Monthly Archives: August 2021

Rocket Burger & Subs Phoenix AZ – A World of Sodas and Is Where Locals Eat

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Rocket Burger and Subs is a small not too fancy restaurant. Obviously they serve burgers and sub sandwiches. A Rocket Burger is a three patty burger. You can get two and single patty burgers but they are thin small burgers so most people need at least two patties. Rocket Burger offers more sodas than you ever knew existed. They also offer plenty of other things. They also offer, beef hot dogs, submarine sandwiches, pastrami, chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches, soft serve ice cream, and a children’s menu. Did I mention soda? HUNDREDS of sodas, craft sodas and more! Prices are very low. Single cheeseburgers are only $5.79, double cheeseburgers are only $6.99, and Rocket Cheeseburgers are $11.99 (prices are subject to change). The food isn’t fancy and the beef is fresh and not from frozen. It’s only fast food priced and it’s better than fast food. That is why locals eat here.

It’s very casual here. You grab a soda like one of the hundreds of root and birch beers or maybe something exotic? Like lemon meringue..

Huckleberry

Or orthodox kosher grape

This one might not be kosher…………chocolate maple bacon

Then you order at the counter.

You seat yourself and they run your order to you when it is ready.

Below are a few of the offerings that you can enjoy from Rocket Burger.

New York burger (pastrami & slaw) with fries and a Frostie Root Beer

Double bacon cheeseburger

cornmeal coated onion rings

fried zucchini

crispy chicken salad

pescado de cottete (also known as the Mexican fish sandwich…This is really delicious! This is my favorite here…) with a cucumber soda.

double cheeseburger topped with a fried chili and a Kutztown birch beer.

Take out – double cheeseburger with fried onions

Take out – chicken sandwich

Take out – Santa Fe double bacon cheeseburger topped with a fried chili….To the right is a Mexican fish sandwich (I think they gave me extra fish by accident in this photo?)

crispy garlic chicken sandwich with fries and a fried chili

fried chili (was only $1.)

Philly cheesesteak double burger with fries

Rocket Burger can be a blast!

Rocket Burger is a world of sodas and a place where locals eat.

www.TheRocketBurger.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Taste of The Toast Craft Kitchen & Cocktails in Surprise AZ – Newly Opened

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The Toast Craft Kitchen & Cocktails recently opened in a strip-mall in Surprise Arizona. It’s in the spot where Amuse Bouche used to be. This is a full service restaurant that offers a weekend brunch, lunch and dinner. The menu is American but leans towards Mediterranean. On the regular menu they offer appetizers, sharing boards, salads, sandwiches, entrees and desserts.

They offer patio dining.

They have a bar area.

This is the main dining area.

We started with a sharing board called The Italian.

It’s a generous tray with lots of fruit (dried & fresh), lots of creamy room temperature cheese, a hot pickled pepper olives, date spread, meats, and soft bread. We both liked the cheese best from this tray…

For dinner I tried the pomegranate salmon.

The fish was nicely seared and was well done but moist inside. It rest over a bed of rice pilaf and charred asparagus. It was drizzled with pomegranate sauce and pomegranate seeds. It was tasty and different.

My husband tried the balsamic marinated hanger steak.

The steak was very tender…but kind of plain……. The fries weren’t timed right and weren’t hot and fresh like they should be.

Well the salmon was good!

I haven’t found a website for The Toast Craft Kitchen and Cocktails but I did notice that they are on Instagram and Facebook.

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Bok Choy Garlic Stems and Chestnuts in Asian Sauce Recipe

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I went to H Mart Korean/American Supermarket and got some interesting garlic stems….I’ve heard of garlic stems but didn’t buy them till today.

I washed a piece off to see what it is like.

Raw – it’s much more tender and sweet than I thought it would be. It does taste like sweet roasted garlic too! I thought it would go well with bok choy in an Asian type of sauce.

I was SMART….I like cooking the bok choy healthy style instead of fried because it comes out good blanched in water seasoned with a little sesame oil. I figured that I can blanch the garlic stems first in the same water to give the water a little garlic taste.

Then I made the sauce and it came to me that chestnuts would be delicious with these flavors and that is how this dish came to be. Serving size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want this as a meal or with lots of rice or as a side dish. I think this will make between 4 – 6 servings depending on portion.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 lb bok choy – cut in half long ways

1 lb garlic stems – trim off any dried end and cut in edible lengths ( around 1 1/2 inches)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2-3 Tablespoons gochujang – preferably purchased from an Asian Market (it will taste better….also the different brands taste different) (I buy the one from Korea that comes in tubes and use a whole tube)

1 Tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

7 oz roasted chestnuts – slightly crushed

2 Tablespoons chives for garnishing

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds for garnishing

Directions

In a small mixing bowl add the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and chestnuts.

Fill a sauce pot around halfway high with water and the sesame oil to boil. add the garlic stems. Boil them around 2 minutes but no more than 3 minutes. Remove after cooked and drain. In the same boiling water add the bok choy bulb end into the water. Let the bulbs boil around three minutes then stir the tops in the water for only a second or two to wilt. When cooked drain. Mix in the gochijang sauce and top with chives and sesame seeds. Serve.

Bok Choy Garlic Stems & Chestnuts in Asian Sauce

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Smoky Slightly Spicy Aleppo Pepper Cauliflower Vegetable Bowl or Side dish Recipe

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I’ve discovered that smoked paprika and Aleppo pepper taste really delicious together with a little saffron and a few other things. I make cauliflower a lot because it is healthy and low calorie. Another thing that is great about cauliflower is that it taste very neutral so you can jazz it up anyway you like. This was easy and delicious. I just mixed up my dressing for the vegetables in a big bowl with all the vegetables and then I roasted them. Mine got finished with pea sprouts, fresh basil, and roasted salted peanuts. I had a really big cauliflower and this made two meals and 4 side dishes for me. I do note if you only have a medium sized cauliflower that you will have too much seasoning for it and you might need to use slightly less of the dressing.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1 large head cauliflower broke down into manageable florets

4 radish – cut into thick slices

1/2 large onion – slices

5 oz. seafood mushrooms

1 carrot – peeled if not organic – sliced

1 container pea sprouts (2 oz) – cut off bottoms with peas

1/4 cup basil – torn

1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed

1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

1 pinch saffron – crumbled

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon granulated onion

2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons jalapeño brine (preferably from TheForkingTruth.com pickled jalapeño recipe or purchased from a farmer’s market.

Set your oven to 400 degrees F

In a large mixing bowl combine the Aleppo pepper, smoked paprika, saffron, white pepper, salt, black pepper, garlic, onion, oil, and brine. Now add the cauliflower, radish, onion, carrot, mushrooms. Mix well. Spread out on a baking sheet.

Roast on the middle rack in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F. Roast until you get brown crispy edges. (Mine took 35 minutes but timing can differ)

Take out and top with fresh basil, pea sprouts and crushed peanuts.

Smoky Slightly Spicy Aleppo Pepper Cauliflower Bowl or side dish

This is delicious as a bowl with or without meat and is also delicious ass a side dish.

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Jetza Pizza Restaurante & Gelateria Glendale AZ – Tiny Italian Restaurant with a Great BIG Menu

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Jetza Pizza Restaurante & Gelateria is located in Old Town Glendale Arizona. This is a TINY Italian restaurant with a great big menu. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On the menu are many things and many things like appetizers, wings, house made soups, salads, sandwiches, subs, pasta, dinners, Italian combination plates, pizzas, calzones, a children’s menu, desserts and of course gelato. And there are also dishes that you might not expect like pastrami, Italian nachos, green Chile Alfredo pasta, and jalapeño fried cheese ravioli.

A lot of bright light comes in threw the glass front.

It’s not a fancy place but it seems clean.

I didn’t notice alcohol here but I do see that they offer a variety of Italian sodas.

We started out by sharing a Greek salad. It was split in half on two plates for us.

The house made dressing is pretty good. The salad is fresh and crisp and is a very generous portion.

We shared a margherita pizza.

They added sliced tomatoes to it and used a generous amount of fresh basil. It’s a good pizza but I’m not sure what kind of style that it is…It’s a a cross between a Neapolitan and a Sicilian. It’s crisp on the bottom, thick, chewy and firm.

We also shared a combination plate called the Venecia of chicken parmesan, spinach tortellini and pasta with pesto sauce that came with garlic toast.

The chicken is moist and the pastas were heated up well. The pesto sauce taste like it was made with dried basil.

Portions were very large and prices were low.

Service was very attentive.

That was a little taste of Jetza Pizza Restaurante & Gelateria in Old Town Glendale AZ.

www.JetzaPizzaPHX.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Brunch at Campo Italian Bistro in Scottsdale AZ – Worth a Fork

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Campo Italian Bistro is a casual full service Italian Restaurant located in Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is brought to you by a group called Genuine Concepts Group that also have at least five other restaurants or bars in metro Phoenix. Campo Restaurant is unique and does differ a bit on the menu and from the atmosphere of other Italian restaurants.

On the menu for brunch they offer a full bar, baked goods, coffee, fresh juices, toast plates, salads, pizzas, classic breakfast plates with an Italian twist, panini and more.

They offer seating at the bar and inside by the bar are high top tables.

They also offer seating on the patio.

And traditional table seating.

On the special board was a snack of the day that we tried called goat cheese mousse with apples, beets pistachios and a cheese crisp.

It was tasty and not too much.

For brunch I went with the arugula salad with added salmon.

The salad with made with arugula, marinated fennel, pistachios, and citrus vinaigrette. The salmon seemed very fresh and was a good quality really moist salmon with a very crispy seasoned skin. The flavors all worked well together.

My husband had the Italian ham and cheese (prosciutto, asparagus, fontina, béchamel, and fried egg on country bread).

It’s basically an Italian croque madame with potatoes on the side.

I’d say that brunch at Campo Italian Bistro is certainly – Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

Previous dishes we tried at Campo Italian Bistro were –

stracchio cheese plate

artisan cheese plate

creste pasta

crispy salmon entree

semifreddo

www.CampoItalian.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Three Cheese Mac and Cheese With Pickled Shallots and Mushrooms Recipe

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I had raclette cheese that was getting old and I also happened to have gruyere cheese, shallots and a few more things that I needed to use up. I came across a recipe for macaroni and cheese with pickled shallots and I thought that sounds interesting. I started to follow that recipe and found many errors in the recipe. The sauce was a little flat until I fixed it. The BIGGEST problem that the recipe had was that it used TWICE as much pasta as I put in it…..I’m thinking that it must be a misprint…It would come out bone dry with twice as much pasta……..I fixed up the recipe as I was going along. And it did come out FORKING DELICIOUS>>>>Serving size is difficult to judge. I don’t know if you want a lot of little portions or big portions. It will make around 8 good sized portions.

Ingredients for around 8 portions.

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

1/2 cup leftover mushrooms or around a cup of thin sliced mushrooms that you cook up

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon sea salt + salt to boil pasta

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup corn starch

5 cups non fat milk (I used nonfat powdered milk and added HOT water to it.) If you use regular milk you need to heat it up.

14 oz gruyere cheese – grated

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

8 oz cavatappi pasta

14 oz raclette cheese – Most of this cheese is for topping the dish…I only used around a 1/2 cup added to the sauce. ( mine came in slices from Costco and I reserved 10 slices for topping the dish…….You can grate it all and reserve a good amount for topping the dish.

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese – grated

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

non stick spray

chives for finishing

Directions

Combine shallots, vinegar, water, sugar, salt in a microwavable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave three minutes and set to the side. After around ten minutes remove the shallots and add the mushrooms the the pickling solution.

Set the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put a pot of water on to a medium boil with a generous amount of salt in it. When the water starts to boil you add the pasta. You want to cook the pasta 2 minutes less than suggested. Then drain it.

You can start the seconded pot while the pasta is boiling or wait a few more minutes and don’t dirty two pots.

Get out your sauce pot and melt the butter on medium high heat. Whisk in corn starch and whisk constancy till the cornstarch turns light brown and take off the heat. Whisk in the heated milk. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer and let thicken slightly. Take off the heat and whisk in the gruyere, cheddar and the around a half cup of the raclette cheese. Add the black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg, scallions. Drain the shallots and mushrooms. Add about 1/2 the shallots and all the mushrooms to the cheese mixture and leave it to the side.

Spray a BIG pan or 1/2 buffet pan with non stick spray.

The drained pasta gets mixed with the cheese mixture. Then you put it in the pan.

Top with raclette cheese.

Next top with the remaining pickled shallots

Put in the middle rack of a pre heated 375 degree oven for around 35 minutes.

Add chives if you have any.

Everyone will enjoy!

People will sample it all day long.

The Forking Truth

Spicy Basil Turkey Individual Meatloafs Recipe

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This recipe is only for the individual turkey meatloafs. They are easy, quick, and delicious to prepare. If you love spicy Thai Basil dishes from Thai Restaurants then you will enjoy this dish. I will tell you how I made the sauce and cured egg yolk too. I make a very concentrated spicy Thai Basil sauce. I used around 2/3 of the sauce to flavor the meatloafs. The remaining concentrated Thai Basil sauce went into a roasted squash that I pureed with a dash of honey and a little water to thin it down. You can take it further if you like by adding cream, coconut milk, butter, or stock if you like. Or maybe you might want to serve the meatloaf in a soup or with saucy noodles. Cured egg yolks are extra easy too but yolks take 4 days to cure so you need to start them in advance. Cured egg yolks are just 1/2 kosher salt and 1/2 sugar mixed together. You bury the egg yolk in the salt sugar mixture, refrigerate and wait for them to become ready.(around 4 days). The cured egg is whole but you have to grate it like cheese to use.

Ingredients for 6 servings

2 oz fresh Thai Basil leaves – rough chop – spicy Thai Basil sauce + extra basil leaves for garnish (holy basil would be first choice, Thai Basil second choice)

3 Thai chili peppers – stems removed – rough chopped – spicy basil sauce

3 garlic cloves – rough chopped – spicy basil sauce

2 shallots – rough chopped – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon Golden Mountain Soy Based Seasoning – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon fish sauce – preferably Red Boat Brand – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon pure honey – spicy basil sauce

1 Tablespoon water – spicy basil sauce

1 lb ground turkey (I used 85% lean today)

1/2 cup scallions – chopped

2 eggs – beaten

1 cup – cooked white rice (I used leftover take out rice that I froze and thawed)

1/2 cup spicy concentrated basil sauce

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and spray a sheet pan with non stick spray. Put pan to the side.

Make the spicy basil sauce. Blend together the Thai Basil leaves, Thai Chili, garlic, shallots, brown sugar, Golden Mountain Seasoning, fish sauce, honey and water till smooth. Set to the side.

Mix together the meatloaf mixture. In a large mixing bowl mix together the turkey, eggs, scallions, rice, and 1/2 cup of basil sauce. Let sit at least 15 minutes. The mixture will be soft. Cut the mixture into thirds and cut each third in half so you have six portions. Form 6 meatloafs and space them apart a bit.

Put the meatloafs on the middle rack of a pre-heated 350 degree F oven till cooked threw (20 minutes).

Add a sauce if desired. Add basil leaves.

Spicy Basil Individual Meatloaf

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Yotam Ottolenghi Style Oven Fries with Tahini Yogurt and Smoky Sweet Nuts Recipe

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This is an extremely easy and really delicious recipe by vegetable genius and award wining chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi. This time I really didn’t mean to change the recipe at all but I made some minor substitutions to what I had around the house. I will write out what should be used and next to it if I made a substitution.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 1/4 lbs Yukon gold potatoes cut in 1/2 inch matchsticks (I used 1 1/2 lbs red skinned potatoes)

2 teaspoons rice flour (I used 2 teaspoons Wondra flour)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt (I used sea salt….)

1 heaping Tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro or parsley stems or a mix of the two (I used a container of radish sprouts)

1 1/2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 Tablespoons olive oill

1/3 cup pine nuts (I substituted around a total of a 1/2 a cup of slightly broken walnuts)

1/4 cup chopped almonds (see substitution above)

1 teaspoon light brown sugar

1 teaspoon nigella seeds or black sesame seeds

1 teaspoon urfa pepper flakes

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika

3 Tablespoons Greek style yogurt

2 1/2 Tablespoons tahini

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves – minced

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F

On a large parchment lined baking tray, toss the potatoes with the flour, oil and one teaspoon of salt. Spread the potatoes out in a single layer. Cover the pan tight with aluminum foil. This goes in the oven for only 15 minutes just to get the potatoes to soften slightly.

Make the pickled stems (or sprouts). Add herb to small bowl and add the vinegar to pickle it slightly. Set this to the side.

Prepare the nuts. Add oil to a small frying pan on medium high heat. When hot add the nuts and cook stirring occasionally until toasted and slightly brown (around 1-3 minutes). Remove from heat and add the sugar, nigella seeds, urfa and Aleppo Chile flakes, paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Transfer this mixture to a bowl.

Make tahini yogurt. Add the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and a quarter teaspoon of salt to a bowl and mix well. You will have to thin this mixture down with water because it will thicken up even more. Start with 2 1/2 Tablespoons of water.

Up the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the foil from the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the oven for 15 minutes. Use a spatula and flip the potatoes over and cook them till nicely golden and crispy (around 20-25 minutes).

To serve transfer potatoes to a serving platter. Drizzle the potatoes with the tahini yogurt. Spoon the nut mixture on the top. Drain the herb and put them on the very top. Serve Immediately.

Yotam Ottolenghi Style Oven Fries with Tahini Yogurt and Smoky Sweet Nuts

ENJOY!

A Special THANKS to Yotam Ottolenghi for another FORKING Amazing recipe.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Francine Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ

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Francine is a French-Mediterranean fine dining restaurant located in the luxury wing of the Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is by celebrity chef/Owner Laurent Halasz. The food served isn’t the typical French style food with lots of butter and cream and is lighter, healthier and seasonal like the food served is like what the chef was raised on in France.

It’s light, bright and airy inside.

They offer a mix of different seating choices. They offer traditional tables, booths, bar, and patio seating.

Today we started with the Stefano Burrata.

We received DELICIOUS thin cut country style toasted bread with rich creamy burrata that was served over caponata. The soft cheese was adorned with olive oil, fresh torn basil and what tasted like Aleppo pepper. The caponata ran heavy with balsamic vinegar and the pine nuts were very marinated and dark colored from the balsamic.

Today I went with the quinoa with added salmon as my main.

I received a moist flaky fish with a nicely crisped skin over many things that included avocado, cabbage, lentils, eggplant, sprouts, and sweet potato. I liked that nothing was oily. Most of the flavors were natural. It seemed like only the quinoa was dressed with flavors.

My husband went with the shaved prime rib sandwich with horseradish cream sauce, pickles and house chips.

I thought the chips were very good with a very nice crispness to them. My husband likes his food saltier than I do so for him the chips lacked salt. I thought the pickles and sauce were very good. I didn’t get to taste the meat in the sandwich because my husband said that it didn’t contain much meat. For both of us the ratio of bread is too much for the meat but the flavors are good and the rich fresh bun was nicely toasted. I thought it was very unusual that the meat on the sandwich was topped with shoestring potatoes. I asked my husband how that was and said that they didn’t really add much to the taste but it gave the sandwich some texture. The sandwich was also stuffed with some watercress.

It was a special day out so we splurged and tried a Francine apple tart. It came out very different than what I was expecting.

I was expecting a little open pie. We got a round of puff pastry lined with a very thin layer of apples topped with creamy vanilla ice cream. You can’t just dig in and eat it because the pastry needs to be cut like a steak. It’s almost like an unrolled croissant.

That was a little taste of Francine Restaurant in Scottsdale.

www.FrancineRestaurant.com

The Forking Truth