Author Archives: The Forking Truth

Alzohour Market and Restaurant – The Most Unique Restaurant in Metro Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

Alzohour Market and Restaurant is a Moroccan/Middle Eastern Halal Restaurant, market, grocery, and Islamic clothing store in Metro Phoenix Arizona. It’s not a fancy place and alcohol is not served here.

One woman named Zhor runs and serves and prepares all the food herself. She also runs the market and clothing store. Somehow (I have no idea how) she makes her own pastry and even yogurt too for the greatest tzatziki anywhere.

Due to all the hard work she does service is at Zhor’s pace……..So PREPARE for that………. It’s like visiting a foreign land.

You might want to start off with falafels.

Or maybe something hard to find like kashke Bademjam.

It’s meaty eggplant with garlic and walnuts….that gets embellished with vegetables and fresh herbs. You eat it with flatbread. It’s like a vegetarian eggplant fajita.

Another stand out starter are the stuffed grape leaves.

I promise you that these grape leaves are the most delicious ones out there!

Another MUST GET is the Moroccan Tea.

It’s the most delicious tea we ever had anywhere.

The most famous dish here is the painstakingly made B’Stilla.

It’s Zhou’s hand made phyllo dough with chicken, cinnamon, almonds, and dusted with powdered sugar. It’s sweet and rich and also a very large generous portion.

My personal favorite entree is the fish tagine.

It comes out bubbling hot and the fish is always mild tasting and tender moist. Moroccan spices, lemon and olive are the flavors going on here. This comes with rice.

My husband’s favorite entree is the mix grill.

You get a chicken kabob, a shish kafta, gyro meat, rice and whatever vegetables Zhor is serving today.

Some of the other offerings are –

Lamb couscous

(to go) Chicken Tagine

(to go) Chicken Kabob

Kebssa (Kabsah) Saudi Rice Dish with chicken

Chicken couscous

Frekah with chicken.

So far the best tasting baklava I’ve tried is the baklava from Alzohour. It’s not as sweet as it looks.

Sometimes there is a dessert special.

Stuffed baklava

Maybe my favorite dessert here is the kunafa.

This is made fresh to order and comes out HOT! It’s noodle pastry stuffed with cheese and topped with pistachios (I was too full and had to order to go!)

The hand painting inside was done by Zhor herself.

Alzohour Market and Restaurant is the most unique restaurant in Metro Phoenix Arizona and is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Alzohour Market and Restaurant

7814 N 27th Ave PHX AZ – 602-433-5191

www.Alzohour-Market.Business.site

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

NakedQ BBQ – Glendale AZ – The Turkey is FANTABULOUS – Worth a Fork!

NakedQ BBQ is a small casual barbecue restaurant that serves dry rubbed barbecued meats. You can add whatever sauces you like but the meats come out “Naked.” NakedQ BBQ is in three locations in metro Phoenix Arizona. The original located is in north Phoenix in the Deer Valley Area. They also are in Scottsdale, and the newest location is in Glendale by the State Farm Stadium in Westgate.

Just like the original location the Glendale location is small and casual. You order at the counter, get your platter, pay, grab drinks, and sauces, and seat yourself.

All the BBQ is good….don’t get me wrong but the turkey really stands out. It’s nicely flavored and smoked just right. It’s always moist and tender so well that it seems like it was prepared from a sous vide oven.

Below is a caesar salad with turkey.

For some people this is a very large salad with a large portion of tender amazing moist turkey breast. (I got two meals out of this and it was only…ONLY $9…….I expect that price to change)

Pro-Tip – The caesar dressing is bit mild……I make it pop by adding a little drizzle of NakedQ’s mustard sauce…..Now you got a tasty meal.

My husband usually gets the two meat plates that comes with two sides.

He got BBQ brisket, pork, beans, and vinegar slaw. He said that the corn bread ran more moist than from the Phoenix location.

Once in a while like a few times a year they have smoked corned beef as.a special. I only had it twice so far.

Below is the first time we had the smoked corned beef.

OMGosh! These were incredible. If a food critic was here and tasted them that person would call these sandwiches among the best in the valley…..Tried them a year latter….discovered that they make two different versions of this sandwich. Up above is the fatty and usually I don’t do fatty but fatty here is better. The second version I had was the lean and it didn’t melt in your mouth like the fatty here……..If you ever happened to catch the smoked corned beef you must ask for the fatty.

The second smoked corned beef……*This was the lean*

Below are a few photos of NakedQ BBQ food from the North Phoenix Location.

Turkey Garden salad

2 meat plate – brisket, pulled pork, with added jalapeño hot links, sides bbq beans and Mac ‘n’ cheese

to go – 2 meat plate – pulled pork, jalapeño hot links, Mac ‘n’ cheese

to go – 2 meat plate – chicken & brisket, vegetable, slaw

1 meat pulled pork, beans, mac’n’ cheese

1 meat plate bbq turkey slaw & vegetable

Side of jalapeño hot links

Everything is good but the turkey is fantabulous!

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

NakedQ BBQ – 9405 W Glendale Ave Glendale AZ 623-230-2199

www.NakedQ.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Soy Sauce Eggs with Yuzu Dijon Mayonnaise Recipe & Ichimi Togarashi

By accident I came up with an amazing finish to soy sauce eggs. I came across a recipe by the amazing Momofuku for Soy Sauce Eggs. I have made ramen eggs before and these are similar…BUT I had to make changes due to the ingredients I had that did differ. Long story short…these eggs came out tasting more like soy sauce eggs….and that is ok because that is what they are but I do prefer the taste of ramen eggs…so I added a few layers of flavors that make these eggs FORKING DELICIOUS.

Ingredients for 6 servings

6 large eggs

water to boil eggs

1/2 cup water

1 Tablespoon molasses

2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

ichimi togarashi – to taste

2 Tablespoons mayonaise

2 Tablespoons yuzu marmalade

1 heaping Tablespoon dijon mustard (or to taste because every brand does taste different I used Amora Dijon)

optional cilantro leaf or sliced scallions to finish

Directions

Put on a pot of water to boil. You need enough water to cover the eggs. Lower eggs carefully in the boiling water. They will need 6 1/2 minutes to 7 minutes to get jammy.

You need an Ice bath for the eggs. In a large bowl fill it halfway with ice and add some water. Let the eggs rest in there around 30 minutes.

While the eggs are cooling off…….In a small mixing bowl mix together the 1/2 cup water, molasses, sherry vinegar, and soy sauce. Set to the side.

In a small bowl mix together the mayonnaise, yuzu marmalade, and dijon. This gets set in the refrigerator because you won’t need this for four hours.

By now the eggs are chilled and you can peel them. Put the eggs in a Ziplock gallon bag and pour in the soy sauce mixture. Squeeze out air from the bag and refrigerate for four hours. You should turn the bag occasionally.

When ready to serve cut the eggs in half. Sprinkle a little bit of ichimi togarashi, add a little yuzu dijon mayonnaise and a cilantro leaf or sliced scallions.

Soy Sauce Eggs with Yuzu Dijon Mayonnaise and Ichimi Togarashi
Soy Sauce Eggs with Ichimi Togarashi & Yuzu Dijon Mayo

I think everyone will enjoy these eggs. I do Thank Momofuku for inspiring me to come up with this!

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Bars

I was out grocery shopping today and I noticed many NEW Reese’s products. Most were mixes for cakes, cookies, brownies, and pancakes. Then across from hair products were Reeses Crunchy Peanut Bars. I never saw them before and wanted to give them a try. I get my bar home and open it up.

WOW! It’s much larger and heavier than I was expecting.

How many servings is this?

3 or 4 looks about right. I cut mine into 4 servings. Each one is around Reese’s Cup Sized.

They are unique and different and maybe not like anything else out there. They really are packed with peanuts encased in a sweet peanut flavored sand and are lightly coated with something chocolatey. To me they seem slightly sweeter than my familiar Reese’s cups but still a little salty like a Reese’s Cup. They really are packed with peanuts. These bars seem less chocolatey than a Reese’s cup but are still good.

The taste of these Crunchy Bars really isn’t bad……I just wish they came in sensible sizing. like in patties, cups, or break off bars.

Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Reese’s Crunchy Peanut Bars. I do note that YOUR Forking thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

No Recipe Italian Chile Crisp Turkey Breast with Onion Tomato Chestnut & Fig Sauce Dinner Idea

Turkey Breast is very easy to prepare. Let me back track……I start off with whole turkeys that I buy from Trader Joes in November and freeze the turkey in parts for latter use. I buy turkeys from Trader Joes because they sell brined and dry brined (kosher) turkeys. Who has all that room to bother brining turkeys…….Anyways…….A brined turkey (either wet or dry brined) always comes out a billion times better than from a turkey that wasn’t brined. These turkeys always come out very flavorful and juicy moist. They are the closest to a foolproof turkey for everyone.

So I have a split boneless breast that was rubbed with my Italian Chili Crisp (recipe on site or you can buy this these days). I put some canola oil in my fry pan on medium high heat. The split turkey breast goes skin side down for 10 minutes with a sheet of aluminum foil loosely covering pan. After 10 minutes turn the turkey breast over and cook the other side. Add the loose foil again. After about ten more minutes the turkey breast will be down or next to done. If you pound it then I’m pretty sure it will be done) (It might need 1-2 minutes more you can check with a thermometer. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the turkey needs to be 165 degree F to be safe to consume.

It should come out at least like this without pounding on both sides.

When you pound it the turkey cooks up faster.

Let it cool off on a cooling rack with a pan underneath or a baking sheet.

Don’t clean out your fry pan because you will add stuff to it.

Add two sliced onions and cook about 20 minutes on medium heat stirring occasionally. Later you add a pack of dried figs and a pack of chestnuts both lightly chopped. (the fig and chestnut packs were around 3oz each)

The figs with chestnuts only need a few minutes.

Then I added maybe two Tablespoons of tomato paste. Cooked that out a couple minutes and then added maybe a cup of water.

Italian Chili Crisp Turkey with Onion Tomato Chestnut and Fig Sauce

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

A Little “SKINNY” on PA’LA – 24th St Phoenix AZ

PA’LA is a high quality casual Italian, Mediterranean, and global type restaurant that prepares most of the foods served from a wood burning oven. They have two locations in Phoenix Arizona. One location is downtown and the other might be considered close to downtown. PA’LA might be considered a sort of tapas restaurant? They offer seasonal changing menus always offering organic produce, native grains, seafood and are local as much as possible.

The original location that is close to downtown is a very cozy restaurant.

When the weather is nice you will want to sit outside.

A few of the offerings you might find are things like-

white anchovies with crackers

Artichokes with Italian crackers

Navarro Bowl – skate, 5 grains, beets, cannelloni beans

Wood roasted fish Navarro bowl

Tuscan style whole grain open sandwich

“The sandwich” grass fed beef, poblano pepper, spinach, chimayo Chile powder

The sandwiches always taste amazing and are very high quality…..but sometimes they are very “skinny.”

Here’s the Hot Italian (Arcadia meat market sausage, arugula, pickled red peppers on their wood fired bread)

The lox sandwich is even “skinnier.” (lox, ricotta, capers, arugula, fennel, pickled red onions)

The really is very good and certainly is high quality but sometimes it is skinny so you can load up on the tapas appetizers and house made desserts.

PA’LA – 2107 N 24th St PHX AZ – 602-795-9500

www.PALAKitchen.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Food Stock 2023 – P83 Peoria AZ Sports Complex

Food Stock is a Food Truck Gathering Event. This year 2023 over 50 food trucks were expected. Some are participating to offer $3.00 samples. This event took place 4-10pm Saturday April 15th at the Peoria Sports Complex in P83 in Peoria Arizona. Besides food trucks they also offer a full bar, bounce houses, a splash pad, play ground, and face painting. Admission for adults was $5.00 and children 12 and under was free. They also are suppose to have live music and FREE parking too!

According to www.AllEvents.in these are the food trucks that are expected to show up.

I planned to make Red Ginger my #1 destination but the Red Ginger Food Truck was no where to be found…..Bah that was my real reason for attending. …….Anyways…….. I’m familiar with a bunch of the food trucks and I had really great experiences at some of them.

It’s nice and sunny today. I think it’s close to 90 degrees F. There are a few areas for shaded seating. They also have a few bars set up.

Bottles of purified water cost $6.00 today.

The tacos from Good Eats Only Mexican Kitchen were downright amazing the first time we had them so we gave them a try here.

Today we tried a chicken taco and a carne asada taco.

Still good……but a little dry today. The hand made tortillas are very good.

We enjoyed the most amazing sandwich from Bro Bro’s BBQ so today we gave them a try.

My husband tried a $3. sausage sample.

And we shared a brisket plate with jalapeño Cole slaw and potato salad.

Still good but not incredible like last time…..From my experiences none of the BBQ places are ever perfectly consistent. The slaw is very crisp and fresh but a little on the bland side and lacks jalapeño. On the other hand the potato salad taste like the type Costco sells but is topped with lots of seasoning and heat.

I thought I remembered hearing positive things about the next food truck. Our last food truck to try was Lili’s Tacos.

We tried a chicken and a beef taco.

These tacos were topped with lots of fresh herbs and came with lemon and HOT pickled carrots. Both taco meats have a texture that is between chopped and ground. I think the chicken meat is a little flat. Green salsa is on the flat side. Really don’t like the red sauce at all…..It’s very HOT and taste like you’re licking the spice out of a spice jar. (taste like cayenne & paprika…LOTS of paprika)

That was Foodstock 2023.

www.AllEvents.com

Food Stock – 16101 N 83rd Avenue Peoria AZ

www.AllEvents.in

www.GetLocalArizonaEvents.com

The Forking Truth

EZ Marinated Turkey Quarters with Cabbage Recipe

I thought I’d do something slightly different with turkey quarters. I do note that I buy turkeys from Trader Joes (they only sell them in November). I usually only buy turkey from Trader Joes because they sell brined, and dry brined or kosher turkeys. When you buy brined turkeys you are getting the most BANG for your buck because brined turkeys always come out flavorful and usually moist. They are the closest to the most foolproof turkey that you can buy. The way this came out for me….I got my usual flavorful moist dark meat but what came out different was the skin. The skin got thin and crispy with a really great taste to it.

Today I marinated the turkey quarters (each weighted about 1 1/2 pounds) I mixed up normal ingredients like soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and ginger. This mixture and the turkey quarters went in a gallon ziplock bag and marinated over night. The next day you blot the turkey quarters dry. You dump around 1/2 a cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a gallon ziplock bag. Shake and add turkey quarters and shake and bake.

I discovered after I made the turkey quarters I had liquid gold in my pan and it couldn’t be wasted. It had an amazing aroma and taste. The only thing I had at home to use was a cabbage so there we go. After all the turkey quarters needed an hour to cool off anyway. Just rough cut a cabbage and an onion. Toss it around the liquid gold. Put it in the still hot 375F oven for a total of around 45 minutes stirring after around 30 minutes.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 preferably brined or dry brined turkey quarters (mine weighed around 1 1/2 pounds each. They can be any size but timing will differ)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar (I used dark)

1 large head garlic – ground to paste

1 inch ginger – fresh grated

1/2 cup flour – (around this you don’t have to measure)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cabbage – core removed, rough cut

1 onion – skin removed – rough cut or slice

salt – to taste

pepper – to taste

Directions

To a gallon zip lock bag (you could use a bowl to support the bag) add soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger. Squish around so it is mixed. Add turkey quarters. Squish the liquid all around the turkey quarters. This needs to refrigerate over night. Occasionally keep turning the quarters so they marinate on all sides.

Next Day –

Pull the turkey quarters out and let them rest around 30 minutes.

Set oven to 375 and pour the oil in your pan. Set the pan in the middle of your oven to heat up.

Take the legs out of the bag and blot them dry.

Put some flour salt and pepper in a clean gallon ziplock bag. Add the turkey quarters and shake, shake, shake.

Pull the pan with hot oil out of the oven. Add the legs.

In my oven on the middle rack mine took 65 minutes to be done……YOURS MAY DIFFER! So you really do need to use a thermometer. According to the U.S. Department of agriculture the turkey leg meat is safe to eat at 165 degrees F but in my opinion it isn’t good at 165 F. I like it more at 180F or even slightly higher.I like mine to fall off of the bone and melt up some stuff in that area. Most people will agree 165F-180F is what you must aim for.

After 65 minutes.

Then I noticed I was left with liquid gold. The turkey quarters need to rest an hour. Take them out of the pan and place on a tray or preferably cooling rack.

Rough cut one cabbage (with core removed) and rough cut or slice a peeled onion. They go in your liquid gold pan. Mix up the cabbage and onion in the pan.

This goes in your still hot 375F oven. After around 30 minutes some of it will be lightly charred but stir and put back in for the remaining 15 minutes.

Add a good quality sea salt and any pepper you like. I used my homemade smoked pecan sea salt and Aleppo pepper.

EZ delicious cabbage

This was easy.

Anyone can do this.

The Forking Truth

No Recipe Mexican Inspired Zucchini Lasagna Recipe Idea

I was sort of gifted with a ton of tomatoes and a ton of zucchini. I removed the tomato skins and reduced the tomatoes around 8 hours and made home made tomato sauce and home made salsa. I got the idea to make a layered casserole with the zucchini with refried beans, the home made salsa and cheese.

Slice your zucchini long ways in planks. Cook them however you like…on a grill, broil, or fry, or in my oven on top rack at 425F works like a pretty good broiler. You want them slightly charred. Salt and pepper them lightly.

Line a big pan with the zucchini.

Lightly top the zucchini with small amount of a very good salsa and top that with refried beans.

Top with cheese. I used cheddar, pepper jack, and some home made queso sauce. Then finish with a little more salsa and some more cheese.

Mexican Inspired Zuchini Lasagna

Finish with some scallions.

Mexican Inspired Zucchini Lasagna

Something very tasty that isn’t too heavy..(If you used good salsa)

ENJOY!!!

The Forking Truth

The Masterfully Crafted 4 Course $75. Dinners from Confluence in Carefree AZ – Stupendously Impressive and Worth a Fork!

Confluence is a small but upscale high quality restaurant located in Carefree Arizona that is just above North Scottsdale. This restaurant is usually only a husband and wife team. That MEANS one of the most talented Top Chefs of Metro Phoenix is actually doing the masterful cooking for you…..(that seldom happens anywhere).

inside
window view

They offer changing seasonal menus of hot and cold appetizers, fresh fish dishes, meat dishes, desserts or cheese. You can order your meal a la carte or you can take advantage of a tasting option.

Tonight we took advantage of the tasting menu and went for the four courses for $75. (subject to change)

Whatever you order they usually start you off with bread and oil embellished with white balsamic.

Next we got two rounds of appetizers.

Soft scrambled goose egg – mascarpone, kennebec potato, cocks comb, shishito pepper, iitoi onion

Mixed greens salad – beets, radish, mozzarella, brioche croutons, red onion, herbs, oil & balsamic

Guinea hen ragout – braised leg, polenta, turnip

White mushroom soup – oyster mushroom, celery, cauliflower, hazelnuts

Entrees were-

Venison loin – red wine risotto, cauliflower, broccolini, pine nuts, parmesan

Halibut – great northern beans, spinach, sweet pepper, olive, Calabrian chili

Possibly the most complex Desserts in the valley.

Aged gouda and caramelized onion tart – Iberico Chorizo, horseradish, sunflower seeds, arugula, pomegranate molasses, freeze dried honey

Smoked Butterscotch tapioca pudding – blueberry, pepitas, candied butternut squash, smoked vanila creme fraiche

When the weather is nice patio seating is available with partial mountain views.

Confluence is Worth a Fork! and the $75. 4-Course tasting is a Screaming Hot Deal! (subject to change)

Worth a Fork!

Confluence

36889 N Tom Darlington Dr Carefree AZ

480-488-9796

www.RestaurantConfluence.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth