Sichuan Inspired Chili Cauliflower and Green Beans Recipe

I got inspired to make this recipe because I was thinking about making Sichuan Chili Chicken but needed a vegetable instead of chicken for dinner…So I thought I could make cauliflower taste like Sichuan Chili Chicken and I DID! I made a batter for the cauliflower and just cooked it off in the oven. The green beans got sort of fried on a pan. You can’t make substitutes here or it won’t taste right. The peanut oil and Szechuan peppercorns are essential.

Ingredients for around 4 portions

1 medium cauliflower – break down in florets

4 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns – crushed

3 garlic cloves -ground to paste or microplane

4 Tablespoons corn starch

1 egg white

6 oz green beans – trimmed

1 jalapeno – chopped

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns – crushed

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste or microplane

3 Tablespoons chili sauce like sambal – (or to taste)

non stick spray

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a sheet pan with non stick spray and set to the side.

Ina large bowl mix together 4 Tablespoon peanut oil, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns, 3 garlic, egg white and corn starch. Mix well. add the cauliflower and mix till coated. Lay the cauliflower on the sheet tray in a single layer leaving a little room around each floret. They go in the pre heated 375 degree F oven until cooked though and brown and slightly crispy. (in my oven on the middle rack this took 45 minutes but timing can differ)

While the cauliflower is cooking in a small mixing bowl mix together the remaining peanut oil, soy sauce, sugar, Szechuan peppercorns together and heat it up in a small fry pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot add the green beans and jalapeño. Cover with some foil so it can steam the green beans tender. This willl only take a few minutes. Add the garlic and take off heat.

Stir the cauliflower and green beans with chili sauce and finish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

Sichuan Inspired Chili Cauliflower and Green Beans

Delicious, spicy and tasty!

The Forking Best thing I ate out this week was the Fried Chicken from Confluence Restaurant Carefree AZ

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Confluence is a small but upscale restaurant located in Carefree Arizona. They serve painstakingly detailed farm to table elevated modern cuisine. Everything is masterfully prepared. Most plates are very detailed and complex. The atmosphere is classic and cozy with modern touches and mountain views. Seating is available in the dining room, the bar and on the patio.

Here’s the Fried Chicken (lunch menu $23.00).

My photo doesn’t show you how big this really is. I would say that this is TWO and one half portions of food. Three shattering crisp moist juicy flavorful chicken in this magical delicious chili tepin honey mustard sauce. It’s so incredibly delicious and scrumptious. It’s perfect union of this spicy sweet flavorful sauce, crazy tasty crunch, juicy moist tender chicken. It’s just perfection. It’s FORKING CRAZY yummy and so delicious that it puts a spell on your mouth and then your mouth just craves this taste. The plate also contains a butter poached smashed potato and broccolini. Maybe the best part is that I ate the biggest of the three pieces of chicken and took home the top two smaller pieces and half the potato to enjoy again! Leftover food from Confluence is like a great gift.

My husband had the roasted chicken sandwich ($14.00). This one is made with pancetta, caramelized onions, fontina cheese, (mayo but not for my husband) on a house made fontina roll that comes with either a salad or house made chips.

Desserts are always worth the calories here. Here’s the macerated strawberries with angel food cake, macadamia nuts and vanilia creme fraiche ($7.00) The flavors go together so well! I had no idea macadamia would taste so great with strawberries, the cream and cake. Just divine!

Here are not all but some of the previous dishes that we’ve enjoyed from Confluence.

Fruit Granite (all the desserts were great but this one was my favorite)

This Chicken Sandwich was to DIE FOR!!!!!

Now this was among my favorites….This was BBQ chicken sandwich , celery root, spicy pickle, smoked onion mayo, on that house made fontina roll. So great!………beyond words……… To die for………

After you try a fish dish from Confluence and taste the expertly seasoned crisp skin and the perfect flesh you will be hooked. Then all the flavors around the plate go together in layers of different flavors you never tasted before.

The best huitlacoche I’ve ever had. The whole plate was amazing.

The Forking BEST thing I ate this week was the Fried Chicken from Confluence in Carefree.

www.RestaurantConfluence.com

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

Turkish Inspired One Pot Red Lentil Chicken Recipe

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I read a recipe for Turkish Red Lentil soup from a Magazine and I thought those flavors would be really great with chicken. Then I read about a dozen different recipes for Turkish Lentil Soup to get different ideas but honestly the majority of the recipes were almost the same and all of them were vegetarian. I jotted down the spices used and adjusted to what a one pot recipe would need with a 4 pound tray of chicken thighs would need and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS! Flavors are nailed perfect and the chicken is falling. apart tender and is very flavorful. The sauce even reheats well and doesn’t turn thick or get loose either. It’s slightly spicy from Aleppo pepper and turns almost creamy without dairy or cream after you blend. Everyone will love this! This recipe makes 6 smaller dinner portions. That measured out to be 4 ounces a serving with plenty of delicious sauce. I’d suggest a salad, rice and or vegetables to serve with. I do need to note that the skin from the chicken will not be edible…but it is the secret that gives amazing flavor to the dish.

Ingredients for 6 portions

4 lbs chicken thighs with skin and bone (a typical tray of chicken thighs from Safeway is usually around 4 lbs of 8 thighs and usually ((but not always)) cost only 99 cents a lb)

1 large sweet onion – diced

13 garlic – chopped fine

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 Tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup red lentils (inspected and rinsed)

1 Tablespoon white rice

1 cup water

20 grape tomatoes – cut in half

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil – finishing

2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper – finishing mixed with oil

1 teaspoon paprika – finishing mixed with oil

1/4 cup mint leaves (loose) – torn – finishing

1 lemon cut in 6 wedges for serving

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl mix together the tomato paste, paprika, cumin, water and 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, lentils, rice, onions and fresh garlic. Add this mixture to a large baking dish or half buffet pan. Place the chicken thighs over the mixture in an even layer. Sprinkle the salt, granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper and half a teaspoon black pepper over the chicken somewhat evenly. Cover the pan tight with foil (or a lid). This stays in the oven till the lentils are broken down and the chicken is at least 165 degrees but I don’t like dark meat chicken till it’s at least 180 degrees F. I make these dishes all the time and on a middle rack in my oven I find these dishes are usually perfect in two and a half hours.

You remove the chicken from the pan. and let it cool so you can remove the skin and meat from the bone. Blend the lentil mixture till smooth. Top with torn mint leaves and serve with a lemon wedge.

Turkish Inspired One Pot Red Lentil Chicken

Everyone will love this!

All You Can Eat Shabu hits P83 in Peoria AZ at Manna BBQ and Shabu

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Manna All You Can Eat Korean BBQ opened around September 2018 in the P83 area of Peoria (near the sports complex). They are a Californian Based Korean BBQ Restaurant with two other locations in Metro Phoenix. Now besides the BBQ they offer a Shabu all you can eat.

The shabu tables are set up slightly different from the BBQ tables with soup wells instead of a grill in the middle of the table.

You have several choices for your soup and pick as many meats as you care to start with. You can eat all you want for up to two hours for $24.99.

Then you hit the buffet.

You might want to start with cold shellfish.

Next case over are several kinds of fish cakes and tofu. They are not marked.

Then you got more choices. All kinds of noodles…one is marked cactus..???

Now to get your veg on.

Corn, yams, seafood mushrooms, enoki mushrooms cilantro, jalapeños, something I forgot (didn’t take notes) and Asian Squash.

Asian greens, onions, bok choy, bean sprouts and another pan I can’t make out.

A vanity of green onions, cabbage and spinach.

Various sauces, herbs, condiments, dressings and eggs.

By now your meats and soup you asked for are delivered to your table.Now you put whatever you want in your soup.

I just did my soup and now I have to wait a few minutes for it to get hot and cook.

I really like the seafood mushrooms a lot. They are an amazing flavor in Shabu…The hard squash aren’t done yet and need a few more minutes. I picked the tomato soup because I’m a big fan of tomato flavor with beef….It’s on the weak side….and gets even weaker when you add vegetables and meat to it. The Manna house soup is also on the weak side today. Maybe the other varieties are more flavorful?

I liked the vegetables and all the variety. The meats seemed to be shaved even thinner than last time. Each meat was an extremely small serving that cooked down to very little in the soup so you could try many.

The food seemed fresh and healthy and might be the only Shabu in this part of town.

www.MannaBBQ.com

Here’s some photos from my last BBQ visit. (it’s more meaty than the shabu)

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

The Farish House Restaurant Phoenix AZ – Worth a Fork!

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The Farish House Restaurant is located in downtown Phoenix Arizona. This is a historic tiny bungalow that has been converted to a French/American restaurant. It’s very charming and is like a cross of an antique shop and maybe a grandmother’s house. Most of the food and drink are served on antique china or craved glassware. They serve dinner and Sunday Brunch.

It looks like they use three small rooms, a patio, and a few bar stools for seating.

While you are waiting in the lobby you can read the history of The Farish House if you desire. It was named after the first Phoenix City Manager William A Farish.

This is the biggest dining room. The walls have an almost ultra bright robin egg blue kind of color. I guess it fits in with the bird theme. There is a bird theme in the restaurant. The lobby has a peacock painting. There is a peacock tapestry in this blue room on the back wall and the drapes have a bird pattern on and bird plates grace the wall.

The kitchen is in a small building in the backyard.

For my main I had the smoked salmon Wellington ($18.00)

There is two puff pastries stuffed with smoked salmon, spinach pesto, chèvre cheese with lemony bernaise sauce. It’s sort of like a more complex French Style lox and bagel. It taste delicious! I love how all the flavors go well together. The greens look dry but taste fruity and some fresh fruit is on the side.

My husband went with the sloppy Giovanni ($18.00).

The Noble Brioche bun is topped with Chianti short rib, gravy and poached medium egg. On the side is a generous amount of roasted fingerling potatoes and greens. The rib is tender and developed with flavor. The egg is jammy instead of loose but everything taste great.

Instead of the house desserts we decided to try the gorgonzola spiced walnut stuffed figs for dessert ($7.00)

We both thought the stuffed figs were the perfect sweet ending to a very nice meal out.

The Farish House in Phoenix is Worth a Fork!

www.FarishHouse.com

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

Tomato Chutney One Pot Chicken Recipe

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I came across a Tomato Chutney recipe and thought of it as an Indian flavored tomato sauce that is used like a salsa or condiment. I started researching different recipes for tomato chutney so I would know what ingredients I’d want to use. Of course tomato chutney is vegetarian and wouldn’t be used the way I’m using it here but it is really delicious this way. Tomato chutney is a sweet, sour and spicy tomato sauce. I didn’t add sugar but used golden raisins for sweetness. It’s something different and delicious that you might want to try. I really got the one pot dishes down and they come out Forking GREAT. However the chicken skin in these dishes is not edible but gives off amazing flavors to the dish. The chicken is always moist and flavorful and leftover heat up moist , tender and flavorful too. This recipe will make about 4 dinners with sauce of about 4 oz of chicken each with around 6 ounces of leftover moist flavorful chicken that you can use for maybe two lunches. I would suggest to serve with a salad or maybe some rice or potato.

Ingredients for 4 servings plus around 6 ounces of extra chicken

1 medium sweet onion – diced

13 garlic cloves – fine chopped

25 curry leaves (curry leaves are controversial in cooking. Some chefs pull them out like bay leaves and other chefs chop up…I chopped them up fine and they were very good in the dish) – fine chopped Or whole if you want to remove.

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste…you might want more or less depending on your tolerance for spicy food.

1 teaspoon gram masala

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

4 1/2 los chicken thighs – (with bone and skin)

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large baking dish or buffet half pan add the onion, garlic, curry leaves, cumin, mustard, red Chile, garam masala, ginger, fennel, tomatoes, raisins, vinegar and add the chicken thighs in a single layer on the top skin side up. Sprinkle evenly the salt, pepper, granulated garlic and paprika over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with foil.

Put in pre-heated 350 degree F oven on the middle rack. Timing may differ but in my oven this was perfect in two and half hours. You must cook till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat…but I prefer my dark meat chicken cooked at least 180 degrees…..I think that you will too if you try it.

When you take this pan out of the oven be careful not o burn yourself. You should remove the thighs so they will cool some so you can remove the meat from the bones and skin. The fat from the chicken does not mix with the sauce and you need to spill the chicken fat off. Either by letting it cool to room temp and chilling over night in the refrigerator and scrapping the fat off the top….OR you can just tilt the pan and let the fat run out.

If you enjoy sweet sour spicy and flavorful then you should enjoy this.

Some Forking Thoughts on the Christmas Candy Cane

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A long time ago in a land far away it was said that children were given candy sticks in church to make them shut The Fork Up. It also has been written that a person from Germany got the idea to put a little bit of religion in the candy sticks by making them Shepard hook shape.

Some time has passed and someone got the idea to add hyssop flavoring to the candy because hyssop was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice. Maybe nobody really wanted child sacrifice on their hands and they stopped adding hyssop flavoring. But maybe the real reason they stopped adding hyssop was because mint was cheaper and tasted better…

The White Stripes were added.

Or was it the Red Stripes symbolizing the blood of Christ?

Maybe you noticed that many candy canes are not flavored with mint anymore.

The following candy canes are from Archie McPhee.com

And there are Forking Oreo Candy Canes.

Doesn’t Forking matter what flavor the candy is. The Forking kid will shut the FORK UP!

We hope you have a sweet Christmas or have a Happy Joyful whatever the FORK you are celebrating and Have a Happy Forking New Year!

References

www.Wikipedia.com

www.WhyChristmas.com

www.NoelNoel.com

www.FoodNetwork.com

Most memorable Food I ate out in Metro Phoenix AZ 2019

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Here are most of the most memorable dishes that I ate out in Metro Phoenix in 2019 in no particular order. I do note that I haven’t been able to eat everywhere so MANY great gems are not mentioned even if I ate there last year.

The year started out really FORKING great! Every dish I tried at the Barrio Gran Reserva was truly FORKING amazing. We shared this incredible Aguachile. It was light, refreshing, SPICY with flavors and textures that POP and were electrifying.

My dinner had this rose petal mole on it and the best salsa I ever tasted in my life.

Even dessert knocked it out of the park and was a chocolate dome with orange mole and sesame seed crisp that were so delicious, tasty and light as air. Everything was Forking Amazing!

Many most memorable FORKING Amazing plates came from Confluence in Carefree.

The layers of flavors are astounding. Dinner here was a Red Sea bream with gnocchi and green beans. Everything is masterfully prepared. All the flavors and textures go so magically well together. I have no idea what they did to the green beans but they were transformed into something mind boggling.

The cabbage roll special from Cafe Chenar in North Phoenix were the best cabbage rolls I’ve ever tasted anywhere. They were unusually light and tender.

The discontinued Quinoa Ball from Meat The Ball in Phoenix was Forking incredible on my first visit…….Very flavorful and spicy…It was very delicious! The pasta and pasta sauces were also very good on both visits.

The FORKING TRUTH is that memorable can be bad……..I want to forget this but I can’t.

I went to a Chinese Restaurant in Glendale called D&Y Chinese. My first visit there was GOOD so I expected my second visit to be good. I will never know what they did to this fish but somehow they transformed a fish into rubber. We were very upset….Sometimes you get so upset that you don’t have the strength to complain. Then we really were sorry that we didn’t complain because they charged us $89.10 for this piece of rubber. That’s The Forking Truth!

Now for something FANTASTIC!

The food from Singh Meadows in Tempe was Amazing and memorable. This beet plate three ways taste as great as it looks. All the food we tried there was the best. The vegetables taste different and better than you can imagine…..You think you know what a green bean taste like…but then you don’t because a simple green bean never was so tender and sweet before…OH that is what a green bean is suppose to taste like! (same story with most of the vegetables from Singh Meadows) I think the tomatoes I tasted here might have also been the best tomatoes ever.

Another restaurant well known for incredible vegetable and other dishes is FNB in Scottsdale.

Every dish was incredible but it started with this plate of radishes, dates and pumpkin seeds with caper anchovy dressing that night. Every plate was stunning but I picked this plate because it was the prettiest.

The Burmese Fermented Tea Salad from FiGaMi Asian Fresh in Phoenix was refreshing memorable and delicious. (and only priced at $3.00 at the time) I also enjoyed the fish noodle soup there too. You should try it! This food is something special and different that is hard to find. I wish this place was closer to me so I could eat here more often.

The Vegan Tapa Tacos from Casa Terra Vegan Restaurant in Glendale were phenomenal. Off the charts with great flavors. I only wish that they were open for lunch or had a takeout window for these tacos….They were so delicious!

Never had Detroit Style Pizza till I went to The Rec in Peoria. WOW it’s delicious! Crispy cheesy ends topped with rich tomato sauce and a delicious blend of melty cheese. Wow really delicious!

Little Miss BBQ in Sunny Slope serves BBQ that will knock your socks off. Here is the turkey and the brisket…..It’s better than good….GOBBLE GOBBLE! The Turkey was even better than from the original….brisket was better for me because the fatty was less fatty than from the original location. I would go with the fatty Brisket from the the Sunny Slope Location.

The Bourbon Cellar serves me the best burger I ate this year. (I do note that I don’t eat many beef burgers out because I gave up commercial ground beef.) The beef burgers here are fresh prime filet ground in house kind of burgers. In came on an apple cider bun and I added a bourbon pickle and it was topped with a wasabi deviled egg. I’m so GLAD that a second location is opening at 83rd and Happy Valley! WOO HOO!

I must admit that The Hot Chick in Scottsdale makes a great clucking sandwich. I had the sandwich called the Hot Chick. It’s spicy, crispy, flavorful, moist, delicious. It’s among the top better chicken sandwiches that I’ve tasted in metro Phoenix. (the other one is from The Larder and The Delta but I ate something different on my last visit)

From The Larder and The Delta I had The Hopping John Dish…..WOW is it incredibly delicious! It full of flavors and textures. It’s sort of earthy and very tasty….you can’t stop eating it.

The Banana Leaf Platter from Vaigai in Glendale was very good. I especially enjoyed the Indian Beets…They were memorable and I made something similar at home.

The strawberry gelato from Fabio on Fire in Peoria can make angels sing…..I also highly recommend the Bufalina Pizza made with ultra delicious bufala cheese, arugula, reduced balsamic, San Marzano Tomatoes and olive oil. My other favorite are the spinach ravioli in walnut sauce….but I prefer when they make the sauce thin….one time someone made it thick but it was still really good!

Must mention this amazing Hiramasa Fish with Huitlacoche and Tamale from Confluence in Carefree. OMG YUM! It’s like not of this earth good…….It’s sweet, sour, salty, crispy, spicy….It got it all going on. Really really a masterpiece. Then I went back again not too much latter and had this INCREDIBLE Fried chicken dinner….OMG..YUM! One of the best fried chicken that I’ve tasted ever……really amazing! I could go on and on and on and on about dishes I had here The Chicken sandwich……OMG……maybe best of all chicken sandwiches everywhere….I mean EVERYWHERE!

The picture below does not do justice to how delicious…maybe life changing the food really was. The steak was not the star here.

Under the steak are these Forking Incredible Pupusas from Seydi’s Pupuseria in North Phoenix. OMG YUM you have to try them. They are almost like kicked up grill cheese sandwiches made of corn flour and yum! We shared a jalapeno and cheese pupusa and a flower and cheese pupusa…we liked the jalapeno one the best but both were delicious. They make around a dozen different kinds of pupusas. You eat them with this strong spicy slaw. Really delicious! You will be happy that you tried a pupusa here!

Had one of the very best dinners ever at J&G Steakhouse. It’s impossible to pick just one plate.

Black Truffle Cheese Fritters are mind blowing.

Salmon Toast silky and wonderful with the best tasting herbs I ever tasted.

Arctic char so custardy with a perfect seasoned crisp skin, wood sorrel, chanterelles and kohlrabi.

And a Forking Great Dessert too!

Also had an amazing dinner from Zinc Bistro in Scottsdale.

Dinner started with the most amazing French Onion Soup Ever……..I can tell by tasting it that this soup took many hours to prepare……..Never had onion soup that tasted like confit onions before.

It’s also very hard to pick one dish from Alzohour Market and Bakery in Phoenix.

Everything we tried here was delicious! Above is the frekah chicken. It’s fragrant and filled with exotic spices, almonds. It’s just FREKAH DELICIOUS! Again everything was great! and that tea was unbelievably delicious too!

Meat The Ball does it again but this time at the promenade in Scottsdale.

Everything was good but the meatball in the front was FORKING Amazing! It was the cauliflower (meatless) meatball in curry sauce. WOW it’s full of delicious flavors and it is spicy. It’s so delicious that I tried to make my own copy of it at home. I haven’t tried everything there yet so I don’t know what gems I am missing. (hope they kept the recipe the same so it stays just as great!)

Here’s another one I copied and made at home from The Larry in the downtown warehouse district.

It doesn’t look like much but it taste awesome. The Larry calls this Bang Bang Broccoli. It’s just ever so slightly coated and dusted with bonito flakes, Asian Seasoning and sesame seeds. It’s FORKING Delicious!

Desert Island Eatery in North Phoenix serves incredible food. The lentil balls taste like a different flavor falafel and really GREAT! The curry and jerk chicken are the best! Really great food from a tiny hole in the wall kind of place.

The next restaurant doesn’t look special…nor does the food look special but the taste is OFF THE CHARTS!

Another hole in the wall kind of place that serves incredible food is Fe La Cubana in Glendale. On the day of my visit they only served seven items that were either beef or pork. The three items we tried don’t look amazing but really did taste out of this world incredible. The food is full flavored tender and delicious. You won’t go wrong with the oxtail, ropa or the pork and garbanzo soup.

Haru Sushi and Grill from The Upper West Side in Glendale serves the best sushi in this part of town. But they serve more than just sushi. They serve yummy Korean style wings, yummy poppers, delicious unique rolls and other things but cooked fish there is OMG AMAZING too! Up above is a sea bass that just melts in the mouth like no other. It really is amazing. Love the bento boxes especially the one with salmon….best salmon in town. The hamachi collar and other collars are up there among the very best! You can’t get better fish than from Haru Sushi on the upper west side.

Some honorable mentions and local loves need to be added.

The Key West Chop Chop from Little Cay in Phoenix. Delicious layers of salad with chicken rice and beans and more! It really POPS when you add the house vinegar.

From Perseption in Phoenix.

The wood grilled steak with black eyed peas, tostones and chimichurri. Delicious and a great value and MIGHTY delicious.

I’ve been to The Vincent Market Bistro a number of times but I’ve never had the stuffed poblano pepper with goat cheese and mushrooms before. It’s incredible and so perfect. It’s really delicious and you should share it with someone as a really great appetizer to a lovely meal that awaits. Possibly the best value dining restaurant in Metro Phoenix.

Banh Mi Bistro in Phoenix is a favorite. Great fresh tasting banh mi sandwiches, rice plates, curry chicken, yummy dumplings and the very best $5.00 Chicken cabbage salad anywhere. A really great value restaurant with super nice owners.

$8.00 Happy Hour Vegetable Plate from Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante

Another favorite is Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante in Glendale. They do treat you like family. I love the extra thin Milano pizza they usually offer as a special with Calabrian Peppers. I love the grilled Happy hour vegetable plate. It’s so much better than something fried or something wings that most restaurants offer. The house made pastas are great and I like that this restaurant offers more proteins like chicken…so I can come in for a nutritious salad now and then when I want one. They also come up with interesting specials like pasta-free squash manicottis and always serve very good Neapolitan pizzas. My dogs also enjoy the food here because they are dog friendly.

I go to Cucina Tagliani semi regularly because they are officially dog friendly and because of the food they offer. They try to please everyone and offer the usual American Italian gut busting favorites but they also offer many healthy and vegetable alternatives that I like. They offer noodle cut zucchini and spaghetti squash as a healthy alternative to pasta. Other healthy dishes are the strawberry goat cheese salad, quinoa, asparagus, spinach, broccoli, spaghetti squash, mixed vegetables and the baked spaghetti squash. I don’t think any other American Italian restaurant offers so many healthy vegetable options. I don’t eat it often but the chocolate marscapone cake might be among the best desserts in the west valley. It’s delicious and I usually don’t enjoy chocolate desserts out.

Sala Thai in Peoria deserves some credit. They actually infuse the basil flavor in their dishes. Most Thai Restaurants do not do this in the area or even use nearly enough basil. I LOVE the spicy Thai Basil with pumpkin dish that they offer. I think it might be the best Thai dish of the west side.

The Breaded Chicken Thigh Sandwich from CHZBURGR in Glendale is quite good! It was juicy crispy and flavorful….sauces here are very above average. Actually everything we tried from CHZBURGR was very good….burgers, fries of two kinds and a hot dog.

“We got a no onion CHZBURGR that we loved!”

Even my dogs have tried CHZBURGR! Why haven’t you?

These were the most memorable of what I tried in 2019.

Here’s to 2020…Hoping for a FORKING GREAT YEAR!

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

Vincent Market Bistro Phoenix AZ – ALWAYS Worth a Fork! Every Day is Restaurant Week!

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Vincent Market Bistro is a more casual daily French Style restaurant located behind finer dining Vincent’s on Camelback in Phoenix Arizona. The James Beard Award Wining chef is Vincent Guerithault. The atmosphere is quaint and charming as can be. Old fashioned furniture covered in colorful patterned linens and interesting flower patten china full of warm buttery croissants. That is how it starts.

croissants with sweetened strawberries in syrup

The food served at both restaurants is mainly French with with a nod to the south west. Goat cheese nachos, stuffed poblano peppers and smoked salmon salmon quesadillas share the menu with things like coq au vin, salad nicoise and gratin dauphinois.

You order off the menu or the chalkboard specials and at dinner time they offer a Prix Fixe 3 course $29.00.

Today we started with stuffed poblano peppers that were filled with mushrooms and goat cheese ($12.00). The kitchen was kind enough to split the pepper on two plates for us.