Tag Archives: #food

My Trip to Ms Martha’s Caribbean Restaurant Phoenix AZ

Ms Martha’s Caribbean Restaurant is located in Phoenix Arizona. This is a very casual Caribbean restaurant where you order at the counter yourself on a big computer screen. This is mostly a take out restaurant but they do have a few tables inside and a few outside tables for when the weather is nice.

inside
inside

They offer appetizers like meat hand pies and a variety of wings. You can order your entree as a bowl or a regular entree that includes two sides or your entree as just a side. They also offer family meals and might also offer a special of the day. The menu might be shorter than from some of the otherCaribbean restaurants in Phoenix because they don’t offer the Caribbean fish dishes here.

We started out by trying a chicken curry Jamaican patty. I was very surprised that there was an option to add cheese.

It was different. Less saucy than what I think of for Jamaican chicken curry but the chicken inside was tender.

We shared the brown stew chicken, the jerk chicken, and the special of the day that was a side order of macaroni and cheese.

brown stew chicken
jerk chicken
special of the day – macaroni and cheese

Both entrees were VERY LARGE and BOTH included very tender falling off the bone chicken that was mildly infused with flavors. The jerk chicken came with a small container of sauce that it needed.

The macaroni and cheese contained soft pasta but was very cheesy and better than a lot of similar dishes out there.

On the night of my visit Ms Martha herself was behind the cooking line and also was helpful serving. She also had a helper that also was helpful and friendly.

That was my trip to Ms Martha’s Caribbean Restaurant.

1820 W Northern Ave PHX AZ 602-675-2212

The website seems to be down but you can find Ms Martha’s on Facebook

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

FORKING DELICIOUS Turkey Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

I was inspired by reading about different meatloafs and came up with this. It’s not really a meatloaf inside of the cabbage but it was the inspiration for the flavorings. I boiled the cabbage leaves with apple cider vinegar, sea salt and smoked paprika to give them a nice flavor. Well these came out FORKING DELICIOUS!

Ingredients for around 8 servings

1 medium cabbage – core removed

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

1 lb 93% lean ground turkey

1 small onion – fine chopped

1 small carrot – either fine chopped or shredded

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin

1 teaspoon – dried thyme

2 eggs – slightly beaten

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard (I used Amora Brand)

1 Tablespoon ketchup

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire

1 Tablespoon (or to taste) bomba Calabrese or a dash of hot sauce or hot paste of your choice (I used Coluccio Bomba Calabrese)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

pinch ground allspice

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil – chopped

1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon seasoned vegetable base (I used Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Soup Base) ((This is more flavorful than salt and adds less sodium))

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

neutral non-stick spray

Directions

Your cabbage with the core removed goes in a pot of boiling water with the apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and smoked paprika added. After a minute or so the leaves sort of come off by themselves. You pull them off one at a time with tongs and place on a dish or tray. Set to the side.

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix the onion, carrot, garlic, scallions, thyme, eggs, dijon, ketchup, Worcestershire, bomba, nutmeg, cayenne, allspice, sun-dried tomatoes, panko, soup base, and black pepper. Mix well. Then mix in ground turkey till incorporated. Score the bowl of meat mixture into quarters. Each quarter can be two portions.

Grab a smaller cabbage leaf and stuff with 1/8 of meat mixture. (excuse my bad photo…It’s hard to photo when you are using your hands)

This goes on a larger cabbage leaf that you wrap around the ball.

Wrap this so it is neat and together looking and place on non-stick sprayed sheet pan. Repeat till out of meat. You might have a few extra cabbage leaves that you need to use with your side vegetable.

Pour a small amount of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes over the cabbage leaves and rub it all around the cabbage leaf.

These go on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven till done. 15-20 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

Turkey Stuffed Cabbage

ENJOY!!!!!

The Forking Truth

A Few Things I Saw at my local Asiana Market – Glendale AZ

There always is a lot of different foods to find at Asiana Market. The Asiana Market is an Asian and International Market with two locations in Metro Phoenix Arizona. I go to the location that is in the Deer Valley part of Glendale. You never know what you will come across when shopping there. Up above is canned cod liver…who knew!

I found what looks like ground garlic but they are marked fried dumplings?

Frozen Sardines

Frozen Indian Mackerel

Frozen Octopus

Wagyu Beef

Veal Bologna

Anchovy Powder…..Now that one I’ve never seen before!

Shiitake Mushroom Powder – That is a very good ingredient. I buy local mushroom powder and it adds a lot of good flavor to certain things.

They always have junk food that is different……

BBQ Marshmallows….what a great idea for when you are too lazy to bbq them yourself!

Lay’s Potato Chips in American Style Cream & Onion Flavor….????

Lay’s Potato Chips in Wafer Style ???????? salt and pepper flavor……different

Lay’s Potato Chips in India Magic Masala flavor….Yum!……maybe??????????

Medjool dates stuffed with pistachios and covered with fine Belgian chocolate….That one gets a YUM!

Those were a few of the things I noticed at Asiana Market.

4410 W Union Hills Dr Glendale AZ 623-780-1234

www.AsianaMarket2.com

The Forking Truth

Marinated Roasted White Sweet Potatoes

I had potatoes still hanging around and some lemons that were getting old so I made my version of Greek Potatoes……….but…..I had some white sweet potatoes that used up too so I cooked them the same together. Both potatoes came out good. But those white sweet potatoes tasted not just good……but really great so this recipe should be Marinated Roasted White Sweet Potatoes. Serving size is always difficult to determine. All potatoes are different sizes and all people are different sizes and like to eat different size portions. I used 5 smaller potatoes and they shrink from cooking so I’d say that mine made 5 smaller servings so that means 4 servings for most people.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

5 white sweet potatoes (yams have darker skin. White sweet potatoes have light tan skin) – remove skin and cut into wedges

6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard (I used Amora Brand)

2 lemons (just the fresh squeezed juice)

1 Tablespoon vegetable soup base paste (I used vegetable Better Than Bullion Brand because this is more flavorful than salt and less sodium)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Neutral non stick spray

optional- a little bit if fresh parsley for finishing

Directions

Either boil your potato wedges 5 minutes or put them into a microwaveable bowl or container. Fill halfway with water, cover, and microwave 6 minutes. Let sit on counter.

In a small bowl mix together the oil, garlic, lemon juice, soup base paste, oregano, mustard, and black pepper till it emulsifies.

Drain potatoes. Let cool till just warm. Add them to a gallon zip lock bag. Add the small bowl of marinade you just made and massage it around the potato wedges. Squeeze out all the air you can from the bag. Let this marinate over night in the refrigerator.

The next day.

Set oven to 400 degrees F

Spray a sheet pan with non stock spray. Set out the potato wedges with a little space around them. They go on the middle rack till done. Timing will differ….Wedges may differ in size and age of potato can be a factor. Mine took 50 minutes.

These potatoes are delicious as they are but are also delicious with whipped feta cheese. (Just crumble a good quality feta cheese and blend with Greek yogurt)

Add a little pinch of fresh parsley if desired.

Marinated Roasted White Sweet Potatoes

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Barrio Cafe Phoenix AZ – A Jewel for Mexican Cuisine in Arizona – Worth a Fork!

The Barrio Cafe is not just any Mexican Restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. It’s by James Beard Nominated Chef Silvana Esparza. This restaurant is considered by many to be the crown Jewel for Mexican cuisine in Arizona. The famous dishes here are the award wining twelve hour achiote and sour orange smoked pork called cochinita pibil, the chilies en nogada, and the table-side chunky guacamole that is topped with pomegranate.

Inside is bright, lively and colorful. I wasn’t able to photo walking in on my last visit. Most of my older photos look very different than how it looks now. It’s far more colorful and all painted up now. It’s mostly decorated like this all over the inside.

On my most recent visit the weather was nice and we sat on the back patio behind the restaurant.

back patio
back patio

When dining on the back patio you might get a visit from Felix.

Felix

They start you off with complimentary spiced nuts with chips.

The las tlayudas are Oaxacon style corn tacos but also can served in slices like pizza. They come in several varieties.

It’s a large hand made corn tortilla that was topped with huitacoche (known as Mexico’s truffle), corn, onion, pico de gallo, and avocado. It also was served with verde sauce, fingerling potatoes and house made spicy ketchup.

For my main I had the pollo en pipian mole.

It was an extra generous serving of chicken breast topped with pumpkin seed based mole sauce. The entree also came with slightly sweet baby carrots, smokey mashed sweet potatoes, and hand made grilled tortillas.

My husband had the famous award wining cochinita pibil.

It’s 12 hour achiote and sour orange smoked pork. It was topped with pickled onions and came with hand made grilled tortillas, fingerling potatoes, house made spicy ketchup, and squash on the side.

The service and food exceeded our expectations.

Previously we’ve done mostly take out from the Barrio Cafe but I have also dined in a few times. My last dine in visits were to the chef’s other restaurant Barrio Cafe Gran Reserva that could not survive the pandemic due to it’s vestibule sized space.

inside the Barrio Cafe Grand Reseva

Above was most of the dining area of the Barrio Cafe Grand Reserva.

Below are take out photos from The Barrio Cafe. (lower right corner below is the famous chiles en nogada)

Barrio Cafe is Worth a Fork! and is considered to be a Jewel for Mexican Cuisine in Arizona.

Worth a Fork!

Barrio Cafe 2814 N 16TH ST PHX AZ 602-636-0240

www.BarrioCafe.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Food Trucks – Good Eats Only Mexican Kitchen, Que Chevere, Detroit Coney Cruiser, Wow Que Rico at Food Truck Friday West Glendale AZ

A changing variety of food trucks from all over the valley gather at Food Truck Friday West in Glendale Arizona. (5pm-9pm 18551 83rd Ave Glendale AZ ((between the Sam’s Club and Walmart)) check www.GetLocalArizonaEvents.com for current food truck line up) Besides food truck they also offer a bounce house for children, and a children’s train ride.

train ride

On my most recent visit I notice that they offered some farm animals to pet.

I saw the Que Chevere Venezuelan Cuisine Food Truck.

They offer empanadas, arepas, plates, and more. I really enjoyed the arepa reina pepiada (chicken salad with avocado stuffed white corn arepa) that we shared last time and had one again. It also comes with plantain chips, a salsa, and a creamy ranch style dip.

I think it’s a really great chicken salad! The white corn arepa adds such a great taste here.

We did try a chicken and a beef empanada.

One was seasoned moist shredded beef the other moist shredded chicken with a salsa and a creamy ranch style sauce. They are both good with the added salsa. These aren’t dainty. They are very bread-ee to fill you up.

Next I thought I’d try the Columbian version of an arepa from Wow Que Rico Columbian Food Truck.

It taste so completely different that it is impossible to compare. The arepa taste like a corn tortilla and is crunchy but also soft. The chicken is shredded but slightly tough and covered with creamy sauces.
They do offer other foods like Columbian sausage, fried yucca, fried pork skin with potatoes, empanadas, and other combos.

Wow Que Rico – 602-513-6041 and can be found on Facebook

My husband liked the thought of sliders and went to Detroit Coney Cruiser.

They offer Detroit Coney Dogs, sliders, stuffed pitas, and fries. After he ordered his sliders they were ready in FOUR minutes.

They came on steamed buns with grilled onions, American cheese, pickles and mustard.

My husband gave them an A-OK.

Detroit Coney Cruiser 480- 692-8754

www.DetroitConeyCruiser.com

I didn’t eat everything you saw here so I had room to try one more thing.

We tried one chicken taco from Good Eats Only Mexican Food Truck.

Tonight they offered a limited menu of a few tacos, burritos, quesadillas, a chimichanga, and fries.

WOW! It might not look like much but this really is one of the best chicken tacos that I have tasted in Metro Phoenix. It’s unusually GREAT! The chicken is moist, a bit charred tasting, developed with flavors, and is delicious! It’s topped with a good chunky guacamole. The tortilla is also hand made and also is a much better tasting tortilla that what you usually get. It’s also enhanced with the lemon and hot sauce (looks house made?)

Good Eats Only Mexican Kitchen 623-521-8473 can be found on Facebook

That was Food Truck Friday West in Glendale AZ

Most Fridays 5-9pm 18551 83rd Ave Glendale AZ

See www.GetLocalArizonaEvents.com for current food truck line up.

The Forking Truth

Thai Style Green Curry Guacamole Recipe

I felt creative today and thought up another flavor for guacamole and it was THAI STYLE GREEN CURRY!!!! So if you are a fan of Thai Green Curry then you should be a fan of this Thai Style Green Curry Guacamole. It’s very easy to prepare but you do need some of the ingredients that you would use to make Thai Green Curry…….I used two large ripe avocados. I’m figuring 1/2 an avocado a person so that should be around 4 portions but it could run significantly less because you will probably want to eat half…..

Ingredients for around 3 portions.

2 large avocados

2 Tablespoons green curry paste

4 bigger pieces crystallized ginger – chopped fine

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1/8 cup lime juice

1 Tablespoon rice vinegar

1 Thai chili – fine copped

1/3 cup scallions – sliced thin

1 shallot – sliced thin and chopped

1/3 red bell pepper – sliced thin and chopped

1/4 cup basil – chopped or torn (you should use Thai Basil but regular basil is better than no basil)

1 1/2 teaspoons Golden Mountain Seasoning sauce Tuong Gia Vi – It’s sold in most Asian Grocery Stores.

2 teaspoons lemongrass powder

3 Tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut (to finish)

Directions

In a medium sized bowl add everything except the avocado and shredded coconut (green curry paste, crystalised ginger, garlic, coconut extract, lime juice, rice vinegar, Thai chili, scallions, shallot, red pepper, basil, lemongrass powder, Golden Mountain sauce). Mix well. Now add the avocado in chunks. Mix till incorporated. Try to leave it a little chunky. Top with shredded coconut.

I think it would be delicious dip with crispy chicken dumplings. It’s also great with regular chips.

ENJOY!!!!

Thai Style Green Curry Guacamole
The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Reeses’s Snack Cakes

I came across these Reese’s Snack Cakes. I’m a fan of Reese’s peanut butter cups so I thought I’d give them a try. I open up the package.

It doesn’t have as much peanut butter as it looks like on the package.

I take a bite. It doesn’t really taste good. The chocolate cake taste very artificial and you don’t really get that Reese’s Peanut butter taste. GOSH how disappointing……….Even the chocolate coating doesn’t taste good and feels waxy gross in the mouth. This makes me feel sick.

It’s a throw away.

For me this is NOT Worth a FORK!

Not Worth a Fork

Why did they make them?

Those were my FORKING thoughts on Reese’s Snack Cakes. Your FORKING thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

Butter Roasted Carrots Recipe by Mark Huxsoll from Cook’s Country

All I had to cook with was carrots and I happened to come across Mark Huxsoll’s recipe modestly called Butter Roasted Carrots from Cook’s Country Magazine. It’s very similar to a lot of other recipes I did with carrots so I thought it would be good. due to what I have around the house I did change a few things. For the recipe I didn’t have goat cheese or parsley so I used a good quality feta cheese and cilantro instead. I also didn’t have fresh thyme so I used dried. I do think that it makes more crunch topping than is needed so add it to your liking. You can always use the extra in a salad or on chicken. I also didn’t think that this needed added oil with all the butter that was used so I left that out. Feel free to dress with olive if you care to. They say that this recipe makes 6-8 servings. I’m not sure that you will get that many servings. My carrots shrunk a lot when they caramelized. To me it’s looking like 4 servings…We’ll see and maybe I’ll update.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1/4 cup skinned hazelnuts – crumble

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds – crumble

1 Tablespoon coriander seeds – crumble

1 teaspoon dried thyme – crumble

1 lemon – just the grated zest – crumble

1/4 teaspoon sea salt – crumble

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted – split into 4 Tablespoons + 1 Tablespoon

3 lbs carrots – peeled – cut in half long ways and cut in half short ways

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper

4 oz Good Quality Feta Cheese – crumbled

3 Tablespoons pepperoncini – stemmed and sliced into thin rings

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, parsley, or scallions or a combination of all

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Get a sheet pan with a rim and spread out the hazelnuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds in an even layer. This goes on lowest rack in the oven for 7-9 minutes or until hazelnuts have browned some and everything is fragrant. This needs to cool off before you can process it. Set it to the side.

Turn up the oven to 450 degrees F.

4 Tablespoons of melted butter go on a rimmed baking sheet. The carrots go in a big bowl and get tossed with the one remaining melted tablespoon of butter, salt, peppers, Roast this on the lowest rack until the carrots are fork tender and nicely caramelized (40-50 minutes).

Transfer carrots to a serving dish. Sprinkle with crumble (to your liking), cheese, pepperonchini, thyme, lemon zest, and cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Butter Roasted Carrots

A Special THANKS!!!! To Mark Huxsoll and Cook’s Country Magazine so I could come up with what I got here.

The Forking Truth

Anaya’s Fresh Mexican Restaurant Glendale AZ – Neighborhood Type Mexican Restaurant

Anaya’s Fresh Mexican Restaurant (according to www.AnayasRestaurant.online) has three locations in Arizona. One in Casa Grande, one in Tempe, and the one I went to in Glendale. This is a NEIGHBORHOOD type restaurant. You stop in if you happen to be in the neighborhood. This restaurant offers breakfast, lunch, bar dinks and most of your Mexican Favorites. They offer appetizers like ceviche, quesadillas, and queso dip. They also offer burritos, soups, fajitas, chimichangas, enchiladas, combo plates, a variety of beef, chicken, and shrimp plates, and MORE!

It’s one of the most festive looking restaurants to walk into. (on the other side is a bar not photoed)

Bright colors everywhere. Lots of hand painting all over and all over the tables and chairs.

We start off with margaritas. They come in small and grande size. You probably want a grande if you order a drink. I saw the small and it is only one sip. (people in photo ordered the grande)

No matter what you order they bring you chips and salsa.

Tonight the salsa ran so hot I couldn’t eat it (and I like hot but this was TOO hot).

I tried the chicken mole platter.

This is an extra large platter. For some people this could be two meals. This is a peanut-chocolate mole with expertly tender chicken breast, a little bit of vegetable garnish, Mexican style rice, refried beans and choice of tortilla. It’s not bad but not the most complex mole. But the chicken is really expertly tender. The rest gets an a-ok.

The chili Colorado (beef cubes in slightly spicy red sauce) is also made with expertly tender beef.

It’s also a very large platter. It has more of a chili taste that you enjoy when you go to Mexican Restaurants.

Worth a try if you are in the neighborhood.

Anaya’s Fresh Mexican Restaurant

5830 W Thunderbird Rd Glendale AZ

602-559-4377

www.AnayasRestaurant.online

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth