I needed to use my cucumbers so this is what I came up for today. It’s light and tasty. It’s something most people would like. Serving size will differ due to different sized vegetables and different sized appetites. For me this made around 6 servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
4 large cucumbers – peeled and seeds removed. Sliced on the thin side.
1 red onion – cut in half sliced thin
1 fennel bulb – core removed, sliced thin and use the fronds as an herb.
1 lb heirloom tomatoes – cut into bite sized peices. I did small wedges
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 dried Calabrian chili (or substitute a pinch of crushed red pepper)
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 Tablespoon capers – drained
1/2 cup fresh basil – torn
Directions
Combine everything in a large bowl (cucumbers, red onion, fennel, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt, peppers, fennel seeds, capers, basil)
This recipe is adapted from chef and cookbook author Shu Han Lee’s recipe called, Sichuan Shirataki Noodle Salad. It’s a very easy quick and delicious recipe. I resisted adding ingredients that I felt like adding like ginger and sesame seeds. I only made a few substitutions, and a few alterations because I wanted to use what I had in my pantry. Serving size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want this as a small side or more. This will make two to four servings for most people.
Ingredients for 2 servings
1 3oz pack of instant ramen noodles (don’t use dry flavor mix that comes with it for this recipe…or use about a cup of any pasta, preferably a stringy one)
2 -3 cucumbers preferably English cucumbers – cut into long strings(easy to do on an Asian grater) (If using regular cucumbers you need to peel them and remove the seeds.
2 scallions – thin slices
1/4 cup cilantro leaves (fine stems ok) chopped some
1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 garlic cloves ground to paste
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons black vinegar (most Asian Markets sell it)
1 Tablespoon tahini
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons chili oil
1 teaspoon peanut oil
Directions
Follow directions on package for cooking whatever noodle you are using. I did instant ramen noodles so I put them in a microwavable tub with around two cups of water and had them at high for three minutes. Then I stirred them up with a fork and fluffed them out and drained the water and put the drained noodles to the side.
Toast the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan on medium heat till you smell them. Then take off heat and when cool crush them. (you can put them in a ziplock bad and crush with a heavy bottle, a meat pounder, most cooks use a pot to crush….or a spice grinder)
In a small mixing bowl mix together the Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, soy sauce, black vinegar, tahini, honey, chili oil, and peanut oil. Mix well.
In a large bowl add the cucumber, scallions, noodles, and dressing you made in the small bowl. Mix well.
Serve and top with crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro.
Sichuan Style Cucumber & Noodle Salad
ENJOY!
A Special THANKS!!!!! To chef and cookbook author Shu Han Lee for her FORKING Amazing recipe so I could come up with a new way to use up my cucumbers and have a new delicious salad.
I got some blueberries from Fry’s Grocery…..YUK they are so sour. Maybe I can make them into salsa so I did. I do note that you might have to play slightly with the recipe to adjust to what spice level and sweetness that you desire. This recipe makes about 16 ounces of salsa. So depending on how you are serving it I’m guessing around 4 servings. I think it would be delicious with many grilled meats and also tasty over certain cheeses.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 apple – peeled – core removed – diced
11 oz blueberries
1 onion slice extra thin and chop up
2 habanero peppers (wear gloves and a mask….maybe eye goggles too) cut in half and remove core
3 garlic cloves in skin (don’t remove skin)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground achiote
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and fine stems) chopped
1 teaspoon dried mint (or 1 Tablespoon fresh mint chopped)
1 lime (just the fresh squeezed juice)
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
optional – 1 Tablespoon honey or to taste
Directions
Set your oven on broil.
On sheet pans spread place the onions, garlic, blueberries, and habanero. You want to broil them till they appear to be bunt. You might want to wear a mask because the fumes from the habanero will make you cough.
When the garlic cloves are cool enough to handle you can peel or pop them out of their skins. Throw out the skins.
Blend together the blueberries, onions, habaneros, garlic, salt, achiote, oregano, clove, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, lime juice, water, vinegar, oil. Slightly blend in the apple till it is still chunky. Add cilantro and mint. Taste it and decide if it needs honey or not.
Besides nachos with cheese or sour cream….I think this salsa would be good with many grilled meats and I also think it would make a good crepe filling.
I found this crazy FORKING Fantabulous recipe on-line from a master chef named Scott Goss. It”s called Short Rib Buns with Kimchi slaw and Chips Recipe. The recipe has so many steps to it that takes a team of people to pull it off. It is also not the easiest recipe to follow. Because like out of nowhere you need hollandaise sauce and have to come up with it on your own. I will focus just on the slaw today. I rounded the ingredients and only slightly changed the recipe. I also used far less oil because I always cut the oil in recipes when I feel that I can. Serving size is difficult to judge. The recipe makes enough for 12 appetizer type sandwiches. I’d say if you are thinking full serving I’d guestamate to 4 servings. It does come out so FORKING delicious that you are going to want to eat lots of it. So EAT IT UP FAST because………I do note that this taste the best for around three days. After three days it is still good but the flavors start to fade.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1/4 large green cabbage – sliced thin on a mandolin
1/2 carrot shredded
1/4 red onion – sliced thin
6 radishes shredded
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 heaping Tablespoon garlic- ground to paste
1 Tablespoon scallions – fine chopped
1 Tablespoon carrots – fine shredded
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 Tablespoon gochugaru (mine went bad ((didn’t know that it should be kept frozen)) so I substituted Aleppo pepper flakes and went a little heavy with it)
1 teaspoon anchovies
1 teaspoon anchovy oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Amora mustard (original recipe calls for English mustard…Amora is a dijon mustard from France…I really like it)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 Tablespoons canola oil
Directions
In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, garlic, scallions, Tablespoon carrots, ginger, gochugaru, anchovy, anchovy oil, soy sauce, mustard, vinegar, and oil. Mix well till you get it to emulsify. Then add the vegetables (cabbage, carrot, onion, and radish) mix well. It gets even better when it sits a little.
Gosh it’s Forking DELICIOUS!
Seasoned mackerel sandwich on milk bun with horseradish miso hollandaise, kimchi slaw, pickled beets
Other parts of the recipe are a short rib (that I didn’t do yet BUT WILL) instead I seasoned mackerel like the rib. Milk buns (made with a quick starter), horseradish hollandaise, pickled beets, triple cooked fries, and of course the kimchi slaw.
FORKING DELICIOUS Kimchi Slaw, milk buns, pickled beets, horseradish miso hollandaise and parsnips with sprout leaves and bonito flakes
A special THANKS to Chef Scott Goss for his FORKING AMAZING recipe so I could come up with what I got here.
I had some leeks and I wanted to do something new with them that I have never done before. I found Jose Andres’s recipe from Food & Wine Magazine called, Leeks two ways with wild mushrooms. The thing that was new and different is that I learned that a leek puree can be made from the dark green leaves that I normally trim off. My leek green puree I added vegetable soup base instead of salt to add a little flavor…….My leek puree came out delicious but not silky smooth like the way Jose Andres’s leek puree came out and I cooked mine up twice as long to get tender…….I do chalk that up to maybe my blender isn’t as good and also I didn’t have farm fresh produce like the chef gets. The other thing that I had to change the most from Jose Andres’s recipe is that I can not boil my leek slices without them falling apart. I think maybe that Jose Andres’s produce is the best and is also farm fresh. The leeks I get seem ok but I’m sure they are much drier and just won’t hold together so I remedy this by doing mine in the oven in a covered pan to get soft. I removed the foil that covered mine and browned them slightly. I also didn’t have dried black trumpet mushrooms so I used whatever pack I had in my refrigerator (I used 4oz. pack of champignon mushrooms) Serving size is around one leek a person. I used one pack of leeks and mine were small so for me this only made 2 servings.
Ingredients for around two servings
4 oz mushrooms – cleaned and (cut in half if a round shape)
1/2 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vegetable soup base
1 pack leeks (2-3 leeks) – dark green parts cut off totally cleans and chop up the dark green parts. The white part gets cut in 1/3 inch slices
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
sea salt to taste
2 thyme sprigs
1/4 Tablespoon olive oil (this is a guesstimated amount since I don’t measure what I spray)
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Tablespoon of mint leaves – torn
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F
In a small sauce pan of simmering water add the leek greens and cook for around three minutes and then drain. (RESERVE LIQUID) Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter, add the soup base and leek greens. Cook another minute or two. Blend this up with maybe a tablespoon of water till as smooth as you can get it,
The leek slices go in a pan or baking sheet with walls. Pour some of the reserved leek liquid till about half way cup the leeks. Add the thyme sprigs.) Season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in small chunks. Cover the pan and place on a middle rack for 15 minutes.
Get another baking sheet and place the mushrooms on it. Add the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in chunks. Spray lightly with oil. Keep in oven till cooked and starting to crisp. (timing will differ…in my oven my mushrooms took 12 minutes on the middle rack) Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Your leeks by now are done. I took mine slightly further and removed the foil covering them and returned the mushrooms to the lower rack. By now they’ve absorbed the liquid so I added more of the reserved leek water. I left mine in for 20-30 minutes more.
Mix together a tablespoon of white wine vinegar with a tablespoon or two of olive oil to top everything with.
Serve when ready.
Puree, leek slices, mushrooms, sprinkle on the oil mixed with vinegar and top the mushrooms with small pieces of mint.
Leeks Two Ways with Mushrooms
A special THANKS to Jose Andres for his FORKING AMAZING recipe and to Food & Wine Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.
I had two cucumbers, extra herbs, and tuna packets and this is what I came up with. It’s very easy to prepare and happened to come out delicious. There is one ingredient that most people will not have. Amora Mustard from France. Your tuna salad will come out different if you don’t use Amora…….It happens that Amora is the smoothest mustard that I have ever tried. Other dijon mustards are very harsh after trying Amora…….I’m guessing the easiest substitute would be any dijon mustard mixed with 1/2 mayonnaise…It’s pretty easy to find Amora Mustard on-line.
Ingredients for around 2 servings
2 radishes – thinly sliced
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cucumbers – remove skin, seeds, rough chopped
2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons basil leaves
2 Tablespoons scallions
2Tablespoons dried chives
1 teaspoon sour cream
5-6 oz tuna fish drained ( I used two small packs. Each pack is something like 2.6 oz.)
1/2 apple – remove core, remove skin, small dice
1 Tablespoon celery leaves – chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh dill – chopped
1 Tablespoon scallions – chopped
2 Tablespoons Amora Dijon Mustard
Directions
Pickle the radishes. Bring the water, vinegar, and sugar to a boil. (you can do this on the stove or the microwave….It truly doesn’t matter) Add the radish slices and let them pickle on the counter for at least 30 minutes.
Made the cold cucumber horseradish soup. Blend together the vegetable stock, cucumbers, horseradish, basil, scallions, chives, and sour cream. Keep in the refrigerator to chill.
Make the tuna salad. Mix together the tuna, apple, celery leaves, dill, scallions, and Amora mustard.
Serve the tuna salad with the cucumber horseradish soup and garnish with the pickled radishes.
Easy FORKING Delicious Cold Cucumber Horseradish Soup with Tuna Salad
This recipe is a variation of Cauliflower Piccata by Hetty McKinnon’s by The New York Times. I changed a few things as I was going along.. I roasted the garbanzos with the cauliflower instead of just adding them from the can. I cut the amount of butter in half because I thought I had enough. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of flour to give the sauce some body. Those were the changes I made. Serving size is hard to judge. For me this made 6 side servings. But if you want bigger servings than me it will only make 4 servings. It also depends on the size of your cauliflower too.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 cauliflower – cut into florets
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this is approximate and is for the cauliflower/chick peas and the frying of the shallots)
sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 (15 ounce) can chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed three times
1 shallot – minced
3 garlic cloves ground to paste
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon flour
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (feel free to add 2 more Tablespoons if desired)
2 Tablespoons capers – drained
zest of one lemon
juice of 1/2 a lemon (thinly slice the other half of the lemon)
1/4 cup parsley leaves – chopped for finishing
Directions
Turn the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place the cauliflower florets on a sheet pan mixed with the drained chick peas. Spray them well with the olive oil and season to taste with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Roast till golden and brown. Timing will differ….25-45 minutes. Remove when done.
Mix the flour with the vegetable stock and set to the side.
In a medium fry pan add a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. When hot add the shallots and stir as needed. After about a minute add the garlic and stir. As soon as you smell the garlic (less than a minute) add the vegetable stock (mixed with 1/2 teaspoon flour) and let it reduce by half. Turn down to low and add the butter, capers, lemon juice and lemon zest. Season to taste.
Serve and finish with lemon slices and parsley.
Cauliflower Piccata
ENJOY!
A special THANKS to Hetty McKinnon and The New York Times for a great Recipe so I can do what I did!
I wanted to do something with parsnips today. I looked up recipes and found maybe ten different recipes that paired parsnips with sage and bacon…..So I thought of bonito flakes….Bonito flakes are shaved dried fermented and smoked tuna. They are almost like a mix of anchovy and bacon but more delicate. That makes bonito flakes more vegetable friendly than bacon. Bonito flakes are easy to find at your local Asian Market or you can buy them on-line. I didn’t measure this recipe exactly. The hardest part is peeling the Brussels sprouts. I had a one pound bag of Brussels sprouts and maybe peeled half of each sprout and cooked the centers latter for a separate dish.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
4 large parsnips – Peel and cut around the cores into small wedges something like French fry shaped.
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs sage leaves – pick off leaves
1/4 cup green olives – pits removed – rough chopped
2 cups brussels sprouts leaves
1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice
fresh crushed sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
4 good pinches of bonito flakes
Directions
Set your oven to 400 degrees F.
Put the parsnips on a baking sheet and spay or sprinkle the parsnips well with olive oil. Most them for 15 minutes. (they aren’t done yet). Add sage and olives and roast them 5-10 minutes more or until the parsnips are cooked. Toss in the sprout leaves. This goes back in the oven for only 2 minutes to wilt the leaves. Sprinkle with lemon juice add salt and pepper to taste. Finish with bonito flakes.
Here is a delicious Indian Style nut butter tomato sauce that I made for a roasted cauliflower. It’s a delicious, creamy, fragrant, sauce that gets creamy from grinding some nuts into it so you need a spice grinder. It’s trendy to roast a whole cauliflower head but I’m sorry that I did it that way because it takes much longer to roast it that way. I would suggest roasting the cauliflower in wedges or even florets. I had some leftover turmeric pickled onions that I added that I thought would be good here. The onions were a big onion sliced, zest from one orange, with juice of the orange, 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric. Mix and let sit a 1/2 hour and then refrigerate. For the cauliflower you can use whatever kind you get. I do note that purple cauliflower are the most delicate and roast for less time in a slightly lower oven. I used an Italian green fancy cauliflower today. The other cauliflower that comes out the best is the orange cauliflower…but really any cauliflower will be fine. Serving size will differ. Every cauliflower is a different size and you might want a big portion or maybe only a small side order. I used 2 small cauliflowers and got 8 small servings.
Ingredients for around 6 portions
1 large or 2 small cauliflower – cut in serving size wedges
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this is what I guessed I used to spray down the two cauliflowers well.
sea salt – to taste
ground black pepper- to taste
3 onions – sliced thin
4 Tablespoons canola oil
pinch sugar
pinch salt
28 oz can Italian crushed or chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste
20 almonds – ground with a spice grinder
20 cashews – ground with a spice grinder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cinnamon
garam masala – to taste for finishing
optional – 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F
Get out a baking sheet.
Spray the cauliflower well with the olive oil. Salt and pepper the cauliflower to your taste. Put the sheet of cauliflower on a middle rack of your oven. Roast till the cauliflower has brown edges. (timing may differ but this takes around 45 minutes…it could be more or less)
I came across this recipe roasted carrots with yaji spice relish by Yewande Komolafe from The New York Times. Yewande Komolafe is a food writer and recipe developer for them. She grew up in Lagos and Nigeri so she knows that Yuji is a common spice in Northern Nigeria and West Africa. A spice blend of chile, ginger, pulverized peanuts gets mixed with scallions and lemon and works well to liven up the carrots. I cut the recipe in half because 4 pounds of carrots for me is way more than four servings. Some ingredients I rounded up or down slightly. I also cut the Yaji spice blend in half and have a bit extra left. In the end it did come out great. At first I thought the recipe was too sour for me but the carrots got so sweet that it worked out delicious. I think most people would enjoy it. For me this made around 4 side servings with extra yaji spice left.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
2 Tablespoons toasted peanuts (yaji spice)
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (yaji spice)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (yaji spice)
1 teaspoon onion powder (yaji spice)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (yaji spice)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (yaji spice)
2 lb carrots – cut in 3-4 inch pieces thicker pieces halved
Pulse the peanuts, ginger, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt to a fine powder. This is your yaji spice. Set it to the side.
Set oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss the carrots with canola oil and lightly season with salt. Spread the carrots out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast till the carrots are tender and sort of caramelized. (timing will vary….40 minutes till an hour) Rotate pans around halfway time.
Make relish. Grate the ginger into a large bowl and add the scallions. Add zest and juice of lemon. Stir and add peanut oil. Add yaji spice, paprika, and parsley. Taste and adjust.
When the carrots come out toss them in the relish and them place them on a platter. Scatter the crushed peanut and enjoy!
Roasted Carrots with Yaji Spice Relish
A special THANKS! To Yewande Komolafe and The New York Times for this amazing recipe.
