I planned to make a dijon tarragon wine sauce to go with turkey. Then I found out that I didn’t have any white wine at home so I made this slaw instead. You know I bet it will taste really great with turkey.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
1 small head cabbage – shredded very thin
2 cups corn kernels (cooked however you want)
1 red bell pepper – diced
1 celery rib – diced
1 shallot – sliced thin
1 carrot – shredded
2 teaspoons course sea salt (this goes on cabbage to melt it)
2 teaspoons sugar (this goes on cabbage to melt it)
2 Tablespoons hot sauce (tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot)
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon piment d’ espelette pepper
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 oz fresh tarragon – torn
Directions
In a large bowl add the cabbage, shallots, celery, bell pepper and carrot. Toss in the sugar and salt and mix well. Let sit on counter for an hour and drain. Add the corn and set to the side.
In a small mixing bowl add the dijon, oil, vinegar, hot sauce, celery seeds, white pepper, piment d’ espelette and honey and mix well. Toss the dressing into the large bowl with cabbage and mix well. Tear the tarragon leaves in half and mix into the slaw.
I was reading a review of a restaurant somewhere and the food critic was very impressed with blue cheese mashed potatoes with pickled onions from somewhere. I happen to have blue cheese and potatoes that I have to use up so I thought that is what I should make so I did. My idea of serving size might differ from yours. I think 2 pounds of potatoes is about eight servings but those are very small servings. You might figure 4-6 servings depending on how much you dish out. This recipe will also come out better if you make the pickled onions the day before because they need a day to get best.
ingredients for around 6 servings
1 large red onion – (cut in half so strings aren’t too long) – sliced very thin on mandolin.
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 springs fresh thyme
2 lbs potatoes – peeled – cut in half (6-7 average size potatoes)
1 Tablespoon salt (I love course sea salt)
1 egg – washed well (you will only be using the yolk)
3 oz unsalted butter – room temperature and optional more butter for serving
4 oz blue cheese – crumbled – room temperature and optional more for serving
2 Tablespoons celery leaves – torn or chopped for finishing
Directions
Make the pickled onions. Put the sliced onions in a tub or container and set them to the side. In a sauce pot bring to boil the vinegar, kosher salt, sugar, bay leaf, ground pepper, mustard seed and thyme. Cook until the salt and sugar is dissolved and pour over onions. Let this sit out on the counter until it’s room temperature and then refrigerate. If you have extra leftover onions you can use them on a sandwich. They should keep good in the refrigerator a few weeks.
When you are ready to make the potatoes put them in a pot with enough water to cover them well. Add the salt. You need to bring the potatoes to a medium high boil. depending on the size of the potatoes they need to cook usually 15-20 minutes. In the last 7 minutes of boiling carefully add the egg and let that cook. The egg will be medium cooked but on the soft side…if that isn’t good for you then you can cook it more. You will need to remove the egg and peel it. Save the egg white for a salad or just eat it as a snack. The yolk gets mashed into the hot drained potatoes along with the butter and blue cheese. Serve with the pickled onions and celery leaves. You can serve with extra blue cheese and melted butter if you desire.
Blue Cheese Mushed Potatoes with Pickled Onions and Celery Leaves
I have those frozen New York Strip Steaks and find that they usually don’t come out flavorful on the grill but come out much better if I put them in the Sous Vide and then pan sear them. Sometimes I sauté peppers and onions and or mushrooms In the same pan and serve that with the steak. Lately I find that I prefer a pickled vegetable with the steak. It’s very easy to pickle vegetables. I got the perfect recipe that you came boil up a couple hours or day before a steak and just pour it over your vegetables. As soon as a few hours latter you can have delicious pickled vegetables with your steak. My picture has roasted vegetables on the left side of the plate and on the right are the pickled vegetables. I took another photo of what I pickled. Yours will look different depending on what vegetables you use. I cooked 2 steaks that are around 4 meals in my house in your house this might be only 2 servings. Your idea of servings may differ as I like smaller portions of steak. The pickled vegetables make around 8 servings but they stay good for a few weeks.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
2 N.Y. strip steaks (around 1 lb each) – trim off thick fat
fresh ground sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
neutral oil to sear steaks
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Assorted sliced vegetables like peppers and onions
You can use whatever vegetables you like.
This time I used a small red onion and half a white onion. I used 1/2 a bell pepper of yellow, orange and green. Part of a watermelon radish and leftover shaved leeks. I didn’t use a spicy pepper this time but sometimes I add a spicy pepper sliced paper thin and very thinly sliced carrots.
Directions
In a sauce pot on medium high heat add the vintagers, water, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper, coriander, bay leaf and oregano to a boil. After boiling pour over pickling vegetables and let sit out an hour on the counter to cool off some. Put in the refrigerator and can serve in about another hour but is best the next day.
When you are ready for the steaks.
Pull out the steaks one half hour before cooking to warm up slightly.
Add the water and set the Sous Vide to 130 degrees F.
Apply fresh ground sea salt and pepper generously to the steaks on both sides and vacuum seal the steaks.
The steaks go in the Sous Vide when the water is at 130 degrees F. They stay in for no more than 4 hours. Three hours is good.
Dry the steaks off as good as you can with paper towels.
Put a pan on high with a coating of oil. Sear a minute or slightly more on each side and serve.
pickled vegetablesSous Vide N.Y. Steak with roasted vegetables and pickled vegetables
I usually don’t like these steaks but when they are cooked in the Sous Vide and then seared with some pickled vegetables they are good!
I got inspired to make this recipe because I was thinking about making Sichuan Chili Chicken but needed a vegetable instead of chicken for dinner…So I thought I could make cauliflower taste like Sichuan Chili Chicken and I DID! I made a batter for the cauliflower and just cooked it off in the oven. The green beans got sort of fried on a pan. You can’t make substitutes here or it won’t taste right. The peanut oil and Szechuan peppercorns are essential.
Ingredients for around 4 portions
1 medium cauliflower – break down in florets
4 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns – crushed
3 garlic cloves -ground to paste or microplane
4 Tablespoons corn starch
1 egg white
6 oz green beans – trimmed
1 jalapeno – chopped
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns – crushed
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane
3 Tablespoons chili sauce like sambal – (or to taste)
non stick spray
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped
Directions
Set oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a sheet pan with non stick spray and set to the side.
Ina large bowl mix together 4 Tablespoon peanut oil, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns, 3 garlic, egg white and corn starch. Mix well. add the cauliflower and mix till coated. Lay the cauliflower on the sheet tray in a single layer leaving a little room around each floret. They go in the pre heated 375 degree F oven until cooked though and brown and slightly crispy. (in my oven on the middle rack this took 45 minutes but timing can differ)
While the cauliflower is cooking in a small mixing bowl mix together the remaining peanut oil, soy sauce, sugar, Szechuan peppercorns together and heat it up in a small fry pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot add the green beans and jalapeño. Cover with some foil so it can steam the green beans tender. This willl only take a few minutes. Add the garlic and take off heat.
Stir the cauliflower and green beans with chili sauce and finish with cilantro. Serve immediately.
Sichuan Inspired Chili Cauliflower and Green Beans
I read a recipe for Turkish Red Lentil soup from a Magazine and I thought those flavors would be really great with chicken. Then I read about a dozen different recipes for Turkish Lentil Soup to get different ideas but honestly the majority of the recipes were almost the same and all of them were vegetarian. I jotted down the spices used and adjusted to what a one pot recipe would need with a 4 pound tray of chicken thighs would need and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS! Flavors are nailed perfect and the chicken is falling. apart tender and is very flavorful. The sauce even reheats well and doesn’t turn thick or get loose either. It’s slightly spicy from Aleppo pepper and turns almost creamy without dairy or cream after you blend. Everyone will love this! This recipe makes 6 smaller dinner portions. That measured out to be 4 ounces a serving with plenty of delicious sauce. I’d suggest a salad, rice and or vegetables to serve with. I do need to note that the skin from the chicken will not be edible…but it is the secret that gives amazing flavor to the dish.
Ingredients for 6 portions
4 lbs chicken thighs with skin and bone (a typical tray of chicken thighs from Safeway is usually around 4 lbs of 8 thighs and usually ((but not always)) cost only 99 cents a lb)
1 large sweet onion – diced
13 garlic – chopped fine
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup red lentils (inspected and rinsed)
1 Tablespoon white rice
1 cup water
20 grape tomatoes – cut in half
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil – finishing
2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper – finishing mixed with oil
1 teaspoon paprika – finishing mixed with oil
1/4 cup mint leaves (loose) – torn – finishing
1 lemon cut in 6 wedges for serving
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl mix together the tomato paste, paprika, cumin, water and 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, lentils, rice, onions and fresh garlic. Add this mixture to a large baking dish or half buffet pan. Place the chicken thighs over the mixture in an even layer. Sprinkle the salt, granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper and half a teaspoon black pepper over the chicken somewhat evenly. Cover the pan tight with foil (or a lid). This stays in the oven till the lentils are broken down and the chicken is at least 165 degrees but I don’t like dark meat chicken till it’s at least 180 degrees F. I make these dishes all the time and on a middle rack in my oven I find these dishes are usually perfect in two and a half hours.
You remove the chicken from the pan. and let it cool so you can remove the skin and meat from the bone. Blend the lentil mixture till smooth. Top with torn mint leaves and serve with a lemon wedge.
I came across a Tomato Chutney recipe and thought of it as an Indian flavored tomato sauce that is used like a salsa or condiment. I started researching different recipes for tomato chutney so I would know what ingredients I’d want to use. Of course tomato chutney is vegetarian and wouldn’t be used the way I’m using it here but it is really delicious this way. Tomato chutney is a sweet, sour and spicy tomato sauce. I didn’t add sugar but used golden raisins for sweetness. It’s something different and delicious that you might want to try. I really got the one pot dishes down and they come out Forking GREAT. However the chicken skin in these dishes is not edible but gives off amazing flavors to the dish. The chicken is always moist and flavorful and leftover heat up moist , tender and flavorful too. This recipe will make about 4 dinners with sauce of about 4 oz of chicken each with around 6 ounces of leftover moist flavorful chicken that you can use for maybe two lunches. I would suggest to serve with a salad or maybe some rice or potato.
Ingredients for 4 servings plus around 6 ounces of extra chicken
1 medium sweet onion – diced
13 garlic cloves – fine chopped
25 curry leaves (curry leaves are controversial in cooking. Some chefs pull them out like bay leaves and other chefs chop up…I chopped them up fine and they were very good in the dish) – fine chopped Or whole if you want to remove.
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste…you might want more or less depending on your tolerance for spicy food.
1 teaspoon gram masala
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
4 1/2 los chicken thighs – (with bone and skin)
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large baking dish or buffet half pan add the onion, garlic, curry leaves, cumin, mustard, red Chile, garam masala, ginger, fennel, tomatoes, raisins, vinegar and add the chicken thighs in a single layer on the top skin side up. Sprinkle evenly the salt, pepper, granulated garlic and paprika over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with foil.
Put in pre-heated 350 degree F oven on the middle rack. Timing may differ but in my oven this was perfect in two and half hours. You must cook till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat…but I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked at least 180 degrees…..I think that you will too if you try it.
When you take this pan out of the oven be careful not o burn yourself. You should remove the thighs so they will cool some so you can remove the meat from the bones and skin. The fat from the chicken does not mix with the sauce and you need to spill the chicken fat off. Either by letting it cool to room temp and chilling over night in the refrigerator and scrapping the fat off the top….OR you can just tilt the pan and let the fat run out.
Tomato Chutney One Pot Chicken
If you enjoy sweet sour spicy and flavorful then you should enjoy this.
I came up with this recipe because I only had potatoes and only had leeks and cabbage in my refrigerator….So I looked up cabbage, leeks and potatoes and I found out it’s a traditional Irish Dish of basically mashed potatoes mixed with kale or cabbage. Everybody makes it different and often colcannon has a big pool of melted butter on the top. Some people boil all the vegetables and other people fry the vegetables. I think cabbage is most delicious roasted so I roasted the cabbage and fried the leeks. I also have a little trick that makes mashed potatoes taste better and I add two medium cooked egg yolks. It came out Forking delicious! I wish I could give you a sample to try. If you make this exactly the way I did you will love it!
Ingredients for around 6 servings
1 smaller cabbage – peel of outer leaves, remove core and dice into about 1/2 inch dices
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (goes on cabbage)
2 leeks – trimmed (root and all the dark green removed, peeled, cut in half long ways and then cut each half long ways again and slice thin. Put in a large bowl of water and wash away any dirt and drain)
5 potatoes – peeled and cut down into about 6 pieces each (mne weighed 1 1/2 pounds)
3 cloves of garlic – chopped (this goes with the potatoes to boil)
2 eggs – (wash eggs and they go in the water last 6 minutes of boiling the potatoes ((you are only using the yolks))
3 oz unsalted butter (goes into potatoes)
2 Tablespoons cream cheese (use a quality brand like Aria that is free of preservatives and stabilizers) ((I almost never have milk or cream in my house so I use aria because it’s basically cream)
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (for potatoes – or to taste….your taste may differ….but this is perfect)
1/4 teaspoon course sea salt (for potatoes – or to taste…your taste may differ but this is perfect…love course sea salt…..it’s my second favorite salt…..Blue Persian is even better)
1 oz unsalted butter (this is to fry leeks)
1/4 teaspoon course sea salt (to season leeks)
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper (to season leeks)
fresh ground sea salt to taste (just a very small amount to season cabbage)
fresh ground black pepper (just a small amount to season cabbage)
Directions
Set oven to 450 degrees F.
Cabbage goes on a baking sheet and gets sprayed well with olive oil. It goes in the oven till soft and charred (This took 30 minutes in my oven on the middle rack….yours may differ)
While the cabbage is roasting boil the potatoes with the chopped garlic and season the water well with course sea salt) the potatoes should be done in around 15- 20 minutes depending on size. In the last 6 minutes add the eggs. Remove the eggs after 6 minutes…(or you can cook longer like 10 minutes if you only like we’ll done eggs…and rinse in cold water and set to the side.) When the potatoes are tender remove them from the water and mash by hand with the butter and cream cheese. Add the egg yolks and 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) of salt and white pepper.By now the cabbage is done and season it lightly with salt and pepper and mix it into the potatoes….set to the side.
Melt the last ounce of butter in the pot and add the drained leeks…..Stir and cover loosely. They will be done very quickly like in three minutes. Add them to the mashed mixture and enjoy!
Leek and Cabbage Colcannon
Everyone will love this!
Leftovers can be fried into patties and can be turned into a dish called Bubble and Squeak
This came out tasting like a Greek Salad (with walnuts) in a roasted pepper. I added walnuts for a crunch factor that I thought it needed because I don’t like an all soft texture. Did something different to the squash so it wouldn’t be so squashy. The squash was spiral cut and then was salted with the paper thin cut onions. You would believe how much water poured out….you have to do the mixing in a colander that sits over a large bowl. It looked like maybe 2 cups of water poured out when I let it sit on the counter for about an hour. The squash turns into like almost a noodle texture. It’s not squashy anymore. My other secret was by adding some dijon mustard (Amora brand). After the mustard the flavor really popped. It doesn’t taste mustardy….but it’s the right amount of bite that makes it pop. I used some very small bell pepper halves and some whole Mexican Guero yellow peppers (that are similar in heat to shishitos). This recipe (after draining) makes around 9 servings……so you need about 9 smaller (but not mini) half bell peppers or around 9 medium sized peppers.
Ingredients for around 9 servings
2 lbs yellow squash (smaller squash will work out better) spiral cut
1 medium sized sweet onion – sliced paper thin on mandolin
1 teaspoon course sea salt
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane
1 large tomato (ripe one) rough cut
9 small/medium sized peppers (of your choice many different kinds would taste good here) You might need more or less peppers depending on size and shape. ( I used a combination of half bells and whole guero peppers)
3 Tablespoons fresh dill – chopped (two Tablespoons go in mix and reserve one Tablespoon for finishing.)
The first thing that you need to do is to get the squash and onions in a colander over a large bowl mixed with the salt…..This needs to sit for an hour on the counter so around two cups of water will be released.
After an hour and the water is released then mix in to the squash mixture the garlic, tomato, 2 Tablespoons dill, feta, oregano, basil, pepper and dijon.
Eiter use pepper halves or whole peppers split with cores removed and stuff tightly.
Roast in pre-heated 425 degree F oven till slightly charred. (will differ depending on pepper size….mine took 35 minutes in my oven on middle rack).
Finish with last Tablespoon of fresh dill and toasted walnuts.
OMG these are FORKING CRAZY GOOD! When I made them my husband came running in and said what smells so Forking Good? Then he started gobbling them down. I almost didn’t get them to photo. You might want to double up on the recipe. These are going to be a great big hit in your house. I used a pound of mini potatoes that came to ten potatoes. It should be about 4 servings but these are so unusually tasty that it might only be two servings.
Ingredients for about 4 servings
1 lb of mini potatoes (about 10 mini potatoes)
2 oz unsalted butter – melted split in two portions
2 oz blue cheese – crumbled – split in two one ounce portions (one for sauce and one for topping)
2 Tablespoon canola oil – split in 2 portions
1 Tablespoon sriracha + plus around a teaspoon more for topping – preferably Shark Brand available at Lee Lee Market and Asiana Market….it’s much smoother than almost any other brand)
2 radish – sliced paper thin on a mandolin
Directions
Set the oven to 400 degrees F.
The potatoes get sliced across but not all the way threw about 3-4 cm apart on the slices.
Half the butter, 1/2 the blue cheese, sriracha and canola oil get heated up and melted together. This will take very little time. You can do in a pan on medium or do in the microwave for 30 seconds and just a few seconds more. Mix it up till it emulsifies. Set to the side. (this goes on potatoes after they come out of oven.
One oz butter and one tablespoon canola oil get melted together – I don’t Forking care if you do it in a pan or microwave. In a microwave this takes only 30 seconds. This gets brushed on the potatoes after you insert the radish slices.
Insert carefully about 5 thin radish slices into the cuts of each potato.
Put each potato on a backing sheet.
Brush each potato with the melted butter and oil mixture (NOT the mixture with sriracha and blue cheese) until the mixture is used up.
Place potatoes in pre-heated 400 degree oven until potatoes are lightly browned and tender. (timing will differ but in my oven this took 40 minutes)
Pull out and there will be extra melted butter in the bottom oof baking sheet. Brush potatoes with it.
Spoon the sriracha/blue cheese butter mixture over each potato and top each potato with crumbles of blue cheese.
Blue Cheese Sriracha Butter Hasselback Mini Potatoes with Radish
I got my Milk Street Magazine and I thought the German Apple Pie looked really great and I wanted to try it. When I looked at the recipe I thought that this is too much dessert for me so I cut the recipe in half and it still seemed like a full size dessert recipe to me. I simplified the Milk Street Recipe by making it into a one bowl recipe since it seemed very basic to me. The only thing I’d do slightly different is to not to add the one teaspoon cinnamon that I added to the recipe because it makes the dessert too dark. I did notice that many other recipes for German Apple Almond Cake do call for apple jam to brush on the apples and almost none of the recipes call for cinnamon since it makes the cake too dark…Oh well live and learn. The other BIG THING is that the texture and taste of this cake is much better day two…….Day one I wasn’t crazy for it because it seemed oily and too chewy to me but day two it seemed more cake like, fluffier and not as chewy. The Milk Street Recipe is mostly double of the ingredients I used, it goes in a springform pan for about twice as much time. I used a 10 inch pie pan that I sprayed with non stick spray and I thought this is plenty of dessert that can serve 8 or more…The Milk Street Recipe also serves 8 but much bigger pieces.
Ingredients for 8 servings
1/2 cup + I Tablespoon sugar (Tablespoon is for finishing)
4 oz unsalted butter – room temperature
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 oz almond paste (not marzipan) in 1/2 inch pieces
1 apple peeled and cut in thin slices
non stick spray
teaspoon powdered sugar to finish
Directions
Set oven to 375 degrees F
Spray a 10 inch pie or cake pan with non stick spray and set to the side.
In a large bowl mix together the the sugar and butter till creamy. Then add the egg till that is creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and almond paste and mix well. Spread this evenly in your pan. Top with the apple slices and fan them out to cover most of the surface. Push them in a little. Sprinkle with the remaining Tablespoon of sugar.
Bake till edges of cake are brown and a tooth pick comes out clean. This should take 25-30 minutes.
Let cake cool on counter. This cake should be served room temperature or slightly warmed up and add a small amount of powdered sugar before serving. I thought that this cake was much better the next day.
German Almond Apple Cake based on Milk Street Magazine Recipe
Mine is a little darker than yours will be because I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar topping. adding more of the cinnamon and sugar to the ends.
ENJOY!
A special THANKS to Milk Street Magazine showing us your version of German Almond Apple Cake.
