Monthly Archives: October 2018

Bukhara Inspired Cauliflower Recipe

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Bukhara Inspired Cauliflower

I recently dined at a Bukharian Restaurant and felt inspired to create something. I know that Plov (a meat and rice dish) is a well known to Bukharian Cuisine. I read maybe every recipe on the internet for Plov and I felt that I could season cauliflower with a plov kind of taste. This recipe is very easy to prepare and the cauliflower is delicious!

Ingredients for about 5 servings

1 cauliflower – medium – large in size cut into florets

1 green bell pepper – cut in strips

1 carrot – peeled – cut in bite size pieces (I do diagonal chunks)

5 grape tomatoes – cut in half

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons scallions – thinly sliced

1 Tablespoon barberries (you can substitute raisins, dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds but it will taste different)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl add the cauliflower, bell pepper, tomatoes and carrot. Set to the side.

In a small bowl add the oils, garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne, sea salt, black pepper and mix well. Pour the seasoned oil over the big bowl of vegetables and mix well. Put the seasoned vegetables on a baking sheet(s) in a single layer.

Put on middle rack for about 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes it should be done. (timing can differ due to oven and also do to size of cauliflower florets.)

Finish with scallions and barberries.

ENJOY!

Bukhara Inspired Cauliflower

The Forking Truth

 

 

After Four Beers Maybe It Doesn’t Matter What The Food Taste Like?

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www.Walsinepierce.com

I wanted to try this new Restaurant that opened somewhere in Metro Phoenix about three months back. They currently (October 2018) have a 4.5 star average on a popular review site called Yelp…..I thought they might be pretty good. I thought after being open about three months most of the bugs might be worked out. I didn’t mention the name of this restaurant because it’s not in my interest to put them in a poor light since they are a new business.

Between me and my husband we tried three of the four meatballs they have on the menu and two of the eight sauces they offer.

Here are Vegan Meatballs made with Cauliflower, Mushrooms HARD Carrots, White Beans, Brown Rice, Panko, Herbs and Spices. The Vegan Balls are very mushy and are studded with Crunchy Carrots.

Crunchy Carrots in Vegan Balls and Sauces

The Marinara Sauce is one note, acidic and very bitter and also studded with crunchy carrots.

www.Flickr.com What’s Up Doc! What’s wrong with crunchy carrots?

Up above is undressed Penne Pasta topped with Bolognese, two Beef and one Spicy Pork Meatballs. There isn’t Parmesan or Romano to top the pasta. Pretty much everything is one note or flat and both meatballs are dry.

I think most people know that pasta should be lightly dressed like in the picture below.

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante Glendale AZ

On the bright side I noticed that beer is very inexpensive here. They had some sort of beer special where the beers were priced at something like FOUR Beers for $8.00.

This restaurant in October 2018 has a 4.5 star average on Yelp. I also noticed that this particular restaurant is a paid Yelp Advertiser. I can’t say if that has anything to do with anything….because there IS a disclaimer posted on Yelp that advertisers with Yelp don’t get any special treatment.

After Four Beers maybe it just doesn’t matter what the food taste like?

****UPDATE since CLOSED for business

www.Jimmy00357.Deviantart.com

EVERY FORKING THING is subject to change and YOUR FORKING experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Same Meal did differ some at Elements 2nd time around but it was still Worth a Fork!

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This past June I enjoyed the most amazing lunch at the stunning Elements at Sanctuary in the Paradise Valley Part of Scottsdale Arizona. Well it’s fall now so it’s about time to try them again.

This is what it looks like when you enter.

Just past the hostess desk it looks like this.

Here’s one half of the dining room.

We got sat just past here and this was the scenic view of Paradise Valley from my seat.

Just like last time they started us out with locally made MJ Sourdough Bread with salt and sea weed sprinkled butter.

It’s the same bread but today it is hot and far more crisp than last time…….almost like a crouton.

The Tea Brined Chicken Thighs topped with Pickled Watermelon was so amazing last time I had to order them again. Here’s what I had last time.

It might not appear different but today’s Tea Brined Chicken differed some. I don’t like when I say something was a certain way and I go back and the food is different…….so I am writing about how it was this time. STILL VERY GOOD! …but different.

What differs the most is the taste of the sauce and the chicken. Last time the sauces were extremely delicious…..and were slightly more layered but ran on the sweet side or maybe there was another sauce I didn’t taste today…because under the rice last time was a flavor I didn’t get today. Today’s sauce was delicious and for sure wasn’t as sweet…….but this time did run a tad on the salty sidebar was still great…….The chicken looks about the same size but wasn’t. What differed about the chicken this time was that today the skin was almost removed from the thighs. it was just on by an edge and had their own crisp coating so what you see in the second photo are big pieces of crispy skin with a smaller amount of tender delicious juicy breaded chicken underneath. It was more like two treats in one today but the chicken was almost 1/2 crispy skin and 1/2 chicken this time.  It was like a Chicken Chicharron treat connected to the most scrumptious high end chicken nuggets …………well two were chicken nugget in size and one of the three on left side of the plate was a large one. They still  gave a good amount of chicken but different butchery, amount  and taste differed from last time. Either way it’s still a great plate but it differed. ********Please remember every Forking Thing ever written about any food item in any restaurant is subject to change.

Today my husband went with the Five Spice Duck Special.

The 5 Spice Duck was very similar to the special my husband had last time………Beef Tenderloin with 5 Spice and Hoisin. He said it was very good….so I reckon it was. I won’t eat duck……I know it’s not logical but….they are just too cute to eat….can’t do it.

This was the Beef Tenderloin with 5 Spice and Hoisin he had last time.

The dessert menu differed and we wound up sharing a Key Lime Pie.

It’s adorable with the edible flowers. It’s very unusual with a sesame crust that has a granola kind of chewy texture. The filling is smooth with  a perfect mouth feel. The mango coulis is excellent. There’s a little dab of coconut sorbet…………I like it all but…………….You know me if you read my reviews………I have to tell The Forking Truth……………maybe it’s just me and I am the only one in the universe that doesn’t like think crust (even if it’s very good tasting)….The crust is thicker than the filling.  It’s delicious crust…but it’s almost like a cookie that is topped with filling. For my taste this dessert was good but could have been excellent if the proportions differed.

Last time we shared a Lemon Meringue.

I think this was even better than the Key Lime. Every part of this dessert was that perfect lemon/tart to sweet ratio, even the meringue was perfect in taste ….I REALLY LOVED THE FLAVORS….. but it also had an enormous amount of unusually delicious crust.

It was a lovely meal out and even though it differed some and the dessert crust were too thick for my taste I would still say my visit to Elements was worth a fork! This is lovely destination with a stunning atmosphere, professional service and wonderful food you won’t find at other places.

Worth a Fork!

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

www.SanctuaryCamelback.com/dining/Elements

The Forking Truth

 

Italian Style Slightly Spicy Cauliflower Recipe and is a PHENOMENAL Pizza Topping

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Italian Style Slightly Spicy Cauliflower

Cauliflower is my favorite vegetable because it’s easy to make absolutely delicious. Quality extra virgin olive oil and a slow roast makes the cauliflower sugary sweet with caramelized ends and is absolutely delicious.  Cauliflower can also get transformed in so many ways…… No other vegetable is as versatile. A hard to find ingredient called Bomba di Calabrese was used here but you can substitute a Calabrian Pepper or two if you like. This dish is very good and you can toss in some protein and pasta to make this a complete meal or just make it as is for an interesting cauliflower dish. Better yet….YOU FORKING NEED THIS RECIPE!!!!!! FORKING PHENOMENAL as a pizza topping…with mostly Taleggio and a little Robiola cheese……(no reduced balsamic on pizza) Forking PHENOMENAL!!!!!!! (finish with just a SMALL pinch of basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper) It really was FORKING PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!! Really****** OFF THE CHARTS FORKING AMAZING!!!!!

Ingredients for about 6 servings

1 head cauliflower – cut in florets

9 oz grape tomatoes – cut in halves

2 red bell peppers – cut in rough strips

12 olives (use quality olives, either with out pits or remove the pits) – cut in thirds ( I used meaty Spanish Queen Olives that were stuffed with pimentos)

1 sweet onion – quarter the onion and cut in thick slices

1/2 lemon (that you roast and turn sweet with cauliflower)

1 teaspoon bomba di calabrese (more or less depending on taste and brand that you are using some are much spicier than others) or substitute a Calabrian Chili Pepper or two and chop fine.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon capers

Thyme – small amount of either dried or fresh – to taste – for finishing

fresh crushed sea salt to taste – for finishing

fresh ground black pepper to taste – for finishing

reduction of balsamic vinegar of Modena (preferably Fini Brand because it’s not mixed with lots of additives) to taste – for finishing (I didn’t use this on pizza)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the cauliflower, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, olives, 1/2 lemon on baking sheet(s).

In a small bowl mix together the bomba with the olive oil and sprinkle it all over the vegetables.

Put it in the oven till the vegetables are soft and slightly charred. (about 40 minutes)

You might need to use an oven mint because the lemon half is very hot but you need to squeeze and sprinkle the roasted lemon juice all over (remove seeds). Finish the cauliflower with capers, thyme, salt and pepper and at the table a small drizzle of reduction of balsamic vinegar.

Italian Style Slightly Spicy Cauliflower

You heard this Italian Style Cauliflower is also FORKING PHENOMENAL on Pizza…and it  FORKING IS!!!!! It is far better tasting than it looks….*****OFF THE FORKING CHARTS!!!!!

NEW Favorite Italian Style Cauliflower with Tellegio and a small amount of Robiola Cheese

Cauliflower is a lot  more special now!

The Forking Truth

My Forking Thoughts on Lay’s Chile Con Queso Potato Chips

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The first Chile Con Queso I ever tasted was from Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant. It was a creamy cheesy sauce made from a Mexican Style Cheese blend and was spiked with little pieces of tomatoes, chiles and scallions. The Queso was served with a bottomless basket of hot white corn tortilla chips. Chile Con Queso seemed very exotic a few decades back but these days it’s a common southwest Texmex kind of snack food that often is served with soft pretzels and beer. These days it’s common to whip up Queso  in your own kitchen when you want to snack while watching a football game. At home most Americans just microwave a brick of Velveeta (a processed cheese food product) with shredded jack cheese or cream cheese with a can of Rotel (chopped tomatoes and chiles).

Well lets see what I think!

I open the bag and take a whiff.

My bag looks only 1/3 filled.

WOW, it smells mostly like a dirty deep fryer……..(ick)…….laced with maybe a little cheese…..just like what Chi-Chi’s deep fryers were like!

The chips are on the smaller side and have a granular feel to them.

The chips are extra thin and are speckled with something.

I eat a couple chips. They feel extra fragile in the mouth.

The actual chip lacks a potato flavor.

The first thing I taste is something sour.

It’s like the sour in sour cream but more sour.

Then it turns a sort of buttermilk taste followed by a soft kick of chile peppery seasoning. The first couple have a sourness to them that is unpleasant.

I eat one chip slowly.

This chip taste better than the first two.

I don’t get that sourness as much and the spice seems to grow. It’s spicy but a mild spicy……not bad for Lay’s……It’s also a little onion-ee……a little….garlic-ee…..it’s kinda black pepper-ee. There are other warm pepper tastes and a little salty. Something here reminds me of margarine…..

The spice and mild heat does grow and covers up the milky sourness.

Too bad the cheese taste is very disappointing……..They didn’t get the cheese taste right.

Almost good…….

1/2 a Fork…

Not horrible….but not great either……….The spice blend is pretty good for Lay’s but the cheese taste is off.  Instead of a processed cheese taste it’s something more like buttermilk.

This tasting is subjective. The Forking Truth is that your experience and opinion may differ.

The Forking Truth

 

 

Tuna Salad with Neonata Recipe

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Tuna Salad with Neonata

This taste good but I didn’t get a picture that I am happy with……Oh well. This tuna salad with made with an Italian Condiment called Neonata.  It’s a Hot Fish Condiment. I thought it would work well with packaged tuna and it does. If you have Neonata the recipe is very easy and will be delicious. I learned of Neonata from watching a cooking competition show on Food Network.  Neonata was the ingredient the competitors all had to use. The restauranteur/Judge of the competition said Neonata is one of his personal favorite ingredients and he uses lots of it in his restaurant so I thought I’d give it a try. I recently made baked crispy potato balls with Neonata that were good and tasty but this Tuna Salad with Neonata is Special and was very good!

Ingredient for about 2 servings

6.4 oz drained light tuna

3 Tablespoons Neonata

10 cured olives – pits removed – rough chopped

1 lemon – the fresh juice and zest

2 Tablespoons sweet onion – chopped well

1/4 cup leftover sweet grilled corn

1 Tablespoon celery leaves – chopped well

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

fresh crushed sea salt to taste (you won’t need much at all)

Fresh crushed black pepper to taste (you won’t need much)

Directions

In a small mixing bowl combine everything and add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with bread, crackers, cucumber chips, salad or wrap.

Is this picture any better?

Tuna Salad with Neonata

Tuna Salad with Neonata

The Tuna Salad is really delicious and interesting. The Neonata just goes well with tuna. I used those extra special cured olives, lemon, balsamic and the pops of sweet corn just make it all work. I just had no luck getting a photo I was happy with. I should of just shoved it between bread.

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

 

My Trip to T Cooks at the Royal Palms Resort & Spa in Phoenix AZ

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What was once a winter home built at the base of Camelback Mountain for a wealthy New Yorker is what we know of as The Royal Palms Resort and Spa. The fine dining restaurant of the resort is called T Cooks. They serve Breakfast, Daily Brunch, Dinner and a Friday, Saturday 7-10pm Snack Menu that they call a Mix Up Menu and more.

The atmosphere is very dramatic and rich with Spanish influences. There are also mature palm trees growing threw the dining room.

It was still Restaurant Week so we tried out the Restaurant  Week Menu. ($44.00@ for Three Courses Fall 2018)

They started us out with a tasty treat of Rosemary Focaccia Bread and Pesto.

My starter was the Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup.

The soup had delicious warm flavors, sweet pops of golden raisins and a really great velvety mouth feel…….but it was painfully salty to me. But to my husband …..who has a greater love for salt than me it wasn’t too salty. So that means for 1/2 the people out there this soup is too salty but for the other half of people out there this soup might be just right……..Something happened I never experienced anywhere before……….Our server checked on us and I did tell him that the soup was salt forward for me……He said that the kitchen will make the soup less salty for me……He insisted on taking the soup back to the kitchen….A few minutes latter he came back with a thinned down soup that was indeed less salty.

My husband started with Butternut Squash Agnolotti.

The menu read brown butter sauce and sage but this was more like melted butter and parsley. The Agnolotti were similar to Ravioli with nice thin house made pasta. They were very generously  stuffed with sweetened seasoned butternut squash. This plate was almost dessert-like.

For Dinner I tried the Pan Seared Glacier Sea Bass with Spinach, Marinated Tomatoes, Beet/Bean Puree and Toasted Almonds.

The most spectacular bite of the evening for me and also my husband (who is not a fish person) was the Sea Bass. It just couldn’t be more perfect. When a fish is very fresh and cooked to perfection there is just nothing like it. It was so fresh tasting, moist and tender. It just melted in our mouths. The Almonds and Beet/Bean Puree was tasty….Tomatoes ran salt forward.

My husband had the Rosemary Thyme Grilled Petite Filet.

The platter came with excellent cheesy white grits and bacon wrapped haricot verts. The steak had nice grill marks and was prepared to request. (medium rare) For us it could have used a little salt and seasoning. (it’s possible the chef or cook misunderstood and thought we were a table that doesn’t tolerate salt since I expressed the soup was too salty for me)?????????

Our third course was dessert and so we tried one of each. The Crema Catalana and the Croissant Bread Pudding.

The Croissant Bread Pudding ran very dense and heavy….but we both enjoyed the Crema Catalana…….I might even add that the Crema Catalana (Spanish Creme Brûlée) might have been the best Creme Brûlée type dessert I’ve ever had….(and I’m not normally a person that likes this kind of dessert) It had a nice crisp thin shell that didn’t taste too burnt. The cream was rich with a really great mouth feel but what made this dish stand out was the taste. It was SCRUMPTIOUS  because it was laced with a bitter orange kind of taste that was yummolicious.

Service was attentive and friendly and welcoming.

That was my trip to T Cooks in Phoenix AZ.

Stand Outs were-

Focaccia and fresh Pesto

Pan Seared Glacier Sea Bass

White Cheddar Cheesy Grits

Crema Catalina

It should be noted that my personal taste will differ from yours. This is a lovely restaurant with amazing service and shouldn’t be overlooked.

www.TCooksPhoenix.com

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

The Forking Truth

Dinner at Geordie’s at Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix – Worth a Fork!

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The Wrigley Mansion was built by Chewing Gum Mogul William Wrigley of Wrigley’s Chewing Gum. The mansion some time latter was eventually purchased by food Mogul Geordie Hormel of the Hormel Food Corporation that is famous for packaged meats (mostly pork products) but also owns a variety of other food companies.

The Wrigley Mansion is a private club.

But for only very reasonable fees (that are donated to charity) you have options to be a member for only a day or longer with benefits towards valet parking and deep wine discounts.

The interior is charming and very detailed. An old fashioned operator’s room is located by the front door.

There are interesting rooms. Even the lady’s powder room is interesting. Actually it’s adorable!

 

A rich early modern private dining room and another dining room that gives a nod to the Hormel ownership.

The dining room is formal with crisp linens, shiny silverware and crystal clear glasses. Large windows across the room bring in lots of natural light during the day and also offer bird’s eyes views of Phoenix.

Tonight was one of the last nights of Restaurant Week with a Special Restaurant Week Menu…Three Courses for $44.00 and an option of $25.00 wine pairing. They started us off with slices of baguette and soft salted butter.

First courses were – Carpaccio with cured egg yolk and Acorn Squash Salad with pepitas, grains, blueberry yogurt and pomegranate vinaigrette.

The acorn squash salad’s greens had an unusually nice texture that I don’t often get when I eat salads. The acorn squash was nicely caramelized. The flavors all went well together.

For dinner I had the Petite Filet Mignon.

The steak had a great caramelization on it and was above a mushroomy rich sauce. Off to the side was a medley of assorted vegetables that included roasted baby carrots, asparagus and parsnip fries. The steak was prepared a little past what I asked for but it was flavorful and very moist and juicy. I was told that it was prepared in a sous vide (water oven).

My husband had the Confit Crispy Duck with Duck Leg, Duck Bacon and roasted Carrots.

He said the Duck and Duck Bacon was absolutely delicious….carrots were a bit crunchier than he likes but duck was really great…..(I won’t eat duck…..)

We made our three course dinners into four courses by sharing a dessert cheese plate and an actual dessert.

The Cheese Plate was an awesome win! A great selection of cheese with lots of fun sauces and fruits. It was also very generously sized….

We finished with Baba Rhum Cake with Pear Gelato.

It was interesting with the added micro greens….This dessert was almost savory.

Service tonight was stellar. It was just a very nice old fashioned NICE Dinner out. Great for dates and also great for dining with family.

The sign below was in the men’s room.

Near the front door is an old dictionary that’s opened up to Wrigley.

I’d say Geordie’s at Wrigley Mansion is Worth a Fork

www.WrigleyMansion.com

Worth a Fork!

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

The Forking Truth