Tag Archives: #recipe

Tomato Tart Recipe – Mostly Based on Cook’s Country Recipe

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I just got my Cook’s Country Magazine and they had a recipe for a rustic tomato tart. I made many changes to the recipe for many different reasons listed here…..But I wanted to give Cook’s Country the credit that they deserve because my tart would not have came out as delicious if I didn’t use some of their ideas. I wanted to make the tart but I didn’t want to make their crust recipe because it had a lot of butter in it and the style was rustic with a thick crust that I don’t like. It also requires a food processor that I don’t have so I just used my empanada crust that is easy to make and comes out well. I thought the tomato filling sounded great and only minor changes were made! I never heard of brushing the crust with dijon mustard….I thought what a great idea!!!!!! Those Cook’s Country people come out with some wonderful ideas. I also changed the cheese only because I wanted to use what I had in the house…The tart came out tasting great….I don’t really taste the mustard much but I guess it adds something interesting. I guess this is perfect to serve as an appetizer. I got lots of raves on this one…It came out FORKING DELICIOUS! (I used an eleven inch pie pan to make the tart)

Ingredients for about 7 servings

1 3/4 cup flour – plus slightly extra for rolling

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 lb tomatoes – (it is necessary to use a heirloom ripe tomato for a good taste) – sliced on the thin side or cut in half if using tiny sweet tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt (to salt the tomatoes to lose their extra liquid)

1 shallot – sliced thin

5 sprigs fresh thyme (remove leaves from stems)

2 garlic cloves – microplane or ground to paste

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

4 oz Swiss cheese – shredded

1 oz Parmesan – shredded

fresh ground black pepper to taste

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

neutral non stick spray

3 fresh basil leaves torn

Directions set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray an 11 inch pie pan with non stick spray and set it to the side.

Make the dough first. In a large bowl combine flour, olive oil (1/2 C.), vinegar, 1 t. sea salt and 1/3 cup water and mix well and knead into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and set to the side.

Now get out a colander with a bowl to catch water. Put the sliced tomatoes in the colander and mix them with salt. They need to sit out around 30 minutes to drain.

In another bowl add the sliced shallots, thyme and garlic and mix well and set to the side.

Get the shredded Swiss and Parmesan cheese mixed together and set to the side.

By the time you did all this the dough is ready to be rolled out. Sprinkle a rolling mat lightly with flour and add your dough ball and top your dough ball with some flour. Roll out the dough into a circle shape that is around a 14 inch circle. Roll the dough around the rolling pin so you can roll the dough into and on the pie pan.

Break off the extra dough hanging off the pan with your hands or a knife.

Lightly spread the dijon all inside the crust.

Add the cheese

Shake the tomatoes to get the last of the draining liquid out of them and add the tomatoes to the bowl with the shallots and mix together well and add them on top of the cheese.

This goes in a preheated 350 degree F oven for about 40 minutes or until done.

Tomato Tart

EVERYONE will Forking enjoy this tart!

The Forking Truth

Baked Jack Fruity Vegetarian Crab Cakes Recipe

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Fresh jack fruit is kind of difficult and you need to study the fruit before you buy it. I didn’t know until this week that it is a good idea to pick your jack fruit by the outer texture. I heard that the jack fruits with the biggest lumps (similar looking to durian) are the oldest and for most recipes you really want less ripe jack fruit that has a smoother outer texture (similar to a lumpy orange). Got lucky this time and picked a younger one but it still needs to be cooked. After you boil the jack fruit for about 45 minutes…. you will come across there are three edible parts of the jack fruit. Bulbs (are medium sweet and fruity) the pulled meat (not much of a flavor) and the seeds (taste sweet and chestnut-like when younger and more like a bean crossed with a chestnut when older). For this recipe you need to shop at the Asian Market. I shop at Asiana Market and I picked out a 2 1/2 lb piece of jackfruit and you also need to buy seafood mushrooms….(to help with that secret seafood flavor) You also need a small amount of roasted seaweed. Between the seafood mushrooms, seaweed and Old Bay Seasoning I think I got these faux Crab Cakes to be a little seafood like. I do note that fresh jackfruit is still difficult and is usually not sold young enough to use all the meat. That is why most restaurants only use canned jackfruit.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

2 1/2 lb piece of jack fruit (one with smaller lumpy skin…..don’t use one that has skin that looks like durian fruit)

5 oz seafood mushrooms (Asian Markets and I have seen them Whole Foods ) – chopped

.18 oz package roasted seaweed (a package chopped)

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin

2 eggs – lightly beaten

1 cup whole wheat panko (bread crumbs)

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

15 crackers (I used Ritz…because that’s what I had) – crushed

1 cup whole wheat panko (for coating…..some will be wasted)

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning to season the panko (this is for the coating)

Neutral non stick spray

Old Bay Seasoning to finish cakes on both sides

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a baking sheet or two with non stick spray and set baking sheets to the side.

If you are very sensitive or have an allergy to latex you might need to wear gloves. Cut you piece of jack fruit in half and put it in a pot, cover the fruit with water and boil for about 45 minutes or until soft.

When the fruit is cool enough to handle break it down into bulbs, meat and seeds.

It’s not hard anyone can do this. When you feel something hard DON’T USE IT. In the middle is a hard part you have to work around. Each bulb has a seed inside. If you want to eat the seeds you have to do it now. To eat the seeds you have to cut them in half and peel the hard shell off….When they cool they turn hard and aren’t so good. Or just throw the seeds out.

This is what I got out of my jack fruit.

Chop up the bulbs and pulled meat and get rid of the seeds. Add to a large bowl.

Now chop up the seafood mushrooms and add them to your bowl.

Add scallions, eggs, 1 cup panko, seasoning and crushed crackers. Let it rest for about 15 minutes.

in a small bowl combine 1 cup of panko with 1 teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning.

Now make patties from the mixture that’s been resting. I made 5 patties… I grabbed a handful of the mixture and each patty weighed exactly 5.7 oz.

Press each patty into the seasoned crumbs and turn the patty over and press again getting crumbs on the sides too. Place patty on sprayed baking sheet and repeat till done.

The faux crab cakes go in the preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes on one side and get flipped over and stay in about 20 more minutes. When they come out of the over season the cakes on both sides with Old Bay Seasoning to taste.

Baked Jack Fruity Vegetarian Crab Cakes

Serve with lemon wedge, cocktail sauce and tarter sauce.

The sauces I whipped up and didn’t measure.

Cocktail Sauce – ketchup, prepared horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, chili pesto, sriracha, ground black pepper.

Tarter Sauce – home made dill pickle chopped, light mayo, fresh lemon juice, fresh dill, Aleppo pepper and ground black pepper

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Low Fat Low Sodium Beef Meatballs Recipe

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You can reduce the fat and sodium drastically in meatballs by simply not adding cheese. You also can reduce the fat by using lean beef……These meatballs don’t have cheese in them and were made with lean beef. All the fat was cut off the lean side of a brisket and then it was ground. You can purchase lean ground beef since nobody likes grounding beef. Salt was reduced again by substituting vegetable base that is less salt but salty with flavor. You can splurge and add some Italian hard cheese at serving time. The rest is just figuring out how to flavor them and to get them to a good texture. I was going to add fresh parsley but forgot to add it…..The meatballs still came out delicious and good so I left the fresh parsley out of the recipe. I recommend using a small scoop for the meatballs. This time I got 18 servings that was a total of 85 meatballs that happen to freeze and reheat very well. Use with your favorite pasta sauce or use winter tomato sauce recipe from The Forking Truth.

Ingredients for about 18 servings

3 lbs ground beef – lean is recommended

1 medium sized sweet onion (around 8oz) fine chopped

8 cherry peppers – minced (I used Sprouts Brand – Spicy/Sweet jarred)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

4 Tablespoons vegetable base (instead of salt)

6 eggs – lightly beaten

8oz whole wheat panko (Japanese Bread Crumbs) (Walmart, Asiana Market and Whole Foods sells Whole Wheat Panko)

Three Tablespoons dried basil

1 Tablespoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Before you add water do a small tester meatball in the oven for about 6 minutes and see how you like it. Add up to 3 Tablespoons water for a moister meatball but don’t add so much water it’s mushy. If you think it’s a little dry then add up to three tablespoons of water. Adjust seasoning to your liking but it’s probably about right with seasoning.

neutral non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray baking sheets with non stick spray.

In a medium sized fry pan on medium high heat add the oil. When hot add the onions, cherry pepper, black pepper and vegetable base. Cook till onions are clear. Shut off heat but leave on burner and add the garlic, basil, thyme and white pepper. Stir and leave to the side too cool.

I a very large mixing bowl or maybe two bowls add the beef, eggs and panko and mix well. The fry pan mixture is probably cool by now so add that in and mix well.

Make a small tester meatball so you can test seasoning and texture. Usually when you use lean beef you need to add a little water so it comes out moist (but not mushy) Test before adding water and see what you think. A half size ball will take about 6 minutes in the oven.

Once you are happy with meatball mixture use a small scoop and roll slightly and place you meatballs on the sprayed baking sheets with a little room around the meatballs. I used 6 small sheet pans that filled up my oven. In my oven the meatballs were done in 15 minutes.

Low Fat Low Sodium Beef Meatballs

Serve with tomato sauce and offer hard Italian Cheese. Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Crispy Basmati Rice with lentils and White Sonora Berries Recipe

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This dish is an inspiration of the classic Persian Style Rice Dish (Tahdig) and a nod to Chef Stephen’s Jones Forking Amazing Hopping John’s dish. Chef Jone’s dish was so Forking amazing I wanted to try to make it but I didn’t find the ingredients in my local store so I didn’t make it yet and made this instead. I got it delicious! and you can see the rice came out crispy and crusty like it should!

Ingredients for about 12 servings

2 cups basmati rice

1/2 pinch saffron

1/8 teaspoon turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoon Zatarain’s crab boil seasoning

1 orange – just the zest

1 carrot – shredded

1 celery stalk – fine chopped

1 green bell pepper minced.

1 medium sized sweet onion – minced

3 garlic cloves – grated

1 Tablespoon canola oil

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon vegetable base

I orange – just the zest

1/2 cup white sonaron berries

1 cup lentils

2 large or three small bay leaves

1/2 cup white sonaran berries

Some greens are suggested

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse rice very well till water turns clear and marinate the rice in water with about 1 Tablespoon of sea salt for two hours and set to the side.

Prepare vegetables, lentils and sonaran berries while rice is marinating.

The Sonaran Berries go in two cups of of boiling water that get reduced to a simmer for about an hour or until cooked.

Lentils go in a pot with two cups boiling water with two or three bay leaves. bring to boil and then reduce to simmer. About 30 minutes. When done remove and discard the bay leaves.

The vegetables that you just prepared get sautéed till cooked (about 10 minutes) 3 Tablespoons canola oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons Zataraines’s crab boil seasoning, 1/2 pinch saffron , 1/8 teaspoon turmeric , zest of one orange, Garlic, celery, green bell, onion, carrot and when cooked set to the side.

The vegetables, lentils and sonaran berries get combined.

The rice gets boiled for seven minutes.

Then you combine 3 tablespoons water with three tablespoons canola oil with 1/2 teaspoon vegetable base and this gets boiled in a non-stick pot.

Add rice on high and let it go 10 minutes.

Cover loose with foil and reduce heat to around medium low for about 45 minutes.

Mix crusty rice with lentil, vegetable sonara mixture.

Add some greens.

Serve.

Crispy Basmati Rice with Lentils and Sonora white Berries

Very tasty…Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Forking Amazing One Pot Chicken and Potatoes Recipe

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Forking Amazing One Pot Chicken and Potatoes

Lately I’m on a roll with these one pot chicken recipes. These recipes are very easy to prepare and come with the best flavors and very moist tender extra flavor chicken. First you brown up your chicken….It doesn’t matter if you brown in a pan or broil and then you use the drippings to cook and flavor your vegetables. Everything goes back in your oven proof pot or a pan. Cover tight with foil and in a little time you will have an amazing meal. Chicken is super tender and developed with flavors. Even the potatoes pick up all the flavors and turn real buttery. I must note with these one pan/pot recipes the skin on the chicken will never come out crisp enough to eat. The other thing that I need to mention is that you MUST cook with a thermometer……You must cook the chicken till it reaches at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat. I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked more so I prefer my chicken to be cooked to 180-200 degrees F. The chicken will still be very moist and flavorful. I like when it falls off the bone and all the unpleasant stuff melts out.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

4 lbs chicken quarters (3 large chicken quarters)

kosher salt to taste (to season chicken)

fresh ground pepper to taste (to season chicken)

granulated garlic to taste (to season chicken)

1 large sweet onion – chopped

2 Anaheim chile peppers – chopped

2 red serrano peppers – chopped (don’t use green Serranos they will be too spicy here) If you are substituting I’d recommend a small red bell and a red jalapeño or a couple red Fresnos)

2 celery stalks – chopped

2 carrots – cut up in slices that are about 1/2 inch thick

13 cloves garlic – chopped

1 Tablespoon soup base (instead of salt and it gives more flavor) use vegetable or chicken soup base

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

2 lbs yellow or red potatoes – depending on size you will need to cut in half or quarter if very large. You want them the size of small potatoes.

1/2 oz fresh rosemary

1/2 oz fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup water

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the chicken well with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Either brown chicken in pan all over or broil in the oven on both sides to brown. (either way takes about 10 minutes a side)

Pour the drippings in a sauce pot on medium high heat and add the onion, celery, carrots, fresh garlic, soup base, black pepper, bay leaves, potatoes, Anaheim and red pepper. Stir occasionally till onions, celery and carrots seem almost soft. Add a cup of water and bring it to a boil and as soon as it boils shut off the heat.

Pot contents go into your large baking vessel (oven safe pot or 1/2 pan). Add the herbs (rosemary, parsley, thyme). On top of the herbs add the chicken and cover very tight with foil.

All ovens and pans do differ. Today it took close to two hours for everything to be done. You must use a thermometer and I would check the pan at 90 minutes. Potatoes need to be fork tender and the chicken needs to be at least 165 degrees F. (safe is considered to be 165 degrees F but I like dark meat cooked a little more…..so if I was cooking I’d take the chicken to 180 – 200 degrees F) You take the chicken to what you enjoy best.

Everyone will love this.

Forking Amazing and easy One Pot Chicken and Potatoes

Forking YUM!

The Forking Truth

Battered Onion Rings and Squash Blossoms with Potato Kimchi Filling Recipe

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I saw these squash blossoms and I had to buy them. I knew that I wasn’t going to stuff them with cheese like everyone else does so I came up with a delicious tasty kimchi potato filling. when I got out the squash blossoms I saw that they were tiny and would be hard to stuff……but I stuffed them anyway. Then I looked around and thought that I can use the same tasty filling to stuff onions so I did. I played around with the batter…..I kind of like it better thinner on the blossoms and thicker for the stuffed onions…..I don’t want to confuse anyone but will give you the thin batter recipe here (very thin batter was 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c. corn starch, 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, 1 egg and 1 cup very cold seltzer but this is very thin but very crisp…only good for the blossoms) Down below is the thick batter recipe…I think if your picking one..then it’s the one to do. Also don’t worry about buying squash blossoms………Only use them if you have them because they are expensive and the onion rings add a nice taste and are tastier.

Ingredients for around 20 servings

12 squash blossoms (you have to remove the yellow thing in the back of the flower…see in picture below)

1 medium or small sweet onion – peeled – cut across around 4 times to make thick onion rings

1 lb potatoes – peeled – cut in quarters – boiled till soft and mashed

3/4 cup kimchi

1 Tablespoon gochujang

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup corn starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg – lightly beaten

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup seltzer (very cold)

canola oil to fry

Directions

Get your oil on 350 degrees F.

If you didn’t prepare the potatoes do that now. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Cover well with water and bring to a medium boil till the potatoes are fork tender. (usually around 15 minutes…could be more or less depending on size and boil) (((I didn’t worry about boiling with salt because the ingredients we are adding have lots of salt in them)))

While the potatoes are cooking remove the yellow things from the inside of the flowers by splitting the flower down the middle and removing the yellow thing. Put them to the side.

By now the potatoes are done so add kimchi, vinegar and gochujang to mashed potatoes and put to the side. When cool enough to handle stuff the flowers first till you run out of flowers. Only purchase LARGE flowers because these tiny ones are very hard to stuff.

Use the rest of the filling to stuff onion rings. (one I double stuffed)

When your oil is hot you can make the batter. In a small bowl add the flour, corn starch, salt, pepper, egg, baking powder and seltzer. Mix well. USE A TONG and dip stuffed flower or onion in the batter and shake off the excess. Fry until golden and repeat till you are done.

Battered Onion Rings and Squash Blossoms stuffed with Kimchi Potato filling

These are very tasty and really different! These have a lot of flavor and I don’t really think you need a sauce……..but if you want…….a little sriracha mayo, a mild mustard or a sweetened soy ginger sauce might be tasty here!

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Low Sugar Low Fat Mandarinquat topped Date Cake

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Low Fat Low Sugar Mandarinquat Date Cake

It’s pretty easy to bake a delicious cake with sugar and butter. I wanted to challenge myself today so I came up with a cake that is almost fat free and also is sugar free NATURALLY!!!!!!! A few months back I made a delicious banana snack cake without adding butter. I wondered if I could make a date cake without adding sugar or butter and I sort of did! I really didn’t know how great this cake was until I made it a 2nd time unembellished. A little while back I published this recipe just for the cake plain because many people don’t want a fancy cake and mess with making a marmalade ………..You can always purchase a jar of all-fruit jam without sugar to spread on the cake……I think any sort of orange flavor and a little chocolate goes very well with this cake (you can drizzle it a little melted chocolate or stick chocolate shavings to the side). Mandarinquats (a mandarin and kumquat cross) were used as a marmalade topping. The Mandarinquats are full of flavor, are perfect for marmalade and goes extremely well with dates. I wasn’t too sure about the cake being great with sugar or butter until I made the cake a second time……but I thought by dressing the cake with Mandarinquat Marmalade the cake would be delicious and it is…..I also embellished the cake with some leftover home made ricotta cannoli fillings that I used like frosting that I had in my freezer that aren’t too sweet but delicious…..A cake doesn’t have to have too much sugar or fat in it to taste good! I note that the marmalade recipe makes about double of what you need. It’s also better to make the marmalade the day before if you want the marmalade cool for your cake.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 cup water – (for marmalade)

1/2 lb mandarinquats – ends sliced off cut in slices – seeds removed (you may substitute other small citrus but the flavor and tartness may differ some) – (for marmalade)

small pinch ground star anise – (for marmalade)

one cinnamon stick – (for marmalade)

3/4 cup sugar – (for marmalade)

1/2 Meyer lemon – (for marmalade)

1 lb dates – pits removed – chopped – soaked in hot water 1/2 hour and drained – (for cake)

4 eggs beaten – (for cake)

3/4 cup flour – (for cake)

1 teaspoon cinnamon – (for cake)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder – (for cake)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda – (for cake)

1/4 teaspoon vanila extract – (for cake)

small pinch sea salt – (for cake)

non stick spray to spray pan for cake

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray 8 inch cake pan with non stick spray and set the pan to the side.

In a sauce pan on medium high heat add the citrus, star anise, cinnamon stick, sugar and bring to boil stirring pretty much……this takes a long time to cook…maybe 25 minutes (sorry I forgot to time)….you know its done just when you start to thing this will never get done……..The mixture starts to darken and thickens suddenly before your eyes and it’s done…Take off of heat when done and pour into a container to cool it some.

The soaked and drained dates get blended with the eggs……You blend them till it looks like cinnamon chocolate chip batter then you transfer to a mixing bowl. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

Pour into 8 inch non stick sprayed cake pan.

Bake until done. (in my oven this took 20 minutes)

Remove from oven when done.

If you are adding a cannoli or cream cheese boarder then you have to wait till the cake is cool to add it………and fill in with marmalade

Or you can add the marmalade right away and serve.

  • Low Fat Low Sugar Mandarinquat Date Cake

My husband was bummed that I made a dessert because he is not very found of sweets but even he said that this cake was very good and it is!

  • The Forking Truth

Forking AMAZING EZ Eye Roast Recipe

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I make an eye roast once or twice a year when they are on sale for $1.99 a pound. The secret here is that your pieces of eye roast must be trimmed and be in pieces that weigh 3-4 pounds. You make a paste and rub it all over. Throw them in a 500 degree F oven for JUST 15 minutes. Shut the oven off and leave the roast in there for two hours. Pull them out and leave the roast rest for one half hour and that’s all there is! This rub today just might be the very best one ever! ………Ultra delicious and flavorful!……..Out of the eye roast that was slightly over 8 lbs……after trimming and cooking ……I got 18 – 3oz servings plus 9 – 2oz servings. Leftovers freeze well.

Ingredients for about 25 servings

1 8 lb eye roast

1/3 cup canola oil

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 Tablespoons ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons granulated garlic

2 Tablespoons smoked paprika

pinch ground cloves

Directions

Set oven to 500 degrees F

Trim up the eye roast

Get off all the fat and silver skin.

Cut eye roast in half (you want two 3-4 lb pieces. Place roasts in pan.

In a small mixing bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Rub all the meat surfaces well with the spice paste.

this goes in the preheated 500 degree oven for only 15 minutes.*******BUT DON”T OPEN THE DOOR!******** After the 15 minutes DON’T OPEN THE FORKING OVEN and just shut it off. Leave the eye roast in the off oven for 2 hours….. Then you pull out and let rest for 30 minutes to let it rest before you serve.

Forking AMAZING EZ Eye Roast

Enjoy! (P.S. from the drippings from the pan you can bring it to a boil with around 4 or more medium sized sweet onions (sliced very thin) with a little water or a big splash of wine then reduce to simmer and cook about two hours…..It turns into a freaking incredible beefy onion gravy)

The Forking Truth

Cheesy Reduced Fat Spaghetti Squash Casserole Recipe

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Casseroles can be very heavy and are usually made with large amounts of fatty cheese or cheeses to hold them together. I tried to lighten this casserole by using a secret ingredient of fat free cottage cheese to hold the squash together with only three whole eggs. I think that fat free cottage cheese taste more milky and closer to natural than fat free ricotta. I did use a conservative amount of blended pizza cheese made with part skim for the top to make the casserole tastier with some tomato sauce. You might notice that I didn’t add salt because I thought my fat free cottage cheese was salty enough but yours may differ. You can do a taste test of the squash mixture before you put it in the pan by removing a spoonful and baking it in the oven on some foil for about 6 minutes. It’s important to drain the squash well. It also should be mentioned that the casserole isn’t heavy enough to hold all the moisture from the squash so it will collect water that you will have to drain. This does taste good!

Ingredients for around 16 portions

2 large spaghetti squash – roasted, seeds removed and squash scraped out of shell, drained ( mine came to around 8 cups)

2 lbs fat free cottage cheese

3 eggs

2 teaspoons dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

few grates fresh nutmeg

8 oz Italian cheese blend – preferably fresh grated (I used about 2/3 part skim mozzarella, provolone and sharp provolone)

2 cups tomato sauce – preferably any recipe that you enjoy (or you can use basic winter tomato sauce recipe from www.TheForkingTruth.com or whatever you want)

neutral non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a very large pan (I used a half pan) with non stick spray and set to the side. Also spray some aluminum foil for the top so the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil.

Once the spaghetti squash is drained put it in a very large mixing bowl and set it to the side.

Blend the cottage cheese till smooth. Blend in the eggs. Mix in the basil, oregano, peppers and nutmeg.

Add the cottage cheese mixture to the spaghetti squash and mix well. Now is the time to do the taste test for salt if you want to. When you are happy with the squash mixture pour it into the sprayed large pan and make the mixture smooth and even.

Spread out the grated cheese evenly over the top. Now spread out the tomato sauce over the top. Apply the foil with sprayed side towards the food.

This stays in the oven till cooked threw. In my oven this took 75 minutes. Yours may differ.

Serve with some grated Italian Cheese so nobody misses all the fat that isn’t there.

The Forking Truth

Forking EZ One Pot Chicken Mushrooms and Rice Recipe

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My favorite thing to cook lately are these EZ one pot chicken recipes. They are easy and delicious. You start by seasoning the chicken, then you brown up the chicken, use the drippings to infuse flavor to the vegetables. Add the chicken back to the pot (or pan) and finish in the oven all together this comes out FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS!…..Chicken quarters are also very cheap depending on where you shop….You should never pay more than .99cents a pound for chicken quarters. But I really like this way of cooking because the chicken always comes out moist and flavorful and delicious. With these dishes we don’t have to mess with sides of vegetables or other sides because everything is in the pot (or pan). The only bad issue is that the skin will never come out crisp enough to eat. The other thing that I should note is that oven timing will differ…….You will have to check the dish with a thermometer. You must get the rice cooked and the chicken must get to at least 165 degrees F. (but I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked more and I get it up to at least 180 – 200 degrees F. Unfortunately these are the most difficult dishes to photo. I waited till the dish was cold and the rice set up……really the rice comes out more soupy. This will be Forking Delicious and you and yours will love it.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

4 lbs chicken quarters (about 3 large quarters (seasoned with salt, pepper and granulated garlic)

kosher salt to taste – to season chicken on both sides

fresh ground black pepper to taste – to season on both sides

granulated garlic to taste – about twice the amount of the salt you used on both sides

1 large sweet onion chopped

2 stalks celery – chopped

2 carrots – peeled and chopped

4 oz mushrooms – sliced

1 red bell or a few red Fresnos -chopped

1 green bell or a green pepper with a little zip – chopped

13 garlic cloves – chopped well

1 Tablespoon soup base (instead of salt for less sodium and more flavor) use reduced sodium chicken or vegetable

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 oz fresh poultry herbs sage, thyme, rosemary (Smart and Final was selling them mixed together for $1.00 for 1 1/2 ounces) (leave them whole so you can pull them out when dish is ready to serve)

optional fennel fronds (I happened to have some leftover in my refrigerator so I threw them in)

2 cups water

1 cup arborio rice or regular long grain rice is fine here too!

Directions

Start by browning the seasoned chicken on both sides either in a fry pan or broil in the oven about 10 minutes on both sides. ( either way skin isn’t crisp enough and more chicken fits under broiler than in fry pan)

Next use the drippings for the sauce pot (put chicken to the side).

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Get the sauce pot (if you have a very large oven proof pot use it here) on medium high heat and add the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, soup base, black pepper, bell peppers and mushrooms. Stir occasionally and cook till onions are soft. Then add water and bring to boil add rice mix and shut off heat.

If this is a large oven proof pot leave it…if not carefully transfer to a large pan (I used a half pan) Top with the fresh herbs. Top herbs with the browned chicken quarters and cover tightly with foil.

Leave in oven till rice is soft and chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F. (I like my dark chicken more done and I leave till at least 180 – 200 F) Ovens do differ….pans make the timing differ and the size of your leg quarter will differ……….and they differ even more if you have another pan in the oven… (be careful not to get yourself burnt from steam when you check your pan). Mine took around 105 minutes today.

It came out delicious!

Forking EZ One Pot Chicken Mushrooms and Rice

This was cold when I photoed and the rice really comes out more soupy…..BUT this does come out Forking Delicious!

The Forking Truth