Monthly Archives: January 2022

Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana in Scottsdale AZ

Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana is an Italian Restaurant located in North Scottsdale Arizona. They offer much of the usual Italian dishes that you would expect like meatballs, arancini, house made pastas, pork chops, veal osso buco, and more, many of the dishes are laced with Calabrian chilies and they also offer a lot of seafood dishes that you might not expect from a smaller restaurant like this.

This is most the the dining room.

Above is the bar area. This is where you will be sat if you don’t have a reservation.

On another visit I had a reservation.I thought I’d get a table inside but was sat outside during our coldest weather (If I knew that my table was going to be outside I would have worn a coat).

They started us off with delicious (cold) bread and herb butter.

You might want to start with an appetizer like the Roman Style Artichoke because that was delicious both times we had it.

Roman Style Artichoke

The paolanzana (grilled eggplant) wasn’t as enjoyable to us.

palanzana

While the cured olives were oh so delicious the combination of olives, raw tomato slices, basil and rubbery cheese was so overpowering to the eggplant you really couldn’t tell that eggplant was even there.

Or maybe you’d want to share a pasta like the cacio e pepe (spaghetti, black pepper, pecorino (we found this to be very buttery tasting and a little light with the pepper and cheese)

cacio e pepe

One of the many fish dishes is the branzino with farro, roasted red pepper, butternut squash, pumpkin seeds and figs. This one was good!

branzino

Or maybe you want something meatier like the veal osso buco (ok …could have improved since we had it)

veal osso buco

On our last visit my husband had the Shrimp pasta dish called pasta Isabel.

pasta Isabel

It’s gemelli pasta (that was slightly over cooked), broccolini, jumbo shrimp, garlic, e.v.o.o., and whole Calabrian chilies. My husband thought that this was under seasoned. He also would have preferred that the Calabrian chilies had their stems removed and could have been chopped up in the dish so he didn’t have to do that. He was going ti say something to our server ….but….

Our server asked us how things were before we tried the food and we didn’t even see him again until after someone cleared our plates and then he asked us if we waited dessert.

I noticed that almost every table had a salmon tortelloni. I also over heard table next to us. I heard someone say that the salmon tortelloni is their favorite dish at this restaurant. So I went with the salmon tortelloni.

salmon tortelloni

It looks delicious! I can tell you that it is in vodka sauce that is very good. I can tell you that the pasta on this plate is perfection. The filling does seem to differ some from the menu description.

The filling is suppose to be salmon, mascarpone cheese, and spinach. You don’t see it in this slice but this is packed with TONS of dill……All I taste is dill and dill doesn’t taste good with this sauce. If there is cheese in here it is such a small amount that it is impossible to detect. I don’t know if this is how they normally make the dish?

We left and nobody asked how things were.

That was Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana in Scottsdale a bit hit or miss. Go for the hits.

Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana in Scottsdale AZ

20775 N Pima RD Scottsdale AZ

480-513-2048

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Sous Vide Chicken Mole Dust Roulade or Rollatini Recipe

I recently did mole dust carrots…….That recipe is a sort of adaptation or inspiration of chef Michael Voltaggio’s smoked carrots in mole with coffee mole dirt. I changed his recipe and added EIGHT ingredients to it to bring it closer tasting to mole. His recipe was a chocolate challenge that he did for Food Network TV that is delicious but is also sweeter and more chocolaty. My mole dust came out better than FORKING FANTASTIC……I don’t mean to brag but it did come out genius FORKING AMAZING…..Besides, carrots, squash, and chicken, I think my version of the mole dust would be incredible on brownies too. This makes a lot…..maybe close to a pint of mole dust. My guess is that it is closer to 16 portions of mole dust. I only made about 3-4 servings of chicken today. The leftover mole dust can be kept frozen.

ingredients for around 3 servings

1 chicken breast (usually they are close to a pound) – boneless, skinless, opened up and pounded thin

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup almond flour

7 Tablespoons sweet butter melted

3/4 cup flour

3 + 1/3 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 + 1/3 Tablespoon cocoa nibs – lightly crushed

2 Tablespoons smoked paprika

1 dried guajillo chile – stem and seeds removed ground up with spice grinder

1 dried negro chili – stem and seeds removed ground uo with spice grinder

1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder

1/2 teaspoon mild chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon granulated onion

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sea salt

I carrot – peeled if not organic and sliced very thinly

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

4 tablespoons scallions – thinly sliced

4 Tablespoons fresh cilantro torn leaves and fine stems ok

Directions

You have to make the mole dust first so you have it to season up the chicken.

It only takes 5 minutes to do the carrots in the microwave. You can do this before making the mole dust or while the dust is in the oven. Just add the stock to a microwavable container and add the carrot slices. Set it for 5 minutes on high. Scoop out the carrots with a slotted spoon and let them cool either on the counter or refrigerate and use when ready.

Set the oven to 325 F.

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, almond flour, melted butter, flour, cocoa powder, crushed cocoa nibs, smoked paprika, chili powders (guajillo, negro, chipotle, mild), ground cumin, cinnamon, granulated onion, granulated garlic, oregano and salt. Mix well. This mixture goes on silicon lined baking sheets in the middle rack of the preheated oven for 15 minutes then you stir the mixture and put back in the oven till it smells done about 15 minutes more.

Leave out on counter to cool.

Set the sous vide to 146 degrees F.

The chicken gets well rubbed with the mole dust on both sides.

Then add the carrots with 1/2 of the scallions and cilantro.

Roll the chicken like a jelly roll.

Vacuum seal it in a sous vide bag and put in the the sous vide for 4 hours at 146 F.

When ready to serve roll it in more mole dust, slice and serve and add the remaining scallions and cilantro.

Chicken Mole Dust Roulade or Rollatini

Serve with some sour cream mixed with lime zest if desired.

ENJOY!

The Forking Truth

Easy Fast Delicious Radish Blue Cheese Sriracha Bonito Flake Appetizer

This is as easy as easy gets and is also delicious and not too heavy. All you do is slice radishes very thin. Then top each radish slice with some blue cheese. Then top each blue cheese with some sriracha (preferably Shark Brand sold at most Asian Markets) and finish with a bonito flake or two (sold at Asian Markets)

It’s tasty and delicious too!

radish, blue cheese, sriracha, bonito flakes appetizer
The Forking Truth

Ottolenghi Style Green Beans Recipe

This recipe is based on Yotam Ottolenghi’s Green Bean Salad Recipe. Incase you don’t know Yotam Ottolenghi is a multi award wining and James Bread award cookbook author, chef, and restauranteur. He is one of the best chefs in the world with vegetables so when you come across his recipes you should do them or be inspired by them. I was gifted with around 4 pounds of green beans. I was searching for green bean recipes and came across the Ottolenghi Green Bean Salad recipe. It was easy and had a flavor combination I never would have thought up. I never tasted tarragon with coriander and cumin with the lemon zest it is just a magical combination. I didn’t have fresh chervil for the recipe so I cut back on the tarragon because my tarragon that I grow in my yard is very strong tasting. I didn’t change too much but I did use less seasoning than what is used in the original recipe (maybe because my tarragon is very strong?). I didn’t call this recipe salad because you can eat it room temperature or warmed up. Serving size is hard to judge because I don’t know if you want a little side serving or a big plate full. My guess is that this will make around 8 side servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

2 lbs green beans trimmed (original recipe calls for 1/2 yellow string beans and 1/2 green….use whatever you want)

4 scallions – thin sliced (original recipe would be 8)

1/4 cup tarragon leaves (For the original recipe this would be 4 cups chervil leaves and one cup tarragon……I do note that my tarragon is delicious but very strong tasting…I’m thinking that it must be a different variety of tarragon)

1 lemon – just the zest (original would be 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)

sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

4 bell peppers (I used two red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange but it doesn’t matter what colors you use) – cut into small thin strips.

2 teaspoons olive oil

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper to taste

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (origional recipe would be double)

3 garlic cloves ground to paste or a teaspoon of garlic confit (original recipe would be 6 garlic cloves finely sliced)

2 teaspoons capers (origional recipe would be 6 Tablespoons drained and pat dry)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (original would be double)

2 teaspoons coriander seeds (original would be double)

Directions

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil the green beans. Add green beans wait for boil and boil 3 minutes. Remove the green beans and rinse with cold water.

Drain and dry off the green bean and place them in a large bowl.

The peppers – I used 4 bell peppers that I roasted yesterday (because they were going bye bye) and removed skin, core, and seeds. For the original recipe you need to get a frying pan. on high heat until smoking. Add peppers with a little salt and pepper.Stir every now and then till tender crisp and charred. Add to the green beans.

If your garlic is raw then heat hit in a fry pan on medium heat with the oil. Cook about 20 seconds. Add capers and cook 15 seconds. Add cumin and coriander seeds . Cook until golden and pour over the beans.

Toss in the scallions, herbs, lemon zest and salt and pepper. This keeps well. Serve. Make sure to serve at least at room temperature.

Ottolenghi Style Green Beans

A Special THANKS!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for sharing another FORKING Amazing recipe so I could come up with what I got here.

The Forking Truth

Chula Seafood Phoenix AZ – Fintastic Seafood – Worth a Fork

Chula Seafood offers sustainably sourced high quality seafood and prepared seafoods. They come to us from San Diego where they hand harpoon swordfish (their specialty) and bring the best fish of the pacific coast to us. Currently in Arizona they have two locations (Scottsdale, Phoenix). A North Scottsdale location is expected to open early this year. (2022)

It’s casual here. During the day you wait in line and order and pay at the counter.

You will see all kinds of fish and more in the counter.

various smoked and or cured fish
fresh fish

Up above is a menu board. They offer daily specials, starters like oysters, and sashimi platters. They also offer bowls and salads. They have various plates like swordfish burritos, fish sandwiches, fish and chips, fish tacos, fish plate entrees, and more!

Then (during the day) you seat yourself and when you meal is ready they will call your name.

Today my husband started out with the fried oysters.

Fried Oysters

My husband said that these fried oysters with chili oil were really very good and they were served on delicious toasted and seasoned Nobel Bread.

Today I tried the Friday Daily Lunch Special.

Today it was a Hawaiian Lunch Plate.

The fish is crispy seared albacore katsu.

It came with blistered shishitos, jalapeño onion jam, soy marinated egg, kewpie slaw, bulldog sauce and sushi rice. Everything taste amazing. Today the jalapeño onion jam is really delicious but almost too spicy for me to eat….(Almost). I like that the slaw is almost dry…..I tell The Forking Truth so as amazing as everything really does taste…I have to admit ……It is strange to me that every single thing on my plate was served cold….I think if I could tweak this slightly it’s the rice and peppers that I would like better warm.

My husband got the crispy fish sandwich with potato mac salad.

He started with the parts that were spilling out of the sandwich and he said that it was very good. Then he went to pick it up…………(I tell The Forking Truth)…………

The whole bottom of his bun was coated with a creamy dill flavored sauce….so he didn’t eat the bottom bun.

Below are previous things that we tried from Chula Uptown (Phoenix)

Tuna confit sandwich with Moroccan carrot salad
Smoked Fish Plate with Biscuit (looked like a bite was taken from the biscuit??????)
Take Out Halibut Collar for Two Special
Take Out – Chula Chopped Salad with added Salmon, Tuna Melt, Spam Macaroni

That was Fintastiic Seafood from Chula Seafood in Phoenix.

Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.ChulaSeafood.com

100 E Camelback Rd PHX

602-354-3599

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Hash Kitchen North Scottsdale AZ – Bloody Mary Buffet, DJ Brunch, Fluffy Waffles & MORE!

The Hash Kitchen is an Arizona based group of brunch restaurants currently with five locations in the valley but are soon to spread nation-wide. The Hash Kitchen offers a long menu with lots of variety and over the top drinks………..They offer all kinds of HASH breakfast plates such as green chili pork, braised beef, chicken, birria, huevos ranchero, carnitas, and corned beef hash. A very unique offering is called the Ferris WheeI it’s 3 tie dyed cupcakes served with a trio of cereal milk pudding shooters. They also offer French toast, pancakes, salad, burgers, sandwiches, beef burritos, a loco moco, kids meals, and many interesting sounding cocktails such as mega glitter bomb mimosas and something called giggle milk. Hash Kitchen is well known for the make it yourself Bloody Mary bar………You pick the rim salt, heat level, vodka flavor, and mixer flavor and then you have a whole buffet of toppings for your drink…..(you almost or don’t need food after the Bloody Mary Buffet.

Bloody Mary with all kinds of treats pickled egg, spicy melon, Calabrian Chilies, Italian Pickles, cheese, blue cheese stuffed olives, a fancy onion, pickled Brussels sprout

I tried to dine at the Peoria location but wasn’t expecting an hour and a half wait (that is too long to wait for lunch for me). The next week I hit the Gainey Ranch location and it was on a similar wait. Since then I have learned that the Hash kitchen doesn’t take reservations but at the North Scottsdale location and the Arcadia location you can join a wait list threw Yelp and the wait was very short that way.

I got in and it was packed with an extra LOUD atmosphere and a disk jockey playing loud music.

People like to make an entrance here.

I tried the Louisiana hot fried chicken and waffle.

The waffle is amazing. I never had a waffle so light and fluffy before. The waffle is topped with lots of crispy fried leeks and warm maple syrup and creamy soft butter are on the side. The chicken is a little tough and hard to cut. It’s tangy like hot sauce but is only mildly spicy. It’s also a bit greasy and the coating is soggy…but did I tell you how fabulous the waffle was? I saved a Calabrian Pepper from my Bloody Mary and chopped it up and sprinkled it on the waffle and it was so tasty and delicious with the creamy butter and maple syrup.

My husband tried the Braised Green Chili Pork and Grits Hash.

He said that the green chili pork was very good. This technically isn’t truly hash . To be hash the meat needs to be cooked with the potatoes…The potatoes look like just deep fried cubes……but it’s tasty and we are not food police anyway.

This was a little taste of Hash Kitchen in North Scottsdale

www.HashKitchen.com

14838 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd Scottsdale AZ

480-361-5228

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Chorizo Hash Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Recipe

This is a pretty easy recipe. I made my own turkey chorizo (recipe not published yet). Combined the chorizo with a bell pepper and an onion. Mixed it up with the spaghetti squash and added an egg. The amount of chorizo that you want to use will differ. If you are using real whole fat chorizo you will only need around 5 ounces for two people. If you us a lighter and healthier kind of chorizo you might want to up the amount to around 8 ounces.

Ingredients for around two servings

1 small spaghetti squash – cut in half longways – seeds and membranes removed

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (approximate)

5-8 ounces chorizo – cut in chunks

1 onion – sliced thin

1 pepper (bell or whatever you have) core and seeds removed and sliced thin

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and fine stems ) – chopped or torn

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

2 eggs

optional – non-stick spray

fresh crushed sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to. taste

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Spray cut sides of spaghetti squash with oil and place cut side down on. a baking sheet. Leave in the oven till cooked threw (around 45 minutes)

While the squash is roasting add around a Tablespoon of olive oil to a fry pan on medium high heat. If you are using slicing chorizo add it now in slices with the pepper and onion….If you are using Mexican style sauté the vegetables first and then add the Mexican style chorizo with the garlic.

Either fry up the eggs in a fry pan, bake them in the oven, or poach them.

By now the squash is done so scape out the spaghetti squash into a large bowl and mix it up with the pepper onion chorizo mixture and toss in the cilantro and scallions. Season to taste with salt and pepper and top with An egg per serving.

Enjoy!

Chorizo Hash Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Phat Turtle BBQ in Cave Creek AZ

Phat Turtle BBQ is a casual Kanas City Style Barbecue restaurant located in Cave Creek Arizona. Kanas City type BBQ is suppose to be dry rubbed and slow smoked over wood and is served with a tomato based sauce. It is typical of Kanas City BBQ places to offer something called burnt ends. The burnt ends are the crusty fatty pieces from the point of the brIsket.

You know that you have walked into a barbecue when you have walked in. You smell the smokey delicious smell of barbecue when you walk in.

The atmosphere has an Old West and antique shop sort of decor to it with lots of mismatched older furniture, a collection of saddles, all kinds of nick nacks, compasses on every table, and lots of other things.

We ordered.

They run their sauces to our table.

They have sweet, hickory, and spicy.

Our server returns and said that they are out of the bbq chicken from my 2 meat plate that I ordered. So I change my order.

She leaves and didn’t say anything to my husband who ordered the Phat Sampler that also includes chicken. We figure that maybe they had a little bit of leftover chicken for him??

Soon my side salad comes out.

It’s a nice big (almost meal sized) salad. I share it with my husband while we are waiting for the rest.

Around 30 minutes latter my 2 meat plate comes out.

I got brisket, burnt ends, and potato salad. The brisket is a bit on the dry side but ok. The burnt ends are extremely fatty and succulent. … but they all succulent with a succulent bark. (I’ll save them for my husband) The potato salad is eggy and seasoned with dill.

My husband got his plate and a few surprises.

Well lets start with the good.

The onion rings are very good and the pork is ok.

The surprises are that the plate is missing two of the meats (the chicken and the sausage) and the other surprise is that the chopped brisket is all little hard crumbs (at about 2:00 on the plate (like the type of meat crumbs that get cleaned off of the cutting board and get tossed into the beans……….). He also got burnt ends but on his plate they are very chewy and kind of dry. The Phat sampler was suppose to be 1/8lb. bunt ends, 1/8lb. pulled pork, 1/8lb. brisket, 2 baby back ribs, chopped chicken, 1/4 lb sausage filled onion rings with one side.

(I do note that all BBQ restaurants are never consistent due to the nature of hours of food preparation ((smoking) and then keeping the meat fresh for you…)

For the side was macaroni and cheese.

It was pasta shells in a thin white sauce that was very light with cheese (almost not cheesy).

We had a service issue here. – My husband informed our server that if he knew that he wasn’t getting two of the meats from the sampler platter that he would have ordered the 2 meat plate instead that came with two sides.

When she brought the check she gave us a slice of peach cobbler to go to make up for our troubles.

The cobbler is dry and dense and comes with one peach slice.

I heard back already from the owner.

He apologized and said that he wish I brought all this to his attention and he would have taken care of us. He also said that this is unusual and isn’t the way they normally serve.

I should note that you shouldn’t judge any barbecue restaurant from one visit because none of them are always consistent. They spend hours smoking the meats and then the tricky part is timing the meat for you.

That was my trip to Phat Turtle BBQ in Cave Creek.

www.PhatTurtleBBQ.com

30845 N Cave Creek Rd Cave Creek AZ

602-527-3257

Everything is subject to change and everything usually does change anyway.

The Forking Truth

FORKING DELICIOUS Sliced Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Pickled Peppers and Shallots Recipe

I wanted to do something with sweet potatoes that wasn’t all mashed up or sweet. I got a recipe sent to me from Milk Street Magazine that sounded good but when I clicked the recipe they wanted a $1.00 from me. I buy all their magazines so I don’t want to spend the dollar. Anyways- I could see the first three ingredients so I got started that way and winged the rest. Somehow I came up with something FORKING DELICIOUS! If you want to find the Milk Street Recipe it is called Spiced Sweet Potato Tian (fancy French word for casserole). I am guesstamating the size of the sweet potato I used. I was one extra large potato that looked like a small baby. I’m guessing that it was over two pounds. This recipe makes around 4 smaller servings.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 1/2 lbs sweet potato – peeled – sliced thin on mandolin ( If you got a really fat potato you might need to half or quarter it. You want small lemon or big lime sized slices)

4 Tablespoons sweet butter

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1 orange – just the fresh squeezed juice (before you squeeze you can save the zest and use it at the end for finishing))

1 + 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper ( or 1/2 or less the amount any red pepper flakes)

3 small shallots sliced thin

1/4 cup fresh rosemary

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme

1/4 cup pickled baby bells – thin slices (I marinate them in my home made jalapeño brine but for this recipe it would be easier to just marinate them in around 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar.)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

crushed sea salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

Non stick spray

Directions

In a small bowl or dish marinate the pepper rings. Leave them on the counter at least one hour or make them the day before and refrigerate.

An hour later or the next day.

Set the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a pan or in a dish in the microwave. Add the oil, cider vinegar (1 Tablespoon), coriander, cumin, Aleppo pepper, shallots, rosemary, thyme, sherry vinegar, orange juice, and pickled peppers. Mix well. Add potato slices and mix carefully. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray a shallow dish with non stick spray and cover dish with foil.

Leave in oven 60 minutes.

Turn oven up to 425 degrees F.

Remove foil and let brown (around 25-30 minutes)

Forking Delicious Sliced Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Pickled Peppers and Shallots

ENJOY!

The Forking Truth

First Taste of Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar in Peoria AZ – Worth a Fork!

Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar is a Mexican Southwest street food style restaurant and bar. They have two locations in metro Phoenix. One is in Phoenix and the one I visited is in Peoria Arizona by the Peoria Sports complex by P83. The majority of the menu offerings are shareable plates and over a dozen types of street tacos. They also offer cheese crisps, bowls, fajitas, and more.

We came around a holiday weekend when most places were closed today.

They have bar seating.

They also have traditional seating and a large patio with high top tables.

We started out by ordering the chips and trio of salsas. (this I forgot to photo)

The seemed freshly made and were served warm. The three salsas that we received were a roasted salsa, a tomatillo salsa, and pineapple habanero salsa. Everything was tasty. The pineapple habanero had very strong pineapple flavor with a nice not too hot heat from the habanero.

I tried three street tacos. They come with rice and beans or you can upgrade the sides to elote.

I tried the potato head, Del Mar (beer battered mild white fish), and the Nashville hot chicken street tacos. All the tacos are over stuffed and some are extra saucy. I wouldn’t recommend them on a first date with someone unless you are very comfortable with any situation……(You will look very messy). The first one I tried was the one called potato head “queso style” with a crispy hard cheese shell around the taco (I thought the cheese shell would taste best on the potato taco and I think that I was right) This potato head taco is really scrumptious queso style. It’s full of all kinds of flavors. The Del Mar (beer battered fish taco) is tasty with the chipotle aioli. The Nashville Hot Chicken taco doesn’t remind me of Hattie “B”s but it sure is tasty so it’s a win. I was pretty full by now. but I did manage to taste the rice and beans. Both. were very good and better than from most places. I’d say the beans might have been the best vegetarian beans that I have tasted anywhere.

My husband tried the chorizo, carne asada, shrimp diablo, and carnitas. All of them were good. The carne asada was tender. The shrimp diablo was extra spicy.

I have to say that our first taste of Revolu Modern Taqueria + Bar was Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.RevoluTaqueria.com

15703 N 83rd AVE Peoria AZ

623-878-0215

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth