Monthly Archives: February 2017

Juicy Cheesy Chicken Meatballs for Man or Beast Recipe

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Juicy Cheesy Chicken Meatballs for Man or Beast

I originally made these meatballs for my 15 1/2 year old dog that is dying from cancer but my husband ate some of these meatballs and said they are delicious and too good for the dog. That is the reason I named the chicken meatballs “for man or beast.” I do note that not all dogs can digest milk and cheese. Some dogs can only eat a small amount without problems. Most but not all of the dogs I have and had do or did well with milk products. My childhood Miniature Schnauzer used to drink up the cats milk bowl every day and lived to be 18 years old. These are the only meatballs I ever made that don’t have onion or garlic in them. They still came out flavorful and delicious. The suggested serving size is for people. For a dog it depends on the tolerance of dairy and size of dog.

Ingredients for about 5 servings

1 lb ground chicken

1/3 cup whole oats (not instant)

1/3 cup whole wheat panko

1 XL egg – slightly beaten

1/2 cup ricotta cheese – preferably home made

1/2 cup Italian blend cheese – shredded – (I make big batches of blend that I keep frozen till needed of 1.5 lb mozzarella, 1 lb provolone, 8 oz sharp provolone, cup parmesan)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl mix everything together except for the olive oil.

Get baking sheet(s) and oil the pan.

Use a small scoop and shape meatballs (I made 23 meatballs)

Place in oven till done. (15-20 minutes)

“It smells Forking Awesome.” “What am I getting?”

 

Juicy Cheesy Chicken Meatballs for Man or Beast

“Them Meatballs are Forking Great!” “What are you going to make me next?”

The Forking Truth

 

Scott’s Generations NY Style Deli at NEW Location Phoenix AZ is Worth a Fork

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Scott’s Generation’s Deli was sort of a fixture for close to 30 years on 7th Street and has relocated in a nice new fresh restaurant only a mile and a 1/2 away. The story is that they closed around 2:00 Friday afternoon, moved everything and opened for business bright and early Saturday morning. The new location is bright and cheerful looking. The deli case is still there in the front of of restaurant and a big portrait of Scott with his Father graces the front by the door.

I got seated in the back dining room.

I ordered one of my favorite plates on Scott’s Menu.

It’s actually among the finest smoked fish plates that you can get in Metro Phoenix AZ. The Smoked Fish Supreme Plate. You pick three smoked fish. The Choices are, Lake Sturgeon ($3.00 extra) Sable, Belly Lox, Nova Lox, Baked Salmon or White Fish and it comes with your choice of NY Bagel. It’s really a great value because it’s enough for two meals and not all but the majority of fish choices cost $40.00 or more a pound! The Belly lox is silky, the Sturgeon is sweet, meaty and careful laced with smoke. White Fish is just yummy! As far as I know NONE of the other NY Style Deli’s in Metro Phoenix offer Sturgeon, Sable and only one other (Chompie’s) sells Belly Lox. You are truly getting a NY Taste. It’s not a deal breaker but the bagel is among the very few served in Metro Phoenix that is similar to a real east coast type of bagel. It’s the size bagels are suppose to be and are not like the giant bagel shaped rolls they serve at most sandwich places. The texture differs slightly but it’s close.

My husband got the “Scottwich” Pastrami Sandwich.

A very stuffed sandwich of Pastrami, Kraut, Swiss Cheese, Grilled Onions and grilled Garlic Rye Bread. It certainly is a delicious sandwich. We both think the pastrami they serve here is the closest to what we remember pastrami tasting like from back east.

Sadly I have yet to try a dessert because I’m always too full. The Brownie’s sound fun. They offer Male and Female Brownies. (with or without nuts)

Other things we tried at the Scott’s Generations NY Deli

The Reuben Reuben

Potato Knish

The Harvey Triple Decker

“The Cuisine of the Delicatessen comes from a world that no longer exists.” from the movie Deli Man.

Deli Food is made by people preserving not only corned beef and pickles but history. (that quote is from me!)

www.ScottsGenerations.com

Worth a Fork!

The Forking Truth is that EVERYTHING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to the Great Wall Dim Sum Restaurant in Phoenix AZ

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The Great Wall Restaurant in Phoenix AZ is considered to be the best for Dim Sum in Arizona. In case your not familiar with the term Dim Sum it sort of translates to a lingering Chinese Brunch. Many different carts of foods get pushed around the dining room and some of them stopped at our table. The server says to you, “do you want something?” I admit I’m not the most familiar with dim sum and had to ask what they had on the cart.

The first plate we try are the familiar looking Sesame Balls.

I had sesame balls before but these were different. Instead of being filled with sweetened bean paste these were stuffed with fruit.

Not what I was expecting but still tasty.

The only chicken they offered us were chicken feet and fried chicken so we went with the fried chicken.

What was special about this chicken was the ultra crispy coating that was amazing and delicious. This chicken had many good flavors going on.

We also enjoyed the Chinese Broccoli. This vegetable looks like the Yu Choy my local Asian Market sells.

It taste better than broccoli and is more like spinach on tender not bitter stems.

We took a chance with Bean and Mushroom Stuffed Tofu Skins and Sticky Rice. We’ve had these before at other Chinese Restaurants…..but these items prepared from Great Wall are for an acquired taste.

The check came out to around $27.00…not bad for all we tried.

I saw the fresh fish tanks in the restaurant and asked the cashier what time they start serving the menu. She just recited the opening hours so I figure that English is her second language and she didn’t understand me.

Great Wall doesn’t have a website but you can find Great Wall in Phoenix AZ on Facebook

The Forking Truth

Avocado Cilantro Caesar Dressing Recipe

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Romaine dressed with Avocado Cilantro Caesar Dressing

Real Caesar Dressing is never white and is suppose to be very bold in flavor. It’s not Caesar unless you have flavors of garlic, anchovy, lemon juice, fresh cracked black pepper all equal in flavor with none outshining the others. Believe me I know…..back in the day I did this professionally. Here is an avocado variation of what caesar is suppose to taste like. I don’t usually use the oil from the anchovies but I found that the King Oscar brand that my local store sells to be the mildest, tiniest, (worst) anchovies I have ever come across and for the recipe to work out I needed to fortify the flavor with the anchovy oil. If you got good anchovies you might want to substitute olive oil instead to the one Tablespoon of anchovy oil that’s listed in the ingredients. A good anchovy is one that has some body to it. It should be about as long as your thumb. You should be able to lift each filet out of it’s container. The King Oscar Anchovies almost dissolve instantly. Sadly King Oscar Brand were the only brand of anchovies my local Safeway Store sells.

Ingredients for 4 servings

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

4 anchovies – (note- quality and size of anchovies differ greatly, 4 from a small can, I used King Oscar because that was my only choice and found out the anchovies were very mild and very tiny….Good quality big ones you might need less)

1 XL egg yolk

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice – fresh squeezed

1 Tablespoon oil from the anchovies

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 avocado – just the creamy flesh

1/2 cup cilantro – finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon black pepper – fresh ground

sea salt – fresh ground to taste

Directions

If you are doing caesar table side you need a large wooden bowl and you use two forks to break down the garlic and then break down the anchovies with the two forks like this. Or you can simply ground the garlic on a garlic grounding board and then use the two forks to break down the anchovies.

With the fork beat in the yolk till it thickens.

Mix in dijon till it thickens.

Mix in one Tablespoon olive oil till it thickens.

Mix in one Tablespoon vinegar till it thickens.

Mix in one Tablespoon olive oil till it thickens.

Mix in one Tablespoon vinegar till it thickens.

Mix in one Tablespoon olive oil till it thickens.

Mix in one Tablespoon lemon juice till it thickens.

Mix in one tablespoon olive oil till it thickens.

Mix in Worcestershire sauce.

Mix in anchovy oil till it thickens.

Mix in avocado till it’s smooth.

Mix in remaining ingredients, taste and adjust.

Avocado Caesar Dressing

Serve..Spread the dressing heavy on a cleaned 1/2 head of romaine that is chilled or grilled (or tossed in torn romaine). Top with roasted red pepper strips, either parmesan or cotija cheese, some more anchovies, toasted pumpkin seeds or seasoned croutons, scallions and maybe a little fresh cilantro. A few pieces of grilled chicken will turn this salad into a dinner.

Romaine dressed with Avocado Caesar Dressing

Forking Good!

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

Vivian Howard’s Best Pickled Beets She Ever Ate Recipe

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Chef Vivian Howard’s “Best Picked Beets She Ever Ate”

Chef Vivian Howard is a James Beard Foundation Award Semi Finalist, She also runs her own AAA Four Diamond Restaurant, she is a host on her Award Wining PBS “A Chef’s Life” TV Show and Cook Book Author. If Someone like Chef Vivian Howard says these are the “Best Pickled Beets She Ever Ate then they must be Forking Great!

Ingredients for about 12 servings

3 lbs beets

3 cups cider vinegar

2 cups water

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3 cloves

3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon chili flakes

3 star anise

Directions

Put the washed skin on beets in a pot and cover with 2 inches of water.

Boil covered for about 20 minutes or knife tender.

Drain and cool. – Peel when cool.

Slice in 1/2 inch half round and quarter if they are real big.

Combine the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil.

Pour over beets.

Refrigerate and they will be good for three months or can if you want to hold them longer.

Chef Vivian Howard’s “Best Picked Beets She Ever Ate”

These pickled beets are more firm than how I usually do pickled beets. They also are spicier and are infused with more flavors and are not sweet. For me they needed a week for the flavors to develop.

On the TV PBS TV Show A Chef’s Life they had a Beet Farmer on the show doing his version of pickled beets and his trick was to boil the beets leaving the greens on. He said the beets bleed out when you cut the leaves off. I tried it doing a basic pickled beets recipe with just plain white vinegar, sugar and water like the farmer did and the beets do have a much earthier flavor leaving the greens on.

With the extra beet brine from all the beets I’ve been pickling I used some for mini cucumbers for salads.

I also pickled some eggs and made tiny open faced sandwiches.

Chef Vivian Howard’s “Best Picked Beets She Ever Ate”

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth