I have a small bush of tarragon so I was looking up tarragon recipes. I came across salsa al dragoncello that translates to tarragon salsa. I didn’t make salsa al dragoncello but the basic ingredients in it reminded me of the way I usually make tuna salad. So I basically made my version of tuna salad a little different and with tarragon.

Ingredients for around two servings.

6 oz drained tuna (around)

1/4 cup (tight) tarragon leaves – chopped

1/2 cup marinated (jarred) artichokes – drained and chopped

1 teaspoon capers – chopped

1/4 cup red onion – fine chopped

1 lemon – supreme and chop

3 Tablespoons sherry vinegar

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 dried Calabrian dried pepper – crumbled (or use a little any pepper of your choice)

optional – either a cured egg or hard boiled yolk grated

Directions

Everything gets mixed together in a bowl. Serve with bread and or a salad. Grate egg over if using.

Enjoy!

I made some Mexican Style turkey chorizo (recipe not published as of yet) I read that someone else (chef Paul Welburn) combined chorizo with beets (honestly I don’t think that I would have ever thought about combining chorizo with beets) and fried them up into egg rolls. He served the egg rolls with raspberry ketchup and black garlic emulsion. I didn’t follow any of his recipes even though they are probably delicious. I also wanted to put a healthier spin on them. I didn’t follow his recipes but I was inspired by them. My recipe only makes around 4 small servings that are an appetizer or small side. I was very surprised on how delicious that it turned out. My husband also had his doubts and was also very surprised.

Ingredients for around 4 small servings

9 smaller peppers to stuff (I used baby bell peppers…..you might need more or use less peppers depending on their size) – (You slit pepper in a “T” shape across the top of the core and down the middle. Remove core)

8oz peeled beet – cut in half or quarters depending on size.

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3oz chorizo – crumbled

1 egg – lightly beaten

8 oz cantaloupe – cut into chunks

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

pinch sea salt

pinch ground white pepper

2 oz black garlic (already peeled)

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard (I used Amora Brand)

1 1/2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 Tablespoon or more water to thin down…(I used one tablespoon but think I can thin down a little more)

Directions

Set your oven to 400 degrees F.

Put your beets in a covered dish with the sugar, water, apple cider vinegar and salt. The beets need to cook till tender. (usually around an hour plus fifteen minutes could be more or less) Then the beets need to cool and when you can handle them you shred them.

While the beets are cooking roast up the peppers. Leave them in the oven till they start to brown. (I forgot to time this…..think it was around 20-25 minutes)

Make the cantaloupe ketchup.

The sugar, apple cider vinegar, melon, salt, white pepper all get blended together. You need to reduce this mixture in a pan on medium high heat. Reduce mixture around by half. Then take off heat and set to the side.

Black garlic emulsion is really easy and quick to make. It will be easier with a stick blender. Just blend together the black garlic, dijon, balsamic, oil, and at least one tablespoon of water. Thin down to taste.

By now the beets are cool and should be shredded and the peppers should be cool enough to stuff.

Turn your oven on to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix up the shredded beets with the egg and crumbled chorizo. Squeeze the mixture into a tight ball and stuff the peppers as best as you can.

These only need 15 minutes on your middle rack.

Serve with the cantaloupe ketchup and the black garlic emulsion.

THESE are FORKING AMAZING! Beets go so darn well with the flavors of chorizo. I especially like the cantaloupe ketchup on them and the black garlic goes well here too.

Chef Davashankar Sharma is a multi award wining famous chef from England. He is also known for London’s best curry award and best Indian restaurant. He is also worked for several Michelin guild restaurants. When you find a recipe from him on the web it is worth doing. I have to say that this recipe is spicy and really delicious. It filled my house with aromatics that smelled amazing. I never tasted any dish like this one from any Indian restaurant that I’ve been to. This recipe Jodhpuri Tawa Chicken translates to frypan cooked chicken from (Jodhpuri now known as Rajasthan) India (North West India). I rounded the recipe some and placed the chicken over cabbage spiced like the potatoes that are suggested. The one thing about the recipe seemed like maybe a misprint to me……but I’m not sure……The amount of potatoes for four people only is about 8 ounces so that is only two ounces a person…..I don’t know if there is a minor misprint in the original recipe or not….I’m thinking that 8 ounces of potatoes is too little a serving for four people…….I used a whole small head of cabbage but I slow roasted it in the oven with the same spices in the recipe and this was a good amount of seasoning too…………for that so I am rounding up the amount of potatoes (or cabbage) to use because everyone wants more than two ounces of potatoes. This recipe makes around 4 servings. I do note that I doubled the amount of potatoes but didn’t double the amount of spices……I think it is plenty of spice use but you might disagree and want to bump up the spice for the potatoes.

1 1/2 lb chicken breast – (I cut mine into 4….and lightly pounded mine thin) do that or cut into 8 without pounding

4 Tablespoons sunflower oil (I substituted canola oil) (for chicken)

1 head of garlic – peeled – rough chopped (for chicken)

8 green chillies (I used serranos) – stems removed, rough chopped (for chicken)

3 bunches cilantro (leaves and tender stems) – rough chopped (for chicken)

4 Tablespoons tamarind puree (for chicken)

sea salt to taste (for chicken)

2 large ripe tomatoes (for tomato chutney)

1 Tablespoon oil (sunflower is suggested) (for tomato chutney)

1 teaspoon ginger – fine chopped (for tomato chutney)

1 teaspoon green chili – fine chopped (for tomato chutney)

1 teaspoon red chili powder (for tomato chutney)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder (for tomato chutney)

1 Tablespoon sugar (for tomato chutney)

1 teaspoon Kasundi mustard sauce (I substituted my home made beer mustard) (for tomato chutney)

1 pinch sea salt (for tomato chutney)

1 pound potato peeled and diced (original recipe says to use 200g potato…I used a whole small cabbage (rough chop) that I roasted slow with the same exact seasoning) (the vegetable)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder (the vegetable)

1 teaspoon ginger – fine chop (the vegetable)

1 teaspoon green chili – fine chop (the vegetable)

1 dash sunflower oil (I substituted canola oil) (the vegetable)

1 teaspoon cumin seed (the vegetable)

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (the vegetable)

1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro (leaves and fine stems) finely chopped (the vegetable)

sea salt to taste (the vegetable)

Directions

Put the garlic, chillies, cilantro, tamarind, and salt into a blender and blend till smooth. Rub the marinade all over the chicken and marinate for at least an hour.

Make tomato chutney. Bring a small pan of water to boil. Blanch tomatoes two minutes, then drain. Cool and rough chop.

Heat oil in a sauce pot on medium heat and add ginger and chilli. Cook one minute, then add red chili powder, turmeric and a pinch of salt and cook another minute. Add chopped tomatoes and turn down the heat to low and gently simmer for 6-8 minutes until the mixture thickens. Add sugar and mustard. Taste for seasonings and set to the side.

For the potato mash. Bring a medium pan of water to boil and add the turmeric and ginger and a big pinch of salt and boil the potatoes until soft (around 15 minutes).

Heat a small splash of oil on a small pan and add the cumin seeds till they sizzle and remove from heat.

Mash the potatoes with butter, cilantro, and fried cumin seeds until smooth and keep warm.

Heat up a fry pan on medium heat with a good splash of oil. Add the chicken when the oil is hot. Fry chicken around 3-4 minutes a side or until cooked threw.

Serve chicken topped with chutney over the potato mash (or cabbage if you made cabbage like me)

A Special THANKS to Chef Davashankar Sharma for this FORKING Amazing recipe.

I came across a Food & Wine Magazine recipe for Endives in Schmaltz with Peanuts recipe. I have some endives that I just picked up and I have saved chicken fat in my freezer that I save from stewed chicken that I make. So my chicken fat is a little different than schmaltz but is similar. I didn’t have fresh mint so I used some dry mint with fresh basil and chives. I had a little bit of trouble with the recipe probably because I didn’t weigh my endive. My endives got fork tender and were starting to fall apart while I was frying so I couldn’t leave the endives long enough in the pan to evaporate the liquid…..So I did things a little different to make it work. I still fried the endives till soft and finished them under the broiler to char. I’m thinking that maybe the recipe didn’t work for me because I didn’t weigh my endives so I am guessing that my endives were too small so the 5 Tablespoons of schmaltz were too much to use……..I used 5 endives instead of the 4 so I didn’t worry about weighing them but I should have weighed them…We can both learn by my mistake. When ever a recipe also gives a weigh then that means you need to weigh it.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

4 heads Belgian endive halved longways (about 1 pound)

fresh crushed sea salt to taste

up to 5 Tablespoons schmaltz, saved chicken fat, or sweet butter divided into 2 & 3 Tablespoons

2 Tablespoons water

2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice + lime wedges for serving

chopped roasted salted peanuts for serving guessing I used about 1/2 cup…could go lighter.

2 Tablespoons fresh mint – chopped (I didn’t have fresh mint so I used around 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried mint)

2 Tablespoons fresh basil – chopped or torn

2 Tablespoons fresh chives or scallions – chopped

Directions

Sprinkle cut sides of endive with sea salt to taste. Heat 2 Tablespoons of fat in a large skillet on medium high. Add endives and cook cut side down around 2 1/2 minutes. Flip endives over add the two tablespoons water and the lime juice. Cover pan and cook about two more minutes or until the endives are fork tender.

Remove lid. Add the rest of the fat and bast the endives with the fat. Until they brown…about another three minutes….Mine were starting to fall apart and didn’t brown too much so I pulled mine out and broiled them a few minutes.

Serve endives on a platter and finish them with peanuts, mint, chives, and basil. Serve with lime wedges.

A Special THANKS! to Food & Wine Magazine so that I could come up with this dish!