Here are a bunch of recipes from The Forking Truth that you might want to try for Thanksgiving. Up above is for a Southwest Style Thanksgiving. It’s Guacamole Style Beets. (this recipe will go up Wednesday) Here are around 50 Forking recipes to inspire you.
Baby Eggplants stuffed with spicy Indian spiced onions, tomatoes, sprouts and cashews
Oven fried crispy turkey wings
Happy Thanksgiving!
These Spicy Vegetarian Cauliflower Meatballs in Spicy Butternut Squash Indian Spiced Sauce are inspired by my trip to Meat The Ball in Scottsdale. Those meatballs were so FORKING DELICIOUS I tried to make my own and I did a pretty good job at a copy cat recipe. This recipe makes around 22 two ounce meatballs. So that means it will make around 11 servings. Adjust the recipe to what you need. I always make meatballs in large batches and freeze extra for latter. The sauce might thicken when it gets cold so you might need to thin it down some after chilling.
Ingredients for around 11 servings
1 cauliflower – break down into florets
1 lb peeled potato – dice
1/2 large sweet onion – small dice
non stick canola spray or a very small amount of sprayed canola oil (I went with spray because I thought the oil might make the cauliflower too wet but I think both will work)
5 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane
1 serrano pepper – microplane, mince or slice paper thin on a mandolin
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoon ginger-root – grated
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon gram masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons course sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup cashews – crushed
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1 egg – slightly beaten
1 cup oats
1/4 cup fresh cilantro – leaves and only the tender stems
1 lb butternut squash – already cooked and cut into cubes
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 Tablespoon ginger root – fresh grated
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon gram masala
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 serrano pepper – either mince, microplane or slice paper thin on a mandolin
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray with non stick spray or oil baking sheet(s).
The cauliflower goes on a baking sheet in a single layer and gets sprays with canola.
The potato goes on a baking sheet and also gets sprayed with canola.
The onions go on a baking sheet and get sprayed with canola.
Put the cauliflower on the middle rack and the onions and potato on the lower rack.
Timing will differ depending on cut, pan oven and other things but in my oven the onions were down in 40 minutes and the potato and cauliflower were down in 45 minutes. (the onions and cauliflower did turn nicely browned). Put to the side and start the sauce if you want them down at the same time or continue and skip a paragraph.
In a sauce pot add the butternut squash cubes and vegetable stock. Turn the heat up to medium high and use a stick blender and blend everything up till smooth. Add the coconut milk, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, 4 cloves garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, chili powder, 1 teaspoon gram marsala, paprika and one serrano pepper. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Let it go around 10 minutes and occasionally stir.
In a large container add the cauliflower, onion and potato and use a stick blender to mix up a little but not a lot. You want it chunky. Add the remaining – garlic, serrano pepper, ginger, gram masala, coriander, salt, black pepper, garbanzo bean flour, cashews, baking powder, panko, egg, oats and cilantro. MIX WELL.
Use a Tablespoon and make balls that are around 2 ounces each and place on baking sheet(s). They go in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 15 minutes and then shut oven off and leave in another 5 minutes. Serve with sauce.
You and yours will be surprised! They really are flavorful and delicious with a good texture!
These are really delicious!
Gorditas El Tio is a casual Mexican restaurant located in a shopping center anchored by a Food City in Phoenix. They offer a wide variety of Mexican dishes at reasonable prices. English is the second language here so the food seems authentic style. The menu is quite large and they offer almost any Mexican dish that you can think of.
When you walk in you order at the counter and pick from the menu board. Then you pay and pick a table. you wait till your food is on the counter and pick it up yourself.
We pick a table.
We wait about 30 minutes for our order to be ready.
I got the Mojarra Frita ($11.99) (fried tilapia)
It came with rice, refried beans, avocado slices, some vegetables and a stack of tortillas (I picked corn).
The FORKING Truth is that the fish was over cooked today.
The fish is dry and crunchy and hard to eat.
Moving on.
My husband did much better with the Camarones a la Diabla $10.99 (shrimp in hot sauce)
He thought the sauce was tasty. He said the shrimp were slightly over cooked but not bad. He said some shrimp were cleaned and others weren’t. He wasn’t big on the refried beans…I didn’t eat mine.
He also added on a carnitas and a asada mini tacos ($1.99@)
They came double shelled (two tortillas like they do in Mexico and with lime wedges).
He thought the beef was better than the pork here.
Seems like you will do OK here as long as you skip the fried fish.
House sauces of green and hot red are available and do make the food more tasty.
That was my trip to Gorditas El Tio in Phoenix.
I haven’t found a website for Gorditas El Tio but they are on Facebook and participate on Door Dash.
Desert Island Eatery is located in North Phoenix in an older strip mall on Bell Road. It’s a Mother and Son team that serve Caribbean Food and do offer Vegan Options. This restaurant is impossible to see from the road because it’s behind a Taco Bell. This is really a take out restaurant. They only have three small tables in the dining area and all the food is served in disposable cardboard or aluminum pans. They are open 5pm-9pm Tuesdays – Saturdays.
This is basically the whole dining area. It’s small but is cozy and is filled with homey things. Soft Caribbean Music fills the air.
The young teen the son waits on us. Then we select from the menu.
We decide to start with the Lentil Balls ($5).
We received 5 lentil balls that are FORKING DELICIOUS! OMG YUM! They are like Caribbean Falafels. (but actually better than most falafels) They are dressed in a little guava drizzle and a little dab of jerk mayo. They are have a little kICK to them and are full of yumminess.
We shared the Tri Plate ($18). It was a BIG PAN of curry chicken, jerk chicken and Caribbean bbq chicken all on the bone and as my sides I picked yellow rice and cabbage.
Everything is prepared to perfection and everything is Forking Delicious! All the chicken is so tender it’s falling off the bones. All the chicken is also developed with delicious flavors. My favorites here are the curry chicken with exotic spices and the jerk balanced with spices and a little heat…….they are bold and interesting. Not a thing is wrong with the bbq but it does run sweet. Even the rice and cabbage are delicious and flavorful. This is two meals for me with my husband helping.
My husband ordered the Jerk Seafood Combo (shrimp and swai fish) Jamaican Jerk Style with rice and peas ($20).
Everything is prepared to perfection and everything is delicious!
The owner and her son were very attentive. I was impressed that her youthful son took such good care of us.
Desert Island Eatery is Worth a Fork!
The Phoenix location is on Facebook.
The Tuscan location has a website.
www.DesertIslandEateryTucson.com
I found some beautiful leeks and wanted to do something special with them so I searched the web and found an interesting video from The French Cooking Academy called Leeks two ways and one was in Apple Cider Veloute. I watched the video and I thought it seemed pretty easy and it also sounded tasty. The French Chef would be mad at me for changing up his recipe a bit but he did give me the idea for this dish so I have to give a special THANK YOU to The French Cooking Academy. I do note that the sauce will thicken when cold so for a reheat you will have to thin it down some with more apple cider and or heavy cream if you prefer.
Ingredients for around three servings
2 Leeks – greens removed, root removed, tough layer removed, split but not all the threw and cleaned – Bundle up with string so they don’t fall apart.
1 Tablespoon salt
1 lb carrots – peeled if not organic or if desired. Cut them to a similar shape as the leeks.
2 Tablespoons canola oil
small red onion – sliced paper thin
1 apple – slice paper thin
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (plus more for re-heats)
2 Tablespoons cream cheese (must be a better brand like Arla that doesn’t have stabilizers or preservatives) (of course the real recipe uses heavy cream to your liking. I don’t usually have heavy cream in the house and that is why I used cream cheese for the creamy factor. (plus the 2 Tablespoons is much less fattening than a cup of heavy cream).
1 lemon (just the fresh squeezed juice)
pinch ground white pepper
fresh nutmeg – just a few grates
Directions
Slow boil the bundle of leeks with a good amount of salt till they are soft. At least 5 minutes. Remove leeks and let them cool to room temperature and set to the side.
Boil your carrots for about two minutes. Sauté carrots with canola oil till they brown some and set to the side.
Add apples and onions to pan and cook till onions have a slight brown color and set to side.
Clean fry pan and on medium high add the butter. Add the flour and whisk till smooth and bubbles. You want to cook the flour. Slowly add the apple cider and whisk. Let sauce cook till bubbles and reduce to simmer. Add white pepper and nutmeg.
Squeeze fresh lemon juice on all the vegetables and serve with sauce right away. You can stuff the leek with the onions and apple if you like.
A Special THANKS to The French Cooking Academy for inspiring me.
I came across these Chinese Made Lay’s Potato Chips at one of the Asian Markets so I picked them up to try. The ingredients look safe to eat and I don’t think that there is any actual chicken in the chips.
I was surprised to see Sichuan Pepper as one of the ingredients.
Here is what the back of the bag looks like.
I open up the bag and take a sniff.
This bag isn’t too full.
It smells odd………something like instant soup.
I pour out some chips to try.
They have a powdery exterior and big deep ridges.
I taste one.
It does have a sort of roasted chicken kind of flavor but it is too sweet. It’s more sweet and salty. The chips in the picture are not spicy……But….If I taste a crumb from the bottom of the bag it taste different has more flavor and is spicy. The bottom of bag crumbs are more spicy and soupy tasting and the chips towards the top are milder with a more roasted chicken flavor. These are one of the few chips that make my hand smell. My hands smell like instant soup.
The Chinese Lay’s Hot Pot Flavor and the cucumber flavors were much more interesting and maybe better than this roasted chicken wing flavor to me. I recommend trying those flavors before the roasted chicken wing flavor. It certainly isn’t bad…..but I wouldn’t try this one again.
Your opinion and experience may indeed differ.
I came across the Food and Wine recipe called Red Cabbage with baked cherries and almond dukkah recipe. I thought it sounded delicious to me but I didn’t have cherries. I had strawberries so I made some changes as I was following the recipe. Like balsamic goes better with strawberries than sherry. I also changed the vinaigrette to make it tastier. I used Food and Wine’s almond dukkah recipe but left out the maple syrup because everything is sweet enough and I don’t think maple syrup belongs anyway. Made several other changes and reduced the recipes to make 4 servings instead of 8 or more servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1/4 of small red cabbage – finely shredded on a mandolin
12 strawberries – sliced in half
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon date syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (dressing)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (dressing)
1 Tablespoon dijon (dressing)
1 Tablespoon date syrup (dressing)
1 apple – sliced thin
1 orange – just the fresh squeezed juice goes on apple slices
1/4 cup almonds – lightly crush
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Tablespoon toasted salted sunflower seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Directions
Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Place strawberry halves on a baking sheet.
In a small mixing bowl combine the 1 Tablespoon balsamic with 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 Tablespoon date syrup and 1/4 teaspoons of salt and pepper. Mix well. Pour over strawberries. Put pan of strawberries in a pre-heated 300 degree F oven for 15 minutes. When done let them rest on the counter.
Shred up the cabbage if you haven’t already. Slice up apple. Put in a bowl and squeeze the fresh orange juice on it and set to the side.
Make dressing
In a small bowl add 2 Tablespoons balsamic, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 Tablespoon dijon, and one Tablespoon date syrup and mix well. By this time your strawberries are cool and there is reduced juice and other liquids that you should add to the dressing and mix well.
Make dukkah.
Almonds and fennel seeds go in the preheated 300 degree oven till fragrant around 8 minutes. Cumin seeds go on a sheet and in oven for around 1 minute (just to heat up). All this gets crushed up some together. Add the sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and paprika.
In a large bowl mixed the cabbage, apples and strawberries together. Serve with dressing when ready to eat and top with dukkah.
Tasty and Pretty! A Special Thank You to Food and Wine Magazine for your Red Cabbage Salad with Baked Cherries Apples and Almond Dukkah Recipe. Without that I would not have thought up this.
Vic and Ola’s Tavola Italiana is a small restaurant in North Scottsdale (DC Ranch) that serves Italian Style Food.
Pictured above are most of the indoor tables.
Reservations are necessary for a table indoors or on the patio.
If seating is available at the small bar you can sit there without a reservation.
We arrived very early and they were already very busy. We didn’t have a reservation so we sat at the bar on the indoor side because they were the only available seats to us. It’s a loud atmosphere. Not from music but everyone’s chatter.
Fleming’s Steakhouse is next door.
We started out by sharing the Happy Hour Roman Style Artichoke (Carciofi Ripieni ($8.50).
The all edible artichoke was dressed with bread crumbs, pecorino cheese, garlic, raisins and pine nuts. It was the tastiest artichoke that I had in recent memory.
We also shared the cacio e pepe (spaghetti, black pepper and pecorino) ($16.00) (it was accidentally served with the dinners)
The pasta was prepared to perfection. The dominate flavor was butter….I thought the pepper and cheese should be kicked up a notch for balance….
For my main I had the branzino ($28.00).
It was listed under large plates and yes it truly is a large plate and brought half home. The pan seared branzino was moist and flaky. On the side was tasty farro, butternut squash, red pepper, pumpkin seeds, figs and fine shreds of bitter radicchio. This plate was for the most part very good. It did arrive almost cold but the pasta and my husbands meal arrived piping hot so I didn’t complain. ( I don’t send things back….especially if it’s not an open kitchen….that sort of thing gets some cooks very upset and I’ve seen too many of them lose it. I also I didn’t want my husband’s meal to sit and get cold.)
My husbands main was the veal osso bucco ($36.00).
It wasn’t tough….but it wasn’t the most tender or most flavorful osso bocco. Overall it was OK. The spinach on the side was very good. The risotto was slightly under done and not very creamy or developed with flavors. But I do note that you almost will never get a great risotto out anywhere. I think the only great risotto I’ve ever had out was from Binkley’s.
The Roman Artichoke was Great! The Branzino was very good but the kitchen timing was off.
At the time of this posting (November 2019) Vic and Ola’s is a newly opened restaurant and may or may not be still working things out.
www.VicandOlas.com
Fe La Cubana is a small hole-in-the-wall casual Cuban Cafeteria style restaurant located in a rougher area of Glendale. The GPS gets a little screwy here and brings you to the newer side of the shopping center….Fe La Cubana is located behind where the GPS sends you.
I note that this is NOT A FANCY PLACE…and the Latin Music is a little loud. Remember that you are only here to try the food.
This is basically the whole dining room.
You step in and you will see a menu on the wall but I’m not certain if the menu is used.
There is also a pizza menu on the wall but I don’t think they make pizzas here?
The owner wearing a Fe La Cubana Shirt smiles but doesn’t speak English. A youthful looking girl that might be his daughter speaks some English.
We see her here behind the buffet pans and ask what they are serving today.
There are about seven different offerings today three were beef and four were pork. She said that you could have what you pick with either white rice or black beans.
I went with Ropa Vieja with rice.
It’s not much to look at but it taste FORKING GREAT! OMG! It’s delicious! It’s so tender and so flavorful. It’s juicy tender tasty perfection! WOW what a great surprise.
My husband also gets Ropa Vieja but adds on an oxtail and a pota je de garbanzo (pork chick pea soup).
Oxtails are too succulent for me but I did try the sauce from the oxtail. WOW! a BOMBSHELL of flavors with some acidity, brininess and a small amount of gentle heat. It’s incredibly developed with flavors. IT FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS! Crazy CRAZY crazy good!
I heard that the soup is just as great!
Limited selection but – WOW really great food.
When you are ready to pay you wait by the register. We didn’t get a receipt so I don’t know what the individual pricing was but the total for 2 ropa viejas, 1 oxtail, 1 soup and a bottled water came to a total of $32.00.
Parking is easy because there is a lot but you might not be coming from far because there isn’t a restroom.
I haven’t found a website for Fe La Cubana but they are on Facebook.
Fe La Cubana is Worth a Fork!
REALLY FORKING DELICIOUS FOOD!
I got these baby eggplants and had many different ideas about how to prepare them. Do I go Italian with anchovies, fried peppers, pine nuts and a basil sauce? Do I go Mediterranean with tahini sauce, feta, sesame seeds, dates and parsley? I did an Asian eggplant recently that was very good with miso, peanuts and crisp enoki mushrooms. So today I went slightly Indian because this is different.
Ingredients for about 4 servings
1 lb baby eggplants – split in half and score
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil – to drizzle over eggplants
1 lemon – split in half face down on pan with eggplants and use the fresh juice after roasted to sprinkle on eggplants.
sea salt – fresh crushed to taste on eggplants
black pepper – fresh ground to taste on eggplant
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (to cook vegetables with)
8 oz ripe sweet tomatoes chopped
1 large sweet onion – minced
1 serrano pepper – sliced paper thin or mince
2 1/2 Tablespoons – ginger grated
1 1/2 Tablespoon roasted garlic grated (I had some frozen in my freezer…it’s more mellow and more sweet than regular garlic you can roast some or use fresh but I’m guessing that you might use slightly less fresh garlic)
1 teaspoon garm masala
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
2 Tablespoons roasted cashews – slightly crushed
1/4 cup sprouts ( I used radish sprouts)
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
Scored half baby eggplants go on baking sheet with scored sides up. The two lemon halves go on same baking sheet cut side down. Sprinkle the eggplants with oil. Timing will differ due to different sizes of eggplants. Mine were done in 45 minutes. You want the eggplants all the way cooked and with slightly charred ends. Sprinkle with roasted lemon juice and lightly season with salt and pepper.
While the eggplants are cooking you should make the seasoned onions and tomatoes.
Put a sauce pot on medium high heat with the tablespoon of olive oil. When hot add the onions and tomatoes and cook till onions are transparent. Next add all the remaining ingredients (serrano pepper, ginger, garlic, garm masala, fennel seed, turmeric, ground mustard and sea salt) Reduce to simmer and let it go about ten minutes.
Top baby eggplants with onion/tomato mixture, some sprouts, a few slightly crushed cashews and a cilantro leaf.
Tasty, Flavorful and Different!
