Monthly Archives: March 2021

My Forking Thoughts on Universal Yums – February 2021 Ukraine Box

Leave a reply

Universal Yums sells snacks from around the world. You can either subscribe or gift in a variety ways and different available sizes.

I get the basic Yum Box. These days it is 5-7 snacks and runs around $16. a month. My box includes a 12 page booklet with fun facts, a recipe and some games.

The first treat we try are the wasabi spicy potato strips.

They taste like they could be made by Pringles but in a long thin strip and wasabi flavored…Ummmm not bad. I’m surprised that they aren’t all busted up. Not bad..I’d buy them once in a while.

Next we try the baked Milk and Dark Chocolate Bar.

It’s a lot of wafers surrounded by a dark chocolaty wax coating. Not awful….but also not great…..I think mine is an off batch…I have next to zero filling between the wafers. It’s kind of dry. Oh well what’s next?

Next we open the Yum Bag. we try a juice filled Ukrainian mixed fruit jelly (yellow wrapper)……It’s weird….Not sure what it taste like….It’s coated with cornstarch and my mouth full of cornstarch…but is more jelly fruity and wet than corn starch…..It’s weird to me.

A day later I tried the other candy in the Yum Bag.

WOW! This candy is even weirder than the last candy. It’s really soft caramel with a strawberry fruit center that doesn’t taste like much. My husband found this candy less weird. He also agreed that you barely taste the strawberry and it’s mostly just a soft caramel…….I would never eat this again.

This is suppose to be a sweeter condensed milk cream cake. I don’t think mine wasn’t made right. It’s very dry and not sweet…I think it taste like it was made with saw dust………YUK! Neither me or my husband could stomach this one.

This one is a creme brûlée milk chocolate bar…It’s very sweet….like as sweet as thick donut icing….It’s too sweet. I think you can get diabetes if you eat more than one chocolate piece. This one was almost good.

Last snack is the roasted garlic rye chips.

My bread chips arrived mostly busted up. I go to taste one…..Not much on garlic taste….Mine taste like dry wheat bread mixed with wood pulp and they are very dry…..

I hope next month is better or I will have to cancel my membership.

Those were my Forking Thoughts on Ukraine Universal Yums

www.UniversalYums.com

The Forking Truth

Brussels Sprouts with Cashews Tarragon and Lemon Miso Vinaigrette Recipe

Leave a reply

I was lucky and got a big bag of Brussels sprouts for $1.00 and a bunch of tarragon for $1.00 and that is how I came up with this recipe. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. I think a pound of Brussels sprouts makes around 4 servings.

1 lb brussels sprouts – cut in half

canola oil to fry

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

2 Tablespoons white miso

2 Tablespoons French or Dijon mustard (I used Pommery Moutarde Royal with Cognac because I had it…..)

2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 cup toasted cashews – slightly crushed

2 Tablespoons tarragon leaves

Directions

In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice, garlic, miso, mustard and vinegar and set to the side.

Put a large sauce pan on medium high heat with slightly less than a half inch of oil for frying. When the oil is hot add the Brussels sprouts cut side down. Fry them till they are browned. Put them on a cooling rack or a sheet pan lined with paper towels. Fry them up till they are done. Salt and pepper the Brussels sprouts to taste.

Top the Brussels sprouts with the vinaigrette, cashews and tarragon.

Brussels sprouts with cashews, tarragon and lemon miso vinaigrette

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Every now & then someone sticks it to you with “The I Already Ate Plate”

Leave a reply

Every now and then someone is going to serve you the “I already ate plate.” You might be wondering WTFork is an I already ate plate. It’s a plate of food that isn’t much and might not even be enough to nourish a hamster. Every now and then if you go various restaurants someone sometime is going to stick it to you with the “I already ate plate.”

Here is an “I already ate plate” previous to the one I just had (from a restaurant now closed for business).

It’s a small portion of food that looks more like an appetizer….or something that is a part of a tasting menu. Maybe someone at the restaurant was confused and thought I was doing a tasting menu?

Here is another “I already ate plate.” I do note that this also wasn’t a part of a tasting menu (this restaurant is also now closed for business).

This was my $16.00 lunch. I was still hungry after this. This isn’t enough food for a little pudgy tiny toy poodle dog that is dieting. WTFork was I suppose to do?………Am I suppose to hit a fast food place afterwards? AND I would LOVE to know what the heck did they do with the other half of the egg……They couldn’t re-use it.

Here is my first “I already ate plate of 2021. I do warn you that this plate appears to be large until you get a better look.

This is pla rad prik (fish in spicy chili sauce) from Tom Yum Thai Restaurant in Peoria.

I go and open up the fish to dig in.

Up above it appears that this fish was already consumed but it wasn’t. When they cleaned out the fish they also removed nearly all the fish flesh. I spent over $20. and all I got was some fish skin, rice, the sauce and a few over cooked soggy falling apart vegetables. What am I suppose to do? If I was dining in I would show this to someone. But I did take out……If I called them up they wouldn’t believe me….. I must note that normally this restaurant is better. I had no issues with my previous visit. I just don’t recommend fish dishes from Tom Yum Thai (salmon was very over cooked from a previous visit but chicken was good).

Every now and then someone sticks it to you with “The I Already Ate Plate.” And that’s The Forking Truth.

The Forking Truth

STUPENDOUSLY IMPRESSIVE – The Confit Wagyu Beef Cheek from Confluence in Carefree AZ

Leave a reply

Every once in a while I taste a dish that is stupendously impressive. Something unexpected that is jaw droppingly astonishing. I’m not even a beef person it’s normally my least favorite protein that I still eat…….I actually partially gave it up (I gave up commercial ground beef). Anywho- I know that beef cheeks are usually very good on menus so I decided to try the confit wagyu beef cheek as a hot appetizer from the modern American Restaurant Confluence in Carefree Arizona.

This confit wagyu beef cheek wasn’t just good…or just great….It was EXCEPTIONAL.

I start by tasting a chunk of beef. It is infused with great flavors and really does melt in the mouth. It actually FORKING MELTS in your mouth…You don’t need teeth. But it turns MAGICAL when you get a piece of beef with some of the silkiest flavorful scrambled egg hiding underneath dripping with this amazingly developed sauce and a sweet nutty creamy bite of kabocha squash…..pops of celery….that taste more like celery than celery that I have at home. It was so unexpected and so surprisingly impressive. This truly taste more superb than I can possibly describe.

Just go and get it (FAST). *******(menus at Confluence are ever changing to the freshest of what’s out there so they change often)

The Confit Wagyu Beef Cheek – scrambled egg, celery, kabocha squash, black garlic, apple. It was listed as a hot appetizer on the dinner menu for $16.00 From Confluence in Carefree AZ.

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

The menus at Confluence are ever changing.

www.RestaurantConfluence.com

Everything is subject to change….That confit wagyu beef cheek won’t stay on the menu too long.

The Forking Truth