Italian Style Lemon Cookies Recipe

I had some lemons to use and I was thinking lemon cookie. I came across an Italian Lemon Cookie Recipe that I had to completely change the recipe but I tried to shape the cookies similar to the original recipe. I think the recipe I read had typos (like 4 cups of flour for 20 cookies doesn’t make sense) and there wasn’t enough lemon in the recipe to taste lemon either (typo?). Made some other changes and came out with something really different. These cookies came out extra light, very lemony, and not too sweet. Servings are very hard to determine here. I made 40 small but very light cookies. I think you might eat up to four as a serving. So that means you will get between 40-10 servings….40 if you only eat one……(you are NOT going to do that)…….10 servings if you eat 4……I think around 15 servings is realistic…….

Ingredients for around 15 servings

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup sweet butter – melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg – beaten

1/4 cup milk

1 lemon – juice and zest

1 teaspoon lemon extract

non stick spray

1 cup 10X sugar (for glaze)

2 lemons for zest and only one lemon for the juice (for glaze)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, egg, milk, juice and zest of one lemon, and lemon extract. Hand mix with a FORK till combined. Roll logs that are ever so slightly thinner than your pinky. Or you can be more precise and divide the dough into 4 and get 10 cuts out of each quarter……….Each 10th gets rolled into a log close to your pinky size and you want each log to be about 4 inches long. You roll it into a fancy knot.

Have fun with this……it’s not brain surgery.

They go on your sprayed cookie sheet.

Into your preheated 350 degree oven on your middle rack till slightly browned and cooked……Ovens do indeed DIFFER………In my Whirlpool oven mine took 17 and 18 minutes………Your oven may differ.

While your cookies are baking mix up the glaze in a small bowl…..It’s just a cup of 10X, zest of two lemons and juice of one lemon. Mix well with a FORK.

Dip the cookie tops into the glaze.

Use all the glaze.

For some reason my one dog feels the need to guard the cookies.

Italian style lemon cookies

The Cookies really are FORKING DELICIOUS!

The Forking Truth

NEW WEiRd DIFferenT Special and Limited Edition Foods Out There January 2024

There is always something new, weird, different, limited or special edition in the wonderful world of food. We never know WTFork we’ll find when we shop for food.

This month I found several really WEIRD ones from-

www.OfftheWagonShop.com

WEIRD – Archie McPhee Hot Dog Candy

WEIRD – Archie McPhee Pho Candy

WEIRD – Archie McPhee Kale Candy

WEIRD – Archie McPhee Fried Chicken Candy

WEIRD -Sour Gummy Boogers Candy

DIFFERENT – Bacon and Cheese flavored CRICKETS

DIFFERENT (but funny) extra strong Memory Mints

WEIRD – Sour Flush -candy plunger with sour powder dip….Looks and sounds like a #2

WEIRD Pickle Cotton Candy by Chocolate Storybook

WEIRD РSpicy Jalape̱o Cotton Candy by Chocolate StoryBook

WEIRD – Maple Bacon Cotton Candy by Chocolate Storybook

WEIRD (and something fishy) Crab flavored candy

DIFFERENT – Craft Beer Lollipops in pale ale, classic lager, and chocolate stout

DIFFERENT – Dee’s Nuts in banana pudding flavored peanuts….???? I think I’d like them with a candy coating but I also think they might be gross if the peanuts are covered in instant pudding powder…??????

DIFFERENT – Dees Nuts in Hot Cheddah peanuts…could go either way?

DIFFERENT – Dee’s Nuts in ranch sriracha peanuts……..ODD thing I noticed…….the first two flavors probably have pork or a meat in them…..Only this can of Dee’s Nuts are kosher and dairy (the circled “U” and the “D”). Isn’t that rooting tooting weird?

I also found a couple really different dog treats.

DIFFERENT – Canine Carry Out – Tacos Minis …

Canine Carry Outs – Hot Dog Minis

And there is usually SOMETHING Oreo…..

LIMITED EDITION – Nabisco ARTIFICIALLY Flavored Black & White Cookies……

Well that was the new, weird, different, limited and special editions foods out there for January 2024. Who knows WTFork we will come across next month.

The Forking Truth

Gourmet China North Las Vegas NV – No heat inside or in food and too sweet

Gourmet China is an American/Chinese restaurant with a location in North Las Vegas Nevada.

We were planing to dine in but the heat wasn’t on and it was only 45 degrees inside and outside the day we were here.

Gourmet China isn’t a fancy place and only has three and a half tables for dining in. This restaurant is mainly for take out.

They have a wooden frog with coins in it’s mouth at the end of the counter.

We tried egg rolls.

To us they are more like spring rolls……These were crisp on the outside and were somewhat raw and doughy on the inside.

I tried the Szechuan Garlic Hot Chicken.

The Good –

The chicken seems fresh and is very tender.

The vegetables are tender crisp and also seem fresh.

The FORKING Truth.

This is NOT spicy hot at all.

This is NOT garlic-ee

This is SO SWEET you can pour it on pancakes.

This might be the sweetest American Chinese Dish I ever tried anywhere. Just so you know I truly do LOVE sweets but not like this. I think that this is far too sweet for anyone to enjoy.

I tried to fix it by adding their hot Chile sauce but something is also wrong with the hot Chile sauce…….It’s not HOT…….I don’t know WTFork it is?

My husband tries the Hunan beef.

The beef is tender and the vegetables are fresh. This dish was medium spicy and better than the Szechwan chicken……

Your experience may or may not differ, and you also might prefer your Garlic Hot Szechwan Chicken not garlic-ee, not hot, and extra sweet?

Gourmet China

6360 Simmons Street North Las Vegas Nevada

702-776-8998

I haven’t found a functioning website for Gourmet China but you can find them on Facebook.

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

The Goodwich – Las Vegas NV – Better to Dine in

The Goodwich is a sandwich restaurant located in downtown Las Vegas Nevada. They offer sandwiches, seasonal sandwiches, burgers, maybe a burrito, sides, soft beverages, and a children’s menu. They offer indoor and patio seating. Indoors you get to view comic book hero’s theme collection scattered all over and on the tables.

You order and pay at the counter and someone runs your food out when it’s ready.

We shared a side called Granny’s Macaroni and Cheese. It’s made with gruyere, white cheddar, munster cheeses, and toasted bread crumbs.

It’s very cheesy and better than most I’ve tried out.

Today I tried the Fish-O off the seasonal menu.

The center of the sandwich is a mild and very meaty white fish that was fried to perfection and is moist with a crispy exterior. The sandwich is enhanced with kimchi aioli, remoulade slaw, and American cheese on a nicely toasted bun. It’s a very good sandwich. I would order it again but would want to try some of the others first.

My husband tried the R-U Chicken Sandwich.

This one is a thick and juicy tempura battered chicken breast. It comes with yellow buffalo sauce, and sweet pepper slaw on a nicely toasted bun. It’s another very good sandwich!

The Goodwich is dog friendly so we came back with the dogs and sat on the patio.

I tried #9 Turkey Thyme – Slow Roasted Turkey breast, apple/sage stuffing, cranberry jam, mayo on a hoagie roll.

I think the food is much better to enjoy fresh ordered inside. We ordered on-line and did take out……This is a very soggy sandwich. Everything is soaking wet……….so it’s hard to judge how it really might be. I don’t really enjoy it…I rip out some turkey that is free of cranberry sauce for the dogs.

My husband tried a #7 Cuban-Esque – pork butt & pork belly, pickle mustard, Swiss cheese, ham, chicharron on white bread.

His sandwich was nicely grilled and he said the meats were very tasty but was upset with the petite amount of meat in the sandwich. He was even MORE UPSET WITH THE ACCIDENTAL MAYO SLAPPED ON>>>>>>>

He also thought all cuban sandwiches should come with pickles?

We also tried some harissa seasoned tater tots here.

The tater tots are prepared nicely…….I don’t really get harissa here but they are still good and are also a large portion.

The Goodwich (Just like most places…………….Better to dine in here)

900 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-910-8681

www.TheGoodwitch.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Casa Real Mexican Restaurant – Newly Opened Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

Casa Real full service Mexican Restaurant and Bar recently opened at 7121 West Craig Road in Las Vegas Nevada. Inside is very decorated with several wide screen TVs, many Mexican artifacts, and nick knacks.

They start you off with complimentary chips and salsa.

I tried a dish that most Mexican restaurants don’t offer……The chef’s specialty dish….The Salmon a la Plancha.

WOW! This is really different…Smashed pumpkin seeds, mild habanero and mango salsas, asparagus, a slightly sweetened white rice that is kinda risotto like, and creamy sweet fried plantains. The flavors are delicious……The fish today was cooked well done but isn’t dry or fishy. If this was cooked slightly less this really would be amazing.

My husband went with a combo fajita (beef, chicken, shrimp with added cheese).

It a very large generous portion and also came with flour tortillas. Some parts of it are better than other parts (just like most fajitas out there). My husband thought that the refried ere very good. His least favorite thing was the chicken because it was dry today.

On another visit we tried a Chile rellleno.

It was different than what I’m used too but was made with a fresh poblano pepper…..I was told that they grilled it instead of frying it today. It was stuffed with cheese and was battered and topped with a Chile type sauce and a drizzle of sour cream.

The Taco Salad with chicken is also a little different. It’s topped with guacamole and some creama. The chicken on it was moist. It is a little smaller than what most places offer but for me it’s a good size.

You can also get tacos here. Seafood, birria, and pork were tried here. All were flavorful and tasty. They came with Mexican style rice and refried beans.

Our server was attentive and the margaritas were strong.

Casa Real is newly opened. Worth a Try!

7121 W Craig Rd Las Vegas NV – 256-452-1375

www.CasaRealMexicanRestaurantNV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

2 Hour Braised Napa Cabbage or Stuffed Dumplings Recipe

There is a popular trend of frying cabbage lately. One of the fried cabbage recipes I came across was from Chef Adeena Sussman. Her recipe was called Melted Green Cabbage. She fried her cabbage wedges, fried the shallots and garlic, then put it all in a pan with broth, wine and seasoning cover it up and transfer to an oven for two hours.

This recipe is a different variation but is inspired by Chef Aleena Sussman’s recipe.

I do cabbage very often. It always gets crispy edges so I prefer to skip the frying of the cabbage. I just left my pan uncovered and I got crispy edges. This turned out to be a tasty different cabbage recipe that you can serve with anything. My Napa cabbage was sort of smaller so I got around 4 servings.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 Napa cabbage – quartered but not cored.

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

10 garlic cloves

2 large shallots cut into thick slices

1/2 cup white wine

1 Tablespoon vegetable soup base (I used Better Than Bouillon Brand)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

optional – parsley, and or chives to finish

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix together the wine, thyme with the vegetable paste and add it to your pan. Also add the butter to the pan. Place the cabbage, shallots, and garlic in the pan. Sprinkle the cabbage with olive oil. Sprinkle the salt and pepper.

Put this on the middle rack of your preheated 300 degree F oven for two hours.

After two hours it should look like this.

If desired sprinkle with parsley and or chives.

2 hour Braised Napa Cabbage

A Special THANKS!!!!! To Chef Adeena Sussman for her recipe so I could come up with what I got here.

The Cabbage was very good but I got the idea that it would be even more amazing in a dumpling……so…..

Then I made half a batch of Shirley Chung’s dumpling dough (2 c. flour, 1/2+1/8 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon salt) I chopped up one cabbage wedge with three braised garlic cloves chopped fine and part of a shallot chopped and mixed in one egg)

boiled them till they float.

Maybe I’ll fry them?

Then I fried around half of the dumplings in around a stick of butter and some of the oil that was sitting in the dumpling dish.

Stuffed Dumplings with two hour Braised Cabbage

These were FORKING Delicious!

The Forking Truth

Pumpernickel Crisps Recipe

I’ve been making lots of crisps lately. I thought I’d try to make pumpernickel today.

This will make about 6 servings

1 cup flour

1/2 cup dark rye flour

1/4 cup wheat graham flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon caraway seeds + more for finishing

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon onion flakes

poppy seeds – to taste to finish

flake sea salt – to taste to finish

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + MORE to spray dough

1/2 cup water (maybe add 1 more tablespoon if needed)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, caraway seeds, cumin, coriander, garlic, onion flakes, oil, water.

Divide in three balls.

Over parchment place and flatten a dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and roll thin. Place this on a baking sheet.

Remove plastic wrap.

Spray dough with olive oil, sprinkle salt flakes, poppy seeds, and caraway seeds.

This goes on middle rack of preheated 450F degree oven for around 13-14 minutes or until done.

When it’s hot it might still be soft. Wait till it cools. If not crisp enough turn it over and give it two or three minutes.

Pumpernickel Crisps

ENJOY!!!!!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to New China Cuisine – North Las Vegas NV – Nevada Style Chinese Food….Soy Sauce Forward

New China Cuisine offers your usual American Chinese Foods and also offers NEW Boiling Cajun Shellfish dishes and a milk tea menu instead of the sushi they recently offered. They are located in North Las Vegas Nevada. It looks like your typical Chinese Restaurant with roomy booths and Chinese Style decorations.

I went with Szechuan Chicken.

It’s a very large portion and does come with LOTS of tender crisp vegetables. I have red and green bell peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, onions, carrots, and zucchini. The white meat chicken is MASTERFULLY tender…….The sauce is kinda flat and not very spicy……It taste mostly like thick soy sauce………Like from not all but most of the American Chinese Restaurants I’ve been to in Nevada……I’m beginning to think that Nevada Style American Chinese Food mostly taste like soy sauce………..

speaking of soy sauce……

The Hunan Beef also is MASTERFULLY TENDER like butter but taste even more like soy sauce. It comes with nicely steamed broccoli.

That was my trip to New China Cuisine……It might be Nevada Style American Chinese Food because what we tried was extremely soy sauce forward.

5515 Camino Al Norte North Las Vegas NV

702-438-3888

www.NewChinaCuisine.com

Every THING is subject to change

The Forking Truth

John Mull’s Meats & Road Kill Grill – Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

John Mull’s Meats & Road Kill Grill might look familiar to you if you watch Food Network’s Diners Drive-ins and Dives.

John Mull’s Meats & Road Kill Grill is located in the North Central Part of Las Vegas Nevada in a residential section. Around seventy years back this business was a slaughter house and meat shop that did catering. They no longer slaughter their own cattle here. They added a few outdoor picnic tables and serve mostly take out barbecue. They offer soups, sandwiches, dinners, and a variety of combo plates. The choices for the combo plates are – brisket, 1/4 chicken, hot link, pulled pork, pulled chicken, rib tips, pork ribs, (Tuesday-Thursday Tri-Tip).

I planned to dine here with the dogs because I read that this place is dog friendly but I had no idea that the place would be packed like sardines with people. It wasn’t the right environment to dine here with dogs so I waited in the car with the dogs and we did take out like most people.

Portions are tiny here……HA!…..I’m FORKING KIDDING!

My husband got an enormous combo plate with pulled chicken, pulled pork, brisket, macaroni and cheese, beans, cornbread, and a side order of hot links.

I got a combo plate of 1/4 dark chicken, brisket, macaroni and cheese, yams, and cornbread. Oh and it’s not tiny either.

My husband and I favored some things over other things….But the dogs enjoyed everything!

Between us out of what we tried we liked best the 1/4 dark chicken, pulled pork, hot links, beans, yams, sweet cornbread.

We both thought the brisket was tasty but we received a mix of fatty and lean brisket. Some pieces were dried out and others were moist.

We both thought that the macaroni and cheese was strange……..I thought it seemed like macaroni that was suspended in cream cheese with a little bit of cheddar mixed in.

“I enjoy the macaroni and cheese!” says the pup!

John Mull’s Meats & Road Kill Grill is Worth a Try!

3730 Thom Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-645-1200

www.JohnMullsMeats.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Honey Salt – Las Vegas NV – Pretty Darn Good – Worth a Try!

Honey Salt is a farm-to-table type restaurant and bar located in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer weekend brunch, weekday lunch, dinner, vegan menu, kids menu, and more. They also have an outside patio for when the weather is nice.

When you walk in you see a vintage salt and pepper collection.

Other vintage items are used to decorate the cozy place.

Today I went with the Mighty Kale Salad with added Salmon. (kale, hearts of palm, apples, grapes, Thai basil, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, Fresno chili, crispy chickpeas, vegetarian tom yum vinaigrette)

It’s all tasty together. Surprisingly I really enjoy the fresh cut grapes in here. The crispy chickpeas are almost like nuts. The kale looks fried but was really marinated. The salmon is well seasoned and was prepared perfect. All GOOD here!

My husband got the Roasted Ribeye Sandwich (provolone cheese, caramelized onion, horseradish aioli (requested on side), pickle chips, house potato chips)

The ribeye is tender like butter…..All GOOD here too!

We also shared a side of macaroni and cheese. (it has some kale, hatch chili, and breadcrumbs)

The flavors are very good but the pasta is mushy…..Maybe it’s that southern style that is served mushy?

Honey Salt – Pretty Darn Good – Worth a Try!

Honey Salt – 1031 Rampart Blvd Las Vegas NV

www.HaneySalt.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth