These peppers are tastier than many shishito peppers you might get at restaurants. These only take 15 minutes in the oven and it only takes a minute or two to whip up the sauce.
Ingredients for around two servings
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 Tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 garlic clove – ground to paste or finely grated
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (for finishing)
1 teaspoon furikake
8 oz shishito peppers
non stick spray or a little oil for pan
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F
Use a little non stick spray or oil for your baking sheet.
In a bowl combine the peanut oil, hoisin, soy sauce and garlic clove. Mix well and then toss in the peppers and mix them up well to get the sauce all over them. Spread the peppers out on the baking sheet. Place sheet in the middle rack of the oven till peppers are charred. Timing might differ but in my oven this took 15 minutes.
Take out when done and add the sesame seeds and the furikake.
I’m brining a pastrami and I need beer mustard to go with it. I’ve made mustard before…then I branched off to spicy mustard and now I graduated to beer mustard. This one might be my best. I think it’s pretty good. My husband enjoys mustard more than me and he said that it is REALLY GOOD! It’s pretty easy to make but over night it thickens up slightly so you might want to thin it down a tiny bit more with more beer. It’s easy to make but you do need a spice grinder to grind up the seeds. This makes around a cup of mustard. I’m guessing that might be around 16 servings.
Ingredients for around 16 servings.
4 Tablespoons black mustard seeds (+1/2 teaspoon at end)
2 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds (+1 Tablespoon at end)
2 allspice berries
7 juniper berries
4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup beer (I used a lager)……(you will need about two splashes……one at the end if desired……and maybe one The NEXT DAY because overnight it thickens…..if desired)…..(so don’t finish your beer)
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard seeds (these are left whole)
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (these are left whole)
Directions
In your spice grinder grind up the top 4 ingredient and blend not all the way to powder but a little chunky (mustard seeds, allspice seeds, juniper berries) and add to a small bowl or container. Add the apple cider vinegar, beer, honey, garlic, black pepper, turmeric, ground mustard and sea salt and mix. Now add the remaining mustard seeds. Add a splash of beer if desired. It will be best the next day. It might thicken some and you might want to add another splash of beer the next day.
Fabio On Fire is an Italian Restaurant, Bakery and Pizzeria located in North Peoria Arizona. Fabio On Fire is also well known for selling his delicious baked goods and fresh baked pizzas via his mobile pizza oven at food festivals, farmers markets and catering.
I did mention that Fabio On Fire is well known for his delicious Italian Food. Don’t hesitate making a reservation because usually by 4:30 the restaurant is already on a wait and you might not be able to get in.
(This photo was taken before the pandemic…many tables have been removed for distancing)
Fabio is often seen making pizzas….He also chats with guest when he can.
A year or so back the restaurant was expanded with a second dining room behind the pizza oven. Fabio’s portrait is painted on the back dining room wall.
Fabio’s fresh baked goods are featured in a case
The restaurant has a NEW out front patio in addition to the side patio that they already have.
Below is the side patio.
No matter where you are seated they also start you out with Fabio’s amazing crusty bread and olive oil dotted with balsamic.
I don’t really like to eat bread when I’m ordering pizza but it would be a horrible mistake not to eat Fabio’s delicious bread. We have to eat one piece and take the rest home for breakfast tomorrow.
Tonight I’m having the bufalina pizza.
It’s made of San Marzano tomato sauce, imported buffalo mozzarella, oregano, garlic, arugula, balsamic reduction and extra virgin olive oil. It’s a mix of all kinds of wonderful flavors. The buffalo cheese here isn’t watery and is firm like the way I prefer.
The crust is nice and thin…This kind of pizza is light and easy to eat. Mine is very crisp today.
My husband got the salciccia (San Marzano Tomato sauce, mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms and extra virgin olive oil).
If we get dessert usually but not all the time we often get the house made gelato because it is truly FABULOUS and possibly might be the best gelato in the country. Fabio should bring his gelato to Shark Tank and have them invest in him. So today we took a leap of faith and went with the cannoli.
It’s a good cannoli. I am usually disappointed with cannoli that I get out at restaurants because I make my own from scratch. I even make the cheese. If I say that this is good then it is good!
Here are some of the food items we tried previously from Fabio On Fire.
pear saladstrawberry spinach saladbeet goat cheese and arugula saladgnocchi pestoveal tortelloni specialspinach ravioli with walnut sauce special. This one was really amazing!!!! Both me and my husband loved this one…This one is extra special.eggplant parm specialshort rib ravioli specialsausage ravioli specialnapoletano (anchovy) pizzatake out- halibut special, meatballs, orecchiettetakeout – funghi porcini ravioli special, strawberry gorgonzola salad, gnocchi sorrentina limoncello tiramisublood orange gelato (we’ve also had passionfruit, chocolate and the strawberry. They are all amazing.
Bandolero Cocina de Mexico recently opened in Scottsdale Arizona. The owner and chef specializes in Mexican and Spanish cuisine and also owns a tapas restaurant (I was told by my waiter). The restaurant has an unmarked entrance (subject to change). It’s between a juice shop and Pomo Pizzeria. (***update the sign will be installed 12-8-20)
The atmosphere is rich and stunning.
They also offer a dog friendly patio.
Bandolero means bandit or outlaw from Spain or Mexico but they offer a comfortable well spaced patio equipped with misters for cooling and portable heaters for those few chilly days.
They serve cocktails and specialized margaritas but (at the moment) are without a menu (soon to change). (****update cocktail menu will be out 12-9-20)
I had several questions about certain food items…My waiter was unable to answer my questions and neglected to ask for answers….
Anywho-
They started us off with complimentary chips and salsa.
The salsa and chips are very unique and unlike any I ever had anywhere before.
The chips are light and very thin but crisp. I suspect that they are perhaps made with different flours. Usually corn chips are made with nixtamalzation (lime water soaked corn) so they have that special corn chip taste. These taste different….like mixed with something sort of like rice flour. The salsa is different too. It’s a blended tomato sauce that is very mild and delicate and is mint forward. (******update I was told that the chips are indeed corn made from thin corn tortillas)
We share the huitlacoche (Mexican Truffle Corn Smut) as out appetizer and took home the rice and beans.
The huitlacoche inside the enchiladas is mixed with a lot of mushrooms. It’s less flavorful or maybe more delicate than most huitllacoche that I have tried. The chili glaze over the enchiladas is also very mild and delicate. The corn kernels are very soft…….
For my main I ordered the lubina a la sal (salt crusted whole stripe bass) served table side.
I asked what the green was…….I wasn’t told what it was but I was told not to eat it….so I didn’t. The fish really was amazing. It was as if it was just caught and was prepared to perfection. It was seasoned just so I have to add. It almost tasted like it was still swimming in the ocean. I was told that this fish was just caught and flown in today.
I tell The Forking Truth so…….I have to say that the menu reads that I am suppose to get rice with my meal…For whatever reason someone served me mashed potatoes. (cool I like that better anyway) They are seasoned nice but are lumpy. (I don’t mind) I also was served two sauces with the fish. I asked what they were and my waiter didn’t know. The top sauce tasted like a buttery white sauce and went really great with the fish (this sauce was actually mojo de ago and was made with fish stock and tequila). The bottom sauce tasted like chipotle mayo and would be really delicious on a burger but was too overpowering for this fish…….(did someone give me a wrong sauce?) This was also a very large portion of food. I should have made it into two meals but wasted some potatoes and brought home some fish for my dogs.
My husband had the arroz con mariscos (spicy rice with shrimp, clams, mussels and jalapeños).
Everything here was prepared to perfection, was delicious and wasn’t too spicy either. It takes a lot of skill to prepare all these different seafood items and have them ready at the same time perfect.
We really enjoyed both dinners.
Sadly I was too full for dessert….this time.
That was my trip to Banolero Cocina de Mexico in Scottsdale AZ.
*****Update****The owner contacted me to tell me that they are closing the restaurant Dec. 7th & 8th for training****
I returned to Bandolero Cocina De Mexico for lunch about two weeks later. I see that they do indeed have new signs now.
Today we sat on the front patio.
It’s nice and open. I like how all the walls in the front open up too. Today we get a team of two waiters. They welcomed us and were able to answer questions. Soon we are given complimentary salsa and chips.
The salsa is much better today. It has a chunky vegetable texture and some acid and heat today. I also prefer that this batch taste cilantro forward. The chips are ok today.
I start out with the pumpkin soup.
It’s presented with a beautiful fried squash blossom and little coating pumpkin seeds with a drizzle of cream. The soup is ok….but for my taste is a bit heavy with too much added cream. Some people like it this way so it’s good for those people.
For lunch I tried the Monday chefs stew special. It was tortilla crusted chicken with rice, beans, salsas and corn.
I think it’s a great value for only $10.00. It’s a lot of food.
My husband tried the cochinita pibil tacos (achiote rubbed pork, slow baked with spices in banana leaves.
It was a little dry…..
From our first visit both fresh flown in seafood dishes were excellent (salt crusted whole strip bass & Spicy shrimp with shellfish and rice). From second visit the $10.00 lunch special was a good value and tasty.
I got these beautiful baby eggplants so I had to come up with something with things I had at home. This was pretty easy to make. It would be best to pickle the peppers the day before. The eggplants, tomatoes and shallots all went in the 350 degree F oven at the same time and all got done in 45 minutes. White they were roasting the dressing can be whipped up fast. Basil leaves can be crisped in oven. They only take 3-6 minutes. You can do this while stuff is cooking. This recipe makes more pickled peppers than you need. The extra peppers are great in sandwiches and salads.
Ingredients for around 5 servings.
8 oz baby bell peppers – sliced in rings
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 garlic – ground to paste
1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1 lb baby eggplants (I had 5 baby eggplants) – cut in half long ways and score them (like cross hatch)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I don’t know the exact amount because I sprayed the vegetables and basil with the oil. I also used one Tablespoon of oil later in the recipe for the dressing.
1 lemon just the fresh squeezed juice (one lemon goes on eggplants ( half a lemon for the juice is used later for the dressing)
1 pint grape tomatoes – cut in half
2 shallots – diced
1 cup basil leaves
fresh crushed sea salt to taste – goes on eggplants, tomatoes, shallots
fresh crushed black pepper to taste – goes on eggplants, tomatoes, shallots
10 anchovies + a little oil (1 or 2 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice
1 garlic clove – ground to paste
1 Tablespoon capers – drained
1 Tablespoon golden raisins
Directions
You need to make the pickled peppers first.
Put your pepper rings in a container with the garlic. In a sauce pot on medium high heat add the vinegars, water, kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, coriander seeds, bay leaf and dried oregano. Bring this mixture to a boil and then pour it over the peppers. Leave it on the counter till it’s room temperature. After it cools down you can refrigerate it.
Your oven gets set to 350 degrees F.
Baking sheets get sprayed with olive oil. Put the eggplants on one sheet, the tomatoes on another sheet and the shallots on another sheet. They all get sprayed with olive oil. The eggplants get drizzled with lemon juice too. They all get seasoned with salt and pepper.
I put the eggplants on the middle rack and the shallots and tomatoes on one rack under the eggplants. In my oven they took 45 minutes to be cooked and nicely browned. Your oven might differ some.
While they were roasting I whipped the dressing with my stick blender.
Blend up the anchovies, anchovies oil, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, capers and rosins till smooth and set to the side.
Now spray a baking sheet (lightly) with olive oil and place a single layer of basil leaves on the pan. lightly Spray the tops of basil leaves with olive oil. The leaves will crisp up fast…only 3-6 minutes.
Get ready to serve.
Eggplants on platter. Top with tomatoes. Then top with shallots. Top with some pickled peppers. The dressing you either put on bottom. Or dress around the plate or pour over. Lastly add the crisp leaves.
Baby Eggplants with Tomatoes, Shallots, Pickled Sweet Peppers, Crisp Basil and Anchovy Caper Dressing
I’ve subscribed to Universal Yums at www.UniversalYums.com . It’s a subscription service where you can subscribe or gift international boxes of snacks in a number of ways. Some of the basic offerings are a Yum Box. The Yum Box is six snacks, comes with a small booklet with, fun facts, trivia, a recipe and more and runs around $15.00 that includes shipping.
Fun facts and RecipeTrivia
The larger offerings are the Yum Yum Box. All that above plus more and double the snacks for around $25.00.
The biggest offering is called The Super Yum Box. You get the above plus more and 20 snacks for around $40.00.
I let my husband pick out the first snack. He picked crisp almond cookies called Amarettini.
The cookies are very tiny and very crispy and are extremely almond forward. I think they are very good and the little bag is filled with more cookies than I imagined. This one is very good. I hope we didn’t eat the best one first again.
My husband picks the next one. It’s some sort of carrot/orange snack cake. Now this one I expected to hate because I’m not a big fan of carrot cake or most packaged snack cakes.
This is a first…….It’s surprisingly good and seems fresh. I don’t get the carrot. The cake is just moist. The cream is laced with orange and isn’t too sweet. I can eat this…It’s good.
Next we went to the Yum Bag and tried the Lemon Fizzy Soda Candy at the top of the picture.
OMG this isn’t sweet. It’s so tangy it is painful to my mouth. My husband just munched his down and said, not very fizzy or good. I painfully let mine dissolve thinking that it might get better. Mine didn’t get fizzy either and stayed painful till the last few moments. I would not try this one again.
Artificially ketchup potato chips….???????
I open the bag and they smell like ketchup….They do have the taste of ketchup but a little sweeter and also too tangy….my mouth is very sensitive and the chemicals in the chips burn my mouth…..Doesn’t bother my husband though.
I wanted to save this for last but we didn’t.
Novi chocolate hazelnut bar. This chocolate bar just melts in your mouth. It’s creamy milk chocolate that is full of flavor and even the hazelnuts are full of hazelnut flavor. I wish I had another one of these bars in my box. This one was really good.
Truffle potato chips.
I open the bag and get a slight truffle aroma. The chips are very small and are light and crisp. They do have a pleasant truffle kind of taste to them that lingers in the mouth a bit. Another very good.
Here are tarallini. They are little tasty lemon and black pepper laced micro mini bagel shaped crackers. These are very tasty. I could use another bag of these too.
Now I’m trying my last treat.
It’s a round chocolate ball that is called Tiramisu. I usually don’t like that dessert made with ladies fingers, espresso, cream and rum…..Well I will give this a try.
Ummm I get the espresso right away but it’s not too strong and quickly turns to a rich milk chocolate taste that explodes into my mouth. It’s seems very rich but also is very satisfying….Wow I like it!
Those were my Forking Thoughts on Universal Yums – Italy
The gravy or sauce is cold in my photo and does look better warm. Just before Thanksgiving I got this beautiful bag of cipolini onions. In case you don’t know cipolini onions are small flat onions that you have to boil to peel. They are very special and are usually served with balsamic vinegar…..So I got the idea in my head that they would be great with cranberries and they are. My husband usually hates cranberry sauce but when he tasted this he said it was very good. This might be my usual cranberry sauce now. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. Leftovers can be frozen.
Ingredients for around 12 servings
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
4 Tablespoons turkey or chicken fat (or butter)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 lbs cipollini onions (boiled 2 minutes, cool, peel. Small ones I leave whole and bigger ones I chop)
1 orange (just the grated zest)
18 oz cranberries
4 bay leaves
3 cups turkey stock – preferably home made (or vegetable stock)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
sea salt – to taste
ground black peppers – to taste
balsamic vinegar – to taste
Directions
The sugar and water go in a pot on medium heat. Do not stir. You take its off the heat in about 5 minutes when it starts to turn brown. Then stir in the fat till melted and then the vinegar.
Add onions, cranberries, bay leaves and stock and bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer.
Reduce to desired consistency and add thyme. (I reduced to around half…this took a long time)
Add salt, pepper, balsamic to taste.
Balsamic Cipollini Onion and Cranberry Gravy Sauce
Turkey legs always come out crazy great when you stew them. This is a two for one because you also get a great stew too. You need to make my home made stock for this stew. My home made stock is also used for many of my stuffing recipes and my gravy recipe. Two large leg quarters made me 25 ounces of meat and two large bowls of stew.
Ingredients for around 6 servings
2 turkey leg quarters
1 lb parsnips – peeled, diced
1/2 large sweet onion – peeled diced
2 carrots – peeled diced
2 celery ribs – diced
13 cloves garlic – fine chopped
1 cup turkey stock
1 heaping teaspoon bomba (Italian hot pepper paste) ( I used Coluccio Brand Stuzzichino Hot Pepper Paste this has really great flavors to it)
2 bay leaves
3 good branches of parsley (hard ends cut off)
12 small sprigs thyme
6 sprigs rosemary
3 branches of sage
kosher salt – sprinkle legs well
granulated garlic – sprinkle legs well
ground black pepper – sprinkle legs well
paprika – sprinkle legs well
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and have a rack in the middle of the oven for the pan.
Fill the pan with the stock, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.
Add the leg quarters and season the tops well with kosher salt, granulated garlic, black pepper and paprika. (I used to season all over and found that the stew got too salty…but it comes out just right if I only do the top)
This gets wrapped tight with foil and goes on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven. Ovens do differ…..so timing will differ some……In my oven this was perfect in 2 1/2 hours.
Turkey Leg Stew
You need to remove the legs and let them cool an hour. Remove the skin and clean the meat off the bones. The stock cools on the counter till room temperature and then can go in the refrigerator to chill over night. The next day you came scrap off the fat that floats to the top. Use this flavorful fat to make your gravy.
A brand new restaurant called Belle’s Nashville Kitchen just opened up in Old Town Scottsdale and I wanted to try their Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich. I saw that they didn’t have a patio so we did take out.
We both got Nashville Style Hot Chicken Sandwiches. My side was a very large side salad and my husband got fries as his side.
Look at the fries they are very unusual.
They are sort of in-between a chip and a fry.
He’s a better look at the sandwich.
The chicken is crisp and has a medium hot spicy coating. Cayenne and paprika are the dominate flavors and the chicken breast is moist. I can tell you that the bun is eggy and soft. There is some creamy sauce on the upper bun with pickle chips. Under the chicken is a creamy slaw. When I tasted it at first I could taste blue cheese in it but after a bite of the chicken I didn’t taste the blue cheese anymore????????? (kitchen accident? had blue cheese dressing with my salad……maybe some dressing splashed on my sandwich….look at my take out package…..looks like someone wiped something out of it?)………Overall it was unique and tasty.
www.BellesNashvilleKitchen.com
We also did take out from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale.
They are well known for their Neapolitan Certified Pizzas and have been featured on Diners Drives and Dives a number of times on Food Network TV.
La Piazza Al Forno serves a variety of pizzas these days. Besides Neapolitan Certified Pizzas with hand pulled mozzerella they also offer Roman Style Pizzas and the New York Style weekend special pizzas. I heard that they also plan to offer Detroit Style pizzas in the near future. Besides pizza they offer some Italian foods and house made desserts.
Today we got the Italian Stallion Pizza and the Bianco Pizza with added Calabrian Chilies.
I’ve had many wonderful and delicious Neapolitan and Neapolitan style pizzas in metro phoenix but the crust here has a special tenderness and taste that is different. The hand pulled mozzarella (made in house) is also more flavorful. They also use a special higher quality milky ricotta that is special….It taste like fresh made almost like rich mascarpone. My favorite pizza here its usually the Bianco pizza on the right. It’s made with fresh hand pulled mozzarella, a high quality ricotta, Sicilian oregano, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil and garlic. I always add on the nicely flavored not too spicy Calabrian chilies…that just makes it POP!…….. I’ll be honest like I always am….that is why this is The Forking Truth……….. The pizzas here are not consistent but still are always delicious. I strongly prefer when they make the Bianco like the one below. See they look different!
It taste better when they spread the ricotta cheese with the hand pulled mozzarella and it all melts together and taste great. The solution is to spread the ricotta yourself.
My husband usually prefers a meaty pizza. But in a few days gets to share my Bianco leftovers and always says that he really likes that pizza too!
www.LaPiazzaFamiglia.com
Our last take out of the week was from Sala Thai in Peoria /#UpperWestSide
Obviously Sala Thai serves Thai Food.
We enjoy the spicy basil dishes here because they hand chop the proteins and these dishes are infused with more basil flavor, have more heat and run less sweet than from other near by Thai restaurants near us.
Below was our take out. Spicy basil fried pork rice and spicy pumpkin basil with chicken.
Below is a saucier version of what I had.
That was week 37 of take out during the coronavirus pandemic in metro Phoenix AZ.
Lure Fish House has opened in the Gainey Village section of Scottsdale Arizona. They are a reasonably priced fish restaurant. I was told that the fish are flown in daily and all the vegetables they use are organic. They have only been open a month at this time and at the moment are only open for dinner Monday-Saturday but lunch and Sunday are suppose to be added soon.
Inside are booths, half booths, an oyster bar and tables. Not all but many tables were high tops.
They also offer patio seating that wraps around the front of the building.
Tables get marked sanitized so you know that you can sit there.
We ordered and they started us out with delicious fresh baked sour dough rolls and soft butter. We shared one and took the other two home. They are too delicious to waste.
My husband can eat more than me and tried a mix of east coast (blue point) and west coast (British Columbia) oysters.
The east cost oysters have larger more shapely shells. My husband said that the east coast oysters also had a brinier more salty flavor but the west coast oysters were softer.
It’s a good sized fish with crispy seasoned skin. It came with a ramekin of what taste like lemon butter wine sauce. Everything was prepared reasonably well.
My husband tried the cioppino.
It’s a mix of fish (salmon tonight), clams, mussels, shrimp and scallops in a spiced briny seafood laced tomato broth with garlic toasts. Today this was slightly over cooked but my husband neglected to say that until we left.
Tried the blueberry cobbler for dessert.
It was nice and fresh tasting and not too sweet. The oatmeal crumble didn’t seem too heavy.
They offer a pay by phone option too!
Last time we did take out and took out The sand dabs with pineapple slaw and cilantro corn salad. (I really enjoyed this one a lot)
My husband had the tequila lime shrimp pasta. This was very spicy but delicious!
We also enjoyed the key lime pie.
That was a little taste and my 2nd nibble at Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ
