Author Archives: The Forking Truth

Smoky Carrots with Mole Dust and Lime Sour Cream Recipe

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This recipe is a spin off and was inspired by chef Michael Voltaggio’s Smoked Carrots with Coffee Mole Dirt recipe that he did on Food Network’s Guy’s Ranch Kitchen ( a chocolate sort of competition show). His version of the dirt is more chocolatey than mole. I added 8 ingredients to his recipe to make it taste closer to mole. The chef Voltaggio used a pellet grill to cook the carrots. You can do that if you want. I just roasted my carrots. This recipe makes far more Mole dust than needed. You can cut the recipe to make less but it is so darn delicious that you might want to use it on all kinds of things. I keep my extra in the freezer. I think it would be an amazing topping for brownies too! Serving size is difficult to judge. I like smaller side servings so for me this makes around 4 servings plus a lot extra mole dust.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups almond flour

7 Tablespoons butter – melted

3/4 cup flour

3 + 1/3 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 + 1/3 Tablespoons cocoa nibs (lightly crushed)

2 Tablespoons smoked paprika

1 guajillo dried pepper – seeds & stem removed, ground up in spice grinder

1 negro dried pepper – seeds & stem removed, ground up in spice grinder

1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder

1/2 teaspoon mild chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon granulated onion

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 + 1/2 lb carrots (peel if not organic) You can cut or leave whole but timing in the oven will differ

alderwood salt to taste

ground pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lime zest and juice

1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

Set the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix together the sugar, almond flour, butter, flour, cocoa, cocoa nibs, smoked paprika, guajillo pepper, negro pepper, chipotle powder, mild chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, granulated onion, granulated garlic and salt. Mix well. This mixture goes on silicon lined baking sheets. This goes in for 15 minutes, take them out and stir them up. Put them back in for another 15 minutes or until they smell very fragrant. Let them rest on the counter.

Set the oven to 425 degrees F

Zest the lime and keep the zest to the side.

Get the carrots on a baking sheet. Spray the carrots well with oil. Squeeze fresh lime juice all over the carrots. Sprinkle the carrots with the smoked salt and black pepper to taste. (timing will differ ….I had large carrots and mine took around 25 minutes on one side then I flipped them and they took another 20 minutes.

While your carrots are cooking mix together the sour cream and lime zest. Set it to the side or refrigerate.

Sprinkle the carrots with the mole dust. You can drizzle the sour cream with lime zest or serve on the side. I added a little fresh cilantro.


Smoky Carrots with Mole Dust and Sour Cream with Lime

ENJOY!

A special THANKS!!!! To chef Michael Voltaggio for his FORKING great recipe so I could do what I came up with!

The Forking Truth

Dining Out With DOGS in Metro Phoenix AZ – November 2021 – Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery, Cucina Tagliani, Skewers Mediterranean Grill, Oscar’s Pier 83

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Dining out with dogs. is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all sort of started with my dog Louie….he was elderly and was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. He couldn’t do a lot but he always enjoyed eating so I took him out to eat as often as I could. Instead of the 3-6 month diagnosis Louie made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat.

There is a lot to know about dining out with dogs. First of all not all restaurant patios are dog friendly. Even if a patio is dog friendly it is always best to call because you never know if the patio is. reserved for a party. It’s also always better to dine at off times. It’s always best to avoid as many people and other dogs as possible. Some people don’t share your love for dogs and other people are allergic. It’s best to avoid other dogs because dogs like to bark at each other and that can be a disturbance and you might be asked to leave. Dine at off times to avoid potential trouble.

Here in Phoenix it is often to hot to dine out with dogs. Your dog is not as heat tolerant as you. Dogs wear fur coats, they can’t sweat, and they absorb heat up their paws. Just like people all dogs have individual heat tolerances. Hopefully you know your dog well enough to determine if you should dine out together. In general 90 degrees and higher is too hot for dogs to dine out. But maybe up to 90 degrees for younger healthier dogs in shade. Shade makes a difference here. When there is any doubt be smart and leave your furry friend at home.

Most food and drink that you consume can be harmful or toxic to your dog. It’s best to get the facts from your veterinarian on what is safe and what to avoid. Usually a small lean un-sauced piece of meat is a best bet.You should bring a water dish so your dog can lap up some water.

When you dine out with your dog(s) you should keep them close to you. You should never let them sit on restaurant furniture. You should also never let them eat off of restaurant plates.

We went out to Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix. They are a Vietnamese restaurant that offers around a dozen different Banh Mi Baguette sandwiches and most of your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.

Today I had a chicken cabbage salad and chicken pot stickers. (this big and delicious salad with fresh herbs is only $7. and the tasty hand made potstickers are only $5.)

Someone is eyeing up the food.

My husband had a shaken beef Banh Mi today.

Someone is hoping extra beef shakes out.

We all enjoyed our meals at Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery in North Phoenix.

www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com

Next we went to Cucina Tagliani in the Arrowhead part of Glendale. Cucina Tagliani is a neighborhood type restaurant that offers American Italian style favorites, build your own pastas, soups, sandwiches, salads, a few entrees and more!

Cucina Tagliani happens to also have a nice large officially licensed dog friendly patio and it’s usually very quiet on Sundays so we like to take advantage of that and we get treated like kings and queens.

My dogs were served their own water pans right away.

We ordered and my husband started with some minestrone soup.

Each dog got a piece of bacon from the soup.

Soon the meals came out.

I had the strawberry chicken salad and dogs got lots of the chicken.

My husband had the chicken parmesan.

All the chicken was moist today so we did ok at Cucina Tagliani.

www.CucinaTagliani.com

This next trip out with the dogs went into plan “B.”

Our destination was Phila-Deli in Glendale. When we got there we saw a note they posted on the door and it read that they are temporarily closing on Sundays. Plan “B” was to go down the street to Skewers Mediterranean Grill ( fast/casual fresh Mediterranean foods). The …Skewers doesn’t have a patio but just across the street is a small park with tables for us to dine at.

I got a chicken kabob salad with turnips and chick peas.

It’s a pretty nice and tasty salad with lots of tasty moist delicious chicken to share with the dogs.

The dogs are waiting for their chicken.

My husband got a gyro salad.

The dogs are enjoying the food from Skewers.

Nice tasty large salads from Skewers Mediterranean Grill in North Glendale that don’t cost much more than fast food and is much better.

www.SkewersAZ.com

Since we couldn’t do Phila-Deli last week we thought we’d try again this week. We tried to call in our order 6 times and nobody answered the phone. We were afraid that they went out of business. When we got there we were relieved that they were open. We found out that they no longer make salads….(my first choice)…..Then I found out that they discontinued wraps too…..(my second choice). I like the people there and my husband likes the sandwiches but I am pickier…..and only liked the wraps and salads here…………We decided that we’d go down the street to Oscar’s Pier 83. Unfortunately the patio was already packed with lots of babies and other dogs. So we did take out and the dogs had to eat on our patio.

I got a salmon salad. It’s nothing fancy but the fish is fresh here.

My husband got a three piece fried fish (cod) dinner.

www.OP83.com

Well that was dining out with dogs in metro Phoenix for November 2021. We hope that you’ve enjoyed and we hope to see you next month.

“YUM!” “We LOVE eating!”
The Forking Truth
In Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017

Mac Shack – Casual Fresh Pasta Restaurant Glendale AZ – Newly Opened

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Mac Shack is a casual fresh pasta restaurant recently opened in north Glendale Arizona. The pasta is fresh made daily. They offer a variety of pastas with meat, vegetarian, vegan, and also offer build your own pasta pans. Other offerings are a few salads, bread, kid’s meals, marshmallow cereal bars, and soft beverages.

It’s small and casual inside.

There’s an artwork of Anthony Bourdain on the wall.

You order and pay at the counter. There is only a few tables and a couple seats at the counter.

the pasta machine is on the counter. There is a fresh tray of pasta that was just made.

Your order is fresh made for you and takes around twenty five minutes to prepare.

They bring our salad and pastas at the same time.

Cesar salad

The Caesar salad isn’t fancy but it is very large and is fresh and crisp.

I tried the pasta pan called Happy Valley (orecchiette, roasted garlic oil, olives, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan, capers, fresh basil, artichokes, and spinach)

My husband suggested getting the large size…..Nobody can eat a large…..I was able to do like almost a third of this pan. It’s good but they were overly generous with the olives….and too light with the basil. Mine stayed piping hot the whole time we were here.

My husband tried the cheesy mac’s bbq (elbows, cheese sauce, pulled pork, onion, pickle, cheddar blend, scallions, Ritz crumbs, bbq drizzle.

This one was gooey and cheesy. It’s not as piping hot as mine.. He likes it. My husband is a big eater…..and loves to eat pasta. Even he could only eat half.

Went back to just to try the plain mac-n- cheese called the Mac Shack and took out the small size.

It’s cheesy with melted cheddar and crumbs on the top. Could use a little seasoning for adults but it just right for kids.

Doesn’t cost much to dine here and it’s better than fast food. (most large pans are around $15. and they can certainly feed at least two people)

Mac Shack – Newly Opened in north Glendale AZ #UpperWestSide

www.MacShackAZ.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

The SKINNY on Thinnest Dough Pizzas and Such in Metro Phoenix AZ – Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante, Pane Bianco, Pomo Pizzeria, Mora Italian, PA’LA Downtown

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Here is the SKINNY on the thinnest dough pizzas and such in Metro Phoenix Arizona. If you are a fan of the extra thin doughs and are around Phoenix this might be of interest to you.

Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in north Glendale offers all of their pizzas (around 16 varieties Milano Style……….. that means EXTRA thin…much thinner than their normal thin Neapolitan pizzas. Thin pizzas never weigh you down. You can enjoy more pizza when you go for the extra thin. Up above is the vegetariana pizza made of D.O.P. tomato sauce, flor di latte, red bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.

Next is a spinach calzone from Pane Bianco in Phoenix.

It looks like a normal doughy calzone.

But look!

This dough is paper thin…This is super thin calzone dough….gives you more belly room for that rich creamy cheesus filling. BTW- The cheeses are incredible here. For my taste it is a little light on the spinach but it does taste great.

Pomo Pizzeria offers quite a few extra thins. One is the Pizza Rimini in 4 varieties.

It gets baked for a very short time at around 900 degrees in a certified Italian wood oven.

Pomo also offers the Focaccia di Recco in three varieties. (below is the formaggio)

This focaccia gets rolled even thinner than the Rimini pizza because it gets stuffed with stracchino cheese and you can add on local honey to enjoy it even more.

Focaccia di Recco from Pomo Pizzeria

Here is the focaccia di recco in the pesto variety from Pomo.

focaccia di recco pesto

LOOK how paper thin it really is.

I loved the Focaccia di Recco so much from Pomo Pizzeria that I had to try it when I saw it on the menu at Mora Italian in Phoenix.

The Mora Italian Focaccia di Recco was very different from the Pomo Pizzeria. Mora’s wasn’t as crisp and the cheese didn’t come out all melty.

I was told by the manager that Mora Italian uses a different oven so the results do differ.

The thinnest non-extra thin pizza that we have received was the mushroom with mozzarella and salamette picante from PA’LA Downtown.

It was a very chewy very thin pizza.

This was the SKINNY on the thinnest dough pizzas and such in Metro Phoenix AZ.

Every FORKING thing is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

EASY FORKING Delicious Cold Cucumber Horseradish Soup with Tuna Salad Recipe

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I had two cucumbers, extra herbs, and tuna packets and this is what I came up with. It’s very easy to prepare and happened to come out delicious. There is one ingredient that most people will not have. Amora Mustard from France. Your tuna salad will come out different if you don’t use Amora…….It happens that Amora is the smoothest mustard that I have ever tried. Other dijon mustards are very harsh after trying Amora…….I’m guessing the easiest substitute would be any dijon mustard mixed with 1/2 mayonnaise…It’s pretty easy to find Amora Mustard on-line.

Ingredients for around 2 servings

2 radishes – thinly sliced

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable stock

2 cucumbers – remove skin, seeds, rough chopped

2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish (or to taste)

2 Tablespoons basil leaves

2 Tablespoons scallions

2Tablespoons dried chives

1 teaspoon sour cream

5-6 oz tuna fish drained ( I used two small packs. Each pack is something like 2.6 oz.)

1/2 apple – remove core, remove skin, small dice

1 Tablespoon celery leaves – chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh dill – chopped

1 Tablespoon scallions – chopped

2 Tablespoons Amora Dijon Mustard

Directions

Pickle the radishes. Bring the water, vinegar, and sugar to a boil. (you can do this on the stove or the microwave….It truly doesn’t matter) Add the radish slices and let them pickle on the counter for at least 30 minutes.

Made the cold cucumber horseradish soup. Blend together the vegetable stock, cucumbers, horseradish, basil, scallions, chives, and sour cream. Keep in the refrigerator to chill.

Make the tuna salad. Mix together the tuna, apple, celery leaves, dill, scallions, and Amora mustard.

Serve the tuna salad with the cucumber horseradish soup and garnish with the pickled radishes.

Easy FORKING Delicious Cold Cucumber Horseradish Soup with Tuna Salad

ENJOY!

The Forking Truth

I was BAMBOOZLED by a review site. Dirty Tables, Bad Chips & Salsa, Soapy Silverware, Stringy dry meat, 3% Processing Charge and MORE!

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I recently went to one restaurant in Phoenix Arizona and had a most unpleasant experience. I doubt whoever just opened this restaurant knows anything about the hospitality business. My gut told me that I should leave as soon as I got here….It was my bad for staying…….Note to self listen to your gut. This is the only restaurant (so far) that I am not mentioning by name. This restaurant has so many problems I doubt they will be around for long anyway unless they bring someone in to help. The only reason I wanted to eat here is because I was BAMBOOZLED on Yelp. I read mostly all 5 star reviews and looked at mouth watering photos of food……I can only figure that the reviews must have been done by friends and family…..I have no idea where they got the photos from……….I sure didn’t get anything that resembled the food I looked at…….This is the only way that I can write about this restaurant.

We walked in early just twenty minutes after they opened. Every table in the restaurant was left dirty from the night before with crumbs and smudges.

crumbs and smudges on every table “actual table”

I thought our waitress was dressed like a slut.

not actual waitress but similar

Since every table was filthy I thought our server would wipe the table off that she sat us at…. but she didn’t…. so we wiped off the table ourselves………………….. They obviously don’t even concern themselves about sanitation.

Then she introduces another slut…I mean waitress that she is training who is even sluttier.

Not actual waitress …ours had even more cut outs

We order and soon complimentary chips and salsa come out.

actual complimentary chips and salsa

Oh my they don’t know how to make chips and salsa. These chips taste like the ones that Costco sells (that aren’t good). They tried to heat the chips up but didn’t do that right because they taste burnt….. The sauce taste just like crushed canned tomatoes with too much added dry oregano and doctored up slightly with a little hot sauce. Wow it’s like a child made the salsa.

We needed silverware for our meals that arrived. We were the only table on the restaurant and our server was unaware that we needed silverware…….So we asked for silverware……Then we got some and I unrolled my silverware and they were covered in soap residue. I used my glass of water to soak off the soap from the silverware.

All the food that we received was mediocre….meats were like dry stringy pot roast. Flavors weren’t so good. I ordered a grilled fish taco and the cook made me a breaded fish taco that seemed like it was already reheated a few times. It was similar to bad buffet food.

Finally we asked for the bill. They have some sort of new electronic paying system where you don’t see the bill until you see it in your email on the computer.

They added on without telling us an extra 3% called processing tech charge.

Dirty Tables, Bad Chips and Bad Salsa, Soupy Silverware, Dry stingy meats, Undisclosed 3% processing tech fees, and some peoples daughters dressed like sluts from some restaurant in Metro Phoenix Arizona.

Everything is subject to change….This restaurant will probably close and re-open soon as another restaurant.

I only went here because of the glowing reviews and amazing looking pictures of food from a certain review site. It turns out that I was bamboozled by a review site.

The Forking Truth

Cauliflower Piccata Recipe

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This recipe is a variation of Cauliflower Piccata by Hetty McKinnon’s by The New York Times. I changed a few things as I was going along.. I roasted the garbanzos with the cauliflower instead of just adding them from the can. I cut the amount of butter in half because I thought I had enough. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of flour to give the sauce some body. Those were the changes I made. Serving size is hard to judge. For me this made 6 side servings. But if you want bigger servings than me it will only make 4 servings. It also depends on the size of your cauliflower too.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 cauliflower – cut into florets

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this is approximate and is for the cauliflower/chick peas and the frying of the shallots)

sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 (15 ounce) can chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed three times

1 shallot – minced

3 garlic cloves ground to paste

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon flour

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (feel free to add 2 more Tablespoons if desired)

2 Tablespoons capers – drained

zest of one lemon

juice of 1/2 a lemon (thinly slice the other half of the lemon)

1/4 cup parsley leaves – chopped for finishing

Directions

Turn the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the cauliflower florets on a sheet pan mixed with the drained chick peas. Spray them well with the olive oil and season to taste with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Roast till golden and brown. Timing will differ….25-45 minutes. Remove when done.

Mix the flour with the vegetable stock and set to the side.

In a medium fry pan add a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. When hot add the shallots and stir as needed. After about a minute add the garlic and stir. As soon as you smell the garlic (less than a minute) add the vegetable stock (mixed with 1/2 teaspoon flour) and let it reduce by half. Turn down to low and add the butter, capers, lemon juice and lemon zest. Season to taste.

Serve and finish with lemon slices and parsley.

Cauliflower Piccata

ENJOY!

A special THANKS to Hetty McKinnon and The New York Times for a great Recipe so I can do what I did!

The Forking Truth

Some of the Destination Lunch Places in Metro Phoenix AZ

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There are several different kinds of restaurants out there. Most go under the categories of neighborhood restaurants….and neighborhood restaurants also are very good restaurants. We LOVE neighborhood restaurants……….but…… Some restaurants out there are destination restaurants. Destination restaurants serve the FANTABULOUS dishes. These are the restaurants that you drive across town for. We lost some of our destination lunch restaurants like Tarbell’s Tavern, Christopher’s and Vincent Market Bistro possibly due to the pandemic. Some restaurants have cut back lunch service to limited days. It is important that we still have some destination lunch restaurants. These restaurants are great for a special lunch out. Some only offer lunch on the weekends. Maybe you want to impress a friend or a relative. Maybe you want a special lunch for an anniversary or a birthday. Or maybe it’s for just because…….

Here they are in no particular order.

The Craftsman (lunch Fri, Sat. Sun.) in North Scottsdale offers some expectational cuisine. When you taste just even a salad you know that it isn’t ordinary. It’s the highest freshest quality.

crunchy quinoa salad with chicken
Craftsman muffuletta with fries
shipwright ahi salad
tomato and melon burrata

www.TheCraftsmanAZ.com

We have Elements at Sanctuary (lunch Mon., Tue., Wed., Thurs., Fri.) in Paradise Valley with celebrity chef Beau Macmillan. The menu is ever changing and seasonal. But you are sure to find a variety of appetizers a special of the day, bento boxes, a very good exceptional chicken dish, and pastry chef quality desserts.

bento box
house made cavatelli with duck confit
seasonal chicken thigh dish
five spice beef tenderloin
chef crafted dessert

www.SantuuaryCamelback.com/dining/Elements

Ocotillo (lunch Sat., Sun. subject to change) is a restaurant and more. It is technically also a coffee bar, cocktail lounge, wine bar, event space and park. They offer a mostly American menu laced with global cuisine. The menu offered is a large brunch menu of mostly sharing plates of salads, vegetable plates, sweets (breakfast), light plates, savory plates. I counted over 20 different plates to choose from. The menus are seasonal and do change. Also the hours change. Before the pandemic Ocotillo offered a great lunch everyday. Currently brunch is offered on the weekends of mostly lunch sharing plates.

house smoked salmon plate
crispy chicken meatballs
tandoori chicken salad pita with tomato watermelon salad
vanilia roasted pear with goat cheese and bitter chocolate with mint
smoked brisket on parmesan polenta, fried egg, crispy onions, brisket jus
Japanese fish and chips

It’s easy to see why Ocotillo is a destination restaurant.

www.OcotilloPHX.com

Superstition Downtown Meadery (lunch 7 days a week) in Phoenix offers chef crafted food and award winning meadery (ancient honey wine). They offer sharing boards, small sharing plates and large sharing plates and food and mead pairings.

12 mead sampler $24.
piri piri chicken & warm cannelli bean salad
gorgonzola. & herb butter skirt steak
blondies with cocoa nibs and Marion berry mead sauce whipped cream

www.SuperstitionMeadery.com

Another one of the top destinations for a special lunch would be the small restaurant in Carefree called Confluence (lunch Wed. Thurs., Fri., Sat.) They serve ever changing seasonal menus of elevated modern cuisine….You can order appetizers, lunch, and don’t miss dessert….because the desserts are equally amazing as the food.

Some of the amazing detailed and delicious lunches from Confluence that we tried were- –

kampachi crudo appetizer
miso braised beef cheek (don’t miss out on any beef cheek you ever come across from Confluence) (this was only on the lunch menu maybe one week)
Wagyu pastrami sandwich
cubano sandwich
BBQ chicken sandwich, celery root, spicy pickle, beet greens, smoked onion mayo, on a house made fontina roll (This might have been the most delicious sandwich that I have ever eaten anywhere)
buttermilk fried chicken with broccolini, grits and chili tepin honey mustard
mixed fruit granite
spiced plum with black pepper oat crumble, sake poached cherry, candied manderanquat, mint, matcha creme anglaise
chocolate mousse
smoked toffee risotto, spiced pear, cocoa nibs, hazelnut, mint

www.RestaurantConfluence.com

These are some of the destination restaurants of metro Phoenix for lunch.

In no particular order-

The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen – (Fri-Sun.) North Scottsdale

Elements at Sanctuary – (Mon-Fri) Paradise Valley

Ocotillo – (Sat-Sun) Phoenix

Superstition Downtown Meadery – (7 Days) Downtown Phoenix

Confluence – (Wed-Sat) Carefree

Some Honorable Mentions

PA’LA – Downtown (Tue-Sat Lunch)

Twist Bistro – North Scottsdale (Tue-Sat Lunch)

Campo Italian Bistro – Scottsdale (Sat-Sun Brunch with Lunch plates)

Chula Seafood Uptown – Phoenix (7 days)

Pane Bianco – Phoenix (Mon-Sat)

Pomo Pizzeria – Scottsdale (7 days)

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Tap & Bowl Restaurant & Bar in Scottsdale AZ

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Tap & Bowl is a unique small restaurant and bar located by the arts district and on the end of the waterfront near to Old Town Scottsdale Arizona. This restaurant offers appetizers like dips, wings, and fried pickle chips. They also offer a variety of seasonal and some globally inspired bowls. They offer craft beers, cider, cocktails, hand crafted sodas and water filtered by an Italian soda machine.

You can sit inside at the bar, at a high top, on a sofa or booth. Outside on the shaded patio are traditional tables with bench seating.

On my last visit I tried a watermelon cucumber soda.

It was light refreshing and delicious.

This time I went with iced tea.

Both times here I had the Atlantic salmon & cali rice bowl. It is mostly riced cauliflower that is really pretty good and you almost forget that you are eating cauliflower…It’s almost like eating quinoa and it’s studded with edamame, carrots, onions, peppers, mushrooms and maybe some seasonal veggies. It’s all laced with Asian tasting sauces.

Last visit Atlantic salmon & cali bowl

The recent Atlantic salmon and cali bowl did differ slightly but was still delicious.

The biggest difference between the two bowls was the salmon. Last time it was served medium-rare and this time it was served well done.

The meal my husband enjoyed last time (the chicken macaroni and cheese bowl has been discontinued so this time he ordered the puerco con masa (masa caked topped with pulled pork with pico, honey and hot sauce.

He said that it was very tasty. He also said that he thought the hot sauce was particularly good.

Tap & Bowl is a nice little stop that maybe you haven’t thought about. On both visits all the food was tasty and not too heavy.

That was just a Little Taste of Tap & Bowl in Scottsdale AZ.

www.TapandBowl.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Roasted Parsnips, Brussels Sprouts Leaves, Olives, Sage, Lemon, and Bonito Flakes Recipe

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I wanted to do something with parsnips today. I looked up recipes and found maybe ten different recipes that paired parsnips with sage and bacon…..So I thought of bonito flakes….Bonito flakes are shaved dried fermented and smoked tuna. They are almost like a mix of anchovy and bacon but more delicate. That makes bonito flakes more vegetable friendly than bacon. Bonito flakes are easy to find at your local Asian Market or you can buy them on-line. I didn’t measure this recipe exactly. The hardest part is peeling the Brussels sprouts. I had a one pound bag of Brussels sprouts and maybe peeled half of each sprout and cooked the centers latter for a separate dish.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

4 large parsnips – Peel and cut around the cores into small wedges something like French fry shaped.

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 sprigs sage leaves – pick off leaves

1/4 cup green olives – pits removed – rough chopped

2 cups brussels sprouts leaves

1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

fresh crushed sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

4 good pinches of bonito flakes

Directions

Set your oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the parsnips on a baking sheet and spay or sprinkle the parsnips well with olive oil. Most them for 15 minutes. (they aren’t done yet). Add sage and olives and roast them 5-10 minutes more or until the parsnips are cooked. Toss in the sprout leaves. This goes back in the oven for only 2 minutes to wilt the leaves. Sprinkle with lemon juice add salt and pepper to taste. Finish with bonito flakes.

Roasted Parsnips, Sprout Leaves, Olives, Sage, Bonito Flakes, Lemon

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth