Monthly Archives: July 2021

Some of the FORKING BEST Pastrami that I’ve tasted in Metro Phoenix AZ so far

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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.

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Pane Bianco in Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

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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.

The Forking Truth

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Beef & Rice Stuffed Peppers with Avocado Cream Recipe

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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.

Serve.

Chipotle Cilantro Lime Beef & Rice Stuffed Peppers with Avocado Cream

ENJOY!

The Forking Truth

Making the Forking AMAZING Smoked Pastrami June 2021

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I’ve been making pastrami and tweaking my recipes for years. My November 2020 recipe is where I have to stop because it can’t be improved……(I don’t want to brag but this pastrami is up there with the best that I have ever tasted!!!)……..I also need to mention that pastrami making is ALWAYS A RISK….Even if you do everything correctly it is possible that your pastrami won’t cure properly and can spoil. That is why most deli restaurants don’t brine their own pastrami and pay others to do it for them. No matter how great the recipe is I have to tell you that the pastrami must be carefully smoked for the very best flavor. I tried to delete my old recipes for pastrami that isn’t smoked but people complain right away if I delete a recipe so I gave up on deleting recipes. Hopefully you will follow my November 2020 Recipe instead of a prior recipe. The last pastrami came out so delicious that I did a whole brisket instead of a half brisket. I doubled the brine…the only difference is that I had some dried chili water from making a salsa leftover so I added that to the water portion of the brine. I did run short on rub so I had to triple the rub.

I squeezed out all the air that I could but it wasn’t enough so I put something heavy on the top so the water would be all around the brisket.

Every day I squished the bag to mix up the brine all around the brisket.

After 6 days the brisket got rinsed and blotted off and then rubbed with a spice blend of mostly coriander, some black pepper and a tiny bit of smoked paprika. My brisket didn’t fit in my smoker so it had to cut it in half.

Then the brisket goes in the smoker for around 7 hours. (It can be longer if you want longer but around 7 hours was perfect for my taste)…….(I used pecan wood that got changed a bunch of times (thanks to my husband)).

Then the brisket gets covered tight in pans and goes in a low oven. (my oven was set at 210 f but I suspect might run lower and all my thermometers read a different temperature so I really can’t tell the exact temperature but I get everything to come out so who cares…)

My bigger dog felt the need to guard the oven with the precious pastrami in it.

The pastrami went in the oven around 7pm……and early in the morning around 5am it still wasn’t done so around five am the oven got turned up to 240 f.

“I am waiting a long time for this pastrami but it smells heavenly”

The pastrami finally got done around 10am.

“I’m waiting for some………..Hurry up…I’m starving”

Then the pastrami sits on the counter till it gets to be room temperature. It fills up the house with FORKING DELICIOUS SMELLS>>>>>>>>>Next it gets refrigerated over night so it can get set and sliced without ripping it apart.

My husband slices up the pastrami better than me so I let him.

The dogs watch and anticipate.,,,,,,

Now they get some.

For a whole day the whole house smelled like FORKING DELICIOUS PASTRAMI.

Forking Amazing Smoked Pastrami

You might want to try my recipes for easy rye rolls and home made spicy beer mustard.

Rye Rolls
Spicy Beer Mustard
Forking Amazing Smoked Pastrami

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth