Forking Delicious Recipes
  ...A long, delicious love affair with food
Tuscan Rosemary Shortbread . Kale and Chorizo Frittata . Grilled Swordfish . Fresh Corn Madeleines . Organic Turkey, Sage and Pinenut Meatballs with Tazatziki . Pavlovas . Almond Joy Cheesecake . Fiori di Zucca .  Hearty Beef Stew . Moong Dal . Shrimp Salad . Lemon Ice Mojitos . Fresh Poached Apricots and Blueberries. Cooling Minty Watermelon . Seafood Chimichangas
Almond Joy courtesy of rakka and Flickr
Zucchini Flower courtesy of Bern@t and  Flickr
Mojito courtesy of drunken monkey and Flickr
Fresh Corn Madeleines with Yogurt Tomatillo Sauce

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus additional
for brushing pans
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 egg
1/3 cup buttermilk (shake well)
1/2 fresh corn kernels, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and brush your Madeleine pans
with a little melted butter. Whisk dry ingredients in a medium
bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients, including corn, in another
bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, stirring until
combined.

Spoon about a teaspoon of batter into each mold. Bake until Madeleines are golden around the edges and springy when touched (about 6 minutes).Turn out on a wire rack to cool.

Topping
Whisk Greek yogurt and a good tomatillo salsa together to suit your taste. You might finish things off with a squeeze of lime and some kosher salt. Again, to suit your palate.

The corn makes these Madeleines more moist and dense than regular dessert Madeleines. They a nice accompaniment with any dish you might serve with cornbread.
Almond Joy Cheesecake

Crust
1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 ½ cups toasted flaked coconut
½ cup toasted sliced almonds
¼ cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until
the consistency of a coarse meal. Cover bottom and 2" up the sides of
a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake the crust about 12 minutes and cool.
Reduce oven to 325.Filling
Four 8 oz packages of cream cheese, room temp
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup toasted flaked coconut
1 cup toasted sliced almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, til just blended. Add vanilla. Add coconut and almonds, alternating, til just blended. Pout into crust. Bake until cake is puffed and set (no longer shakes in the middle), about an hour and 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Glaze
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup whipping cream
½ teaspoon vanilla

Combine ingredients in a small heavy saucepan. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Cool until glaze begins to thicken but can still be poured. Pour over cooled cheesecake and chill completely.

Courtesy of Margie Viola
Holding and turning the stem, coat a flower well with batter. Place flower in the boiling oil; working quickly, take up the next flower and repeat. When one third of the flowers are in the oil, stop coating and watch the flowers closely. As each becomes a light golden color, turn it over in the oil once with tongs and finish frying the other side.
Remove the flowers one by one from the oil and drain on absorbent paper. Place them on a plate and sprinkle lightly with salt on both sides. Serve the first round immediately. Continue the process until all cooked.

Variations:

Stuffed zucchini flowers – Fiori di zucca can be stuffed with water-packed mozzarella and/or slivers of anchovies that have been washed, drained and patted dry.

Mozzarella alone is too full of water to use unprepared. To prepare the mozzarella, first sauté the mozzarella in a small sauté pan to remove excess water. You will need to press it a bit as the water is released. When the mozzarella ball is flatter and drier, cut into matchstick slices about 1 ½ in long by ¼ in wide. Place s trip of cheese and one anchovy piece inside a flower and gently twist the flower top to close it. Carefully batter and fry according to instructions above.

Sweet flowers: Add one tablespoon of sugar to the batter, and after cooking dust with sugar instead of salt.

Courtesy of Amore Sapore – Elisabetta Wholey and Melchiorre Chessa
Shrimp Salad

I am sure you’ve read Kathy’s wonderful diary entry about our 3rd annual Riverton Picnic. The day was perfect and the pictures really make everything come alive. For those of us there, it just refreshes our memories. I made (as requested) my shrimp salad along with some tomato and cheese focaccia.

Everyone wanted the recipe for the shrimp salad so here it is. Keep in mind I cook with my senses so my measurements are almost non-existent.

You need:
Shrimp (cleaned and deveined, any size)
Mayo
Dill
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Olive Oil
Large Skillet
Food processor or knife and cutting board

Yes that’s it.

Now, with those ingredients, it's all about your taste.  If you like lots of dill add lots, if you love garlic add an extra dash, just be careful with the amount of salt you add, you only need a pinch.

1. Coat skillet with olive and heat pan
2. Add shrimp
3. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper
4. Toss just once to coat shrimp with oil and ingredients
5. Cook until shrimp are almost done
6. Add chopped dill
7. Continue cooking until shrimp are done
8. Be sure to toss so that shrimp are evenly covered with all ingredients
9. Take off heat and let rest about 5-10 minutes (You want your shrimp to be a little warm)
10. Put shrimp in the food processer (in batches depending on how much you’re making) and pulse until you have your desired size. (Be sure to pulse you don’t want mush)
11. If you don’t have a food processor just chop shrimp on your cutting board to your desired size (I like a combination of big and small pieces)
12. Put shrimp in a bowl along with all the skillet drippings and fold in mayo to your likeness. Work your way up to the desired amount, you can always add more but you can’t take away.

Courtesy of Donna Russell
Moong Dal

This is a quick and easy vegetarian dish with spunk.

Ingredients to serve 4-6
• 1 cup yellow lentils (or yellow split peas)
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 6 cups water (I have NEVER used that much. I start with half that and add as I go, as needed)
• 3 hot green peppers, halved and seeded (I use serranos as they are easy to find)
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon curry leaves (you can sub curry powder in a pinch)
• salt to taste
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced

(I like my flavors a bit pungent so I tend to go heavier on the ginger, garlic and cloves.)

Bring water, yellow lentils, serrano peppers, turmeric, cloves, curry and salt to taste to a rapid boil, then lower to medium heat and cook for 20-30 minutes. In a fry pan, melt butter and stir fry minced garlic, ginger and whole cumin seeds til they soften and are aromatic (About 2-3 minutes). Mix into the lentil dish and cook on med high for another 2 minutes. Lentils will be al dente to tender but should still have their lentil consistency. Serve on rice. Its is great the next day when the flavors intensify.

Courtesy of Kathy Simon
Lemon Ice Mojitos

Take 2 tall frosted glasses. Add 2-3 fresh mint sprigs, 2 tsps sugar (superfine, if you have it),  2 tablespoons fresh lime (lemon juice also works but is not quite  perfect), 1-1 1/2 ounces of light rum. Mix with a tall spoon taking care to crush the mint leaves agaist the side of the glass. Add Rita's lemon or lime water ice to fill 2/3 of the glass. Top with seltzer water or a sparkling lemonade/limeade. (I use Musette's which you can get in the Acme for $2.99/bottle). Mix and add more water ice, as you prefer.

Courtesy of Kathy Simon
Hearty Beef Stew courtesy of Ruthalice43 and  Flickr
Hearty Beef Stew

Dredge the meat in flour, salt and cracked black pepper, knocking off excess flour:
2 lbs marbled chuck cubes
1 lb lean sirloin cubes
Brown beef in batches in a heavy pan with olive oil, beginning with the chuck to render the fat. Don’t be afraid of the bits that stick and brown, but keep your flame at medium so nothing scorches.

When the meat is browned, set aside in a bowl. Deglaze the heavy pan with a hearty/spicy red wine. Pour in a cup and simmer as you stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the browned bits off the side and bottom. Add wine as you go. (We used ¾ of a bottle.)
Fiori di Zucca Fritti
Fried Zucchini Flowers

16-20 very fresh zucchini flowers
3 cups flour
Very cold mineral water (like Pellegrino or Calistoga)
1 to 1 ½ liters of sunflower, safflower or other light, high smoking point
Salt

These delicious appetizers cook quickly. Practice a bit before you serve them to guests so you recognize the perfect point of doneness. The batter should become golden and crispy but not hard. It is best to pick zucchini flowers in the morning when they are open, like lilies. Gather about 20 flowers leaving 4 inch stems. Do not wash.

In a deep frying pan (10 inches in diameter) heat the oil to boiling. The oil must be deep enough so the frying flowers do not touch the bottom of the pan. (A wok works well)

Whisk flour with enough fizzy water to make a batter that is creamy and dense, similar to pancake batter. Let it sit for 10 minutes and re-stir.
When all the little browned bits are free of the pan sides and bottom,
and mixed in the wine, pour the liquid over your browned meat.
Put some olive oil in the heavy pan and sauté the leeks and onion until softened.
Leeks – white part, halved and fanned in water to clean
Roughly chopped yellow onion

When softened, add roughly chopped:
Garlic (4-5 cloves)
Carrots (one large bag of baby carrots)
Celery (4 ribs)
Turnips (4-5 small, peeled and diced)

Mix, cover and lower the heat to caramelize for 20-30 minutes until the root vegetables are a bit softer and just beginning to go golden and aromatic. Add the roughly diced:
Potatoes
Mushrooms

And a can of whole or diced tomatoes with a 2nd can of tomato puree.
Mix in the wine and meat, stir until well mixed.
Add 2-3 bay leaves and some roughly cut thyme and flat leaf parsley.

Cover loosely and simmer for an hour. Stir now and again to check the liquid level. Add more wine or tomatoes if needed. As it simmers, taste and correct seasoning – salt, pepper, thyme, etc.

Courtesy of Kathy Simon
Kate's Fresh Poached Apricots and Blueberries

1 1/4 lb. apricots (cut in half)
2 C white wine (I used chardonnay)
1/2 C sugar
1 vanilla bean
2-3 fresh basil leaves

Heat the wine in a saucepan, stir in the sugar until it dissolves.  Add the vanilla and apricots, cut side down.  Simmer about 4 minutes (not too long or they will get mushy). Remove the apricots and continue cooking the wine for about 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken just a bit. Pour the syrup over the apricots and add the basil leaves.

I added blueberries as an afterthought and cooked them in the exact same way, only using a little less wine.

Courtesy of Kate
2010 . 2009 . 2008 . 2007 . 2006 . Restaurants . Recipes . Inquirer Article
Cooling Summer Watermelon

Watermelon
Fresh mint (sliced super fine, a chiffonade of mint)
A good block of Parmeggiano Reggiano
Fresh cracked pepper

Buy a good sized watermelon and keep in the refrigerator overnight. Cold, juicy  watermelon makes this recipe a treat.
Slice your watermelon into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thin wedges
Sprinkle with a light covering of mint (very finely sliced)
Give a dusting of freshly cracked pepper
Top with a snowstorm of finely grated parmesan (use a micro plane)

Courtesy of Kathy Simon
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