Cute little fruits that are easy to peal. They taste sort of similar to sweet green grapes with one large pit in the center that is edible and can be cooked.
Rambutan grow on trees and are native to Indonesia and Malaysia. They currently grow all though South East Asia and are strongly related to the Lychee.
Give them a try!
Forking Good!
At my local Sprouts Farmers Market Grocery Store they seem to be having a Pumpkin Festival.
Pumpkins and Pumpkin Flavored Foods are forking everywhere!
They’re selling Forking Pumpkin Cider, Pumpkin Ice-Cream, Pumpkin Gelato, Pumpkin BBQ Sauce, Pumpkin Pasta Sauce, Pumpkin Butter, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Seed Tortilla Chips and Forking Pumpkin Spice Salsa.
I decided I needed to try the Pumpkin Seed Tortilla Chips and the Pumpkin Spice Salsa both do have pumpkin in the ingredients.
First I taste a Forking Chip.
It’s odd. The texture almost seems wet and I get an over powering taste of lime. Some of the chips also have a burnt taste. I’m not really liking them.
Then I taste the salsa.
At first taste it reminds me of Apple Pie because it’s kind of fruity but also tangy like salsa but with the taste of cloves. Then it finishes with a little heat and ginger.
It’s a little odd but I like the Chips with the salsa but not on their own. They need each other. It’s still odd but not awful. The salsa masks the imperfections of the chips. I guess I like the unusual salsa more than the chips. The salsa has a slightly fresher taste than most jarred salsas.
My one dog is very fascinated with the chips.
So I offer her a piece of a chip.
She likes them!
So then I offer my other dog a piece of chip. (notice how the chip is left uneaten at the bottom of the photo)
My other dog talks with his eyes and said something like “Are you FORKING NUTS? That isn’t food”.
Forking Truth
Ahi Tuna Salad from the Cafe at Desert Ridge
A sweet little cafe across from Desert Ridge Mall is now closed. They offered up delicious Breakfast plates like Home Made Crepes, Big Fluffy Omelets and Chicken Fried Steaks served in a nice atmosphere.
Chicken Fried Steak from The Cafe at Desert Ridge
But what I enjoyed most was the wonderful delicious salads. Chicken, Salmon, Ahi Tuna or Steak they all were presented and prepared very well.
Steak Salad from The Cafe at Desert Ridge
Everything was always fresh, prepared to perfection and delicious! The menu was also reasonably priced. The place always seemed clean and service was always OK. The great salads were just the right meal at lunch time.
Perhaps location was the problem? They were off across in a strip mall that is very easy to just pass by.
The Cafe at Desert Ridge will be missed. Always above average food and also very reasonably priced.
Lost too forking many favorite Metro Area Phoenix Restaurants this year.
Miller’s Deli Grill Scottsdale AZ The Best Deli Food I found so far.
From Sushi Catcher Glendale AZ The Best local Sushi I found. (this restaurant is still open by the same name now but is under different ownership with different recipes)
Oriental Buffet Grill and Sushi Peoria AZ The Best of the Budget Buffets I found.
Bean Thread in Spicy Sour Sauce from Miu’s Cuisine Tempe AZ The best Szechwan Cuisine I found.
I think it’s sad when any restaurant closes. The ones above did everything right food wise.
We also lost some restaurants that didn’t do everything right.
Seared Tuna Nicoise ($16.) from The Local, PHX AZ
The Chef here was clearly talented but didn’t have a forking clue that this $16.00 Lunch Entree would forking piss someone off. You’d have to hit Costco for food samples to fill yourself up afterwards. And WTFork did they do with the other half of egg? I’m still thinking about that!
Taco Haus Scottsdale AZ
This restaurant was a train wreck.
WTFork!
The picture says everything you need to know.
Forking Truth
Burro Banana
Not only does the Burro Banana look different from other bananas it can also be used different. It can be prepared savory like a plantain or sweet like a regular banana.
So I go to taste it.
You have to open it on the other end of the stem.
The thing about it that is the most different to me is the mouth feel. It’s completely itch free with a creamy but thiner than a regular banana creamy texture. This banana doesn’t cling to your mouth the same way. It also is somewhat sweet but not as banana bright sweet as regular bananas with a slightly sort of citrus after taste.
Forking Truth
Cherimoya
The Cherimoya is a fruit that grows on a small evergreen tree. According to Wikipedia Mark Twain called the Cherimoya, “The Most Delicious Fruit Known to man”.
I tried one.
You scoop it out like an avocado.
It kind of breaks up into pieces with seeds. You need to remove or spit out the large hard seeds.
I don’t know if my fruit was a good representation of a typical Cherimoya or not but mine was sweet but mildly flavorful. It almost was like a creamy but fruity banana but sort of half strength in flavor and texture. Like if a banana and a citrus had a baby and the mother was the banana. The texture was light but also creamy but not as creamy as a banana.
The Cherimoya fruit is very similar in appearance and taste to the Guanabana Fruit I tried in Mexico.
Forking Truth
Japanese Yam
The Japanese Yam is so tasty and delicious. I love to prepare it in a very simple way. I just love to eat it as oven baked fries. It’s sweet and almost chestnut tasting with a banana almost aftertaste. So I just used a teaspoon of my home made Hot Spicy Green Ketchup recipe posted a few pages back and whipped a banana into it. I do note the Spicy Green Ketchup recipe was made with the extra hot peppers I had around my freezer and can be made with different peppers or less hot peppers.
To make Japanese Yam Oven Fries I just set my oven to 375 and cut one large Japanese yam in steak fry wedges. and placed them on a lightly oiled pan. I also lightly sprayed the yam wedges with canola oil. They roasted for about 35 minutes. They got fresh crushed Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper as they came out of the oven.
They are very tasty. Try one!
Forking Good!
After passing out Halloween Candy out a number of years I learned that today’s kids don’t care for the same candies that were favorites of mine. It seems that Halloween Candy goes out of style just like fashion changes.
Kid’s from my day liked Reese’s Cups, Peppermint Patties, and M&Ms the best! We were given many other candies like Goldenberg Chews, Chewy Banana Pops, Tootsie rolls, Pixie Stixs, Rolls of Sugar Dots and Smartees too!
Today’s kid’s don’t eat candy with peanuts or peanut butter because they have forking allergies. I have no idea why they aren’t crazy for M&M’s or Peppermint Patties. I tried giving them out only a year or two ago and they didn’t move.
After years of passing out different candies the one that stands out HIGH above the rest universally with today’s children are……..
Last year I served 82 Halloweener’s and 43 out of 82 picked the Giant Pixie Stixs. Kid’s like pure Forking Yards of Sugar! They are the cheapest candy to forking give out too. They 50 to a box and weren’t much more than $10.00.
In second Place was the Plain Hershey Bar as 24 out of 82 picked that. Hershey Bars have been around forever every bodies Grandparents ate them. They are still around but just are pretty far behind Giant Pixie Sticks.
15 kids picked assorted other things and one at the bottom was boxes of Cracker Jack. I guess the disappointing prizes make the pop corn treat less appealing or maybe it’s the peanuts in them that I forgot about?
Forking Truth
Rainbow Carrots two ways with Apple, Basil and Black Rice
I used Heirloom Carrots and infused each color differently. While the carrots roasted I also threw my pan of rice in the oven since it was on. I added seasoning to the rice so this was a very easy dish to whip up.
Ingredients (Oven at 375)
6 Yellow Heirloom Carrots pealed and cut in chunks
6 Orange Heirloom Carrots (either pealed or not and cut in chunks)
6 Red Heirloom Carrots (either pealed or not and cut in chunks)
about 1 1/2 Cup Vegetable Stock
1 orange cut in 1/8 wedges
1 Apple cut in small pieces (only edible parts no core) Peal if you like
1lb. Black Rice
Water
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 small hot pepper minced (I used a chile de arbor)
1/2 Sweet Onion Sliced Fine and then Chopped
Fresh Ground Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
about a Tablespoon of Kosher Salt
A couple splashes of Heavy Cream
Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Some Fresh Basil
Directions
Rice goes in a pan, add 2 parts water per one part dark rice, salt, garlic, hot chile, onion. splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Cover pan. Place in oven and it will be done in an hour.
Place yellow carrots in a pan with vegetable stock, and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and cover.
Place Orange Carrots in a pan with Oranges, Cup Water, Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cover.
Place Red Carrots with Apples, Cup Water, Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cover.
Add all the carrot pans to the oven. Depending on how you cut them and how the carrots are they will be done in about 1/2 hour or up to an hour to be fork tender. I found that my yellow carrots cooked up much quicker than the others.
When Carrots and Rice are done remove them from the oven. Throw out the oranges from the orange carrots.
Take the yellow carrots and blend with a little bit of the vegetable stock.
Add about two splashes of Heavy Cream. Taste and determine if it needs any more seasoning.
Plate up your Black rice, add some pureed Yellow Carrots, Top with orange carrots, red carrots and apples. Add Fresh Basil, Sea Salt, Black Pepper and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Rainbow Carrots two ways with Apple, Basil and Black Rice
Forking Good!
Miller’s Deli Grill Scottsdale AZ
Sadly a decent Delicatessen that I found in Scottsdale has closed their doors. They always served you a tasty fresh pastrami on the right kind of rye bread, Fluffy Matzah balls,
Miller’s Deli Grill Scottsdale AZ
traditional knishes,
tasty latkes sandwiches,
Miller’s Deli Grill Scottsdale AZ
and quality fresh lox. .
The definition of Delicatessen means a shop that sells various foods already cooked or prepared.
I decided I have to move on and find a new delicatessen. I was surprised that the Scottsdale Arizona Area has around a half dozen different delicatessen/bagel kind of places that have good ratings on review sites.
I was attracted to one place that sounded special. They baked their own bagels and offered a nice dog friendly patio and nearly everyone said the food was very good. I thought they were worthy of a Forking Try.
Things looked good as the place was pack with lots of people.
We ordered a variety of things, a Lox Platter, a Pastrami on Rye and a Potato Knish. The food soon arrived and mostly looked Good.
I receive the lox platter and go to spread cream cheese on a bagel slice. THE FORKING CREAM CHEESE had the texture of FORKING Yogurt. It seemed like whipped cream cheese that was FORKING watered DOWN. The Forking cream Cheese tasted watery mildly like cream cheese and had less tang and the wrong texture. Only a moron would water down cream cheese. WTFork!
This is Forked Up!
The Home Made Bagel lacked chewiness
and possibly maybe wasn’t made with yeast. It had a very odd texture. If I made bagels like this I’m certain not ONE PERSON ALIVE that would forking tell me to open a shop and sell my own home made forking bagels.
The quality of the lox was questionable and so was the expiration date. It tasted forking fishy and mostly just salty. I couldn’t forking stomach more than three bites.
It was time to try the Potato Knish since I was hungry.
It had a non-traditional puff pastry covering unlike the normal one I had at Miller’s. Parts of the Puff Pastry were gooey and under baked.
Instead of a tasty potato filling this knish was stuffed with what seemed like forking instant potatoes.
So I tried a bite of the Pastrami Sandwich.
The Bread was fluffy and only mildly tasted like rye bread. I don’t know what the Fork they did to the pastrami. It was almost hard and dry but also fatty! I think instead of braising it until done (maybe two hours more) they forking just deep fried it trying to make it edible. The forking pastrami was sort of like oily pastrami jerky. When you bit it you got snap and the fluffy bread couldn’t hold it together.
Sadly the forking potato salad was lousy too.
Not Worth a Fork
It turned out to be an unbalanced, over seasoned, too heavy on the mustard. It was a concoction that only a person without taste buds could stomach. The Potato Salad was Forking was gross. I can only figure it might have been made by someone’s young grandchild or maybe was a batch waiting to go off the the inmates of Sheriff Joe’s Jail.
You usually get filled up at a deli but from this place you might leave hungry.
Forking Truth
Zucchini and Korean Leek Whole Wheat Pancakes
These Pancakes come out light airy and custardy. The Korean Leek Tops add the perfect complimentary flavor to the zucchini.
Ingredients (makes about 20 pancakes)
1 Zucchini Shredded (mine came to a little over 2 cups)
1 Cup of Chopped Korean Leek Tops
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
2 Beaten Extra Large Eggs
2 ounces melted Butter
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
Canola Cooking Spray
Combine Zucchini, Korean Leek Tops, Whole Wheat Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Pepper and mix well.
In another bowl mix your beaten eggs, heavy cream and pour in your melted butter and then combine with your other mixture.
Get your Fry Pan on a medium high heat with cooking spray when hot drop a heavy Tablespoon of batter into the pan. (you should be about to do about 4 at a time. When they bubble on the ends you can flip them.
They come out really perfect. You don’t need any toppings.
Zucchini and Korean Leek Whole Wheat Pancakes
Forking Good!
