Tag Archives: #food

Confluence Restaurant Carefree AZ – Always Worth a Fork

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Confluence is a small but upscale restaurant ran by a husband and wife team in Carefree Arizona that is just north of North Scottsdale. The food that is served is high quality modern American Cuisine. The changing seasonal menu usually contains a few hot and cold appetizers, a few fresh fish options, a few meat options and a few desserts. Tasting options are also available. Currently Confluence offers lunch and dinner every day but is closed on Sundays.

Today we sat on the patio. It’s around five degrees cooler in Carefree than Phoenix. Tonight it is almost too cold to dine on the patio but with the fireplace and a heater it’s very comfortable.

Everyone else is dining inside.

We started out with thick slices of the most delicious fresh baked country bread with high quality olive oil and the very detailed white wine poached sea trout.

The flavors all go together well and the fish is prepared to perfection. The flavors dance a bit in your mouth. Sweetness from a little apricot. Pickled shallots cut the fat and sweet. Key lime poppy vinaigrette ties everything together.

For my main I went with the hamachi. The fish dishes are maybe the best fish dishes in all of metro Phoenix. All of them are expertly prepared and are surrounded by interesting and surprising flavors.

The mild white fish is meaty but very tender and melts in your mouth. It has a nicely seasoned exterior that is crisp. The magic here is the way the flavors go together. These blacked figs are really heavenly. They are seared with crispy exteriors and go insanely well with the black garlic and labne. The broccolini is the crunchy neutral player here. Enjoying this plate is like a gift. Now I know that figs, black garlic and labne is a magical combination. I can even imagine these flavors as a not too sweet dessert!

My husband went with the Iberico Puma.

Iberico pork is very special. It comes from free range pigs from southern Spain and Portugal. The pigs eat mostly acorns and their meat is very different than from regular pigs. Iberico pork looks more like beef with the red color and marbling. It’s a more juicy pork with a unique flavor enhanced from acorns. Here it was accented with sweet potato, blue corn – corn bread, green chili, pepitas, and cipolllini onion.

It would be a big mistake to skip dessert here. The desserts are usually just as spectacular as the food.

Tonight we enjoyed sake poached pear with angel cake, candied pecans and yuzu curd. This is just wickedly amazing. That yuzu curd is a bomb that goes crazy well with the soft as a feather angel cake and sake poached pears. The candied pecans add that yummy sweet nutty salty just right crunch to complete all that taste sensations.

Confluence in Carefree AZ is Always Worth a Fork!

Worth A Fork!

www.RestaurantConnfluence.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience could differ.

The Forking Truth

A little taste of Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ – Week 34 Take Out Food

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Take out and delivery are less risky dining options during the pandemic. We do consider patio dining during off times.

For our first visit we decided to do take out from the newly opened Lure Fish House in Scottsdale. They are a family owned restaurant with four California locations and this brand new one in Gainey Village. They offer a seasonal menu of all kinds of fresh flown in seafood at reasonable prices.

It looks like they have at least a dozen outside umbrella topped tables.

Inside looks cozy with an oyster bar.

Looks like they have a lot of booth seating and many are closed for social distancing.

I tried the Sally’s Sand Dabs.

Oh WOW! This is really GREAT! I got a very good portion of DELICIOUS fresh sand dabs. They are so tender and fresh tasting in a perfect lightly buttered herb crust. The caper sauce is just right and accents everything in a delicious way. The sides I went with were a light and not too sweet pineapple slaw and a cilantro laced corn salad. The kernels were sweet with a nice fresh texture.

My husband really ENJOYED the Tequila Lime Shrimp Pasta.

This is also really great but is a very VERY spicy creamy tomato tequila lime sauce with spinach and Gulf shrimp, garlic toast and pasta. I tried a taste of the sauce. It has great flavors to it but is MIGHTY HOT that builds. We hope that the restaurant doesn’t neutralize this dish to please the masses because this dish will be too hot for about half the people out there. BUT WE LOVE IT THIS WAY!

We also tried a little bit of the rolls. They are very good with a developed taste. They will not go to waste here.

They offer a nice variety of desserts and today we went with the key lime pie.

It seems light and is flavored nicely. The graham crust is tasty. You can’t go wrong with this one.

My dogs got to enjoy some sand dabs.

“Lure Fish House was really great!”

www.LureFishHouse.com

That was a little taste of Lure Fish House in Scottsdale AZ

Everything is subject to change and your experience may differ.

The Forking Truth

Chili Mustard Glazed Butternut Squash With Bay Leaves

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Did you ever follow a recipe from a magazine and discovered that it taste terrible? That is how I started to developing my recipes. When I come across one I don’t like I do my best to make it taste good. I thought this one looked good and seemed ok…but the taste was not for me so I fixed it and it came out good in the end. Depending on the size of squash you use the servings may differ. I used a medium small butternut squash. It looks like four side servings to me. Your idea of serving size might differ from my idea of serving size.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

neutral non stick cooking spray

1 butternut squash (whatever size you want)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

fresh crushed sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

1/4 cup maple syrup

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

chili paste – to taste (all brands differ..you might want only a little or a lot….I used Calabrian Chili Paste that is delicious and only medium hot…I think I used a little more than a Tablespoon)

2 teaspoons mustard – I used Pommery Mustard Royal Cognac ….It’s like a combo of grain and dijon but laced with cognac

brine from jarred hot peppers to taste (I didn’t measure….I think I used about a quarter of a cup)

8 dried bay leaves

1/3 cup jarred sweet or sweet/hot peppers for garnish

Directions

Set oven to 425 degrees F. Set up a rack for the top third of the oven.

Spray baking sheet or a baking dish with non stick spray and set to the side.

Peel squash, cut in half (long ways) and scoop out seeds and membrane.

The squash go in the oven for only 15 minutes to get softer so you can cut it up easier.

While the squash is getting soft heat up the sauce.

In a small fry pan on medium high heat add the brine, mustard, maple syrup, butter and vinegar. Mix it up and let sit thicken some till it coats a spoon around 7 minutes. Take it off the heat.

Either cut in slices or be fancy like me and hasselback the squash.

I used chopsticks to hasselback the squash so I wouldn’t cut all the way threw.

Then each half of squash gets 4 bay leaves stuck into it.

Spray or rub the squash with oil and generously add salt and pepper to it.

Brush it with the sauce you just made.

Put it in the oven for only 10 minutes.

Repeat with brushing the sauce on the squash.

Leave it in for another 10 minutes.

You might want to do this a third time.

You want the squash to be soft and cooked.

Sprinkle some jarred peppers for serving.

Chili Mustard Glazed Butternut Squash with Bay Leaves

This is really Forking Delicious! Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Universal Yum Box – Russia – My Forking Thoughts

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I’ve subscribed to www.UniversalYums.com . It’s a subscription service that sends you an international box of snacks once a month. They offer three different size boxes.

Small (called a Yum Box)- 6 snacks, a 12 page activity booklet with a recipe) around $15.00

Medium (called a Yum Yum Box) 12 snacks, activity book & more around $25.00

Large ( called Super Yum Box) 20 snacks, activity book & more around $40.00

So far I’m just doing the basic 6 snack Yum Box.

I open the box and wonder what I’ll get?

I look at the first few pages of the activity booklet first.

I read a little about Russia. I see a recipe for beef stroganoff. Turn the page and I see some fun facts.

The box also comes with a scorecard so I can jot down my thoughts.

I should have read the next page before we started the tastings because they recommended to do the tastings in a certain order. I accidentally tasted the best one first. I picked it because it was a smaller treat and I wanted to start with something small.

We start by sharing one of the snacks.

I’m not sure what it is called but it is a wafer bar with cocoa, hazelnuts and peanuts.

WOW! It’s all melty like REAL chocolate.

Gosh this is delicious. I never tasted a wafer bar with such a delicious coating. No wax here! This is really good. It’s not even like a candy bar. It’s more like the chocolate ganache coating from a pastry shop. American candy bars are very inferior compared to this…….Even the wafers and fillings are good. WOW! I sure wouldn’t mind more of these.

Here is the next one we tried.

I have no idea what the package says but this is a pack of two white chocolate and hazelnut filled wafer bars.

The wafer bars are crisp and the filling is unusually good. More like something from a bakery and not from a shelf. No waxy feeling at all. No chemical taste. It’s rich with the right amount of buttery sweetness. I just wish the hazelnut flavor popped a little more but this is still really good.

We only wanted a little bit of sweet so we opened the Yum Bag.

I wonder what is inside?

Looks like fruity gummies and something more interesting with coconut and hazelnuts. I go for the more interesting.

It’s like a wafer bon bon. It’s a white chocolate coating mixed with shredded coconut that coats a wafer shell filled with extra sweet frosting that has a hazelnut center. This one its slightly waxy and slightly too sweet. Not my favorite.

Here’s the next one.

I was suppose to try this one first. It’s some sort of coated milk cake.

This one lacks sweetness and also lacks a good flavor. It is flavored with something I can’t identify. This its my least favorite so far.

Ok next was mushroom croutons.

They smell sort of odd. They are light, airy and crisp in texture. They taste better than they smell. some of them actually taste like mushroom base. (base the stuff you add to soup if you didn’t make a stock) some of them have more flavor and salt than others in my package. For me some of them run a little salt forward but they really do taste like mushroom. Not bad!

Next.

These are suppose to be Swiss cheese flavored potato chips.

They smell sort of buttery. They have a powdery exterior and are very thin but in my package the chips are not very crisp. At first I can almost imagine a Swiss cheese flavor but that quickly turns to an artificial margarine type flavor. I really don’t like these chips.

These were the gummies from the yum bag. They might be good but I don’t like gummy candy so I made my husband try them. He thought one did taste like lemon or something citrusy but he couldn’t identify the other one.

The last one.

It looks good……..????

I go to taste….The chocolate is extra milky and the filling is more like jelly than the creamy look it has on the wrapper.

You know I can sure go for another one of these………..The was the wafer with cocoa, hazelnuts and peanuts.

Those were my Forking Thoughts on Universal Yums from Russia.

I can’t wait to try what I get next month!

www.UniversalYums.com

Everything is subject to change and your experience and opinion may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

Easy DELICIOUS Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

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I make cauliflower often and wanted to season it in a way that was different and delicious. After doing a few Indian recipes I learned that the combination of mustard, cumin and sesame seeds are delicious together. All that and a few other things make cauliflower something special. Every cauliflower is a different size so exact portion size is impossible. This recipe will season around 4-8 portions depending on portion size and size of cauliflower.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

1 large cauliflower cut in florets (or two small)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (not an exact measurement. I used a spray bottle and guesstimated)

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – chopped

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

Instructions

Set oven to 450 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet with olive oil.

In a small mixing bowl add the mustard, cumin and sesame seeds and mix well.

Spread the cauliflower florets on a baking sheet in a single layer. Spray the cauliflower with olive oil. Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the cauliflower. Spray the cauliflower again with olive oil. Place baking sheet of cauliflower on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Remove cauliflower when cooked but not soggy and lightly charred. In my oven this took 20 minutes but your timing might differ.

Finish with fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

Easy Delicious Roasted Cauliflower

ENJOY!

The Forking Truth

Taco Tasting at Tacos Calafia in Peoria AZ

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The only sign with the Tacos Calafia name of the restaurant is on the back of the restaurant. Tacos Calafia is a casual restaurant that serves what they call street size tacos of five varieties, quesadillas, mulitas, vampiros, burritos and taco nachos.

According to The Arizona Republic they say that Phoenix Magazine awarded Tacos Calafia as the BEST tacos in Phoenix. The Phoenix New Times wrote that it is worth driving from all corners of the valley to taste Tacos Calafia Tacos. On The Phoenix New Times this restaurant is mentioned often as a BEST so since I’m a foodie I wanted to try it for myself. I am very picky about tacos. Most I taste are not my favorite. I’ve been to Mexico a number of times. I don’t claim to be an expert on tacos but I ate many tacos in the streets of Mexico. I thought most tacos that I tasted in Mexico were more delicious than the majority of tacos I try here in metro Phoenix. They were more developed with flavors. Most tasted very slow cooked. They all had a special freshness to them as well. That is why (not all) but most tacos here are not as good and I’ve also tried tacos from many taco festivals. Well I’m giving Tacos Calafia a try today.

I see they have a patio so I will eat outside today.

Here’s the menu.

According to the Phoenix New Times Tacos Calafia was a BEST NEW Restaurant in 2017. Also according to Eater Tacos Calafia is one of the 11 Hottest restaurants in Phoenix.

It’s very casual inside. You order at the counter, pay and pick up at the window. Then you make a trip to the taco bar and load your tacos up.

Here’s the taco bar.

We wore gloves to use the taco bar.

Our tacos came out like this. They are generously stuffed with meat.

pastor, cabeza, cabeza on corn tortillas
chicken on corn tortillas and carne asada on flour tortillas

Then I made them look nicer with the taco bar and we tried a variety of salsas.

The first taco I try is the grilled chicken.

I add lime to all the tacos. The green and red salsas are a very thin consistency ……almost like water. The green salsa has a nicer flavor than the red so I try a little of that and a little bit of guacamole cream on the chicken taco. …………It’s ok and not bad. The tortilla is not as flavorful as others I’ve tried. The chicken is very average. It’s not bad because it is tender but it doesn’t have a lot of flavor or char taste to it. It taste like plain grilled chicken.

Next I try the carne asada. The meat is tender but also lacks any flavor and even a char taste. I use a small amount of the spicy smoky thick sauce on this one to give it some flavor. Flour tortilla is average. Don’t take what I say the wrong way…..This is not bad taco…I’ve had much worst……..but it’s not up there for me.

My husband eats one more tacos than me and tries the pastor. He said it was different but I couldn’t get him to explain to me why it’s different. he said it was ok….he thought good but he said it was like the asada…not so flavorful.

The last taco I try was the cabeza (pulled beef cheek) This one is much different from all the other tacos. This taco is very good. …..(finally)….The meat is infused with a good slow cooked beefy flavor. I’m not a beef person but this is the best and most flavorful of the tacos that I tried today. My husband agrees with me.

Well that is how the tacos from Tacos Calafia were today. I imagine that it is possible that when the Phoenix New Times, Phoenix Magazine and Eater were here they made some of the tacos different. Did they changed their recipes since???????….. Or maybe it’s just someone different cooking today?

That was my trip to Tacos Calafia in Peoria.

www.TacosCalafia.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

Take Out Food In Metro Phoenix AZ During The CoronaVirus Pandemic Week 33 – Alzohour Market, Fabio On Fire

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Experts say that take out food and delivery are less risky options during the pandemic. So take out is a logical choice but we also do consider out door patio dining.

Our first take out of the week was from Alzohour Market in Glendale. They are offer Moroccan, Middle Eastern Foods, baked goods, a small amount of grocery and Islamic Clothing. The food is always delicious and if you can you must try the hot tea. Today we took out the cod tangine and a chicken dish. We asked for chicken couscous but we got rice instead. She gave us LOTS of rice…way more than a person can eat. It was still delicious.

The entrees came with fresh salads. The Cod tangine is always delicious. It’s made with red peppers, tomatoes, onions and lemons in a warm seasoned tomato based sauce. The cod is nice and light but is a generous portion. The chicken is also delicious, lots of olives, very tender and falling off the bones. Today it came with potatoes that soaked up all the delicious Mediterranean and chicken flavors. These meals came with an ultra generous portions of colorful fluffy rice. the dogs sure enjoyed sharing some of the fish and chicken.

We also did take out from Fabio On Fire in North Peoria #UpperWestSide. This is an Italian Restaurant that offers Italian Foods such as Neapolitan Pizzas, Pastas, Great baked goods, Specials that may include fresh seafood and the BEST GELATO maybe in the world.

We went with two of the specials halibut Mediterranean, polenta with Italian sausage and peppers and that amazing strawberry gelato. I didn’t try the sausage and polenta but I can tell you that the halibut was delicious and prepared to perfection. The vegetables were also nice and fresh and included rainbow carrots. Fabios bread is also excellent. It was nice to enjoy a piece with dinner. The next day we enjoyed more of the amazing bread with breakfast. We also had a small taste of that amazing strawberry gelato. I’m lucky to have the rest in my freezer. My dogs got to also enjoy some sausage and halibut.

That was Week 33 of Take Out during the coronavirus pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.

Alzohour Market – Glendale

Fabio On Fire – Peoria #UpperWestSide

Everything is subject to change and we hope things do change for the better.

The Forking Truth

My Brunch at The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen in North Scottsdale AZ

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The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen is an American Restaurant and distillery in North Scottsdale AZ. If you were a fan of the fine dining Italian restaurant Sassi then you might be a fan of this restaurant because the same chef is here now. This restaurant offers a big dog friendly patio that wraps around the restaurant.

They also have garage door style windows that add even more patio space during nice weather days.

Inside is open, modern and airy.

Another dining area and the distillery is on the other side.

On my last visit we did take out but I thought if I got here early that the patio would be quiet.

Two weeks back I got to order from the all day menu but they now serve brunch on the weekends.

From my take out last time I did try the AZ Hot Chicken Lollipops over blue cheese slaw. They were tender and tasty but not really hot. We also tried the wagyu pastrami sandwich and the hammer and anvil porchetta sandwich.

I asked the waitress about the fried AZ hot chicken biscuit sandwich and she said it was the same heat as the lollipops. I prefer more heat when I eat something hot so I ordered something else. I left my normal comfort zone (chicken and fish) and decided to try the Distillers porcini crusted burger with a side salad slightly special ordered. I LOVE cheese but I think cheese makes my burgers too salty so I asked for the cheese on the side so I could put it on my salad.

The burger is large and is a blend of brisket and short rib. It is topped with caramelized onion, arugula and garlic aioli and a soft fresh brioche bun. The mushroom rub gives the burger a unique taste. I like that they prepared my burger to a perfect medium like I asked for. The side salad is especially good. Everything taste very farm fresh…..

My husband tried the short rib hash.

The eggs didn’t come seasoned so my husband had to ask for salt and pepper. The short ribs in it are fatty and succulent.

This spacious restaurant is almost empty-

and suddenly three tables walk in and the hostess clusters them all around us……

That was our brunch at The Craftsman Cocktails and Kitchen.

www.TheCraftsmanAZ.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

A Collection of HORRIBLE Frightful Foods Served To Me In Metro Phoenix AZ – The Halloween Special Edition Of The Forking Truth

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The Forking Truth is that not everything is amazing. Restaurants don’t always serve great food. Here is a collection of some of the obvious bad dishes I had served to me in metro Phoenix Arizona. I already reported these offenders once so I did my job. Once is enough. If you regularly read my blog then you will know where these monstrosities came from.

The above photo is a little fishy.

Here’s a close up.

This is suppose to be polenta. But it is oddly stiff……

I don’t know if it’s happy to see me or if the chef was just pissed off…???

This next one looks like a cinnamon or chocolate pastry…..But it is not.

It’s a burnt roll.

Also got a burnt pizza crust somewhere. Maybe the cook was sauced?

Don’t you hate when foreign objects are in your food?

Dessert isn’t always a sweet ending.

They gave us a dessert that is hard as a rock. We said something to (I think the owner) and he said that nothing was wrong with his dessert. He said they soften up when you heat them up…..WTFork was I suppose to do? Heat it up with my butt!

This next one was even more horrible than it looks.

The fish was fishy tasting (I couldn’t eat it) and was topped with raw sour tomato paste (like fresh from a can mixed with lemon juice and was just plopped on the fishy fish. It was surrounded by starchy tasting corn splats of different disgusting textures. I didn’t know at the time but latter found out that the chef left. I guess they let their dishwasher take a swing at cooking. I told my waiter about it but nothing was done…Then they went out of business.

Bad food can come from a food truck.

This was suppose to be some sort of corned beef stuffed roll. You can see it is greasy but THANK GOD you can’t taste it ….It tasted like it was cooked in rancid oil…..

This next one was a restaurant week dinner.

This dinner looks like it threw up on it’s self.

This sandwich was very unappetizing in appearance.

It looks like it was dragged threw a lake. (or maybe a mop bucket?)

Even pizza can bum you out. it’s so disappointing when you get a slice of pizza with zero topping.

BAH!

Had the worst taco in the whole world.

Even the tortilla was decomposing on it’s way to me. It was stuffed with DRY as can be flavorless chicken.

I also had the misfortune to try out the WORST Mediterranean food that I ever had anywhere.

Well the rice and tomato was good. But everything else was horrible but photographed well. Falafels had uncooked hard as rock chickpeas in them. The chicken shawarma tasted like chicken baloney. The pickle they gave me was old and decaying. I think it also came with a Sr. Citizen card.

I went to a new (at the time) BBQ place. The meats they served us were undercooked with hard fat. THE GRITS YOU CAN SEE WERE UNCOOKED that they served us.

We told someone about the grits. Nobody said that they were sorry. Nobody said that they’d take them off our bill. Nobody said that they’d get us something else.

It’s always horrible when they serve you…….”The I already ate plate” (no that wasn’t an appetizer…It was suppose to be my $16.00 Lunch.

Here’s another “I already ate plate”

This isn’t enough food for a gerbil. BAH!

Sometimes some restaurants are just bad.

I got this salad somewhere. They used processed chicken fingers that weren’t cooked correctly. It seemed they they cooked them in the microwave until they BLEW OUT the centers of the chicken and the outside of the chicken got incredibly hard. Then they chilled them and added them to my salad.

My husband got something similar but different here.

He said that his chicken fingers were a little better but the cheese with a combination of hard and melted at the same time.

This next one is also just bad.

I got questionable trout, from frozen boiled vegetables and GREEN mashed potatoes. I did ask my waitress why the mashed potatoes were green. She ran and asked the chef. She said the chef told her that mashed potatoes turn green when you add black pepper.

I think the worst meal I had came from a Chinese Restaurant that I enjoyed before. I ordered the fresh fish because it was very good last time.

I have no idea what the FORK they served us. This fish was like it was made of rubber. I think it was dead and embalmed. It was next to impossible to pull the meat off of it. WOW! was my husband mad at me for recommending this place. He was so mad that when the owner asked us how things were he said ok just so the guy would leave. Then when we got the bill he was really SORRY that he didn’t say anything because they charged us over $80.00 for this fish we couldn’t eat.

All this crap was NOT Worth a Fork!

That was a collection of not all but some of horrible frightful foods served to me in metro Phoenix AZ.

This was the Halloween Edition of The Forking Truth.

The Forking Truth

Easy Pho Flavored Turkey Soup Recipe

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I had leftover home made turkey stock and some turkey wings in my freezer that I had to use so I made a turkey soup but flavored like pho. I couldn’t find any recipes on the web for turkey pho but I thought pho flavors would go well with turkey. My recipes for Turkey Stock and Crispy Oven Fried Turkey Wings are posted here on www.TheForkingTruth.com so you can do them if you want but a word of warning that you need a raw turkey carcus to make twelve cups of stock. My idea of serving size might differ from your idea of serving size. For me this makes 4 large dinner servings.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

6 cups turkey stock – preferably home made

14-16oz – pulled turkey meat

1 1/2 lbs – vegetables (cooked and or noodles) I used bok choy and gai lan that II boiled in water with a little sesame oil…I didn’t use any noodles)

1 large sweet onion – sliced paper thin

1/2 teaspoon ground star anise

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

2 Tablespoons sugar (I used one T of turbinado and thought that would be enough but it needed another so I added 1 T of white sugar…..depending on sugar you might only need 1)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 scallions – sliced thin (for serving)

8 sprigs cilantro (for serving)

4 sprigs mint (for serving)

2 jalapeños – sliced (for serving)

2 limes – cut in wedges (for serving)

fish sauce (for serving)

hoisin (for serving)

chili sauce (for serving)

Directions

Put the stock in your sauce pot on medium heat.

Add the star anise, cardamon, sugars, ginger, cloves, coriander, cinnamon, white pepper and black pepper.

You have two choices with the onion. Either you can sauté it and add it to the soup with it starts to turn brown or since it is so thin you can let it cook in the soup and skip cooking it in a pan. You get a slightly different taste depending on what you do. I sort of like the raw onions getting cooked in the soup because they get more fragrant from the spices and the onion taste just goes into the soup. If you sauté the onions the actual onions will taste more oniony. Cooking the onion first is more traditional.

If you have a well made stock your soup is almost done. At this point you take it off the heat and add the pulled turkey. Serve immediately and serve with scallions. cilantro, mint, jalapeños, lime, fish sauce, hoisin and chili sauce.

Easy Pho Flavored Turkey Soup

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth