Author Archives: The Forking Truth

Baked Potato Cakes with Shallots Gruyere Cheese and Thyme Recipe

I was inspired to create this recipe after watching a chef cooking competition show called Top Chef. One chef Bryan Voltaggio made potato cakes with shallots, gruyere cheese and thyme. I was meant to make them because those were the ingredients that I had to use up in my house. I don’t know for remember how the chef on TV make his potato cakes but mine also came out fabulous……They came out FORKING AMAZING! The whole house smelled FORKING AMAZING too! These are easy to make and come out incredible. A few oof the ingredients that I used are harder to find but if you don’t make this exactly the way I did it won’t come out as great. This recipe happened to make 12 smaller perfect potato cakes so I’d say that is about 12 servings but they are so delicious that some people might want to eat two servings.

Ingredients for up to 12 servings

1 lb shallots – peeled – sliced paper thin

1 1/2 lb red potatoes – peeled – cut in half depending on size -sitting in cold water -(salt)

2 Tablespoons sea salt (for boiling potatoes)

1 hot banana pepper – cut long ways in half (to boil with potatoes to give flavor)

2 oz unsalted butter

4 oz gruyere cheese – shredded

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Tablespoon Calabrian Chili Oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

few grates nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg – beaten

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

non stick cooking spray

Directions set oven to 500 degrees F.

On one burner put your pot of potatoes on a medium high boil with the salt and the hot pepper. Cook till potato is tender (15-20 min.)

On your other burner add the oils to the pan on high heat. When the oil is hot add the shallots and turn down to medium high. Stir occasionally and cook till soft but not brown. (about 7=8 min). Take off heat and add to potatoes after potatoes are drained and the hot pepper is thrown away.

By now your potatoes are done. Mash them with the butter and add the 1 teaspoon sea salt, white pepper, few grates of nutmeg, black pepper, thyme and gruyere cheese. Mix well. Add the beaten egg and shallots and mix well.

Spray muffin pan with non stick spray and fill each cup with mixture.

Place in preheated 500 degree F oven.

After about 5 minutes the potatoes will be brown so turn down the oven to 350 F degrees. They will only need about ten more minutes for a total of 15 minutes in the oven. (about 5 minutes 500 degrees F , turn down to 350 degrees F about ten minutes more)

Remove from oven and let cool down. Serve when warm or refrigerate and reheat. Can be frozen and then thawed to reheat.

Baked Potato Cakes with Shallots, Gruyere Cheese and Thyme

Everyone will FORKING LOVE THEM!

The Forking Truth

A little Taste of the Amazing FnB Restaurant of Scottsdale AZ

During the coronavirus pandemic I did take out from FnB restaurant in the arts district of Old Town Scottsdale. I thought my past experiences at the restaurant are more of a taste of what they are really like.

The Chef and co-owner Charleen Badman is a James Beard Best Chef Southwest Award Winning Chef. She serves an ever changing menu of global farm focused contemporary plates that are meant to be shared. The menu usually features a few obscure vegetables and is mostly vegetables but also contains enough meat to please meat eaters. This restaurant also features Arizonian wines.

The restaurant has three small dining areas. (I don’t have a photo of the bar area that was once a store)

FnB also offers a small plant lined patio for dining.

They always start you off with locally made Noble Bread and high quality olive oil.

Bellow are a collection of some of the dishes we’ve enjoyed from FnB.

Tuscan kale falafel
Gilfeather rutabaga topped with onion ginger cream
Snap peas, macadamia nuts, mint, tarragon
crispy chickpeas, beet falafel plate and famous award winning leek dish
My Half

This was half of the Langos. A sort of salad made with a fried Hungarian bread made with potatoes.

Melon Salad
House Cured Salmon
Butterkin Squash

Broccoli with tangerine and pistachios

Trout rillette

Soft shell crab

Radishes, dates, pumpkin seeds, with caper anchovy dressing.

Salmon gefilte fish, pickled beets, beet horseradish eggs and buttered matzo.

Corona beans with grilled radicchio, salsa verde, provolone.

This is 1/2 of the Pink Grouper
Pork Shank

Halibut

Lamb loin with Arizona grains, tepary beans, green beans, chermoula and mint.

Halibut
Duck
Poppyseed tangerine cake with mascarpone and cherries
Apple Sharlotka
Berry Shortcake
Deep chocolate whiskey cake

That was a little taste of the amazing FnB of Scottsdale AZ

During the pandemic FnB is take out only.

For now you order and pay on line and a server places your bag on the table.

This was my take out.

Peruvian chicken egg rolls with quark sauce, lettuce stems and tofu in broth, blue nose bass with citrus and couscous, house made pasta with pancetta.

www.FnBRestaurant.com

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Take Out In Metro Phoenix During The CoronaVirus Pandemic – Week 14 – FnB, CHZBURGR, La Piazza Al Forno, Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol

Leaving your house can be deadly during the coronavirus pandemic. The numbers of the infected and dead are rising. Take out is a safer option than dining in.

Our first take out of the week was from FnB in Scottsdale. FnB is a contemporary restaurant located in the arts district of old town Scottsdale. They offer a farm focused menu of innovated globally inspired cuisine. They serve dishes that are meant to be shared. It was a contactless transaction. I ordered, payed and tipped on line. Then we arrived and our order was placed on a table outside of the restaurant by a server wearing a mask.

We got Peruvian Chicken spring rolls, celtuse (obscure stem lettuce) in ginger broth with tofu, house made pasta and blue nose bass dinner. All was delicious and the food traveled well.

Our pups couldn’t wait to try. (They don’t know how lucky they are to get FnB cuisine…..incase you’ve been living under a rock…..This is a James Beard Awarded Chef Owned Restaurant)

Next stop for take out was CHZBURGR in Glendale. CHZBURGR serves incredibly GREAT flat style cheeseburgers, Forking awesome fried chicken thigh sandwiches, hot dogs, kids meals, milk shakes and a few other things.

We did curbside takeout. I ordered over the phone, called when we got there and paid from our car by someone wearing a mask.

My husband got a juicy triple CHZBURGR, we got kids chicken strips for the dogs and I got an incredibly delicious fried chicken thigh sandwich with added Calabrian chilies.

Everyone enjoyed!

Next take out was from La Piazza Al Forno in Old Town Glendale. This is a small Italian restaurant that specializes in serving certified pizzas.

We got a house salad, a Mediterranean Pizza made with house made pesto, house made mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese and a spaghetti alla puttanesca (anchovies, olives, capers, garlic, oregano, parsley). All was delicious and the dogs wanted to try too!

Last take out of the week was Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol (a Sonoran Style Mexican Restaurant).

I got my usual chicken fajita salad and my husband got the carnitas. We also took out the margaritas that are extremely strong.

We had plenty to share with the dogs.

“Don’t worry we will get threw this thing together”

Week 14 we did take out from-

FnB – Old Town Scottsdale

CHZBURGR – Glendale

La Piazza Al Forno – Old Town Glendale

Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol – Glendale (#UpperWestSide)

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Peruvian Inspired Meatballs for Two Recipe

I was going to make burgers for dinner and I thought Peruvian Inspired Meatballs would be more interesting so that is what I made. I happen to have Peruvian Peppers in my refrigerator that I purchased from Sprouts. I also winged salsa verde and happened to have some frozen portions of Peruvian Style spicy yellow pepper sauce so that is how I came to making these meatballs. You can find the spicy cilantro sauce recipe here…just plug on on the search, Peruvian Style Chicken Breast in Spicy Cilantro Sauce. You can find a similar salsa verde recipe on this site too. Search Richard Blais’s Salsa Verde is Forking Delicious…..I didn’t make the exact same recipe because I had different things around the house but it came out just as Forking Delicious anyway.

Ingredients for two servings

8 oz ground beef, chicken or turkey (you might need a little extra breadcrumbs with turkey and maybe chicken)

1 egg – beaten

1 garlic clove – ground to paste or microplane

2 Tablespoons sweet onion – grated

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon hot smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground Nora pepper (skip if you don’t have but Aleppo is similar)

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon soy sauce (this is most of your salt)

1/2 teaspoon vegetable soup base (instead of salt and adds better flavors)

5 Tablespoons whole wheat panko

1 key lime (just the juice…or around a 1/4 of a small regular lime juice)

1 teaspoon honey

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray and set it to the side.

In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients except for the non stick spray….

Mix well and make it into 9 even meat balls.

Space the balls on your sprayed baking sheet and place in your 350 degree f preheated oven on the middle shelf.

Cook till the balls are cooked threw. (this always takes in my oven 15 minutes but yours could differ slightly.

Serve with Peruvian style sauces.

Peruvian Inspired Meatballs

Most people are going to love this!

The Forking Truth

Quaker Oats says Good Bye to Aunt Jemima…..Is it Hello to Cap’n Crunch?

June 17th 2020 Quaker Oats announced that they will be changing the name Aunt Jemima and her image from their products because its origins are based on a racial stereotype.

The Aunt Jemima web site was still up June 17th 2020 and it looked like this. The home page was a picture of their products. All of them were Aunt Jemima except for one Cap’n Crunch.

Then an ad for Cap’n Crunch rolls by with promise of “Boatloads of Breakfast Fun!”

The rest of the site was still Aunt Jemima.

Quaker Oats says good bye to Aunt Jemima……….But is it hello to Cap’n Crunch?

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.

The Forking Truth

Easy Delicious and Quick Asian Greens Recipe

Here is a plate of Shanghai Bok Choy and another Asian Green that you might be less familiar with called Yu Choy. Honest these greens only take around a minute to prepare once you have your water boiling. Yu Choy are quicker and even easier to cook than bok choy. For both vegetables clean them extra well. I sliced the bok choy in halves and let them soak 10 minutes in water and rinsed them twice after that. The yu choy got the ends trimmed off and I also rinsed them twice. The yu choy are very similar to spinach but have a nicer texture and are a little sweeter. Serving sizes may differ.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 lbs Bok Choy or Yu Choy or 1/2 and 1/2 – cleaned up – Bok Choy cut in half, yu choy with stem end trimmed

1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon hoisen sauce

Directions

in the bowl that you are serving your vegetables in add the soy sauce and hoisin and mix well. Set to the side.

Bring pot of water to boil with one Tablespoon of toasted sesame oil in it.

For Yu Choy – about 30 seconds in the water and drain. Add to bowl with sauce and mix well and serve immediately.

For Bok Choy – lad up a steamer basket with the Bok Choy bulb sides down and leaves up. Boil the bulbs till tender. (about 2 minutes) Then let the rest boil about 30 seconds. Lift out and drain. Mix in bowl with the soy and hoisin sauce. Serve immediately.

Easy DELICIOUS Quick Asian Greens

Everyone will enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Salads of The #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ – Phoenix Glendale Peoria

Maybe half the meals that I ate out or take out are salads. Lately I’m mostly but not entirely supporting restaurants that are near to home. I thought others might like a taste of the salads of the #UpperWestSide of Metro Phoenix AZ. The Upper West Side are parts of the Way North Phoenix, North Glendale and North Peoria and are zip codes 85383, 85382, 85310, 85308 and 85083.

Up above is. really great salad from Sala Thai in Peoria. It’s the spicy lemon salad with chicken and is among my favorites.

Here is the select your own salad from Phila-Deli in Glendale. It starts at only around $7.50. It’s fast food priced but it’s a whole bunch better than fast food.

Basically across the street (or highway) is Skewers Mediterranean Grill in Glendale and they also offer really nice $7.50 salads.

On the left is a gyro salad and on the right is chicken kabob salad.

I got a few salads from Fabio On Fire in Peoria.

Up above is the pear salad.

Here’s the strawberry spinach salad from Fabio On Fire.

My favorite meal from Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale is the Chicken Fajita Salad.

It is usually inconsistent. The amount of chicken is either a lot or small and either moist or dry. Seasonings differ. It might include the peppers, onions and avocado or not. The ingredients differ some on each visit. Instead of dressing I use their tasty salsa that is currently the best salsa in town.

Pita Kitchen in Glendale makes one of the most delicious Chicken kabobs in metro Phoenix so I get it on a Greek Salad.

They marinate it with delicious seasonings. It has a delicious char taste and 19 out of 20 times it is insanely juicy and is always delicious.

The meal I get most often at Cucina Tagliani is their Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Chicken.

Sometimes I get one of their Caesar salads.

Caesar with chicken….(and one of my dogs)

Caesar with salmon, artichokes and pine nuts……..(and one of my dogs)

The Black and White Cafe in Glendale offers a few salads.

This is the California Chicken Salad from The Black and White Cafe.

I got several nice salads from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante.

Farro Salad with avocado, pesto, mozzarella and chicken. (this one was way more than one meal….I think they gave me extra by accident)

Salad with added Sicilian Tuna

Strawberry Chicken Salad

I did get a few nice salads from The Social on 83rd in Peoria but the ones I got are no longer on the menu but both salads were very good.

Those are most of the salads that you can find on The Upper West Side of Metro Phoenix AZ.

Everything is subject to change….We hope things change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Vindaloo Flavored Chicken Stew Recipe inspired by Milk Street Magazine

I was paging threw my Milk Street Magazine and was reading the recipe for Vindaloo Chicken. I thought it sounded great but I wanted to make a complete meal that was a little healthier with lots of vegetables. I cook this way because the meal comes out delicious and is very anti-inflammatory to boost your immune. We all need this these days. I converted Milk Street’s recipe to quasi-stewing a chicken (parts or all thighs ) with Milk Street’s flavors. I did a great job thanks to Milk Streets recipe and my expertise on quasi-stewing chicken. I do note that the skin of the chicken will not be edible and you will have to pull all the meat. You also might want to chill the vegetable and soupy liquid over night (with the chicken separate so you can scrap the fat off the top and then re-heat for serving. For this recipe you can use any kind of bone in with skin chicken that is 3-4 1/2 pounds for this recipe. The amount of servings will differ…and my idea of serving size will differ from your idea of serving size. You can pretty much count on 4 dinners with extra chicken…The extra chicken leftover will be around 2-4 lunches of chicken.

Ingredients for 4 servings (with some extra pulled chicken)

1 L onion – diced

3 ribs celery – diced

2 L carrots – diced

2 bay leaves

3 garlic cloves – chopped fine

1 teaspoon vegetable base

1 cup water

1/4 cup white vinegar (vindaloo paste)

12 garlic cloves – chopped (vindaloo paste)

1 teaspoon granulated ginger (vindaloo paste)

2 Tablespoons sweet paprika (vindaloo paste)

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar (vindaloo paste)

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (vindaloo paste)

2 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric (vindaloo paste)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds (vindaloo paste)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (vindaloo paste)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (vindaloo paste)

1 hot pepper chopped (I used a Serrano) (vindaloo paste)

4 lbs chicken skin on with bone (I used thighs)

1 Tablespoon ground sea salt or to taste

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper or to taste

fresh cilantro to finish with

Directions

Set oven to 400 F.

Make the vindaloo paste.

Blend together the vinager, 12 garlic cloves, ginger, paprika, brown sugar, cloves, turmeric. cumin seeds, cayenne, cinnamon, hot pepper, salt and pepper. Half the vindaloo paste stays on the bowl and the other half gets rubbed all over the chicken or chicken parts and put to the side.

In a big pan to half buffet pan add the onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, 3 garlic cloves. in a bowl or pitcher mix together the water, vegetable base and the remaining half of the vindaloo paste and pour it over the vegetables. Now lay the chicken or chicken parts on top of the vegetables. (if it’s a whole chicken breast side down) Coverly tight with foil and place on a middle rack till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F (165-180 is ideal) It will take around 2 hours. Maybe a bit less Maybe a bit more.

When done remove the chicken so it can cool.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle remove the skin and pull all the meat off the bones and put meat in a container and refrigerate.

When the soupy vegetables cool down to around room temperature you need to refrigerate over night (if desired) and the next day you can scrape the fat off the surface.

Reheat and add additional leftover vegetables if desired. Finish with a small amount of fresh cilantro.

Vindaloo Flavored Chicken Stew

It’s FORKING DELICIOUS!

A special THANKS! to Milk Street Magazine for their delicious recipe for vindaloo so I could make my inspiration of Vindaloo Flavored Chicken Stew.

The Forking Truth

Grocery Shopping Week 12 During The CoronaVirus Pandemic In Metro Phoenix

The stay at home order has expired and we had dramatic increases of covid-19 among residents in Arizona. We just might be in the second wave oof the virus now. Nothing is for certain and you can never be careful enough. These days during the global pandemic shopping for groceries can be deadly.

I’ve been getting most of my groceries delivered to avoid other people who may be carriers of the virus. Over the weeks and months we experienced errors, substitutions and disappointments getting groceries delivered. I didn’t know about the dramatic increase of covid-19 cases and deaths on the day I went out grocery shopping. If I knew how bad things really are this would have been a different story.

It might have been foolish, hazardous or possibly fatal but we went out grocery shopping this week. We might (or might not) have been partially protected from catching the CoronaVirus. Wearing a mask only stops other people from catching your germs but when you add a filter you possibly are filtering out a little of what its coming in. I also read that NONE OF THE FILTERS WILL PREVENT YOU FROM CATCHING CORONAVIRUS. You have to look at it this way….You might be slightly protected (if your mask fits correctly with a filter). So that means if you get maybe less % of the virus. It’s a possibility that you might get struck with the virus but maybe might have better chances of surviving because you won’t get as much of the virus in you. Of course you have to still worry about distancing, hand washing and possibly eye shielding. I also use onion goggles to shield my eyes. But there is GOOD NEWS TOO…Most people won’t catch a significant amount of the virus. Most people will not die from the virus……Or so we’ve been told.

I thought Costco would be a safer choice for grocery shopping because they don’t let customers in without a mask. They now don’t limit the amount of shoppers like they did in prior weeks.

Nearly everyone at Costco was wearing a mask. I did see one person without a mask and a few other people pulled their masks down under their noses to breath.

Costco was stocked up on most things and seemed to carry most of what they normally carry.

The check out lines seemed much longer than normal….I guess the distancing makes the lines much longer. Plexiglass shields have been installed between you and the cashier.

That was week 12 of Grocery Shopping during the CoronaVirus Pandemic. Not sure how I will be shopping next time.

Everything is subject to change and we hope it does change for the better.

The Forking Truth

Baharat – Spiced Eggplant with Pickled Onions Hazelnuts Amarena Cherries Herbs and Urfa Peppered Feta Recipe

This recipe is inspired by Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson from Food & Wine Magazine. I’m sure the original recipe is spectacular and I never would have came up with this exact recipe if I never came across the Kramer/Hymanson Recipe. As great as it sounded I had to make many changes for a few different reasons. I made most changes due to what I had around my house that I had to use. (different eggplants, different onions and different cherries and different dairy product) I also changed the cooking method to the eggplant because I am not going to fry an eggplant twice….because eggplants are sponges for oil…For me that is way too much oil to absorb. For my taste or due to my ingredients the recipe made too much seasoning for my four eggplants so I say season to taste. maybe the last biggest change was that I made urfa peppered feta to go on top of the eggplant instead of lining the plate with lebneh that I didn’t have. If you want to do the original recipe it is very easy to find on the internet. I suggest to read both recipes and see what is better for you. I need to note that this recipe takes two days to prepare. Chefs Kramer and Hymanson came up with a method to brine the eggplants that I never did before. I tried it and maybe it made a difference….You also should pickle the onions the day before two. My idea of serving size may indeed differ from your idea of serving size. This recipe makes around four servings.

Ingredients for around servings.

4 eggplants (if using Italian eggplants score 1/8 deep in quarters long ways or of using Chinese eggplants just score long ways 1/8 deep once)

1 1/2 cups kosher salt

1 cup sugar

8 cups warm water

2 small onions peeled and sliced very thin crosswise (this makes more onions than you need but extra stays good for about three weeks)

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 Tablespoon allspice berries

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

3/4 teaspoon whole cloves

1/2 inch cinnamon stick

1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/4 teaspoon cardamon seeds

non stick cooking spray

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove – ground to paste or microplane

1 lemon -fresh squeezed juice + zest (zest is for finishing)

1/4 cup Amarina cherries – drained (finishing)

2 Tablespoons hazelnuts – toasted and crushed (finishing)

1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves (finishing)

2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves (finishing)

3 oz feta cheese – crumbled (preferably a quality creamy not too tangy feta)

1 1/2 teaspoon urfa pepper (usually sold in Middle Eastern Aisle of Asian Market)

Directions

Day one Brine Eggplant and Pickle Onions Make Baharat Spice.

In a large bowl mix together 8 cups of warm water with the 1 1/2 cups of kosher salt and the one cup oof sugar. Brine the scored eggplants. I put my eggplants in gallon ziplock bags that rest in tubs and I used plastic wrap to hold them in the brine and they sat in the refrigerator over night.

In a small bowl soak onion slices in ice water for 15 minutes and then drain. Mix up 1/2 cup of warm water with the vinegar salt and sugar and add to the drained onions, cover and refrigerate over night.

in a small dry skillet on medium high heat you need to heat the spices till fragrant. (allspice, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, cardamon seeds) Let cool and grind to powder.

Next day

Set oven to 500 degrees F. Spray baking sheets with non stick spray.

Eggplant gets cut into bite sized pieces and goes skin side down on baking sheet(s) and stays in oven till brown (but not burnt around 45 minutes.

While eggplant is cooking get a small fry pan on medium high heat with olive oil add garlic to olive oil cook till fragrant and take off heat. Add fresh lemon juice. When eggplant is done pour garlic olive oil over eggplants and season lightly with sea salt. Put back in oven for about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the crumbled feta with urfa pepper.

Take out of oven and assemble.

Spread out eggplant on a platter. Add cherries, peppered feta, parsley, tarragon, hazelnuts, pickled onions and top with lemon zest.

Baharat – Spiced Eggplant with Pickled Onions, Hazelnuts, Cherries, Herbs and Urfa Peppered Feta

It’s delicious and Different enjoy!

A special THANKS to Chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson and Food and Wine Magazine for this Inspiration!

The Forking Truth