Monthly Archives: July 2017

First taste at Nonna Urban Eatery in Scottsdale AZ***UPDATE * NOW OPERATES AS A FOOD TRUCK****

Leave a reply

******UPDATE NO LONGER A RESTAURANT***NOW OPERATES AS A FOOD TRUCK*******Nonna Urban Eatery is a small restaurant located in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale on Main Street. You might miss it as the small restaurant is tucked inside a small group of stores that are  nestled together in the street like a tiny mini mall. Nonna Urban Eatery offers a small daily changing menu that is mostly Italian but mixed with global dishes.

The small dining room is sort of classic or traditional in style with lots of dark wood and lots of bright sunshine during the day.

They start us off with complimentary bread and good quality olive oil.

We started out by sharing the Cucumber Lollipop Rolls.

The rolls were filled with clean tasting Tuna, Yellow Tail, Salmon and a tiny piece of Avocado. They were AMAZING! So light and tasty…who knew? The plate was garnished with a cleansing salad of Arugula dressed with an intense ginger dressing. This plate was magic.

For our meal we shared the house made Campanelle. The pasta was dressed in a creamy but light lemony sauce and was studded with asparagus and salmon.

This dish was very mild with flavor. The salmon had a nice sear on it but was a little off. The pasta was made nicely and the asparagus seemed fresh.

Did I tell you how great those Tuna Lollipops were? I’d come back for them!

Cute little restaurant…could be a gem!

******UPDATE NOW OPERATES AS A FOOD TRUCK******

www.NonnaScottsdale.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may…or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Pars Persian Cuisine of Scottsdale AZ – Worth a Fork

Leave a reply

 

Pars Persian Cuisine offers a wide variety of Persian Foods. This is a full service restaurant with easy close parking. The atmosphere is sort of formal but you can come as you are. Nothing we tried was spicy. Nothing was flavored weird. The food was just flavorful and good. I think Persian Food would appeal to most people.

They start you out with hot pita bread, creamy butter and sweet sliced onions.

It was very hard to decide on what to try because they offer so many interesting sounding dishes I never seen at other Persian Restaurants I’ve been to.

One of the plates we shared was Zereshk Polo with Chicken.

We received two nice meaty chicken legs that were falling off the bone tender. The meat was flavorful and delicious. It was balanced and no particular flavor stood out. The legs have been slow cooked with apple, carrots, garlic, onions and seasonings. The plate also came with a very generous portion of fluffy basmati rice that was mixed with tart barberries, almonds and saffron. The tart barberries make the rice sort of sparkle and made the flavors more interesting.

The other dish we shared was a Stew called Fessenjan and a special upgraded rice called Shirin Polo.

The Shirin Polo is a specialty Basmati Rice dish. It does run sweet because it’s made with candied orange peels, carrots, almonds, pistachios, a sweet syrup and saffron. It’s a tasty rice…I think it would be fit in on most American dinner tables for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Behind the rice is the Fessenjan. Here Fessenjen is made from fried walnuts, pomegranate sauce with chicken that’s slow cooked in the sweet and sour fruity sauce. The plate doesn’t look pretty but the chicken is tender and tasty.

We got some of the food boxed up so we could try the Saffron Pistachio Ice Cream.

The ice cream is wonderfully creamy and was served in a chilled glass. It’s not too strong in flavor and is delicious!

Our server was really welcoming, helpful and efficient.

I’d say Pars Persian Cuisine is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! Great variety of Persian foods that you won’t find at most places. Grade “A” from Maricopa posted in window. Tender tasty fresh food, nice atmosphere, great service.

www.ParsPersianCuisine.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ!

The Forking Truth

Eggplant Tahini and Roasted Pepper Bread Recipe

Leave a reply

 

Eggplant Tahini and Roasted Pepper Bread

When you roast eggplants the flesh becomes very soft and sort of similar in texture to mashed up bananas so I figured that I could make Eggplant Bread. I thought I’d make the bread a little sweet and mostly savory. I thought roasted peppers went really well here to add interest and I also used Tahini instead of butter for that hummus kind of Flavor. The bread is very unique and moist. If you like zucchini breads, banana breads, honey breads and hummus then you should be a fan of this unique bread too! You can roast whatever kind of peppers that you are in the mood for this recipe.

Ingredients for about 10 servings.

3 eggplants

2 lemons (just the fresh squeezed juice)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup roasted Anaheim chili peppers –  skin, seeds and core removed and chopped

1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers – skin, seeds, and core removed and chopped

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (Aleppo pepper is fruity and mild with low heat…Spanish Nora Pepper is similar…If you don’t have just leave out and substitute 1/4 teaspoon black pepper)

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

2 xtra large eggs – slightly beaten

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

non stick canola spray

Instructions

Set oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut eggplants in half…place on baking sheets and score them like fruit.

Drizzle the lemon juice from the lemons on the eggplants.

Drizzle the eggplants with olive oil and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of sea salt.

Put them in the oven and in about one hour they should be done and look similar to this.

When cool enough to handle scoop the eggplant flesh out into a large bowl.

Set the oven to 350 degree F and spray a loaf pan with non stick spray.

To your large bowl of eggplant mix in the remaining ingredients by hand in the order they are written.

Pour batter in loaf pan and bake until done…about an hour.

Eggplant Tahini and Roasted Pepper Bread

It’s unusual, unique delicious and very moist!

A guilty pleasure with Jalapeño Cream Cheese…

The Forking Truth

 

The Forking Truth is that some Dining Experiences are NOT Worth a Fork!

Leave a reply

 

A grilled chicken sandwich from somewhere in Scottsdale AZ

The Forking Truth is that not every dining experience will be drool worthy.Actually some dining experiences are NOT Worth a Fork! Recently I had a grilled chicken sandwich from somewhere in Scottsdale. The bun was squashed and hard…maybe stale? The chicken also seemed like it had all the life in it squashed out and had a weird texture…..like the snap of a hot dog and also had a burnt taste too. Even the pepper didn’t taste good because nobody rinsed off the can flavoring. I was hoping I’d enjoy the side dish from this particular place….

Well I almost enjoyed the side dish of potato salad…..It did have a nice flavor but the potatoes were very over cooked and mostly got all mashed. I had maybe 4 marble sized pieces of potato in this salad with a few hard lumps of egg. It was like a cup of cold mashed potatoes with a few lumps.

BAHHhhhhh!

In the same week I went to a small sushi restaurant in Peoria. The sushi was very average so it didn’t seem blog worthy. This particular sushi restaurant offered Korean Style Fried Chicken. Ummm you sure don’t come by that all the time! We ordered some Korean Style Fried Chicken and when it arrived I thought it looked Scrumptious and Amazing!

It DID look scrumptious and amazing. But when I took a bite I found that under the very crispy crust was almost cold chicken that was oddly very dry and chewy….WTFork! How the Fork did they come up with that? Cold dried up chicken with a nice crispy crust….

Here is another non-drool worthy plate I had in beautiful Carefree AZ. Chewy meat, SOUR  onions and what looked like pond slime….This plate I couldn’t stomach and I was afraid this food for myself and I thought it could make my dogs ill.

This was not drool worthy. It was more like Forking Puke Worthy.

Early this year I had a pizza from somewhere in Peoria. The Crust was burnt tasting and also was hard like a rock. You can see the burnt threw the crust. This was not drool worthy either. I actually felt sick after this………

I ordered a fried fish somewhere in Phoenix.

My fish was fried to a crisp and most of the flesh was crunchy. My crunchy fish was topped with a couple fistfuls of salt with what seemed like a 1/2 a jar of jarred garlic mixed with some mushrooms. I also was blessed with a slice of unripe tomato, oily lettuce, porridge like rice and oily soggy fries. Nobody asked me how it was as they did the usual drop and run.

We took out some food from a new Fast Food Restaurant in Glendale…is it is Peoria? The Chicken was almost good but it was my luck that who someone careless salted the chicken lost the lid on the salt container and the chicken was coated in enough salt to melt a snow covered driveway. The rolls were pillowy and might have been mixed with yoga mats. The Mac -N- Cheese tasted like margarine and chemicals. WTFork knows what they did to the potatoes. The potatoes were very  heavy and tasted like they have might have contained wall plaster……..Well it’s fast food….you get what you get….my bad.

I guess the least drool worthy food I tried came from a food truck….Look at the picture…No words are needed. My apologies should you have nightmares or gain a fear of food trucks. Only God knows what stories the grease that roll was fried in can tell…….

Close up of Corned Beef Wild Buckeye Roll

The above were all….

NOT WORTH A FORK!

The Forking Truth is that some Dining Experiences are NOT Worth a Fork!

Your experience may or may not differ and everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Lidia’s Marinated Winter Squash Recipe

2 Replies

 

Lidia’s Marinated Winter Squash

I recently watched Chef Lidia Bastianich prepare Butternut Squash with an Agrodolce sauce (sweet and sour sour). She fried the squash on both sides and then marinated the squash with the sauce. I thought it was very unusual and I don’t recall having squash prepared in such a way. I thought Id give it a try.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt (1/4 for recipe and 1/4 to sprinkle on squash)

6 garlic cloves – sliced very thin

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 lb butternut squash

1 cup vegetable oil

10-20 basil leaves – Torn well or chopped

Directions

In a small fry pan simmer the vinegar, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and reduce by half. Add the garlic slices.  Put to the side and refrigerate when you can.

Peel Squash. Lidia uses a knife to trim the squash shell off. I did one with a knife and it was somewhat difficult. I used a carrot peeler on my second squash and i thought it was much easier. Use whatever is easier for you. For the recipe Lidia suggest to cut the squash slices in one inch pieces and cut the rounds in half.

Put a cup of vegetable oil in a bigger fry pan on medium high heat and fry the squash for three minutes a side or until fork tender and flip squash pieces and fry the other side for two or three minutes more.

Put the fried pieces of squash on a paper towel lined pan or sheet tray. Salt the squash.  Repeat with the squash till done.

In a pan or tray lay out the squash. spring with the basil and olive oil and drizzle the marinade.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

The squash needs to marinate at least three hours. Overnight is suggested.

Lidia’s Marinated Winter Squash

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

Tacos Jalisco in Scottsdale AZ – Worth a Fork!

Leave a reply

 

Tacos Jalisco is located in South Scottsdale and serves mostly Jalisco Style Mexican Food. This is not a fancy place. I can tell you the food is legit and you don’t have to “peso much” here. (excuse the bad pun) But honestly speaking your dollar truly stretches very far here and the food is good..The two rarely happen together.

This is what it looks like when you walk in.

It’s busy and it’s hard to take pictures.

Here’s the dining room.

Tacos are only $1.51 EACH and are made with in-house made tortillas and slow roasted meat. I thought for $1.51 how big can they be? I thought they would be bite size with very little meat but boy was I wrong.

4 chicken tacos were $6.04 and 4 carne asada tacos were also $6.04 (at this time 7-17)

Just like in Mexico they double shell the tacos and they are generously packed with seasoned meat, cilantro, sauce and onions. They also gave us chips and we picked up some house made condiments from the salsa bar.

The tacos were both moist and flavorful. I still can’t get over the $1.51 price for each taco. It seems a BOATLOAD of blue-eyed taco restaurants have mushroomed all over metro Phoenix and not all but many of them sell much smaller lesser filled not as tasty tacos for around $5.00 each!

Since we didn’t imagine getting so much food we also decided to share a Chile Relleno Plate ($7.78)

Not one but TWO stuffed mild but tasty battered poblano peppers stuffed with mild milky gooey Mexican Cheese. The hefty platter also came with house made creamy refried beans, flavorful rice, salad, creamy avocado sauce, chips and house made tortillas. These Chile Rellenos were a lot tastier than some others I’ve tried at other places that cost much more! Tastier real roasted poblano instead of a canned chili like some places do and the real cheese not a pre-shredded blend that doesn’t taste as good.

Much Cheaper and much better than not all but a lot of places!

No website you just have to visit them at 3060 N 68th St Scottsdale AZ open 7 days a week starting early at 8am and open not all but some holidays.

 

Tacos Jalisco is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! If you find yourself in South Scottsdale maybe at the Zoo or near Tempe you might want to give this place a try if your in the mood for Jalisco Style Tacos.

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

 

My Lunch at Stock & Stable in Phoenix AZ*****UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS

Leave a reply

*******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS*****Stock & Stable is an American Gastropub located in Restaurant Row on North 7TH Street in Phoenix. The menu is mostly casual, with some elegant accents and a slight Italian slant. The interior is masculine with leather, wood and mostly pictures of cows. It looks like it could be a steakhouse to me. They have comfortable chairs and benches. They offer traditional table seating, a large bar, high tops and patio dining.

We shared the Fermented Beets.

A tasty mix of red, golden beets and carrots tossed in a fresh herb almond butter sauce with crunchy breaded goat cheese curds. It was delicious all together. The beets were tasty. There were a lot of very thin very crispy carrots that were the texture of the salad.The sauce was rich nutty and a little minty . I thought it was flavored nicely.

I had the tuna sandwich.

This is an ENORMOUS Sandwich. (be prepared to bring half home) I can see it’s made on local Noble Bread that’s Grilled. This sandwich isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s WILDLY Flavorful and SPICY and FORKING DELICIOUS!!!!!!! I don’t Forking care if the tuna came from a can or not…because it is eye-opening delicious! It’s a very elevated tuna salad. It got the gambit of flavors going on…..and it’s dressed with Calabrian Aioli and also has Muenster Cheese. My husband was raised not to eat mayonnaise but he took a bite anyway and he also was surprised that the sandwich was as delicious as it was. When I eat the other half I’ll have to try to figure out why it’s so yummy. Not only was the sandwich unusually delicious but the Calabrian Vinaigrette on my mixed green salad was killer too! So delicious! Not for everyone and not for the masses. Very delicious to those who enjoy bold flavors and heat.

My husband tried the No Baloney Mortadella Sandwich with Frites.

My husband asked for the sauces to be served on the side. The sauces on the side were an unusual combination that we weren’t sure about. One was maple mustard and the other was a herb chipotle. We both like the taste of the herb chipotle but neither of us thought it mixed with the maple mustard…who knows maybe it does with the sandwich?????  The mortadella wasn’t caramelized like we hoped it would be like and was more like lightly grilled and steamed lunch meat. Still an OK sandwich………with tasty fries. The Frites were nicely seasoned and had a little fresh chopped herbs and Italian grated cheese on them.

We decided to share a dessert and tried the Key Lime Pie.

The Key Lime Pie is a nicely made tart. The crust is a tasty tender graham crust. Not too sweet and not too heavy. It tasted very natural. The filling is nice and creamy and a little limey. The cream on top taste fresh made.

Like at most restaurants out there some things seemed better than other things.

That was my lunch experience at Stock & Stable. ******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS>

www.StockandStable.com

Every Forking Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Spicy Tomato Jam Recipe

Leave a reply

 

 

Spicy Tomato Jam

I had a bunch of tomatoes that weren’t the best and I thought they’d be great as jam and they are. The two fried serrano peppers I added turned out absolutely perfect. I got heat but not too much and can taste all the flavors. You can alter the amount of heat for your taste. This jam will be delicious on burgers, sandwiches, cheeses and turkey.

Ingredients for somewhere around 30 servings

3 1/2 lb tomatoes – top button and skin removed, rough chopped

1 apple – peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 serrano peppers – fried and finely chopped

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon course sea salt

Directions

All the ingredients go in a sauce pot. Put the pot on medium high heat and when it starts to boil turn it down to medium heat. Stir occasionally. Turn the heat down again so it simmers. Let it go till it reduces till it’s thick or to your liking.

Spicy Tomato Jam

Mighty Forking Tasty!

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

Novel Handcrafted Artisan Ice-Cream Downtown Phoenix – Worth a Fork

Leave a reply

 

Ummmm Dougnuts……Hot Toasted Doughnut Sandwiches stuffed with small batch handcrafted artisan Ice-Cream. Ummmmmmmmmm! Novel Ice Cream is a very small Ice-Cream Shack located in Down Town Phoenix AZ.

It really is a shack…surrounded by other small shacks!

The inside is very small…small like a really big closet or master bath.

Here are some of the Ice-Creams.

Here is the whimsical fun wall behind us. The owner Brandon told us a local Mexican Artist painted the wall with the anthropomorphic cones.

You should treat yourself to delicious creamy ice-cream that you can enjoy in a variety of ways. In a fresh made waffle, maybe topped with cereal topping? Maybe your favorite flavor of ice-cream stuffed into a fresh hot glazed doughnut!

The shack is very small and there is no room for indoor seating.

The Doughnut Sandwiches are mighty delicious. Creamy flavorful ice-cream. I had the Panna Cream with imported Italian Cherries and my husband had Quality Chocolate stuffed into Hot Toasted Doughnuts. Totally worth the calories…delicious! Good thing this place is pretty far for me so I can’t indulge as often as I want.

The only seating is outside on the deck patio.

I see something strange from the patio.

WTFork!

I’ll get a better look on my way out.

 

No website but you can find Novel Ice-Cream on Facebook.

Novel Ice-Cream is Worth a Fork!

Great ice-cream if you happen to be in the area but no restroom and no escape from the 120 degree dry heat.

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not Forking differ.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Forking Delicious Baked Crispy Cheddar Cauliflower Recipe

Leave a reply

 

Forking Delicious Baked Crispy Cheddar Cauliflower

I came up with an easy and lighter way to prepare a crispy cheesy cauliflower that everyone will love! It’s a little sharp, a little tangy with a mild heat. It’s very tasty.. I used white cheese but with the seasonings I used it looks like orange cheese. Six servings only contain a total of 4 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese. No other fat is added and no other salt because it’s salty enough from the cheese and pepper sauce.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 medium size head of cauliflower – broken down into florets

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese – shredded

3/4 cup panko

3 Tablespoons cayenne pepper sauce – Franks Red Hot is Preferred

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

non-stick spray – neutral flavor is preferred – canola or vegetable

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F

In a medium bowl add the cheese, bread crumbs and all the dry seasonings and mix well. Then set to the side.

In a large bowl add the cauliflower. Drizzle the pepper sauce all over the cauliflower and mix it well so the cauliflower is coated all over with the sauce.

Spread the cauliflower on a baking sheet in one layer that was sprayed with non-stick spray.

Top the cauliflower with the cheese crumb mixture and place in the oven.

It will be done in 30 – 45 minutes. Remove when it looks like this to you and the cauliflower is cooked all the way.

“I Forking want some Cauliflower”

Forking Delicious Baked Crispy Cheddar Cauliflower

It not heavy but tasty. Just about everyone will enjoy this dish!

The Forking Truth