Tag Archives: #food

Brown Butter Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies based on Emeril Lagasse’s Recipe

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I came across Emeril Lagasse’s Recipe for Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies with Vanilla Milk. I trust Emeril Recipes so it was worth trying for me. This recipe is different from the one I developed for chocolate chip cookies. The biggest differences are the amount of butter and browning the butter. The other big difference is that it is suggested that you use candy bar chocolate instead of chocolate chips…..I did change a few things based on what I had at home. The other change was the size of the cookies…Emeril says to portion the cookie balls at 2 ounces. I thought that was too much cookie for one serving so I cut the cookie ball size to one ounce.

See photo below.

Brown Butter Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

The 4 bigger cookies are from 2 ounce cookie balls and the smaller ones are from one ounce cookie balls. Do whatever size cookie you want.

I got around 5 large cookies and at least 29 small cookies. If I did all small cookies that would have made at least 39 cookies. I do note that these cookies came out too soft and too gooey for me warm………Or maybe that is how my oven works after getting it fixed????……..and maybe you might prefer soft and gooey? ……I also didn’t make the vanilla milk suggested for dunking cookies.

I will say this recipe makes around 39 cookies

8 oz. unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 oz turbino sugar

4 oz dark brown sugar’

2 oz white sugar

2 eggs

12 oz bread flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

6 oz milk chocolate candy bar broke into 1/2 inch squares

6 oz preferably dark chocolate bar broke into 1/2 inch squares (I used 6 oz, 60% chocolate chips)

sea salt flakes

Directions

Put a sauce pan on medium heat and add the butter. Cook till it browns and put to the side and let cool down to room temperature.

In a large bowl add the three sugars and then add the butter. Mix. Next add the vanilla, and eggs. Mix well. Next add the flour, baking soda, salt. Mix well. Then add the chocolate and mix well.

Roll this dough into two logs. You can bake in one hour or let sit over night in the refrigerator. But if you let it go over night the dough will need to sit out a bit to warm up because it will be too hard to roll into balls.

When ready to bake-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Decide if you want 2 ounce balls for BIG cookies or one ounce balls for smaller cookies. Then go well spaced on a parchment lined sheet pan.

For small cookies they need 5 minutes (NOT DONE YET) on middle rack or 7 minutes for big cookies. NOW YOU NEED TO SPRINKLE THEM WITH SEA SALT AND PUT THEM BACK IN THE OVEN…….

For really soft melty cookies small cookies only need 4 or 5 more minutes and larger cookies need 5-6 minutes.

If you don’t want such soft cookies leave the cookies in a few minutes more till they look slightly browned.

A Special THANKS!!!!!!!! To Emeril Lagasse for sharing such a GREAT Recipe so I could do what I got here!

The Forking Truth

The FORKING Truth is that Facebook & Jetpack want A LOT OF MONEY from Food Bloggers that don’t make any money off Blogging

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The FORKING Truth is that Facebook & Jetpack (a WordPress Plugin) wants a LOT of Money from food bloggers that don’t make a dime on their blog.

Recently I published a story on BBQ Mexicana. Facebook suggested me to pay them $91. for 385 views…….

Everyday they ask for a different amount of money for a different amount of views.

A few days latter-

Facebook asked for $168. for 11,149 views.

Then on another day-

Facebook asked for $147. for 15,465 views.

Jackpack doesn’t really ask for money on a daily basis but periodically they upset me.

Sometime in the last year or two I wasn’t able to “Like” other people’s blogs. They said I ran out of “free” likes and needed to pay them another $200. yearly to like other people’s blogs. Since I couldn’t “like” other people’s blogs many of those people stopped liking my blog. But also many of those people also discontinued their blogs…(I wonder why….only kidding)

I don’t know why or how but sometime latter I was able to “like’ blogs again but most of my old “blogger” friends are long gone now.

Now Jetpack wants more money from me again. They want $4.50 monthly so I can view my statistics.

I figure this is the reason why most people are switching to Pod Casts, You Tube, and Tic Tok.

I have to tell you I AM JUST SICK OF THIS! ……..(Thank You for listening…I feel slightly better now)

And this is what Facebook wants today.

And that’s The FORKING Truth

The Forking Truth

El Nopal Mexican Grill – Neighborhood Type Mexican Restaurant NORTH LAS VEGAS NV

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El Nopal Mexican Grill is a neighborhood type Mexican Restaurant located on the NORTH LAS VEGAS Restaurant row (Craig Road) Nevada. They offer much of your usual Mexican foods like soups, nachos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, burritos, salads, burgers and more. Soft beverages, beer, and margaritas are offered. They have festive seating inside and a small patio outside.

They start you off with complimentary chips and salsa.

The salsa is good but VERY SPICY HOT!!!!!!!!!! The chips are average. We tried margaritas. They were made with fresh squeezed juice and do taste good but are light with alcohol.

They also give you fideo soup before your entrees.

It’s a chicken-tomato based broth with thin noodles in it.

For my main I tried a chicken fajita.

It’s a very large portion of food that can be two meals for some people. The chicken is tender and came on a sizzling skillet with beef peppers, tomatoes, onions, a jalapeño and this sauce…(that I can’t stomach) that brought it down for me. If this sauce was removed this could be great. This also came with rice, beans, guacamole, and chile of tortillas.

My husband tried the Asada Alambres (sizzling skillet with beef, ham, tomatoes, peppers, chorizo, onion, bacon, and cheese).

He thought that it was also made with the sauce that I didn’t like but he was able to eat this whole thing.

El Nopal Mexican Grill

955 W Craig Rd – 702-629-5610

You can find El Nopal Mexican Grill on Facebook.

The menu can be found on www.UberEats.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant North Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

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Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant is located in North Las Vegas Nevada. They offer a variety of Pho Soups, Vermicelli Plates, Vegetarian foods, a few sandwiches, and they also are Tea House.

Here’s the tea menu. There is a lot to pick from.

It’s small but cozy inside.

We started off by trying the chicken potstickers.

The potstickers here are crispy all over and seem like deep fried. The jalapeño is a nice touch but soy-like sauce seems extra salty to me……..

I tried the Vermicelli with spicy chicken sautéed.

They gave me an extra generous serving. I got a big bowl of lettuce, vermicelli (rice noodles), fine shredded pickled radish, carrots, cilantro, scallions, and this tasty, not too spicy, tender as from a sous vide, sliced chicken. It’s tender like butter…….On the side are peanuts and nuoc cham. It’s different but is good…..Even the vermicelli is different to me….maybe a little softer and thicker?

My husband tried the Beef Combination Pho (rare steak, brisket, beef balls in beef broth).

This one is also a generous serving size. I only tried one spoonful of the broth…it’s different….beefy but not rich beefy…..more like summer broth beefy like the way a good steak sandwich taste……..I did try a small bite of the steak…..it didn’t have a lot of flavor to it. I thought that the chicken from the vermicelli bowl was much better. My husband did say that the brisket had a better flavor but was slightly chewy.

Those were my thoughts on Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant.

Worth a Try!

Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant

4210 W Craig Road North Las Vegas NV

702-224-2708

I haven’t found a website for Sunflower Vietnamese Restaurant.

I have found their menu on www.Seemless.com and www.UberEats.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Aroma Latin American Cocina Henderson NV – WORTH A FORK! – EXCEPTIONAL Hidden Gem!

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Aroma Latin American Cocina is a small full service Modern Latin American Restaurant located in Henderson Nevada that is not far from some parts of Las Vegas. This is NOT A FANCY PLACE but does serve a mix of familiar cuisine mixed with something amazing and unexpected. Soft beverages, some Spanish beverages, and limited alcohol is served here.

Some of the appetizers might be things like watermelon salads, guacamole, Peruvian Ceviche, and beef empanadas. A few of the mains are things like enchiladas, short ribs, and pork chops…..They sound familiar but you probably never had them quite like this before.

We started out with the watermelon salad called Sandiada Salad.

This was PACKED with all kinds of surprises. The greens are dressed with chamoy vinaigrette. There’s spiced cashews, watermelon balls, grapes, and these FORKING MAGICAL tomatoes nixtamal………..(it’s that process that you do to corn that makes corn taste like a taco shell but on tomatoes it does something deliciously different!!!!!!!! and truly amazing!)

This was a salad like no other.

We also shared one of the most incredible Ceviches that I have ever tried. Here’s the Peruvian Ceviche.

This was made with sweet potato, corn nuts cancha, leche de Tigre, cilantro, and yellowtail…….You can’t see it but under the green leaf were these unusually delicious pepper rings…..(that might have been Fresnos?…..They had something done to them that made them extra special. Everything was just delicious together and the fish seemed fresh as can be.

Everything was so top notch……But we were blown away yet again with the Gaucho Sandwich.

This was even way more amazing than it looks…….The grilled piachna (Latin Cut beef) was off the charts melt-in-your-mouth tender and also darn so flavorful…It truly was amazing. It also was embellished with chimichurri, house dressing, lettuce, tomatoes, caramelized onions and was served on a hoagie roll with Chimi Baby Dutch Fried potatoes on the side. This was one of the most spectacular sandwiches ever!

It was such a home run that we had to try one of the desserts and tried the White Chocolate Roasted Corn with Popcorn Cream and Chicha Morada.

It was different with interesting flavors and textures. It was like it came from the finest restaurant.

Aroma Latin American Cocina is a Exceptional Hidden Gem!

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Aroma Latin American Cocina

2877 North Green Valley Parkway Henderson NV

702-930-8190

www.AromaLatinAmericanCocinaNV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Spicy Chipotle Ground Turkey Cups Recipe

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This recipe is based on my original recipe that appeared on the front page of the food section of the Phoenix Arizona local paper picked by the food critic.

Today I had extra mini corn tortillas and ground turkey to use and that is how I came up with this recipe. For me this made 18 appetizer portions and I also made 9 extra plain meatballs for I had enough leftover for a dinner for two.

Ingredients for 18 appetizers

18 street sized corn tortillas

around 1/2 cup canola oil to soften the corn tortillas (you can save the un-used oil)

1 lb ground turkey (today I used 99% lean)

1 cup cooked rice (I used leftover take out rice)

2 eggs – beaten

1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo and a little of the sauce) – fine chopped

5 roasted garlic cloves – chopped (or you can use around three cloves ground to paste…The roasted garlic has a nice smokey taste and is much sweeter….I just roasted some yesterday and happened to have them)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground annatto

1/2 cup peppers & onions – diced and cooked

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon sea salt flakes (preferably smoked …I used my homemade smoked sea salt)

1/2 cup of preferably home made salsa

Non stick spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray muffin tins with non stick spray.

Get a medium sized microwavable bowl. Brush each tortilla well with oil. Sick them up in a bowl and microwave about two minutes. The tortillas will be hot so be careful and use a spoon and lower each tortilla in a muffin section of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl mix together the turkey, rice, eggs, chipotle, garlic, cumin, annatto, peppers, onions, pepper, salt. *****at this point I pinched off 1/2 a teaspoon and microwaved it to taste and bumped it up slightly with a half a cup of my home made salsa that is very good.

Then I used my meatball scoop and filled each cup.

They went on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven till cooked. (In my oven this took 20 minutes)

Feel free to top them as you like.

I’m doing scallions, cilantro, and my home made pickled onions……Some people would love sour cream, salsas and cheese…… Or you can put all those things on the side.

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

Dining Out With Dogs in Las Vegas NV – April 2024

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Dining out with dogs is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all started with my late dog Louie. He always LOVED going out to eat and when he was elderly he came down with aggressive cancer. We were told he only had probably three months to live or maybe up to 6 months. I took Louie out to eat as often as possible and he made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat when the weather is right and when I can.

The dogs (and us) got to go to Riva’s Mexican Grill in North Las Vegas (there are three of them in North Las Vegas) but we went to the one that shares a community patio.

The dogs got to try some steak, some chicken, and some fish from my tacos.

I thought that the beef was a little chewy but my dogs thought it was great!

They also sampled food from my husband’s shrimp & carnitas tacos and his Riva’s Burrito.

Carnitas Taco and shrimp taco
Riva’s Burrito

The dogs sure enjoyed Riva’s Mexican Grill.

Riva’s Mexican Grill – 702-586-2251

6885 N Aliante Pkwy North Las Vegas NV

www.RivasMexicanGrill.com

A couple days latter we took the dogs to the Vet so afterwards we reward them with a Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box.

Soon we’re home with the cheeseburger.

Now they get to eat maybe a 1/3 of the burger without the bread. They get to eat the rest of the burger about a 1/3 at a time for snacks.

My dogs didn’t mind eating a Jack In The Box Burger.

This next week it was COLD and Windy so we just went threw a Carl’s.

The burgers felt dry to me but the dogs didn’t complain. They still thought the cheeseburger from Carl’s was a treat!

DARN Yet another COLD day….it was about 55 again…….but just warm enough to give the dogs some In-N-Out cheeseburger on their patio.

I do have to say that this In-N-Out burger felt juicy and moist. Bet the dogs loved it.

Next week it is suppose to hot…..like around 90 degrees……(hopefully not too hot?)

The Weather is OK (almost 90 but also windy and feels cooler) so we tried Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food in North Las Vegas. They have only two outside patio tables. I called and asked if it was ok to dine there with dogs and they said YES so here we are.

The Hawaiian Plate Lunch is always an enormous amount of food in a styrofoam container. We got Pulehu Chicken and teriyaki chicken with brown rice and macaroni salad.

My husband shared some of his 3 meat plate with the dogs too.

He got katsu chicken, bbq beef and kalhua pork.

All the chicken dishes were good today and the dogs enjoyed them too!

Mo’Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food – 725-285-0280

1020 E. Craig Rd North Las Vegas NV

www.MoBettahs.com

We hope that you’ve enjoyed Dining Out With DOGS April 2024. We hope to see you next month!

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

My Trip For The Lunch Menu at Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill at Red Rock Casino/Hotel Las Vegas NV

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Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill has a location in the Red Rock Casino/Hotel in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer your usual Japanese Cuisine and beverages that include wine, beer, saki, and cocktails. They offer seating at the sushi counter, dining area of tables, booths and partial booths. They also have an indoor-outdoor bar, and an outside dining area.

The lunch specials come with miso soup and wakame.

Taste similar to what other places serve……..

We shared the Chirashi (sashimi rice bowl). ($34. at the time of my visit)

This has a good amount of fish in here to share. Some of what’s in here are: white fish, salmon, tuna, shrimp, octopus, egg, sushi rice. tiny noodles, Japanese pickle, ginger, fish roe………Some things are better than other things……..What I liked best was the salmon, tuna and the rice. The white fish had a strange hard exterior??????? I don’t know what it was. My husband said that the octopus was chewy and the shrimp was very average.

This 8 oz Prime ground-in-house Wagyu Smash Burger with fries is also a nice large platter to share……But today was kinda dry and not very beefy tasting….On the bright side the fries were very good. ($26. at the time of my visit)

I was expecting the food here to be a home run. I only heard very positive things about this place.

I felt that the food tasted more like neighborhood quality type sushi that is much lower in price. To me the burger didn’t taste up to it’s price point either.

That was my experience with the lunch menu from –

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill at Red Rock Resort (your experience and opinion may differ)

11011 W Charleston Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702-797-7444

www.BlueRibbonSushiRedRock.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

BBQ Mexicana Las Vegas NV – Quality Burritos, Bowls, Tacos, Salads, and More! – Worth a Fork! ***NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS******

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*******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS*********BBQ Mexicana is a casual but quality restaurant by Award Winning Celebrity Chefs, Restauranteurs, Cookbook Authors Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken (pictured below).

Some of the items you can try here are burritos, tacos, bowls, salads, interesting side dishes like cowboy caviar, Chile lime broccolini, and chipotle macaroni and cheese. You can also find kid’s meals, chocolate chip cookies, and fruit empanadas. For the Grand Opening soft beverages are served here but in the near future they hope to add aquas frescos, beers, margaritas and MORE!

This is a casual order at the counter restaurant.

You can dine in, do take out, or go threw the drive thru.

I tried a bowl called “The Coop.”

WOW! It’s topped with this incredible melt-in-the-mouth mesquite smoked chicken, cowboy caviar, charred corn relish, cilantro lime rice, pickled vegetables, guacamole, and crispy quinoa. All these flavors and textures and exploding with flavors together.

The smoked brisket burrito was also a winner.

This one is packed with smoked brisket, cilantro coleslaw, crispy potatoes, Mexican cheese, red rice, Chipotle mayo, and signature bbq sauce.

We were checked on serval times by Mary Sue Milliken herself.

While Susan Feniger was busy doing photo opps.

This food and service really exceeded our expectations.
******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS**********

BBQ Mexicana is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

BBQ Mexicana

8480 W Sunset Rd Las Vegas NV – 702-552-0111

www.BBQMexicana.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Pomegranate Roasted Cauliflower with Mediterranean Spices Recipe

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Today I just roasted a cauliflower. I came up with a great spice paste and just mixed up the florets into it. Then I spread the cauliflower out on sheet pans and in only a half hour they were done and then I gave them some optional toppings. Serving size WILL DIFFER….We all like different sizes for servings and also the size of your cauliflower will differ…..Lately I usually find very small cauliflowers but got lucky and found an extra large one. Mine will make a good 6 servings but it is rare that you find the extra large cauliflowers so I will say 4 servings. I do also note that you will have some extra roasting sauce from the cauliflower that is delicious that you should use for either a protein or couscous or rice with the cauliflower.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 cauliflower – break down to florets

2 shallots thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves – peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 Tablespoons sea salt

1 Tablespoon dried dill

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 Tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

6 oz. tomato paste

2 Tablespoons pomegranate molasses

1 Tablespoon urfa pepper

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Optional – fresh pomegranate to taste for finishing

Optional – Feta cheese to taste for finishing

Optional – roasted pistachios (or hazelnuts, or pine nuts) to taste for finishing

Optional – cilantro to taste for finishing

Optional – tahini to taste for finishing

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F

In a large mixing bowl mix everything except the cauliflower and mix well. Then mix in the cauliflower till it’s coated well. Spread the cauliflower in a single layer on sheet pan(s). This goes in the middle rack of the preheated oven till lightly browned and the cauliflower is cooked. (in my oven this took 30 minutes but oven do differ and your timing could be more or less.)

This is delicious as is…….I added some extras fresh pomegranate, feta cheese, roasted pistachios, and some cilantro. I held back on adding tahini because my husband hates tahini.

Pomegranate Roasted Cauliflower with Mediterranean Spices

ENJOY!!!!

The Forking Truth