Author Archives: The Forking Truth

A Taste of Urban Margarita in Glendale AZ

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Urban Margarita is an American Restaurant that swings to New Mexican Fusion Cuisine. This restaurant is located in a strip mall in the Arrowhead section of North Glendale that is also known as the Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix Arizona. Urban Margarita was listed in the Phoenix New Times as among the ten BEST restaurants for New Mexican Cuisine in Metro Phoenix.

It looks like this when you walk in. To the right side of the photo is an indoor-outdoor bar with high top tables near the bar.

To the left is the inside dining area.

Behind the main dining area is another room with a bar.

There is also a partially covered outside patio with a indoor/outdoor bar with misters, a fireplace, a big screen TV and heaters.

Today we shared the cheesy corn appetizer.

it came with a bowl of chips. It’s kind of simple…LOTS of tasty melted cheese, sweet fresh corn, some spices a little heat and grassy cilantro. It’s really delicious!

For my main I got the citrus marinated and grilled “Kickin Chicken” in pineapple habanero glaze with black beans and cilantro rice.

The sauce runs a little sweet but it is spicy…..Chicken is tender and the rice is very fluffy.

My husband got the slow braised hatch pork chile verde.

Not all but some of the previous dishes we’ve had at Urban Margarita were-

Baja chop salad is pictured below.

It a mound of spring mix, black beans, fresh corn, red onion, tomato, avocado, poblanos, cotija cheese and Baja vinaigrette. It’s topped with marinated grilled chicken breast. That Baja vinaigrette does have a good amount of acid to it.

Next is the Urban Burrito.

This one was stuffed with carnitas, lettuce, cheese, cilantro rice, black beans and corn. This was topped with what they call Baja sauce. (it looks like green chili sauce to me)

The stuffed Poblano pepper (with queso on the side).

The peppers (TWO) are stuffed with spicy shredded chicken. It came with rice and corn. I liked that this isn’t swimming in cheese sauce like most New Mexican cuisine that I have tried. This is approachable and sensible.

This is the slow braised pork rib in hatch chile verde with rice, black beans and tortillas.

We’ve had other dishes but I can’t find the photos…..I KNOW I had the salmon here.

We tried the bananas Foster ice cream tortas.

These were SINFULLY good.

This was bananas sautéed in Anejo rum, butter, and brown sugar over an ice cream stuffed brioche bun. It sounds weird but was DANG DELICIOUS!

That was a TASTE of Urban Margarita in Glendale AZ

www.UrbanMargarita.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of The Americano Restaurant in Scottsdale AZ

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The Americano Restaurant is an upscale Italian Restaurant and Steakhouse located in Scottsdale Arizona. Sometime around the end of September 2020 James Beard Restauranteur and celebrity chef Scott Conant and team took over ownership and operation of The Americano.

The Americano has a rich, modern, stunning atmosphere.

hostess station
the bar
1/2 moon booths
traditional tables
main dining area with a private room
open kitchen

They do not serve complimentary bread. Artisan bread and smoked butter is on current menu $6. and is served with a big glass dome for presentation. I think we were the only table that didn’t order bread. I had other plates on my mind so I had to skip the bread.

We started out by sharing the braised wagyu beef cheeks that was accented with a micro green and shaved cheese. It also came with vegetable fregola and pumpkin seed togarashi. ($21.) I did question our server about the pumpkin seed togarashi but they didn’t know what it was. (togarashi is a spice mix made with Japanese hot pepper)

The beef is tender and is developed with rich flavors. The fregola is much softer than I imagined it would be……the sweet peas and the pumpkinseed togarashi gave it the needed texture that was crunchy, nutty, and a little citrusy. It’s an excellent dish!

For my main I went with the seared Faroe Island salmon ($32.).

It was served with the bloodline but there were also fresh herbs and olive tarragon salsa verde for enhancement.

Many things things about the dish that are exceptional. The peeled sweet cherry tomatoes are FORKING AMAZING! All I got out of my server that she knows the tomatoes were marinated. Somewhere there were two tiny pieces of fennel that also tasted amazing….The flavor in the fennel was so concentrated that it was like fennel bombs……The tomatoes and fennel were so flavorful and delicious! They made me happy. The fish is prepared reasonably well……It’s a little past medium but is still moist. The black puree on the plate is called charred scallion puree. It doesn’t taste like scallions….It reminds me of balsamic with another taste something like fish sauce.

We also shared the macaroni tre formaggi ($12.) with added fresh black truffles ($35.) that Scott Conant brought in from Italy.

The macaroni is made in house. WOW! This is one of the best macaroni and cheese dishes that I have ever had in a restaurant. It’s sublimely cheesy. The truffles are not the worst or the best and lack moisture and do have some flavor but are not full flavored….These I would have skipped if I knew what they were like today. But that macaroni and cheese is something that is a must to order. Between paying someone to make the pasta and all that real delicious cheese in there I bet that they don’t make any money on this dish. There is so much cheese in it Holy Chezus!

My husband had the campanelle ai gamberi ($29.).

It’s pasta with prawns, sea urchin (that butter of the sea), Calabrian chili, and breadcrumbs. He said that it was very good. He also said that the cherry tomatoes in his dish were exceptionable.

We were waited on by a team of people. Our glasses never ran dry. Plates were cleared quickly and all the glassware, silverware and plates seemed sparking clean.

That was a little taste of The Americano.

www.TheAmericanoRestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and it often does change.

The Forking Truth

Paccheri Pie Recipe

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Made a guess and it worked out! Had a bag of Paccheri Pasta. This pasta is shaped like large rings. I figured that I could turn it into something like a lasagna and not pre-boil the noodles and it worked out perfect. The cheese filling gets piped into the noodles with a pastry bag. This is just a basic sort of baked pasta recipe. Nothing fancy but it is a favorite of many. My idea of serving size will differ from your idea of serving size. For me this made 9 very small servings that you have to have with something else. I do note that I like smaller servings for a rich dish like this. So my guess is that for most people this might? make 6 servings that you still need with some vegetables or a salad.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

1/2 lb paccheri pasta (could differ slightly..depending on how it fills your pan.

1 cup grated parmigiana + extra for serving

4 oz mild or medium provolone cheese – grated (or you can use mozzarella) + extra if you want to melt some on for serving

1 lb all natural fresh ricotta (I usually make my own)

1 egg – lightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

couple grates fresh nutmeg

1 teaspoon parsley – chopped

around 32 oz tomato sauce (you can get a recipe here on The Forking Truth or use what you normally use + plus extra for serving

non stick spray

Directions

Set your oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a springform pan with non stick spray. Use an aluminum lined baking sheet under the springform pan to catch leaks. (my pan always leaks)

In a large bowl mix together the parmesan, provolone (or mozzarella), ricotta, egg, white pepper, nutmeg and parsley. Mix well. Use a pastry bag and fill it with the cheese mixture. Put this to the side.

Pour 1/3-1/2 inch of tomato sauce in the bottom of the springform pan. Push in the pasta and try to get sauce up the edges when you push the pasta into the pan.

Fill the pasta rings with cheese.

Top this extra generously with the remaining sauce…Around 1/3-1/2 inch over the pasta.

Cover tight with foil.

This goes on the middle rack of a preheated 375 degree oven for 60 minutes. This needs to sit on the counter to cool down to room temperature. Then you refrigerate it over night to set up. You might want to reheat with some added grated cheese and maybe a little more sauce.

Paccheri Pie

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Bahia De Guaymas in Phoenix AZ

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Bahia De Guaymas is a Sonoran Mexican Restaurant located in Phoenix Arizona. They offer mostly seafood items but also do offer meats and chicken. The menu is mostly in Spanish. Here English is the second language but the servers are bilingual.

This isn’t a fancy place but parking is easy since they have their own parking lot.

In the front of the restaurant a bar stretches across the room and behind is a dining area filled with traditional tables and booths along one side.

The tables are set with a bucket of many bottled sauces that don’t look clean or safe to use.

Lets take a peek at the menu….

They start us off with chips salsa and a bowl of limes.

I see marlin tacos on the menu. You can’t find marlin tacos everywhere so we share one.

This marlin taco is served on a fresh made grilled slightly puffy shell and has melted white cheese inside with the smoked marlin and is garnished with a little salad.

For my main I had the filete a la diablo.

It’s a nicely grilled mild white fish covered in a blanket of a chipotle-ee tomato-ee sauce. It’s a little spicy…….The rice is seasoned some with maybe a chicken broth and is studded with a few vegetables like peas, carrots and corn. The refried beans are very loose and soupy. We also got tortillas to share. The corn tortillas were hot and were grilled extra nice. The flour tortillas were maybe the thinest flour tortillas that I have ever had anywhere. I don’t know if they made them but they did taste like home made tortillas.

My husbands meal was very similar but was with camaron (shrimp).

That was my trip to Bahia De Guaymas in Phoenix AZ.

This restaurant has an authentic feel to it. The standout dish was the smoked marlin taco.

I haven’t found a website for this restaurant but they are on Facebook

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Red Butternut Squash Curry with Mushrooms & Spinach Recipe

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I found this recipe on the web and it was done by a famous chef so it seemed like it was worth trying……I made it but after tasting it I thought it was tragically under seasoned and didn’t even taste good. I am certain that their food is good from their restaurant but I suspect that much of the recipe was missing.>>>>because it just didn’t taste right. I think with everything I added it is at the very least good now. This is sort of how I started my blog…..by fixing other peoples recipes.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 butternut squash – peeled, seeds and membranes removed, and cut into large chunks

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon asafetida

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

2 red peppers – seeds, cores, stem removed – rough chopped

3 tomatoes – cores removed, rough chopped

hot red pepper to taste – seeds and core removed, – rough chopped

5 garlic cloves – peeled

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

6 oz tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

water to thin down – around a cup

4 oz mushrooms – sliced thin

4 oz spinach

a little cream or yogurt to taste to cream the sauce slightly

Directions

Puree the cardamon, peppers, tomatoes, chili, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, salt, water, garam masala, sugar, nutmeg, white pepper, turmeric and asafetida. Bring this mixture to a boil. Add the butternut squash chunks. Continue cooking until the squash is soft and edible. Add the sliced mushrooms. Cook 2 minutes more. Lastly stir in the spinach and serve.

( was fancy and added fried crispy mushrooms…Just washed off mushrooms dipped in corn starch and fried. I highly recommend making these mushrooms because the dish pops more with them.

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

A Taste of Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria AZ – Tasty Entrees

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Squid Ink Sushi is a Japanese Asian Fusion Restaurant located in North Peoria Arizona. They offer comfortable dining in a sleek modern environment.

They offer a bar up in the front of the restaurant with TVs.

They have a nice long sushi counter.

They also offer patio tables for when the weather is nice.

On the menu is traditional and various non traditional sushi. Squid Ink Sushi offers various appetizers like squid and Nancy (tempura fried squid), Korean sticky ribs, char grilled chicken wings with hot pepper sauce. They offer salads and bowl meals like Squid salad, ginger chicken salad, wagyu beef salad. Some of the entrees they offer are grilled salmon, coconut curry shrimp, a wagyu burger, and pepper crusted filet mignon.

Today we started out with some sushi (a spicy tuna roll, salmon, mackerel, and tuna).

The one thing that is noticeably different was the rice. It was pressed tighter than most places press the rice. That is a good thing. The FORKING Truth is that my introduction to sushi was from the Iron chef himself Masaharu Morimoto when he was the actual working chef at his namesake restaurant in Philadelphia. I didn’t know him personally but ate at his restaurant often enough to get a wave from chef Morimoto when I came in. Getting back to sushi Morimoto’s sushi was the prettiest, smallest and most tight sushi I ever had anywhere. To this day I’ve never had sushi anywhere like Morimoto’s sushi. So the tightness of the rice brought back that memory for me. Today the fish is very similar to other sushi restaurants in the area but the rice is shaped better.

But I am finding out the stand out items to be the entrees.

We split the Japanese Beef Salad made with grilled wagyu steak.

This is a different and really great salad. The beef is tender and flavorful. In the salad are soft greens, red onion, sweet tomatoes, mushrooms, cilantro, wasabi peas, and a sweet and spicy vinaigrette. These are especially good salads.

On a past visit we took out the Thai style chicken fried rice and the Atlantic salmon bowl. These were tasty and good.

But my favorite plate I had was a take out plate when they had Scottish salmon on the menu (not on current menu) On the right side of the photo below.

This salmon was amazing…Like from the best restaurant. So silky fresh and cooked medium like just right with a tasty char. On the left is a beef yakisoba. I didn’t try that one.

GET the Japanese beef salad made with wagyu beef!

Don’t miss the Scottish salmon when they have it.

Well that was a little taste of Squid Ink Sushi in Peoria AZ.

www.SquidInkSushi.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Little Miss BBQ Sunnyslope Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

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Little Miss BBQ is a casual central Texas style bbq restaurant with two locations in Phoenix Arizona. The original location is smaller and is located near the Phoenix Airport. It’s Little Miss BBQ University on University Drive. The 2nd location is in North Phoenix in the Sunnyslope area. The Sunnyslope location offers more seating, expanded hours, limited alcohol, and a few more menu items.

First you wait in line. Usually you start by waiting on the porch and get a whiff of BBQ from all the smokers going. Then you look at menus and decide on what you are having today.

The line moves slow soon you will be inside.

Here is a closer look at the front where you order.

You pass some rubs, sauces, canned alcohol, and some other stuff.

Now it’s your turn. Time to decide on what you want.

Then they slice up the meat for you. You get your sides. You pay and seat yourself.

You can seat yourself on the patio.

Or inside.

Today we shared a two meat plate of 1/2 lean and 1/2 fatty brisket (They use the highest quality prime here), turkey with slaw and potato salad. On the upper left corner in the below picture is the pork belly. My husband said his favorite today was the pork belly. …The pork belly was even more succulent than the fatty brisket.

Sometimes the fatty brisket is too succulent for me. But I know that is how most people prefer it.

My husband also tried a burrito.

He got it with the red mole sauce. He liked it for $10. but is a bigger fan of the meat plates.

Once I came on a Thursday and got the Thursday pastrami special…(This was excellent).

The above plate is from a prior visit….They did differ some in taste (turkey and the brisket) but it’s all very good…No complaints.

This plate has the jalapeño cheesy grits, meaty beans, fatty brisket, pulled pork, and sausage.

Little Miss BBQ is Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.LittleMissBBQ.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Gochugaru Cauliflower with Chive Cauliflower Core and Pickles Recipe

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I recently got my hands on gochugaru pepper powder and had to do something with Cauliflower. By looking at the photo it looks dry but it isn’t. It taste so darn good that I don’t want to change anything about the cauliflower. To make the cauliflower this is an easy, quick and delicious recipe. You might notice a confit egg on the cauliflower. I sous vide it at 147 degrees F for an hour. It came out slightly jammy but also loose. I think I want just slightly more jammy than loose. I’m thinking that I might cure an egg next time or if I confit the yolk do it a temperature or two higher for next time. Any egg that you prepare will go great here so I didn’t give any directions for the egg since it is optional. Serving size is difficult to just because I don’t know if you want this as a dinner side or a meal. My serving size may indeed differ from your idea of serving size. Also the cauliflowers do differ greatly in side. I used one very large cauliflower. You might have more sauce than you need if your cauliflower isn’t as large as mine was. So I do warn you that if your cauliflower is too small that you might accidentally boil your cauliflower in the oven from the extra sauce that you don’t need.

This recipe makes around 6 servings

1 large cauliflower – cut into florets, core saved (dried out bottom of core shaved off) and sliced thin

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 oz unsalted butter melted

1 teaspoon garlic confit (or substitute garlic (1-2 cloves ground to paste) or granulated garlic (1/2 teaspoon))

2 Tablespoons gochugaru pepper flakes

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup dried chives blended into dust (this was more than I used…you can try using less)

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

2 Tablespoons canola oil

small splash (maybe 1-2 Tablespoons) pickled hot pepper brine

non stick spray

2 whole pickles in slices

optional a few eggs cooked however you like

optional some fresh cilantro will taste well here

Directions

Set oven to 450 degrees F

In a small mixing bowl combine the 1 Tablespoon canola oil, butter, garlic confit, gochugaru, maple syrup, and rice wine vinegar. Either use a bag or large bowl and mix together the cauliflower florets and the gochugaru sauce you just made. Get out a sheet pan and spray it with non stick spray and in a single layer spread out the cauliflower florets.

In a small bowl mix together the dry chives, granulated garlic, canola and a small splash of pickled hot pepper brine. Get out a small baking sheet and spray it with non stick spray. Get as much as the green stuff on each side of the core slice surface as you can and lay them out on a baking sheet.

Put the cauliflower florets on the middle rack and the cores on the lower rack. Ovens do differ. In my oven they were nicely charred in 25 minutes.

Put it all together.

Gochugaru Cauliflower with Chive Cauliflower Core and Pickles

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Cauliflower – Saffron Smoked Paprika Roasted, Pickled, & Pureed with Jean Georges Vongerichten’s Caper Raisin Sauce Recipe

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I was reading recipes and I wanted to do something great with cauliflower. Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Gordon Ramsey, and another chef George Blanc do cauliflower with caper raisin sauce (so that must be the thing that makes cauliflower sing?). The caper sauces differ slightly and one chef pickles the cauliflower and the other chef frys the cauliflower (I haven’t found chef Blanc’s recipe yet). I had three kinds of cauliflower so I thought that I should do three different cauliflowers. I roasted around a third of the cauliflower, pickled about a third of the cauliflower and pureed a round a third of the cauliflower. I picked Jean Georges Vongerichten’s recipe for the Caper Raisin Sauce because it sounded tastier to me.

Ingredients for around 12 servings

3 heads of cauliflower (I used one large white and a small purple and small green cauliflower) – break down to florets

3 cups apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon granulated onion

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

around 3/4 of a cauliflower (for puree)

1 oz unsalted butter

1 cup milk

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons boiling water

2 pinches saffron

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 red onion thinly sliced

1/3 cup capers – drained

1/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup water

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter – room temperature

1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

Directions

Pickle around one third (or a little less) of the cauliflower. Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, hot pepper flakes, granulated garlic, granulated onion, ground mustard, ground black pepper, ground coriander, and Old Bay Seasoning. Bring this mixture to a boil and then pour it over up to a third of the cauliflower florets. Let this sit out an hour. After an hour you can drain it. Either use it right away or refrigerate.

Make the cauliflower puree. I guess it doesn’t matter what color you use but I wouldn’t mix up the colors. I had a very large white cauliflower so I used maybe three quarters of the white cauliflower for the puree. Put the florets in a sauce pan with the butter and milk. Cook till soft on medium high. Then blend with the cream cheese and white pepper.Use when ready or refrigerate.

Make the saffron smoked paprika roasted cauliflower.

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the olive oil, boiling water, saffron, and smoked paprika.

Spread out the cauliflower florets and red onion slices and pour the saffron smoked paprika mixtures evenly over the florets and onions. Place pan on a middle rack in the oven and cook till cooked threw and slightly charred. (this took 20 minutes in my oven…yours may differ)

Make Jean-Goerges Vongerichten’s Caper Raisin Sauce

Put the drained capers, raisins, water in a sauce pot and simmer for around 15 minutes. blend and slowly add the butter one tablespoon at a time while blending. Add the sherry.

Serve together.

Cauliflower – saffron smoked paprika roasted, pickled & pureed with caper raisin sauce
Cauliflower – saffron smoked paprika roasted, pickled, pureed with JGV Caper Raisin Sauce

A special Thanks to Jean George Vongerichten for sharing his FORKING amazing Caper Raisin Sauce recipe so I could come up with this.

The Forking Truth

Chino Bandido Phoenix AZ – Around 90,000 Combinations of Food for around $10.00 or Less – Worth a Fork!

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Chino Bandido is a casual one of a kind unique restaurant located in North Phoenix Arizona. According to Food Network Chino Bandido is one of the top places to eat in the country. A quote from Guy Fieri of Food Network, “One of the most original on DDD” (TV Show Diners Drive-Ins and Dives) The menu offers food that is sort of American Chinese style, some food is Mexican-ish, and some food is Jerk Style. You can pick your pan of food as a single entree with a side or for only a little over a dollar more get a combo with two sides. Then you have even more choices. You can upgrade and burrito-ize any entree. You can also quesadilla -ize any entree. There are almost endless combinations. (according to Food Network they calculated nearly 90,000 combinations)

Here’s the menu the rest is up to you.

When you come in you fill out your order on a slip of paper on a small desk by this wall near the door you just came threw.

Then you wait in line.

It’s always busy.

When you get closer it looks like this.

The menu is up on the wall and the TV on the right plays Food Network shows with Chino Bandido.

You almost don’t see the mascot unless you look for him.

He’s in a corner of the main dining area.

After you order and pay. You get your beverage and seat yourself. When your meal is ready someone will run out of the kitchen calling your name with your tray of food and run it to you.

I got my usual Chile Relleno with emerald chicken with white rice and black beans and my husband got the carnitas quesadilla with hengrenade chicken, jerk rice and black beans.

It’s a lot of food. For me this is two meals but my husband eats his whole pan. We share one cookie for dessert. The Chile Relleno is very large and it’s packed with lots of cheese. The coating is a lot of crushed saltine crackers. I always like the emerald chicken. It’s white meat chicken that is always tender and moist and it’s topped with fresh ginger and scallions. I think it goes with the white rice and black beans.

The snickerdoodle is always a perfect sweet ending.

Hey I got two tasty meals that are better than fast food anywhere and are also cheaper than fast food.

I have to say-

Chino Bandido is Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.ChinoBandido.com

Everything is subject to change. (I bet the prices will have to go up a little sometime) Also a dog friendly patio is posted on the door but on the day of my visit they didn’t have patio tables yet.

The Forking Truth