Monthly Archives: August 2018

Dukkah Feta and Barberry Bread Recipe

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Dukkah Feta and Barberry Bread

I made Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s recipe for Dukkah. WOW! it’s really delicious!….You might be wondering what is Dukkah? Dukkah also spelled Duqqa and is an Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds and spices that are toasted and ground….but not to powder and not to paste…somewhere in-between. I only had Dukka a few times at FnB restaurant in Scottsdale and it might have been served on a vegetable?……. Or maybe not but I think that’s how I had it so I thought I’d make dukkah and put it on a vegetable too………..I read about 20 different recipes for dukkah and they differed so much that they didn’t even seem like the same thing. Some recipes were very short. Others were long. Most on the internet are pistachio based but I read the real thing is usually hazelnut based. I narrowed the recipes down to two that seemed like they’d be the best…..and went with the Y.O & S.T. recipe because they are award wining and this recipe was hazelnut based. After I made the Dukkah I didn’t want to put it on a vegetable because of the taste. It was delicious but it didn’t seem like it was for the vegetables I had around. The dukkah was very flavorful and very fragrant, sort of nutty, a little sweet and slightly spicy, maybe a little spice cookie-ish – peanut-ee like but yummier. My first thought was to bake it into cookies. I thought the dukkah would be great in either butter or peanut butter cookies but I didn’t want to eat cookies this week so I baked it up in bread so I can eat some and freeze some………guess I could have froze cookies too…oh well. I do also think the dukkah would be great to flavor chicken. I latter read that dukkah is suppose to be served with bread and oil……..You dunk your oiled bread in Dukkah to make it tastier……..I can see that now………This dukkah is quite delicious I don’t know if most other dukkahs are this good? You can purchase dukkah at the store these days or follow one of the more simple recipes for dukkah but your results will differ. The bread recipe is very easy. I just made a basic dough. Rolled it out. filled it and rolled it up like a jelly roll. Cut the jelly roll in half long ways. braided it around and in the oven it went on a quilon lined baking sheet.

Ingredients for around 14 servings

1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons or 1/4 oz)

1 1/2 Tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups potato water at 100-110 degrees F or water

4 cups bread flour

1/4 cup scant extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons course sea salt (you might need 3 teaspoons if you use water instead of potato water..)

1 cup bread flour – this is for kneading, letting the dough rest in and for flouring surfaces

2 oz sweet butter – room temperature

dukkah recipe – the whole thing – I will post the ingredients after the recipe at the end of the page if you want to make Dukkah based on Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s recipe

4 oz feta – the creamy, not so salty or too tangy type……or use goat cheese – crumbled

1 Tablespoon barberries – if you don’t have skip – nothing will be similar

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for drizzling over the top of the bread

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

In a big bowl add the yeast, sugar and potato water and wait maybe 30 minutes for a foam to develop.

Now add 4 cups bread flour, 1/4 c olive oil, sea salt and mix well and make it into a ball. Add another cup of bread flour to let the ball rest in and knead some of that into the ball so it doesn’t feel sticky.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest till doubled.

Punch down and knead a bit more. Flour surfaces. You can roll out the dough into a something like a 23 inch by 16 inch rectangle and spread the butter on it.

Top the butter with the dukkah, feta cheese and barberries.

Then roll it up like a jelly roll.

 

Split roll in half.

Braid and put ends together.

Drizzle with oil.

After 15 minutes  turn pan around so it browns evenly.

Bread might be done 10-15 minutes later for a total of around 25-30 minutes.

Dukkah Feta and Barberry Bread

Dig in!

Dukkah, Feta and Barberry Bread

Most people will enjoy this! Ummm it’s like a sophisticated Entenmann’s Cake.

The Forking Truth

I used Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi’s Recipe for Dukkah…..I didn’t mean to but I changed their recipe JUST SLIGHTLY due to what I found in my kitchen. This is how I made their recipe. If you use the Dukkah to bake with like I did then I wouldn’t bother toasting everything or the Dukkah might get burnt. I think baking it is enough.

1/2 cup hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin (not in Y.T. & S.T. recipe)

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (instead of the cumin the recipe should be 1 Tablespoon of cumin seeds but I couldn’t find them at first so I did a teaspoon cumin and later when I found my cumin seeds I just added 1/2 of what the recipe to make up for the cumin I added)

1 Tablespoon green peppercorn or substitute white peppercorn (I used white)

3 Tablespoons coriander seeds

1 1/2 Tablespoon sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon nigela seeds (I know I have them but couldn’t find so I used caraway seeds)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

Basically everything gets toasted and then gets ground up till course. ENJOY!

 

NEW WeiRD DifFerent Limited and Special Edition Foods Out There August 2018

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There is always something NEW, WEIRD, Different, Limited and Special Edition in the Wonderful World of Food out there! I never know WTFork I’ll come across when I go to a store and this is some of what I came across recently. In the photo above are Junior Caramels. I never heard of or came across Junior Caramels before…..I know and Love Junior Mints…but Junior Caramels? Apparently they have been around and weren’t so good because now they are New and Improved instead of OLD and Lousy.

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Bourbon Carmel Squares…….Ummmm might be good….especially if they really have Bourbon in them?

Mike and Ike Jelly Bean type of candies in Buttered Popcorn and Sundae Flavors………..?

Here’s High Altitude Hungarian Flour. You need this flour if you live on a mountain and if you want to make some Hungarian Kiffles.

Nilla Wafers in Berry Delight…..?…Why?……….

And now for something COMPLETELY AWFUL….Artifically Flavored Red Velvet Chips Ah Oy……..I mean Chips Ahoy……who am I trying to kid….I do mean Chips that make you say…..Ah OY!

Kettle Cooked Nashville Style Hot Chicken Potato Chips…..You know I had to try these! Not as promising as it sounds……Taste like Spicy BBQ…..Oh well…at least they aren’t bad like most of the flavored chips.

Kettle Brand Fiery Thai cooked in Almond Oil…..These chips are very crispy and do have a lemongrass finish…..But Fiery they are NOT until you get in the last 3rd of the bag…..all the fire settled there.

Here are new Peanut Butter Puffs called Nutter Puffs. I picked these up. I think they are exspensive  for a small bag but I do have to admit these are very good and only have something like only two ingredients in them…. They are kind of like cheese puffs but natural tasting peanut butter. If you like peanut butter I think you will enjoy Nutter Puffs…….Since I found this bag I saw almost the same exact thing at Trader Joes that was only .99 cents for the same size bag……with what seems like the exact same contents!

You can skip the Fast Food Drive Threw and pick up your Taco Bell Tortilla Chips at your local grocer in Mild and Fire Flavors.

Bacon Habanero Pretzel Crisps……..who knew!

Golden Turmeric Cereal. Turns milk yellow. (ick) Yellow milk is like yellow snow and we all know what that is even if we are living in Phoenix. ………Made with Coconut, Turmeric, Cinnamon and Honey……..whatever…….Turmeric is suppose to be healthy.

This might be an old one?…..But it is weird that the Red Vine Licorice Candy is black……Shouldn’t they be called Black Vines?

This is very Arizonian……Gringo Bandito Sauce.

These Sir Kensington Ketchups aren’t new in Jalapeño Heat and Vine Ripened Tomato varieties but they are new to being sold in this area. I’d like to try them but I eat so little ketchup I doubt I ever will.

This product is called Slime Sauce…..? I doubt many people will buy it.

Here’s Wisconsin Morel and Leek Cheese. It sounds amazing but I’d never eat it……..everytime I ever cooked with morels worms come out….doesn’t matter if the morels come from AJ’s or the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market. It seems ALL MOREL MUSHROOMS DO HAVE WORMS. I asked Sara Molten and Emeril about the worms in Morel Mushrooms…..Sara Molten did right back to me and agreed they all had worms but she also said the morels are so tasty it doesn’t matter…..It seems you shouldn’t care about eating worms if you want to enjoy morel mushrooms. I prefer my food to be free of worms so I don’t eat morels.

Wow, Mario Batali kicked off the Chew aTVFood Variety Show that was canceled. I noticed his brand new sandwich restaurant Restaurant closed only after being open a few months at the Venetian in Vegas and just at the end of July his other restaurants that were associated with him have been kicked out of Las Vegas……. Now his pasta sauce has disappeared from store shelves. WOW he really went down in flames……But maybe this bottle of Tomato Sauce is a Collectors Item?

Carrot, Zuchini, Squash and Beet spirals in your Grocer’s Freezer section. You sure pay a good price for frozen when you can have fresh for about one quarter the price.

Brocoli, Squash, Beets and Kohlrabi is riced for you too!

Girl Scout Cookie Flavored Yogurts….(((maybe the leftovers from girl scout cookies get tossed into the yogurt for you to buy?))

Fig Vinegar…??? Never seen that before…????

OK Folks Chi-Chi Taco Sauce isn’t new…actually it’s very old…like decades old…I was surprised to come across Chi-Chi’s Taco Sauce…..Chi-Chi’s Taco Sauce is still made by Hormel….(Hormel is well known for Pork Products)

Bumble Bee Brand Sriracha seasoned Tuna because it’s just too exhausting to squirt a little sriracha yourself in your tuna fish.

Smoked Paprika Rosemary Flavored Mustard….?????

it’s Back! (I never knew it was even here) Pop-tarts in Peanut Butter and Chocolate Peanut Butter…..?

Limited Edition Banana Chocolate Chip Bagels……….Why would I want that? Bananas and chocolate chips taste good in muffins and cakes….I don’t want my bagel to taste like cake or a muffin.

This Bagel is even worst. Maple French Toast. If I want maple French Toast then I don’t want a bagel….Dah….Lox and Cream Cheese isn’t going to taste good on either of these bagels.

This is Cereal Milk. Maybe you are hard on your luck and can’t afford cereal and need to flavor your milk with the cereal you don’t have????

Oh Lordy Lordy another NEW ARTIFICIALLY Flavored Oreo Cookie!

Limited Edition Rocky Road Trip Oreo Cookies!

That was the NEW Different Weird Limited and Special Edition Foods out there for August 2018. I know know WTFork I’ll come across next!

The Forking Truth

Strawberry Salsa Recipe

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Strawberry Salsa

La Santisima Mexican Restaurant in Glendale AZ offers a very large Salsa Bar and one of the salsas they offer is Strawberry so I thought I can do Strawberry Salsa too. With all the great deals we had on strawberries lately and the humid weather we’ve been having strawberry salsa seems just right for this time of year.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 lb strawberries – green leaves removed, strawberries chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 red bell pepper – roasted, skin, stem and seeds removed and then chopped

1/4 cup sweet onion – chopped

1 clove garlic – grated

1 lime – the zest and the fresh squeezed juice

1 pickled jalapeno – preferably my recipe or from a farmers market (jarred from store are nasty)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon mild chili powder

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

.3 oz fresh cilantro chopped (about a 1/3 of a bunch or loose 1/4 cup)

.3 oz fresh mint chopped (just leaves no stems) (about a 1/3 of a bunch or a loose quarter cup)

optional – 3 chitepin chiles – hard to find but worth seeking if you like spicy because they are very delicious tiny peppers with flavor. If you don’t use these peppers you might want use another pepper or more jalapeno.

Directions

Strawberries, sugar and salt go in a medium/large bowl. Mix the bowl contents up and let them sit about 20 minutes. The sugar and salt pull out lots of juice from the strawberries. After the strawberries get really juicy you want to blend half of the mixture so your salsa will have a better texture. Now add the remaining ingredients bell pepper, onion, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, jalapeño, vinegar, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, cilantro, mint, optional chitepin chili peppers. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and chilies to your liking.

Strawberry Salsa

Strawberry Salsa

Strawberry Salsa

Goes really well with melted pepper jack cheese on a chip.

The Forking Truth

 

My Trip to Rhythm and Wine Modern Bistro and Wine Market in Scottsdale AZ****UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS

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***UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS*******Rhythm and Wine Modern Bistro and Wine Market is located in North Scottsdale Arizona. It’s a small neighborhood kind of restaurant that offers lots of bottles of Wine and a menu of bar grub, casual plates and a few dinners.

I didn’t photo the LARGE glass walled wine case that would be just left of this photo. But you can see many bottles of wine in the entrance.

Rhythm and Wine offers a Dog Friendly Patio. The dog in the dining room might be a service dog……..

The atmosphere is sort of energetic and loud. I thought there would be music but it’s just loud from conversations going on all around.

We ordered some wine and decided to start with a Happy Hour Cheese Board.

The bowl on the far left contained frozen grapes. We also got toasted bread, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, almonds, two cheeses and olives. I’ve had cheese boards before but never had frozen grapes on them before….The fun of the cheese board is to try different combinations of what is on the board for different taste sensations…..I was very surprised to find that the dark chocolate can be interesting with taleggio cheese….who knew?

For Dinner I tried the Simple Salmon.

The Salmon had nice grill marks and can out with the skin and bloodline removed. It was prepared reasonably well and came with fresh spinach and red skin potatoes.

Last time I had Salmon Here I had a BBQ Salmon Salad. The dinner was good but the BBQ Salmon Salad was stunning…..the Salmon was as good as the Salmon I had at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc in Napa California. Maybe it depends on who’s cooking.

BBQ Salmon Salad Rhythm & Wine Scottsdale AZ

My husband had the Flat Iron Steak Risotto.

The Steak was prepared perfect to request of doneness. The risotto was cooked to the proper doneness but lacked depth of flavor. But hey it’s not an Italian Restaurant so we were lucky it was cooked to the correct doneness. Asparagus was fresh and crisp with nice grill marks.

I didn’t try this one but my husband liked the Lunch Meatloaf Platter from a previous visit.

Lunch Meatloaf Platter Rhythm & Wine Scottsdale AZ

I asked my husband to take a picture of one of the men’s rest room. ***UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS*****

I thought this was very odd………………..If I was a man I’d be afraid to use it……..I don’t know what it would do………….and why is this in a nice neighborhood restaurant?………… There is nothing unusual in the woman’s restroom………………

Service was efficient.

That was my trip to Rhythm and Wine Modern Bistro and Wine Bar in Scottsdale AZ.

www.RhythumandWine.com

The Forking Truth is that EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

My First Taste at Casa Corazon in Phoenix AZ was Worth a Fork!

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Casa Corazon is a casual Mexican Restaurant located in Phoenix AZ. There are many other other Mexican Restaurants along this road so I was expecting that this newly opened Mexican Restaurant would be special and it is! They have two entrances and one is slightly awkward. You can use the front door but the side door might be closer to the lot that you parked in. You might find that you walked into the kitchen. Then someone greets you and tells you to pick a table in the dining room.

The dining room is very open and airy with lots of natural light coming in from the large windows. There’s exposed brick, attractive wooden ceilings, a couple of interesting frescos and clean new crisp furniture.

They started us out with a colorful dish of complimentary hot tortilla chips and a bacon-ee bean dip. We were instructed to visit the Sala Bar and help ourselves so we did!

Plenty of salsas….what to pick?

I went with Pineapple, Chipotle and Jalapeño.

I really liked the Pineapple…..It was full of Pineapple and Chilies Flavors. The Chipotle tasted the I way I expected a smokey Chipotle Salsa would taste so it was good too. The Jalapeño was creamy and super mild…….It was the mildest of the salsas…..but it was good just super mild.

My Taco Platter Arrives.

I receive three single shell extremely fresh made tacos that are all generously stuffed. Up top is chicken, middle of the plate is arrachera (marinated skirt steak) and a grilled marlin taco. They gave us a yellow citrus to enhance the tacos….. lemon….or yellow lime (they have yellow limes in Mexico). The chicken taco needs a dab of salsa so I add Pineapple salsa to the chicken taco. It works…that is kind of fun. Where else can you eat a Pineapple Salsa Chicken Taco?  The next one I try is the Skirt Steak……I try some before I sauce it. WOW! This one is flavorful and very tender…….It’s much more flavorful than the chicken taco was. This one doesn’t really need salsa but I added a small amount of Chipotle salsa to it. I saved the Marlin Taco for last……Good thing because the Marlin Taco was the most flavorful and spiciest of the tacos…..It was really good! The Marlin Taco differed from the other tacos and was grilled. The fish was also grilled and was a little smoky. They grilled the fish till juicy along with seasoning and spicy peppers. It was yummy-licious! My plate also came with rice and beans. The rice tasted like it was fresh made and seemed buttery. It was also studded with a few vegetables. The Black Beans tasted just made and were sweet and creamy the way beans are when you cook them from dried.

My husband had an Enchilada Plate of Chicken, Cheese and Beef.

If the sauce looks a little bright and red to you that might be because you are looking at Corazon BEET and Chile Sauce and also red and green traditional sauces. I was too busy with my plate to try the enchiladas but I heard they were very good.

Our waitress was so cheerful and helpful. We both thought she must be an owner but she wasn’t. She was a  really great server!

That was my First Taste at Casa Corazon.

I’d say Casa Corazon is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.CasaCorazonRestaurant.com

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

The Forking Truth

Levant Inspired Shishito Peppers Recipe

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Levant Inspired Shishito Peppers Recipe

I gave my husband some of Shishito peppers to try. He said they are REALLY DELICIOUS but I don’t know what I’m tasting. That is what I expect that most people would say when they try these peppers. I think almost everybody would love the flavors but they might not be able to figure out what they are tasting. I used a lot of uncommon ingredients that most people wouldn’t have in their pantry. Zahtar, Aleppo pepper, Sesame Seeds, Sumac, Cumin and Urfa Pepper these seasonings are amazing together. I tasted a lot of this kind of food at FnB restaurant in Scottsdale over the years so I developed a taste for this kind of food and sought out to find these seasoning and especially Urfa Pepper. They might sound spicy but they actually are more flavorful than spicy. I’ve found all these seasonings at the Asiana Market that is in or near to Deer Valley. Also added a few fresh herbs and creamy mild style feta cheese and that’s what makes this dish  irresistible!

Ingredients for about 4 servings

6 oz shishito peppers

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon urfa pepper

1 Tablespoon zahtar

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sumac

1/4 teaspoon cumin

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

3 oz creamy style sheep’s milk feta cheese – crumbled

1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro – chopped

1/2 Tablespoon fresh mint – chopped

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium-large bowl add peppers, olive oil, urfa pepper, zahtar, Aleppo pepper, sesame seeds, sumac, cumin, salt and pepper and mix well.

Place evenly on a baking sheet and place in oven till peppers start to char and burst. About 15 minutes depending on size of peppers.

Evenly apply feta cheese and then fresh herbs.

ENJOY!

Levant Inspired Shishito Peppers Recipe

The Forking Truth

Lunch at The Covenant in Phoenix AZ*******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS

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UPDATE******NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS ******The Covenant opened around fall of 2017 in the Paradise Valley Part of Phoenix Arizona. This is a Bold, Gorgeous, Glamorous but also Casual Restaurant. There are Crystal Chandeliers, Artsy Mirrors and a Great Big Wine Tower that reminds me one one I saw in Las Vegas in Mandalay Bay.

If you are in good shape and are tall or on the tall side you won’t have a problem sitting anywhere here. Most of the tables in this restaurant are high tops. High tops all around the large bar, high top single tables and high top booths. There are I think a total of four tables for traditional seating so if you are short or if you’re bringing grandma it’s a good idea to make a reservation and reserve one of the few traditional tables here if you need them.

In addition to all that there is lots of Whiskey and Bourbon on open shelving. From where you are seated you might catch a view of the open kitchen with a 900 degree wood oven.

The food that the Covenant serves is considered New American. Most of the menu offerings are considered American but the menu offers items inspired from around the world. Some of the Inspired offerings might include the Banh Mi, Hummus, Chorizo, Ravioli, Ceviche and Cioppino.

I’ve been here for dinner before but today I thought we’d try The Covenant for lunch.

Today I thought I’d try the Chopped Salad.

The Chopped Salad contains – Romaine lettuce, Smoked Atlantic Lox, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Blue Cheese, Tomatoes, Faro, Dates and Cucumbers with a Creamy Dressing. Surprisingly the flavors do go together. I was worried that the blue cheese with be too strong with the lox but it wasn’t. I do think they were too generous with the blue cheese and dates for my taste so I adjusted the salad to my liking.

My husband tried the Chicken Romesco Sandwich.

We both thought his side salad was lovely. It contained what looked like local heirloom tomatoes and the salad also contained faro.

Here’s the menu description of the Chicken Romesco Sandwich.

There was some sort of green spread in his sandwich that we weren’t able to identify. I was thinking at first maybe it a Romesco Sauce but as a rule Romesco is made from Red Roasted Peppers and Nuts….At first my husband thought it was guacamole….I asked him if it was pesto since his was missing the basil on his sandwich. He said it didn’t taste like anything….? I found out recently that when I froze pesto it turned that color and lost that fresh taste…….

He said the chicken was a little dry.

It’s a good bet that this wasn’t one of my husband’s favorite sandwiches.

On this visit nobody asked us how things were but our waiter did run by just before we were done and asked us if we wanted some tabasco sauce……….tabasco sauce?….What The Fork?

Well at least that was a funny memory I enjoyed.

Any Who-

This is what we had the last time at The Covenant.

Melon and Feta Salad – everything was fresh and bright but the salad seemed unfinished with out a sauce. I did tell the management my thoughts on this salad. They were newly opened at the time and might have changed recipe since.

Chicken Dinner – This was delicious! I loved the fancy vegetables too.

Shrimp and Andouille Chef’s Cheddar Mac – This one was made with very good sausage and had  good flavors.

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

www.TheCovenantAZ.com

EVERYTHING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

South West Style Cheesy Potato Casserole Recipe

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South West Style Cheesy Potato Casserole

I always have access to a lot of South West Ingredients since I live in Phoenix Arizona. So today I made a South West Style Cheesy Potato Casserole.  This is another one that’s hard for me to photo. This photo doesn’t show how good it really is. It was too hot to photo when I made it and I didn’t want to photo it completely cold but I couldn’t wait for it to set…so I got it when it was cooling off. This casserole is a little spicy but really delicious. My husband said it smelled so good he had to eat a plate full of it before it set. He kept saying this is really good. This IS REALLY GOOD….REALLY GOOD..I think 98% of the adult population would love to eat this. One of my tricks to making something really cheesy is to use the very minimum of butter and fat in a dish like this. Now this is not because I’m trying to make diet food in any way…….the reason I cut way back on butter and use fat free milk is because too much fat in a dish like this will make the sauce break so I only used one ounce of butter and non fat milk so I could use more delicious cheese. Should you have leftovers this freezes perfectly.

Ingredients for about 16 portions.

2 1/2 cups non fat milk

1/4 cup corn starch

1 oz unsalted butter

9 oz sharp cheddar cheese – shredded

5 oz pepper jack cheese – shredded

4 oz cheese – shredded – (I always throw in whatever ends of left over cheese I have..this time was some camembert that had little flavor)

1 1/2 Tablespoons cayenne hot sauce – preferably Franks Red Hot

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 eggs – lightly beaten

1 large sweet onion – sliced very thin on a mandolin and then chopped roughly (you want small pieces but it doesn’t need to be minced but you can mince if you want to)

1 Tablespoon course sea salt – to season potatoes

1 teaspoon ground black pepper – to season potatoes

3 lbs potatoes (brown)

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

1 jalapeno – roasted or fried and chopped well

1 tomato – diced – roasted or fried

non stick spray

1 cup parmesan cheese – shredded (for topping)

1 cup panko  bread crumbs – for topping

pinch ground white pepper – for topping

pinch cayenne pepper – for topping

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Use a half pan or large baking dish and spray with non stick spray. You need foil to cover the pan and you need to spray the bottom of the foil that sits against the food.

Put a sauce pot on medium heat and melt the butter.  In a pitcher mix the milk and cornstarch together. Mix till incorporated. When the butter is melted add the milk/corn starch mixture. You need to whisk this till the mixture is very thick and it must boil or your sauce will fail. Once the mixture is thick and IT DID BOIL turn the heat down to low and add all the shredded cheese and stir. Once almost all the cheese is melted you can shut off the heat. and take pan off burner. To the cheese sauce you need to add the cayenne sauce, paprika, cayenne and white pepper. Mix well and set to the side.

In a very large bowl add the onions. Peel potatoes one at a time and slice them up thin on a mandolin ONE AT A TIME. You need to mix each potato one at a time with the onions because the onions will keep the potatoes from browning. Repeat peeling and slicing the potatoes and mixing each potato threw the onions until you are out of potatoes. Add the sea salt and black pepper to season the potatoes and mix well. To the potato bowl add the scallions, jalapeño and tomato and mix well.

By now your cheese sauce shouldn’t be too hot. Whisk in your lightly beaten eggs.

Now pour the cheese mixture into your potato bowl……if your bowl isn’t big enough you might need to use a second bowl.

Mix well but careful not to break the potatoes and pour into sprayed pan.

In a small bowl mix the panko with the parmesan cheese and pinches of cayenne and ground white pepper. Then spread the crumb mixture over the top of the potatoes evenly.

This needs to be covered with foil and you need to add non stick spray to the bottom of the foil so it doesn’t stick.

Then the pan goes in the 350 degree F oven for at about 90 minutes or until center potatoes are tender. At 75 minutes you need to remove the foil cover so it can brown. A total of about 90 minutes.

After 90 minutes in my oven with the top foil removed at 75 minutes the casserole looked like this.

This is HOT with MOLTEN HOT CHEESE! Even after one hour it is still MOLTEN HOT. Leave on the counter at least an hour and one half. Refrigerate over night (just like lasagna) to set.

South West Style Cheesy Potato Casserole

This is FORKING GREAT!

You’re Welcome.

The Forking Truth

2nd Taste at Geordie’s in The Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix AZ

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The Wrigley Mansion was built by the Chewing Gum Mogul of Wrigley’s Gum William Wrigley Jr. and eventually was purchased by Geordie Hormel of Hormel’s Food Products that are……MANY many pork products and canned pork called Spam, LOTS of other meat products, Skippy Peanut Products, Chi-Chi’s Products, Wholly Guacamole, Herdez Products and many more!. The Mansion is a private club. But for a small fee $5.00 (that’s donated to charity……currently a dog charity…. you can be a member for a day and take a tour and or dine. Other reasonable options are offered. On my visit the front is under construction and it’s safer to enter from the valet entrance. I should add that the front has (or used to have) the longest trail of steep steps I ever walked. You had to be in excellent shape to do the front steps. Or at least it used to be that way….It looks like they are putting in new steps so it might be better after the construction is done. The valet side also has steps. I don’t know if this building is handicapped friendly.

When you enter you check in at the desk.

You can sign up for a tour, you are also free to roam around yourself and check out the charming decor or you can go straight off to dine. I forgot to photo the really cool antique operator’s switch board that is by the detailed carved entrance door.

But I took a photo in the Ladies Room….It’s just adorable! You have to see!

Then we went off to dine.

Walking threw to the Dining Room.

Here we are!

The dining room is very formal with big blue velvety high back chairs, set tables with linen and big windows with views of Phoenix.

Here’s my view from my seat.

They started us off with small thin slices of baguette and butter.

I started with Corn Gazpacho.

The chilled soup is refreshing and has a nice vinegar-ree tomato-like cucumber taste. Oddly I don’t taste corn. My husband doesn’t taste corn either……. The corn kernels in the center are tasteless…..However the soup does taste like gazpacho and is good, light and refreshing………it just lacks a corn taste that I was expecting.

Any who

The Smoked Salmon from Christopher’s was SUPERB and I hoped that since Chef Christopher is the Executive Chef at Wrigley Mansion that it might be similar here so I had to order it.

The Wrigley Smoked Salmon is colorful and pretty enough to be a picture. I think I might paint it and hang it on my wall……Brightly colored flowers, herbs, frilly greenery and oil enhance the fish. Tiny squid ink croutons, dabs of creme fraiche and caviar complete the plate. It’s not a bad plate in any way……..but …you know me if you read my reviews……………It’s not my intention to knock the Smoked Salmon plate from The Wrigley Mansion………but……….The Forking Truth is that even with the caviar it doesn’t compare to the Smoked Salmon from Christopher’s (pictured below). I just have to get out how spectacular Christopher’s plate was so you can understand the difference.

The fish seemed like a different quality. Christopher’s Smoked Salmon was cut with expert execution of a surgeon and was sliced paper thin. The Fish was silky and melted in my mouth. The rest of the plate was out of this world too.

Wrigley Mansion

To be fair I do need to note some pieces of fish were better than others. The Wrigley Smoked Salmon had several thicker smaller cuts placed together. This fish wasn’t so silky and was slightly leathery. It also was saltier and not as sweet tasting. ………….. Christopher’s was extraordinary and Wrigley was just good.

My husband went with the Spam Cubano Sandwich.

This sandwich is filled with roasted pork, lightly grilled Spam (a Hormel Product) whole grain mustard and a thin spread of mayonnaise (not listed on the menu) The sandwich arrived  pressed panini style and came with pickles and a Spam Can ( a cute nod to the Hormel Ownership) filled with mixed fries. I hear that this was a very good sandwich despite the thin spread of mayonnaise it contained. Both of us weren’t expecting the Cubano to be so generous in size.

I had room so I helped with a side of Summer Truffle Macaroni and Cheese.

It was creamy cheesy and satisfying. What arrived was Cellentani Pasta that’s prepared perfect in a creamy cheesy parmesan tasting sauce with a little bread crumb crunch on the top. Neither of us tasted the truffles but that is a good thing because that means they didn’t use artificial truffle aroma. For a $10.00 side you can not expect to taste real truffle as they are very expensive. Two ounces of fresh summer truffles cost $95.00 from Marky’s.

The Mousse Tower that Christoper is Famous for is on the menu and should still be divine at The Wrigley. But I didn’t go with that today.

The Famous Chocolate Mousse Tower from Christopher’s

My favorite dessert was the Lemon Tart from Christopher’s. It always has the perfect amount of lemon tart flavor combined with the perfect sweetness with a velvet mouth feel. The frozen ices in pastry shells were amazing too! Christopher’s was one of the few restaurants where the desserts were special and were just as amazing as the food.

So I made sure I saved room for it and tried the Lemon Tart from The Wrigley Mansion.

The Lemon Tart from the Wrigley is not as detailed, might differ slightly and does have a thicker crust. However it still does have a good lemon tart to sweet flavor.

Here was my first taste from Geordie’s at The Wrigley Mansion.

Polenta from the Wrigley Mansion

The Dinner I had at Wrigley Mansion from years ago

I remember the asparagus was loaded with salt and that smear of artichoke had flavors I don’t want to go back too.  I will also never forget the polenta tower.

The Polenta Tower was very strange, very stiff and Forking looked like it was on Viagra.

I was afraid to return to dine here again until I heard about Chef Christopher’s arrival this year.

My second visit was very improved in service and food from my first visit. Some things were better than other things but that is how it goes at nearly any restaurant.

The help were all very friendly and very professional.

I enjoyed the company, atmosphere and the professional service.

 

 

www.WrigleyMansion.com

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

The Forking Truth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st Taste at The Larder and The Delta Restaurant in Phoenix AZ was Worth a Fork!****CLOSED EXPECTED To RELOCATE

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CLOSED ******EXPECTED TO RELOCATE****** The Larder +The Delta is a small casual restaurant in down town Phoenix that serves a small menu of high quality modern southern inspired foods and cocktails. About half the interior is an open shiny kitchen with bar seats in front of it.

In front of the bar is a row of tables with chairs on one side and church benches on other side and a high top table on the end.  There is lots of natural sunlight here during the day.

From my seat I could watch the kitchen action. I saw one of the cooks cooking with a large chicken leg with attached feet. Now that is what I’d call from Farm to Table.

We decide to split a salad and sandwich. We start with the Grilled Avocado Radish Salad with added Chicken.

The salad is a mix of fresh watercress, some fennel, very thin radishes, oranges, and peanut vinaigrette. We added chicken breast and what stood out about this salad was HOW GREAT THE CHICKEN WAS……….WOW this is really great chicken. It so flavorful and moist with a tender texture. Usually a chicken add on isn’t this memorable ……The salad was good but I keep thinking about the chicken here………

I was torn between a few sandwiches but I had to go with the K.F.C Sandwich (a fried chicken sandwich that was offered mild or hot….we went with hot) topped with Granny Apple Slaw, B&B pickles, hot sauce aioli on a potato bun with fries.

OMG! I thought the salad chicken was really great…….THIS CHICKEN IS FORKING PHENOMENAL! The WHOLE SANDWICH is SUPERB!  This is a KENTUCKY  FORKING CRACK SANDWICH!………The sandwich looks messy but it isn’t…YEAH! ………Even split in half it held together. They gave us a really LARGE INCREDIBLY seasoned moist and flavorful thigh. Each half contained a lot of chicken. This is not supermarket market chicken…..It’s Forking Great Chicken…..so scrumptious……..this is super awesome chicken that’s also coated in a delicious crunchy coating. Not sure what it is but the coating is like the texture of like crunchy chicken from a back east Chinese Restaurant I used to go to but the flavor of the coating seems like Cayenne, Onion, and other flavors but sort of caramelized……and this is all around that Crazy Good moist flavorful chicken…..It’s a magnificent Crunch BOMB of Goodness. The toppings were all delicious and just made everything POP!  It’s awesome biting threw a fluffy potato bun biting hot sauce aioli, thick B&B pickles cut threw…..then slaw mellows the Crisp, but melt in your mouth spicy/delicious  chicken. Even the potato bun is perfect and not too much bread….It’s just the right size. The fries are really flavorful with nice yummy moist but fluffy interiors…….This gotta be among the best Chicken Sandwiches in Metro Phoenix. I don’t think I ever had Chicken off the bone that was this delicious or flavorful before. This chicken has more flavor than most on the bone chicken.

Everything was a home run so we felt like we had to try a dessert.

We went with the M&M Cookie Cereal Milk Ice Cream Sandwich. (the ice cream flavor is Captain Crunch Cereal Milk Flavored)

For me the best part of this Ice Cream Sandwich is the House Made Ice Cream…..It has a unique cereal milk taste and a good texture…..Cookies are a bit dense and sort of cookie dough like….But did I tell you how great the chicken was…………

Chef Jones

CLOSED*****EXPECTED TO RELOCATE*****

The Larder + The Delta is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork! AMAZING CHICKEN THAT’s TO DIE FOR!

www.TheLarderandTheDelta.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth