I made a Gratin Style Casserole but I cut a few corners by not adding all the fat a gratin really needs. By slicing the squash and onions thin there is no need for vegetables to be sautéed in butter so I cut out butter….I also cut out adding heavy cream and just used one egg to thicken just enough. I used enough cheese for flavor and enough for a thin crispy tasty crust. I wish I could give you a taste right now! This is so light and flavorful. it’s a little spicy and flavorful from the poblano peppers and spices but the butternut squash is sweet and that mellows everything. The cheese is there but it’s not heavy….This is a delicious lighter way to eat butternut squash. I think most people would enjoy this. This recipe makes about 9 generous servings.

Ingredients for about 9 servings

1 medium butternut squash (about a 1 lb squash) – peeled and sliced thin on mandolin

1 medium sweet onion (about 10 oz.) – peeled – sliced thin on mandolin and then chopped

2 garlic cloves – microplane or ground to paste

5 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese – shredded

4 oz pepper jack cheese – shredded

2 poblano peppers – roasted – seeds, stem and skin removed – then rough chopped (***note if very spicy you might want to use only one or one with some other mild pepper…mine were on the mild side)

3/4 cup vegetable stock

1 egg – lightly beaten

2 teaspoons course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

non stick spray

1 cup grated parmesan cheese (for topping)

1 cup panko bread crumbs (for topping)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degree F.

Spray casserole dish (or a pan) with non stick baking spray. Set the pan to the side.

In a Large mixing bowl combine the butternut squash, onion, garlic, cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, poblanos, sea salt, black pepper, chili powder and cumin and mix well.

in a small bowl add the vegetable stock and the egg and mix well.

Put about 1/2 the mixture into the pan. Pour about 1/2 of the vegetable stock egg mixture over the butternut squash mixture. Add the remaining butternut squash mixture to the pan…..pour the vegetable stock/egg mixture over the butternut squash mixture.

In a small bowl combine the panko with the parmesan cheese and pour it evenly over the butternut squash mixture.

Cover the pan and put in the 350 degree F oven for an hour.

After an hour remove the cover and let it brown for 10 – 15 minutes.

Let it set till warm and then serve.

It came out delicious!

 

I had this idea that Deviled Eggs would seem more special if the egg middles were roses. The very middle of the rose is a fancy Peruvian Sweet Drop Pepper…..It adds a delicious pop of Sweet Pepper flavor and an absolutely perfect acidity that makes the Deviled Egg more Delicious and POP! Then instead on mayo we make a seasoned aioli and use the finest Blue Persian Salt and one of the Greatest Peppers Piment d’ Espelette. The other difference between these Fancy Schmancy and most other regular deviled eggs is that the whites get seasoned on both sides before you fill them because they taste better that way. Even the celery leaf adds another flavor to finish with. I note that the recipe for the seasoned aioli makes about twice as much as you need for the deviled eggs….so either make double batch or do like I did and use the other half for a potato salad. The extra seasoned aioli also can be used as a sandwich spread or can be made into salad dressing. You also will be left with 4 extra egg white halves that you save for a snack or add to a salad or sandwich. After I made these deviled eggs I did get to try Amora dijon mustard from France……..I’m thinking next time I make deviled eggs Amora is the mustard I will use…….It’s complex, more silky feeling in the mouth, it full of flavors but not over-powering. The recipe will need slight adjustments if Amora Dijon is used. This recipe makes 12 half eggs that will go fast.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 egg yolk (aioli)

3 Tablespoons dijon mustard (aioli)

pinch course sea salt (aioli)

4 Tablespoons canola oil (aioli)

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar (aioli)

dash Worcestershire sauce (aioli)

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (aioli)

pinch Hungarian Sweet Pepper (aioli)

pinch ground white pepper (aioli)

4 Tablespoons canola oil  (not a mistake you add this at end) (aioli)

8 eggs (I used large)

4 Tablespoons of the aioli you just made

1/4 teaspoon Piment d’ Espelette

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

dash Worcestershire sauce

12 sweety drop peppers (these are specialty peppers from Peru and are the center of the rose)

fresh ground Blue Persian Salt (preferably or substitute fresh ground sea salt) – to taste (for seasoning the egg white)

Piment d’ Espelette – to taste (for seasoning the egg white)

Directions

Put a pot of water on to boil. When water is boiling add the eggs and let them boil about seven minutes.

While the eggs are boiling make the aioli.

Blend egg yolk, 3 Tablespoons dijon, pinch salt, 4 Tablespoons canola oil….Blend till thick and emulsified. Now add vinegar, dash Worcestershire, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, pinch paprika, pinch ground white pepper …..blend till thick and emulsified.  Add 4 Tablespoons canola oil and blend again till thick and emulsified. Now set the seasoned aioli to the side.

Remove eggs from boiling water when they are done and pour cold water on them and also add a little ice and let the eggs cool off. When cool enough to handle peel the eggs. Cut the half the eggs (long ways will work better here) pop the yolks into a medium bowl and the egg whites into another medium bowl. Keep going till all the yolks and eggs are done.

Either with a really good masher, ricer or blender mash up the egg yolks and blend 4 Tablespoons aioli, 1/4 teaspoon Piment d’ Espelette, dijon mustard, white pepper, cayenne, Worcestershire and mix till blended well. If too dry add a tad …..but just a tad…..more aioli but keep in mind too moist won’t work here….you need the egg yolk mixture stiff enough to pipe.

To the bowl of egg whites season them to taste with fresh ground Blue Persian Salt (or sea salt) and Piment d’ Espelette and set to the side.

Get out a rose tip, disposable pastry bag and flower nail. Trim end of bag and insert rose tip. add yolk mixture to bag twist end to hold in mixture and squeeze a small amount of egg mixture on the nail.

Add a Sweety Drop Pepper.

Pipe a few petals around the Sweety Drop pepper.

Pipe more petals till it looks like a rose and remove with either a small spatula, butter knife and place on to the egg white.

Finish with a light dusting of Piment d’ Espelette or Cayenne or a combination of cayenne and paprika.

Showed this one off on Facebook.

Here’s some Forking Fancy Schmancy Deviled Eggs!

 

 

 

Just about every restaurant has or had a fried cauliflower on the menu….so we’ve had fried cauliflower at a number of places. This cauliflower might be the best I’ve tried and can also be dressed a number of ways so it can fit into any flavor profile because chickpea  is used in Italian,  Indian, French and Mediterranean Dishes. This cauliflower has a super thin but shattering crisp batter. The cauliflower inside is soft, sweet and buttery. It’s so FORKING GREAT that it is delicious plain. Not only is this recipe great it is also FORKING EASY! Usually when I cook I wing things. I started frying up the cauliflower and it was coming out great……and then I stuck my thermometer in the oil…..I had no idea that the temp was so low……..OMG the secret to really great cauliflower is to fry at a low temperature……who knew? My temperature only read at 275 degrees F…..I think that is the secret…..Even roasted cauliflower comes out better and sweeter cooked for longer at a lower temperature (350 F) The fried cauliflower came out with a super thin really crisp shattering batter with a delicious taste. The cauliflower inside was soft, buttery and sweet….It all seemed free of oil too. I ran some into my husband to try….he couldn’t believe how delicious, light and crispy they were with soft cauliflower inside. He ran in the kitchen to sample more and more. I made a Cilantro mint chutney to go with the cauliflower….but really almost any dip you like would be great here.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 small – medium cauliflower cut into bit size florets

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 cup chickpea flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons course sea salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup white vinegar

canola oil for frying

Directions

All the cauliflower must be prepped first.

You can fry the cauliflower in a fryer, sauce pot or large fry pan…Get the oil to 275 degrees F.

Get two large bowls put 1/2 of these ingredients in both bowls. You need to split the bowls because the batter will deflate. HALF the liquid goes in your first bowl and when you are ready for your second bowl THEN you add the liquid to your second bowl when you are ready. You want foamy batter.

Split into two large bowls- corn starch, chickpea flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cayenne,

When you are ready to fry then add half the water and half the vinegar to one bowl.

Use tongs to pick up a floret one at a time and dip into batter….Shake off extra batter and place floret in oil.

Don’t crowd pan and fry about 5 minutes on each side.

Use a pan lined with paper towels to catch any extra oil.

Repeat till done.

Every Forking person in the world would love this Cauliflower!

 

 

 

 

I was thinking about how hot chicken is prepared and came up with a different style of preparing hot chicken….This is not Nashville Style but does have that similar mainly cayenne flavor. I recently came up with a batter that was super delicious for frying cauliflower so I spiked that recipe up for the chicken and I also marinated the chicken because hot chicken is suppose to be marinated….Well this is BOMBSHELL FORKING Delicious! It’s FULL of Flavors and it is spicy too but just enough and not too painful. I did this with skinless boneless breast and it was so moist my husband thought I cooked the chicken in a SousVide water oven. I can’t wait to do this with chicken thighs! I do note that this chicken was only crisp first time around and the two pieces we ate the next day didn’t crisp up but were still Forking Amazing in flavors. I do have a few ideas I want to try out to get the batter to stay crisper longer….but that is yet to come.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 lb chicken breast – in four pieces (I used boneless and skinless but you can use whatever…..BUT I NOTE the marinade and cooking times will differ)

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – (marinade)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar – (marinade)

1 teaspoon kosher salt – (marinade)

2 large garlic cloves – ground to paste – (marinade)

1 teaspoon sugar – (marinade)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper – (marinade)

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme – (marinade)

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika – (marinade)

pinch celery seeds – (marinade)

1/4 cup corn starch – (batter)

1/4 cup chickpea flour – (batter)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder – (batter)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda – (batter)

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt – (batter)

1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper – (batter)

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar – (batter)

1 teaspoon paprika – (batter)

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic – (batter)

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper – (batter)

1/4 cup cold water – (batter)

1/4 cup white vinegar – (batter)

canola oil for frying

Directions

First step is to make the marinade and marinate the chicken. If you are using boneless breast the proper time is four hours to marinate.  I NOTE I didn’t do this recipe yet with bone in chicken yet or with skin on……..So all timings of marinating and cooking will differ…….Put the chicken in a quart size ziplock bag and set to the side. In a medium mixing bowl combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt, ground garlic, white sugar, black pepper, thyme, smoked paprika and celery seeds. Mix well pour into chicken bag and place in the refrigerator for four hours.

Pull the chicken out about 30 minutes before frying.

Either use a deep fryer or a fry pan like I did. Give the pan about an inch and a half of oil and get the temperature about 325 degrees F because when you add the chicken the oil heats up real fast to 350 degrees F.

Take the chicken out of the marinade. Throw the marinade away. Blot off the chicken till it feels dry. Set to the side.

In a large bowl combine cornstarch, chickpea flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cayenne, dark brown sugar, paprika, granulated garlic and white pepper.

********IMPORTANT********Don’t add the water and vinegar till you are ready to fry because the batter will deflate.

Add the water and vinegar when you are ready to fry. Dip and coat the chicken with the batter.

Use tongs to work with chicken. Place in oil about 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is an internal degree of at least 165 degrees F. (****minimal temperature for breast is 165 F but thighs you are going for at least 175 F I go for at least 180 F on thighs)

WOO HOO! You are going to make people really happy with this!

I don’t mean to brag…but I have too….This truly is one of the Forking BEST Hot Fried Chickens I’ve ever tasted!

It’s FORKING AMAZING Moist Delicious Hot and Spicy Fried Chicken!

 

I was watching the PBS  James Beard Nominated TV Show Patis Mexican Table. I saw Patis Jinich make Sardine Empanadas. She talked about how she grew up eating sardines and loves sardines and I thought I do too. I thought what a great idea….I want to make sardine empanadas too.   I wrote down all the ingredients that I remembered she used on TV. She said the secret of the sardine tasting good here were the mushrooms…..(who knew?)…….The biggest difference Patis’s Recipe and what I did is that I didn’t use puff pastry and made a quick oil crust. Other than that I did some things different and I added scallions, cilantro and 1/2 a roasted lime……But I would not have come up with this recipe if I didn’t watch Patis on TV.  So I have to Thank Patis of Patis Mexican Table for sharing with us such a great recipe that is delicious! This recipe makes around ten empanadas but you will have extra filling leftover that you can use for one lunch.

Ingredients for about 5 servings

2 cans boneless skinless sardines (about 3.75 oz a can) (don’t drain oil yet because you will use oil to sauté vegetables)

1/2 cup olives stuffed with pimentos (I used Spanish Queen Olives) – chopped well

1/2 white onion – mine was 3.5 oz – chopped well

1 cup tomato – I used slow roasted but fresh or canned are fine – chopped (***My tomatoes were extremely sweet from being skinless and slow roasted***you might need adjustment to flavor with a small amount of sugar if your tomatoes aren’t sweet)

1/4 cup  pickled jalapeños – preferably my recipe on this site or purchased from a farmers market….you want good ones

4 oz mushrooms – sliced thin

1/4 cup scallions sliced thin

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

1/4 teaspoon course salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)

1/2 lime (this gets roasted till sweet) ((Skip lime if you don’t want to roast it))

2 cups flour (plus a little extra for rolling)

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon course sea salt (the dough is so delicious with course sea salt..it turns almost sweet and you get these pops of tasty salt)

1/3 cup water

2 eggs – separated (whites are for sealing and the yolks are for glazing the empanadas)

Instructions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush the cut part of the 1/2 lime with oil from the sardine can and put on a baking sheet in the oven for 45 minutes.

Line two sheet pans with quilon coated baking sheets and put them to the side.

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the flour, 1/2 cup oil, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon course sea salt, 1/3 cup water. Mix well and knead……roll into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and put to the side.

Put a fry pan on medium high heat with about a Tablespoon of oil from a sardine can. Cook the onions till translucent. Add them to a large bowl. Add a little more oil to the fry pan and sauce the mushrooms. Try to get them a little browned when they are cooked and a little brown add them to the bowl. Now sautée the tomatoes till they are falling apart. Now add back in the onions and mushrooms……if it’s liquid  continues coming out you have to cook it more to dry it up some. Add the olives, jalapeño, salt and pepper. Take off heat and add the scallions, cilantro, sardines (slightly broken up) and a squeeze of the roasted 1/2 lime. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Put to the side.

The two eggs get separated and beaten. You should have one small bowl of whites to glue the empanadas together and one small bowl of beaten yolks to gloss up the empanadas.

Get ready to roll out the dough.

Sprinkle surface and rolling pin with a small amount of flour.

Roll out dough. I used a cap from a container of nuts to cut out empanada circle shaped dough but you can use a bowl. The cap measured a little under five inches.

Now you take your fingers and wet them with the beaten egg whites and run that around the circle of dough.

Then fill the dough with about a heaping tablespoon of filling but pick off the top where it’s less juicy.

Fold over

Now crimp ends with a fork and place on lined sheet.

They get brushed with the beaten egg yolks.

Repeat till you are done. The last two empanada shells might need to be made with the ends of dough that you re-roll.

They go in a 350 degree oven till done or for about 20 minutes.

You are going to be pleasantly surprised !

These Sardine Empanadas are FORKING TASTY!

WOW my husband isn’t a fan of sardines but loves these Sardine Empanadas….All the flavors together are terrific…..They came out so Forking Tasty that he said now you should make all kinds of empanadas.

A Special Thanks to Patis Jinich of Patis Mexican Kitchen for sharing and coming up with such a tasty dish!

 

 

 

 

I was thinking about making some sort of snack cake without butter…..do you know that in most snack cake recipes often TWO sometimes THREE sticks of butter are used! And that is NOT counting frosting……Two sticks of butter run around 1620 calories……that’s a lot of fat we don’t need. Instead of using something like the normal two sticks of butter I used two very ripe bananas as if they were butter…Two bananas are around 210 calories and are a natural food. This cake isn’t totally fat free after all eggs have a small amount of fat and the chocolate chips do contain some fat just so you know but that fat has been reduced……I guessed my way threw this recipe not knowing if it would come out moist and delicious BUT IT DID!!!! I wanted the snack cakes to taste good and since I saved all the butter calories ( at least 1620 useless fat calories) I felt I could splurge on one cup of chocolate chips. To up the banana flavor and to insure a moist cake I also added two additional sliced bananas into the batter. The cake is moist and delicious. It’s not too sweet either. You can finish it with a light dusting of either 10x sugar, 10x cinnamon sugar or a mix of 10x and cocoa if desired. I think any kind of frosting would be too heavy here. This is a very easy one bowl recipe. No need to bring out the mixer…just stir it up in a big bowl.

Ingredients for about 12 servings

2 bananas (very ripe) – mashed

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 eggs – beaten

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pure natural vanilla extract

2 bananas – sliced

1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chips

non stick spray (neutral flavor like canola)

Directions

Set Oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray rectangular baking pan with non stick spray. (I used a half pan that is around 8 inches by 10 1/2 inches)

Ina big bowl mash two bananas well with a potato masher. Mash in the brown sugar and then the white sugar. Stir in the beaten eggs. Dump in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in the sliced bananas and chocolate chips. Pour batter in pan.

Let it bake till done about 30 minutes…(mine took 28)

Even people that normally don’t like sweets (like my husband) will like this snack cake because it’s not too heavy and isn’t too sweet. It’s flavored just right…..Make sure you use very ripe bananas for the best results.