1 T sea salt, 1/2 t black pepper. Mix well.

By now your potatoes are done and should be cool enough to handle. You want the potatoes in   bigger than bite size pieces because they will break some as you stir them. When the potatoes are the size you want put them in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the warm potatoes and let it soak in.

Top the bowl with the onion, fennel, use about 1/3 of the fronds ( just pull them off in small pieces) Calabrian peppers, Calabrian oil, marjoram. Gently toss.

I suggest to put away the potato for at least a half day or over night because the flavors will change. If you wait till overnight the salad develops a slight creamiest from the potatoes.

When ready to use either serve warm or room temperature and add top with fresh roasted pine nuts. It’s Delicious! If you can do a little spicy you will love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I whipped up these Asian Inspired Meatballs that came out really FORKING delicious but I didn’t publish the recipe because they were not the correct texture for a meatball. My husband brilliantly said the meatballs would be really great stuffed into wonton wrappers so that is what I did. It’s really easy to stuff a meatball into wonton wrappers. You just wet with water both sides of the wonton wrapper, insert meatball, apply top wrapper, Just clench your hand and everything is wrapped up tight. You can serve the Wontons a variety of ways. As a dumpling in soup, you can make them like potstickers or serve with a variety of dipping sauces. The brown sauce I whipped up pictured in the left hand bottom corner was really FORKING Delicious….I didn’t write down exactly how I made it but I know I used basically all the same flavoring I put into the meatballs…but with a few adjustments……I know I went heavier with the hoisin sauce and I think I went heavier with the garlic…..but it was pretty close to what I put in the meatballs.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 lb beef (mine was fresh ground sirloin, chuck, brisket and rib in about equal amounts)

1/2 cup onion – chopped fine

1 carrot shredded

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon shaohsing rice wine

1 Tablespoon garlic that was ground to a paste

2 Tablespoons gochujang

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 Tablespoon ginger – fresh grated

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon hoisen sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

3 XL eggs – slightly beaten

1 cup millet – cooked (next time I’ll try rice…..)

1 Tablespoon (scant) sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup panko

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

non-stick spray – canola or vegetable

a package of wonton wrappers

1 Tablespoon salt to boil wontons in.

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray baking sheets with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients.

Use a small scoop and make your meatballs.

If you have the same size scoop as mine you might get around 41 balls.

Leave in oven until done.

In my oven they got done in 15 minutes.

When the meatballs are done let them cool on the counter. When cool portion the meatballs. Freeze some if you want to and leave out what you want.

You need two wonton wrappers per meatball.

Get a small dish of water and quickly dip the top side of the wrapper.

Place meatball in the middle of the wrapper.

Get another wrapper and wet one side of the wrapper and place over the meatball.

Put it in your hand and squeeze it shut.

Get a pot of boiling water on and add a little salt.

Boil them about a minute or two and serve with assorted sauces or in a broth based soup.

Forking DELICIOUS….!

 

 

 

 

 

I got a bunch of serrano chiles and I already got a big jar of them that I pickled that are tasty. I searched the web to come up with another idea. I read from the Brokeass Gourmet that the serrano chiles get sweet when you fry them in olive oil. The brokeass Gourmet said something like you can keep eating them like shishito peppers but the serranos are even more delicious so I thought I’d give it a try since I got a bunch of serranos here.

Ingredients for about 20 servings

1 lb serrano chiles – with a small slit in the bottom tip of each chili

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

sea salt to finish (I used Pink Australian Flake Salt)

Directions

In a big heavy bottomed fry pan add the oil and put on medium heat. When the oil is hot add the peppers and cook till blistered and charred. Serve right away!

My peppers came out hot and spicy! I think the blistered serranos would be delicious on a sandwich or tacos, maybe in a potato salad…..

Thank You Brokeass Gourmet for a different way to do serrano chilies. Although mine are too spicy for me to just eat however they still came out delicious! I froze most of mine so I can use them as needed.

The Forking Truth is that for most people the serranos are too hot to just eat.

Maybe different times of the year the peppers are mild enough to just eat????