Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes Recipe

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Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes

These Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes taste like the Thai Dish Pad Gra Pow. These potatoes are delicious and very easy to prepare and are low in fat too. You can serve them cold as a salad or hot as a side dish.

This recipe makes about 12 servings

3 pounds small red potatoes

1/4 cup vegetable soup base (or chicken)

1 cup Thai Basil – chopped

4 Thai red chili peppers – chopped fine

4 large garlic cloves – chopped fine

1/4 cup golden mountain seasoning sauce also called tuong gia vi (it’s a soy sauce but with more flavors)

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 shallot – sliced very thin on a mandolin

1 Tablespoon canola oil

Directions

Put the cleaned potatoes in a pot. Add the soup base and cover potatoes with water. Bring pot to a medium boil and let the potatoes cook till fork tender. (they boil about 15 minutes)

Drain the potatoes when done.

While they are hot slice the potatoes in half and put them in a large bowl. Sprinkle the golden mountain seasoning sauce over the potatoes and let them absorb for about 5 minutes. Shake the potatoes around so the sauce is distributed. Add Thai basil, chili peppers, garlic, sugar, fish sauce, shallot and oil. Gently stir.

Enjoy!

Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes

Delicious!

The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth is that You are Not Always going to Agree with Review Site Ratings

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I thought I’d try this particular restaurant because of location and also because on a popular review site it has a 5 star average on 263 reviews. Wow that’s crazy!  I’m thinking the food must be very good. That’s a very high average for a restaurant that’s only been in business a few years. I also must note that this particular restaurant is very casual and specializes in serving Hot Dogs.

My husband orders a Cheesy Beer Chili Dog.

It’s an ok hot dog….I read that they do purchase the buns they use from a local baker. This hot dog was topped with a not so flavorful processed cheese sauce and what my husband thought was canned chili.  It’s ok at best but not 5 stars……. For me five stars has to be be a flavorful fresh made cheese sauce and delicious flavorful chili topping maybe even on a house made dog like a place in Cave Creek offers from time to time with only a 3.5 star average.

I will only eat certain brands of hot dogs because of the 2015 Clear Foods Report on Hot Dogs.

345 brands of hot dogs were tested. Only Butterball, McCormick, Eckrich and Hebrew National actually contain what they list. I will only eat those brands meat dogs.

This hot dog place doesn’t offer any of these brands so I go with an Italian Beef with a side order of cole slaw. I receive this.

Take a closer look.

The meat in the sandwich is tasty but It’s impossible to pick this sandwich up because the roll disintegrated from all the oil. This sandwich sure isn’t even close to 5 stars to me. This is about a one star to me because I would never order it again and certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I should be able to pick up the sandwich and dip it into the jus. That is why it’s essential that an Italian Beef Sandwich be made with Italian Bread. This sandwich has failed at being a sandwich.

Here’s a close up of my cole slaw. Looks like a big frog threw up on the cole slaw.

It really wasn’t bad cole slaw but it sure isn’t 5 stars either.

I just don’t know HOW the FORK can this place earn a 5 star rating?     The owners seem nice and I know they work very hard but…..many restaurant owners are nice and also work hard…….

I don’t know why most people feel this food is five stars to them….?

The Forking Truth is that You are NOT going to Agree with Review Site Ratings all the time.

The Forking Truth

The Bourbon Cellar – Gourmet Burgers in North Scottsdale – Worth a Fork ***UPDATE soon to reopen at a new location

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*****UPDATE…this location has closed but is expected to reopen around fall 2018

The Bourbon Cellar by day offers BIG (8 0z.) house ground burgers of many varieties. How about PRIME Filet, Bison, Elk, Venison, Cajun Turkey or Veggie on an Apple Cider Egg Bun and topped with a mouth watering Wasabi Deviled Egg THAT’S Embellished with a Bourbon Soaked Cherry!!!!!!! Bourbon Cellar also offers a few unique drool sounding Sandwiches like their version of a Philly Steak……It’s thinly sliced ribeye that’s soaked in Bourbon…sounds delish to me… By night this small restaurant is a Steak House that also offers a good selection of seafood…..

……..I only had one visit so far so I can’t vouch for much but I can tell you the in-house-ground PRIME Filet Burger was very moist and very flavorful. Sorry for my bad photo here….I couldn’t get any better at my seat.

I start with the Wasabi Deviled Egg. Ummmmmm Mighty Tasty, spicy and smooth with that little pop of the bourbon soaked cherry…(happy now). For me this is too big (8oz.) of a burger to eat in one sitting so I cut it in half. I discover that they somehow compacted a FULL Salad over my burger  explodes mixed greens. At the time I suddenly remembered my childhood neighbor’s kid’s toy. The one that looks like a can of peanuts that you open and a snake pops out. The greens flew out like that or really more like confetti but the snake in a can popped in my head when the lettuce flew everywhere.  I also added on the Bourbon Pickles and avocado.  Somehow I get it together so I can eat it.

It’s just Forking Delicious! Very Juicy and very flavorful. I like the Bourbon Pickles on the burger but these pickles are so different that I don’t care for them outside of the sandwich……but on the sandwich these pickles add something delicious that I like….. I don’t have any sauce on my sandwich and it still mighty flavorful and DOESN’T NEED ANY SAUCE!  My burger also came with a side. I picked the cole slaw….It was fresh and crispy and not drippy. Good cole slaw.

My husband also had the Filet Burger but his was topped with pepper jack cheese, sautéed onions and the Bourbon Pickles. He liked that his burger was also very flavorful and juicy but he was disappointed that they didn’t prepare his burger medium rare as he requested. Instead it came out medium/ well like mine.  I asked for medium so for me it was still great!

2 days latter I ate the other half. WOW it’s still Forking delicious, juicy and so flavorful. Today my only issue is I notice more that the pickles are so big…..for me it would be better if the pickles were cut thinner…and that roll is really yummy too. This burger had everything going on and Bourbon……so good! I do note – It’s not perfect because of the exploding lettuce and if you add the bourbon pickles because they are really big  and maybe they don’t know how to cook a burger less than medium well?????? I don’t know……But I also don’t care because… it’s so Forking Delicious I can still say it already that it might be one of the most delicious Sandwiches I ate in 2018.

In House Ground Prime Filet Burger on Apple Cider Egg Bun and Topped with Wasabi Deviled Eggs embellished with Bourbon Soaked Cherry!

That one dish is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.TheBourbonCellar.com

The Forking Truth is that everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

 

No Pasta Squash Manicotti Recipe

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No Pasta Squash Manicotti

I got the idea to make this kind o Manicotti after I dined at Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale AZ. I had a similar dish there and I knew I could make the same dish…It just so happens I recently made a batch of Cannoli and had a lot of home made fresh ricotta cheese and I happened to also have a bunch of squash…..So this is what I had to make. I don’t recommend for everyone to do this recipe for two reasons. One you might not be willing to make your own ricotta cheese and you might not care to shred your own cheese. Your own fresh ricotta cheese and grated cheeses will taste much better than ricotta and already shredded cheese you purchase from a regular grocery store so the manicotti won’t come out as good tasting without fresh made ricotta cheese. (they might also come out more runny I’m thinking and then you’ll get mad at me)……You also have to already have drained ricotta cheese so that may or may not be some extra work for you. ……..BUT……….The MAIN REASON I don’t recommend this recipe to most people is that you need to be pretty good using a mandolin to cut the long ribbons of squash. I don’t want you to go to the hospital to make Squash Manicotti… I’m thinking it might be easier to make a one layer lasagna with the squash for most people….so do that if you prefer. I also need to let you know that I wasn’t able to slice the very end of each squash either so i need to use the ends for soup or a side vegetable. This recipe make around 21 manicotti so it will be around 10 servings. Extra servings can be frozen but they are better fresh. Also after they are frozen they might need another drain.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

6 small- small /medium squash – (zucchini or yellow or a mix of both) (don’t use the very large squash here….it will be more watery from the bigger seed cavity and not come out as well. I note it is possible due to size on squash, thickness and your ability to slice squash…the amount of squash you use may differ.

4 cups of ricotta – preferably home made and drained for three days (recipe is on site for many recipes) (1/2 gallon milk, pint heavy cream, teaspoon sea salt, one lemon…that’s about how much you need for the recipe but I always make a double batch of cheese and freeze what I don’t use)

1 cup of Italian Blend Cheese  – plus extra for the amount of manicotti you are serving for topping them. – Use preferably cheese shredded by hand of a combination of mozzarella, mild and sharp provolone and parmesan (about 1 part mozzarella and the other cheeses are about one quarter)

1 large egg – beaten

1/4 teaspoon dry basil

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

few grates fresh nutmeg

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground sea salt to taste…..(here you need to use the salt extra sparingly because the cheeses are salty. The salt is just to season the squash)

fresh ground black pepper to taste – black pepper is used just to season the squash

You only need about two tablespoons of sauce for each manicotti you are serving……Use your favorite sauce to top the manicotti…..Here I used Norma Sauce (a rich tomato/eggplant sauce. Recipe is on site)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Oil baking sheet(s).

In medium bowl add the ricotta cheese, Italian Blend Cheese, egg, basil, white pepper and nutmeg. Mix and put to the side.

Remove the squash ends.

In a large bowl CAREFULLY slice the squash thinly longways on a mandolin. I did two at a time so I could figure how many squash I needed.

Lay out about 4 slices of squash and make them overlay each other like picture below.

Now you need to either spoon out a thick line of cheese or squirt a line with a pastry bag so it looks like picture below.

Wrap the left side of squash over the cheese and keep rolling.

Keep rolling and then place on oiled baking sheet and repeat till you are out of the ricotta mixture.

Sprinkle tops of manicotti with olive oil and sparingly with fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper.

Place in the 350F degree oven for 30 minutes.

You need to drain the water that came out of the squash. (some people salt squash before using in different recipes but since this squash is very delicate and thin it’s too easy to over salt)

To serve top with any pasta sauce that you enjoy and put bake in the oven a few minutes to melt Italian Blend cheese on the top. Extra manicotti can be frozen for latter use but it will be better fresh.

No Pasta Squash Manicotti

These came out Forking Delicious!

The Forking Truth

Doda’s Pizza Glendale AZ – Almost taste like East Coast Pizza – Worth a Fork!

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Doda’s Pizza recently opened by the Petsmart on Bell Road in Glendale AZ. This is a small, very casual, family owned Pizza Restaurant.

The Spinach Pizza with Mozzarella, Ricotta and Sauce sounded interesting to us but you really need a plain slice to tell how the pizza is so we tried one plain slice.

and a Spinach Pizza.

I bite into the plain slice and WOW!….This is the first pizza I tried in over ten years that reminds me of east coast style pizza……It’s not oily like really good authentic New York Pizza but the Mozzarella Cheese has flavor to it like from the typical east coast pizza parlor. The sauce is a little thick like it should be with the correct amount of sweetness and the pizza taste seasoned like east coast pizzas. The dough is close to east coast style. It’s thin with a nice crisp bottom and it’s flavorful. The chew isn’t exact but it’s close. These pizzas actually taste like pizza. This pizza reminds me of pizza from a pizza shop that was walking distance from my childhood house. Actually most pizzas that I tried from east coast places had this kind of taste. All of the pizzas I found near me in my my little corner of Metro Phoenix don’t taste anything close to this. The spinach pizza was really a meal. It was made with fresh spinach, had delicious mozzarella cheese, that flavorful sauce on great crust. I do note the ricotta used on our spinach pizza sure WASN’T east coast ricotta but with all the good things going on do make up for the ricotta.

Doda’s Pizza offers many varieties, sizes of pizza and two thickness of crusts. They also offer sandwiches, calzones, pastas, lunch specials and more.

www.DodasPizza.com

I don’t think you’d drive across town to come here but if you happen to be near here and are in the mood for casual east coast style pizza Doda’s might hit the spot!

The Forking Truth

Delicious Destinations Sicily Inspired Style Cannoli Recipe

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Delicious Destinations Sicily Inspired Style Cannoli

I was watching Andrew Zimmern’s TV Show “Delicious Destinations” in Sicily. What interested me the most were the unusual Cannoli he enjoyed in Sicily. They didn’t look anything like any other cannoli I’ve come across anywhere. They looked almost like Chocolate Tacos filled with the usual cream filling studded with chocolate chips and topped with candied orange peel. I remembered he said the secret to these cannoli was vinegar in the recipe. So here is my attempt to create something similar to what I saw on TV. I used my normal cannoli recipe ……that took a while to develop….and swapped out the water and wine for vinegar. I added 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa and an extra Tablespoon of sugar (because of the vinegar). The mixture got very dry so I then added just one teaspoon of water. As the mixture sat it got too wet……so I pinched off a dough ball and just dipped each dough ball in flour and kneaded like bread. If you make the candied orange peels you have to make them two days in advance because they take two days to dry. In my area they don’t sell good tasting ricotta cheese for the filling so I make a rich ricotta cheese. It takes about an hour to make. It’s simply a gallon of milk, a quart of heavy cream (this is a creamier version of what I normally do…usually I use a pint of heavy cream), a teaspoon of course sea salt. You SLOWLY bring to a slow boil. Into the boiling parts SLOWLY add the juice of two lemons till curds form and let it slowly boil a few minutes. I drain the cheese well with either paper towels lining a colander or if I’m in a big hurry I use a mesh strainer. I add 10x sugar and vanilla to taste for the filling. For regular cannoli I dust with 10x sugar. For Delicious Destinations Style Cannoli I used a mixture of unsweetened cocoa mixed with 10x sugar. It’s best to make the cannoli filling the day before because the sugar makes the vanilla filling wet and you will need to drain it.

Ingredients for about 13 servings

1 cup flour – plus extra for kneading and rolling

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter – room temperature

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 pinch course sea salt

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 egg white and 1/2 yolk separated (use yolk to seal cannoli)

1/4 cup cocoa

Optional 1 teaspoon water if dough seems too dry

oil to deep fry with – I used vegetable oil

2 oranges – for candied orange peels

2 cups sugar – for candied orange peels – plus extra to roll peels in

1 cup water – for candied orange peels

Directions

Add Oil to electric fryer and set it to 350 degrees F.

In a medium size bowl add flour, butter, sugar, salt, vinegar, 1/2 egg white, cocoa and mix well with a fork. If the mixture is too dry add up to a teaspoon of water. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for about a half hour.

If you’re making the candied orange peels use either a knife or a vegetable peeler and peel off the orange zest. Try not to get much of the white part because that white part is bitter. Boil the orange peels and you will see the water turn orange. Drain the water and REPEAT TWO MORE TIMES. After you boil the peels THREE TIMES. Simmer the peels again with one cup water and two cups sugar. Keep it simmering till the liquid looks slightly thicker. Pull the peels out and roll each peel in sugar and place on a pan covered with plastic wrap. Peels need two days to dry.

Either pinch off a marble size piece of dough or divide the dough into about 13 pieces. If the dough feels sticky dip the dough into flour and knead. Lightly flour your rolling pin and rolling mat or whatever you usually roll dough on. Roll it as thin as you can. Place in your taco frying holder and place in oil till it looks cooked. Remove cannoli shell on to a paper towel lined pan. Repeat till all the shells are done.

I like to powder the shells. The powder also helps to keep the shells crisp. For plain shells I powder with 10x sugar. These D.D. Sicily Inspired Chocolate Shells I powdered with a mix of Unsweetened Cocoa and 10x sugar. The shells get filled with a fresh made rich ricotta cheese. I added a splash of pure vanilla maybe two drops of natural anise extract and 10x sugar till it’s slightly sweet. The sugar will make the mixture turn wet so I put the mixture in a paper towel lined colander in the morning and changed the paper towel twice. Just before filling the shells I added slightly chopped chocolate chips. Each D.D. Sicily Inspired Cannoli gets topped with a candied orange peel.

Delicious Destinations Sicily Style Inspired Cannoli

Different! More flavors, notes and textures than my regular cannoli. I like the usual different look but they are a little harder to eat because of the unusual shape. If I make them next year I’d just try to make the taco shape smaller.

Delicious Destinations Sicily Inspired Style Cannoli

Your Place can be a DELICIOUS DESTINATION if you prepare these Forking Delicious Cannoli!

The Forking Truth

 

 

My Trip to The Bluewater Grill in Phoenix AZ

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The Bluewater Grill in Phoenix AZ is one of a Family of Seafood Restaurants located in Resort Communities usually by water. According to the Bluewater Grill Website they serve sustainable    caught Seafood and Harpooned Swordfish caught from their own Harpoon boats.

It looks like they might prepare crab boils on the patio at times?

Inside is a small fish market.

Inside doesn’t look like Phoenix at all…….It’s very Old Fashioned with worn looking floors so it gives the illusion that the restaurant has been here for many decades. The old fashioned looking chairs also sport a fun to “catch” fish motif.

Our server seemed very professional also welcoming and took our order.

Soon a very large loaf of bread and chilled butter arrives.

WOW…The bread is extra sour just like from San Francisco.

Next our meals arrive.

I tried the Canadian Walleye with Sautéed Spinach and Red Quinoa Salad. I give them credit for removing the skin…as most places don’t remove the skin on walleye…and credit for the nice lemon half……….But it seemed someone brand new to removing fish skin handled my fish and it came to me in several pieces. The fish tasted OK…..It wasn’t undercooked but maybe just a hair overcooked and just warm. The lemon caper sauce was a bit lip puckering…  The Spinach was really great. It seemed really fresh and was hot and tasted buttery. I really liked the spinach! The Red Quinoa Salad was different. It was made with almonds, a few things I blocked out that could have been either cabbage or maybe chard stems. I thought I pulled out a piece of a beet??? I also came across some bitter tasting black colored greens in it …………. This salad was very strange tasting to me.

Here’s a close up.

Well any who…..

My husband tried the San Francisco Cioppino.

The Blue Watergrill variation of Cioppino included very thick marinara sauce, clams, mussels, crab, shrimp, scallops, fish and seasoned toast. The server suggested getting the linguini for an additional charge. I was told the Shrimp in the dish were excellent, most was ok but the scallops  and clams were very over cooked.

1/2 a Fork….HIT and Miss

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ….

Slight update 1-2-18 I already was contacted by the manager of The Bluewater Grill. The manager thanked me for my review and said he will be seeing that Bluewater recipes are followed. He hopes that I return again.

www.Bluewatergrill.com

The Forking Truth

The Tasting at Barrio Cafe Grand Reserva Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork! UPDATE*****NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS

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UPDATE Now Closed for business*******James Beard Nominated Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza opened and runs the Barrio Cafe Grand Reserva. This TINY at the most 8 small table restaurant that serves fine chef crafted Mexican Food that is very unique.  The food is prepared with hard to find imported Mexican ingredients. These ingredients are very seasonal so the flavors will change with the season….The restaurant offers a menu that includes the dishes that the chef is famous for such as her famous chunky Guacamole topped with Pomegranate seeds, Cochinita Pibil (marinated slow roasted pork) and Chiles en Nogada (poblano pepper stuffed with fruits nuts (sometimes chicken) and topped with a cream sauce). The Menu at Barrio Cafe Gran Reserva also contains new favorites. They offer a five course tasting menu with meat or a similar vegan style menu with optional Mexican Wine pairings…..You sure aren’t going to find anything like this anywhere else!

Like the food the atmosphere is very unique. It starts on the outside….The parking lot and all around the restaurant are all whimsical and is decorated up like nothing you ever seen before.

Inside are beautiful hand painted paintings of Mexican Folklore by Mexican Artist.

Remember I told you that this is a Tiny Restaurant…This is the WHOLE DINING ROOM. I am in the bar looking in. It looks like a vestibule.

We did the tasting menu….It differed slightly from last time mostly due to the seasonal ingredients.

They started us off with a spicy Mexican trail mix of tortilla chips, seeds, nuts and spicy hot chile dust.

Next was a melon amuse bouche.

Here’s the tiny bar.

Here’s the Vegan Spicy, Sweet and Tangy Fruit and Vegetable Salad that wakes you up!

This is the small tight area where everything comes out of the kitchen and bar.

The next course contains Hoja Santa Leaf….a key ingredient to certain Mexican dishes. I know of a very delicious Mexican Peanut Chicken dish where the Hoja Santa Leaf is essential. Here the leaf is paired with sweet grilled pineapple and a 14 chile oil with menonita cheese. Umm Tasty.

Here’s a peek where some of the magic happens.

Next course was Halibut with salsa and pervano white beans.

I guess I accidentally confused the bartender that took my order and got the vegan plate that came with cactus instead of fish. My husband asked to correct things with the bartender while I said I’d keep it….All of a sudden the Chef comes out and she insist that she will have halibut out for me in a minute….WOW wasn’t that great!

I have to say the Halibut was really great. It had a delicious char and was so moist and fresh. It was a 100 times BETTER than the fish I recently had at a fish Restaurant in Phoenix. I personally don’t care for the texture of cactus pads because they are similar to okra but they did have a really great flavor. The SALSA was super awesome. This salsa should be sold at supermarkets. Incredibly delicious as well as the fresh made beans. Very Very good. The beans had a nice sweet creaminess about them.

Everything was great but I thought this course was the most complex and special.

Everything…each component on the plate can tell a story. Each is full of many flavors but they all go together. There is a mole squash (or duck) taco that is full of flavors and is on a house made nixtamalized tortilla. The carrot was candied, green beans are layered with flavors, there is smoked sweet potato with pecans, an interesting chayote also known as pear squash, a potato. This was a really stellar plate.

We ended with Yams with Guavas and Chocolate Mousse. It was a sweet ending to a lovely meal. The whole staff was very welcoming to us and made light conversation with us. Philip also made an extra effort to welcome us and thanked us for dining and he wasn’t even our waiter.

www.BarrioCafeGrandReserva.com

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! You would travel across town to dine here!

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

The Forking Awesome Veggie Burger Recipe

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The Forking Awesome Veggie Burger

This is a Vegetable and Grain Burger that eats like a real burger. It isn’t mushy like most vegetable burgers. It not bland either and has flavor sort of like meat….My husband is very anti vegetable burger and even he said this one was very good. The burger is mostly a combination of shiitake mushrooms, polenta, lentils, bulgar, beets and oatmeal that’s held together with egg and whole wheat panko bread crumbs. I thought the burger would be really great with tellegio cheese and arugula. I also made a sauce of mayonnaise mixed with lots of smoked paprika, aleppo pepper, a little dijon mustard and a tiny bit of an Italian condiment called Bomba Calabrese…..Bomba is really hard to come by but it’s a really a delicious very spicy condiment that goes a really long way. It’s a FLAVOR BOMB. If you enjoy spicy foods I do recommend that you order a jar of Bomba off the internet (I like the Coluccio Brand). The sauce, tellegio cheese and arugula would be great with this Forking Awesome Veggie Burger. This burger takes a day to prepare. I made the mixture one day and left the patties to set over night.

This Forking Awesome Veggie Burger really is like a real meat burger!

 

Ingredients for about 6 servings.

4 oz shiitake mushroom caps – chopped well

2 1/2 oz. sweet onion – fine chopped

1 garlic clove – grated

1/3 cup polenta – not the instant kind

2 cups water

1/3 cup black lentils – the small type

1/3 cup bulgar

1/3 cup beets – grated

1/3 cup oatmeal (not the instant)

1 Tablespoon dry white wine

3 large eggs – beaten

2/3 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

non stick spray – preferably canola or vegetable

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Spray a fry pan with non stick spray. Put the pan on a medium high heat. When the pan is hot add the mushrooms and the onions. Stir occasionally. When the onions are translucent add the garlic and let it go till the contents look lightly caramelized. Then take off the heat and set to the side.

In a sauce pot add water and salt. Put the pot on medium high heat. When the water just starts to boil add the polenta …..stirring very well with a whisk. Now add the lentils, bulgur, beets, oatmeal, wine and black pepper. The mixture needs to boil but then you reduce the heat near to a simmer. You need to stir occasionally for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes add the mushroom mixture and keep it simmering about another 20 minutes stirring occasionally. The mixture will get very thick.

Take the mixture off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Once it’s at room temperature add the eggs and the panko and mix well.

Put 6 sheets of plastic wrap on your counter and make 6 patty shaped burgers and wrap them up and place to set in the refrigerator over night.

“Those burgers smell good!” “Aren’t they meat?”

 

The next day……

Set your oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

Put your burgers on the sheet and give the tops a light spray and then set the sheet pan in the oven.

At 30 minutes flip the patties over and let them go another 15 minutes. Add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to the burgers to taste.

Ready to serve!

 

The Forking Awesome Veggie Burger

The Forking Awesome Veggie Burger.

The Forking Truth

 

Lemon Cucumber with Saffron Salad Recipe

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Lemon Cucumber with Saffron Salad

The lemon cucumbers taste different than other cucumbers.Lemon Cumbers also look different….they actually look like lemons. These cucumbers are sweet and sort of fruity with gentle acid. I thought they’d go well with I’itois Onions, Sweet Yellow Bell Peppers and Saffron. I just add a little sugar and a tiny bit of course sea salt. I think that is all this salad needs. I figure if you are able to find lemon cucumbers that you shouldn’t ave trouble finding an I’itiois Onion. It looks like a scallion but has more complex flavors….sort of scallion and sort of shallot.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

5 medium lemon cucumbers – ends trimmed and cut in 1/2 slices

1 yellow bell pepper (stem and core removed) – cut in thin 1/4 slices

1 I’itois onion – sliced

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

pinch saffron

Directions

Everything but saffron goes in a medium sized bowl. Gently stir bowl. Crumble the saffron well with your fingers and add in.

Chill and serve.

Lemon Cucumber with Saffron Salad

The Forking Truth