Monthly Archives: December 2015

Dining with Dogs at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery Phoenix AZ Worth a Fork

“Where are we going to eat today?”

Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery is a small fast casual restaurant that specializes in the Vietnamese Sandwich called a Banh Mi. The sandwich is made on a Vietnamese Style Baguette that’s made with rice flour in addition to wheat flour. The sandwiches at BMBVE get topped with fresh sliced cucumber, fresh cilantro, pickled carrots, daikon radish, jalapeño, house made aioli and one of ten fillings to pick from. Most of the sandwiches look similar to the photo below. I’ve tried three of the ten Bahn Mi Sandwiches so far. The bread seems much lighter than a regular baguette with a different kind of crunch to the exterior and a soft center. All the sandwiches taste different and so far all that I tried were very tasty. They are the perfect blend of savory, sour/sweet and spicy. I also like that you can eat a big sandwich and it doesn’t leave you with a rock in your stomach like a regular hoagie or submarine sandwich.

Banh Mi Sandwich

This Vietnamese Restaurant does NOT offer Pho. This is a Pho-free Vietnamese Restaurant.

Other items they offer are….

Lotus Root Salad

Green Papaya Salad (more sweet than sour and accented with fresh mint)

Egg Rolls served with lettuce fresh herbs and fish sauce so you can wrap them.

Tasty plump Pot Stickers in chicken or pork

Noodle salad bowls called bun. It’s almost like a pho salad.

This time I tried a rice plate with chicken. I note that this plate came with an egg roll that my husband swiped.

This was really FORKING delicious! The dark meat boneless chicken was moist, juicy and developed with exotic flavors and brushed with more flavors. Even the salad was light and delicious.

The dogs forking enjoyed some of the food too! This is dining on a budget. Prices run from $4.00 for a salad, most Banh Mi Sandwiches run 6-$7.00 and the rice plate is the most expensive item on the menu and runs $8.00 at the time of me writing this review. (I do note prices are subject to change)

Other items that they offer are specialty drinks such as Vietnamese Iced Coffee, Milk Tea and Smoothies.

“Banh Mi Vietnamese Bistro is Worth a Fork!”

Your most likely not going to drive across town to dine here but if your in the neighborhood this place is suggested.

For more information on Banh Mi Vietnamese Bistro go to www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

The Forking Truth

MORE-Does Fecal Material Matter 2-U in Your Food

Leave a reply

Fecal Contamination

Does Forking Fecal Material matter to you in your food?

I was deeply bothered about the recent Consumer Reports Story.

Actual from Consumer Reports

In short they said that every sample of ground beef they tested contained some fecal matter.

Some of the ways fecal matter gets spread to the beef are……

At the Slaughter house from a number of ways

Removing the hides (cutting threw everything)

Breaking the gastrointestinal tract (splashing all over)

Simply from the tools not being cleaned after feces contact.

I don’t know if kosher beef was tasted. I know kosher beef is only the front quarter of the cow so chances of fecal material getting on that meat would be more difficult.

I was surprised to learn that Sardinian People enjoy cheese with maggot poop.

Casu Marzu Cheese

The cheese called case marzu is banned but is still made anyway. The cheese starts out as a pecorino that they leave out and cut the crust off attracting maggots to lay eggs. The eggs hatch and turn to larvae and then the larvae poop and that becomes the unique flavor of this cheese. It’s said that when you eat this cheese you have to chew and kill the maggots or they will chew threw your intestines. I read this from the Huffington Post.

According to infowars.com if you eat fish from China it’s likely the fish were raised eating pig poop. Most of China’s poultry are raised eating pig poop too according to infowers.com.

The FORKING SAD thing is……

The FDA rejected thousands of food shipments from Asia due to FECAL contamination and the FORKING kicker is that only 3% of the food gets inspected.

A study from the International Journal of Food Microbiology states that Fecal Contamination often happens at soda fountains.

I don’t even want to know how the fork that happens.

The DailyTech.com posted that the Japanese are already experimenting with growing steak from FORKING POOP.

What the fork would you have with that?????? A side of Pees?

Now that is FORKED up!

Does fecal material matter to you in your food?

The Forking Truth

Forking AWESOME Lemon Verbena Lemon Pickles with Apple

Leave a reply

Lemon Cucumber

The lemon cucumber is the best cucumber you ever tasted. It’s so sweet and crispy. This recipe will NOT forking work with any other cucumber.

I love the smell of lemon verbena

lemon verbena

and I thought these special lemon cucumbers would make a delicious light refreshing salad paired with fresh squeezed lemon, lemon verbena and crisp sweet apple. The recipe is very simplistic. I want the ingredients to shine.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

7 lemon cucumbers (no need to peal but trim the flower ends) sliced in chip shapes

1 honey crisp apple – pealed, cored, sliced in chip shapes

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about three lemons)

8 lemon verbena leaves finely chopped

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Directions

Place your cucumbers and apples in a large bowl. In a small pan slowly bring the rest of ingredients to a boil and let simmer around five minutes. Pour mixture over the cucumbers and apples and refrigerate over night.

Lemon Verbena Lemon Pickles with Apple

This salad is delicious and so light. I think everyone would like it.

This is Forking Yummy and That’s The Forking Truth

The Lemon Cucumber is totally WORTH A FORK!

Leave a reply

Lemon Cucumber

I see these little cucumbers at the Farmer’s Market and I’m glad I picked some up. These are the BEST FORKING cucumbers I ever tried. They are very sweet with a good cucumber taste and crisp like an apple. the skin is thin and edible. They happen to also be burp free and lack any bitter taste.

These are delicious.

Made Lemon Verbena Lemon Pickles with Apple. Recipe to Follow.

Lemon Verbena Lemon Pickles with Apple

The Lemon Cucumber is the BEST FORKING CUCUMBER I ever had in my life!

Worth a Fork! These are Forking Great!

The Forking Truth

Red Chinese Noodle Beans are Worth a Fork!

Leave a reply

Red Chinese Noodle Beans

I’ve never seen or heard of these type of beans before and purchased them at a farmer’s market recently. I washed them really well and trimmed off the ends and was a little forking afraid of the beans because they felt very tough and I didn’t think I’d be able to make them edible.

So I gently boiled them in vegetable broth until the beans were fork tender. (didn’t time it but it seemed like over five minutes. I drained the beans and noticed they lost most of the red color. (Not sure but baking soda might have saved some of the color and might have tenderized the beans during the cooking process) Then I threw them back into the pot and hit them with a dap of butter tossed the beans around a little and added fresh ground sea salt and some fresh ground black pepper.

The beans had a very different taste than other green beans I’ve had before.

They were almost nutty and I liked the texture and taste of them.

I also think they’d pair really well with noodles.

After cooking Red Chinese Noodle Beans

Red Chinese Noodle Beans are Worth a Fork! Give them a try when you see them.

The Forking Truth

Baking Soda has More Culinary Uses Than You Forking Know

Leave a reply

Baking soda has many culinary uses in the kitchen that you might not forking know about.

A small amount of baking soda is added to popsicles to prevent them from getting forking rock hard.

Home made yogurt taste less tangy with a little added baking soda.

Although baking soda tends to make canned tomatoes to taste flat sometimes baking soda is added to neutralize acid.

Some cooks add baking soda to boiled vegetables to keep their color….however the vegetables do tend to get soggy.

I haven’t tried it but I read in Cook’s Illustrated Magazine that baking soda is used to help caramelize meat.

I have tried the Cook’s magazine recipe that uses baking soda to make better tasting browned potatoes.

When boiling eggs a little baking soda added to the water helps to make the shells peal off easily.

To make the best creamiest hummus add baking soda to the boiling garbanzo beans.

Bring to slow boil cream and add some baking soda to make cream cheese.

Perhaps these are more Uses for Baking Soda than you Forking Knew About?

The Forking Truth

References

incredible egg.org

chowhound.com

Cook’s Illustrated Magazine

The Forking Truth is that Sometimes a Very Good Restaurant will SCREW UP

Leave a reply

The Forking Truth is that sometimes a Very Good Restaurant WILL SCREW UP. I was at this well known usually very good restaurant recently in Carefree Arizona. This is a restaurant that has a James Beard Nominated Chef/owner. I love nearly all the food I’ve tried at this Chef’s Restaurants. The food is always highest quality, mostly locally sourced, very creative and masterfully prepared. The food is always forking good and sometimes it’s so good it’s mind-blowing. I’ve been here several times before so I was looking forward to an amazing lunch. I have blogged about all the Chef’s other restaurants and was hoping for a new “Worth a Fork” story to tell. Sadly what happened to me here I wouldn’t want to happen to you so I don’t feel like writing a “Worth a Fork” story. Instead I have to just tell The Forking Truth about what happened kind of forking story.

We arrived and a server told us to pick any table we wanted so I picked a table facing the scenic mountains instead of the other direction with a table facing the parking lot. The server takes our beverage order and I soon receive an iced tea. I was looking forward to starting with a creative vegetable plate prepared with interesting ingredients I’d never think of paring together. Then a lunch plate of some sort and if I had room maybe dessert.

It wasn’t too busy yet in the restaurant and only a few tables were seated behind me.

Then the forking unthinkable happens.

Nobody forking comes back to wait on us……

We wait……

We forking wait some more……

We notice the three tables behind us were all waited on and those people are eating but we didn’t get any FORKING service.

Why?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

What am I Forking Chopped Liver?

Forking Chopped Liver

A forking Leper?

A Forking Leper

Twenty five or more minutes go by so we decided to have lunch some forking place else.

Against my husband’s wishes I left $4.00 on the table. Not as a tip but I wanted to pay for the forking iced tea I hardly drank.

I wrote my story on one review site and the same day someone who identified themselves to me as the waitress from that restaurant contacted me to let me know that they apologized for bad service and wanted to buy me lunch. To me not getting waited on is the worst thing that can happen (besides forking food poisoning). It’s not like you got any food to rave or complain about. It’s like going to the amusement park and they won’t let you on any rides.

I would have thought the owner would have apologized on this one because it’s a biggy…I think.

I was very unhappy about making the trip to this restaurant and not getting waited on. I traveled maybe 30-45 forking minutes to dine here. It’s not terribly far but it’s not in my forking back yard either.

I also feel really forking weird about the offer to come back because if I come back to take them up on the free lunch offer they might just artificially kiss up to me.

I’m just very unhappy that this happened…….

I guess I should be happy that they want to fix this and I should take them up on their offer.

I do note that you will usually get service from this particular restaurant and the food is usually very good but, on my last visit THEY DID FORKING SCREW UP.

As a forking update…..Nothing has happened so far…………

The Forking Truth is that Sometimes A Very Good Restaurant WILL SCREW UP and if they are a very good restaurant they will try to fix it.

The Forking Truth

Italian Style Beans Recipe

Leave a reply

Italian Style Beans

These beans I’m told by several people are just amazing. They are very rich and luxurious. The secret ingredient is chicken fat that you save from your roasted chicken. Only chicken fat can give that deep intense taste that is the backbone to this dish. Also instead of adding salt I use chicken base and think of it as chicken flavored salt for more flavor. The taste with the beans, spices with tomato and chicken is almost like pasta fagioli. This is one of those recipes that I don’t usually measure but made a point this time to measure.

I also make this dish slightly different because that depends on what I have in my pantry. Last time I used canned Italian tomatoes in this dish and this time I used fresh roasted tomatoes.

I’ve made these beans often using local dried beans from the farmer’s market. Those are the only dry beans that come out well all the time. Often the beans from any store are old and an old bean will never be tender. Although the farmer’s market beans are by far the best I ever cooked I went with the second best bean, the low sodium canned varieties. I had one problem with the farmer market’s beans and they are always packed with small stones and I always miss a few. I don’t want to damage my teeth or anyones so I went with low sodium beans because they taste the best of the canned beans.

Ingredients for 20 small servings

1/2 onion chopped fine

3 garlic cloves smashed

6 hot/sweet cherry peppers chopped fine (maybe 4 if you don’t want heat)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chicken fat

1/4 cup flour

3 cups chicken stock

1 6.2oz. can tomato paste

2 15.5 cans reduced sodium cannelloni beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 oz. can reduced sodium garbanzo beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 oz. can reduced sodium pinto beans rinsed well and drained

1/2 cup roasted bell peppers chopped

1 cup (heaping) roasted tomatoes – rough chopped

2 15.5 cans of large butter beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium cannelloni beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium kidney beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium garbanzo beans rinsed well and drained

2 teaspoons reduced sodium all natural chicken base ( I use better than bullion brand) (this is instead of salt)

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 Tablespoon pluss 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon savory

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (cut to 1/4 if you don’t want heat)

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

In your medium/large sauce on medium high heat add your, onion, cherry peppers, and olive oil after a minute or two add your garlic and cook a few minutes till onions are translucent. Remove mixture from pot and set to the side. Add your chicken fat and flour and cook till it bubbles. Whip in the chicken stock, tomato paste, 2 cans cannelloni beans, garbanzo beans and pinto beans and blend this all up with your stick mixer. Bring this to a slow boil. Next is adding everything else you have left. Lower heat slightly and bring to slow boil and lower again to low and let simmer at least a half hour.

You will have this much left after someone in your house helps himself to two bowls.

Freezes well to be used for latter.

People just forking love this dish.

This is Forking great and that’s The Forking Truth

I got a Dog who Forking LOVES Romaine Lettuce

Leave a reply

Normally this cute Aussie looks like this, with a squeaky ball in her mouth ready to play catch. But something forking weird happens every forking time I start washing the romaine.

My little buddy sits behind my feet and taps my leg letting me know she wants forking lettuce. She gives me this cute doggie smile and I have to give her forking lettuce.

So then I forking give her some.

I give her several pieces.

She doesn’t behave this way for any other food. I have noticed she is also oddly found of BEANS and inhales them. She sucks them up like a vacuum. But Romaine lettuce is the only food that makes her give me leg taps.

I think she’s forking unusual but very cute!

“I FORKING love romaine lettuce”

The Forking Truth

Ocotillo – Destination Casual Dining in Phoenix – Certainly Worth a Fork!

Leave a reply

Ocotillo is a Compound that looks like it takes up an acre and consist of a coffee shop,

an outdoor bar with all kinds of outdoor seating

and multiple patios (also another larger patio that spills out of the inside dining room that I didn’t photo) and a big sleek modern light and airy restaurant with comfortable seating. The menu is very varied but is Modern American that changes with the season with International Accents. Ocotillo offers breakfast items, detailed salads, small (but not so small) plates, hot plates cold plates big plates. Interesting vegetable plates, sandwich plates, house made pastas, A selection of roasted chicken plates and much more! From what I tried the food seems to be quality casual detailed food at reasonable prices.

I’ve been at Ocotillo a few times and this is what I tried so far…..

A well thought out detailed Spinach Salad with Smoked Salmon. The salmon was rich and buttery. Everything tasted perfect together. The eggs were prepared medium and weren’t chalky. Fresh herbs were used and brightened everything up and crisp capers added that perfect crunch.

The Mole Chicken Salad. Also delicious but far more substantial than the Spinach Salad. If I only ate the spinach salad with smoked salmon I’d still be hungry. I ate around 1/3rd of the chicken mole salad and was almost full. I’d be willing to put it out there that if you don’t like mole or never had mole you will still enjoy this salad for a few reasons. The chicken in all the dishes I tried from Ocotillo are exceptional. Very good quality chicken that’s prepared to perfection that happens to be delicious. The chicken is only lightly kissed with mole. You have just enough to taste it but it’s not blanketed with mole. Everything in the salad is very good from the heirloom cherry tomatoes to the fresh marinated avocado. The pepitas are also roasted and are bursting with flavor.

On the small plate menu are Japanese Fish and Chips.

The plate is not so small. Big Sweet Pieces of Panko Covered Cod that are served with Seaweed and Sea salt Seasoned Fries. The fish was so mild and sweet I didn’t even think this could be cod. Fries with just a light touch of seaweed were tasty too. Everything seemed like it was oil free.

The Tandoori Style Chicken Sandwich is delicious. Besides many exotic spices it has this red lentil hummus kind of spread on it that elevates the already delicious charred chicken in it. This sandwich was very layered in textures and flavors. Crispy slightly bitter greens the charred in a good way moist flavorful chicken with tomatoes that added sweetness and cut threw the richness of the lentil hummus. I had my choice of fries or the side dish of the day, the watermelon and tomato salad with mild chiles. It was light and not spicy but interesting. The light bread seemed like it was fresh made and didn’t get soggy even two days latter when I ate the other half. I thought this was a real bargain for only $9.00.

My husband had the Grilled Steak Sandwich but I tasted a small piece of the steak.

The Steak was tender, moist and flavorful. The tabasco horseradish cream on the side was amazing. It was suppose to be served spread on the sandwich but my husband wanted it on the side.

So far I only tried one of the roasted Chicken dishes.

It was the Thai Style Roasted Chicken. The Chicken was moist and developed with flavors and had a delicious red curry style sauce on it. I thought this was a large portion and this was shared the day I ate it.

Can’t wait to go back and try more.

Everything I tried was delicious so far. Unfortunately I didn’t have have room to try a dessert here yet. I thought the prices were reasonable. Atmosphere is attractive and comfortable.

For me service was like from most restaurants.

On my first visit service wasn’t so great because the hostess sat me at a table that was being used as a bus-stand. On my fist visit the server I had knew little about the food and didn’t pace our plates. Perhaps that was just opening growing pains and the bugs were worked out because on my next visit the service was greatly improved. This server could answer questions about the food and we were checked on and served in a timely manner.

Between the menu and atmosphere you might want to come here if you are from out of town for a solid good casual detailed meal that isn’t too expensive. If you live here you might want to travel across town for a very nice meal out.

Ocotillo is Worth A Fork!

Worth a Fork….. You might Travel across Town to Dine Here

The Forking Truth

TheForkingTruth

Forking Thoughts on Food and Restaurants

Monthly Archives: December 2015

Dining with Dogs at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery Phoenix AZ Worth a Fork

Like this:

MORE-Does Fecal Material Matter 2-U in Your Food

Like this:

Forking AWESOME Lemon Verbena Lemon Pickles with Apple

Like this:

The Lemon Cucumber is totally WORTH A FORK!

Like this:

Red Chinese Noodle Beans are Worth a Fork!

Like this:

Baking Soda has More Culinary Uses Than You Forking Know

Like this:

The Forking Truth is that Sometimes a Very Good Restaurant will SCREW UP

Like this:

Italian Style Beans Recipe

Like this:

I got a Dog who Forking LOVES Romaine Lettuce

Like this:

Ocotillo – Destination Casual Dining in Phoenix – Certainly Worth a Fork!

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: