Monthly Archives: April 2018

Four Different Flavors of Italian on The Upper West Side of Phoenix AZ

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www.cliparts.co

There are four different flavors of Italian Restaurants in the Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix.  Here’s a little stroll to the four different Italian Restaurants that are in the Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix in no particular order.

The one restaurant that has been around longer than any other I know of in the area is Cucina Tagliani who’s been a neighborhood favorite for over 25 years now. They serve up your favorite American Italian Dishes and offer some unusual HEALTHY SPINS you don’t find anywhere else. Spaghetti squash can be substituted for pasta. Chicken Parmesan can be grilled and not breaded or fried. They offer more than SIX kinds of vegetables and healthy style pastas and a Spaghetti Squash Lasagna to boot. But if you’re into the gut-busting Italian Combos they offer that too! The Mama’s and Papa’s Combo plates are a great value and can feed a small family or one big eater for a few meals. They also offer a certified dog friendly covered  patio. We’ve enjoyed the patio and have been bringing our dogs here for years.

 

www.CucinaTagliani.com

We also have The Twisted Italian in Peoria. Under the second ownership the Twisted Italian improved and REALLY went Twisted. The second owners are from Chicago and changed things up. They serve up most Italian-American Favorites, pizzas, pastas…..Pierogis……yes a few Pierogis…..Nobody else else anywhere has an Italian Relleno on the menu with house made sausage…do they? The Twisted Italian also ships in beef from Chicago for Italian Chicago Beef sandwiches and also buy baguette bread made in New Jersey for the sandwiches. At the moment this is the only restaurant that I know of on this side of town that serves bronzino. Recently I found them listed on www.BringFido.com so my dogs got to eat here too.

www.EatTwisted.com

One of the restaurant’s with the nicest atmosphere in this area is Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante. They offer a nice modern dining room, an indoor/outdoor and patio. They serve Neapolitan Pizzas, and mostly house made pastas. They also offer black board specials, wine dinners, bunch and have a dog friendly patio.

www.BottegaPizzeria.com

Another Italian Restaurant we have is Fabio on Fire in Peoria AZ. Fabio is already well known for his pizzas, breads and pastries that he serves at festivals, Farmer’s Markets and from catering. This is a small Italian Restaurant. Here you’ll find Italian Style Neapolitan Pizzas, fresh baked breads, hand made pastas, baked in house Italian pastries, gelato that’s to die for too! They offer a small patio that is not dog friendly so you won’t see my dogs here but you will see me here every now and then.

www.FabioOnFire.com

Now that was four different flavors of Italian that you can get in the Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix.

The Forking Truth is that Everything EVERYWHERE is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Foodstock Food Truck Event at P83 Peoria AZ Sports Complex 2018

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Saturday April 28th from 12:00 – 9pm was the 2018 FOODstock Food Truck event at P83 Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria. 87 food trucks participated in this event this year. Admission was $5.00 a person, kids 12 and under were free and the proceeds went to charity.

I wasn’t going to attend after the food I tried last year….

Close up of Corned Beef Wild Buckeye Roll

I did some homework this time. I researched some of the participating food trucks and made a small list of the food trucks that are well known for serving good food. (instead of picking trucks on a whim like I did last year)…….

One of the food trucks I wanted to hit was The Main Lobster Lady.

I don’t eat lobster…..I know they are a delicacy but lobsters sort of gross me out……I see them as something like really BIG cockroaches…….and I don’t have an appetite for big insects….. I figure with the rave reviews everything must be good so we split a Haddock Sandwich.

We receive a very generously sized sandwich. it’s on a soft buttery roll. The fish is REALLY SUPER FRESH tasting and fried to PER-FEC-TION! This sure ain’t no fish from Safeway…..WOW it’s really good fish. You rarely will find fish this good around Phoenix. I gave my half a little squeeze of fresh lemon….I used a small amount of the tarter sauce…The tarter sauce is extra thick…..it’s mostly mayonnaise. This sandwich…as great as it is …..is super difficult to eat standing up…(at food stock there are only a few tables…you mostly walk and stand here)………..This fish is so delicate and the fish is so flaky. You really need three hands to handle this sandwich….everything is bursting out and I  look like a mess…..Good thing you can’t see me. As messy as it was this was a much better start than last year.

The next Food Truck down happened to be on my list. It was the Puffy Taco Truck.

We shared a chicken taco plate with added green chilies. I think we waited about 15minutes in the high heat for this plate. It was about 90 degrees F but in the hot strong sun it felt like a little over 100 degrees.

The best part of this plate are the Puffy Taco Shells…..They do have a nice fresh really good corn taste……The Taco shells are very good. The chicken was fresh moist and tender pulled rags of plain breast meat. topped with lots of iceberg lettuce, a little cheese, our added chilies and  chopped tomato. I use the salsa…..the salsa is very plain and lacks herbs, tang, seasoning and flavor.  The chilies are mild. The chicken and salsa are delicate and were barely touched with flavor so you can taste the taco shell more……….

We walk around the whole place and I have three more stops on my list – Mingo’s Louisiana Kitchen, Jamburrito’s Cajun Grill and Mighty Moo.

Mingo’s and Jamburritos are not here.

Bummer ……….. 🙁     🙁    🙁

I just read this morning on www.phoenix.carpediem.cd that they were suppose to be here.

Decide it’s best to end this thing here on a sweet note.

Very good small batch hand crafted Ice Cream from Mighty Moo. For me it was a small cup of Chocolate covered cherry and my husband had salted butterscotch.

With a small amount of research with food trucks I did much better than last year. It’s too bad the Food Truck List is subject to change. If I go next year I now know to create a longer food truck list to do better.

That was my visit to the 2018 FOODstock.

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

The Forking Truth

Corn Cake SUPRISE Recipe

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Corn Cake Surprise

Corn Cake Surprise and Sous Vide and Pan Seared NY Strip

Here are Sweet Moist Corn Cakes that have an Egg and Roasted Poblano Pepper Surprise. The Batter is accented with scallions, sweet grape tomatoes and cilantro. Inside is a roasted poblano  that is stuffed with some batter and an egg. It gets inserted in the cup cake liner and gets baked. I made them with the points sticking out but you can do them however you like. These came out FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS! They are sweet and a little spicy with lots of flavors. Juices do come out from the poblano pepper and give great flavor to the egg and to the batter. The flavor makes people smile and you will be asked often if there are any more left…… I do NOTE ****THESE DO NOT FREEZE because the egg inside won’t freeze right. This recipe makes 6 servings. You can use them for breakfast or a side dish. I recommend to slice in half to serve.

Ingredients for 6 servings

6 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 poblano peppers

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon corn meal

1 Tablespoon chick pea flour (once I accidentally added a small amount of chickpea flour to my corn bread and I thought it was really great…..that is why the chick pea flour)

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon sweet butter – room temperature

1 egg – slightly beaten

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon course sea salt

1/4 cup non fat yogurt

1/4 cup scallions – chopped

1/4 cup cilantro – chopped

12 sweet very small grape tomatoes (mine were very small you might need less if they are bigger) quartered

non stick spray – canola or vegetable

Directions

To start with- You need to roast the poblano peppers and boil 6 eggs.

Put 6 eggs in your pot. Cover the eggs with an inch of water and add a teaspoon of baking soda. Bring the water to a boil. TURN OFF THE HEAT AS SOON AS THE POT REACHES BOIL. Leave the pot on the stove for 3 1/2-4 minutes NO MORE THAN THAT. Pour out the hot water and let cold water run over the eggs. Add some ice and let the eggs cool.

Turn the oven on to broil and place the poblano peppers on  baking sheet(s). Leave them under the broiler till the skin turns charred but the pepper isn’t burnt. Keep rotating the peppers till they are black all around and then cover the tray with foil so the peppers can steam themselves. When the peppers are cool enough to handle.

Pull the stem and you will remove the core at the same time.

The skins should slip off.

Eggs should be cool so they should be peeled. They might be slightly hard to peel….Usually softer eggs are harder to peel but don’t worry. Eggs don’t need to be beautiful or perfect here.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees F.

Add all the dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl. Then mix in all the wet ingredients with a fork. The batter should be thick.

Lightly spray the cup cake liners with non stick spray and set in cup cake pan. (set to the side)

Take a roasted poblano pepper and cut of the back third of it or it will be too much pepper and your corn cakes might turn gummy from too much of a good thing.

Spoon in a spoonful of batter into the liner.

Spoon in a spoonful into the pepper.

Now insert egg into the pepper and set this in the cupcake liner egg down so it looks like an evergreen tree or Hershey Kiss.

I smeared the small amount of leftover batter over the peppers…..

They went in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. (you should check them at 20 minutes incase your oven cooks faster)

I let them cool slightly.

Two of them disappeared quickly.

Corn Cake Surprise

Corn Cake Surprise and Sous Vide NY Strip

They come out FORKING DELICIOUS! The egg is still a bit moist too!

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

Refreshing Cucumber Herb and Lime Ice Recipe

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Refreshing Cucumber Herb and Lime Ice

I had extra cucumbers hanging around so I thought I’d make them into some sort of frozen ice dessert. Cucumber doesn’t have much flavor so at first I added just a teaspoon of fresh mint….often mint needs a companion herb so I added a small amount of dried basil and I thought it was good but needed just one more flavor and one lime was it…..the finishing touches were just a pinch of course sea salt and a secret small pinch of ground white pepper. This one came out with an icy texture. This cucumber ice might not be for everyone but it’s light, balanced and refreshing.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

2 lbs cucumber I used English. (was slightly over the 2 lbs)

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 teaspoon fresh mint – finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

pinch course sea salt

pinch ground white pepper

Directions

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Reduce to simmer for a about ten minutes. Turn off heat and put pot to the side.

Chop up cucumbers. If the sugar-water is cool you can use a blender and add cucumber. OR- Add cucumber and the rest of the ingredients back to the pot and use a stick blender to blend. Pour in freezable covered tub and let sit over night. Next day scrape it up and it’s ready to serve.

Refreshing Cucumber Herb and Lime Ice

It’s Cool as a Cucumber and You can be too!

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

Dining Out with DOGS in Metro Phoenix AZ April 2018

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Dining Out with Dogs in Metro Phoenix is just a “fluff story” about my food adventures out with my dogs. It all sort of started when my dog Louie was diagnosed with cancer. I felt I had to take him to as many restaurants as possible because eating out was one of his greatest enjoyments. There are a bunch of things you need to know before you start dining out with dogs. Many restaurants in Metro Phoenix do have outdoor patios but not all patios are dog friendly. It’s always BEST to call a restaurant and ask them if it’s ok to dine there with your furry friend before hand. You never know if the patio is already booked for a party or if the restaurant suddenly stopped accepting dogs. It also is always BEST to dine at off times so your dog(s) is the only dog on the patio. Often even well behaved dogs start barking at each other and you might be asked to leave. It’s also best to dine at off times to avoid other people. Many people don’t share a love for dogs and you could soon find that out….Also some people are allergic to dogs. Other rules to dining with dogs are that dogs must be by your side at all times. Dogs are NOT to sit on restaurant furniture or to eat off restaurant plates. You also need a dog friendly food list available from your veterinarian and a list of foods to avoid. Much of the food and drink you consume is either harmful or can be TOXIC to your dog. Usually the safest thing to feed your dog from the table is a lean piece of sauceless meat. In Phoenix we also have to worry about the temperature so make sure it isn’t too hot for your dog to dine out. Dogs absorb more heat than we do and can’t sweat. I think 90 degrees in the shade is the top temperature most dogs can tolerate. OK now your ready to dine out with Dogs!

Sadly we lost our nicest dog friendly patio recently. Carvalho’s Brazilian Kitchen in North Scottsdale. They actually had a separate patio just for Dining out with Dogs….Amuse Bouche in Surprise was also a nicer restaurant to dine at and is under a new ownership so I’m not certain if dogs will be welcomed there anymore.

Cucina Tagliani in Glendale offers a Certified Dog Patio so we went there. This is a family friendly American/Italian Restaurant. They serve up all your American Italian favorites and offer you the choice of many healthy spins on the food. you can substitute spaghetti squash for pasta. They also offer spaghetti squash lasagna, grilled chicken parmesan and whole grain and gluten free pasta.

I usually like the Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad here but today tried the Chicken Fritte Salad.

It’s just a basic salad with house made Italian Dressing. The Chicken is fried absolutely perfect and seems free of grease. For my taste it could use a little seasoning.

“Looks like we are getting a bunch of chicken!’

My husband get the Sausage Rigatoni.

“We do pretty well at Cucina Tagliani!”

www.CucinaTagliani.com

“We are on our way to Pita Kitchen in Glendale”

Pita Kitchen is a very casual Greek Mediterranean Restaurant. They aren’t officially dog friendly but I asked them if it’s ok for me to bring my dogs there and they said yes. I always go at off times. So far we never shared the patio with anyone.

It might be a little boring but the only thing I ever get here is the Greek Salad with a Chicken Kabob. I tasted most of the food here and the Greek Salad with a Chicken Kabob is what they do best to me. The Chicken is usually moist with a nice flavor and a little char. My husband got the Gyro Plate today.

The dogs get very excited for chicken.

“I’m watching YOU!”

“More Chicken Please!”

“We do good at Pita Kitchen!”

www.PitaKitchen.net

We get to try a new Official Dog Friendly Restaurant!

“We are off to PNPK in North Scottsdale”

PNPK is a craft slider restaurant and wine bar. It’s sort of mostly Comfort Casual American Tapas Food and Drink…..They offer many different Flights of different foods, dessert, Craft Beer and Wine.

This is an official Dog Friendly Restaurant. The Dogs got started off with individual water bowls and biscuits…..The dogs were very relaxed afterwards.

The patio was very comfortable even at 90 degrees F that it was today.

Dogs got to sample sample some macaroni and cheese and some of the sliders we tried.

For us the macaroni and cheese was good but a little too mild and under seasoned for our taste. The dogs disagreed with us and thought the macaroni and cheese was scrumptious.

Look at the smiles.

They also enjoyed some of the sliders…..(some weren’t dog friendly)

Between me and my husband we tried 5 different sliders. My husband liked the Banger and mashed slider best of what he tried and I liked the Hot Chicken best of what I tried.

Service was really attentive to us and our dogs. They made us feel very welcomed.

www.PNPKAZ.com

“We are on our way to the Twisted Italian in Peoria AZ”

The Twisted Italian Restaurant is a small local American Italian Restaurant located in a strip mall. They are indeed a bit different from other American Italian Restaurants. They serve Pirogies of the month (that have been corned beef and cabbage on my every visit all year round here) Besides Pirogies The Twisted Italian offers also offers Italian Rellenos, other American Italian favorites, pizza and they highlight their Chicago Beef Sandwich. I recently found The Twisted Italian listed on www.BringFido.com so I called them up and asked if it was ok to bring my furry friends and they said yes so we did dine with dogs here.

“We are eating “Twisted Today!”

I went with a two course $7.99 lunch special***(subject to change).They gave me a fresh pretty good size salad.  I tried the chicken pesto, mozzarella, provolone, pesto and roasted pepper panini. (I got the chicken on the side for sharing). The bread is pretty good and MUCH BETTER than when this restaurant first opened up. (different ownership) Our waiter tells us that this bread is from New Jersey Ummmmmm. The sandwich is pretty tasty even without the chicken. Then I try some chicken. It’s moist and seasoned well. It’s actually much better than most sandwich chicken I get out from many places….I have paid almost twice the price for chicken sandwiches that weren’t as good.

“This is a BIG FORKING WIN for us….look at all that food…she doesn’t need much chicken.”

My husband got the Chicago Beef.

We were told the owners are from Chicago and they get their beef from Chicago.

While this variation of the Chicago Beef is not up there with the top Chicago Beefs it is still a tasty sandwich with lots of beef.

“We did FORKING GREAT at The Twisted Italian”

www.EatTwisted.com

“That was Dining Out with Dogs for April 2018…..It’s getting Hot here in Metro Phoenix but we hope eat out a few more times and see you next month!”

The Forking Truth

In Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017

 

Sous Vide New York Strip Steak Directions and Recipe

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Sous Vide NY Strip

Who knew that tasteless tough steak could be delicious via the Sous Vide? We received a gift of frozen steaks. My husband cooked some up one night and he’s very good at cooking steak but these steaks came out tasteless and tough…we were about to throw the rest of them out. I said let me give them a try with the Sous Vide. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. I was watching Rachel Ray ( a cooking variety lifestyle TV Show). A Sous Vide Cooking Expert happened to be on and said NY Strip comes out amazing from the Sous Vide. All you do is set the Sous Vide to 130 degrees F (for medium/rare….that he recommends). Leave the meat out to warm to room temperature (at least 30 minutes)

Give the steaks a sprinkle of salt and pepper and then vacuum seal.

All three steaks I salt and pepper on both sides. The one in the middle I added some frozen garlic confit, cilantro and a jalapeño.

The steaks now go in the Sous Vide. I let them go 3 1/2 hours. One up to Four hours is recommended for best results.

(make sure the steaks are under the water)

After 1-4 hours (I always think the meat comes out best towards the higher recommended time)

Remove and you might want to stop the cooking process with an ice bath if you are not searing right away.

When ready to use remove from pouch. Blot dry. If you are using in a few hours you can leave out in the refrigerator a few hours uncovered to dry up (so you can get a better sear). Leave out in room temperature at least a half hour to warm up some before you sear.

Get a regular fry pan (don’t use non stick) on with a little bit of oil on medium high heat and sear about one minute on all ends.

Make sure you sear the sides too! (this was the other steak with garlic confit, jalapeño and cilantro…..I added garlic, hatch chili and cilantro to the pan to add a little more flavor).

Your steak should look something like this.

You don’t need to leave the meat to rest because it’s already cooked inside. Slice up and enjoy!

Sous Vide NY Strip served with my Sweet Corn Cake Surprise (I will publish that recipe soon)

Easy Salt Crusted Potatoes

I normally do my potatoes more like the one above…But I used a leftover potato from something else for the steak.

Sous Vide NY Strip

The Forking Truth

 

Sometimes you hit a restaurant when the third string crew is on………… :(

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I go out to eat often. So I’m going to visit a lot of restaurants. I usually will leave with a positive experience. The downside of going out to eat often is that you will hit more restaurants when they are not running at their best either……

I recently went to a certain restaurant in Metro Phoenix that has decent reviews on most review sites. I read that the Chef is very talented and has actually cooked at the James Bread House so I though this would be a safe pick. This restaurant is big on Craft Beers, Wine and Whiskey on Tap. They serve Casual Global American Food & Bar Pub Favorites. The interior of the restaurant is very unique with booths, benches, tables and a patio that is sort of indoors and out. They have chandeliers made from wine bottles, a big chalk board on the wall with menu items and a Bloody Mary table set up today!  A lot of natural light flows in from the glass windows in the ceiling during the day.

It’s not my intention to bring negative attention to this restaurant because I feel that it is possible that I have hit them when a Third String Crew was on. For that reason I am not mentioning the name of the restaurant.

The brunch menu offered many different appetizers, lots of egg dishes and a surprising selection of interesting and different salads. But when a menu offers Walleye I usually pick that because Walleye isn’t on many menus and it’s among my favorite fishes that I eat. So guess what…..I Forking went with the Walleye even though it’s fried.

When the fish arrives it is very hot so I start with the slaw. It seems to be very freshly made. It’s not too creamy but is very plain and on the bland side………..I guess bland is ok……..at least it taste fresh.  They gave me a super XTRA LARGE triple portion of fries. The fries seem like fresh hand cut kind of fries……They have a good flavor for fries.and are seasoned nicely………but they are on the thin side so they cool off very fast. I go for a piece of beer battered walleye. First bite taste good…..but isn’t  crispy…..but second bite is soggy…….third bite is very soggy…..all the fish is soggy now….and the fish seems oily now…..I don’t know if the fries steamed the batter on the fish or if the fish absorbed too much oil and it’s all running out now…? Either way all I have now is soggy oily small sized fish over cold fries with bland slaw….Oh joy!………… great!…….

Any who-

My husband tried the Signature Burger with macaroni and cheese as his side.

The Signature Burger is Angus Beef, Manchego Cheese, Applewood Bacon,lettuce, tomato caramelized shallots, roasted garlic aioli on a challah bun that includes one side dish.

My husband’s request of aioli on the side was ignored…he didn’t get any….Oh well no big-gee!

I thought the burger looked pretty good……My husband cuts it in half to see if it’s medium-rare…..It’s medium on one half and almost medium rare on the other half. After he bites into it he tells me it’s very dry. I didn’t believe him because I thought it looked pretty good. I asked him if he’d mind if I touched it…..WOW HE WASN”T KIDDING……I squeezed the patty with my fingers and it was really dry and solid like a car tire….. I don’t know if the meat was too lean and packed too tight or if someone cooking might have been SQUISHING all the FORKING LIFE out of it while it was cooking…..Wow it really was very solid and very dry. I guess we hit them when someone new was working that wasn’t supervised. I have to admit the macaroni and cheese was pretty good….It was creamy and made with quality cheese but tasted slightly under seasoned.

That was my trip to some place in Metro Phoenix.

I can’t imagine the chef there cooks like this so it’s very likely that………Sometimes you hit a restaurant when the third string crew is on.

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

The Forking Truth

Gazpacho Recipe

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Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a cold raw vegetable soup. It’s light, refreshing and very healthy for you. My variation here is even lighter than most others because I don’t feel it’s necessary to add bread or olive oil like most people do. This is flavorful, a little spicy but not too spicy. I’ve been told it’s very good! Actually I’ve been told told I should bottle and sell this one!

Ingredients for 4-6 servings

2 lbs vine tomatoes – (about 6 tomatoes) cored and an X on the bottom (you will remove skins after boiling for 30 seconds)

1 English Cucumber – chopped (about 12 oz)

6 mini sweet baby bell peppers – remove stem and seeds then chop

1/2 large sweet onion – (about 9 1/2oz) – chopped

3 garlic cloves – grated or ground to paste

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 pickled jalapeno – stem and seeds removed – preferably my recipe or home made from a farmer’s market – chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon course sea salt

3 chitepin chilies –  THIS WILL NOT BE AS DELICIOUS IF YOU LEAVE CHITEPIN CHILIES OUT…….I know this pepper is expensive and hard to find…..but it a delicious taste with a building heat….It’s the secret here…….The only substitute that is close are Chili Pequin peppers…..they are inexpensive and easy to find at WinCo or any Mexican grocery store.

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

.7oz fresh cilantro – (about a small handful) – chopped

Directions

Put on a pot of water to boil.

You core the tomatoes and make a X in the bottom of each tomato.

The tomatoes get placed in the boiling water for only 30 seconds.

After 30 seconds remove the tomatoes with a slotted spoon. You can chill them with ice to stop the cooking process.

If you didn’t chop up all your vegetables you can do this now.

You need to peel the tomatoes when they are cool enough to handle.

The skins should come off very easily. You should do your tomatoes like this for other dishes too.

Blend up everything together. Chill and serve.

Gazpacho

It’s Forking Delicious!

The Forking Truth

 

Corleone’s Philly Cheesesteaks offers a little Taste of Philadelphia

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Arizona is credited for the Chimichanga. Not everyone in Arizona will say so but the majority of the country credits New York for Pizza. Nashville is the Hot Chicken Capital. The meaty sandwich that represents Philadelphia is the Cheesesteak. A real Cheesesteak is sliced Ribeye (or chicken, or pork.. variations) fried up on a flat top grill. It’s acceptable to use American Cheese or  Provolone Cheese on a Cheesesteak but most people expect Cheez Whiz (a processed cheese food that comes from a jar or can).  A traditional Philadelphian Cheesesteak is also served on an Amoroso’s Roll.

From www.Corleones.net

Corleone’s is a bit of a novelty restaurant. People from Philadelphia feel at home here because Corleone’s pokes fun at Philly People but in a good way.

Below on the self serve beverage cup are 10 reasons you know your from Philly.

Number 1. is kinda true…..We went to Pudge’s…….Only locals from the subs-burbs (lol) would know about Pudge’s.

Number 2…? Do I say wooder ice instead of water ice?….My husband said we do so number 2 is also true.

Number 4 is not true……

Number 5 I agree.

Number 6 I disagree.

Number 7 & 8 are very true.

I’m an incredibly bad speller so I never was able to spell Schuylkill we’d call that expressway that ran down the Schuylkill River the Sure Kill Exspressway. So Number 9 is not true.

Number 10 – I can go either way on that one.

They also have a board inside of 20 Reasons you know your from Philly. There are some really good ones there..

There are also fun Philly Artifacts to look at.

Up on the left is a former Mayor Frank Rizzo….Below that to the right is a picture from the Rocky Movie that was filmed down in the city…..not far from Pat’s.

The Love Sculpture in Philly.

There used to be John Wanamaker’s Department Store. It was a really neat old time department store at one time. I believe the building and sculpture are still there and are a part of the Philadelphia Skyline.

Enough of that! …………… Let’s get to the food! Here’s the menu. We ordered and got our beverages and some proper condiments.

In Philadelphia they ALWAYS offer Cherry Peppers of hot and also sweet. It’s not a Philly Steak without Cherry Peppers!

We waited and looked around taking in the sights of memory lane. There is a lot to look at.

The Movie Rocky (filmed in Philadelphia) plays non stop on the TV.  Lots of Pennsylvania license plates on the wall. Lots of Cheez Whiz and all kinds of other things.

My husband got a full size cheese steak with American cheese. I got a small chicken steak and I added a bunch of hot and sweet peppers to mine.

My husband insist that this Cheesesteak is really good. I think the Chicken Steak is ok but I really like the hot and sweet cherry peppers. The fries are pretty good for fries….Onion rings are almost good…..just slightly burnt.

Haven’t tried the pizzas yet.

Been to the Tatum Blvd location before they closed.

Corleone’s is a little taste of Philadelphia in Phoenix in two locations. (as of April 2018)

www.Corleones.net

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

The Forking Truth

 

 

My Trip to Cafe Monarch – Fine Dinning Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ

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Cafe Monarch is located in Old Town Scottsdale. This is a Multi Award Winning, Reservation Only, Fine Dining Restaurant. Just a couple of the many awards they won are for most romantic restaurant in the country from Yelp an another recent award is from Tripadvisor that rates Cafe Monarch as #1 out of 956 restaurants in Scottsdale (April 2018). They have servers that are knowledgeable and all are sommelier trained.

When you walk in the first thing you see is the bar.

They have indoor and outdoor seating…..Today would have been a great day to sit outdoors but I didn’t specify my seat when I made the reservation so we got seated in one of the dining rooms at a secluded table.

You know me…….I have to tell The Forking Truth…..I’m in a lovely place in a lovely room….I’m about to enjoy a four course dinner soon…..But these chairs are in need of repair (or replacement) and are indeed uncomfortable. My husband’s chair and my chair both have broken springs and out butts fall threw the chairs…..The weird feeling sort of passes and we get used to it.

Our waiter greets us. He seems genuinely excited to wait on us and is very friendly and seems very knowledgeable…..I then get presented with a white linen napkin to rest on my black attire…..The Forking Truth is that this is a small thing but it slightly offends me because fine dining 101 is to match the napkin to the guest’s attire. They should have offered me a black napkin. We order and hope for the best.

Anyways…..

All is forgiving after the first course.

WOW!

The Squash Blossom Relleno is highly recommended by me.

God it’s amazing. It’s one of the best things I ate this year.

It’s layered and complex with all kinds of interesting textures.

The Squash Blossom Relleno is coated in the lightest crispest batter and rest on creamy black bean puree. Pickled red onions counter the richness of the Oaxaca Cheese. Poblano pepper, New Mexico Chili sauce and herbs add just the right flavors. There is a little heat but it’s very controlled. Just delicious in every way…..We both wished we could eat a big plate of these…..they were really extra great….I mean FORKING GREAT!

Second course was the Compressed Spring Watermelon Salad.

This was a small detailed plate that contained many ingredients. In the end it was light and refreshing.

Third Course for me was Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo.

Here was a rice cake that was topped with the freshest tuna laced with Calabrian Chili Aioli, Tare Sauce, Capelin Caviar, Chives and the tastiest micro green I have ever tasted. It tasted like a sweet pea. This was light and very delicious…….also with a light controlled heat. My husband tasted a piece of this and he said it was much better than what he picked.

He picked the Hanger Steak.

Not a thing was bad about the Hanger Steak…..It just wasn’t as bright and flavorful as the Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo. This was also a detailed many ingredient plate. It was prepared with prime beef, herb spaetzle, wild ramp béchamel, tomato confiture, asparagus, shallots, pecan pesto, garlic chips and pea tendril.

Fourth Course for me was the Citrus Crusted Sea Bass.

I eat mostly fish when I go out to eat and have had many dishes of fish called sea bass. This sea bass was unlike any sea bass I had before. It was a big thick generously sized piece of fish.This sea bass had the appearance of halibut but with a much less meaty texture and was a very light and sweet.  It was prepared close to perfect. We were light on the citrus here but the fish picked up a lot of the butter and some of the sweet beurre blanc sauce for flavor. There was a detailed sort of patty of basmati rice, roasted corn, ramps, peppadew peppers, taro root and squash that was tasty. A pretty yellow swipe of something was on the plate that tasted like sweet roasted corn to me.

My husband had the Bucatini ai Frutti di Mare.

All the Seafood was great….(Diver Scallop, King Crab Leg, Tiger Prawn, small piece of Lobster Tail)……The House made Bucatini was great too but the portion might have been overly petite. My husband said the sauce was excellent but he wished they gave him two shrimp and more bucatini.

I’m full but my husband insist that we order a dessert….He knows I’m a sucker for a good desert.

We decide on the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding.

Not a fan of the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding……(neither of us liked this dessert)………..It’s very dense and not sweet. Bananas don’t taste ripe or even flambé. …….Bad finish to a mostly lovely meal. I would come back but I doubt I’d ever order a dessert here again.

The Forking Truth is that I tell it how it was!

The menu changes ever other week at Cafe Monarch.

I would say everything except dessert was Worth a Fork at Cafe Monarch.

www.CafeMonarch.com

Amazing Atmosphere! A lovely detailed dinner…….except for dessert. I’ll go back again sometime……I’m just not sure if I would ever try dessert here again.

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

The Forking Truth