I needed a new idea for green beans and one of my go to chefs that I look up is Richard Blais. He is a cookbook author, restauranteur, and former Top Chef Competitor. I’ve been to his restaurant Juniper and Ivy and it was amazing. I’ve also tried the Crack Shack Restaurant in Las Vegas and it was very tasty too!
This recipe is very simple and easy. It has a flavor combination that I never thought of…..garlic, HORSERADISH, and sun-dried tomatoes with green beans. I made only a few changes. I doubled the amount of sun-dried tomatoes because I thought it needed more. I increased the amount of chili flakes because I used Aleppo chili flakes that are milder but with a better taste. I also thought that savory was a better tasting herb than parsley for green beans so I finished with savory. It’s always difficult to determine portion size because some people want a tiny portion and some want a larger portion. To me this looks like 8 dinner side servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 lb green beans – cleaned and trimmed
1/4 cup garlic – ground to paste
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil – cut into strips
4 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon red Aleppo pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons savory leaves
Sea salt – to taste
fresh ground black pepper – to taste
Directions
Boil green beans 5-7 minutes or until tender.
In a separate pan cook remaining ingredients till fragrant and then toss in green beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finish with savory.
Garlic Green Beans with Sun-dried Tomatoes
A Special THANKS!!! To chef Richard Blais for sharing his really GREAT recipe so I could come up with what I got here! Who knew garlic, horseradish, and sun-dried tomatoes what such a great combination on green beans!
Most people in the country are familiar with Rita’s Italian Ice Custard Happiness. They are a popular desert chain of restaurants that offers their spin on Italian Ice and frozen custard. They offer many different combinations of refreshing treats. The most popular treats are for people and they might get a gelati that is a few layers of custard with a layer of Italian ice or if you are like my husband you just get a bowl of chocolate custard.
mango peach gelati and bowl of chocolate custard
But did you know about the pup cup?
pup cup
The Glendale Arizona location only charges $1.00 for a pup cup. They gave us a small cup of vanilla custard that was embellished with dog biscuits. I thought it would be best for my dogs to share one because my larger dog has thrown up from ice cream somewhere else before. You should ask for an extra spoon to feed your dogs a pup cup.
“YUM!”“I’m getting some too!”“Ummmm”“yumm”“this is good!”“so good!”“I am happy to eat pup cups from Rita’s”
Now you know about the Pup Cup from-
Rita’s Italian Ice Custard Happiness 5940 W Union Hills Dr Glendale AZ
These one pan dinners are super easy, super flavorful, the chicken always comes out super moist and super flavorful and chicken quarters are very inexpensive…..Safeway often sells them for 99cents a pound and a few other places sell them for even less. To make these dishes you start out by browning the chicken and using the drippings to sauté the vegetables. By doing this you are infusing flavors. More ingredients get added and everything goes back in a big oven safe pot or pan in the oven till it’s done. There are a few things you need to know before you make this recipe. One is that the chicken skin will not get crisp enough to eat by cooking it this way but the meat will be very tender and also very flavorful. Ovens and the pans you use do differ and so will the timing. The other thing is that you need to make sure the lentils are done and the chicken is at a safe temperature to eat. According to the government chicken is safe to eat at 165 degrees F. Use a thermometer when you make this meal and make sure the chicken is at least 165 degrees F but I normally cook dark chicken and dark turkey at least at 180 because that is what I prefer….actually I like the dark meat between 180-200 degrees F but your preference may differ and you cook it to the degree you prefer.
Ingredients for about 6 servings
4 lbs chicken quarters (about three large chicken quarters) (season on both sides with salt, pepper and granulated garlic)
kosher salt to taste – (to season chicken)
fresh ground black pepper to taste – (to season chicken)
granulated garlic to taste (about twice as much as salt) – to season chicken
1 large sweet onion – chopped
2 carrots – peeled – chopped (mine were real skinny so I just sliced them in thirds)
2 stalks celery – chopped
13 garlic cloves – chopped well
1 Tablespoon soup base (instead of salt more flavor less sodium – either reduced sodium chicken base or vegetable base)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper – chopped – or a few red Fresnos for a little heat
1 green bell pepper – chopped
3 bay leaves
7 oz tomatoes – rough chopped
3/4 cup brown lentils (rinsed and inspected)
3/4 cup orange lentils (rinsed and inspected)
1/2 oz fresh parsley – chopped (to finish)
2 1/2 cups water
8 oz fresh spinach if desired (I think spinach taste good with lentils..you only have to stir it in at the end)
Directions
Brown the seasoned chicken on both sides either in a frying pan with a little oil or broil in the oven about 10 minutes on each side and use the drippings to sauté the vegetables and set the chicken to the side.
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
If you have a very large oven safe pot use it to sauté the vegetables with the drippings on medium high heat……If not just use your sauce pan for now. Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, soup base, black pepper, tomatoes and bell peppers. Stir occasionally and cook till the onions are soft. Then add the water and bring to a boil and add the lentils and then shut off heat and take off burner.
If not in a very large oven safe pot then transfer to a large pan. (I used a half pan)
Top the pan with the parsley and then the chicken and cover tightly with foil.
This goes in the oven till the lentils are tender and the chicken is at least 165 degrees F. (but I prefer dark chicken to get to 180 F…..it will be very tender and not dry) ********Ovens DO DIFFER…..In my oven this took 2 hours but I had two other pans in my oven that might have added on extra time. I recommend to check at around 90 minutes you will have an idea on how much longer and also if you need to add a little more water. When the pan is done you will remove the chicken and throw out the bay leaves. Now when it’s steaming hot is when you stir in the fresh spinach if desired.
Artichoke Basille’s Pizza is a New York Based Pizzeria with less than twenty locations in the country. I went to one of their newest locations in North Phoenix Arizona at Desert Ridge Marketplace by the entertainment center.
The entrance is on the side of the building.
Inside are plenty of tabes and they have a wrap around patio. The bar has 16 beer taps and has indoor and outdoor seating.
bar areainside
They offer starters that are found on many pizza restaurant menus like garlic knots, bruschetta, and salads. They also offer meatball sandwiches, chicken parm sandwich or entree, a few calzones, a few pastas and of course PIZZA!
I read I think on Eater Phoenix that if you are a foodie that you MUST try the artichoke pizza. That is why we went here. Pizzas come in 16inch ($33.) 22inch ($44.) and slices (average price $6.) Prices are subject to change.
Between us we tried four different slices.
pepperoni, Staten Island (deluxe meatball), vodka, artichoke
All the slices are larger servings.
We noticed that the crust differed some. Some crusts were also thicker than others but the crust did taste the same. The crust doesn’t taste very fermented.
I think we hit them on an off day………..Or maybe when someone new was cooking….
The pepperoni and the Staten Island (meatball, red onion, ricotta, mozzerella, grana padano, sauce) Both had a thin cracker like crust.
Staten Island
The Staten Island slice also wasn’t heated up much and was barely warm.
The Artichoke pizza could have been better………
Artichoke pizza
My slice tasted mostly like cream of spinach soup with hardly any artichokes.
It also was burnt on the bottom.
We both thought that the best tasting slice was the vodka pizza.
Vodka slice
The vodka slice did have delicious flavors to it. This slice is made with smooth tomatoes, vodka cream sauce and a blend of Italian cheeses. Unfortunately my slice had a raw center.
Tia Carmen is a high quality contemporary sort of Southwest type of restaurant located in the JW Marriott in Desert Ridge that is in North Phoenix Arizona. The Kitchen is led by Michelin Star Chef, restauranteur, and Bravo Top Chef Master Angelo Sosa.
Chef Sosa on Patio
It’s airy and modern inside.
Not all but many of the dishes we tried at Tia Carmen are pictured below. Some dishes are seasonal and are not currently on the menu and a few were from a special event.
But really everything is amazing. This restaurant offers many FANTABULOUS dishes with bold layers of flavors. Some dishes are spicy but not burn your mouth out spicy. Tia Carmen offers something for every taste. The tuna crudo below is what I would call the best dish I tasted anywhere for 2022 and in 2023 it is just as amazing.
tuna crudo – corn coconut broth, smoked Chile oil dillwagyu kababs *(past menu was 2 kababs…It is three now)
tri tip kababs – sesame leaf, pickled onion, serrano chile, Thai basil
Tomato Salad – corn puree, burnt corn dust, basil, pickled onions, fancy greenery – This is a must get when it returns.Avocado Aquachile – date sesame crumble, persian cucumbers, serrano chile – less spicy than the tuna crudoroasted beet salad – aged tepary bean mole negro, pepita crumble, beet molasses, goat cheeseMon-Fri LUNCH fish torta – crispy white fish, sweet onion jam, spicy mayo, dill, cilantro, turmeric, hay fries – BEST lunch sandwich I’ve tried all year!“Taco Night” Beef and bone marrow toastada – beef and bone marrow, guacamole, yuzu, pickled onions, tomato, cilantro…maybe the tastiest toastada anywhere.Trout – parsley, oregano sauce – really great!12 oz New York Strip – southwest spice blend, bone marrow butter, tepary bean mole negro – really REALLY Great!
Yucca Brûlée – yucca, cream garlic, manchego cheese – YUM!Mushroom menudo – cordycep and cauliflower mushrooms, Chile de arbol, chimayo chile, epazote – Really Great!Ember roasted purple yams – queso sauce, aged tepany bean mole negro (This is listed as a dinner but I feel it’s more of a sharing dish) – Really Great and YUM!Native Grain Fried Rice – lingica sausage, bacon, serrano Chile, ginger, turmeric, garlic oil, sunny egg, soy sauce – Very good but maybe a tad soy forward.Special event – Squash – kabacha squash and shiitake mushroom custard, squash caramel, shaved black truffle – Amazing!Baja Striped Bass -Thai basil, mole verde, dried shrimp, almond, pistachio, hoja santa, tomatillo – I had the opening version that might not be made with shrimp….The one I had was amazing!Tia Carmen’s Chicken Guisado – chicken thigh, castalvetrani olive, chimayo Chile, garlic, turmeric rice – A very good chicken stew.Special event – Denver Steak – tepary bean aged mole negra, bone marrow croquettes, manchego cheese, shaved black truffle – WOW! FANTABULOUSBlood Orange Sorbet – PERFECT YUM!Coriander tart – A very well made tart. VERY GOODSpecial event Dessert – beet macarons FORKING FANTABULOUS!
Broccoli & Cauliflower was on sale at Safeway so I had to do something with broccoli and cauliflower. I’ve done plenty of similar recipes so I had an idea on how things should be. Eden Grinshpan’s recipe for Whole Roasted Broccoli with Herbed Yogurt, Dukkah & Chile was the inspiration for this recipe today. I was all set off to do her recipe….but with adding cauliflower. Then I had to change the yogurt because my husband won’t eat straight yogurt. Then I needed less salt in the recipe. I also really didn’t want to use a serrano pepper here………Serrano peppers do add a delicious spicy heat to salsas…..but for this I wanted something milder with flavor so I used the traditional urfa pepper instead. From what I read Eden Grinshpan is a very decorated chef, cookbook author, restauranteur, and television host, and more. She also has been the host of Top Chef Canada for several years now. Chefs get much finer ingredients than what you and I buy from our local grocery. So for those reasons sometimes their recipes come out different when we make them…….. Serving size is always difficult to judge because all broccoli crowns and cauliflowers are different in size. Also some people want large servings and other people want small servings. My broccoli crowns and my cauliflower were all small so I only got 6 servings.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
2 broccoli crowns – break down into florets
1 cauliflower – break down into florets
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt – to taste
4 oz feta cheese – crumbled (preferably a good quality that isn’t too tangy or too salty) – whipped feta
1/2 cup greek yogurt – whipped feta
1 Tablespoon tahini – whipped feta
1/2 cup parsley leaves – chopped – whipped feta
1/2 cup scallions (or chives) – chopped – whipped feta
1 Tablespoon tarragon – chopped – whipped feta
1/2 lemon – just the juice – whipped feta
1 garlic clove – round to paste – whipped feta
sea salt – to taste – whipped feta
1/2 cup pistachios – crushed but with some lumps – dukkah
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds – use a spice mill or mortar – dukkah
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds – use a spice mill or mortar – dukkah
1/2 teaspoon cardamon seeds – use a spice mill or mortar – dukkah
sea salt – to taste – dukkah
optional – dried urfa pepper to finish
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Either boil the broccoli for three minutes and then use an ice bath…Or…Microwave with stems up a microwaveable bowl in a single layer with the stems going towards the top of the bowl. Add about a cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 4 minutes.
When cool enough to handle the broccoli florets go on a small sheet tray and the cauliflower florets go on a small sheet tray. They get sprayed generously with oil and get sprinkled lightly or to taste with sea salt. They both go on the middle rack of your preheated 425F oven till charred. Timing may differ…In my oven the broccoli were done in 20 minutes and the cauliflower took 30 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking you have time to make the whipped feta. Whip together the feta, yogurt, parsley, scallions, tarragon, lemon juice, garlic. (decide if yours needs any salt…Season to taste.
Once the vegetables are out of the oven turn the oven down to 350F. The crushed spices (cumin, coriander, cardamon, (sesame seeds if not toasted) and lumpy crushed pistachios (sea salt to taste) go on a sheet pan in the oven for around 5 minutes or until fragrant.
Serve as desired…..Everything on the side.
Or with Whipped herbed feta either over or under the vegetables. Then sprinkle with dukkah. Optional add urfa pepper.
I came across these Fiesta Twists at my local Walmart Grocery Store…….I picked them up to see what they are. They are a corn, rice, and potato based snack food that is twist shaped. My store offered the ranch and queso flavors but I noticed on the bag that they also make a cinnamon flavored variety. I picked the queso because I hate real ranch dressing.
Opening the bag I take a whiff.
They don’t smell particularly appetizing…….I smell something slightly sour.
I try some…….They are not like any other snack out there in texture or flavors.
They are light as air but also have a satisfying real crunch to them. They are like biting threw light crunchy air with little extra crunch grains. They are lightly cheesy, lightly onion-ee, lightly garlic-ee. and mildly spicy too. They also have a slight corn taste too like a corn tortilla chip.
These twists are really light. Two cups of them are only a 150 calorie serving.
Then when you eat one and let it melt in your mouth you get a slight sour flavor more and you don’t get all the other flavors are much.
If you just eat them then they seem good.
Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Old El Paso Queso Fiesta Twists….I do note that YOUR FORKING opinion may indeed differ.
In Las Vegas at Shish Kabob House I tried Eggplant Caviar for the first time. It’s a delicious dip that I didn’t know about. This dip is very popular in Eastern Europe. The recipe is pretty simple. It is basically cooked eggplants. Some variations are made with tomatoes (or tomato paste) and others are made with bell peppers. A few have both. Other ingredients are garlic and either lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Not all but some contain sugar or honey. A few contain Ohon Brand pepper paste and I saw one recipe that contains Aleppo pepper. I thought that since this is a recipe of few ingredients I would make the ingredients special. I cooked the eggplants at 500F to get a smoky char. I roasted the garlic to turn it sweet. I added one large roasted red pepper because they have great flavor. I also cooked down tomatoes for three hours and they got almost candied on the ends. The 3 hour onions also gave an amazing flavor too! Don’t mean to brag but this did come out FORKING delicious. Serving size is impossible to determine. I don’t know if you want a small amount to spread a small part of pita bread. Or maybe you want more to cover a grilled chicken breast. I’ll guesstimate at least 8 servings (but it will probably go further).
Ingredients for 8 servings
2 eggplants – cut in half make hatch marks
Around a cup – extra virgin olive oil – to generously coat everything you roast
1 large red bell pepper
4 small/medium sweet onions – small dice
4 medium/small ripe red tomatoes – diced
6 oz tomato paste (up to 6oz. you might need less depending on the size of eggplants)
2 heads garlic – cut in half threw the middle (Since this is a lot of work I always roast several garlics at a time and freeze them for latter use.
1 Tablespoon honey
5 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons Aleppo pepper
sea salt – to taste
Directions
Set one oven to 325 degrees F.
On the middle rack add the pan of diced tomatoes and one pan of diced onions. They get generously covered with olive oil and sea salt to taste. Cover the pans. They need to stay in the oven for three hours.
Set your other oven to 500 degrees F.
Your eggplant halves get cross hatched, generously and drizzled with olive oil. They stay in the oven on the middle rack for one hour.
When they are cool enough to handle scoop the flesh out with a spoon like you do for an avocado or a mango.bSet the flesh to the side.
Turn the broiler on and broil the red pepper. You want it charred on all sides. When you got it all charred up cover it with plastic wrap or foil. It needs to steam its self. When cool removed the seeds, stem, and skin. Dice. Set to side.
Turn off broil and set to 375 degrees F.
The garlic goes on a sheet pan cut sides up. Drizzle well with olive oil and cover with foil. This needs to roast for one hour. Then you whip up and set to the side.
Everything is roasted. Now you blend a few things together. This is easiest done with a stick blender. The Eggplant caviar I had at Shish Kabob House in Las Vegas was smooth but I did notice that some people do make it chunky. I made mine mostly smooth but saved some of the tomatoes to add last for a little texture and a delicious pop of tomato taste.
Blend together the onions, roasted red pepper, most of the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the eggplant, Aleppo pepper, roasted whipped sweet garlic, honey, apple cider vinegar. Top with remaining tomatoes. Serve with flat breads or pita bread. I read that some people use this as a sauce for grilled meats. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Charcoal Grill is a casual Mediterranean Restaurant that recently opened in Glendale Arizona. They differ a bit from other Mediterranean Restaurants in the area.
One thing that’s different is that they have a small bar in the restaurant with a few beers on tap. The menu is also a bit unique and different.
This Mediterranean Restaurant is a FALAFEL FREE Restaurant.
WTFalafel no falafels!
It’s also unusual for a Mediterranean to offer a taco platter so that is on their menu too….
Anyways-
We started out with a mixed appetizer plate.
mixed appetizer plate
It’s a very large platter of fried pita chips, hummus, tabouleh, baba ghannoug (their spelling), and grape leaves.
We also shared the mixed plate.
mixed plate
This also is a very big plate platter that was covered with a pita bread. It is beef tikka, a chicken kabob, a beef kabob, choice of rice or fries, salad, hummus, and garlic or tahini sauce. Tonight the flavors were good but meats were on the dry and chewy side but maybe when you visit they will be better. The one thing that really stood out was the garlic sauce. It really was unlike any other that I have tried. It was garlic-ee but also light and fluffy. My guess is that it was made with egg whites….
The mix shawarma plate was better.
mixed shawarma platemixed shawarma plate
To my surprise none of the meats we tried tasted like they came from a charcoal grill but the marinated beef and chicken from the shawarma plate was tasty and more moist than the kabobs. This very generously sized platter also came with rice or fries, salad, hummus, garlic sauce or tahini sauce and a pita.
Phoenix Magazine’s 2023 Dish Fest was held at The Clayton House in Scottsdale Arizona Sunday March 5th from 12-4pm. VIP ticket holders got in one hour earlier. This is an all you can eat type of festival of best dishes in the valley that Phoenix Magazine featured. Dish Fest also includes a beer garden, wine, spirit tasting and food trucks. Chef Jennifer Caraway also is expected to do a food demonstration. Also a portion of the proceeds benefit The Joy Bus Charity.
Buck and Rider – Oysters
Tia Carmen – ember roasted purple yam, queso sauce, aged tepary bean mole (this was one of the top dishes)
Texas Grill – chicken fried steak
Carcara – shrimp and grits
Sugar Jam – cobblers and pies
Sugar Jam – sweet potato pie
Sugar Jam – Creole shrimp and grits shooters (one of the better shrimp dishes)
Sugar Jam – BBQ maple chicken and waffles
Sugar Jam
Weft and Warp – blackberry haze
Weft and Warp – shrimp
Casa Corazon – chile nogada, Oaxaca mole, shrimp culichi
inside
Feringhee Modern Indian Cuisine
Feringhee – puchka snack with passionfruit (This was one of the best bites****tidal-wave of. flavors)
Feringhee – puchka snacks
Aimee’s Swine House
Aimee’s Swine House – soft egg and ham toast (didn’t try but was told very good)
Tapa Papa Frita – sausage, potato, bread
Citizen Public House
North – meatballs with polenta
North – burrata di stagione
inside
Pitch – smoked cheddar mac & cheese with fennel sausage or chorizo to add on if desired
Bro’s Seafood Food Truck
Bro’s Seafood – breaded shrimp taco with elote (I didn’t try but heard was very good)
AZ Lemonade
Momo’s – vegetarian momo dumpling (they also served chicken and ham momos) I liked the vegetarian momo the best.
