Confluence is a small restaurant that serves an ever changing menu of farm fresh modern elevated American cuisine located in Carefree Arizona. They offer patio dining with a view of the mountains. They also offer a cozy dining room and bar seating.
They always start you off with a house made bread.
Today it was a generous slice of crusty sourdough served with oil and white balsamic vinegar.
We started out with a hot appetizer of gnocchi.
The gnocchi were pan fried and were elevated with morel mushrooms, cured goose egg yolk, ramps and thyme.
For dinner I usually go with a fish dish because Confluence serves some of the best fish dishes in the valley and it’s hard to get super great fish dishes in the valley…….(but really everything they serve is always excellent)………. Today I went with the filet mignon. This is the first time I ever ordered a steak from here for dinner.
The fillet is very flavorful and is tender like butter. For me it’s a very large portion too. The flavors of the vegetables next to the steak go magically well together. They are fiddlehead ferns, white asparagus, black eyed peas, basil creme fraiche and a fried green tomato. This plate cost much less than filet my husband had from a well known steak house and is so much better and a million times more flavorful. This has to be maybe the nicest best filet mignon plate that you can get anywhere. Prices for filet mignon start at what this steak cost and sometimes are $25. MORE and DON’T come with sides……and if you buy the sides they sure won’t be this nice……….. That is part of the reason on why it’s a great fine dining value to eat here. The tasting menu options are the other reason. They just knock it out of the park with them.
My husband got the Iberiaco pork loin.
It’s as pretty as a picture.
It was also prepared to perfection and came with corn grits, caulilini, brussel’s sprouts, and pomegranate.
For dessert we went with the lemon curd with shortbread, elderflower macerated strawberries and fresh mint.
Everything was equally stupendous!
That was just a Taste of Confluence in Carefree – Great Value Fine Dining
I haven’t been everywhere but I have tasted some amazing dishes this year. There are many GOOD ONES that I can list here but narrowed it down to the ones that stood out the most……….All the dishes taste TOP of the line, They are all marvelously good, peachy keen and Dynamite.
The Bufalina Pizza from Fabio On Fire in Peoria – Is made with high end ingredients such as San Marzano Tomato sauce, imported buffalo cheese, oregano, garlic, arugula, reduced balsamic vinegar, farm fresh sweet tomatoes, and extra virgin olive oil. This has all kinds of flavors going on. Also the heat of the pizza warms the cheese JUST SO and you taste the most exquisite mozzarella the way it was meant to be enjoyed instead of just heating it to death on the pizzas like most places do.
The ground filet burger from The Bourbon Cellar in North Scottsdale. This is a ground in house burger that taste more like a fine steak. I have no idea how this burger has so much flavor. I think that it is best to enjoy this burger open face with a knife and fork because it taste like a juicy steak.
Speaking of a juicy flavorful steak…..
The filet mignon from Confluence in Carefree is excellent and not your grandfather’s plate of steak. This plate came with fried green tomato, fiddlehead ferns, white asparagus, black eyed peas, basil creme fraiche and the most buttery tender flavorful steak ever. (NOTE*******the menu at Confluence is ever changing with what is fresh from the local farms and does change often)
The Confit Wagyu Beef Cheek from Confluence in Carefree is a FORKING JAW-DROOPINGLY astonishing. …. The only bad news is that the menu from Confluence is ever changing so you might not be able to get this dish when you want it. But the good news is that this restaurant pretty much always is serving something amazing.
The Strawberry Gelato from Fabio On Fire in Peoria might be the best in the whole country. I take that back….because…It probably is the best in the country!
The Goat Cheese Creme Brûlée from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in North Glendale isn’t something that you would expect from an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria but is SUBLIMELY Spreadable and OH so edible….. It’s spiced goat cheese with fig compote and crostini. You crack into a shattering crisp sugar surface and then the party in your mouth happens….It’s so great that you can enjoy it for either an appetizer or even dessert. It’s a shame that the cacciatore isn’t still on the menu because that dish sure belongs here. It was the best that I have ever tasted anywhere. I had the cacciatore from Pizzeria Bianco and it was good but the cacciatore from Bottega tasted like TEN TIMES BETTER…..like so great you’d drive across town for…..Well I’m mentioning it because maybe it will return to their menu sometime.
The Salmon Salad is very special from Pomo Pizzeria in Scottsdale. The salmon is from Chula Seafood. This one was melt in your mouth succulent with tasty grill marks. It POPS from the sweet grilled lemon and PINK PEPPERCORNS…that are a magical combination that I didn’t expect. The rest of the salad is fresh spring mix, gold beets, fennel and grape tomatoes…It’s only a salad so you can splurge for the Luna Gelato that is extra special too!
The Chicken from Valentine in the Melrose area of Phoenix was superb. It was smoky (but not too smoky), masterfully tender, moist, and flavorful. With that deep developed sauce, cabbage, durum wheat berries and kerned dill yogurt it was an explosion in every bite.
The Kokomo Chop Bowl from Little Cay Latin Caribbean Kitchen is one BAM-Diggitty-YUM-Dinger (When you add the seasoned Puerto Rican Pique sauce on the table) This Chop Bowl is full of yummy marinated chicken, yellow rice, black beans, curry mayo, rum soaked cranberries, add that pique sauce and it is FORKING BOMB!
I think a doughnut can be on this list if it is the FORKING BEST that I have tasted.
There is a donut shop on Bell Road in North Phoenix called Daily Donuts and Wings. I have only tried a few donuts so far and each one that I tried was the best of it’s kind that I have tried anywhere. I think my favorite might be the glazed lemon filled. These donuts are so fresh, have the perfect sweetness, seem light as air, and are DELICIOUS and overly easy to inhale.
The buttermilk fried chicken that is usually on the lunch menu from Confluence in Carefree is a OMG YUM kind of plate. It’s incredibly crunchy and crisp on the outside. The interior is JUICY, flavorful, EXPERTLY prepared tender chicken…..but I didn’t mention that INSANELY delicious sauce on it. The sauce is called chili tepid honey mustard sauce. It is a little spicy but not too spicy and is really FORKING plate scraping delicious. I also note that for me this is a very large portion and I make two meals from the chicken. My husband eats more than me and just eats the whole thing.
Taco Fusion in Glendale makes VERY GOOD Tacos (especially the habanero mild chicken taco with pineapple salsa) on hand made tortillas that are delicious. But this corn cake from Taco Fusion is amazing. It has a great corn flavor and taste like it’s a mix of custard and cake together. It’s just an AMAZING dessert! It’s better than the majority of desserts we get out at most places.
But I must mention this one…..
I have to give it to Fabio On Fire in Peoria again. This Strawberry Rum Cake is so good I’d tell a diabetic to eat it. It was really so delicious! I had to mention it.
My husband ate something very special that I didn’t eat so I want to mention it.
He REALLY LOVED the slow braised osso buco from the Italian Daughter in North Scottsdale.
It was falling off the bone tender. He loved digging into the bone and enjoyed the marrow. The sauce was nice and rich with the perfect deepness. He really enjoyed this and wants to have it again.
These were some of the Marvelously Great Foods that stood out in 2021 so far. I do note that many others are out there.
I took a trip up to Singh Meadows in Tempe AZ and picked up some amazing produce. Fiddlehead Ferns and Black Trumpet mushrooms are hard to come by and are highly prized by food lovers. You cook fiddle head ferns sort of like asparagus but longer. You MUST clean the fiddle head ferns very well and you have to cook them completely because they contain some sort of toxin that you have to cook all the way out. I read that if you boil them for 5 minutes that is enough so that is how I cooked mine. I think the sauces I picked go really well with this dish. This makes around 4 servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 lb fiddlehead ferns – cleaned really well
6 oz black trumpet mushrooms – cleaned
1 oz unsalted butter
1/4 cup tahini (tahini verde)
2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon (tahini verde)
1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro (tahini verde)
1 Tablespoon fresh Thai Basil (tahini verde)
ice water (I didn’t measure but I think it was around 1/4 cup) (tahini verde)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (tahini verde)
pinch ground white pepper (tahini verde)
2 Tablespoons white miso (miso aioli)
1 Tablespoon sour cream or greek yogurt (miso aioli)
1 Tablespoon mayonaise (miso aioli)
1 teaspoon garlic confit (miso aioli)
small splash rice wine vinegar (around a teaspoon or 2) (miso aioli)
sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
optional – white and black sesame seeds to finish
Directions
Make the sauces.
For the tahini verde blend together the tahini, tarragon, cilantro, Thai basil, sea salt and white pepper. You will need to add ice water to get it to the right consistency. I think I used around 1/4 cup off ice water. Put this to the side or refrigerate for latter.
Make the miso aioli. In a small bowl combine the miso, sour cream, mayo, garlic confit and rice wine vinegar. Mix well. Set to the side or refrigerate for latter.
Get a pot of water to boil the fiddlehead ferns. Medium boil them for 5 minutes. Shock them with ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the fiddlehead ferns and put them on a serving platter. I used the same pot to cook up my mushrooms. I dumped the water out and melted the butter and then added the mushrooms. I cooked them till they looked cooked. Then I dumped the mushrooms and all the mushroomy butter all over the fiddlehead ferns. I served the sauces on the side and sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper. I also added a few white and black sesame seeds.
Fiddlehead Ferns & Black Trumpet Mushrooms with Tahini Verde & Miso Aioli
When I do other people’s recipes I try to pick amazing recipes. I look for the most amazing recipes that I can find. I found this amazing sounding recipe on the web called textures of corn by a famous chef. This recipe was was a VERY complicated recipe that was something like 5 recipes in one. (corn parfaits, corn crumbs, purple corn crisps, peanut pesto, and corn salad) I think the recipe was full of typos. I don’t know if any part of the recipe was written correctly. Fortunately I was able to remedy everything that didn’t work out and came out with something even FORKING better than FORKING AMAZING.
The recipe starts with making a sweetcorn parfait that you chill and later char or fry. This was the recipe that worked more than most other parts. The corn parfait mixture was way too dry ……but was easy to fix by adding more liquid. I am not sure how much extra cream I added but it seemed like two or three times as much.
The next part was purple corn crumbs. I didn’t have purple corn and attempted this with yellow corn. You cook corn with salted water for around 40 minutes to a syrup consistency. I got my syrup consistency but I ran out of water at least 5 or more times. This recipe needs the water to be increased. I didn’t end up making the corn crumbles because I used this syrup in the next part of the recipe that didn’t work out.
I had the most trouble with the purple corn crisps. It is possible that the corn flour was ground different so a different amount of liquid might be needed. Anyways mine came out so dry that it was impossible to roll this into a dough. I added either 2 or 3 times the amount of butter and it was still too dry. Then I added the extra egg white that was leftover from the corn parfait…..STILL TOO DRY……Then I added the the syrupy liquid with the corn that I didn’t strain yet that I was suppose to turn into purple corn crumbs (with added biscuits)….This mixture gets chilled and latter rolled between two pieces of parchment. The mixture is suppose to turn into crisps at 248 degrees F for only 6 minutes. I did that and mine were raw. I upped the temperature to 300 degrees F and I think mine took close to an hour…. (but they do taste crazy FORKING Amazing) Now this baby is mine and it is FORKING INCREDIBLE….I will make again and publish.
Then I had trouble with the peanut pesto…mine turned into peanut butter. I fixed by starting over and crushed my peanuts in a grinder and added some dry parsley and some of the peanut butter.
The chalaquita recipe (Peruvian corn salad) was mostly very good. It is something that I will make again. I thought one lime was enough lime flavor for it. But the recipe says to use 5 limes.
This recipe was the most challenging recipe that I have ever done but in the end it really does taste like something that might be from the finest restaurant anywhere. I will have to make this again so I can write out a recipe that works. I am thankful to that chef who came up with the recipe because I wouldn’t have came out with this without it……..but won’t publish his name due to all the fails in the recipe.
Textures Of Corn – Corn Chalaquita, charred corn parfait, corn crisps with peanut pestoThe Forking Truth
I got a beautiful leek from Singh Meadows so I had to do something special with it. Today I roasted the leek. I thought a little sprinkle of corn and zhoug would go well with the leek ( zhoug is a Yemenite spicy cilantro sauce that is hand chopped and not blended) and instead of something like tahini that is a classic with zhoug I thought the cashew butter would be similar but also tasty. Today I used Micheal Solomonov’s recipe for zhoug. I ate at his restaurant Zahav and it was one of the best meals that I have had in my life. This recipe make far more zhoug than you need……but if you think you like zhoug than it is worth making…..I used some zhoug last week on grilled eggplant with date syrup that was very good. You can quarter that amount of zhoug and you still will have more zhoug than you need for this recipe.
Ingredients for two servings (plus extra zhoug)
1 cup parley leaves – hand chopped – fine chopped – zhoug
1 cup cilantro (fine stems ok to use) – hand chopped – fine chopped – zhoug
2 Tablespoons lemon juice – zhoug
1 Tablespoon cardamon – ground – zhoug
1 Tablespoon sea salt – zhoug
20 serrano peppers – chopped – zhoug
4 garlic cloves – fine chopped – zhoug
1 cup canola oil – zhoug
1 leek (mine was a large leek) – cleaned cut in half long ways
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup (or more) cooked corn
2 Tablespoons cashew butter
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F.
Oil a baking sheet with a little olive oil or non stick spray.
Oil the leeks all over with the olive oil. The leeks go cut side up on the baking sheet. They roast for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes shut the oven off but leave the leeks in for another 10 minutes. (throw the corn in the oven to warm up.)
During this time you can make the zhoug.
Make the zhoug. In a large bowl combine the parsley, cilantro, lemon juice, cardamon, salt, peppers, garlic and oil. Set to the side or refrigerate.
Take the leeks out and dress them with the corn zhoug and cashew butter.
Roasted Leeks with Corn, Zhoug and Cashew Butter
Enjoy!
A special THANKS!!! to Micheal Solomonov for his amazing zhoug recipe.
Pomodoro Italian Grill and Seafood is a higher end Italian Restaurant located just above Phoenix in Cave Creek Arizona. They offer appetizers, salads, fresh made pastas, fish and shellfish dinners, various meat dinners and a luxury tomahawk ribeye.
From the exterior to the interior it’s a very western looking restaurant like most things in the small Western Town of Cave Creek.
The tables are set with crisp linen, glassware, heavy silverware, a candle, and hand made plates.
They start you off with complimentary crusty bread and oil.
In interior of the bread is fluffy, moist and sort of sweet………It’s good but unique. I’ve never tasted bread like this in an Italian restaurant.
We started out by sharing the tasting trio of pastas (cacio e pepe, Pomodoro, and carbonara). To me this pasta is different. It is a different style with less tooth to it. The pastas are good but also are all unique and a little different from other similar pastas out there. My favorite of the trio is the Pomodoro (middle). The Pomodoro was made with very sweet farm fresh tomatoes and it’s laced with creamy rich cheese. It’s a more flavorful Pomodoro pasta than most out there because the pasta is also infused with tomato.
For dinner I had the Chilean Sea Bass.
The plump meaty mild fish was pan seared and was served over a stack of fresh grilled vegetables and was topped with a lemon butter caper sauce and came with a nicely grilled half lemon. The fish was fresh, moist and flaky. It was prepared to perfection.
My husband went with the veal osso buco.
It was slow braised and came with a mound of creamy polenta. It was good……but could have been braised in a richer deeper braising liquid.
Our server was efficient and knowledgeable.
Parking was easy because they have their own lot.
That was my trip to Pomodoro Italian Grill and Seafood in Cave Creek AZ.
Seoul BBQ & Sushi is located in Phoenix Arizona. They serve a variety of Korean and Asian Foods. Seoul BBQ & Sushi is well known for serving Korean BBQ. They also offer Korean and Japanese appetizers, noodle dishes, hot pots, house specials, stews, sushi, all-you-can-eat specials and more.
Inside is very spacious with a very large dining area and bar in the front of the restaurant. Behind the bar other large dining areas are available.
They do have a patio but it is not in use.
Today we sat inside. They started us out with an assortment of side dishes called banchan (they do refill the banchan if desired).
Today we got a garlicky fresh green, something shrimpy, kimchi, caramel sweet potato, kimchi type cucumbers and radish, vegetable pancakes, Asian bean sprouts, and-
sweet spicy and delicious peanuts garnished with a few vegetables that resemble green beans. On prior visits we also got things like fish cakes, bell flowers, and potato salad.
Then we got our #9 – crispy rice sushi.
It’s deep fried sushi rice topped with spicy tuna, avocado and tasty sauces. This is a really tasty start.
For my main I got the #78 called samgye tang. (This dish takes around 45 minutes to prepare) This is the traditional Korean chicken soup for good health. I read that traditionally it is to be made with jujube instead of dates.
It’s a special Korean Chicken soup. It’s a small young chicken that is stuffed with sweet rice, dates, garlic, and ginseng. There are also some noodles made of egg and more dates. It is also served with a side of rice. I suggest to ask for a fork to tackle this one. It’s a mild not too exciting dish but it is very good and seems healthy. The sweet rice stuffing is the interesting part of the dish with the most flavors.
Today my husband got the #61 dol-pan bibimbap. (they have around three of them on the menu) It’s Korean meat or meats with vegetables, an egg, rice, and Korean hot ketchup called gouchujang, that they mix for you table side.
Here are some of the prior foods we tried from Seoul BBQ and Sushi.
side dishesbellflowe – It was very tastymiso soupa bibimbap after getting mixed upyellow croakercomplimentary vegetable pancake special with to-go orders only (this its really delicious!)to-go- side dishes called banchanto go – bulgogi (the rice is from the other dish)to go -spicy dak (chicken) bulgogito go – broiled atka mackerelto go – jalapeño bombersscallion pancakebulgogi
beef rib and tofu vegetable soup
That was a TASTE of Seoul BBQ and Sushi in Phoenix AZ.
The recipe called Honey-Mustard-Braised Radishes and Mustard Greens arrived in my inbox from Food and Wine Magazine today. I was drawn to the recipe because it sounded flavorful and I could make it work with what I had at home. I didn’t change too many things. I did add the pickled mustard seeds….Actually I added the mustard seeds because Food and Wine Magazine has the recipe on-line without the mustard seeds in the recipe. Instead of mustard greens I used baby bok choys. I also added the crispy radishes. I must note that I really didn’t think that this sauce would work out but it did….It looked like it was breaking and would never reduce or get together BUT IT DID!…………it just takes MUCH longer than written but it’s worth waiting for as it taste marvelous. My idea of a serving size might differ from your idea of a serving size. This makes between 4-6 side servings.
Ingredients for around 4 side servings
2 Tablespoons mustard seeds
2 Tablespoons pickled pepper brine (preferably home made) or substitute apple cider vinegar
1 stick unsalted butter
4 oz prepared hot horseradish
3 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 shallots – fine chopped
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
2 Tablespoons honey
1 1/2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 cups water
12 radishes – cut in quarters
2 radishes – sliced very thin
1 lb baby bok choy – cut in half long ways
fresh crushed sea salt – to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons chives – chopped
neutral oil to fry the radishes with
Directions
Directions make pickled mustard seeds at least 6 hours before you make this recipe. Toast the mustard seeds on low heat for around 5 minutes. Remove seeds from pan and put in a small container or dish. Pour the brine or apple cider vinegar over the mustard seeds. Put it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Put around an inch of oil in a sauce pot on slightly over medium heat. When the oil is hot starts frying up the radish slices until they are crisp but not burnt. They need to drain and cool on either a cooling rack or a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
In a sauce pot add the butter, horseradish, garlic, shallots, vinegar, honey, mustard, and 2 cups of water. Bring this to a simmer on medium high heat stirring occasionally. You need this to reduce to at least half. After it’s reduced to half add the radishes and cook them till fork tender (timing will differ) Mine took around 5 minutes but depending on size and freshness they might take less time. Remove the radishes when done and then add the bok choy root side down in pot. The root needs to cook around two minutes. After two minutes stir the bok choy around for a few seconds to wilt the leaves. Remove bok choy on to a platter for serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste. At this point I wanted to reduce my sauce even more so I let mine reduce more and then I put the plate together.
Bok Choy is on the platter. Add the braised radishes. Add more sauce. Finish with crisp radish slices and chives,
Butter Honey Mustard Horseradish Braised Bok Choy and Radishes with Crispy Radishes and Pickled Mustard Seeds
A special THANKS to Star Chef Grant Achatz for sharing his FORKING Amazing recipe with Food & Wine Magazine so I could come up with what I made here.
I struct GOLD when I accidentally discovered that when I made my smoked mushrooms and then fried them crispy that the mushrooms turned into something astonishingly wonderful. I found out that it is the easiest thing in the world to smoke vegetables. Most vegetables only need around 15 minutes in the smoker. I smoke some vegetables every time I smoke some fish or a pastrami….(So far that is all that I have smoked)…. To be honest I didn’t like the flavor of the smoked seafood mushroom on alder wood…..I thought that maybe if I fried it that it would taste better? I just dredged the (I used seafood mushrooms) mushrooms into cornstarch and fried them up. I had no idea the flavor and texture would change so much and turn into something shattering crisp and CRAZY delicious. Then paired the mushrooms with provolone cheese, heirloom tomatoes and something mild like eggs….or even a flatbread is just FORKING FANTABULOUS!
Harissa that you buy in a jar or tube will never taste as good as harissa that you make. There are many different styles of harissa just like there are different styles of salsa. I make really good harissa so today I thought that apricot harissa would be great on roasted carrots and it is. I made the harissa first before I made the carrots. I made way more harissa than I used but can use it later on something else. You will have maybe double the amount of harissa than you need for the recipe. Ingredients are for around 4 servings plus extra apricot harissa. I do note that the harissa will thicken as it chills.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
4 oz dried soft apricots – chopped (harissa)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (harissa)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (harissa)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (harissa)
3 garlic cloves – ground to paste (harissa)
1-2 hot red peppers – fine chopped (harissa)
1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice (harissa)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar (harissa)
1 Tablespoon tomato paste (harissa)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (harissa)
1 lb carrots – peel if not organic – cut in any shape you like but cooking time will differ
4 Tablespoons apricot harissa (that you just made)
2 Tablespoons butter – melted
2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
2 oz feta cheese – crumbled or cubed
1 oz pistachios – crushed
2 Tablespoons parley leaves – chopped
optional a sprinkle of Urfa Pepper for finishing
Directions
Make the apricot harissa. Blend together the apricots, cumin, caraway, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, garlic, hot peppers, lemon juice, vinegar, tomato paste and black pepper.
Set oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large bowl combine 4 Tablespoons of the apricot harissa, butter, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, cumin seeds, salt, and Aleppo pepper. Mix well and now toss the carrot in and mix well. This gets spread out on a baking sheet. Timing will differ because the size of your carrots will be different from mine. Your carrots will probably take between 15-30 minutes. My carrots were very large and I put mine in for 15 minutes and they were still a little hard so I then covered the pan after 15 minutes and mine needed another 15 minutes. Yours might need less unless you Got big old carrots like mine.
In a small bowl mix together the feta, pistachios and parsley.
Pull them out when the carrots are fork tender. Top them with the feta mixture. If you have Urfa Pepper top them with a little bit of that too.
Roasted Carrots with Apricot Harissa Feta Cheese and Pistachios
