Tag Archives: #foodie

A Little Taste of The Larder and The Delta Phoenix AZ – Unique Southern Cuisine Arizona Laced – Give It a Try!****UPDATE CLOSED EXPECTED TO RELOCATE

Leave a reply

*****UPDATE CLOSED******EXPECTED TO RELOCATE******The Larder and The Delta is a small sort of Unique Southern Cuisine laced with Arizonian ingredients in a new way kind of Restaurant located in Downtown Phoenix Arizona.

They offer patio seating.

patio

They offer seating at the bar.

bar seating

They also offer regular indoor seating.

inside

On my most recent visit we found out that they use QR code menus so you do need a cell phone to dine here.

The menu does change every so often but some of the things you might find are-

The hoping John – This one is different and is vegetarian and was made with Sea Island field peas, Carolina gold rice, and herbs. It’s was full of so many flavors and textures.

The cauliflower – smoked blue cheese, celery, Cutino’s Hot Sauce. As far as I know this dish has been on the menu consistently. It’s also vegetarian and is sort of like vegetarian hot wings.

On a recent Restaurant Week Menu they offered very UNIQUE beignets with black garlic-peanut-romesco sauce.

I only got the eat the K.F.C. Sandwich once but it was truly the FORKING BEST Hot Chicken sandwich that I’ve tried anywhere. What does K.F.C. stand for?…..Kentucky FORKING Crack Sandwich? What I still remember most is that this sandwich had the very best delicious chicken flavor…… Also all the other flavors from the slaw, thick pickles and the right sized bun just went magically together…..It was different……… This sandwich was not the spiciest….but was the most delicious…..This one was on the menu years ago for lunch. I JUST FOUND OUT that this sandwich….(I’m guessing smaller in size………Hopefully the same recipe?)….Is on the Happy Hour Menu…….. (Wed-Fri 4pm-5:30).

Recently I enjoyed the Ethiopian Fried Chicken Restaurant Week Special.

Ethiopian Fried Chicken

This was delicious and crispy with a lot of flavors and heat….I was surprised that this was or seemed spicier than the hot chicken sandwich….Or maybe it just seemed hotter without a bun, slaw, and pickles to blend with? It was delicious and came with a vegetable-ish relish called chakalaka. The chakalaka had some of the similar beans from the hopping Johns but was spicy.

Sometimes a chicken dinner at The Larder and The Delta might look like this with chicken toe nails in the air.

Shrimp and grits are next.

Below was a recent restaurant week special.

Slow roast Niman Ranch Pork Loin

Possibly due to supply issues the Restaurant Week Pork Special was changed up some. It was advertised as a smoked and braised pork collar. Here it was a slow roast Niman Ranch pork loin with hominy and corn giardiniera. My husband thought that the pork had a similar taste to ham.

Something seafood is usually on the menu.

If I remember correctly this was an Ethiopian spiced snapper. The flavors on this one really were BANGING.

Excuse the bad photo above because you can’t see the BBQ meatloaf.

Desserts are casual here.

Cola Cake

M&M Cookie with Capt’n Crunch Ice Cream

apple cobbler

Apple cobbler

That was a Little Taste of The Larder and The Delta. Give it a try!
*******UPDATE CLOSED EXPECTED TO RELOCATE******

The Larder and The Delta 200 W Portland St PHX AZ

480-409-8520

www.TheLarderandtheDelta.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Potato String Wrapped Mexican Style Tuna Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Leave a reply

I made maybe the same Mexican style tuna last week and it turned out delicious so I thought I’d make it again but a little fancier. One of the KEY ingredients that makes this delicious are my home made pickled jalapeños. I even use some of the brine and that also adds good flavors. PLEASE do NOT BUY jarred jalapeños from the grocery store. They do not taste the same. It’s ok if you buy pickled jalapeños from a farmer’s market or maybe from your favorite Mexican restaurant…Or just make them the same way I did from here www.TheForkingTruth.com . You also might not have a spiral slicer to make the potato strings. They sell little pain in the butt ones that I don’t recamend. I also had and returned my Kitchen Aid Attachment that makes potato strings because it’s not so good…..Believe it or not the very best spiral slicer I’ve found is the Paderno Slicer that I found at one of those expensive kitchen stores at our high end mall.

Paderno Slicer

It comes with three kinds of blades. One for strings, one for wide strings. one for wide ribbons. It’s great for potatoes but I found that it’s too hard to use on carrots. (The box pictures it making carrot strings)

ANYWAYS-

Portion size is very hard to judge. I made 12 stuffed peppers wrapped with strings. I’m going to guesstimate three lunches or 6 appetizers.

Ingredients for around 3 servings

1 – 6.4oz pack of chunk light drained tuna in water

1/4 medium onion – fine chop

2 pickled jalapeno peppers chopped (or around 1/4 cup)

1 small heirloom tomato chopped (around 2 1/2 oz)

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup pimento stuffed green olives – chopped

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

1/4 cup cilantro – leaves and fine stems – chopped

1 Tablespoon capers

1/2 teaspoon dried epazote (they sell this at Walmart and Whole Foods but you can use a small amount of fresh if you have it or substitute oregano)

pinch dried mint

2 Tablespoons jalapeno brine

1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons annatto oil (had this leftover from a recipe I made a few weeks back…it easy or use 2 Tablespoons olive oil and add a pinch of ground annatto)

1 lb mini bell peppers (you really need around 3/4 pound but I rounded up so you wouldn’t be short……..)

3 medium size russet potatoes (around a pound)

olive oil – to spray to tops of the potatoes

non stick spray – to spray sheet pans

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

Directions

Set oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a sheet pan with non stock spray and set to the side.

In a big mixing bowl combine the tuna, onion, jalapeños, tomato. raisins, olives, scallions, cilantro, capers, epazote, mint, jalapeño brine, lime juice, annatto oil and mix well.

You need to make “T” shape cuts on the mini bell peppers and remove seeds and maybe some membrane.

You open them up and stuff them full and press the stuffing in so it isn’t loose.

Make the potato strings and wrap them around the peppers trying to keep most of the potato strings on the top.

I had a small amount extra so I kept that on the side on a non stick sprayed pan. (At the end they can be added to the tops of the stuffed peppers.

All the potatoes get sprayed with olive oil and you need to season them with salt and pepper.

These go on the middle rack of a pre-heated 425 degree F oven for around 30 minutes or until nicely browned. (I put the extra tray of potatoes on the lowest rack for the same amount of time.)

My dogs were very interested.

You might want to add some avocado cream (a few recipes back) a few more scallions, and or a little tiny bit of fresh cilantro. I made some sour cream roses just to show off..

Potato String Wrapped Mexican Style Tuna Stuffed Peppers

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

My FORKING UNFANTABULOUS Restaurant Experience of 2022 ……so far

Leave a reply

I do not enjoy writing about negative experiences but I do write The FORKING Truth ……..I also note I have not listed the name of this restaurant in the title of my story on purpose. Only my regular readers get to know The FORKING Truth. You also must know that everything and anything is always subject to change at anytime……and when the press goes and visits a restaurant usually a restaurant is on their best game. For us mere mortals we get what we get.

Aiello’s Restaurant is located in Central Phoenix Arizona in Moon Valley. They originally were opened and ran by Joe and Myrah Aiello in 2007 who have been in the restaurant business for much of their lives. Below is a picture I took of Joe in 2019 at The Italian Festival in Scottsdale. The Aiello Restaurant didn’t serve New American Fancy Food. They served East Coast Style Italian Food. It was good…..It was the type of food that you’d expect to get when you go to an Italian Restaurant. I think my favorite Aiello’s experience was from the 2019 Italian Festival. Aiello’s served a very good spread of many Italian favorites there. I remember me and my husband ate maybe 3-4 different plates from the Aiello’s there.

Feb 2019 Aiello’s at The Italian Festival

One of my other favorites from Aiello’s was the thoughtful take out special they offered during the pandemic. They offered take out dinner for two that included a bottle of wine and a candle for $65.

Aiello’s take out special during the pandemic

In 2022 the Aiello’s decided to retire and sold the business to someone local. The local people Tara O’Neale and Josh Johnson call themselves Truth and Alibi Hospitality.

Changes have been made inside and out. Outside a lot of the shrubbery has been cleared out. The inside is brighter and more open. The booths have been removed. The chairs got new paint finish and were upholstered with new fabric.

inside

Aiello’s is new again with new faces, new atmosphere, a new menu and a new attitude.

You can stop reading now if you don’t want to know how things changed on my most recent visit. Things started out as good as it got and then things started going downward until the crash at the end.

It was Restaurant Week and the menu sounded amazing. It sure was different from the original Aiello’s…..When I read the menu I thought the restaurant turned upscale Italian….. I also thought I’ve found something very special that I had to try….Maybe something exciting to write about?

Upon my arrival they incurred some sort of glitch with their reservation system. I had a reservation and the hostess insisted that I didn’t have a reservation…..My husband showed the hostess my reservation on his phone……………….She still insisted that I didn’t have a reservation…………..(WTFork?…why?…….)…………I was kinda thinking that I should leave…….I sure didn’t feel wanted there. Eventually we get seated by someone else……………but the weird thing is around thirty minutes latter my husband gets a text that our reservation from Aiello’s was cancelled……(WTFork?)

The only menu we were given was the restaurant week menu and they suggested to get the wine pairings and we agreed…..It sounded great…That’s what drew us in anyway so why not.

They started us off with toasted bread with squid ink black garlic butter.

complimentary bread with squid ink black garlic butter

I can tell you that the bread is decent with a nice crust but I didn’t try the squid ink black garlic butter. However my husband did……He just said that it was very strong tasting.

Next we got a giant meatball with polenta and tenderloin bruschetta and two glasses of wine.

giant meatball with polenta

The meatball was the single best dish of what we tried. It was good….My husband said that the polenta was very runny.

tenderloin bruschetta

The tenderloin was like eating raw meat……….It wasn’t seared or anything and was cold. I was told that it was marinated in tomato. There is some thin tomato sauce under the steak. It’s also a very large portion and is enough for a meal. I ate most of one….took the other two home to cook up better.

Here’s part of one I seared at home…..It was so much better this way and it took almost no time at all to make it much better…It’s tastier and much more tender.

seared at home tenderloin from Aiello’s

Next course was one of each salad offered….The prosciutto and grilled peach and the caesar and the two glasses of wine were forgotten so my husband asked for the wine.

prosciutto and grilled peach (the brown lines are balsamic…not grill marks)

My husband’s least favorite part of the salad was the peach…..It was supposed to be grilled but the peach turned out oil poached……………..

caesar

The caesar dressing taste like mayonnaise mixed with powdered cheese and the croutons taste like they were from a box………..(………..not the best………….)

Our server stops by and says that our dinners would be out soon…..My husband lets the waiter know that we didn’t get our primo course yet…..(the cacio e pepe)….The waiter seems to be in disbelief……Soon someone runs the cacio e pepe plates to us and they forgot the wine again so my husband bothers someone to get us our wine.

cacio e pepe

The pasta is properly cooked but is in cream sauce……..(who does that?……..that’s not right….) It’s not the traditional Romano cheese and pasta water with pepper……Oddly the two cacio e pepe dishes taste different…….My husband ate his and then just tasted mine because I left a lot….He said mine wasn’t so peppery. I thought mine tasted more like white pepper than black pepper.

After the plates were cleared our dinners come out and the dinner wines never came.

duck breast with prosciutto and sage

Usually duck breast is served with rendered skin. Here it was not. Sadly the breast was on the raw side and was very tough. Even when I tried to give the leftover duck to my dogs it was so tough I couldn’t pull it apart to tear. The mushroom cherry risotto sounds good and looks good but it taste like it was made creamy with the addition of something like cream cheese spread. (ick) But it wasn’t as bad as the salmon.

salmon

The salmon came out with a slightly burnt but seasoned skin. I asked for it to be cooked medium but it came out past well done. I never expect fish house quality fish from an Italian Restaurant but this plate I consider substandard restaurant quality…….Nobody goes out to eat to get a plate like this…………ANYWAYS The well done slightly burnt fish was served over an unpalatable mound of olive tapenade (it’s FORKING AWFUL…Nobody can eat this) I try to eat some of the eggplant. It’s also awful ….the eggplant wasn’t prepared properly and it’s flesh was dissolved and was like a balloon filled with oil bursting out. The best part of the plate is the cooked spinach…It taste more like cacio e pepe than the pasta they served me.

We did inform the waiter that we never got the dinner wine pairing. He said, “I ‘m sorry for the LATE arrival.” (WTFORK is that?) ((WHAT LATE ARRIVAL?????? It never came…….) So he took $5. off per wine pairing.

That was my FORKING Most UNFANTABULOUS Restaurant Experience of 2022….

This wasn’t the story that I wanted to tell but I feel I must tell The FORKING Truth.

I sincerely do hope that these new owners find their way and fix things.

Aiello’s East Coast Italian

777 E Thunderbird Rd PHX AZ

602-547-3354

www.AiellosItalianRestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may indeed differ. I sure hope it does.

The Forking Truth

Spicy Indian Style Mixed Vegetables

Leave a reply

I came across a recipe for a single vegetable Indian Dish. I purposely made it different by using a mix of vegetables, also by roasting the vegetables instead of boiling them. I also ACCIDENTALLY made it different by leaving a few things out….I thought it tasted done…. Well it’s delicious anyway. Portion size is always difficult to tell. For me this is 6 side servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

2 small broccoli crowns (the stemless broccoli tops that Safeway sells) – break down to florets

3 carrots – peeled if not organic and cut on diagonal half inch thick

1 onion – rough chop with pieces big enough that you want to eat

1/4 cabbage – rough cut

1 red bell pepper – stem & seeds removed, cut in strips

1 Tablespoon olive oil (this is to spray on the vegetables I don’t think that I used much more than a tablespoon)

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 Tablespoon brown mustard seeds

1 branch curry leaves (around 12 leaves Asiana Market sells them…I buy them and keep them in my freezer)

2 shallots – fine chopped

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 serrano chili – fine chop

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Set the oven to 425 degrees F

The broccoli cooks faster than the other vegetables. The broccoli either gets it’s own pan or goes on an end of a baking sheet so you can remove it when it’s done.

The vegetables go on baking sheets and get LIGHTLY sprayed with olive oil. Note that the broccoli will cook faster than the other vegetables. In my oven the broccoli was perfect in 20 minutes. The remaining vegetables took another 15 minutes. The timing might differ slightly because of size of vegetable or oven difference.

While the vegetables are cooking you can make the delicious sauce.

In a small fry pan on medium heat add the coconut oil, curry leaves and the mustard seeds. Keep cooking until you hear the seeds popping. Now add the shallots, garlic, and chili. Cook until shallots look transparent. Now add the cumin, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Turn off heat. Pick out the curry leaves. Pour onto vegetables when done.

Indian Style Mixed Vegetables

Enjoy!!!

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Wally’s American Gastropub – Scottsdale AZ

Leave a reply

Wally’s American Gastropub is an American Restaurant and Bar located in Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant is a “Brother” restaurant of chef Christopher Collins restaurants and Catering group called Common Ground Culinary Group (The Brotherly, Collins Bros. Chophouse, Grassroots Kitchen & Tap, Sweet Provisions ice cream, candy, and dessert shop, The Collins, The Macintosh, Arcadia Catering, and soon to open St Urban).

Wally’s American Gastropub offers appetizers like fresh baked pretzels with asiago cheese sauce, grilled artichokes, and buffalo wings. They also offer soup of the day, salads, sandwiches like a burger, cajun fish, and a French dip. They offer hand made in house pastas and entrees like meatloaf, fish and chips, liver bacon and onions, and a few kinds of ribs. Desserts are butterscotch pecan pie and Ghirardelli brownies with ice cream.

They have a good sized patio.

patio

seating at the bar

bar

Wally’s offers a mix of regular tables, high tops and booths inside for seating.

inside

Besides the menu two specials were offered today. One was a tuna salad sandwich and the other was parmesan crusted trout with spinach and remoulade sauce. Today’s soup was steak chili soup.

steak chili soup

It’s a rich beefy soup with a generous amount of diced steak in it. It also contains beans, cheese, and is sprinkled with raw onions.

Below is the salmon and spring salad.

salmon and spring salad

It might not be the most interesting thing on the menu but it seems light and healthy. Sometimes you just want a light and healthy salad. The Salmon here was prepared well done but wasn’t dry. The skin and complete bloodline were removed and the salmon has nice grill marks. The salad is a basic mixed green salad with some added goat cheese. The green goddess dressing is very thin today but tasty and can pass as a basic vinaigrette.

The S’Mac with andouille sausage and bell peppers might be more interesting.

S’Mac andouille sausage bell peppers

The pasta is made in house and this skillet is very cheesy. It’s accented with andouille sausage, bell peppers, and toasty bread crumbs.

If you do take out they package your food extra carefully.

On the left is their amazing coconut cream pie (My husband hates every coconut cream pie EXCEPT this one…it really is delicious!) Norwegian salmon with caper sauce and spinach, veal & spicy pork meatloaf with horseradish mashed potatoes and asparagus, and to the right are the fresh baked pretzels with asiago cheese sauce.

That was a little taste of Wally’s American Gastropub.

Wally’s American Gastropub Scottsdale AZ

7704 E Doubletree Ranch Rd

480-596-7978

www.WallysGastropub.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Some FORKING AMAZING Foods from Tia Carmen – Desert Ridge Marriott PHX AZ – Worth a Fork!

Leave a reply

Tia Carmen is a high quality contemporary South-West style restaurant located in North Phoenix Arizona in the JW Desert Ridge Marriott. The restaurant is led by Michelin Star chef, Restauranteur, Bravo Top Chef, and Cookbook author Angelo Sosa. They use Arizona purveyors for local ingredients with an authentic Arizona taste and wood fired grills.

You can be seated on the patio when the weather is nice.

Chef Sosa on Patio

Or maybe a seat inside…

inside
inside
inside (end dining room)

The one MUST-GET-DISH is the Tuna Crudo – tuna in corn coconut broth, smoked chili oil, dill.

Tuna Crudo from Tia Carmen

I PROMISE you that it is mind blowing (…but on the flavorful spicy side)

If you want something less powerfully flavored then you must get the avocado aguachile.

avocado aguachile

Milder heat and more delicate flavors. date sesame crumble, Persian cucumber, serrano chile.

The current (September 2022) tri-tip kababs – sesame leaf, pickled onions, serrano chile, Thai basil are pictured below.

Tri tip kababs

Good but not the same as the Wagyu kababs from the opening (May 2022).

wagyu kababs *(past menu)

They look the same but the texture and flavor is different. (they were also the same price) Both are good but we preferred the opening kababs even if they were $28. for a couple bites.

Native Grain Fried Rice

The native grain fried rice consist of lingica sausage, bacon. serrano chile, garlic, ginger, sunny side up egg, and soy sauce. This might be soy sauce forward to some people.

Tomato Salad

The tomato salad is a mix of textures and flavors. A base of corn puree like no other supports farm fresh tasting tomatoes, burnt corn dust, basil, pickled onions, and fancy greenery.

lamb ragu

This is another one of the plates with a lot of layers of flavors – Mesquite noodles, pork, heirloom carrots, Sichuan peppercorns.

“Taco Night” Beef and bone marrow toastada

It might be the most expensive tostada in Phoenix but it also might be the most delicious tostada in Phoenix. It’s a toastada with beef, bone marrow, guacamole, pickled onions, fancy micro greens.

A very surprising delicious vegetarian dish is the mushroom menudo.

Mushroom menudo

Very unusual mushrooms with amazing textures are used – cordyceps and cauliflower mushrooms in a very developed broth filled with flavors and textures.

Two different fish are on the menu that are completely different.

One is the wood grilled whole trout with parsley and oregano sauce.

grilled whole trout

The flavors go down into the skin and penetrate the flesh. I think it also is a larger portion than the the other fish. I was told that they will filet the fish for you if you ask. When it’s served whole you do have to be careful to avoid the bones.

Baja Striped Bass

The crusted Baja Striped Bass is served with Thai Basil and mole verde. Both fish are very good and can’t really be compared to each other since they are so different. For me this one just pops a little more.

Next is Tia Carmen’s Chicken Guisado.

Tia Carmen’s Chicken Guisado

It’s really just a humble well made stewed chicken dish with rice. Chicken thighs, olives, chimayo chile (they are hard to find), garlic, turmeric rice.

This next vegetarian entree is also extra delicious……but for us it is more of a starter or side dish……But it really is delicious.

Ember roasted purple yams

See it really is a very small portion. It’s purple yams in a queso sauce with THIRTY WEEK aged tepary beans and mole negro.

The only side dish we tried so far was the yucca brûlée.

yucca brûlée

under a crispy layer is really creamy, really rich mashed or whipped yucca…..It’s almost like extra rich mashed potatoes with a crispy top.

The one cake that we’ve tried was the coriander tart.

Coriander tart

It’s well made and tasty and laced with a small amount of orange.

Maybe my favorite dessert so far might be the blood orange sorbet.

Blood Orange Sorbet

It seems very light and has a very natural strong blood orange flavor and also is refreshing.

These were some of the FORKING Amazing foods from Tia Carmen.

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Tia Carmen at JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa Phoenix Arizona

5350 E Marriott Dr PHX AZ

480-293-3636

www.TiaCarmenDesertRidge.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Japanese style Potato Salad with Ramen Eggs and Bonito Flakes Recipe

Leave a reply

Safeway had five pound bags of potatoes on sale for ninety seven cents a bag so I bought them. So I’m thinking what can I make with potatoes that I haven’t made before?????? I’m thinking that eggs go well with potatoes and one of the most delicious eggs out there (if you make them right) are ramen eggs. So I’m thinking potato salad with ramen eggs…. My first thought was Korean style Potato salad with gochujang vinaigrette……..Then I thought that might be delicious but a Japanese Style potato salad would make more sense with ramen eggs. Japanese potato salad is different but slightly similar to Peruvian Potato salad…..They both are more about the texture than mayonnaise. Japanese Potato salad not always but usually has vegetables in it like carrots, cucumbers, and corn. Asian type mayonnaise is always used but only the smallest amount possible. It’s really almost a lumpy mashed potato salad. I find that the easiest way to make either Peruvian or Japanese Style potato salad is to slightly over cook the potatoes and mix very carefully to slightly mash and leave some lumps for texture. For me this makes around eight small servings. I like small servings but I do know for other people they would rather eat larger portions and get less servings. I’ll guesstimate at least 6 servings if you like them pretty big. You do need to know that this recipe takes two days to prepare. You do need the make the ramen eggs the day before.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

7 eggs

1/2 cup mirin

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

2 lbs potatoes – washed, peeled, quartered

1 carrot – peeled if not organic, shredded (I did a fine shred)

1 cucumber – (or 1/2 a cumber if extra long) You can cut it up however you like. I used a regular peeled and de-seeded cucumber diced

1/2 cup sugar snap peas – sliced in small cube shapes

1/2 cup corn – (any kind ((Raw, grilled, boiled, canned, frozen))can work here)

1/2 cup scallions

4 Tablespoons rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons mayonaise

1 1/2 teaspoon shiso fumi furikake (I bought from Asiana Market)

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

sea salt to taste + plus extra to boil potatoes

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

8 pinches bonito flakes – or to taste – (I bought from Asiana Market)

optional ichimi togarashi – use a very small amount to season the ramen eggs or season them with a little bit of salt and pepper

Directions

Make the ramen eggs.

Put a pot of water on to boil but it needs to get turned down to just barely bubbling……Slow boil or a little more than simmering. Carefully cook the eggs for only seven minutes and put right a way in an ice bath. When cool enough to handle peel them. Then they go in one quart ziplock bag that is supported by a dish. In the ziplock bag go the peeled eggs, mirin, soy sauce, and water. Push as much of the air out as you can and zip lock the bag. Refrigerate over night. The next day most or all of the ramen eggs get diced for the potato salad. Optional – You might want to add a tiny bit of ichimi togarashi to season the eggs. You also need to discard the liquid that the eggs marinated in.

Boil the potatoes. Put a pot of water on to boil. You need enough water to cover the potatoes and add a generous amount of sea salt (about two small palmfuls). The potatoes need to cook till slightly past fork tender. (I think mine took close to 25 minutes) Drain the potatoes but keep the last bit of liquid that looks like thin mashed potatoes.

Potatoes are slightly over cooked to get that perfect creamy texture
End of liquid in pot that you should use

In a large mixing bowl add the potatoes, carrot, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, corn, scallions, rice vinegar, fumi furikake, white pepper, sugar, ginger, mustard, ramen eggs diced, and mayonnaise. You have to stir gently…..You want the salad kind of mashed but also lumpy. Decide if you want it more moist and add the end of the potato liquid. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary and add sea salt to taste.

Serve preferably at room temperature and top with a pinch of bonito flakes.

Japanese Style Potato Salad with Ramen Eggs and Bonito Flakes

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Hammond’s White Chocolate Lemon Meringue Bar

Leave a reply

I spotted this White Chocolate Lemon Meringue Bar at my local AJ’s Fine Foods and I had to try it.

I open it up carefully. I attempted to break off one brick….That didn’t work.

These bars have lots of filling and the white chocolate is very delicate and almost soft.

I taste the broken ends. The lemony part is really great and sure does taste like really good lemon meringue filling…Like the right tart and the right sweet……the right amount of lemon……….The white chocolate is pretty good for white chocolate but it does end with a sweet finish like it should like some meringue. (I hate when meringue taste like egg whites…ick)

I think that this flavor is pretty good but they’ve forgotten that lemon meringue is a pie and should have some crumbs for crust. A few slightly salted cookie crumbs on the bottom would have balanced it all really well………But it is still pretty good anyway.

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Hammond’s Lemon Meringue White Chocolate Bar. Your FORKING Thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

Cucumber Pasta and Bean Salad made with Italian Chili Crisp Recipe

Leave a reply

I had cucumbers and basil that I needed to use up so here’s what I made. A little while back I made this delicious Italian Style Chili Crisp. Maybe you don’t know about chili crisp but it’s very popular now. Chili crisp is this amazing condiment that adds flavors, textures, crunch, and heat to food. Anything plain can turn well seasoned and delicious….It’s like adding magic to food. The salad was pretty easy…..I used cucumbers, onions, tomato, pasta, basil and beans. I just stirred in my homemade Italian Chili Crisp to taste and a splash of vinegar and it was done and perfect. The Italian style chili crisp recipe is on The Forking Truth it’s made with Calabrian Chilies, pine nuts, capers, anchovies, thyme, oregano, sea salt, pepper, olive oil garlic and shallots. Serving size is always difficult to judge since everyone likes a different size portion and also all produce runs different in size. I don’t know if you want a small side dish or enough for a lunch. I going to guesstimate 6 servings.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

4 cucumbers (mine were on the large side) peeled, cut longways, seeds removed and sliced (however you like it sliced…I do on the thick side so it doesn’t get soggy)

4 oz pasta (I used whole grain point type pasta) boiled in salty water till done. Like one minute less than package suggest.

1 medium onion – sliced extra thin and rough chopped

2 tomatoes rough chopped or around 10oz canned tomatoes

1 cup fresh basil – either torn or chopped

15.5 oz can Low Sodium beans- rinsed three times (I used kidney beans)

Italian Chili Crisp to taste – (I didn’t measure but I think I used around a 1/2 cup) I suggest to add a few spoonfuls at a time till you think it taste right.

A good splash of white vinegar – I didn’t measure I think I used about 1/3 cup

Directions

In a large mixing bowl add the cucumbers, pasta, onion, tomatoes, basil, and beans. Mix well. Add the Italian Chili Crisp to taste. Add a few spoonfuls at a time till you think it taste right. Then give it a good splash of vinegar. Mix well.

Cucumber Pasta and Bean Salad made with Italian Chili Crisp

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

Arrowhead Grill’s FORKING GREAT BARGAINS- Glendale AZ

Leave a reply

The Arrowhead Grill is a steakhouse, grill and bar located in Glendale Arizona. They offer some FORKING AMAZING restaurant bargains.

One of the BEST restaurant bargains in town is the Happy Hour menu from the Arrowhead Grill that is offered 3-6pm every day in the bar area. Well drinks and house wine is only $5.99 a glass (subject to change). But the best happy hour food bargain got to be the A.G.Burger (Sept 2022 price subject to change $15.99)

A.G.Burger
A.G. Burger

This burger is made of ground-in-house prime beef trimmings, topped with a 6oz prime rib, crispy fried onions, cheese, mayonnaise, horseradish cream and a fresh toasted eggy bun. And it taste amazing too! It’s so flavorful. It sure is one of the very best burgers that I have ever tried. For me this is far more food than I can eat in one meal but some people I know can eat the whole thing.

The other BEST restaurant bargain is the complimentary Birthday 10 oz Delmonico Prime steak with complimentary A.G. Butter Cake. You do have to sign up for the Arrowhead Grill E Club and you do have to buy one 10 oz Delmonico steak to get one free….Your Free 10 oz Delmonico steak ($44.99) and A.G. butter cake ($13.99) are a combined total of $58.98. I think $58.98 is a really FORKING GREAT GIFT from a restaurant.

10 oz Delmonico steak
A.G. Butter-cake

But this A.G. Burger can make you happy too.

A.G. Burger

Especially at happy hour in the bar area.

inside

Arrowhead Grill

8280 W Union Hills Drive Glendale AZ

623-566-2224

www.ArrowheadGrill.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth