Via Focaccia at Ellis Island Las Vegas NV – AMAZING Artisan Sandwiches – Worth a Fork!

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Via Focaccia isn’t an ordinary sandwich shop. It is by chef Ismaele Romano who became the 2021 Sandwich champion from the 2021 International Pizza Expo. The fast/casual Artisan Sandwich shop is located in the Ellis Island Casino Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. My husband got to try one of these focaccia sandwiches recently at the “Unstripped” food festival.

He kept talking about how great this sandwich was…………..This particular sandwich was not for me but they offer several other sandwiches at the restaurant that I wouldn’t mind trying….so….Off we went to Via Focaccia.

It’s a very small food stand. I see only maybe three small high top tables to sit at…….

Not much is in the case.

I already decided on what I’m getting.

I have to try the (non-traditional) brisket pastrami from an official sandwich champion. (brisket pastrami, caramelized onions, mushrooms, fontina cheese, honey mustard aioli)

We wait a little while till our order is ready……

WOW!

WOW! This is FORKING GREAT! The pastrami sandwich has been reinvented. The pastrami is full flavored, tender, and the right amount of fat for this sandwich. Never in a million years could I imagine pastrami on bread like this but somehow it does work in a magical way. Usually I find mustard that is too strong to go with the bold flavors of pastrami but the honey mustard aioli is a perfect embellishment that doesn’t compete with the flavors. It enhances. All the flavors and texture are perfect together.

My husband enjoyed the sandwich called Classica (ham, mortadella, cappicola, provolone, olive spread).

He said that this was a really great sandwich. He also thought that the meats were high quality. He liked it so much he said, “I’ll go here anytime you want.”

Via Focaccia is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Via Focaccia (at Ellis Island Casino Hotel)

4178 Koval Lane Las Vegas NV – 702-733-8901

www.EllisIslandCasino.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Easy Delicious Rye Crisp Bread Recipe

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Here’s a pretty easy and quick way to make a delicious rye crisp bread. I played around and came up with this. This makes three flat breads that you break into more servings. This make at least 6 servings

Ingredients for at least 6 servings

1 cup bread flour

3/4 cup dark rye flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + plus extra to either spray or brush the tops of flat breads

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

flake sea salt to taste to sprinkle on the tops of breads after oil is applied

Directions

Set oven to 475 degrees F and use only the middle rack.

In a medium-large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, course sea salt, water, oil, and caraway seeds by hand using a fork. You don’t want this well mixed. You want it mixed enough to hold together but not perfect…….(this is how you get the layers) Divide this into three dough balls.

Take one dough ball and flatten it with your hands sandwiching it between a heavy duty parchment type baking sheet and plastic wrap.

Roll it flat.

Place dough on sheet on a baking sheet.

Remove plastic.

Either spray or brush with olive oil.

Sprinkle flake sea salt.

I forgot to photo this rolled out but it looked similar to a different flavored one in the picture below.

This goes on middle rack till lightly browned. In my oven this took 10 minutes but your oven may differ.

Repeat with the other two dough balls.

FORKING Easy Delicious Rye Crisp Bread

ENJOY!!!!

Rye Crisp Bread
The Forking Truth

Thanksgiving Recipes on www.TheFORKINGTruth

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Here’s a sampling in no partial order of recipes that would be FORKING GREAT for Thanksgiving. Up above is Milk Street’s version of Vivian Howard’s Sweet Fresh Corn Pudding. This is really incredible……….I really mean it!

Parmesan and Potato Mousse with Parmesan Crisps
Potato Cannoli
Potatoes Anna Style
Duchess Potatoes (The Special Occasion Potato)
Sous Vide Turkey Breast

(By the way – I insist that you must brine your turkey…..or do what I do for Thanksgiving…CHEAT and buy an already brined turkey from Trader Joes either wet brined or kosher dry brined…It’s really worth it!) (Who has room to brine at Thanksgiving time?) I FORKING KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT….after all I did get paid to cook Thanksgiving for 500 people back in the day…..I did the turkeys, potatoes, sauce, and vegetables all by myself too…..This sous vide turkey is perfection……..nuff said.

Forking EZ Oven Fried Turkey Wings

So tasty it could be favorite part of the turkey.

Crispy Turkey Skin
Turkey Stock

Turkey legs with thighs – I normally just stew them…….till they fall apart. Then I pull the meat.

This is a masterpiece….The turkey is glistening full of turkey juice…..I don’t mean to brag but this is masterfully incredible.

It really is this juicy cold.

Balsamic Cipollini Onion and Cranberry Gravy (this is cold in the picture)
Acorn Squash with Cranberry Mango Habanero Sauce and Blue Cheese
Spiced Custard Filled Acorn Squash with Maple Bourbon Walnuts
Cranberry Mango Habanero Sauce
Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus
Moist Fresh Herb Turkey Stuffing
Zippy but Delicious Corn Bread Stuffing
Mushroom Chestnut and Fig Bread Stuffing
Chanterelle Bread Stuffing
Gochujang Roast Chicken with Kimchi Rice Stuffing and Crispy Skin (The same can be done with turkey)
Brussels Sprouts Baba Ganoush
Momofuku STYLE Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and Shivhimi Togatashi Pop Corn
Five-Spice Butternut Squash in Cheesy Custard
Butternut Squash and Fondue Pie with Pickled Peppers
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Green Onions, Calabrian Chili, Figs with Reduced Balsamic
Sweet Potato Ravioli with Beet Puree
Kabocha Squash Cake with Chocolate Drizzle and Chestnuts
Onion Rolls
Four Ingredient Rolls
Butternut Squash Cinnamon Rolls
Purple Sweet Potato Blackberry Pie with Coconut/Almond Crust

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and gobble!

The Forking Truth

Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Tangerine Zest Recipe

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Sweet potatoes are delicious and sweet already. I hate when people add a lot of sweetener to them like maple syrup, marshmallows, and brown sugar. I love those things but those things are for dessert and not a side dish in my opinion. ANYWAYS- I came up with just plan roasted with oil, salt, and pepper. Then I got the idea that cumin would taste good so I sprinkled some on. Then you have to add coriander…..Then I’m thinking Aleppo (a medium-ish almost mild pepper)….Then I thought I GOTTA use Urfa pepper…..(mildly smokey and raisin-like)…..I tasted it and TANGERINE JUST POPPED to me……So at the end I added tangerine zest and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS! Serving size is always difficult to determine. I don’t know if you want a small taste or a partial plate full……..My best guess is that this can possibly be 8-16 portions so I’ll say 8. I also note that I didn’t weigh my two sweet potatoes…..They were on the larger side so you might end up with a different amount of servings because of sweet potato size.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

2 Large sweet potatoes – cut into wedges (I quartered and cut each quarter in half)

about 1/4 cup – extra virgin olive oil to brush or spray all sides of sweet potatoes

fresh ground sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/2 teaspoon Urfa biber pepper

6 tangerines – just the zest for the recipe to finish the dish – serve the peeled tangerines for dessert.

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray or brush sheet tray(s) with oil.

Place the sweet potato wedges on sheet tray(s)

Lightly spray the sweet potatoes with oil and lightly salt and pepper them.

Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with the remaining spices (cumin, coriander, Aleppo, and Urfa.

Put the sweet potatoes on the middle rack of your preheated 425 degree F oven till done and lightly browned. Timing may indeed differ……Mine took 40 minutes.

Top with tangerine zest and serve.

Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Tangerine Zest

This was pretty easy to prepare and also happened to come out FORKING DELICIOUS!!! It’s a really GREAT Alternate to adding lots of sweets to sweet potatoes.

The Forking Truth

Lunch at Nora’s Cuisine Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

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Nora’s Cuisine is an award wining Italian Restaurant located in Las Vegas Nevada (a short distance from the Las Vegas Strip). They offer dinner every night and lunch is served Monday-Friday. They are a little different than most places because they offer a long menu of many dishes to pick from. This is also a very large restaurant with multiple dining areas, a bar, and patio dining.

Bread service is an optional $1. per person. You might get plain or garlic toast. We got garlic toast.

My husband started to with a bowl of pasta faggioli.

I tried the Scottish salmon with arugula and tomato.

The fish is seasoned well and was prepared reasonably well. The arugula was bright and bitter in a good way and seemed extra fresh. The red tomato wedge was delicious. It was marinated and sweet and flavorful. The two lighter wedges tasted raw…

My husband enjoyed the falcita lunch. (rope sausage, house salad with aged provolone)

We managed to save room to try a dessert and went for the almond cake.

It was made with ricotta and almond flour and was topped with vanilla sauce. It was very good but tasted more like a slice of lemon cake.

Lunch at Nora’s Cuisine is Worth a Try!

Nora’s Cuisine 5780 W Flamingo Rd Las Vegas NV – 702-873-8990

www.NorasCuisine.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Louie Louie The Restaurant Las Vegas NV – Unique Sushi and Hibachi

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Louie Louie The Restaurant in Las. Vegas Nevada serves sushi, unique sushi rolls, and hibachi. This is a full service restaurant and bar.

We started out by sharing a salmon tostada.

The salmon is very fresh and it’s topped with pico, avocado and herbs. Under is a creamy sauce that is bright and very lime-ee.

We shared one of the Louie Louie Specialty rolls called the Ozzy Roll. (tuna, salmon, avocado, wasabi tobico ((also spelled tobiko flying fish roe)), black tobico, masago ((capelin roe)))

This was an amazing roll bursting with all kinds of delicious flavors! It’s so detailed.

Teeny tiny lemon wedges with little tiny crisp things. It’s popping with all kinds of flavors and some heat too!

We also shared a filet mignon and chicken hibachi.

It came out sizzling like a fajita.

The vegetables were zucchini, carrots, onions, and broccoli. You dip them in the creamy sauce (basically a sriracha mayo) and you dip the meats in a ginger-ee type sauce. This also comes with steamed rice but you do have the option to upgrade to fried rice or noodles. Today the beef came out better than the chicken.

Worth a Try!

Louie Louie The Restaurant – 4408 N Rancho Dr Las Vegas NV – 702-483-5744

www.LouieLouieToGo.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Hasselback Miso Butter Butternut Squash with Apple Walnut Salsa Recipe – Yotam Ottolenghi Style

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This recipe isn’t exactly Yotam Ottolenghi’s but is based on his recipe that he did for crushed butternut squash with walnut salsa topped with roasted pork belly. I happened to have a butternut squash and there are many great chefs with great recipes on the internet but I haven’t found anyone else yet that makes so many incredible vegetable recipes as Multi Award and James Beard Award Wining Chef, Restauranteur, and Cook Book Author Yotam Ottolenghi. So I looked up another butternut squash recipe and this is what I came up with. Oh and by-the-way it came out incredibly delicious as expected. READ THIS>>>>>>YOU NEED A REALLY GOOD VEGETABLE PEELER TO PEEL A BUTTERNUT SQUASH> So don’t get mad at me if you can’t peel your squash. Serving size is always difficult to determine. I don’t know if you want a small side serving or a larger serving. Plus all the squashes out there are different sizes too! The one I made came out to be around 6 servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

One butternut squash – peeled, cut in half longways, seeds and membranes removed

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 Tablespoons white miso

Sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

1 apple – diced (it ok to leave on the skin)

2 + 1/2 ounce walnuts – lightly toasted and lightly crushed

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons yuzu juice (ok to substitute lime juice)

1 Tablespoon mirin

2 teaspoons tarragon

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

Non stick spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Spray a sheet pan(s) with non stick spray

Get the squash started

The squash has been cut longways in half.

Place the squash in preheated 425 degree F oven for 15 minutes so it’s easier to hasselback. When it’s cool enough to handle use wooden spoons or chopsticks around squash so you don’t cut all the way through.

In a small mixing bowl mix together the olive oil, butter, and miso and brush this on the squash. Lightly sprinkle the squash with sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Put the squash halves in non stick sprays baking sheets and paint on the miso butter. Give it a light sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Cover with non stick sprayed foil. Continue cooking till fork tender…Timeing will differ….depending on oven, freshness and size of squash……This will take another 45-60 minutes.

Make the Apple Walnut Salsa while the squash is cooking.

In a small mixing bowl combine apple, walnuts, vinegar, yuzu or lime juice, mirin, tarragon olive oil, salt and pepper.

When the squash is done. Serve it with the apple and walnut salsa.

ENJOY!!!!

Hasselback Miso Butter Butternut Squash with Apple Walnut Salsa

A Special THANKS!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for his FORKING AMAZING Recipe so I could come up with what I got here!

The Forking Truth

Dining Out With DOGS in North Las Vegas NV

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Dining Out with DOGS is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It started back with my late dog Louie. He always LOVED going out to eat. When he was elderly and was diagnosed with aggressive cancer I took him out as often as I could to eat. Instead of his 3-6 month life expectancy Louie made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat when I can and when the weather is right.

We took the dogs to Those Guys Pies in North Las Vegas. The popular dishes here are pizzas and cheesesteaks. This restaurant is very dog friendly. They even have a craft dog biscuit vending machine inside that offers FOUR flavors of dog biscuits.

Last time my dogs tried the beef biscuits. This time they tried the chicken biscuits.

One of the nice workers there ran a dog bowl of water over to my dogs.

The dogs were very happy tasting some of my husband’s cheesesteak. (my husband was happy eating it too)

The dogs were also happy to help me eat my lakeside salad with added chicken.

The dogs always enjoy dining at Those Guys Pies in North Las Vegas NV.

Those Guys Pies 1327 S Simmons St North Las Vegas NV – 702-483-4404

www.ThoseGuysPies.com

The Forking Truth
In Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017

Lunch at Echo & Rig Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

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Echo & Rig is a butcher shop and steakhouse located in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas in Tivoli Village.

Some of the meats they sell.

You walk up the stairs or use an elevator to get to the dining room.

Even at lunch time they start you off with bread and soft butter.

We started out by sharing the fried spinach salad (red onion, cauliflower, broccoli, chile-lime vinaigrette)

I think it’s very good. The broccoli and cauliflower were slightly cooked so they aren’t hard and raw. The spinach magically isn’t oily. It’s very similar to what several of the Thai restaurants offer here without the tempura coating.

I tried the signature house ground burger (chuck, short rib, brisket) with bib lettuce, heirloom tomato, red onion, aioli, and kennebec fries (I asked for medium…..to me it’s closer to medium-rare- rare on end but still good)

It’s very juicy and really is a very flavorful burger. The fries are good but slightly over-done today…….Still a great value for $17 (subject to change). It might be among the best burgers in Vegas……

My husband tried the crispy porchetta sandwich that comes with garlic chips.

I heard that flavors were good but today this ran a little dry….more dry than what he likes.

Lunch at Echo & Rig is Worth a Try!

Echo & Rig – 440 South Rampart Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702-489-3525

www.EchoandRig.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Sinful Subs Las Vegas NV – Not the usual here – Worth a Try!

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Sinful Subs is a very unique casual sandwich shop located in Las Vegas Nevada. This restaurant is by celebrity chef Vic Vegas who has been on multiple TV Shows but is most famous for being on Bar Rescue.

This casual sandwich shop has a gritty New York Theme to it. Many of the menu items have CRAZY Names like a turkey club is named, “Club to the Head.” An Italian type sandwich is called, “Knuckle Sandwich.” They also offer some snack-at-tizers like meatloaf fried in crispy wonton wrappers and served with mashed potatoes and gravy. The weekend only breakfast called, “Walk Of Shame” is three layers of French toast layered with eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, American AND Cream Cheese, and a hash brown with powdered sugar and maple syrup.

I tried what they call TV dinner. (medium sized sandwiches come in medium & large)

I think a better name for this is a Thanksgiving? This is surprisingly pretty good……The bread is better than from several other sandwich shops I’ve been to. The turkey is called roasted turkey breast but it seems like the better turkey lunch meat? It’s very flavorful…..I think the turkey was heated up in turkey stock? Stuffing A-OK. Mashed potatoes are A-OK I confess that I didn’t try the turkey gravy…..I can tell by looking at it that it came from a jar or a can so I passed on that but all together everything was tasty. Even the corn was nice and flavorful. The cranberry sauce is a similar quality to the gravy. Overall a surprisingly pretty good! This is also filling. I’m a pretty good eater and ate the corn and half the sandwich so I got another half for another time. At the time of my visit this sandwich doesn’t cost much more than fast food and is much better than anything fast food….(only $9.49 subject to change)

My husband tried the chicken parm that is called Italian Chick-en Vegas (large)

It’s made with hand breaded chicken fingers, a rich tomato sauce and lots of melty mozzarella cheese. ($11.99 subject to change)

Sinful Subs is Worth a Try!

Sinful Subs 5135 South Fort Apache Rd Las Vegas NV – 702-998-2555

www.SinfulSubs.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth