I came across this recipe by chef Louis Robinson and decided to give it a try. It’s delicious. It is also very easy. Mix up easy marinade. Then marinate your boneless, skinless chicken thighs for 2-3 hours. Cook them up and enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 servings
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons yuzu juice
1/2 teaspoon togarashi
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
Directions
Mix up the soy sauce, sesame oil, yuzu juice, and togarashi. Put your chicken thighs in a gallon zip lock bag and then add marinade, squeeze out air and zip it up. Squish the marinade around the chicken and refrigerate around 2 hours but no longer than three. Take chicken out of the refrigerator and let it warm up around 30 minutes. You can can cook it however you like. I did mine in a fry pan on medium high heat at around 5-6 minutes a side. Add sesame seeds.
Serve with vegetables or a salad. (Mine is with Asian style cucumber sesame scallion salad. (That recipe was posted only two days back)
Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Thighs with Yuzu and Sesame
A special THANKS to chef Louis Robinson so I could do this Forking Amazing Dish!
Maya Ice Cream Rolls serves a variety of Thai Style dressed ice cream rolls. The ice cream is made right in front of your eyes on a special metal sheet that freezes the cream. Then the ice cream gets scraped off the sheet into a roll shape.
In addition to the ice cream rolls Maya offers sweet and also savory crepes. Some of the crepes are tiki masala, fajita, Nutela, and Biscoff.
You can seat yourself inside or on the patio.
Doors to the patio.
I tried the tropical fusion ice cream rolls.
The ice cream is vanilla based with added mango, pineapple, coconut and condensed milk. This one is delicious!
Here’s the choco loco.
This one is chocolate based with brownies, chocolate chips and chocolate drizzle. This one is only mildly chocolate flavored.
There is another location of Maya ice Cream rolls in Arrowhead Town Center (The Mall).
Their website is incomplete at the moment but you can find Maya Ice Cream Rolls on Facebook.
I made Asian marinated chicken thighs with yuzu so I wanted to make a nice light side dish and I happened to have 2 cucumbers and some scallions that I needed to use up so here it is. This make either 4 small side servings or two larger servings.
Ingredients for two servings
4 cucumbers , peeled, seeds removed, cut in sticks
8 scallions – cut diagonally
2 common large red radishes – match stick cut
2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon mirin
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 dried bird’s eye chili – crumbled
1/4 cup cilantro leaves – chopped
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
sea salt to taste
Directions
Everything goes in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Salt to taste and ENJOY!
Asian Style Cucumber Sesame Scallion Salad
Enjoy!
It will go well with yuzu and sesame marinated chicken thighs. (I’ll publish that recipe in two days)
yuzu & sesame marinated chicken thighs with Asian style cucumber sesame & scallion salad
Halo Halo Kitchen is a casual Filipino Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. This restaurant is mostly cafeteria style and also offers some grocery and desserts. Parking is easy because they are in a strip mall. You might be wondering what does Halo Halo mean? The restaurant might be named after Halo Halo the popular Filipino dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and may contain boiled beans, coconut, palm tree starch, jelly, potatoes, and fruit.
Halo Halo Delux
Here is the cafeteria line.
You either order what is on the line or order off a menu board. They offer all day Filipino breakfast plates called silog plates that were only $8.95 today. (subject to change)
Today (Saturday) They also have Lechon (roasted baby pig). I noticed that the Sunday special is Filipino spaghetti with fried chicken.
Halo Halo offers many other Filipino foods that are a fusion of Spanish, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian & American. I made a cheat sheet of some of the dishes so I’d know what they are.
fish case mostly sold out alreadymenu
Halo Halo is also part grocery store with dry goods, frozen foods and refrigerated food and also sells pastries and desserts.
Once you decided on your order you pay and seat yourself with a number card. They will run out whatever you didn’t get to pick up.
After your meal you might want to visit the dessert bar for a Halo Halo, a boba slushy or a flan.
Some of the dishes we tried here were.
all day breakfast Sisig plate with pork.
corned beef Sisig plate (our mutual least favorite)
grilled pompano fish with bittermelon vegetable medley and steamed rice
tofu, eggplant, vegetable dish with rice
coconut chicken
adobo pork
beef dish
adobo pork more recently (this plate was only $6.75….subject to change)
It doesn’t cost much to dine here. Two meals today were only with tax $18.00.
That was a taste of Halo Halo Kitchen in Phoenix AZ.
I was looking for those blocks of achiote because that tasted amazing with the vegetarian pibil I recently made. For some reason I couldn’t find the achiote at the store and picked up a box of Sazon seasoning instead. So I made Spanish Style Stewed Turkey leg quarters with it and man did this come out FORKING Great! I also used local award wining James Beard Nominated chef Silvano Salcido Esparza’s BBMEXQ seasoning salt. I don’t mean to brag but I am very good at stewing chicken and turkey so I knew exactly how to come up with this. This recipe made 6 – 4oz portions of turkey for me. You might have to thin it a little with some water or stock. The next day the potatoes and vegetables will absorb even more liquid…Your idea of serving size may differ.
Ingredients for 6 servings
2 whole turkey leg quarters (preferably brined or dry brined)
4 carrots – peeled, chopped
2 parsnips – peeled, chopped
4 celery – chopped
2 small onions – diced
1 head garlic – fine chop
2 – 14oz cans chopped tomatoes (preferably Italian so they taste better)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 cup water
4 small bay leaves
2 teaspoons sugar
2 (heaping) Tablespoons reduced sodium better than bouillon vegetable base. (I use this as a substitute for salt sometimes…It adds more flavor and has less sodium in it)
1 lemon – quarter
24 olives
2 potatoes – quarter
1/2 oz fresh thyme sprigs
4 packs Sazon (4 unopened packs weigh 24g)
2 teaspoons BBMEXQ Saladito seasoning salt made by chef Silvano Salcido Esparza
Directions
Set the oven to 350 degrees F and have a middle rack ready for your two pans. Do not use the oven for cooking other things or your cooking time will be increased.
Use either two large baking dishes or two buffet half pans.
Fill the pans equally with the carrots, parsnips, celery, onions, garlic, chopped tomato, black pepper, cumin, chili powder, water, bay leaves, sugar, vegetable bouillon, lemon, olives, potatoes, fresh thyme.
It should look something like this.
Get your 4 packs of Sazon.
Rub one packet on the front of each leg quarter and one pack on the back of each leg quarter.
Then place one leg quarter in each pan.
Sprinkle the BBMEX Saladito seasoning salt evenly over the tops of everything.
Cover tight with foil. Place on middle racks in the oven.
This stays in the oven till fully cooked and you can pull the leg apart. Ovens do differ so timing may differ. Mine took 3 1/2 hours. The house smells insanely delicious just before this gets done.
I don’t use thermometers for meat anymore because every thermometer that I have reads a different degree and they differ by a lot.
You want the turkey to be fully cooked with no blood and you want the leg to fall apart between the leg and thigh and you know it is done.
Pull the turkey quarters out of the pan to cool and in about an hour you can pull the skin off and pull the turkey meat from the bones.
In the stew part you want to remove the lemon wedges, the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs. This needs to cool to room temperature and then you can refrigerate it or freeze what you don’t need.
You might want to add some cilantro and pickled onions to serve.
Stuffed Chile Gueros are yellow chili peppers that you often find in Mexican restaurants. Often they are stuffed with shrimp or marlin fish. The heat of the peppers are always different. They run from extra mild up to spicy. More often than not they do have some heat in them. The sauce that goes on them is usually made with soy sauce and is very simple. Anyone can do this. This recipe is just for what you do to the chili pepper. Usually they are stuffed with shrimp or marlin but I have stuffed them with tuna before.. I think they’d be good stuffed with sardines too. I think almost any leftover meat would be good in them. Today I stuffed mine today with plain grilled tenderloin (just salt, pepper, a little oil) and stuffed it into the peppers and drizzled mine with a little bit of guajillo sauce I made. You can stuff them with whatever you like. These guero peppers come in different sizes so portions are difficult to judge. My guess is that this is around three servings for most size peppers. When I had them in Mexican restaurants the peppers seemed just heated up with the filling. I pre-roasted mine and mine are not traditional but Mexican Style.
Ingredients for around 3 servings
1 lb guero chili peppers – Use gloves – t cut and remove core and seeds
1 small onion – sliced extra thin
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice + plus more lime for serving
fresh crushed sea salt to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, some fine stems ok – chopped or torn
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F
Set up your cleaned and cut peppers with cores removed on a baking sheet. Add the onion evenly to the peppers.
In a small mixing bowl mix together the oil, soy sauce and lime juice.
The liquid you just mixed up gets poured over the peppers. Add salt and pepper to taste. This goes in a preheated 400 degree oven for around 30 minutes or until the peppers are charred some.
Stuff the peppers with whatever you have.
The peppers and onions are tasty. Finish with some fresh cilantro.
I was reading a recipe on how to make creamy Jalapeño salsa. I was shocked at how much oil was used in their recipe. I only used a quarter of the oil, added way more jalapeños and added a small avocado that I had hanging around. My jalapeños that I used were on the mild side. Serving size is difficult to judge. This makes 8 or more servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
1 lb jalapeños – cut in half long ways, remove cores and stems
12 garlic cloves
2 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 avocado – seed removed, flesh scooped out and rough cut
1/4 cup cilantro or epazote or a combination
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Directions
The water goes in a sauce pot on high heat. Add the jalapeños and the garlic. Reduce to simmer and let them simmer 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of simmering drain the jalapeños and garlic. They get blended with the salt, lime juice, olive oil, avocado, pepper and herbs. Make any adjustments to the seasoning.
I’ve tried pastrami at many restaurants around metro Phoenix. Some of the places that I have been to are Chompie’s, Scott’s Generations NY Style Delicatessen, Miracle Mile, Goldman’s Deli, JJ’s Delicatessen and a few more that I forget the names of. Most of these places that I mentioned are at least ok and some are good. Some are inconsistent…….like on one trip the pastrami was very good and the next time is was very bland…. As far as I know none of these places brines their own pastrami…..There is a world of difference when a place brines their own pastrami….It’s like places that don’t brine their own pastrami are like watching television on a black and white TV. And places that so brine their own pastrami are like watching technicolor………That is the difference in taste.
My Top 3 all brine the pastrami in-house.
#3 Smasher’s Eats in North Phoenix
Smasher’s Eats is a newly opened restaurant around North Phoenix. The specialty of the restaurant are their smash style burgers. (that according to my husband are very good) but the special amazing dish that really surprised me was that they have a house cured pastrami melt on the menu….It’s full of delicious flavors. It taste like typical east coast pastrami…..I was shocked when I tasted it. It’s DAM GOOD!
#2 The Thursday pastrami special from Little Miss BBQ Sunny Slope Phoenix.
This is really REALLY to die for………! They use a higher quality meat than what the deli places use and it’s FORKING Delicious. This is a pastrami that eats like a dinner. It’s one of the BEST!
#1 I have to give it to Confluence in Carefree AZ because their pastrami sandwich is FANTABULOUS and is TOP OF THE LINE.
This pastrami sandwich is like no other because it’s made from wagyu beef that is so buttery and really just melts in the mouth. It’s an EXTRA special treat. The pastrami is spiced and smoked to perfection. It’s adorned with brussel’s sprout coleslaw, a thousand island with a little kick, gruyere cheese, grilled Jewish rye bread and a house made dill pickle. You also have a choice of house chips, salad or for a little extra their amazing fries with three dips. (The only bad news is that the menu is ever changing at Confluence so you might miss this on the lunch menu.)
Oh and my home made cured and smoked would fit into this bunch too!
Forking Amazing Smoked Pastrami with my Easy Rye Rolls and my Spicy Beer Mustard
Those were THE FORKING BEST Pastrami that I tasted in metro Phoenix AZ so far.
Pane Bianco is a small casual urban gourmet sandwich and more restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. Pane Bianco is a sister restaurant of the famous Pizzeria Bianco by James Beard award winning chef Chris Bianco. Pane Bianco focuses on serving a limited but high quality menu of foods that lean towards Italian. The bread made here is from wood fired fermented heirloom grain dough. The most popular sandwich here might be the split focaccia bread stuffed with tomato basil mozzarella sandwich made with house made mozzarella cheese. Pane Bianco offers sandwiches, salads, focaccia slices, calzone, specials, desserts, wine, beer and some dry goods for sale.
Before the pandemic Pane Bianco looked like this.
Today it is pretty much the same but the community tables outside were removed and only one table was on the patio that is now partially enclosed.
It looks like this when you walk in. You can order from the counter or seat yourself in the dining room.
The inside is mix matched in a charming way with lots of character.
We started out by sharing the salad of the day. It was a refreshing but simple watermelon salad with fennel, parsley, salt, and pepper.
For my main I tried the spinach calzone.
It is made up of house made mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta cheese, a little bit of spinach and Bianco tomato sauce.
The dough is paper thin. This calzone is large with a lot of cream rich delicious melty cheese. For some people it might be two meals.
My husband got the Italian combo sandwich today.
It’s made of crusty bread, mortadella, spicy soppresatta, romaine, provolone cheese, and a little vegetable salad garnishes the plate.
Currently but SUBJECT TO CHANGE…Pane Bianco is only open for lunch..But that does change every now and then…….11-3 Monday-Saturday.
I’ve been here for dinner before and used to enjoy the pizza here.
Here are not all but some of the things we tried from Pane Bianco.
soppressata and aged provolone with wood roasted red bell pepper
Tuna Salad
Albacore tuna salad sandwich
Chicken Salad
soppressata with aged provolone and wood roasted onion
focaccia
nutmeg Italian ice
Available for purchase.
I have to say….
Pane Bianco in Phoenix is Worth a Fork!
Worth A Fork!
www.PizzeriaBianco.com
Everything is subject to change and everything usually does eventually change.
I made this chipotle lime sauce for a squash and then I got the idea to flavor beef in a similar way so I did. This recipe makes 14-15 five ounce mini meatloafs. I think they might be gluten free too because I used masa flour for that flavor and leftover white rice in them instead of breadcrumbs to bind. You don’t have to stuff peppers like I did and just cook off meatloafs if you prefer. I like the pepper cooked so I pre roasted the peppers cut in half for 15 minutes at 450 f. If you want your pepper crisper and more raw don’t precook the peppers.
Ingredients for around 14 servings
3 pounds ground beef (we grind our own brisket and remove most of the fat)
7 peppers – cut in half longways, seeds & seed membranes removed (I used Anaheim peppers)
1 onion – fine chop or grated
6 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 Tablespoons chipotle powder (you can remove seeds from a dried chipotle pepper and grind it up or buy chipotle powder I buy it from Asiana Market and have bought it from Sprouts too)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and only the very tender stems) – chopped
6 eggs – lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon (heaping) reduced sodium Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base (I use this instead of salt because it gives more flavor and has less sodium than salt
1 cup corn masa flour
2 cups cooked rice
1 lime the zest and fresh squeezed juice
1 Tablespoon honey
2 avocados
1/2 cup water ( a little less if your avocados are small)
1/2 cup hot pepper brine (preferable from home made pickled hot peppers) If you don’t have just substitute some vinegar or use more water
1 lime (just the fresh squeezed juice)
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Set oven to 450 degrees F.
Roast off the half peppers cut side down around 15 minutes or until cooked.
When the peppers are out of the oven turn the oven down to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl combine the beef, onion, garlic, chipotle powder, black pepper, oregano, Old Bay Seasoning, cumin, cumin seeds cilantro, eggs, corn masa flour, and rice and mix well.
In a small mixing bowl mix together the lime juice and zest with the honey and add that to the meat mixture and mix well.
Measure out 5 ounces of meat mixture and fill peppers.
Put the peppers on the middle and lower racks of the oven and let them cook till done. (about 20 minutes)
While the stuffed peppers are cooking whip up the avocado cream. Blend together the avocado, water, brine, lime juice, and olive oil.
