Category Archives: Forking Thoughts

Random Forking Items of Interest

My FORKING Thoughts on Reese’s Potato Chips BIG CUP

The Reese’s Big Cup with potato chips have been out for a while but today I finally broke down and tried one.

I open it up.

Mine is slightly defective. I don’t want to know what it’s been though.

I cut it in half.

Lets take a closer look.

At first I thought that they left out the chips but I can see some in there……..

I start on the end.

Wow…that is a good amount of Reese’s chocolate….I never had that much before….I kinda like that……..

Now for a bite into the peanut butter. The peanut butter taste good like it normally does….but……

Not what I was expecting…

SUPER CRISP CRUNCHY HARD small pieces of wavy or ridged potato chips that are tasteless but so crunchy that they seem like coated with something like ceramic. I have no idea how they sucked out all the flavor from the chips? I also have no idea how they got them so oddly hard like ceramic. I was almost worried that I could damage my teeth.

I pulled one out of my mouth.

They’re not bad…….I think the best part is the thick chocolate that you wouldn’t normally get with a Reese’s…..For a Big Cup they really aren’t so big and are less than 200 calories (180 to be exact). If you don’t mind super hard crunches in your Reese’s cup they are pretty good…..but the chips are strange and for me too crunchy……..I was afraid I’d damage a filling or chip a tooth. I will go chipless next time.

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Reese’s Potato Chips Big Cup. Your FORKING Thoughts on Reese’s Potato Chips Big Cup may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

Sushi Burger from Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi Peoria AZ – A FORKING TASTY DISH – Worth a Fork!

Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi Restaurant is located in the P83 area of North Peoria that is near to the Peoria Sports Complex. This area is also known as the UpperWestSide in Metro Phoenix Arizona. Everything that Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi restaurant serves is never from frozen. They also offer a full bar, thirty two taps and lots of big screen TVS for watching sports. As for food they offer lots of starters, wings, burgers, pizzas, salads, sandwiches, big plates, sushi, sushi rolls and some fun sushi fusion like the FORKING TASTY Sushi Burger. FORKING Tasty just means FORKING Tasty. It’s unusually good tasting. Recently I had a high quality fish sandwich from somewhere and it didn’t taste nearly as tasty as this Sushi Burger from Headquarters.

The FORKING TASTY Sushi Burger

The FORKING Tasty Sushi Burger is made of really (FORKING) tasty fried rice patties, spicy tuna, shredded krab (faux crab…usually does not contain crab and is usually made from lower costing pollock fish), soft greens, cucumber, avocado, eel sauce (sweetened soy based sauce), and spicy mayo. Somehow this combination is unusually FORKING TASTY. A little dab of of that thick neon green wasabi paste and it’s even a little MORE FORKING Tasty.

The Sushi Burger from Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi Restaurant in Peoria AZ is FORKING Tasty!

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Headquarters Grill Bar Sushi

16041 N Arrowhead Fountain Dr Peoria AZ

623-547-5577

www.HeadquartersAZ.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Some of the other foods I cooked recently

WOW some prices at the supermarkets are out of sight. Today I saw salmon that was double the price of what I was expecting. I also saw beef ribs that looked like a small amount of beef for $45. Even the cheapest chicken breasts at Walmart gone up from $2 a pound to $3. a pound that is 33% more expensive…….I did notice that beef shanks (smaller sized ones) seemed still very reasonably priced compared to everything else so I picked one pack up. It’s fun to make them osso buco style. I’m not big on beef dishes but this is one of my favorite beefs.

First you brown them up on both sides preferably in beef fat.

Then you get soup type vegetables sort of soft with the dripping from your fry pan. You add white wine and reduce. Add stock and or tomato juice, the vegetables, and the beef shanks to a pan. Cover well and roast at 375 F till falling apart tender. (If you have nice bigger beef shanks you might prefer to tie them up so they stay together.) Depending on the size of the beef shanks this will take at least 3-6 hours (If you have giant ones then maybe more time). But you do need to add water to the pan after a few hours.

The beef shanks came out good. I removed the bay leaves and blended up the liquid and vegetables and used it like a gravy for the beef shank and polenta. I also made a basic gemolata of parsley, celery leaves, and lemon zest.

beef osso buco

The one beef shank was big enough for two dinners.

Got a second meal for two out of the second beef shank. Made Italian flavored tacos. (don’t mean to brag but this came out so good I could get rich selling them)

Used that Italian chili crisp I made recently that adds all kinds of flavors, textures, and heat.

Italian Chili Crisp

Mixed the pulled beef shank meat and mixed it with some Italian chili crisp and the leftover gremolata…….Put them on radish (Korean Radish) slices, topped with some pickled baby bell peppers..

They were really delicious.

Someone was very interested in them.

Earlier in the week recently I made braised and crispy leeks with this tarator sauce ( long story……I made toum sauce (garlic sauce that comes with shawarma…kept adding nuts and other things and turned it into tarator sauce…but it did come out amazing). This dish also came with date brown butter.

Braised and Crispy Leeks with Tarator Sauce & Date Brown Butter

Leftover tarator and datÄ™ brown butter also went well with Japanese sweet potatoes with a very thin olive oil crisp.

Those were a few things worth mentioning.

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on M&M’s Crunchy Cookie M&M’s

My husband came across these Crunchy Cookie M&M’s and knew that I would want to try them…and he sure was right I do want to try them.

I wasn’t expecting much because in the corner it reads artificially flavored….BAH!

Well I try them anyway….

They are a weird size for M&M’s.

They are extra tiny.

I eat a few……They don’t taste like cookies….but they seem light and crunchy. They are feel like malt balls in the mouth…but they don’t taste like malt balls……

Not a lot of chocolate here…….They have less chocolate than malt balls.

They’re not bad……..and are easy to eat….They have nice textures to them……a pleasant nice light crunch. They are too light textured to be a cookie inside…….Maybe they are closer to a breakfast cereal type of crunch? They don’t taste bad. Just not a cookie taste.

Not bad.

Not as good as the original or my favorite the almond M&M’s.

That was my FORKING Thoughts on Crunchy Cookie M&M’s.

Your FORKING thoughts on Crunchy M&Ms may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

This is How it Goes When You Go Out To Eat SOMETIMES

This is how it goes when you go out to eat SOMETIMES. Today I went to restaurant that I have been to before that was good last time. I went back and things were different. This time I ordered the ensalada fresca salad. It sounded so good. The menu reads watermelon, cucumber, red onion, jicama, aji lemon vinaigrette, panela cheese, pepitas, fresno, tajin, salsa macha, cilantro. This sounds incredible doesn’t it? The salmon was also really great last time so I added salmon to this salad.

Here is what I got.

Lets take a closer look.

At the time I didn’t remember everything I read about the salad and didn’t know at the time that it was missing things.

I soon try the salmon.

It is not fresh tasting. I can’t eat it. I give a small piece to my husband to try. He said that it was very fishy tasting. He said, “get something else.”

I removed the salmon from the salad and put it on a side plate away from me. Soon someone that seems like a manager comes over and asks about the salmon. I told him that the salmon taste spoiled.

The manager said that his salmon is thrown out after four days. He also said that he will taste it. He also asked me if he could make a new one or give me chicken. I went for chicken but I did tell him that I have had salmon here before that was fresh and delicious.

He comes back and says that the salmon isn’t spoiled. He said that it just tastes off from the grill marks………..(whatever the FORK that means?).

Anyways-

Here comes the chicken.

I do have to say that the chicken really is very good and also is an extra generous portion. It’s tender, moist , full of flavors and is delicious.

BUT back to the salad.

Remember that I didn’t know that I was missing a few things.

But at the time I also was a bit bummed because the watermelon, cucumbers, and jicama also didn’t seem so fresh. Here is a closer look. They seem a few days old (look at the melon).

I think that I am missing cilantro, pepitas, aji lemon vinaigrette, tajin, and salsa macha.

My husband wasn’t thrilled with his meal but thought it was ok.

Decided to try dessert to make myself feel better.

I go for this one because our server said it was new and the best dessert.

It reads flambe table side.

Someone drops this off with no flambe.

We look around to find someone.

We find our server and she says that she has to find the manager.

She comes back and says the manager will serve us the dessert.

We wait and wait. (my husband starts to boil while we are waiting and wants to pay and leave)

The manager does come back, uses a portable lighter and we get this.

It wasn’t flaming but it really was a delicious dessert. It was the best thing I ate there today. They didn’t have to but after everything didn’t charge us for the dessert.

This is how it goes when you go out to eat SOMETIMES.

The Forking Truth

Where The FORK is the Peanut Butter in New Russell Stover Joy Bites? Joy Bites? More like OY bites.

I came across these NEW Russell Stover sugar free peanut butter chocolate bars at my local Safeway grocery store. I didn’t even read the package but I thought the chocolate bar looked very appetizing in the picture. LOOK at all that peanut butter in the picture below. It looks so scrumptious!

I normally would never buy this brand of chocolate because I used to not like it but I thought this must be a new recipe because it looks so delicious on the package. Then when I got it home we cracked it open and ate two of the sections of the chocolate bar.

It really isn’t bad for sugar free chocolate. It melts in the mouth and can pass as sweetened with sugar…..but……….

…..Where The FORK is the Peanut Butter?

Joy Bites?

More like remove the “J” and you get OY bites. In addition to NO SUGAR added there is NO PEANUT BUTTER ADDED.

I contacted Russell Stover on Facebook and Instagram on this matter and got nothing from them…..Just like the same amount of no peanut butter that I didn’t get from them.

Where the FORK is the peanut butter in Joy Bites?

Remove the “J” from Joy Bites and you are left with oy bites.

And that’s The FORKING Truth.

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Van Leeuwen Sicilian Pistachio French Ice Cream

I am kinda obsessed with better quality ice creams. I live in Phoenix were it is ice cream weather most of the time and by bad luck don’t have quality ice cream parlors nearby. I have to travel a crazy forty minutes for a decent ice cream shop. Most of the ice cream sold at local supermarket isn’t so great. It’s just a part of life gong out for ice cream in warm or hot weather once in a while….ANYWAYS….I came across this Leeuwen Sicilian Pistachio French Ice Cream at my local Sprouts Grocery. This flavor of Leeuwen is a small batch flavor and is only made up from six ingredients.

I open it up.

It’s green from all the special Etna Mountain Sicilian Pistachios and it’s thick and rich from cream and egg yolks. It taste just like pistachios……We stopped at about one third down but it would be easy to keep eating more.

Leeuwen Sicilian Pistachio French Ice Cream is FORKING GOOD…and is worth eating.

Anyone that likes pistachios and doesn’t mind a completely smooth ice cream should be pleased with the flavor.

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Limited Edition Van Leeuwen Bourbon Cherries Jubilee French Ice Cream

Van Leeuwen French Ice Cream is a high quality rich smooth ice cream sold at my local Sprouts Store and Walmarts everywhere. It’s different and is made with a lot of eggs that make it richer. It’s not completely natural but seems to have far less chemicals in it than many of the other brands out there. This is the third flavor of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream that I have tried. The Limited Edition Pizza flavor was ok but didn’t really taste like pizza……..The chocolate hazelnut mini bars were really great (They are worth getting fat for)…..and now I’m Trying Bourbon Cherries Jubilee.

I open it up. It looks ok.

It a really nice creamy rich consistency.

I taste some……….It’s weird……..It almost taste like yogurt. I can taste bourbon but the cherries are sour…..YUK!

What’s in this?

I think that I don’t like the lemon juice, citric acid, and the magic acid…I mean malic acid.

I put the ice cream away and bravely try a little more a few days later.

It is slightly better further down (The vanilla swirl is very good) but not worth getting fat on so I throw it out. Should have bought one of the other flavors…BAH!

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Limited Edition Van Leeuwen Bourbon Cherries Jubilee….I note that YOUR Forking Thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

The FANTABULOUS Dish – The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen Phoenix AZ – WORTH A FORK!

The FANTABULOUS Dish means – Top of the line, Marvelously good, Peachy keen, and DYNAMITE! It also means that it is worth driving across town for. The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen is all that and more! It’s from Michelin star chef, restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and cookbook author Angelo Sosa.

Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen

It’s described as corn coconut broth, smoked chile oil, and dill. The tuna is melt in your mouth silky fish with just the right amount of fresh dill,There is a little embellishment of roe that adds a little texture a little taste of the sea but THAT BROTH IS BOMB…….It amazing….It just turns all that very good into MAGICAL.

The only downside…..is that it is hard to spoon it all out. Maybe it should be served with a straw?

The Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen is officially a FANTABULOUS Dish and is WORTH A FORK!

WORTH A FORK!

Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Phoenix AZ

5350 E Marriott Dr PHX

480-293-3636

www.JWDesertRidge.com

The Forking Truth

Some of The Better Salads in Metro Phoenix AZ

Sometimes you just feel like ordering salad. You want something interesting and something that doesn’t seem too heavy. These are some of the better salads that I’ve tried in no particular order.

Seasonal Harvest Salad from Lure Seafood House in Scottsdale.

The Seasonal Harvest Salads from Lure Fish House in Scottsdale have been great so far. Here’s one with fresh just flown in medium/rare salmon, greens, radish, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, oranges and little cheese balls. I’ve had other salads here to that were good. The menu is seasonal and changes every so often.

Lure Fish House 8877 N Scottsdale RD Scottsdale 480-676-3323

www.LureFishHouse.com

Chicken noodle salad bowl ( also called bun) from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix

The noodle salad bowls from Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix are very good. They give you a big bowl of thin rice noodles, with cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, pickled carrots and radish, scallions, peanut, TWO TOPPINGS (proteins grilled pork, chicken, shrimp and egg rolls pork, veggie, tofu veggie) and a sweet fish sauce vinaigrette. It’s tasty and also refreshing. It is a very large salad too and some people might make two meals out of it.

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery 2340 W Bell Rd PHX 602-843-3637

www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

Chula Salmon Salad was as great as a salmon salad can possibly be from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale

Here’s the Chula Salmon Insalate from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale. It’s a bowl of spring mix, golden beets, fennel, grape tomatoes, lemon dressing and on top of the salmon are these pink peppercorns that are BOMB with the lemon dressing. The first time I had this the salmon was perfect and this was amazing. On a return visit not as perfect but still very good.

Pomo Pizzeria Scottsdale 8977 N Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale – 480-998-1366

www.PomoPizzeria.com

Salmon salad from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale was particularly good

I’ve tried the Arugula Insalate from Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale. In the bowl is arugula, marinated fennel, pistachios, local citrus, pecorino, and citrus vinaigrette. Choices of protein that you can add on are salmon, chicken, or shrimp. This is just a very nice salad with flavors that work well together. (So far the salmon here has been exceptional and prepared to perfection. Do the salmon here if you like salmon)

Campo Italian Bistro & Bar 8260 N Hayden Rd Scottsdale 480-597-9195

www.CampoItalian.com

This salad made with ahi tuna from The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen

The first time I had this salad called the Shipwright Ahi Salad from The Craftsman Cocktails & Kitchen in North Scottsdale it was amazing. It was made of Togarashi Ahi Tuna, arugula, local greens, carrots, radish, marinated shiitakes, wasabi peas, yuzu aioli, and ginger-passionfruit-sesame dressing. SOOOOooooo Delicious…….Went back and second time didn’t taste all the flavors…I don’t know if it was because too much wasabi was used or if some flavors were missing? But the first salad was so great that I would give it another try.

The Craftsman Kitchen & Cocktails 20469 N Hayden Rd Scottsdale 480-401-1102

www.TheCraftsmanAZ.com

Another better salad was the Kale Salad from Chula Seafood Uptown in Phoenix. This salad is made of kale, barley, sweet potato, apple, fennel, parsnip, and cashew vinaigrette. Your choices of portions are salmon, shrimp or maui.

Chula Seafood Uptown 100 E Camelback Rd PHX 602-354-3599

www.ChulaSeafood.com

I still think about a few better salads that I haven’t had in while but would love to eat right now.

The Avocado salad from Angel’s Trumpet Ale House in Phoenix

The Avocado salad from Angel’s Trumpet Ale House in Downtown Phoenix isn’t a beauty but has flavors like no other (I’ve had it a few times). It’s an unusual combination of smoked beets, grapefruit, goat cheese, avocado, and almonds. Proteins that you can add are grilled or fried chicken, smoked turkey, or smoked brisket.

Angel’s Trumpet Ale House 810 N 2ND St Phoenix 602-252-2630

www.AngelsTrumpetAleHouse.com

Another salad that I really enjoyed was the Twisted Noodle Salad from The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix.

The Twisted Noodle Salad from The Collins Small Batch Kitchen in Phoenix

This Twisted noodle salad has a lot going on with it…..It’s made of kale, soba noodles, avocado, cucumber, arugula, scallions, herbs, peanuts, carrots, and a chile-lime vinaigrette. Choices of proteins are marinated filet, charred shrimp, or rotisserie pulled chicken.

The Collins Small Batch Kitchen 3160 E Camelback Rd PHX 602-730-3533

www.TheCollinsAZ.com

This was a collection of some of the better salads in Metro Phoenix AZ.

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth