I haven’t had these Kettle Brand Truffle Oil & Sea Salt Chips in a while. I noticed that they were on sale and decided to pick up a bag since they were pretty good last time.
I didn’t notice that they changed the formula until I ate the first chip. They are noticeably MUCH CRUNCHIER….like shattering crisp……..almost too crisp…..
BUT THEY ALSO TASTE DIFFERENT!!!!!
The first few chips I tasted were like over seasoned granulated onion…..
Then the third chip was like LOTS of truffle essence and too much salt and other flavors for me.
I wonder if I got a defective bag of chips when the factory machine that squirts the flavoring went berserk?
Anyways-
I’m hoping that a supply of the original formula is around and shows up at the 99Cent or Dollar Store.
I’m not a fan of this new Bolder Crunchier Truffle Oil and Sea Salt Chips…BUT I MUST NOTE that YOUR FORKING Opinion may indeed differ.
SNS Diner & BBQ is located in North Las Vegas Nevada. This restaurant is also known as Southern Nevada Smokehouse. They offer breakfast, and a lunch/dinner menu of comfort foods, daily special and bbq. This unique restaurant offers traditional seating, bar seating, an outdoor patio, counter seating, and a drive thru. Maybe if they seem familiar you might have seen them on Food Network’s Diners-Drive-Inns and Dives.
We started off with corn bread and honey butter.
The cornbread is moist and not too sweet. It also has a nice corn flavor to it.
They had a smoked pastrami sandwich on the menu so I gave it a try.
The smoked pastrami has a nice texture. Not too much fat but just enough. It’s nicely seasoned on toasted marble rye. There is also a small amount of kraut and Swiss cheese on the sandwich and it came with this really great Carolina type mustard. One side comes with the sandwich and this macaroni and cheese is actually good!
Below is the three meat plate with rice and beans.
Today nothing was bad but some things were better than other things. I heard that the pulled pork and hot links were good. The rice and beans were very good. The brisket was very lean and wasn’t bad but was the least flavorful and on the dry side. It is important to know that all barbecue does vary by the hour. They have to prepare the meats in advance and the tricky part is timing it for you. Also with brisket the lean and fatty parts differ and also taste different so what you get can differ on every visit.
Chengdu Taste is very well received for Szechuan Food and by some this restaurant is considered to be one of the best Sichuan restaurants in America.
You see a wall of colorful swimming fish with rhinestone eyes on the entrance wall.
The Las Vegas location in China Town isn’t a fancy place and it’s very small. You also need a cellphone to see the QR menu.
We started out by sharing the cucumber salad.
It’s light and refreshing. It is also a very large portion.
We ordered two entrees not realizing each entree is more than one serving.
I got 4 meals out of the boiled fish with green pepper sauce.
The mild white fish seems very fresh and is prepared to perfection. The broth is very mild and is embellished with crispy cucumbers, Sichuan peppercorns, serrano peppers, and bean sprouts. This dish is spicy and mouth numbing. Most of the dishes on the menu were marked with one, two, or three Chile peppers to let you know the heat level. This dish was marked with one Chile pepper and it was very hot.
The boiled beef in hot sauce was made with expertly tender beef. It was marked two Chile peppers but was tame compared to the boiled fish in green pepper sauce. We also got a bowl of steamed rice.
Everything was good and service was efficient. It also was a very good value with all the extra meals I got out of it.
Basilico Ristorante Italiano is a modern high quality Italian Restaurant located in southwest Las Vegas Nevada.
They have an indoor-outdoor bar and a patio for when the weather is nice.
They also have traditional seating with classic Italian movies minus the sound playing.
Recently it was restaurant week (extended to June 23 2023). So we got a nice sampling of things. We added on the bread basket olio d’oliva +balsamico with buffalo ricotta because it sounded really great and it was……
We got more goodies than we could eat here but it all was very good. My favorite bread were the herbed bread sticks. The cheese tasted like it was fresh made and was really different. It had shaved bitter chocolate on it that added a really different complexity to the bread. It was a great surprise I never had anything like that before. I bet your grandpa hasn’t had anything like this either.
My first course was the burrata.
It was an artsy rainbow carrot salad with sorrel pistachio pesto. It was tasty and not too heavy.
My husband went for the gnocco fritto.
It was a nice Italian Nosh plate. It had stracciatella cheese, adobbo di parma, red onion, arugula, hand made crackers, and Lambrusco jam.
Next were the pasta courses.
I had the spaghetti.
I do have to say that this is the most perfect spaghetti that I have ever had. It’s a little too much food for me so my husband steps in to finish this for me. After all I still have dinner and dessert.
My husband had the cavatelli norcina.
It’s a fennel seed sausage ragu with sottocenere cheese. I heard that it was very good. I never heard of sottocenere cheese before have you?
For my main I tried the branzino. It’s fancy and colorful. It’s embellished with micro greens.
The fish is surrounded by Meyer lemon nage sauce and a squash blossom and some unusual but delicious caponata complete the plate.
My husband had the short ribs.
This came with a really deluxe maitake mushroom and was also was made with impossible to find castelmagno cheese. My husband enjoyed this very much.
We also had parmigiano gelato for dessert. They serve the gelato table side here because your server preforms molecular gastronomy here.
They sure don’t do this at grandpa’s Italian restaurant.
Actually this is very complex and detailed and delicious.
The fresh made parmigiano gelato is served with lemon ginger pound cake, some poached sliced pear, and Saba. It’s all delicious together.
I have to say…….
Basilico Ristorante Italiano is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Basilico Ristorante Italiano
6111 South Buffalo Drive Las Vegas NV – 702-534-7716
A corn muffin is very easy to prepare. I gave these corn muffins a southwest twist by using masa de harina, green chilies and cheese to basic corn muffins. This recipes makes 24 small muffins. Extras can be frozen for latter use. Latter I found out that they make a FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS filling for fresh fish. They actually sell fresh fish at supermarkets here….WOW if you can get some fresh mild white fish by where you live you can make something incredible.
Ingredients for 24 servings
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup masa de harina
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter room temperature (either salted or unsalted butter will work here. – I usually use unsalted but got salted by accident and I thought I had enough salt so I’m adding sea salt to taste to recipe)
sea salt – to taste
1 egg – lightly beaten
2/3 cup non fat dry milk (or just one cup milk and skip the water in this recipe)
1 cup water
1 cup scallions – sliced thin
4 roasted chili peppers – peeled, stem & seeds removed – well chopped (I used Anaheims but many different ones are delicious…You might need more or less chilies depending on what kind you use)
2 cups mostly cheddar cheese – cut in small pea sized cubes.
1/2 cup cilantro – well chopped (thin stems are good but thick stems should be thrown out)
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl mix together the masa de harina, corn meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry milk, (and salt if using). Next mix in the butter, egg, water, scallion, chili peppers, cheese and cilantro.
You use paper cupcake liners because the cheesy muffins might stick to the pan.
Fill the cupcake liners a little over 1/2 way.
In my oven on middle rack the muffins were done in 15 minutes. Timing may differ slightly.
Green Chili & Cheese Corn Muffins
They are tasty and moist. Everyone will enjoy!
But after I made them I discovered that they make a FORKING AMAZING STUFFING for mild white fish. I cut a muffin in half and rolled a sole filet around half a muffin.
I rolled sole filets around 1/2 muffins and added my home made salsa to the tops of them and popped them in a 350 degree F oven on an oiled baking sheet for 20 minutes. They came out FORKING AMAZING!
Van Leeuwen is a high or higher quality supermarket French Style Ice Cream. I found this brand ice cream for sale at Sprouts grocery and Walmart. Sprouts sells their regular flavors of ice cream and I noticed that Walmart sells Leeuwen limited edition flavors that happen to have more ingredients in them.
I saw Limited Edition Leeuwen Cherries Jubilee so I thought I’d give that a try.
I open it up and try some.
It’s really creamy with a great mouth feel but it isn’t sweet at all. It taste more like alcohol than cherry ice cream. The cherries taste like alcohol too. It also has a slight sourness to it. WTFork is in here?
It’s not bad…I don’t feel the need to throw it up but it’s not a flavor that I would go for again. To me it taste more like a rich creamy and chunky bar drink without the buzz.
Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Van Leeuwen Bourbon Cherries Jubilee. I do note that your forking thoughts may indeed differ.
Naxos Taverna is a contemporary Greek Style Seafood focused restaurant located in the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. It’s kinda swanky inside.
They also have an open kitchen.
Here’s what some of the dining area looks like.
Recently it was Las Vegas Restaurant Week (till June 16th 2023) and a special pix priced menu was offered. Our waiter told us that this same menu is available daily 4-6.
But if you prefer high end fresh whole fish dinners you can get that here too.
We started out with green chick pea falafels with tahini yogurt and red schug (a Yemenite hot chili garlic sauce).
It’s all reasonably good. Better falafels than what I got at any Greek Restaurant. We also started with the raw sea bream embellished with radish, kumquat, and blood orange.
It was fresh and very light.
Our mains were Faroe Island salmon with roasted pumpkin and chermonla.
and Lavraki/ Royal dorade with charred lemon and sea salt.
Both fish were prepared reasonably well.
We also got generous sides of spiced baby cauliflower with onion puree, raisins, and almonds.
and crispy fingerling potatoes with kefalotyi cheese and lemon.
By this time we were kinda full but dessert came and it was time for sokolatina (chocolate custard cake with strawberries) and homemade fro yo made with ricotta cheese, olive oil and pistachios.
Service was very above average. The waiter spent much time explaining the menu. Plates were cleared quickly by multiple staff. Management also checked on us often.
That was my trip to Naxos Taverna & Kallisto Oyster Bar.
Mr. BBQ is a premium All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ in Las Vegas Nevada’s Chinatown. It’s normally around $50. a person for the all you can eat dinner and normally close to $30. a person for the Monday-Friday all-you-eat-lunch. Recently it was restaurant week and they were offering a $20 (till June 16th 2023) lunch special so we decided to give it a try.
We pulled in.
As soon as you step in it looks like Las Vegas.
Then after that I’m not sure if it’s Las Vegas or Psychedelics?
I couldn’t believe the amount of banchan (side dishes) they served us to start with. I never received so many at any Korean Restaurant before.
We received 17 different mostly salad dishes, a BIG bowl of salad, rice papers, and three different sauces to start out with. Some of the salads were bean sprouts, cucumber, macaroni, potato, kimchi, radish, onions, corn, and celery. We also received fish cakes, edamame, and gosh a lot more.
Then we got steamed eggs, spicy tofu soup and rice.
Here come the meats.
16 oz. USDA Prime Brisket and 16 oz of spicy chicken thighs.
We cook ourselves. We do the brisket first.
Then we do the spicy chicken.
I am very surprised on how good they both are. Both are as tender as can be and also delicious!
After all this who on earth has room for more?
We were suppose topic up a donut next door. We didn’t have room for donuts so we skipped it.
But WOW! All this even at $10. more a person is sure was Worth a Fork!
Mr. BBQ is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Mr. BBQ 4240 Spring Mountain Road Las Vegas NV – 702-483-4240
Bravo’s Top Chef contestant Chef Gene Villatora has a well known popular Hawaiian Street Food Restaurant in California called Ai Pono. Late this year (2023) a Nevada opening is expected at the Durango Casino and Resort that is soon to open. I heard about the pop up and wanted to give this a try. There might be over a thousand people here.
It really is a big deal. Channel 3 was filming.
Saw Chef Villatora was actually working the line.
By the time we made it to order they ran out of the platter that I was the most excited to try.
So we tried a bunch of other things and even the secret menu item. We only tried Da Side Chick and the guava chili pepper fried chicken for lunch.
Da Side Chick—-Tasty and delicious and priced not much higher than fast food from a Bravo Top Chef ($10.)
Guava chili pepper fried chicken – large portion tasty and the rice and slaw is especially notable. Also priced like regular Hawaiian plate lunches but much better than most.
Later for dinner we got to try some more.
Ahi Katsu with miso hot mustard breading and sweet soy reduction……Not bad but not my favorite…maybe it’s just better when you get this one fresh and right away?
This is the crackhead chicken that was marinated for 24 hours with a secret batter and a garlic-coconut-miso glaze…….The chicken is very tender and developed with flavor. The glaze does sound amazing but maybe didn’t travel well?
This one only my husband tried……..it was the surprise meal. We were told it was something fish.
We think it’s more guava chili chicken and it’s over some sort of meat chili with beans. The chicken is good. My husband said that the chili flavoring is very unusual.
The strong favorite was the da side chick sandwich.
You can visit Ai Pono in California or wait for the Durango Opening.
That was my trip to the Ai Pono Pop Up at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas NV.
Spices, dijon, maple, walnuts, and celery leaves all go together very well and all taste great on carrots so here we are! This recipe will make 4-6 servings depending on how big your serving size is. Ovens do differ so timing may differ. Tis took far longer in this oven than I think it would have taken in my last oven.
Ingredients for around 5 servings.
1 1//2 pounds carrots – peel if not organic. You can cut however you like but that will affect cooking time. I cut mine longways.
1 Tablespoon Dijon (I used Amaro Brand)
1 teaspoon ground yellow mustard
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 orange – the fresh squeezed juice and zest separate
2 garlic cloves – ground to paste
2 Tablespoons butter – room temperature ( doesn’t matter if salted or not you adjust to your liking)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt – to taste
pepper (of your choice) – to taste (I used one small dried Calabrian crushed)
2 Tablespoons walnuts – ground
2 loose Tablespoons – celery leaves – chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Lay the carrots in a single layer on baking sheet(s) and set to the side.
In a small mixing bowl mix together the mustards, coriander, fennel seeds, maple syrup, orange juice, garlic, butter, oil, pepper, salt. Mix well. Spoon this mixture evenly over the carrots.
Put them on the middle rack. In my oven this took a total of 45 minutes to be done. I put mine in for 35 minutes and turned them over and cooked them another ten minutes for a total of 45 minutes.
Finished them with the walnut crumbs, orange zest, and the celery leaves.
Spiced Dijon Orange Maple Carrots with Walnut Crumbs and Celery Leaves
