Today is just a “Fluff” story about cooking eye roast with dogs in the kitchen. My October 2020 recipe called Forking Great Eye Roast with Magical Delicious Rub is one of my best eye roast recipes. It’s the one I did here.
The worst part of doing an eye roast is removing all the fat and silver skin. I admit that I am not the best at trimming but am good enough to get it done.
But the dogs are always interested with the eye roast from here on.
It takes me around 20 minutes to clean up the eye roast and big piles of slobber are by my larger dog.
The eye roast gets rubbed with oil and Worcestershire sauce and lots of spices.
I have to walk around lots of dog feet and avoid the slobber that I can slip on.
The roast is in the oven and my large dog feels the need to guard the oven.
The roast comes out and someone is smiling.
Soon I am able to cut it to see how it came out. It came out perfect like it always does.
I get smiles from the large dog too!
October 2020
I get a similar look from my husband too. Then he volunteers to hand slice it. He does really well I don’t slice as well.
That was my “Fluff” story of cooking eye roast with dogs.
I came across a Food & Wine Magazine recipe for Endives in Schmaltz with Peanuts recipe. I have some endives that I just picked up and I have saved chicken fat in my freezer that I save from stewed chicken that I make. So my chicken fat is a little different than schmaltz but is similar. I didn’t have fresh mint so I used some dry mint with fresh basil and chives. I had a little bit of trouble with the recipe probably because I didn’t weigh my endive. My endives got fork tender and were starting to fall apart while I was frying so I couldn’t leave the endives long enough in the pan to evaporate the liquid…..So I did things a little different to make it work. I still fried the endives till soft and finished them under the broiler to char. I’m thinking that maybe the recipe didn’t work for me because I didn’t weigh my endives so I am guessing that my endives were too small so the 5 Tablespoons of schmaltz were too much to use……..I used 5 endives instead of the 4 so I didn’t worry about weighing them but I should have weighed them…We can both learn by my mistake. When ever a recipe also gives a weigh then that means you need to weigh it.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
4 heads Belgian endive halved longways (about 1 pound)
fresh crushed sea salt to taste
up to 5 Tablespoons schmaltz, saved chicken fat, or sweet butter divided into 2 & 3 Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice + lime wedges for serving
chopped roasted salted peanuts for serving guessing I used about 1/2 cup…could go lighter.
2 Tablespoons fresh mint – chopped (I didn’t have fresh mint so I used around 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried mint)
2 Tablespoons fresh basil – chopped or torn
2 Tablespoons fresh chives or scallions – chopped
Directions
Sprinkle cut sides of endive with sea salt to taste. Heat 2 Tablespoons of fat in a large skillet on medium high. Add endives and cook cut side down around 2 1/2 minutes. Flip endives over add the two tablespoons water and the lime juice. Cover pan and cook about two more minutes or until the endives are fork tender.
Remove lid. Add the rest of the fat and bast the endives with the fat. Until they brown…about another three minutes….Mine were starting to fall apart and didn’t brown too much so I pulled mine out and broiled them a few minutes.
Serve endives on a platter and finish them with peanuts, mint, chives, and basil. Serve with lime wedges.
Chicken Fat Fried Endives with peanuts. basil, chives, and mint
A Special THANKS! to Food & Wine Magazine so that I could come up with this dish!
Haldi Indian Cuisine recently opened a second location in north Glendale Arizona in Arrowhead. The original Surprise Location was awarded by Phoenix Magazine for BEST IN THE VALLEY for Indian Food. Haldi Indian Cuisine offers North and South Indian dishes. They also offer beer, wine, sodas, tea, coffee, mango lassi, basic cocktails and more.
Today we tried vegetable samosas.
They came with tamarind and cilantro sauce. Very tasty. Anyone would like them.
We also shared spicy chicken curry and vindaloo chicken (also spicy). They came with a bowl of fluffy basmati rice studded with cumin seed.
We ordered #4 out of 5 for heat spiciness. It was hot but not as hot as #4 from other places that we have been. ……We had lots of rice and tasty sauces left over so we took them home. .(OMGosh..the next day these not so hot with heat #4’s turned into #5’s and grew with lots of heat almost too much heat…WOW)……….The sauces both were very fragrant, delicious and were made with lots of exotic spices. The white meat chicken in both could have been more moist.
Haldi Indian Cuisine has recently opened in North Glendale AZ
NakedQ BBQ is a casual BBQ restaurant that serves dry rubbed barbecued meats at three locations in metro Phoenix. NakedQ BBQ is located in Glendale (Westgate), Scottsdale and in the Deer Valley part of North Phoenix. The Phoenix location is small and casual.
It usually has an appetizing smokey smell when you walk in.
You order at the counter and you pay and either take your tray of food with you to the table or they run the food out to you. This restaurant was featured in our local paper The Arizona Republic. According to Go Shindig the NakedQ BBQ in Deer Valley was listed on Go Shindig’s Ultimate BBQ Road Trip based on reviews and prices.
The meats they offer are pulled pork, pulled chicken, brisket, sliced turkey, jalapeño hot link and ribs. Only a couple times a year they offer a FORKING AMAZING smoked corned beef. Most meats are offered on sandwiches that are priced around $8 or $9 that includes a side. Platters are offered in one or two meat platters that include two sides and a corn muffin. Most platters are priced around $14-$20.
The atmosphere is casual and woody with Naked Q BBQ logos all around.
They have a roll of paper towels on every table. They also have a small station of house sauces that you can add so your meat isn’t naked. They offer a North Carolina Style vinegar based sauce, a South Carolina mustard based sauce, a sweet sauce and a spicy sauce.
This day I got the Turkey Salad because on previous trips the BBQ Turkey was always my favorite meat. ($9.00)
The salad is kind of average but it seems fresh. The Turkey really is very good, moist and is full of great flavors. I like that this is a sensible portion of food. Usually I get overly stuffed at BBQ places.
On a different visit I got the garden salad with turkey.
The above salad was only $9……It’s almost fast food priced and is bigger and better than fast food.
My husband got a two meat platter and a side of hot links.
Another time my husband got the same plate…On this day everything was tastier and even more succulent. This time he asked for the fatty. You should ask for the fatty if you want succulent.
Above are hot links to go.
I was lucky enough to get that amazing smoked corned beef sandwich twice. One was FORKING FANTABULOUS…..the other was from the lean side and tasted great but was a little dry.
smoked corned beef sandwich
Above is the one that was a little dry.
smoked corned beef
The above smoked corned beef sandwich were OFF THE CHARTS FORKING INCREDIBLE……OMG….Succulent …so amazing….These sandwiches made the same would be a best sandwich of Phoenix.
On a previous visit we had a 2 meat platter with brisket and pulled chicken, a slaw, green beans and a corn muffin.
Here’s a pulled pork, sausage, macaroni and cheese and a corn muffin with beans on the side.
Another time I had a one meat Turkey platter with slaw, broccoli and a corn muffin.
A one meat platter with brisket, macaroni and cheese, bbq beans and a corn muffin.
That was a taste of NakedQ BBQ in Phoenix AZ.
www.NakedQ.com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
I was watching a TV show called The Talk and chef Shota Nakajima was on. He is a James Beard semi finalist, and also a Top Chef finalist among other accolades. Anyways………one of the dishes that he made was this watermelon salad with miso honey dressing and everyone was going crazy tasting it so I figured that I should make it. I didn’t want to make changes to his recipe but I had to because the recipe was for one pint of watermelon and the recipe for the dressing contained three cups of oil and 2 cups of vinegar are way too much for me. I might have created something different but it is really great. Actually the flavors really are so FORKING AMAZING that I cut out all of the blended oil (3 cups) from the original recipe. I made a few other changes but they were only minor. I do recommend not to pre-dress the watermelon because the dressing after a while starts to break down the watermelon. This is FORKING DELICIOUS….You will want to make it over and over again. Portions are hard to judge. It’s say that it might make about 4 servings for most people.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 personal size watermelon, rind removed, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup fresh basil – torn or chiffonade (original recipe calls for fresh mint. you can use mint or basil or even 1/2 and 1/2 would be delicious)
In a small mixing bowl mix together the miso paste, honey, ginger, vinegar, and oil. Taste and adjust to your taste. Set to the side.
In a large mixing bowl combine the watermelon and cucumber. Top with feta, togarashi and black pepper to taste. Top with fresh herb and sunflower seeds. Add dressing to taste.
Watermelon salad with miso honey dressing
A special THANKS to chef Shota Nakajima for his Forking Amazing recipe so that I could come up with this.
I had leftovers like parmesan custards, onion jam, and tarragon oil. If you cook along with me you too can have those kinds of leftovers..LOL! I figured that if I make a simple salad of 20 second blanched radishes and carrots and toss them in a basic lemon dressing (I didn’t even measure…basically one lemon (juice and a little zest to top the parmesan custard), a big squirt of olive oil, a spoon of dijon, tiny squirt of honey, some sea salt and pepper. That’s really all it is…..
For the carrot flower you need a little thingy that looks like a pencil sharpener for carrots.
Most of the radishes are shredded. Some radishes were sliced.
I roasted off some peppers that were getting old. (350 F 30 minutes a spray of oil salt and pepper.
I made the tarragon drops with a chop stick.
I spooned a spoonful of onion jam and used the end of the spoon and dragged it across the plate.
That’s how I did this plate and you can to if you care to.
Radish Carrot Salad with Parmesan Custard, Onion Jam, Tarragon Oil
I had mushrooms that were getting old so I wanted to do something interesting with them. One of or maybe the most talented vegetable chefs in the world is Yotam Ottolenghi so I looked up whatever mushroom recipes that I could find of his on the web. In case you didn’t know….Yotam Ottolenghi is multi award wining and James Beard award winning cook book author, chef, and restauranteur. Anyways I found a few of his mushroom recipes and they all sounded worth trying…..Today I picked the Marinated Mushrooms with Walnuts and Tahini Yogurt Recipe because it used the variety of mushrooms that was similar to what I had at home. After I marinated them I was so surprised at how special the mushrooms were. I only made a few minor changes that were due to what I had at home and they also went marvelously well. I added the Fried enoki mushrooms……I thought they added something to an already FORKING Amazing recipe. You don’t have to add the fried enoki if you don’t want to.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
8oz mixed mushrooms – cleaned, cut off bases
5 oz seafood mushrooms – cleaned cut off base
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice (for marinade)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1 lemon (just the juice for tahini yogurt)
2 tablespoons tahini paste
1 garlic clove – ground to paste
1/2 cup greek style yogurt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup peas
3 oz toasted walnuts lightly broken
2 Tablespoons fresh basil – torn or chiffonade
2 Tablespoons fresh marjoram leaves
optional – 5 oz enoki mushrooms
optional 1/2 cup potato starch
optional 4 oz butter for frying
Directions
In a large bowl mix together the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, juice of one lemon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. Mix in the mushrooms and let them marinate an hour.
In a small bowl combine the juice of one lemon, tahini, garlic, and yogurt. Mix well and set to the side.
After the mushrooms are marinated add the cumin, peas, and walnuts mix well. Top with fresh basil and marjoram. Then dollop with tahini yogurt.
If you are making the crispy enoki mushrooms all you do is a dollop of butter on medium high. Add the mushrooms dragged threw the potato starch. The mushrooms only need 2-3 minutes a side. You do have to clean the pan between the three batches because the butter burns. I usually fry with oil but butter always makes mushrooms crispier….
Enjoy!
Marinated Mushrooms with Walnuts and Tahini Yogurt
A Special THANKS!!!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for his FORKING AMAZING Recipe so that I could make this dish.
Ling’s Wok Shop recently opened in North Scottsdale Arizona. By day this is a fast casual Asian inspired food with a small full bar. By night they have wait service. On our visit we ordered at the counter and sat ourselves. Someone ran drinks and the food to us.
As you walk in you see a good sized patio.
It looks like this when you walk in. It’s very small with a few booths and a bench with a few tables.
The other side of the restaurant has seating at the bar.
You order and pay at the counter during the day. They offer small bites such as lettuce wraps, edamame and shishito peppers. They also offer a variety of wok fried dishes that you can add on chicken, grass fed beef, shrimp, scallops, tofu, or salmon. Other areas of the menu are signature dishes, noodle dishes, soups, salads, and side dishes.
We shared a side dish called a complements dish on the menu of Korean Cauliflower.
The cauliflower is fried in a tasty combination sauce of sesame, soy, oil, and is topped with a mild gochujang aioli and micro greens.
We also shared the Buddha’s belly (under Wok-Fried……with grass fed beef). The beef is very tender and the dish has delicate Asian flavors that is described as a stir fry sauce.
and a Ling;s Signature dish of firecracker chicken.
I think the firecracker burned out before it made it’s way to our table ……Everything was all mild here……and a bit one note. Maybe something was left out? Some pieces of chicken are crispy and some are not.
Our favorite dish we tried today was the Budda’s Belly with grass fed beef. It was made with fresh vegetables, tender beef, all laced with balanced mild Asian flavors.
Everyone working there was helpful and efficient. The restaurant seemed sparkling clean.
Ling;s Wok Shop has newly opened in North Scottsdale AZ
Zinc Bistro is a New York Style Parisian Bistro Located in Scottsdale Arizona in the Kierland Commons. They offer ever changing menus of lunch, Afternoon menu, dinner, brunch and more. Whatever you order the food is finely crafted, detailed, and quality. The atmosphere is charming and sort of yesteryear…..Tin roof and classic fixtures with some nods to France.
You can choose patio, limited courtyard dining, bar seating and traditional table seating.
courtyardinside
The tables are set with crisp linen and heavy silverware.
The menus do change but one dish that is on all the menus but IS OMITTED FROM BRUNCH is the onion soup gratinee made with six month aged AOP gruyere cheese.
Traditional French Onion Soup
This soup was featured on Food Network TV Show called, “Best thing I ever ate.”
It really doesn’t taste like any onion soup I had before because it’s better….It taste like very developed onions….The onions are the star and everything thing else is just delicious with it…..
Other appetizers we’ve tried.
roasted beet salad chicken liver mousse, fig and port compote and grilled Noble bread (fall restaurant week 2021)Escargot Bougugnon vichyssoiseScottish salmonKale saladfoie gras raviolis in consomme
Lunches we tried. (We’ve also enjoyed lunches from the Phoenix Airport location called Zinc Brasserie)
chicken curry salad sandwichbrisket pastrami sandwich (this is very small)fries
Someone in one of the food groups that I am in eats various cucumber salads with fish for breakfast. I thought that is a good idea and looked up recipes for fish with cucumbers. There are a lot of them on the web. The recipe is inspired by chef Simon Hulstone and I didn’t use his mackerel recipe because I don’t have fresh fish and but I did use his Pickled Cucumber recipe because it sounded so different and interesting. I also made the mustard seed pink peppercorn tuile for the beet tartar that I made recently. Both recipes make about twice as many tuile as you need and you will have some leftover. The good news is that these tuile keep well in a zip lock bag for a few weeks. Serving size is difficult to judge. This recipe makes around 3 servings of mackerel pate and cucumbers but you will end up with much more tuile than you need…You can also skip the tuile and use crackers or a thin toast instead.
Ingredients for around 3 servings
2 oz butter (room temperature) (tuile)
2 oz flour (tuile)
2 1/2 oz sugar (tuile)
1 egg white – lightly beaten (tuile)
1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds (tuile)
1/4 teaspoon pink peppercorns – crush with fingers (tuile)
1 long English cucumber – cut in thin slices
3 cups water
1 green cardamon pod
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh tarragon
1/4 cup good quality white vinegar
2 cloves
5 black peppercorns
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
6oz can mackerel drained – shredded (I used Trader Joes wild caught skinless boneless)
2 Tablespoons sour cream (or to taste)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter – room temperature – or to taste
1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish – or to taste
pinch smoked paprika – or to taste
pinch alderwood smoked sea salt – or to taste
pinch ground white pepper – or to taste
Directions
Make the tuile dough.
In a small mixing bowl combine the butter, flour, sugar, egg white, mustard seeds, and peppercorns. Mix well. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it a few hours or over night.
Make the pickled cucumbers.
Bring to a boil the water, cardamon pod, caraway seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaf, fresh tarragon, cloves, peppercorns and salt. Let cool and then add the vinegar and cucumbers. The longer this sits the better it taste. Refrigerate. Use when ready.
Make the tuile.
Set oven to 300 degrees F.
Leave dough sit out to warm up.
Fill a pastry bag with some dough with a writing tip.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
This dough spreads so you want to do shapes in spirals. Put them in the middle rack of the oven. They are down when they start to brown. Timing will differ because the size and oven will differ. Mine took around 12 minutes. You can give the tuile a different shape if you scrap them off while they are hot and let them cool hanging off a small box, spoon, or pan.
Make the mackerel pate.
In a small mixing bowl combine the mackerel, sour cream, butter, horseradish, smoked paprika, smoked salt, white pepper. Adjust to your liking.
Optional some sweet pickled peppers, capers, fresh dill and edible flowers would be nice to add to this dish.
Easy Mackerel Pate with Pickled Cucumber and Mustard Seed Pink Peppercorn Tuile
ENJOY!
A special THANKS!!!! to chef Simon Hulstone for his amazing recipe so I could come up with what I got here.
