Tag Archives: #foodies

FORKING Amazing BBQ Spice Recipe

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I got the idea after reading Milk Street Magazine’s recipe for masala fries……To do BBQ roasted potatoes because I want slightly healthier slightly lighter roasted potatoes instead of frying them……LATER I used this FORKING AMAZING spice blend on chicken and it was far more delicious there……. I came up with a spectacular spice blend. This recipe makes far more than you will use in a short time so you make want to half the recipe. It’s also (by accident) such a great flavorful recipe that you should use it very sparingly. As is I used about one tablespoon on a few pound tray of supermarket chicken thighs and another Tablespoon to flavor all the vegetables and beans I braised the chicken thighs in. For braising I also used a heaping tablespoon of “Better than Bouillon” brand soup base.

Ingredients for lots of servings

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

1 Tablespoon mild Chile powder

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 Tablespoon cayenne powder

1 Tablespoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons course sea salt

1 Tablespoon black pepper

Directions just mix the above spices together.

Use on home made potato chips (if you can do spicy…this comes out very spicy on potatoes but perfect on chicken). Use to add to ketchup and make bbq ketchup. Rub on meats and bbq.

I sprayed a pan with non stick spray. Then sprinkled LIGHTLY with spice blend. Next placed cut red potatoes…cut side down. Added sliced onions. Drizzled heavy with oil and sprinkled again with BBQ spice. Covered pan and roast in oven till down…..In my Whirlpool oven on a middle rack this took two hours. Your oven may differ.

Enjoy!!!!

Roasted Potatoes with FORKING Amazing BBQ Spice

This spice blend is perfect for chicken. I bet it’s great on most meats too!

This is FORKING AMAZING!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Las Islitas Mariscos – Mexican Seafood Restaurant North Las Vegas NV- Large Generous Servings

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Las Islitas Mariscos is a Mexican Seafood Restaurant with three locations in Las Vegas Nevada. The Craig Road location is large and festive looking inside.

This location serves soft beverages and beer.

They start you off with complimentary tostadas, crackers, and salsa.

My husband tried the shrimp rancheros.

He got an enormous platter of refried beans, vegetable studded rice, salad, tortillas, and shrimp in a ranchero sauce. It was ok but might be better on some days…….Today the shrimps were not infused with the flavors and could have been cleaned better.

We think I did better with the fish al lemon.

I also got an enormous platter. This is a mild white fish filet that has been breaded and possibly fried in butter (it taste like butter) It has a heavy creamy blanket of a lemon and chile laced sauce…….The sauce actually taste good but it seems like it might be mayonnaise based? This plate also contains tasty buttered toast, vegetable studded rice, salad, and a mix of vegetables (carrots, potatoes, and a squash-like vegetable).

Service was friendly and efficient. Serving are large and generous.

That was my trip to Las Islitas Mariscos.

Las Islitas Mariscos 2555 W Craig Rd – North Las Vegas NV – 702-329-2174

www.LasIslitasMariscosLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Tasty Bite North Las Vegas NV – TASTY American Chinese Food – Worth a Try!

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Tasty Bite is a small mainly American-Chinese Take Out Restaurant located in a North Las Vegas Nevada Strip Mall. It’s not a fancy place but it seems clean. They do mainly take out but do have a few tables for indoor dining.

The menu is hanging on the wall.

Under appetizers I never noticed paper wrapped chicken before so we gave that a try!

WOW! they are HOT fresh out of the fryer.

They aren’t wrapped in paper…..Inside is very moist, very flavorful ground chicken laced with allspice with an amazing caramelized exterior….almost dark like a grilled hamburger.

We also got complimentary egg drop soup.

For my main I tried the hot Szechuan garlic chicken that came with steamed white rice.

The chicken is masterfully tender. I got a bunch of tender crisp green bell pepper, a few kinds of mushrooms, and onions in a spicy-not-too-sweet sauce. I think that this is pretty good!

My husband tried the hunan beef.

This is really different…….Really great flavors and heat….The beef is very tender but was fried at such a high temperature that the texture of the beef just disintegrates in your mouth….It’s like no other.

Did some take out here- All the take out was very large portions. Everything was enough for two meals for me.

Fish in black bean sauce…reasonably good. The fish is cooked to perfection, and is mild in taste. Maybe slightly soy forward.

Thai chicken salad – really different – the sauce is sweet and spicy……The small sliced hot peppers are too hot here. The chicken is good. The salad is extra generous in size and is very fresh.

half of F-12 Hot and Spicy Chicken with some of the rice (I dripped sauce on the rice) This one is MIGHTY SPICY………but it’s a good spicy taste and not just heat. I taste garlic. I taste ginger. There is a small amount of sweetness to it. This one has lots of cilantro in it. The dark meat chicken is masterfully tender and developed with good flavors……not a lot of vegetables here…..got some bean sprouts, onions, and very HOT peppers……This one might be too spicy…..I’d get it again but mix it with a more bland vegetable dish….yes a bit too spicy today. (Maybe the peppers ran hotter than normal?)

Half of the Chicken Chop Suey – masterfully tender and infused with flavors sliced white meat chicken. Lots of vegetables here – zucchini, bean sprouts, onions, broccoli, snow peas, water chestnuts, and mushrooms. This one is very good.

1/2 of General Tso’s Chicken. Today the small green hot peppers are extremely HOT! The rest is A-OK but I rarely order General’s from most places.

Watch Out…….Sometimes the hot peppers they use run MOLTEN HOT! but for the most part most dishes were reasonably good!

Tasty Bite is Worth a Try!

Tasty Bite 3073 W Craig Rd North Las Vegas NV – 702-646-8803

www.TastyBiteNLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Esther’s Kitchen Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!***UPDATE MOVED NEXT DOOR

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Esther’s Kitchen is a seasonal Italian Restaurant located in the arts district of downtown Las Vegas Nevada. They use local ingredients as much as possible and make their own sourdough bread, pastas, pizza, and more!

At the original location on 1130 S. Casino Center Blvd (soon to move next door) They offer seating at the bar.

They also have a small patio and a dining area with an open kitchen.

We started out by enjoying their house made delicious sourdough bread with sides of house churned butter, cambozola blue cheese, pecans, and pickled grapes, and cannellini beans with lard, speck, and pistachio oil.

Next we share a seasonal salad called Troy’s Peaches and Tomato Salad.

Besides tomatoes and peaches this contained stracciatella cheese, red mustard, and pickled peach vinaigrette.

For my main I tried the seasonal wild Mediterranean Bronzino with harissa farrotto, caramelized squash, and salsa verde that taste pretty much the same as shrug sauce.

This came adorned with tiny squashes and tiny reduced and peeled sweet heirloom tomatoes and everything was prepared to perfection.

My husband enjoyed the house made Bucatini (Amatriciana & Guanciale, red onion, chili, parsley) with the beef and pork meatballs.

We wanted to try dessert here. I took a chance with the blackberry pavlova….(Somethings I hate them when the crisp meringue taste like egg white to me)

This might be the best one I’ve tried. It’s light as a feather. Not too sweet and it doesn’t have that egg white taste…….I enjoy the pops of sweet basil…….REALLY GREAT but could use a tad more lemon or just a sprinkle of lemon zest…….I would still get again.

I have to say……

Esther’s Kitchen is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Esther’s Kitchen (Soon to move next door to a larger location)*****UPDATE MOVED NEXT DOOR******

1130 S. Casino Center Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702- 570 – 7864

NEW ADDRESS IS 1131 Main St Las Vegas NV – 702-570-7864

www.EsthersLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Asian Inspired Green Beans with Crushed Peanuts Recipe

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2 pound bags of trimmed and washed green beans were on sale for $1.80 a bag today so they seemed fun to buy. I was thinking Asian Style……that are a little lighter because these aren’t fried. I figured I’d do an easy basic boiled green beans and pour a tasty Asian style sauce other them. So that’s what I did.

Ingredients for around 8 side servings

2 lbs green beans – strings and tips removed

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons hoisin

5 Tablespoons sriracha (preferably Shark Brand)

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 cup roasted salted peanuts – lightly crushed

3 scallions – root removed, cut on diagonal thin slices

Directions

In a small bowl add the hoisin, sriracha, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and white pepper. Put to the side.

My big pot takes too long to heat up to a boil so I prefer to use my any-day pot to boil the green beans in two batches for three minutes a batch. I did mine at a rolling boil for three minutes a batch and didn’t need an ice batch…..But you can do an ice batch if you want to.

Drain green beans into a large bowl and mix in the sauce. Top with peanuts and then some scallions.

Serve.

Asian Inspired Green Beans with Crushed Peanuts

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

MY FORKING THOUGHTS on the Maybe Martha Stewart’s Honey Florentines Recipe?

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I came across this cookie recipe on Pinterest. It sounded too easy to be true. So I did a little research. I can’t find this exact recipe on the Martha Steward website so I don’t know if it is truly her recipe but I can tell you several bloggers credit her for this recipe. Since it’s so easy and has so few ingredients I gave it a try. This recipe makes around 12 cookies I got 16 out of mine.

MY FORKING thoughts may differ from your FORKING thoughts on these cookies. They look interesting but I HATE THEM and have to throw them out. They smell good. They smell exactly like the chestnut honey I used to make them. They taste like hard caramel that sticks to your teeth. They stick to your teeth and I think that is gross. I was going to drizzle them with chocolate…..but won’t now because they are in the trash.

Ingredients for 12-16 cookies

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1 + 1/2 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoons flour

pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter, sugar, and honey together. Add the flour and salt.

Do 1/2 teaspoons on parchment or silicon mat.

Bake until golden (about 6 minutes.)

I didn’t space them enough and a few stuck together. I tried a small end that broke off.

I don’t care for them. But people who love hard caramels might like them.

I showed them to my dogs.

Don’t worry I didn’t give my dogs any. I don’t want them to damage their teeth.

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on the Maybe Martha Stewart’s Honey Florentines recipe.

I do note that YOUR FORKING THOUGHTS may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

The Great Las Vegas Taco Festival 2023

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The Great Las Vegas Taco Festival was held at Craig Ranch Park in NORTH LAS VEGAS Nevada October 27-29TH 2023. Besides TACOS there were all kinds of things like a car show, carnival rides, margaritas, eating contests, a chihuahua beauty contest, craft venders and MORE! (If you were there the right day and right time)

We tried ………

An award wining mango habanero taco and a bulgogi beef taco from El Chino.

Both tacos are tasty but the spicy chicken taco is the one to get here….It really developed with lots of delicious flavors.

Next we try

the chicken and rib eye tacos from 911 Tacos & Beer.

Both tacos had ingredients in them that wasn’t in their description on their sign…..But still both are tasty and flavorful with tender fillings.

We also tried El Fuego Tacos.

We tried an asada and a chicken taco. These ran extra salty today. I can’t eat either taco.

Moving on

FINALLY fish tacos

From Ole Manny’s Seafood Shack we tried a shrimp and a fish taco and their hot habanero salsa.

Both are good…..The taco shells are the tastiest so far on these. The fish is fried perfect and seems free of oil….It’s tricky figuring out on how much salsa to use here because the salsa is extra strong but the right amount of drops makes it very good.

Going to fit in one more taco.

We tried a chipotle chicken and a birria taco from Slanging Tacos.

These both have extra tasty shells with lots of flavor to them….These both also are larger tacos with lots of filling…… The chicken taco is very tasty but it’s the tasty sauce and tasty shell that is delicious…..The chicken needs those flavors to be good. The birria is good but you have to buy the consume separately.

That was what we tried at The Great Las Vegas Taco Festival

Craig Ranch Park

628 W Craig Rd NORTH LAS VEGAS NV

702-633-2418

www.ProjectTaco.com

The Forking Truth

Halloween Special Edition – Frightful Horrifying Foods Served in Las Vegas NV 2023

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This is a collection of the most frightful horrifying foods served to us in Las Vegas Nevada in no particular order. OK my claws are out and here it is…….

At Casa Don Jaun downtown besides cold chips that seemed purchased and oregano laced salsa I tried a chicken fajita salad. I got an uninspired warm salad that was topped with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and chicken that was drowning in salty soy sauce. Oh and a glob of guacamole. YUK! It tasted like they used half a bottle of soy sauce to make this.

The chicken ramen was made with good chicken but the broth was below standard. It tasted like some sort of instant broth with added salt. This was absolutely terrible and most of the ramen they offer at this restaurant is made with this too. I had the chicken ramen. Not all but most of the ramen they offer is a combination of pork and chicken broth.

At Victories Cafe in The Cannery besides being served over microwaved rolls that turned hard……I tried the Asian Chicken Salad. The chicken had a weird texture…..It was tender but unusually dry??????But it was the sauce on it that made me gag….It was very sweet…It just didn’t taste good.

The rice was good from Little Hong Kong but everything else was below standard……My husband tried the Szechwan beef that was hard and chewy in a sauce that we didn’t care for….Sadly we tried Mandarin hot braised vegetables and they were in the same exact sauce as the Szechwan beef. Maybe the worst dish we had there was the vinegar marinated milkfish…..I had Caribbean vinegar marinated fish before that was delicious. The fish dish from Little Hong Kong has all dried out and chewy and only tasted like old fish and vinegar…….

Sometimes you get bad food at food festivals.

Recently at the USA Today Wine and Food Festival I tried this piece of beef from Kusa Nori……Somehow they made this saltier than salt….I thought I was going to be sick after tasting it..

Same thing happened at the Great Las Vegas Taco Festival.

I wasn’t able to eat either of these tacos from El Fuego. They were so over salted that to me they weren’t edible.

Back to restaurants

EllaEm’s Soul Food won a Best of Vegas Award so I thought they’d be good. OK maybe it’s my bad for trying the fish…..(not the best) but you can clearly see problems with most of the sides. I had mixed vegetables that look like from frozen that have nothing added to them. In the middle are sweet potatoes that are sweet beyond belief. To the right is macaroni and cheese that is all dried out. My husband also had a very dried out chicken fried steak.

Bob Taylor’s Ranch House might be one of the oldest Steak Houses in Las Vegas. My husband found out that his burger was thrown on the grill from frozen. He asked for medium – rare but he got grey in the center and all dried out. I tried the BBQ chicken salad. They did give me tender chicken but it was covered in a cloyingly sweet bbq sauce and was served over warm soggy iceberg lettuce.

We had a good visit to Secret of Siam Thai Restaurant so I wanted to go back because they offer a lot of different fish dishes on their menu. I tried the green Apple Pompano……The slaw that came with it was delicious……..but……

The fish was horrifying…….It came out like they boiled it in glue. I dug and dug with my fork and it was next to impossible to get flesh to eat….But when I managed to get a small morsel……..ICK!

It’s FORKING gross…..It’s that old fish taste.

That was The Halloween 2023 Special Edition of The FORKING Truth where I shared the most frightful, horrifying foods served to me in Las Vegas NV.

Have something good and don’t go hungry on Halloween.

I drew this….

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little TASTE of USA Today Wine & Food – Las Vegas NV

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The USA Today Wine & Food Festival was held Saturday October 28TH in Trivoli Village in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas Nevada. The tickets were general admission and VIP. The VIP tickets got you in one hour early (12:00), a few more tables to sit at and entitled you to more wines to pick from, and two additional tastings.

One tasting was

prosciutto wrapped grapes

and the other was

black Angus filet with squid ink risotto topped with shrimp from Harlo Steakhouse.

Everyone could try the following.

I thought among the best tastes today TWO came from Ichiza……One was an Asian beef dish with rice that was delicious and tender. The other was some sort of layered cracker with two kinds of fish (I think both were tuna) One layer was a fish with a curry sauce. The other was seasoned with rice.

To me the very best bite of the festival came from Anima By Edo.

It was all high quality and unusually delicious together. Wagyu pastrami, torrija, caciocavalla cheese, port balsamic glaze.

One thing was not edible…to me ….and also my husband………

This Angus beef from Kuta Nori almost made me sick from too much salt…….It seemed saltier than straight salt.

There were a few more things that were good or ok.

My husband ate something shrimp from The Crab Corner.

This swai from California Fish Grill wasn’t so good over uninspired rice.

Hussong’s Mexican Cantina made pretty good Margaritas. I didn’t try the Duck appetizers but I heard that they were pretty good.

Goufrais Southern Californian Chocolate taste like thick chocolate frosting to me.

My husband tried a tiny pulled pork slider. He said it was ok. I didn’t catch where it came from but I think it was from Project BBQ.

In The Black Cookie Company made a variety of cookies….With nuts, nut free, and gluten free varieties…….Tried a few that were ok.

Crossroads Kitchen offered plant based meat-like cigars that were tasty and a pastry with onion, almond, and a vegetarian egg.

If you are here at the right time you might catch some demos.

Crazy Pita arrived late. I tried part of a pita with hummus spread on it. They told me that they were preparing meat dishes that will be ready later.

Evel Pizza offered BBQ beef pizza

Soul Foo Young was a no show.

Refrigerator chilled pork sandwiches from Sr Frog. And something crab in the other cups.

Lots of sliced meats, cheeses, fruit, crackers and more at Boar’s Head.

And some of the cheese comes with rind.

That was a little Taste of USA Today Wine & Food 2023 Las Vegas

www.WineandFood.USAToday.com

The Forking Truth

Panch Phoron Butter Spiced Cauliflower Recipe

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Panch Phoron (also spelled a few different ways Phoran) Is a North Eastern India 5 spice blend. Panch Phoran is equal parts of cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, nigella seeds, and fenugreek seeds. You toast the seeds till fragrant, let them cool, and then grind. After I made this I thought it really needed just one teaspoon of sugar to brighten the flavors. Then it needed one teaspoon of sea salt and one teaspoon of a pepper……..Out of the spices I have (and I have many) I thought Aleppo pepper would be the best tasting. This got mixed with one stick of melted sweet butter and it transformed cauliflower into something amazing. Each cauliflower and serving size out there might be a different size. For me this made 6 dinner side servings.

Ingredients for around 6 side servings

1 cauliflower – break down to florets

optional – 1 onion – cut into slices

optional -3 carrots – cut into slices

optional 8 mini bell peppers – long way – slices

1 stick sweet butter 4 ounces – melted

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

non stick spray

Directions

Set the oven to 450 degrees F.

Sheet pan(s) get sprayed with non stick spray and put to the side.

The cumin, fennel, black mustard, nigella, and fenugreek seeds get toasted till fragrant. You can do this in a pan stove. in a pan (but in a low oven) or in a bowl in your microwave for about 30 seconds. This needs to cool and then you blend the seeds in a spice grinder. This seed mixture gets mixed into the butter along with the sea salt, sugar, and Aleppo pepper.

The cauliflower and optional vegetables go on sheet pans in a single layer and get drizzled with all of the Panch Phoron Butter.

This goes in a preheated 450F oven for at least 30 minutes or until browned and fragrant. At 30 minutes I thought mine wasn’t done yet so I turned the heat up to 475 and left it in just 15 minutes more and I thought perfect.

This made the house smell so FORKING AMAZING!

Even my husband came out and wondered what that amazing smell was.

Panch Phoron Butter Spiced Cauliflower

This is one that almost everyone will enjoy!

The Forking Truth