Monthly Archives: January 2018

Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn and the Corn Stock that keeps giving Recipe

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Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn

I came across this Chipotle Buttered Corn Recipe on the Tasting Table by Chef Christopher Lee of Sophia’s a Philadelphia Restaurant. I know Chipotle goes amazing with corn but Star Anise is a flavor I never thought of to go with Chipotle and corn. I did some research and I tried to find other recipes combining Star Anise and Chipotle. In my search I discovered the EXACT SAME RECIPE is posted on Genius Kitchen by Cluich..?…..I don’t know if Cluich and Chef Christopher Lee are the same person or not???????? (thought that was interesting) I don’t know if either Chef Christopher Lee or Cluich would approve or want to have anything to do with what I’ve done with Star Anise, Chipotle and Corn but I can tell you that it’s delicious and great. I take what I did a little further. What might be even better is the amazing corn stock that you get if you make the dish my way. The leftover Chipotle Corn Stock is great for chipotle mashed potatoes. Just boil the potatoes in that stock and after the potatoes are fork tender add enough stock to make them moist and then they are delicious with almost no fat or dairy (or you can add some butter to make them a little rich and better). The other thing I did with the Chipotle Corn Stock was to blend butternut squash into it. I made a Chipotle laced puree and later thinned it down with vegetable broth to make a soup.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

8 ears of corn

4 oz unsalted butter

2 star anise

2 Tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce – chipotle peppers chopped fine

1 meyer lemon cut in half

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

4 cloves garlic

1 onion cut in 8 slices

8 cups water

1/2 cup chopped scallions

Directions

Set your oven to 350 degrees F.

Get out two large pans (1/2 buffet pans) and lay out the corn and ingredients just like the photo below.

Four ears of corn in each pan and half the ingredients (except scallions) in each pan.

Add the water – 4 cups in each pan.

Cover very tightly with foil.

In the oven they go for two hours at 350 degrees F.

After two hours pull the pans out and carefully loosen the foil – WATCH OUT! – there will be hot steam – but leave the foil hang over.

Let the pans cool on the counter for an hour. Then throw out the star anise and the lemon.

After an hour you can serve the corn….I think it’s better on the cob……You will get the most amazing taste like you can’t imagine….very sweet juice you can suck out of the cob that’s infused with crazy flavors. Most people I know prefer the corn removed from the cob. So you can move the kernels and mix with sliced scallions. Either way it’s delicious and you can’t do any wrong.

Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn

DON’T THROW OUT THE LIQUID FROM THE CORN.

Take it and boil peeled potatoes in it…..(used vegetables and all except the lemon and star anise you already threw out)

The potatoes will be delicious. Remove the potatoes from the pot. Make them more delicious and mash them with some of the strained liquid…….add a little butter if you want and these potatoes will be super yummy!

You can get one more use out of the liquid if you want……

Peel and roast up cubed butternut squash. Puree it up with some of this still very flavorful liquid. Now you have a flavorful figure friendly Butternut squash puree.

Maybe you’d enjoy the butternut squash more as a cream free soup. Just add vegetable stock and a small amount of finely chopped and sautéed carrot, celery and onion and puree again. You might want to add a small amount of more finely chopped chipotle pepper. I added a few peas for color and some really cute butternut squash pasta I found at Trader Joes.

Star Anise Infused Chipotle Corn

The Anise Infused Chipotle Corn is Worth a Fork!

A special Thanks to The Tasting Table with Chef Christopher Lee’s Recipe and To the same recipe at Genius Kitchen by Cluich. That recipe inspired me and helped me to create all these dishes.

The Forking Truth

 

My trip to The Cabin Whiskey & Grill in Peoria AZ

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The Cabin Whiskey & Grill is located in Peoria AZ a little past P83 Sports Complex and before WestGate Complex. It also is among a few places for your last stop for food if you want to eat before you go to the World Wildlife Zoo. The Cabin offers a variety of mostly American Foods with some international twists at reasonable pricing. The atmosphere is rustic with many trophies (dead animals). It’s worn looking and woody like a cabin…..either at a ski resort or the woods…..it’s also loud with what some people would consider party music and there is a very large bar and an outdoor patio. It doesn’t feel like Phoenix here at all……I see Deers, Antlers and Bears Oh My!……and a metal pig butt.

 

We start with by sharing the Fried Mac ‘N” Cheese Balls served with House Made BBQ Ranch Dressing.

These Fried Mac ‘N’ Cheese Balls do seem oil free and have a nice thin crisp crust and are filled with creamy macaroni and cheese. Texture wise these are the best Fried Macaroni and Cheese I ever tried anywhere but I do need to note that they also were very bland…….I never add salt to food in a restaurant…..Usually I find the food too salty for me often and my husband complains that I am too sensitive but I found myself adding salt to these balls so they were really under seasoned.  With only a minimal amount of parmesan and or  seasoning these balls could have been  amazeballs! ……Maybe it’s just a slightly off batch? ….The house made BBQ ranch sauce is very flavorful for me the sauce is too strong for the balls but it taste good.

I ordered the Korean Street Tacos. They are described as Corn Tortillas stuffed with pan seared marinated flat iron steak, ginger-lime slaw with cucumbers and cilantro.

These are Street Sized Tacos on a single shelled warmed up Corn Tortillas. I take a bite. The meat is very tender and very good but lacks Korean Flavors (soy, vinegar, ginger, sesame oil, hot pepper). The slaw is fresh and very lime-ee and lacks cilantro. I use some hot chile sauce..it helps but it also wets the thin single layer shell and the shell then disintegrates………..any who

My husband tries the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich.

It’s Cute how they branded the soft bun with a ‘C” for Cabin!

The Chicken is VERY lightly breaded. It juicy and doesn’t even seem fried. The Buffalo Sauce it was tossed in has a nice tang and a nice kick to it…………the fries are coated and were seasoned nicely and arrived hot. Good sandwich!

Service was average.

That was my trip to The Cabin Whiskey and Grill in Peoria AZ.

www.TheCabinWest.com

I note EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Helio Basin Brewing Phoenix AZ is Worth A Fork*****UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS *******

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UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS******Helio Basin Brewing  is located in Phoenix not too far from the Phoenix airport and the Phoenix Zoo. They specialize in serving 6 varieties of handcrafted beers and elevated Arizonian Influenced bar food. They are very well received by magazine articles as being a top brewery in the county and the chef has created award wining food at various food events.

We enter…to my surprise it doesn’t smell like beer when I walked in and looks like a typical brewery.

I see many kegs and brewing and a Fermentation Cellar with great big giant vats.

The wall behind me are garage doors that someone just opened.

The menus are an interesting read and there are many detailed creations I never saw anywhere else before…..There are also some unusual game meat offerings like wild boar, elk and rabbit sausage…….

The Trout Tacos are calling my name so that’s what I ordered.

I received three street sized tacos on house made spent grain (by-product from beer making) tortillas. The tacos are filled with smoked rainbow trout, deviled egg mousse, pickled fresno peppers, capers and pretty frilly little greens. I take a bite. The tacos have a nice texture and nutty flavor. I like the tortillas very much! The smoked trout is firm textured, rich and it indeed is SMOKEY. The pickled fresno peppers are punchy and are an excellent pairing with the trout. They go very well together. To be Forking honest (like I always am) I can’t taste the deviled egg mousse over the smoked trout and fresnos because my mouth is still smoking…the eggs are just something creamy that’s in there. The pickled vegetables on the side were also very good….softer than I was expecting and very acidic but not harsh, very good…..different!

My husband said the Sonoran Sausage was EXCELLENT!

There’s a lot going on here. Listen again……..There’s a LOT going on here……….This sandwich is painstakingly detailed………Spicy house made brat, smoked bacon, duck-fat beans, stewed nopales (cactus), pickled fresnos and onions, piccolo de gallo, ancient mustard (not sure but I think it’s an almond, pine nut, dark seed mustard) jalapeño pesto, cotija cheese, crema on bolillo bun.

Helio Basin Brewing – Craft Beer and Chef Crafted  Arizonian Influenced Fine Bar Food.

I’d say that’s Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.HelioBasinBrewing.com

******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS******

Every FORKING THING is subject to change and YOUR experience MAY or May NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Pastrami Carrots & Beets with Kraut Style Chickpeas Recipe

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Pastrami Carrots and Beets with Kraut Style Chickpeas

I was inspired to create this recipe when I read about Chef Binkley’s Pastrami Carrot Corn Dog on his menu this week……I know my creations can’t compare to the Great Chef’s Masterpieces …..but this one here is might be considered to be Forking Great! I had a pound  of beets and a pound of carrots in my refrigerator. I was thinking that beets might be great also to pastramize…So I did two pans, one with carrots and one with beets.Then I figure I have to make something to go the beets and carrots….I first thought of Russian Dressing….Of course a simple basic Russian Dressing is delicious with these carrots and beets…….Then I thought a better idea was my Kraut Style Spaghetti Squash but I didn’t think squash and root vegetables are very appetizing together so Chickpeas was it because they go great with Carrots and Beets……I did the quick soak method for beans but you are welcome to do the over night soak….I think the two methods produce different textures to the beans……The overnight soak makes the beans super creamy and sweeter….I wasn’t sure if I wanted super creamy beans so I did the quick soak for more texture. I think I would have been happiest with 1/2 and 1/2 but I didn’t think of that at the time.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 lb. carrots – peeled (needs to be peeled so the flavorings get in)

1 lb. beets – peeled and sliced in thick slices (needs to be peeled so flavorings get in)

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon juniper berries

2 teaspoons allspice berries

2 bay leaves

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons black peppercorns

1 teaspoon ground ginger

8 garlic cloves – smashed

1 hot dried pepper – torn in half

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

4 cups water

coriander to taste (to top carrots and beets)

fresh ground black pepper to taste (to top carrots and beets)

1/2 lb dried garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas)

3 cups water (keep the leftover bean water)

1/2 sweet onion – very thinly sliced and rough chopped

2 cloves garlic – ground to a paste

4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or a little more to taste)

4 splashes sherry vinegar

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon course sea salt

8 juniper berries – fresh ground in spice grinder

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seed

Directions

set oven to 350 degrees F

Get two baking dishes or two 1/2 pans.

Put all the carrots in one pan.

Put all the beets in the other pan.

Get out a medium sized mixing bowl.

add the salt, sugar, juniper berries, allspice berries, cloves, mustard, peppercorns, ginger and mix well. Put 1/2 the mixture in each pan.

Put one bay leaf, 1/4 cinnamon stick, 1/2 dried pepper and 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke in each pan.

Add 2 cups of water to each pan and cover tightly and lace in 350 degree oven.

Cook till fork tender. About one hour.

When ready to use drain.

Rinse and sort beans.

Put pot of 3 cups water to boil. When boiling add beans and boil the beans for two minutes. Then shut the heat off cover the pot and leave it alone for an hour. After an hour drain and rinse the beans. Put them back in the pot with three cups of water. Bring the pot to boil and then reduce to a low simmer covered. These beans should be done in about 90….. minutes….maybe 2 hours. (******make sure that any bean you prepare is fully cooked because undercooked beans can cause illness or be toxic!)

While the beans are cooking get a small mixing bowl and add the onion, garlic, sherry vinegar, sugar, 1 teaspoon course sea salt, ground juniper, caraway and mustard seeds. Cover and put in the refrigerator while the beans are cooking. This mixture will cook itself.

When the beans are done drain them. Add the small bowl of onion mixture to your pot. Add the drained beans and about 1/2 cup of reserved bean water and bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to simmer for 15 – 25 minutes…..you want things to get absorbed. Wa la Kraut Style Beans.

Plate it up! (make sure you sprinkle the beets and carrots with fresh ground black pepper and coriander.

Pastrami Carrots and Beets with Kraut Style Chic Peas

WOW! I feel like I could stuff the beets in with rye bread and Swiss cheese! This is a FORKING Special vegetable plate. Ummmm I’m thinking of quick rye bread waffles and drizzling  everything with a Swiss Cheese Sauce….

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

 

 

Dash Mini Waffle Grill – Might be Worth a Fork?

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I was at Sur La Table and they had this teeny tiny waffle maker called the Dash Grill. It makes four inch round waffles. I sort of thought about purchasing a real waffle maker but never did because I can’t stand the thought of a large appliance I’d rarely use. We very rarely ever eat waffles so I thought if this tiny $7.50 (normally $9.99)  appliance works it would just right for me and my limited waffle needs.

I follow the recipe for classic waffles that are included with the owner’s manual.

The recipe is very easy to prepare but it doesn’t say how long to leave the batter in the waffle iron or how many waffles it makes……So I flat out guess to leave the batter in for three minutes.

WOW my waffle came out perfect! and BTW it’s a very good recipe that I don’t have to change. The waffles are very light and fluffy and taste great!

The recipe makes 7 waffles.

Of course this mini waffle iron isn’t for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend for families that want to eat together. At three minutes a waffle it might take a very long time to feed a family.

There are pros and cons to the Mini Dash Grill

Pros-

Cost $10.00 or less.

Doesn’t take up much space as it’s only as big as a fast food burger.

Comes with recipes.

Cons-

Takes 3 minutes to make each four inch waffle.

You have to guess when your waffle is done.

It will take you forever to feed a family with this tiny waffle iron.

The Dash Mini Waffle Iron is very difficult to clean. While it does have a non stick surface that you are only suppose to wipe out it’s next to impossible to get in all the tiny nooks. I kept cleaning it and it still wasn’t clean…took me 4 times till I thought it was clean. Maybe I’ll try with a Q-Tip next time if………. it still works.

Hope I get to make a few new creations with My Dash Mini Waffle Iron! I’m really excited to make a waffle falafel or quick waffle bread sandwiches.

The Dash Mini Waffle Grill – Might be worth a Fork?….(That depends on how many uses I get out of it.)

I note that your experience may or may not differ….

The Forking Truth

Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes Recipe

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Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes

These Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes taste like the Thai Dish Pad Gra Pow. These potatoes are delicious and very easy to prepare and are low in fat too. You can serve them cold as a salad or hot as a side dish.

This recipe makes about 12 servings

3 pounds small red potatoes

1/4 cup vegetable soup base (or chicken)

1 cup Thai Basil – chopped

4 Thai red chili peppers – chopped fine

4 large garlic cloves – chopped fine

1/4 cup golden mountain seasoning sauce also called tuong gia vi (it’s a soy sauce but with more flavors)

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

1 shallot – sliced very thin on a mandolin

1 Tablespoon canola oil

Directions

Put the cleaned potatoes in a pot. Add the soup base and cover potatoes with water. Bring pot to a medium boil and let the potatoes cook till fork tender. (they boil about 15 minutes)

Drain the potatoes when done.

While they are hot slice the potatoes in half and put them in a large bowl. Sprinkle the golden mountain seasoning sauce over the potatoes and let them absorb for about 5 minutes. Shake the potatoes around so the sauce is distributed. Add Thai basil, chili peppers, garlic, sugar, fish sauce, shallot and oil. Gently stir.

Enjoy!

Spicy Thai Basil Potatoes

Delicious!

The Forking Truth

The Forking Truth is that You are Not Always going to Agree with Review Site Ratings

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I thought I’d try this particular restaurant because of location and also because on a popular review site it has a 5 star average on 263 reviews. Wow that’s crazy!  I’m thinking the food must be very good. That’s a very high average for a restaurant that’s only been in business a few years. I also must note that this particular restaurant is very casual and specializes in serving Hot Dogs.

My husband orders a Cheesy Beer Chili Dog.

It’s an ok hot dog….I read that they do purchase the buns they use from a local baker. This hot dog was topped with a not so flavorful processed cheese sauce and what my husband thought was canned chili.  It’s ok at best but not 5 stars……. For me five stars has to be be a flavorful fresh made cheese sauce and delicious flavorful chili topping maybe even on a house made dog like a place in Cave Creek offers from time to time with only a 3.5 star average.

I will only eat certain brands of hot dogs because of the 2015 Clear Foods Report on Hot Dogs.

345 brands of hot dogs were tested. Only Butterball, McCormick, Eckrich and Hebrew National actually contain what they list. I will only eat those brands meat dogs.

This hot dog place doesn’t offer any of these brands so I go with an Italian Beef with a side order of cole slaw. I receive this.

Take a closer look.

The meat in the sandwich is tasty but It’s impossible to pick this sandwich up because the roll disintegrated from all the oil. This sandwich sure isn’t even close to 5 stars to me. This is about a one star to me because I would never order it again and certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I should be able to pick up the sandwich and dip it into the jus. That is why it’s essential that an Italian Beef Sandwich be made with Italian Bread. This sandwich has failed at being a sandwich.

Here’s a close up of my cole slaw. Looks like a big frog threw up on the cole slaw.

It really wasn’t bad cole slaw but it sure isn’t 5 stars either.

I just don’t know HOW the FORK can this place earn a 5 star rating?     The owners seem nice and I know they work very hard but…..many restaurant owners are nice and also work hard…….

I don’t know why most people feel this food is five stars to them….?

The Forking Truth is that You are NOT going to Agree with Review Site Ratings all the time.

The Forking Truth

The Bourbon Cellar – Gourmet Burgers in North Scottsdale – Worth a Fork ***UPDATE soon to reopen at a new location

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*****UPDATE…this location has closed but is expected to reopen around fall 2018

The Bourbon Cellar by day offers BIG (8 0z.) house ground burgers of many varieties. How about PRIME Filet, Bison, Elk, Venison, Cajun Turkey or Veggie on an Apple Cider Egg Bun and topped with a mouth watering Wasabi Deviled Egg THAT’S Embellished with a Bourbon Soaked Cherry!!!!!!! Bourbon Cellar also offers a few unique drool sounding Sandwiches like their version of a Philly Steak……It’s thinly sliced ribeye that’s soaked in Bourbon…sounds delish to me… By night this small restaurant is a Steak House that also offers a good selection of seafood…..

……..I only had one visit so far so I can’t vouch for much but I can tell you the in-house-ground PRIME Filet Burger was very moist and very flavorful. Sorry for my bad photo here….I couldn’t get any better at my seat.

I start with the Wasabi Deviled Egg. Ummmmmm Mighty Tasty, spicy and smooth with that little pop of the bourbon soaked cherry…(happy now). For me this is too big (8oz.) of a burger to eat in one sitting so I cut it in half. I discover that they somehow compacted a FULL Salad over my burger  explodes mixed greens. At the time I suddenly remembered my childhood neighbor’s kid’s toy. The one that looks like a can of peanuts that you open and a snake pops out. The greens flew out like that or really more like confetti but the snake in a can popped in my head when the lettuce flew everywhere.  I also added on the Bourbon Pickles and avocado.  Somehow I get it together so I can eat it.

It’s just Forking Delicious! Very Juicy and very flavorful. I like the Bourbon Pickles on the burger but these pickles are so different that I don’t care for them outside of the sandwich……but on the sandwich these pickles add something delicious that I like….. I don’t have any sauce on my sandwich and it still mighty flavorful and DOESN’T NEED ANY SAUCE!  My burger also came with a side. I picked the cole slaw….It was fresh and crispy and not drippy. Good cole slaw.

My husband also had the Filet Burger but his was topped with pepper jack cheese, sautéed onions and the Bourbon Pickles. He liked that his burger was also very flavorful and juicy but he was disappointed that they didn’t prepare his burger medium rare as he requested. Instead it came out medium/ well like mine.  I asked for medium so for me it was still great!

2 days latter I ate the other half. WOW it’s still Forking delicious, juicy and so flavorful. Today my only issue is I notice more that the pickles are so big…..for me it would be better if the pickles were cut thinner…and that roll is really yummy too. This burger had everything going on and Bourbon……so good! I do note – It’s not perfect because of the exploding lettuce and if you add the bourbon pickles because they are really big  and maybe they don’t know how to cook a burger less than medium well?????? I don’t know……But I also don’t care because… it’s so Forking Delicious I can still say it already that it might be one of the most delicious Sandwiches I ate in 2018.

In House Ground Prime Filet Burger on Apple Cider Egg Bun and Topped with Wasabi Deviled Eggs embellished with Bourbon Soaked Cherry!

That one dish is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.TheBourbonCellar.com

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

The Forking Truth

 

No Pasta Squash Manicotti Recipe

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No Pasta Squash Manicotti

I got the idea to make this kind o Manicotti after I dined at Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale AZ. I had a similar dish there and I knew I could make the same dish…It just so happens I recently made a batch of Cannoli and had a lot of home made fresh ricotta cheese and I happened to also have a bunch of squash…..So this is what I had to make. I don’t recommend for everyone to do this recipe for two reasons. One you might not be willing to make your own ricotta cheese and you might not care to shred your own cheese. Your own fresh ricotta cheese and grated cheeses will taste much better than ricotta and already shredded cheese you purchase from a regular grocery store so the manicotti won’t come out as good tasting without fresh made ricotta cheese. (they might also come out more runny I’m thinking and then you’ll get mad at me)……You also have to already have drained ricotta cheese so that may or may not be some extra work for you. ……..BUT……….The MAIN REASON I don’t recommend this recipe to most people is that you need to be pretty good using a mandolin to cut the long ribbons of squash. I don’t want you to go to the hospital to make Squash Manicotti… I’m thinking it might be easier to make a one layer lasagna with the squash for most people….so do that if you prefer. I also need to let you know that I wasn’t able to slice the very end of each squash either so i need to use the ends for soup or a side vegetable. This recipe make around 21 manicotti so it will be around 10 servings. Extra servings can be frozen but they are better fresh. Also after they are frozen they might need another drain.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

6 small- small /medium squash – (zucchini or yellow or a mix of both) (don’t use the very large squash here….it will be more watery from the bigger seed cavity and not come out as well. I note it is possible due to size on squash, thickness and your ability to slice squash…the amount of squash you use may differ.

4 cups of ricotta – preferably home made and drained for three days (recipe is on site for many recipes) (1/2 gallon milk, pint heavy cream, teaspoon sea salt, one lemon…that’s about how much you need for the recipe but I always make a double batch of cheese and freeze what I don’t use)

1 cup of Italian Blend Cheese  – plus extra for the amount of manicotti you are serving for topping them. – Use preferably cheese shredded by hand of a combination of mozzarella, mild and sharp provolone and parmesan (about 1 part mozzarella and the other cheeses are about one quarter)

1 large egg – beaten

1/4 teaspoon dry basil

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

few grates fresh nutmeg

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground sea salt to taste…..(here you need to use the salt extra sparingly because the cheeses are salty. The salt is just to season the squash)

fresh ground black pepper to taste – black pepper is used just to season the squash

You only need about two tablespoons of sauce for each manicotti you are serving……Use your favorite sauce to top the manicotti…..Here I used Norma Sauce (a rich tomato/eggplant sauce. Recipe is on site)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Oil baking sheet(s).

In medium bowl add the ricotta cheese, Italian Blend Cheese, egg, basil, white pepper and nutmeg. Mix and put to the side.

Remove the squash ends.

In a large bowl CAREFULLY slice the squash thinly longways on a mandolin. I did two at a time so I could figure how many squash I needed.

Lay out about 4 slices of squash and make them overlay each other like picture below.

Now you need to either spoon out a thick line of cheese or squirt a line with a pastry bag so it looks like picture below.

Wrap the left side of squash over the cheese and keep rolling.

Keep rolling and then place on oiled baking sheet and repeat till you are out of the ricotta mixture.

Sprinkle tops of manicotti with olive oil and sparingly with fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper.

Place in the 350F degree oven for 30 minutes.

You need to drain the water that came out of the squash. (some people salt squash before using in different recipes but since this squash is very delicate and thin it’s too easy to over salt)

To serve top with any pasta sauce that you enjoy and put bake in the oven a few minutes to melt Italian Blend cheese on the top. Extra manicotti can be frozen for latter use but it will be better fresh.

No Pasta Squash Manicotti

These came out Forking Delicious!

The Forking Truth

Doda’s Pizza Glendale AZ – Almost taste like East Coast Pizza – Worth a Fork!

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Doda’s Pizza recently opened by the Petsmart on Bell Road in Glendale AZ. This is a small, very casual, family owned Pizza Restaurant.

The Spinach Pizza with Mozzarella, Ricotta and Sauce sounded interesting to us but you really need a plain slice to tell how the pizza is so we tried one plain slice.

and a Spinach Pizza.

I bite into the plain slice and WOW!….This is the first pizza I tried in over ten years that reminds me of east coast style pizza……It’s not oily like really good authentic New York Pizza but the Mozzarella Cheese has flavor to it like from the typical east coast pizza parlor. The sauce is a little thick like it should be with the correct amount of sweetness and the pizza taste seasoned like east coast pizzas. The dough is close to east coast style. It’s thin with a nice crisp bottom and it’s flavorful. The chew isn’t exact but it’s close. These pizzas actually taste like pizza. This pizza reminds me of pizza from a pizza shop that was walking distance from my childhood house. Actually most pizzas that I tried from east coast places had this kind of taste. All of the pizzas I found near me in my my little corner of Metro Phoenix don’t taste anything close to this. The spinach pizza was really a meal. It was made with fresh spinach, had delicious mozzarella cheese, that flavorful sauce on great crust. I do note the ricotta used on our spinach pizza sure WASN’T east coast ricotta but with all the good things going on do make up for the ricotta.

Doda’s Pizza offers many varieties, sizes of pizza and two thickness of crusts. They also offer sandwiches, calzones, pastas, lunch specials and more.

www.DodasPizza.com

I don’t think you’d drive across town to come here but if you happen to be near here and are in the mood for casual east coast style pizza Doda’s might hit the spot!

The Forking Truth