Author Archives: The Forking Truth

My Trip to Eataly Las Vegas NV

Eataly is an Italian Food Court, Wine and Gastronomic Marketplace. They sell a variety of pastas, pesto, sauces, rice, grains, crackers, canned tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, salt, spices, olives, sweets and coffee.

They also offer complimentary daily tastings.

They offer a world of Italian foods and wines to try.

You might want to start with some street foods.

They offer all kinds of sandwiches, fried snacks, chicken and more!

There’s Roman Style Pizza.

There’s focaccia and pizza by the slice.

There’s plenty of fresh baked breads too.

If you want fish they will make you a fish.

They’ll make you pasta.

They assorted meats and cheeses.

There are candies, chocolates, pastries, cakes and other sweets.

But all you really need is Gelato.

That was my trip to Eataly Las Vegas NV.

www.Eataly.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Where The Fork I’ve Ate – Las Vegas NV – Summer 2019

My first stop was Hattie B’s for Hot Chicken in the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip.

Hattie B’s is located in the new food court…….

It’s tasty but it’s not the same as what I tried from the Nashville location………..It doesn’t sting you when you bite it……..It’s like they cooled it down and sweetened it up for the masses. Or maybe it’s just an off batch? I don’t know?

Our next stop was Eataly.

It’s an Italian Food Court with wine and more food to purchase.

We tried fish.

We tried pasta.

We came back another day and tried more pasta.

Finished up with gelato.

Some things were better than other things and we purchased some things to try latter.

The next day we went to China Town and tried Mian Sichuan Noodle.

This is suppose to be a very authentic Sichuan Noodle Restaurant. It’s not a fancy place.

But where else have you been that offers placemats with instructions on how to eat the food?

Before we order they start us off with sweetened Mung Bean Soup. It is used to cool you down from fiery mouth numbing food.

Here we started with Spicy Radishes and a sweet and sour cabbage is served as a palette cleanser. The Spicy Radishes were indeed spicy but not like water boiled spicy……That means you didn’t need a fire hydrant. They were unlike anything I ever tasted before…….with an unusual crunchy texture. I might not have known that they were radishes because I could no longer taste radish in them.

We had-

Sichuan cold spicy noodles

and

Spicy Sichuan Pork Noodles called Za Jiang. Tune in and you can read that story soon.

Our next destination was Chica in the Venetian.

It’s a Latin Restaurant of chef Lorena Garcia’s takes of Latin cuisine.

We tried spicy Peruvian ceviche.

and dinners of pacific striped sea bass

and porchetta.

We stopped by Gordon Ramsay Burger. I asked about the beef the last time I was here and they told me that they ground the beef in a main kitchen that is in the Paris Hotel/Casino.

They changed the menu since my last visit and that amazing Tandoori Chicken sandwich is no longer available……so I ordered something else. I thought an interesting choice might be the Fish and Crisps Burger because This is the fourth Gordon Ramsay Fried Fish option that I know of in Las Vegas. They all differ slightly and they all are priced differently.

The a crisp beer batter lightly coated a thick big piece of cod and it was drowning in about a 1/4 cup of yuzu-dill mayo that got topped with salt and vinegar potato crisps on a big fluffy toasted seeded bun…….

We shared plain fries called “Just Fries.”

My husband tried the Hog Burger that’s Mangalitsa Pork, Bacon, BBQ Pork, white cheddar, pickle, crisp onion and slaw burger. (he requested the slaw on the side)

Oddly this burger was dry? All the food we tried last time was amazing……Well the truth is that most busy restaurants run hot and cold……but I prefer hitting them on hot days.

Another day we went to Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in the Caesar’s Palace. It’s a full service South West Style restaurant that’s very bright and lively inside with lots of bottles of tequila on the wall.

They started us off with a really delicious basket of assorted breads. (save room and eat the bread……the bread is worth eating)

For my main I had the Ancho Honey Glazed Salmon with black bean sauce, tomatillo and jalapeño crema over spinach (lunch $25.00 subject to change).

Gosh! It was delicious and flavorful. The salmon too! Not too spicy and not too sweet….just really good flavors!

My husband got the Grilled Mahi Mahi with green chile rice, yellow pepper mole and pineapple salsa (lunch $25.00 subject to change)

This one is delicious too! The flavors are different and stronger…..still south west. We both like the actual salmon more. I like the taste of both but my husband prefers the stronger flavors in this dish.

We go on to try the Deep Dish Banana Cream Pie.

It’s a thin praline hazelnut brittle with cream and fresh sliced bananas……..It’s ok to me. I really enjoyed the bread more and would have eaten more bread and skipped dessert…..We both really enjoyed the entrees and the bread basket at the Mesa Grill.

Then we got to try multi award winning and James Beard award winning chef Micheal Symon’s new bbq restaurant called Mabel’s in the Palm’s Hotel/Casino near the Las Vegas Strip.

We shared a big pan of Texas Style Brisket, Memphis dry rubbed Turkey breast, horseradish beets and macaroni and cheese.

Some things were great and some things weren’t as great………The pickles were DYN-NO-MITE! Like a crazy stinking great bread and butter pickle but better…..actually everything pickled was super crazy great! The turkey today had really terrific flavor but was served to us on the dry side today. The Texas style brisket might have been better at lunch time…..but when I got it the brisket was sort of dry and lacked much flavor but benefited from the house made sauces. The horseradish beets were pretty darn good! Macaroni and cheese didn’t have much flavor on my visit. I think they thinned down the sauce because our cup had lots of a milky liquid in the bottom.

The Splurge Night

L’ATELIER by Joel Robuchon

L’ATELIER by Joel Robuchon is located in the MGM Casino/Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. This is a high end exhibition tapas restaurant by the late most stared chef in the world, also called chef of the century Joel Robuchon.

They made some menu changes since my last visit and the three course special ($85.00 subject to change) is only offered as an early bird now from 5pm-6pm.

You get a bread basket of the most delicious baked breads and French Butter.

You get an Amuse Bouche…that for the past several years has been a foie gras shooter with parmesan foam. If you ask you will get some sort of vegetarian Amuse Bouche.

My first course was an Eggplant – Avocado Fondant with pixie sized turmeric croutons.

My husband got polenta with egg and ham….(well not just any ham…..it was that ham that was kissed by Jesus…..has black feet ……eats nothing but acorns…….and cost like $25 or $30 a Forking ounce)

For my main I had Halibut Flakes in Lemongrass foam with Robuchon Potatoes.

My husband said he had the best short rib that he has ever tasted.

We both had the tarts – Les Tartes for dessert because there is a strong possibility that this dessert plate might be the very best most detailed dessert plate in the WHOLE FORKING COUNTRY.

It’s beyond knocking it out of the park……It’s more like knocking it out of the galaxy!

They surprised us with these FORKING INSANELY Crazy Great Amazing praline madeleines.

The master is gone but the magic remains.

That was a little taste of where the Fork I’ve been…….Las Vegas

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Low Fat Low Sugar Carrot Ginger Topped Acorn Squash Recipe

Acorn Squash is the most challenging vegetable to make taste good without adding lots of fat and sugar. Today the acorn squash was brushed with sriracha, soy, just one teaspoon sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic and a pinch of allspice. Nothing too fatty or sweet there but they all are very flavorful and taste good together. Then a bunch of carrots were cooked up and 1/2 got blended into a puree with water, fresh squeezed orange juice and ginger that was roasted with the carrots. Then they were topped with more of the sauce, scallions and cilantro. THAT’S IT! This recipe makes 6 large servings or 12 side dishes. My photo isn’t the best because it doesn’t show the sauce but there is sauce on the top that taste good.

Ingredients for around 12 servings

3 small acorn squash – cut in quarters with seeds and membranes removed

8 Tablespoons sriracha – preferably Shark Brand (This brand is very smooth with almost a sweet tomato taste….yours will taste different with a different brand)

2 Tablespoon soy sauce

2 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 garlic clove – ground to paste or microplane

pinch ground all spice

3 lb carrots – peeled – sliced into about 1/4 inch thick coins – (carrots must be fresh and sweet tasting for this recipe to taste good…..you can’t use old carrots here….I WARN YOU also please don’t use those chemical soaked baby carrots)

2 inches fresh ginger – grated

1/2 cup water (to cook carrots with)

I orange – just the fresh squeezed juice

up to 1 1/2 cups water – ( do 1/2 cup and add 1/4 cup till smooth and a nice consistency)

neutral non stick spray

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – hand torn

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

Place the acorn squash quarters on the baking sheet(s)

In a small mixing bowl combine the sriracha, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic and all spice. Mix well.

Brush the squash with thalf he mixture well. you cam well mixture in squash cavities.

Carrots and ginger (but ginger in one spot to infuse slightly but more so to cook it) go in a pan or two small pans. Add a half cup of water and cover.

Put the brushed squash on the middle shelf and the covered carrots on the lower shelves in the oven.

In my oven both were done in 45 minutes…..yours may or may not differ.

When squash and carrots are cooked threw pull them out of the oven.

Half the carrots get blended up with the ginger, some water and fresh squeezed orange juice. Start with the orange juice and a 1/2 cup of water……..add 1/4 cups more of water till nice and smooth. Hopefully your puree will taste sweet like mine. If you don’t think it’s sweet enough you can add a tablespoon of either honey or maple syrup.

Top each quarter squash with some carrot puree, some carrots, the other half of the sauce, some scallions with a little fresh cilantro.

Low Fat Low Sugar Carrot Ginger Topped Acorn Squash

Delicious, a bit spicy and full of gingery sort of Asian flavors.

The Forking Truth

Cauliflower is the New Jesus….It’s Forking EVERYWHERE!

It seems like I’m seeing more and more cauliflower food items out there every time I go to a store. It seems like Cauliflower is everywhere!

There’s cauliflower pizza….

Cauliflower Crust Pizza that I made

Cauliflower crust and pizzas are now sold in the grocers freezer and also in some pizza parlors.

Cauliflower is even hidden in things that you wouldn’t expect.

Cauliflower has been added to the pasta in Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Kitchen and Love – a Cauliflower quick meal of Peruvian Vegetable Ceviche…..(who knew!)

Cauliflower is the new rice.

Cauliflower is the new Tot!

www.nestandglow.com

Who needs any old veggie burger when there are Cauliflower Burgers?

Snack Foods are now Cauliflower.

Vegan Rob’s Cauliflower Puffs

Cauliflower Crisps are out there by Hippie Crisp in original.

Hippie Snacks Cauliflower Crisps also come in Classic Ranch……

From The Ground Up Brand Foods offers many snacks made with cauliflower.

Pizza flavored cauliflower stars.

Cauliflower pretzels

Cauliflower crackers

A snack called cauliflower stalks…that Forking look more like straws…..

Cauliflower Tortilla Chips.

I never thought I would Forking find Cauliflower Flour….but I did! Just try to say three times really fast.

There is cauliflower steaks out there.

www.JennyShearawn.com

I didn’t find it yet but I know it’s coming!

A lot of people out there are making cauliflower ice cream……..

All we need is a Forking Cauliflower Oreo……..

OH MY! I sort of FORKING found one……..

Cauliflower is the New Jesus….It’s Forking EVERYWHERE!

The Forking Truth

Forking EZ Crispy Oven Fried Turkey Wings Recipe

Anyone can make crispy oven fried turkey wings….If you follow the directions exactly you will have unbelievably delicious flavorful turkey wings that you will make over and over again. First of all I start by using a brined medium sized turkey. The whole wings gets removed. Soak the wings at room temperature canola oil (1/2 cup for 4 wings or about a 1/4 cup for two wings) for about a 1/2 hour. Set oven to 425 degrees F. The wings get the oil shaken off. and are LIGHTY …..LIGHTLY sprinkled with salt, pepper, granulated garlic and paprika. Put the wings on a baking sheet. In the preheated 425 degree F oven for 30 minutes on one side and another 30 minutes on the other side. They stay HOT for an hour so you need to let them rest about an hour till you want to eat them.

You will thank me later…….

Forking EZ Oven Fried Turkey Wings

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Mekong Asian Plaza in Mesa AZ

The Mekong Plaza is an Asian Shopping Center that is a mall with a dozen Asian restaurants, an Asian/International Grocery Super Market gift shops and more. Today we thought we’d do some exploring here and mostly tasting.

We started with a full service Vietnamese Restaurant called Com Tam Thuan Kieu.

We shared a dish that is seldom found at most Metro Phoenix Vietnamese Restaurants called Com Do Ga Roti (fried Cornish hen with tomato paste red rice). Today they were out of Cornish hen so chicken was offered.

First came out a cup of broth and chunks of very developed soft pork.

Next we moved on to the main event.

We received a generously sized plate of very moist tender delicious bbq chicken thigh made with house made bbq sauce. I picked fish sauce as the dipping sauce and it went together to make something mighty tasty. The plate also came with pickled vegetables, a fried over easy egg and tomato paste red rice. I’ve had Vietnamese red rice before and this differed as they do from home to home or restaurant to restaurant. Here the rice was on the dry side and contained very little tomato.

Below is com do ga roti from Thao Sandwiches now closed for business. You can see the texture and tomato and seasoning does differ.

Thao Sandwiches (now closed for business)

Moving on next stop was suppose to be a Filipino Restaurant called Wholly Grill for Grilled Tuna with Eggplant Salad but that wasn’t on the menu today so we stopped at Heng’s Kitchen in the food court instead to share a Szechuan Spicy Boiled Fish.

Soon we are served and they are nice enough to split the rice plates for us. The fish is very tender and mild and cooked to perfection. We receive a good amount of bean sprouts and fresh chopped cilantro. There is some heat from hot chili and some Sichuan peppercorns but this is the least spicy Szechuan Spicy Boiled Fish that I’ve ever had…….I saw the chef looking at me when I ordered it……..It’s possible that he thought I looked like someone that can’t handle spicy foods and it’s a possibility that he was trying to spare me too much mouth numbing painful heat?????? I don’t know…..but that’s what I thought. This dish was still very good but super mild for the kind of dish that it is.

The last time I had Szechuan Spicy boiled fish it looked like this from Szechuan Cosine in Glendale.

from Szechuan Cusine in Glendale

See all the peppers…..now this was ultra spicy and mouth numbing.

Now we take a break and walk around Mekong Market. Lets see what we see.

Chestnut Kit Kats!

WOW Sake KitKats too!

Boiled corn with colorful kernels.

Faux fish.

LOTS of real fish. (near the middle is rabbit fish…..rabbit fish?……does it hop?)

Much more fish..thought the moon fish look attractive…..they shine much more than the photo shows.

Lay’s tomato and cucumber flavor chips.

Togarashi

Lay’s Spicy Hot Pot flavored potato chips that actually DO contain Szechuan pepper.

Asian gefilte fish…..who knew?

Fermented mudfish in rice……….?

Best Wild Jelly Fish Head.

Yellow Rock sugar…….I don’t know about yellow sugar??????? Makes me think of a Frank Zappa song.

A whole world of produce and herbs.

We decide we can hit one more restaurant and go to Happy Baos.

They are packed and we have to wait outside.

In reasonable time we are called in to sit at a table.

This is a tiny restaurant that is very packed with tables close together.

I don’t know if they are short on help or just very unorganized today. We’ve had ordering problems and waited abnormally long for our food while others around that came in latter had multiple plates. But this restaurant was written about in the Arizona Republic recently and might be busier than usual????? We finally get served.

Chicken Cabbage Dumplings and a Tofu Vegetable Bao.

The Bao is ok….

There is a possibility we waited so long because they rushed out a batch of dumplings for us. These dumplings seemed rushed because they lack seasoning and the cabbage they were suppose to contain.

That was my trip to Mekong Plaza in Mesa.

www.MekongPlaza.com

Every FORKING Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth

Forking Amazing One Pot Fennel Orange Chicken Rice Recipe

You can make delicious tender flavorful chicken with a flavorful side very easily. Just season and brown up your chicken, Use the drippings to season the vegetables, add liquid rice and it all goes in one big pot or actually a big baking dish in the oven and comes out amazing. It’s important to know that the chicken skin won’t come out crisp enough to eat (unless you care to fry it afterwards). It’s also important to cook with a thermometer so you know when the chicken is safe to eat. The chicken must reach 165 degree F to be safe to eat. I prefer my dark chicken to be cooked to between 180 f – 200 f so the chicken comes off the bone and still is all soft and tender. Since ovens differ and pans also differ I can’t tell you the exact timing you need. You need to cook till rice has cooked and when the chicken is at least 165 degrees F (or more). For me usually these dishes get done in 90-120 minutes if on the middle rack. So check at 90 minutes at that point every 15 minutes more will put about 10 degrees higher on the chicken. Rice needs a fluff with the fork at the end.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

4 lbs chicken quarters (3 or 4 large chicken quarters)

kosher salt to taste (to season chicken on both sides)

ground black pepper to taste (to season chicken on both sides)

granulated garlic to taste (to season chicken on both sides)

1 sweet onion – chopped

1 fennel – core removed – sliced thin – save some fronds

3 oranges – remove skin and white with a knife – remove and seeds – chop around pea sized

2 celery ribs – chopped

1 carrot – peeled – thick slices

13 garlic cloves – chopped

1 Tablespoon vegetable soup base (less sodium than salt and more flavor)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 bunch parsley – just the leaves – depending on size maybe chopped slightly

1 cup rice (I used short green bamboo rice…I thought it worked pretty well here but almost any rice will work)

1 1/2 cup water

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the chicken on both sides with the salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Brown the chicken on both sides either in a medium high fry pan with a little oil or under a broiler for ten minutes a side. Set the chicken to the side and the drippings go in a pot with the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, fennel, soup base and black pepper. Cook on medium high till onions are soft. Add the water and bring to boil and after boil shut off heat and add the rice, orange, and parsley. All this goes in a really big pan or 1/2 buffet pan. Add the chicken and this gets covered tightly. Put this on a middle rack and check in 90 minutes. You are to cook till rice is done and chicken is at least 165 f degrees. I like chicken better when the dark meat is 180-200 F. When done remove the chicken and fluff up the rice with the fennel fronds and parsley.

Serve!

Forking Amazing Fennel Orange Chicken with Rice

Everyone will love this.

The Forking Truth

Tomato Tart Recipe – Mostly Based on Cook’s Country Recipe

I just got my Cook’s Country Magazine and they had a recipe for a rustic tomato tart. I made many changes to the recipe for many different reasons listed here…..But I wanted to give Cook’s Country the credit that they deserve because my tart would not have came out as delicious if I didn’t use some of their ideas. I wanted to make the tart but I didn’t want to make their crust recipe because it had a lot of butter in it and the style was rustic with a thick crust that I don’t like. It also requires a food processor that I don’t have so I just used my empanada crust that is easy to make and comes out well. I thought the tomato filling sounded great and only minor changes were made! I never heard of brushing the crust with dijon mustard….I thought what a great idea!!!!!! Those Cook’s Country people come out with some wonderful ideas. I also changed the cheese only because I wanted to use what I had in the house…The tart came out tasting great….I don’t really taste the mustard much but I guess it adds something interesting. I guess this is perfect to serve as an appetizer. I got lots of raves on this one…It came out FORKING DELICIOUS! (I used an eleven inch pie pan to make the tart)

Ingredients for about 7 servings

1 3/4 cup flour – plus slightly extra for rolling

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/3 cup water

1 1/2 lb tomatoes – (it is necessary to use a heirloom ripe tomato for a good taste) – sliced on the thin side or cut in half if using tiny sweet tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt (to salt the tomatoes to lose their extra liquid)

1 shallot – sliced thin

5 sprigs fresh thyme (remove leaves from stems)

2 garlic cloves – microplane or ground to paste

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

4 oz Swiss cheese – shredded

1 oz Parmesan – shredded

fresh ground black pepper to taste

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

neutral non stick spray

3 fresh basil leaves torn

Directions set oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray an 11 inch pie pan with non stick spray and set it to the side.

Make the dough first. In a large bowl combine flour, olive oil (1/2 C.), vinegar, 1 t. sea salt and 1/3 cup water and mix well and knead into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and set to the side.

Now get out a colander with a bowl to catch water. Put the sliced tomatoes in the colander and mix them with salt. They need to sit out around 30 minutes to drain.

In another bowl add the sliced shallots, thyme and garlic and mix well and set to the side.

Get the shredded Swiss and Parmesan cheese mixed together and set to the side.

By the time you did all this the dough is ready to be rolled out. Sprinkle a rolling mat lightly with flour and add your dough ball and top your dough ball with some flour. Roll out the dough into a circle shape that is around a 14 inch circle. Roll the dough around the rolling pin so you can roll the dough into and on the pie pan.

Break off the extra dough hanging off the pan with your hands or a knife.

Lightly spread the dijon all inside the crust.

Add the cheese

Shake the tomatoes to get the last of the draining liquid out of them and add the tomatoes to the bowl with the shallots and mix together well and add them on top of the cheese.

This goes in a preheated 350 degree F oven for about 40 minutes or until done.

Tomato Tart

EVERYONE will Forking enjoy this tart!

The Forking Truth

Miso Glazed Eggplant with Crispy Enoki Mushrooms, Bonito Flakes and Peanuts Recipe

I was inspired to make eggplant this way after dining from Confluence Restaurant in Carefree. I thought “OH” I can add miso, peanuts, sesame seeds and chili to eggplant. This plate is similar but I added the mushrooms. This recipe made a little more miso sauce than I needed but if your eggplant is bigger you might need it all. This comes out very impressive and delicious. The crunchy peanuts really add a lot of interest here.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 medium eggplant – cut in four long slices (or you can use any eggplant you happen to get. There are Japanese, a bunch of other eggplants or my favorite the white eggplants) (If your eggplant is shaped different cut however you think is best.) I lightly salted the eggplant and let them sweat in a colander and over a bowl for a 1/2 hour. I then rinsed them so the eggplant wouldn’t be too salty because it always gets too salty if I don’t.

1/2 cup low sodium miso (Asiana Market sells it)

2 garlic cloves – either ground to paste or microplane

2 Tablespoons date syrup

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

8 squirts of extra virgin olive oil (I’m guessing maybe 2 teaspoons)

4 jarred sweet/hot cherry peppers – cut in slices (Confluence used Fresno peppers here)

4 Tablespoons peanuts

4 teaspoons scallions – sliced thin

4 pinches sesame seeds

1 – 3.5 package enoki mushrooms – cut bottom with dirt off but try to leave part of where the mushrooms are attached to a base

2 oz unsalted butter

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 pinches bonito flakes

piment d espelette – for finishing

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Eggplant depending on what you are doing with it usually comes out better if you salt it and let it sweat for at least 30 minutes…But I find that it always makes the eggplant too salty for me so I rinse it off…(I KNOW that you are not suppose to rinse the eggplant…..but I hate too much salt so I do anyway). You can do that if you want or not…..Salting and sweating the eggplant helps it to reduce bitterness. I usually only salt a regular eggplant.

Now you make the miso glaze. In a small bowl combine the miso, garlic, date syrup and rice wine vinegar. Set to the side.

The eggplant pieces gets a light spray of olive oil on both sides and goes on a sheet pan in the oven for 30 on the first side.

While the eggplant is in the oven fry up the mushrooms. Get a frypan on medium high heat with the butter. When the butter is melted pinch off a clump of mushrooms and roll then in the cornstarch. Add the mushrooms to the fry pan and fry till golden and flip the mushrooms over. You should be able to fry three or four clumps at a time. Have a pan covered with paper towels for the mushrooms to drain on. Repeat till you are done with the mushrooms.

After 30 minutes the eggplant gets flipped over for 15 minutes on the other side. Then it gets flipped again and brushed with the miso mixture. Add cherry peppers peanuts and sesame seeds. The eggplants go back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Miso Glazed Eggplant with Crispy Enoki Mushrooms, Bonito Flakes and Peanuts

Finish with scallions, bonito flakes and a little bit of piment d espelette pepper.

Miso Glazed Eggplant with Crispy Enoki Mushrooms, Bonito Flakes and Peanuts

ENJOY! This one is impressive taste-wise and looks-wise.

The Forking Truth

Singh Meadows in Tempe AZ – Detailed Breakfast/Lunch Plates with STUNNING VEGETABLES – Worth a Fork!

Singh Meadows is a farm with a farmers market and breakfast/lunch cafe. The cafe is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 8am-1:30pm. The farmers market is taking a break after today. You have to check the Singh Meadows Facebook page for a re-opening date.

It looks like this when you walk into the market. (this picture was from March…less produce this time)

Then we wait in line to order at the cafe.

Here was todays menu.

The food is so detailed, delicious and special….It’s really hard to decide.

We order, pay and get a pager. Now we pick a table either inside.

On the patio

Or grab a blanket and get comfortable in the meadow.

Maybe by a pond….

Or by some vegetables.

It was pretty hot today so I grabbed a table inside.

Soon our pager goes off so my husband picks up the platters at the pick up table outside the door.

We start by splitting the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich ($13.00)

I sort of forgot how extra large the portions are…..even half is very large. But this is a lovely detailed and extra special plate. We received lots of crunchy battered chicken that was paired with these FORKING AMAZING heirloom tomatoes that were beyond belief. There also was pickled zucchini, arugula, tarter sauce and spicy honey. It was a super delicious sandwich but also was a delicious mess……If that wasn’t enough…..I found fancy greens on the plate with a whole BUNCH of these delightful lightly pickled beets….and we aren’t done yet…TWO good sized pieces of watermelon seasoned with a mild hot fruity pepper that I am guessing might have been Urfa pepper. WOW!

The Grilled Sweet Potato Fattoush ($12.00) turned out to be a more substantial plate than I anticipated.

This plate is packed with grilled sweet potatoes, red lentil hummus, charred cabbage, crisp pita breads, grains, harissa vinaigrette, seeds and sheep milk feta. We tasted it and it’s similar flavors that take you so maybe the best falafel you ever had but with sweet potato. It’s all delicious with all the pops of different flavors and textures but we got another plate so this one is getting packed up to enjoy another day.

We moved on to share the Apricot and Ricotta Napoleon.

Here we got apricots, sweet creamy fresh made ricotta cheese, crisp thin sweetened phyllo dough with pickled cherry vinaigrette and arugula….This all seems so light (but I know it isn’t) It’s easy to inhale. All these flavors go well together like magic Bitter arugula, sweet phyllo and apricots……unusually very good creamy sweet ricotta and then that cherry vinaigrette just taste so Forking GOOD!

Plates from our last visit were…….

Korean Beef Stew
Swiss chard falafel sandwich
Beet Toast

Singh Meadows Farmers Market and Cafe are Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.SinghMeadowsTempe.com

Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.

The Forking Truth