Spicy Avocado and Orange Salad

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.

Spicy Avocado and Orange Salad

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.

The Forking Truth

Chinese Mustard Cabbage

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.

Chinese Mustard Green

REMEMBER Wide Stems in a separate bowl!

Dogs are very interested…could be because I just browned up some chicken to go with the greens and rice.

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.

Chinese Mustard Cabbage

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!

The Forking Truth

www.ChinaSichuanFood.com

Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn

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.

Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn

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.

Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn

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.

The Forking Truth

Pastrami Carrots and Beets with Kraut Style Chickpeas

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.

Pastrami Carrots and Beets with Kraut Style Chic Peas

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….

The Forking Truth