This is a pretty easy delicious recipe but it’s best if you make the pickled onions the day before. I originally made up this recipe for cauliflower and it did taste delicious but I accidentally made the cauliflower soggy so I never published that recipe. This chipotle lime butter works out better for green beans and I think it actually taste better on green beans. I used my chipotle flakes this time (instead of chipotle powder that I normally use) and it did come out slightly different than with the easier to find chipotle powders out there. I think the chipotle flakes seem spicier to me so if you use chipotle powder instead you might have to add more pepper seasoning. It’s difficult to judge serving size. Some people like a small side and other people want a whole plate. You will have extra pickled onions left over that you can use on a sandwich or a taco.

Ingredients for around 6 servings.

1 red onion sliced extra thin

1 cup white vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

2 sprigs thyme

1 lb green beans

15.5 oz can black beans (rinsed 3 times and drained….preferably reduced sodium)

2 Tablespoons chipotle flakes

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon granulated onion

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

2 limes – juice and zest

2 tablespoons honey

4 oz sweet butter – melted

3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

1/2 cup cilantro – chopped

optional – 4 oz queso fresco – crumbled to finish

Directions

The day before you make the green beans make the pickled onions

Heat up the vinegar, salt, sugar, bay leaf, black pepper, yellow mustard seeds, and thyme till sugar is dissolved. (you can do this stove top or microwave) Then add the red onion slices. Let sit on counter till room temp and refrigerate over night.

Put a pot of water on to boil. Then boil the trimmed green beans 2-3 minutes and drain.

In a large mixing bowl add the chipotle flakes, oregano, Old Bay, black pepper, cumin, onion, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, honey, melted butter, cilantro, and salt. Mix well. Then add the green beans. Top with some pickled onions. Finish with queso fresco if desired.

Enjoy!

This recipe is a variation of Frances Atkins’s Elderflower Jelly and Relish Recipe. In 2003 Frances Atkins was the first female British chef to win a Michelin Star. I found her recipe when I was searching recipes for beets (the relish here is made with beets). I didn’t change her beet relish much or change. her tuile recipe. Instead of making elderflower jelly I just used half a packaged small fig and instead of using goat cheese I made QUICK ricotta cheese that was done in five minutes. The combination of these flavors are FORKING AMAZING. For me this recipe made 12 small tuile with extra beet relish.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 lb beets – peeled, shredded

2 shallots chopped

3 juniper berries – ground

150ml red wine vinegar

200g sugar

275g cooked potato (around 1 +1/2 regular size) peeled and riced

3 egg whites

caraway seeds to sprinkle (around 1/2 teaspoon)

Parmesan to sprinkle (around 2 Tablespoons)

vegetable oil for deep. frying

3 cups whole. milk

1 lemon (just the fresh squeezed juice)

around 12 small halves of pieces of fig

Directions

Make the cheese. In a large microwaveable tub add the milk and lemon juice. Microwave for 5 minutes. Use a mesh strainer and fish out all the curds and shake out the extra whey. Refrigerate.

Combine the beet, shallots. juniper berries, vinegar and sugar and cook gently till soft. Stove top will be quicker than oven but either is fine.

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix the potato with the egg whites. Pour on a silicone mat. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and parmesan.

Place on bottom rack of oven for 5-10 minutes or until it looks sort of baked.

Cut into pieces.

Fry with vegetable on medium heat till the tuile get crisp.

Assemble

Spread some beet relish and top with fresh ricotta and some fig.

These are FORKING DELICIOUS!

A special THANKS!!!! to Frances Atkins for her amazing recipe so that I could come up with this.

This comes out FORKING DELICIOUS! This recipe was inspired by a Bavarian style braised cabbage recipe from Food & Wine Magazine. I changed up the recipe and the amount of ingredients a bit and came up with something FORKING delicious that I will make over and over again. Portions are hard to judge because everyone likes a different amount and sizes of a cabbage do differ greatly. For me my medium sized cabbage made 6 generously sized side portions.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

1 cabbage – core removed, rough cut in around I+1/2 inch squares

1 + 1/2 medium onion – sliced thin

2 small apples – core removed, sliced thin

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 orange – just the zest

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 juniper berries – ground in spice grinder

2 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In an extra large mixing bowl add the garlic, oil, sugar, wine, vinegar, zest, caraway, cinnamon, juniper berries, salt, and pepper and mix well. Add the cabbage, onions, and apples and mix well. Pour this mixture out in a thin layer on sheet pans. Place on middle racks. Leave the pans in the oven till the ends of cabbage get crispy. (around 40 minutes…could be more or less depending on oven or cut on cabbage(

Enjoy!

This recipe is based on Yotam Ottolenghi’s Green Bean Salad Recipe. Incase you don’t know Yotam Ottolenghi is a multi award wining and James Bread award cookbook author, chef, and restauranteur. He is one of the best chefs in the world with vegetables so when you come across his recipes you should do them or be inspired by them. I was gifted with around 4 pounds of green beans. I was searching for green bean recipes and came across the Ottolenghi Green Bean Salad recipe. It was easy and had a flavor combination I never would have thought up. I never tasted tarragon with coriander and cumin with the lemon zest it is just a magical combination. I didn’t have fresh chervil for the recipe so I cut back on the tarragon because my tarragon that I grow in my yard is very strong tasting. I didn’t change too much but I did use less seasoning than what is used in the original recipe (maybe because my tarragon is very strong?). I didn’t call this recipe salad because you can eat it room temperature or warmed up. Serving size is hard to judge because I don’t know if you want a little side serving or a big plate full. My guess is that this will make around 8 side servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

2 lbs green beans trimmed (original recipe calls for 1/2 yellow string beans and 1/2 green….use whatever you want)

4 scallions – thin sliced (original recipe would be 8)

1/4 cup tarragon leaves (For the original recipe this would be 4 cups chervil leaves and one cup tarragon……I do note that my tarragon is delicious but very strong tasting…I’m thinking that it must be a different variety of tarragon)

1 lemon – just the zest (original would be 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)

sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

4 bell peppers (I used two red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange but it doesn’t matter what colors you use) – cut into small thin strips.

2 teaspoons olive oil

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper to taste

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (origional recipe would be double)

3 garlic cloves ground to paste or a teaspoon of garlic confit (original recipe would be 6 garlic cloves finely sliced)

2 teaspoons capers (origional recipe would be 6 Tablespoons drained and pat dry)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (original would be double)

2 teaspoons coriander seeds (original would be double)

Directions

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil the green beans. Add green beans wait for boil and boil 3 minutes. Remove the green beans and rinse with cold water.

Drain and dry off the green bean and place them in a large bowl.

The peppers – I used 4 bell peppers that I roasted yesterday (because they were going bye bye) and removed skin, core, and seeds. For the original recipe you need to get a frying pan. on high heat until smoking. Add peppers with a little salt and pepper.Stir every now and then till tender crisp and charred. Add to the green beans.

If your garlic is raw then heat hit in a fry pan on medium heat with the oil. Cook about 20 seconds. Add capers and cook 15 seconds. Add cumin and coriander seeds . Cook until golden and pour over the beans.

Toss in the scallions, herbs, lemon zest and salt and pepper. This keeps well. Serve. Make sure to serve at least at room temperature.

A Special THANKS!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for sharing another FORKING Amazing recipe so I could come up with what I got here.