Making an icing rose is easy but it might take a whole night of practice before you get it down. You also need to know that your ornamental icing must be very thick with lots of sugar or it will be too soft for decorating and will fail.

So pick up a decorating kit and give it a try if you care too.

First you get a pastry bag …with a Rose Tip.

Both tips are for roses but I used the bigger #104 Wilton Brand Tip

I used a 104 Wilton Tip…..I prefer the disposable pastry bags…because the reusable pastry bags are hard to clean and will always split on you when you least expect it….so you will have to replace them after a few times anyway.

You snip the end of the bag for your tip to fit in (or add a coupler to use with multiple tips)….and curl down the ends so they stay clean.

Insert frosting and twist the end so frosting doesn’t fall out.

Get a Frosting  and apply pressure to the frosting bag and make a blob of frosting on the nail.

Now go slightly above the blob and spin the nail in your hand while squirting out the frosting  around the frosting blob and make it look like a rose bud center.

Start a little lower and squirt out three petals around the bud center.

Start near the middle and make around five petals.

Then near the bottom make about seven petals.

Remove the flower with a small spatula or butter knife or a scissors by cutting into the rose bottom and releasing on the cake.

If this sound like too much trouble no fear…….

Russian Decorator Tips are budget priced and easy to use. I think  I was searching on eBay for the style tips I used when I worked in a bakery that I liked better than what I have and accidentally came across Russian Decorator Tips. I thought they were interesting and including shipping they were around $5.00 so I thought I’d give them a try.  They look so unusual to me. I’ve never seen tips like these before.

I think most of the tips look like drop tips. Most of the tips look like how you make press cookies.

I used the above tip to make the drop flower. I didn’t notice numbers on the tips so it seems you have to recognize the design of the tip to know what you want. I just applied a small amount of pressure and wah-la my flower was done.

Pretty easy and no practicing.

I suggest purchasing a coupler with the Russian Tips. The Russian Tips are very large and changing them in the bag is a major production.

I showed you how to make an Icing Rose and a Forking Easy Drop Flower…isn’t that sweet 🙂

The Forking Truth

Tortilla Crusted Cauliflower

It’s kind of trendy right now to coat cauliflower and disguise it into another food. Here I basically made a tasty tortilla tasting coating for the cauliflower that’s baked. It very important to use Masa Flour or don’t even bother with this recipe because Masa has lime (not the citrus) in it and is that tortilla kind of taste. My other hint for this recipe is to use orange cauliflower because it is the PERFECT roasting cauliflower and isn’t as watery as white cauliflower and doesn’t burn it fast like purple cauliflower. This recipe is easy and quick to prepare and comes out delicious! Just top with shredded cheeses, salsa, a few thinly sliced jalapeños or fire roasted hatch chiles and cheese  pop it back in the oven a few minutes and your ready for a party! Unlike some other coated cauliflower recipes you might have tried this one holds up well to a re-heating too.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 orange cauliflower – broken down into bite size florets

1/4 cup corn mesa flour (make sure you are using the correct flour)

1/4 cup rice flour

1/4 cup corn starch

3.2 oz dry fat free dry skim milk (one envelope)

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground annato

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

3/4 cup water ( it’s possible that you might need a tablespoon more because different brands of flour are ground slightly different – also make sure that you are using a liquid measurer)

non-stick spray either canola or vegetable

Directions

Set oven to 425 degrees F.

In a small mixing bowl combine all the ingredients except the cauliflower and the non-stick spray. Your cauliflower and coating mix should look like this.

Spray your baking sheet(s) with non-stick spray.

Dip each cauliflower floret in the batter and shake off as much as you can then space out the florets on your baking sheet.

Place in the oven for about ten minutes or until the cauliflower looks like this.

Now your ready for some fun!

You can top the cauliflower like nachos!

With Cheddar and Jack Cheese, salsa, jalapeños, scallions…..sour cream and guacamole if you like……or Hatch Chile and Cheese would also be delicious.

Tortilla Crusted Cauliflower

Ummmm Forking Tasty! You will make everyone happy with this one! #crowdpleaser

The Forking Truth

Balsamic Glazed Cauliflower “Wings”

This Balsamic Glazed Cauliflower “Wing” Recipe is by Branne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips. They come out sweet , savory, sticky and tasty. This recipe certainly makes cauliflower more exciting.The recipe is very easy to prepare and anyone can do it.

You might have to make a few minor adjustments to the recipe.

Depending on your flour you might need to add maybe two tables more milk.

Before the additional two tablespoons of milk

After adding two additional Tablespoons of milk

You might also need to double the cauliflower batter (four and milk) recipe.

I ran out of batter and still had much of the cauliflower left to batter.

For the remaining cauliflower I poured the batter on and mixed it covering the cauliflower much lighter.

Now back to the recipe.

Ingredients for 6 servings

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1 garlic clove crushed

1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary

1/4 teaspoon salt

a few grinds black pepper

1 large cauliflower – broken down into florets

1/2 cup flour (Brianne used brown rice flour, I used white rice flour)

1/2 cup milk (Brianne used almond milk, I used buttermilk in my first batch and nonfat in my second batch…for me the buttermilk came out with a nicer crust)

Directions

In a smaller bowl combine balsamic, soy sauce, honey, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F and get out and spray or oil your baking sheet(s)

Whisk the milk and flour together and toss the cauliflower in the batter till coated.

Arrange cauliflower on baking sheet(s) in a single layer.

Bake 15 minutes or slightly less.

Remove from oven and pour on sauce (too much sauce I didn’t use it all)

Put bake in oven for 5 minutes.

Take out and gently flip the cauliflower.

Put back in another 5 minutes.

They are tasty but on the sweet side.

I added a sprinkles of oregano, basil and shredded parmesan cheese to balance the sweetness out for me.

Balsamic Glazed Cauliflower “Wings”

It’s a great recipe and after you make it then you can personalize it for your taste.

For next time I am leaving out the soy sauce and will cut back on the honey.

Thanks to Brianne@Cupcakes&KaleChips for a really great creative recipe that makes cauliflower more exciting.

The Forking Truth

Non-Traditional Hatch Chile, Cheese and Vegetable Quiche with Potato Crust

I’m always trying to think up another way to serve eggs and here is a breakfast casserole sort of quiche that’s pumped up with vegetables, flavorful Hatch Chile, eggs and cheese lined with a potato crust. It’s pretty easy to prepare. This isn’t a real custardy quiche. It gets a bunch of healthy volume from chopped roasted cauliflower that’s snuck in. It very flavorful and doesn’t need a thing added. I think it would be nice to serve with a side of fresh fruit.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

3 medium/small potatoes (about 9oz)

neutral non-stick spray – canola or vegetable

1 hatch chile – fire roasted – skin, seeds, stem removed and chopped – small

2 cups roasted cauliflower – then chopped large bean size – I roasted my broken down cauliflower at 350 degrees F with a good sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil for about a 1/2 hour till it browned and then added fresh ground sea salt and black pepper

4 XL eggs – beaten

2 Tablespoons scallions – chopped

4 oz monterey jack cheese – shredded

2 Tablespoons cooked onion – diced – sautéed in a fry pan with a non-stick spray

2 Tablespoons cooked red pepper – diced – sautéed in a fry pan with non-stick spray

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Set oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray a round smallish casserole pan or cake pan with non-stick spray.

With a mandolin slice one potato at a time very thin and start layering potato slices like this.

I did a little more than the last photo but forgot to photo it. I went around with more potato slices. It wound up and three slices thick. The potatoes do fall a little in the oven so don’t worry about it because you will have enough potato crust.  I then added a light layer of canola spray to the potatoes and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes. Until they looked like the photo below.

Turn your oven down to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl combine ingredients and pour into potato crust.

Cook covered in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the middle feels like the ends and seems done. You can serve warm but not hot or you can chill and reheat because this isn’t a very custardy quiche.

Non-Traditional Potato Crusted Hatch Chile, Cheese and Vegetable Quiche

Forking Yummy!

The Forking Truth

Tasty Pickled Cauliflower Salad

Easy to prepare tasty Cauliflower Salad Recipe. This salad come out tender crisp and is easy to prepare. I find that I like to add the boiling brine to the vegetables and for me that makes the perfect tender-crisp. I do note that the salad might take on more flavor if you drop the cauliflower in boiling water briefly  (like less than one minute) but I really like this texture and this flavor so I didn’t. The salad comes out not too sweet, spicy, salty or acidic. I think the flavor will be just right for the majority of people. The only thing I would do different is to cut the scallions in smaller pieces and maybe use a pepper spicier than a Jalapeño if I want some heat.

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower – broken down in bite size pieces – ( I cut in quarters and sliced up each quarter in three wedges including the core, sliced off and kept cores and broke down each wedge a bit.

4 celery ribs – peeled, cut in about one inch pieces

2 carrots – peeled, cut in quarter inch slices on a diagonal

2 scallions – cut longways and short ways

3 jalapeños – stem and seeds removed – chopped

3 garlic cloves – grounded

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

3 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt or sea salt

2 bay leaves

2 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds

1 Tablespoon coriander seed

1 Tablespoon black peppercorns

3/4 Tablespoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

In a large bowl or pan combine the cauliflower, celery, carrots, scallions and jalapeños. Mix them up and in two sterilized containers or tubs divide them.

Get a sauce pot and add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a slightly slower boil and let it go about ten minutes.

Pour the boiling liquid evenly between both tubs. Let the tubs cool for about a half hour on your counter and then lid them up and place in your refrigerator. You might need to push the vegetables down just a little with a spoon to get them all under the hot liquid.

Put your tubs in the refrigerator and tomorrow you will have Tasty tender crisp Pickled Cauliflower Salad. Be careful not to eat the peppercorns and allspice berries.

Tasty Pickled Cauliflower Salad

Tender crisp and Tasty.

The Forking Truth

Cheesy Hatch Chile Potato Casserole

This time of year Hatch Chiles are very popular in the South Western United States. The Hatch Chile is Prized for it’s unique flavor and plays a staring role in New Mexican Cuisine. Not all but many people love the Hatch Chile so much that they fill up their home freezers with enough Hatch Chiles to last till next year. This easy to prepare casserole is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Everyone loves potatoes and cheese flavored with these Forking Delicious Fire Roasted Hatch Chiles!

Here’s my Cheesy Hatch Chile Potato Casserole.

Cheesy Hatch Chile Potato Casserole

Ingredients to make about 12 generous servings

1 large sweet onion finely sliced

3 lbs potatoes finely sliced (alternate slicing and mix with onions so potatoes don’t brown)

4 oz unsalted butter – melted

6 XL eggs – beaten

10 oz colby cheese – shredded

9 oz pepper jack cheese – shredded

1/2 cup flour

3.2 oz non-fat dry milk (one packet)

1 1/2 cup water

2 Hatch Chiles – roasted with seeds, skin and stem removed – finely chopped

1 Tablespoon kosher salt or sea salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

non-stick spray – canola or vegetable

Directions

Set your oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl is your thinly sliced potatoes and onions that you slice in an alternating way and are mixed together so they don’t brown.

In another large bowl mix up all the remaining ingredients excluding non-stick spray.

Get a very large pan and spray it up with your non-stick spray.

As best as you can mix the two bowls together and press the mixture down into the pan.

Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with non-stick spray so the potatoes don’t stick to the foil.

In my oven this pan took 90 minutes to cook threw and I need to mention I did have another pan in my oven so the timing might differ some.

After 90 minutes I wanted to brown the top more so I removed the foil and put the pan back in for around 20 minutes.

Cheesy Hatch Chile Potato Casserole

I prefer to chill the casserole in the refrigerator and reheat so it’s nice and neat like a lasagna but you can serve right away if you prefer but it won’t come out nice and neat.

Cheesy Hatch Chile Potato Casserole

It’s just Forking YUM yum Delish!

The Forking Truth

Hatch Chile Cheese Bread

Hatch Chiles are FORKING DELICIOUS and if you live in an area that sells them most likely you will stock up your freezer with these Hatch Chiles so you can enjoy them all year. Today I thought I’d bake a Hatch Chile and Cheese Bread. I’ve been making pizza dough at home for many years, I never measure so I have the knack for baking bread. It’s hard to teach how to make bread because many things will throw bread recipes off and you just have to get the feel for it. Humidity, water, your oven, and actually the brand of flour you use will slightly differ the recipe. Be aware your dough should never be sticky (unless it’s something like a German Style Pumpernickel). When your done making dough it should pull away from the bowl and shouldn’t stick to your hands. You also should be aware that the extra flour in your bowl that the dough rest in is used to knead the dough. Hope that helps. Back to the Hatch Chile Cheese Bread. The bread is very light textured and moist…..you can taste the hatch chiles and do get some heat. I don’t really get the cheddar cheese I added but it’s in the background and maybe adds to the really nice texture. My loaf came out bigger than I expected and the chiles melted into the dough. Next time I might cut the chiles in small chunks instead of fine chopping the chiles so I get to see the chiles more. The only other thing I would have done different would be to make two loaves instead of one so I’d possibly get a thinner crust because of less oven time. But this bread came out so tasty with such a great interior I would certainly make it again.

Ingredients for one loaf or about 10 servings

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 oz active dry yeast – or one packet

1 cup water -100 – 110 degrees F for the yeast to bloom

4 cup bread flour (one cup at the beginning of recipe – 3 cups soon) Plus extra flour for your dough to rest in.

2 XL eggs beaten

2 hatch chiles – roasted, peeled, seeds and stem removed, then chopped

5 oz extra sharp aged cheddar cheese

2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt

1/4 cup corn meal – for resting the bread on

non – stick spray canola or vegetable

Directions

In large bowl add the sugar, yeast, water, and one cup of bread flour, combine and put in a warm place till it looks foamy.

Get out your stand mixer and put on the dough hook.

Everything goes in your mixing bowl expect for the nonstick spray and the corn meal that’s used to rest the bread loaf on.

Turn your mixer on to stir and as soon as everything is mixed then turn the mixer up to medium-high for about 5 minutes.

It should look like this.

The dough should be nice and elastic like. Your bowl should be mostly clean and the dough shouldn’t stick to your hands.

In a large mixing bowl add extra flour and make your dough into a dough ball and let it rest in the flour in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough in a warm spot until it doubles in size…an hour or so….

Then punch in down and knead it a bit. Make the dough into a loaf shape and place in in a non-stick sprayed pan that’s topped with a layer of cornmeal. The cornmeal will add a nice nutty crust to the bottom of the bread.

Leave the dough in a warm place for about an hour.

I set my oven to 350 degrees F…I note I had a casserole in the oven at the same time so I don’t know if that effected the timing but after 45 minutes the bread looked like this.

It looks done but it’s not…I knocked on the top and sides and it made a sound like I knocked on a watermelon and seemed done but when I knocked on the bottom I didn’t get the sound so I flipped the bread upside down and put it back in the oven for another 1/2 hour and that’s what it took.

The texture of the bread is fine and moist. Crust is a little thick. I get the hatch chile taste but not too much.

My husband said this bread would be good for any sandwich.

Hatch Chile Cheese Bread

Came out very tasty. The interior of the bread has a very delicate light moist texture. The Hatch Chiles gives this bread a kick!

The Forking Truth

Spicy Asian Inspired Radish Apple Salad

This salad is very light, spicy and a little sweet. It’s easy to prepare and is also very flavorful. I used a mild Korean Radish but really any radish will do.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 Tablespoon black vinegar

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon shaoltsing rice wine

1 Tablespoon garlic – minced

2 Tablespoon gochujang

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger – minced

1 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon hoisin sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 Korean Radish – peeled and shredded (about 4 cups)

1 carrot – peeled – shredded

1 apple – shredded

4 scallion – sliced on a diagonal

2 Tablespoon sesame seeds – toasted

Directions

In a small mixing bowl combine soy sauce, black vinegar, rice wine vinegar, shaoltsing rice cooking wine, garlic, gochujang, chile flakes, ginger, honey, sugar, hoisin, sesame oil and mix well and set to the side.

In a large mixing bowl combine the radish, carrot, apple, scallions, and then pour in the contents from the small bowl to dress the vegetables.

Chill in the refrigerator for about a half hour and top with sesame seeds to serve.

Spicy Asian Inspired Radish Apple Salad

Top with a little bit of fresh cilantro if you happen to have any.

It easy, it’s light and full of flavor and spice.

The Forking Truth

Individual Meatloaf

This is just a basic meatloaf recipe. I like to make plain meatloaves in individual servings. Leftovers freeze well. I usually whip up a sauce made from tomato paste, water, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne sauce as the topping but you can also use ketchup mixed with Worcestershire and cayenne sauce to your liking.

Ingredients for 22 servings.

3 lb ground beef (brisket, sirloin, chuck and rib)

6 XL eggs – beaten

1/2 onion –  chopped fine

1 celery stalk – chopped fine

1 hot pepper – chopped fine – any favorite hot pepper- I used a roasted hot hatch chile with the skin a seeds removed. (doesn’t make the meatloaves hot but adds flavor)

3 Tablespoons kosher salt or sea salt

1 Tablespoon black pepper

1 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock

3 1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon thyme

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon cayenne sauce ( I prefer Franks Red Hot)

1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped well.

Non-stick spray

Directions

Spray your small fry pan with non-stick spray and put your pan on medium high heat.

Add celery, onion, garlic and your hot pepper if it’s raw. Cook until the onions are transparent and remove from heat and set to the side.

In a large mixing bowl add, beef, eggs, all liquid and all spices (except parsley) mix well.

If or when your fry pan vegetables are about at room temperature add them now and mix well.

Now mix in bread crumbs and parsley.

You can pinch off a small piece of meat and make a meatball shape tester to adjust seasonings if you care too. About ten minutes in a 350 degree F oven will cook it threw.

Get out your sprayed baking sheets and a scale.

Portion the mixture into 4 oz oval shapes and fill baking sheets.

Recipe should make 22 meatloaves that freeze perfect.

Individual Meatloaf

“Tasty Meatloaf”

The Forking Truth