This is a variation of a brisket recipe I got by watching Diners Drive Inns and Dives on Food Network. Guy Fieri said this brisket was amazing and I think my last brisket recipe was pretty much what I saw on TV. There is no searing or smoking. The hard part is trimming off the hard fat and deciding on how much fat that you want to leave on. Briskets were on sale so I picked one up. It happened to be a small one (around 9 lbs) I cut off not all but most of the fat. Then I just cut the brisket in half. Sprinkled a whole 1.41 oz box of Sazon all purpose seasoning. One pan got 2 lbs onions and some garlic and a 1/2 cup of water, smoked sea salt and black pepper. The other pan got red peppers, garlic, smoked sea salt, black pepper, and 1/2 a cup of water. Cover pans tight and 6 hours latter we had really great flavorful brisket. (one pan didn’t contain onions so my dogs could eat some and it still came out delicious anyway) Serving size will differ dramatically on depending on how much fat you trim and how much fat you are willing to eat. Jiggly brisket fat grosses me out so I trimmed mine far more than you probably would. My 9 pound brisket only made around 9 not so big dinners……..(but I think they gave me more fat than meat …..).
Ingredients for at least 9 servings
1 brisket (mine was 9 pounds) – trimmed to your liking and cut in half
1 – 1.41 ounce package Sazon con Colantro & Achiote (cilantro and annatto)
15 garlic cloves – chopped
2 lbs. onions – sliced and rough chopped
3 red bell peppers – slices and rough chopped
4 sweet potatoes – peeled – cut in half if large
1 cup water
a good sprinkle smoked sea salt
1 good sprinkle fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F
Each pan gets 1/2 a brisket sprinkled with 1/2 the Sazon. One pan gets all the onions, 1/2 the garlic, a good sprinkle of smoked sea salt and black pepper and a half cup of water.
The 2nd pan gets all the bell peppers, the sweet potatoes, 1/2 the garlic, a good sprinkle of smoked sea salt, black pepper, and a 1/2 cup water.
These pans get covered tight with foil and go on the middle rack for around 6 hours.
I thought this was extra easy!
FORKING EASY and DELICIOUS Brisket
(Tip***** You will want to put the briskets in the refrigerator over night so you can slice them. The liquid you might want to chill overnight so you can remove the thick layer of fat. *****Another hint- You might want to keep that fat in your freezer. It can add a lot of flavors to other foods and it can also be used to make beef gravy.)
We recently had our first cool day since May so we took the dogs to Those Guys Pies in North Las Vegas Nevada. They are a pizza and cheesesteak restaurant that has been featured on Food Network’s Diners Drive-ins and Dives. I’ve been here a few times and we asked if they were dog friendly and they said YES! They even have dog biscuit vending machine inside. So far we do like the steak sandwiches here and we also think that the Italian White pizza is very good!
Today my husband got another cheesesteak but the one he had today had extra cheese. My bad I forgot to photo so here is a picture of the last one he woofed down.
Today I got a Caesar salad with added roasted tomatoes and grilled chicken.
It’s made with white meat chicken that is moist. The salad is fresh and crisp and the dressing is reasonably good. But my dogs think that the chicken is great! My bigger dog periodically while dining slaps me for more chicken.
They also get a little bit of cheesesteak.
We all enjoyed our trip to Those Guys Pies in North Las Vegas.
That was Dining out with DOGS at Those Guys Pies.
Those Guys Pies
5585 Simmons Street North Las Vegas NV – 725-251-5826
The Market Place Buffet is located in the Rampart Casino in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas Nevada. This buffet offers a combination of American foods and global inspired foods. They are open for breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner. They offer soft beverages, beer, and wine.
We tried them on a Saturday night that happened to be Aloha Night.
Not all but a few of the offerings were kalua pig (pictured above)
fried chicken
huli huli chicken
fried shrimp
coconut creamed spinach
sweet potatoes
mashed potatoes
roasted turkey breast
prime rib
a salad bar
assorted cheeses and cold cuts
assorted bread buns and tapenades
raviolis and pasta dishes
pizzas
three different soups
around 6 different Chinese dishes (the curry chicken was really great!)
and a dessert station with gelato
All this was only $30.99 a person (subject to change).
This wasn’t fancy food but honestly this was much better than I expected it to be. All the meats EVEN THE TURKEY BREAST were warm, tender, moist, and nicely seasoned. The desserts that we tried (gelato, lemon tart, lemon roll) were also a better quality than most typical buffets.
The Market Place Buffet at Rampart Casino is WORTH A TRY!
Amazing Thai Restaurant has two locations in Las Vegas. They are a little different from other Thai Restaurants because they offer vegan dishes and traditional Thai dishes. The North Las Vegas location isn’t a fancy place but is cozy with traditional seating, booth, and bar seating.
This is the first time I saw eggplant chips on a menu so I wanted to try them.
WOW! They are really great! they are made from a fancy white flesh eggplant and are creamy and sweet inside. The exterior is so crisp and it’s fried so perfect that it seems free of oil. I didn’t think I’d like the sweet sauce but it’s not too sweet and has flavors and heat. It’s pretty good too!
I tried the spicy basil eggplant with chicken and brown rice.
It’s very good but different from other places that I tried this dish from. The white meat chicken is tender. They use white flesh fancy sweet eggplant here too. It’s the sauce that has a deeper kind of taste…….
My husband tried the drunken noodles with beef.
Flavors are good. Heat level is good but beef today is a little on the chewy side.
1228 Main Bakery Bar & Restaurant is located in the Arts District of Las Vegas Nevada Downtown. This restaurant offers fresh brewed coffee, baked goods, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a late night menu. This restaurant is part of the Wolfgang Puck Restaurant group but nothing about that is found on the website.
Besides salads, sandwiches, and entrees you might splurge to take home a loaf of bread or maybe try a fresh baked pastry.
During lunch time it’s very casual and you order and pay, grab a table number, and seat yourself.
I tried a smoked salmon latke.
The salmon seems fresh and silky. It seems like it might be from the belly area…..It also seems to be hand sliced…(you don’t find that at most places) This is very good! The smoked salmon, red onion, fresh dill, and dill cream fraiche sit on top of a perfectly prepared potato latke.
My husband a sandwich called Italian meat.
It’s made of fresh baked rosemary focaccia, basil aioli (on side at request), provolone cheese, soppressata, mortadella, prosciutto, and a very good salad on the side. My husband commented that the meats used were a very good quality and that he would enjoy eating this sandwich again. He also said that I made a very good choice today.
We managed to save room to try a lemon cruffin.
The lemon cruffin is FORKING AMAZING…….It’s like a croissant but more tender and moist and it’s filled with the most splendid lemon curd that is so flavorful….so true lemon tart with just enough sweet. There should be a line out the door for this dessert alone.
We came back to take advantage of their happy hour (3-6 every day) We got a bottle of cabernet that was only a couple dollars over cost so that was a great deal!
Then we shared what they call a Cypress Grove Bermuda Triangle (goat cheese and toasted pumpernickel….embelleshed with beets)
Oh YUM!! This is delicious……It’s a different style of pumpernickel than what I’m used to but it is all delicious together.
For dinner I had one of the most PHENOMENAL chicken dinners ever!
This was the roasted jidori chicken thigh with Brentwood sweet corn, romesco, and chive oil. The skin was reduced to as thin as paper. The chicken is infused with great flavors and is so tender it melts in your mouth. It was really FORKING AMAZING!
My husband tried the 1228 Wagyu Burger (dijonaise, American cheese, red onion, kosher dill, and fries)
It a solid good tasty burger (2 patty smash style) with very above average tasty fries with fluffy interiors. But my husband said if he knew how amazing the chicken was he would have ordered the chicken and he almost never orders chicken out.
I was too full to fit in dessert but I did take out a Amalfi olive oil lemon cake.
It taste the way it looks….It’s moist, rich, and very lemon-ee………
1228 Main Bakery Bar & Restaurant is Worth a Fork!
This recipe isn’t for everyone because you have to wing it depending on the heat and taste of your hatch Chile peppers. The Smith’s Grocery store near me has a really good Murray’s Cheese Counter and I almost always pick up the WOO HOO sales at the cheese counter for fun. As a result my hobby at Smith’s my refrigerator is usually packed with TONS of cheese that I hardly pay for. I know most people would never use this much cheese in a recipe but it came out really delicious. I also have many dried peppers I use to boost the taste since the hatch chilies I bought here are extra light on flavor and extra EXTRA light with heat. You will not be in the same situation.
I do make my macaroni and cheese different from most people no matter what flavor profile I’m doing. I do make a cheese sauce but I usually make it with a little corn starch (I HATE the taste of flour when I eat macaroni and cheese and cornstarch works better), nonfat dry milk, no butter, and LOTS of cheese.
Today I did something a little different. I was afraid I’d over cook the pasta. So I started the pasta out in a bowl of hot salted water for a few minutes. I noticed the pasta was softer and I drained it. Then I baked it with layers of cheese sauce and some added cheese.
When this all baked it did have some oil on the top and I added some crushed white tortilla chips and a masa, onion, crumb mixture that I added to the top.
Then I finished it with some chopped Mexican green onion, cilantro, and some pickled red onion.
According to my husband this came out to be a Masterpiece. It did come out FORKING delicious too!
Ingredients for around 12 servings
1/2 a pound box of pasta (either a point or twisty type) 8-9 ounces
1 teaspoon jalapeño flakes (or to taste) – cheese sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper – cheese sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper – cheese sauce
15 oz mature cheddar cheese – either shredded or chopped (This is used to layer between pasta and sauce)
4 oz butter – melted – I used salted but you can use either – crumbs
1/2 cup harina de maiz – crumbs
1/4 cup flour – crumbs
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used Mexican onion) – crumbs
1/2 cup hard shredded Italian cheese (I used grana padano) – crumbs
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper flakes – crumbs
1 teaspoon smoked paprika – crumbs
non stick spray
2 oz crushed white tortilla chips – for finishing
2 Tablespoons – scallions – for finishing
2 Tablespoons – cilantro , chopped – for finishing
Optional (but better if you make some) 2 Tablespoons pickled red onions – for finishing (EZ – 1 onion sliced thin, 1/2 C. water, 1/2C. white vinegar, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon g. black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon g. coriander)
Directions
Microwave or put on a pot of water with salt to boil. The pasta only needs around three minutes and then drain the pasta and put to the side.
Make cheese sauce. In a pot mix together the corn starch and milk powder. Then whisk in the water. This needs to be on medium heat until thickened. Keep stirring the bottom because it can burn.After it is thick add the cheddar, goat, brie cheese, and hatch Chile peppers. You will need to lower the heat to low. Add the hatch flakes, jalapeno flakes, black and white pepper.. Take off the heat.
This gets layered like lasagna.
Preheat oven to 350.
Use a big pan or 1/2 pan and spray with non stick spray.
Start with about three serving spoons of cheese sauce.
Next add about 1/3rd of pasta.
next add about 1/3rd of the cheddar cheese.
2 -3 serving spoons of cheese sauce.
1/3 of the noodles.
about 1/2 the cheddar.
1/2 the cheese sauce that is left. then top that with remaining pasta.
Add more cheese.
use the rest of the sauce.
Cover with foil that was sprayed with non stick spray. This goes on the middle rack of a preheated 350F degree oven till it’s cooked threw. Oven DO FORKING DIFFER. In my old GE oven this would take around an hour. In my Whirlpool oven this took 1 hour and 20 minutes.
While it’s baking make the crumb topping.
In a small bowl combine the butter, harina de mai, flour, onion, italian cheese, chipotle pepper flakes, and smoked paprika. This goes on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray. This goes on your upper rack till done. In my oven this took 30 minutes but oven do differ. I’d look at it in 20 minutes and then decide if it needs more time.
After 30 minutes mine looked like this.
By now your baked pasta dish will be ready.
You need to assemble it.
It will have some oil on the top that separated from the cheese.
The crushed tortilla flakes are perfect for that add them first.
Then add the crumb topping.
Next add the cilantro and scallions.
Finish with pickled onions.
Extra Cheesy Hatch Chile and Cheese Noodle Casserole
There’s always something new, weird, different, special, or limited edition in the wonderful world of food. We never know WTFork we will come across when we shop for food. Up above is
DIFFERENT – Post Disney 100 years of Wonder naturally and artificially flavored “FRUITY” flavored cereal…?????? Fruity can be anything…….it can even be castoreum. I sure hope that it’s not castoreum because that is the fluid from the beaver’s castor sac gland by his butthole……Well whatever this stuff is made from it looks like you will poop Christmas from eating it.
NEW – Wonderworks Keto Friendly Cereal that’s naturally and artificially flavored FRUITY…YIKES Fruity again!
DIFFERENT – Wonderworks Keto Friendly Peanut Butter Cereal….Try this maybe you will go nuts for it?
DIFFERENT – Wonderworks Keto Friendly NATURALLY Flavored chocolate cereal…..Sounds good but don’t know.
DIFFERENT – Kellogg’s It’s Back Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Cereal….Might be good…might suck?
SPECIAL EDITION – Kellogg’s Red & Blue Color Mix Rice Krispies. Red and blue mixed together makes purple…So that means you will poop purple after eating this.
DIFFERENT – Bushwick Kitchen Trees Knees Spicy Maple Syrup…..This looks like a shampoo bottle…….???? What were they thinking?
NEW – Campbell’s Chuncky Spicy Chicken Quesadilla…….This flavor can’t be good. Who wants a soggy quesadilla?
LIMITED EDITION – Van Leeuwen Campfire S’Mores French Ice Cream. Might be good or just ok…The regular flavors of this ice cream usually are very good.
LIMITED EDITION – Van Leeuwen Hot Honey French Ice Cream – I almost cracked and almost picked this up….Sounds like a hot mess that might be…..(BEE)……delicious????????
DIFFERENT – Hershey’s MILKLICIOUS Kisses…..????? It seems these days they will add anything to Waterdown the chocolate……..
DIFFERENT – Mr Beast Quinoa Crunch Chocolate Bar…..????…..Mr Beast eats quinoa? Who knew?
WEIRD – Cap’n Crunch’s naturally and artificially crunch berry rice crisp bar…..This is the stuff that fuels CEREAL KILLERS.
DIFFERENT – Kettle brand air fried potato chips in jalapeño and Himalayan salt flavored…..Sounds like a great idea!
DIFFERENT – Dr Pepper zero sugar strawberries and cream……It’s different than Dr Pepper….Maybe Dr Pepper when he is sick?
DIFFERENT – Crush Soda in Strawberry and Grapefruit……Crush always was an orange flavored soda…..Nothing is forever anymore.
LIMITED EDITION – Old Bay seasoned Goldfish crackers. They’d be good in soup!
WEIRD – Kroger Deluxe Mermaid Sparkle….WTFork! is that? Blended up Mermaids with fish scales and hair…YUK! Someone must have been on drugs to come up with this one.
And there is usually something Oreo.
DIFFERENT – Deluxe Oreo Brownie made with Oreo Cookie Pieces (probably the little ends that break off in production?)
Well that was the new, weird, different, limited, and special edition for August 2023. Who knows WTFork we’ll come across next month?
Seafood City is a Filipino Supermarket Chain with locations in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, and Washington.They also have Canadian locations in Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba.
The North Las Vegas Location has a bakery inside called Red Ribbon Bakeshop.
They also have a Filipino BBQ called Grill City.
We decided to try Grill City.
There is a lot to see. Some of the pans are marked but with no explanation so some people have to use cell phone for google. Saw Balut here…….(undeveloped bird eggs).
They don’t sell skewers by the each and you have to buy five. My husband got a mix of pork and chicken skewers. He also got a longanisa sausage skewer.
He said that the meat on the skewers was tender but wasn’t a fan of the sweet sauce on them. He did like the sausage!
I saw 4 different fish dishes and picked the fish that I thought looked best and an ear of corn. We also shared a side order of rice.
This fish turned out to be grilled bangus. It’s also known as vinegar marinated milkfish served with spicy vinegar on the side.
This one is stuffed with onions, tomatoes, and peppers…..At first I didn’t like it but for some reason it did taste better when I added the spicy vinegar. The meat is a little dry but not hard and chewy like from the last Filipino restaurant I went to.
The corn is on the dried out side too.
We are done with lunch and are looking around some. There are lots of dry goods, baked goods, produce, and fish here. I saw prepared foods, live plants, and liquor too!
LOTS of fish here.
Surprisingly it doesn’t smell like fish here.
I’m going to buy halibut collars next time.
There is lots of milkfish here and lots of frozen milkfish here.
milkfish in citrus pepper
smoked milkfish
milkfish belly
Not all but some of the potato chips are very expensive.
$20.89 for an 8 oz bag of potato chips…My husband said he read duck eggs were an ingredient.
They also sell pig heads here.
We bought salmon here that seemed very fresh and my husband smoked it on aider wood and it came out really great! We also bought bok choy that was very good.
Smoke & Fire BBQ is located in Las Vegas Nevada. One of their signature dishes might be a blueberry chicken sandwich or it might be the massive burger called, The Smoke Show.” They offer starters such as sliders, smoked chicken wings, and loaded bbq fries. They also offer a fire Caesar salad, smoked ribs, burgers, sandwiches, and meat plates.
It’s slightly casual. You seat yourself at the bar, patio, or dining room. You do need a cellphone to view the QR menu. Then someone takes your order.
I tried the Fire Caesar Salad with added chicken.
I received a large aluminum tin filled with crunchy romaine, shreds of nutty Italian type cheese, crunchy nicely flavored croutons, spicy but delicious chipotle Caesar dressing, and pulled chicken on the side. This all taste much better than I was expecting. It is actually very good. The dressing is so darn flavorful that you only want a little and this is just right. The cheese and the croutons are just delicious. The pulled chicken is moist, tender, and delicious. It is a really great salad! It’s also big I enjoyed it for lunch and dinner!
We also shared a side order of macaroni and cheese.
It’s pretty good…Lots of cheeses and doesn’t taste like Velveta.
My husband got the burger that they call Smoke Show………It’s a whole bunch of stuff!
1/2 pound Angus burger patty, bacon, 3oz. brisket, 2 oz. pulled chicken, 2 oz, pulled pork, American cheese, pepper jack cheese, crispy onions, fries, fire sauce, mustard bbq sauce, spicy bbq sauce, and bbq sauce on brioche bun with fries. He said that it was a very good burger. He asked for medium-rare and he thought it came out closer to medium but was still very good because it was juicy and moist. He thought all the separate meats were very good. This was also a very rare time when my husband had leftovers to bring home.
Smoke & Fire BBQ is for sure Worth a Try!
Smoke & Fire – 3315 E Russell Rd Las Vegas NV – 725-214-5398
Those Guys Pies is a pizza and sandwich shop with three locations in Las Vegas Nevada. The North Las Vegas location looks pretty much like most pizza restaurants……..BUT if they look familiar to you it might be because this restaurant was on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Inns, and Dives TV Show.
You order and pay at the counter. Then you grab a beverage and seat yourself. I noticed something very unusual here…………
…………They have a dog biscuit vending machine here! I never saw one before. Dogs are allowed on the patio. I’ll bring my dogs here when the weather is better.
Anyway back to the food……
I tried the chicken steak hoagie (no cheese) with a side of cherry peppers.
It’s PRETTY GOOD! It might be better than an actual chicken steak from Philly (I’m originally from the Philadelphia area). Instead of shaved or foamed chicken like what many places serve here they chop up moist chicken breast. To my surprise they don’t slather the bread with mayo either. They use oil and vinegar seasoned with Italian seasoning and the cherry peppers are vinegar brined and HOT! The bread isn’t Amorosa’s but holds up to the filling and isn’t as squishy as what most places serve. This is also a very large sandwich to me so I ate half. My husband said that he wouldn’t mind eating the other half later so I guess he will.
He got rib eye pizza steak with cherry peppers and American cheese instead of mozzarella.
He enjoyed it and ate the whole thing!
On another visit we started out by sharing a large lake side salad (mixed greens, roasted tomatoes, pickled red onions, smoked almonds, cranberries, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette)
It tasty and something a little different.
We also shared a regular sized (14 inch) Italian White Pie (with the sausage on the side). (ricotta, mozzarella, broccoli rabe, sausage, garlic, caramelized onion, roasted tomato, lemon oil)
WOW! This one is very delicious with all kinds of flavors and it taste like a good amount of quality ricotta was used too! This is a really great pizza!
Those Guys Pies is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Those Guys Pies
5585 Simmons Street North Las Vegas NV – 725-251-5826
