Bomba is an Italian Calabrian Hot Chili Condiment. It’s a bomb of flavor and heat that adds dimension, flavor and heat to food. A little goes a long way. You might want to use it on bread, pasta, sandwiches, sauces, soups, pizza, eggs, fish or vegetable salads. Sometimes I add some bomba to tomato sauce and to meatballs. There are many different brands of bomba. Most grocery stores don’t carry bomba so usually I buy it on the internet. I haven’t tried them all yet but here are three that I’ve tried.
Each one is a product of Italy. Each one has a different texture and a different taste but they all have heat.
The peppers have a little funk from Trader Joe’s. I thought I tasted garlic but there is no garlic in the Trader Joe’s…..I guess I was craving garlic with this one.
Italian Harvest is almost just hot oil with crushed chili in it. This one has a nice clean bright almost fresh tasting hot chili taste.
I do note that I usually buy Coluccio Brand and it differs each and every time I buy it…Sometimes it’s extra hot and sometimes it is almost mild.
Today the Coluccio brand taste like it’s made with very good olive oil. It’s chunky with lots of olive tasting vegetables and some spices. It seems mild and tasty at first and then it builds in heat that lingers.
I like all the Bomba here. Each one had something different to it.
I tried Trader Joe’s
Italian Harvest
Coluccio
It’s better to have any jar of Bomba than to not have a jar of Bomba.
We are trying to support as many local restaurants as we can during the pandemic. I don’t know if the news is factual? They said that you won’t catch coronavirus from food. They said even if someone with coronavirus makes your food you won’t catch it that way. The virus passes from someone breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing 6 feet or less from you. During the pandemic you should shield your eyes, nose and mouth. You need to wash your hands every time you touch anything outside of your house. As far as we know Take Out Food should be safe.
First stop this week was our Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery. This restaurant is located in North Phoenix and serves all your Vietnamese favorites except for pho.
Today I had the noodle salad with grilled chicken and a tasty vegetarian egg roll.
My husband had the grilled pork rice plate.
The food is always fresh and tasty. Portions are always LARGE and prices are always LOW!
We always enjoy Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery.
A few days latter we packed up the dogs and did pick up from Skewers Mediterranean Grill.
We tried a very delicious eggplant salad and their creamy hummus.
For my main I had the chicken kabob salad bowl again.
My husband tried the chicken shawarma salad bowl.
Everything was fresh and tasty. Portions on take out were much larger than dine in.
Next stop was Alzohour Market in Glendale for Moroccan/Middle Eastern Cuisine.
I’ve tried much of the menu but never had the chicken kabob until today.
WOW! It’s delicious and very moist!
My husband got the lamb couscous.
I think the couscous dishes are one of her masterpiece dishes. There’s a lot going on here.
Both entrees came with side salads that had this insanely delicious lemony dressing.
Portions were extra large but we had some help with that.
Next we packed up the dogs and did take out from Doda’s Pizza in Glendale.
They do what I call east coast flavored neighborhood pizza…..not artisan….not Neapolitan but superior to chain take out pizza. They make a flavorful dough, a good tasting rich sauce and better cheese than from other similar restaurants in the area.
We took out two slices of their regular cheese pizza.
We also tried a Margherita.
Last stop this week was take out from Cafe Chenar in North Phoenix for Bukharian Cuisine.
You might be wondering WTFork is Bukharian Cuisine? It’s a kosher offshoot of Pan Asian with influences from Russian, Muslim, Uzbek and Korean. We had tasty chicken and beef lulyas (ground seasoned meat cooked on a skewer), chuchuara (stuffed pasta), achichuk (salad) and a salmon skewer. Everything was delicious and there was precautionary distancing there and a bottle of hand sanitizer.
“Don’t worry we are in this thing together”
We were able to support 5 local small businesses this week.
Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery
Skewers Mediterranean Grill
Alzohour Market
Doda’s Pizza
Cafe Chenar
Everything is subject to change and we hope it does for the better.
I’ve been working on and tweaking my pastrami recipes for years. I had a very good idea on how to do a turkey breast as pastrami. It’s different than working with beef because you don’t want to do the pastrami solution for more than 4 hours. I figured out the perfect formula and spice rub for the most delicious pastrami turkey I’ve tasted so far. I do note that I started with a dry brined turkey breast. A brine is means the meat was soaked in a salt solution. Marinades are for flavor and are usually acidic this marinade is salty but it contains the flavors for pastrami.. I skipped the brining step so you need to brine your turkey breast first or skip that step by purchasing an already brined or dry brined turkey breast. You can use this recipe for both sides of the breast or do one half and use half the brine for another time or for something else. I did half pastrami and the other half traditional with herbs. I used an average sized turkey and each half after cooking weighed around 1 1/2 pounds…I consider that around 6 or more servings for each half breast. You can make the marinade and rub the day before if you want.
Ingredients for around 12 (or more) servings
1/2 cup olive oil (that you froze in a flat square shape that’s cut in half for each Sous Vide bag)
4 Tablespoons ground coriander (rub)
! Tablespoon ground black pepper (rub)
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika (rub)
1 whole boneless skinless turkey breast – from an average sized turkey that has been brined or dry brined – pierced all over with a fork
1 cup dark brown sugar
5 oz diamond brand kosher salt – DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BRAND BECAUSE OTHER BRANDS HAVE A DIFFERENT SALT CONTENT and also PENETRATE THE MEAT DIFFERENT ****ONLY USE DIAMOND KOSHER SALT FOR THIS RECIPE
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons juniper berries
3 Tablespoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons allspice berries
3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon whole cloves
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
2 Tablespoons telicherry black peppercorns
2 teaspoons white peppercorns
1 teaspoon ground ginger powder
10 garlic cloves sliced thin
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
2 hot dried peppers – crumbled (I used Calabrian Piri Piri peppers) (two pinches of crush red pepper will do in a pinch)
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 cups water
Directions
Make the marinade.
In a sauce pot add brown sugar, diamond salt, honey, juniper berries, coriander seeds, allspice berries, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, white peppercorns, ginger, garlics, hot pepper, smoked paprika and water. Bring to boil then let simmer about 10 minutes. Take off heat let cool to room temperature. For best results refrigerate and marinate the turkey breast tomorrow.
Make the rub.
In a small mixing bowl add the ground coriander, ground black pepper and the smoked paprika. Mix well and put in a sealed container or a ziplock bag.
Next Day
Each Turkey Breast gets pierced all over and goes in a gallon ziplock bag with 1/2 of the marinating liquid. Squeeze out the air from the bag. This needs to be refrigerated for four hours.
Add water to the sous vide and set to 140 degrees F.
After four hours take the turkey out of the bag and rinse it off and pat it dry and then apply a light amount of rub to it. Then it goes in a vacuumed sealed bag with half the frozen cube of olive oil. The sealed bag(s) go in the Sous Vide for 3-4 hours after ruching prober temperature…(incase you don’t know…once set at 140 the temperature will drop and it takes awhile to reach the 140)
After the 3-4 the four hours in the Sous Vide remove the turkey breast bags. Run them under cold water or apply an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Just before serving Blot them off. Apply a little more rub. Sear them off in a pan or finish on your grill.
ENJOY!
You might want to serve with-
Kraut Style SlawRye RollsPastrami Turkey on a Rye Roll with Kraut Style SlawFORKING DELICIOUS TURKEY PASTRAMI
This week we’ve been to Fry’s. Safeway, Walmart Grocery and Bashas supermarkets. Fry’s was reasonably well stocked except for paper products. Walmart Grocery was also reasonably stocked and out of paper products but I was lucky to find eggs this week. They were almost out of eggs but had around 6 flats in the refrigerator and I was lucky to get one with a limit on one. Last week Walmart Grocery was the only supermarket near me that had fresh raw chicken. Safeway was the least stocked of all the supermarkets with very little produce and no paper products. They didn’t have their usual brands of chicken and offered frozen raw whole chickens of a brand I never heard of. I bought one and it made Walmart Chicken seem like the best chicken in the whole wide world. This Sun something brand of Safeway Chicken had an abnormally large breast and tiny legs that were like white meat wings. It was one of the worst chickens I’ve ever tried with a weird texture and not the best taste. I don’t normally shop at Bashas because there isn’t one near me. I stopped into a Bashas because I was in the area of one and needed fresh herbs I couldn’t find near me this week. They had the herbs but this was the only supermarket that didn’t offer hand sanitizer and also didn’t offer sanitizing wipes. They still used the moving belt by the cashier without sanitizing it. I felt unsafe shopping there during this pandemic.
I don’t know if my experience is typical from other similar super markets.
That was Week 3 of Grocery Shopping during the CoronaVirus Pandemic in Metro Phoenix AZ.
Everything is subject to change and I hope it does for the better.
You have to travel far to find delicious rye bread in certain parts of metro Phoenix. I make my own and just came up with this even easier version of rye rolls. This recipe is easy but it requires a stand mixer and takes a little over five hours. It makes eight nice sized rolls.
Ingredients for 8 servings
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons bread flour (plus more for dough to rest and to knead)
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons dark rye flour
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/8 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 Tablespoons caraway seeds (plus a few pinches for sprinkling the tops of rolls)
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil
2 Tablespoons semolina flour – to rest unbaked rolls on (can substitute corn meal)
1 egg white – beaten
small pinch French salt flakes for finishing
Set oven to 425 degrees F
In your stand mixer bowl add the flours, sugar, salt, yeast, caraway seeds, water and oil. Before you start up your mixer you need to mix this up with a fork so when the mixer mixes it your flour doesn’t fly all over the place. Once you have the batter reasonably mixed then attach your dough hook. Set it on Medium High and let it go for ten minutes. The dough should pull away from the bowl and wrap it’s self around the hook.
Get a large bowl and add some bread flour for your dough to rest on. Take the dough off the hook and knead it and roll it into a ball. Let it rest in the bowl for FOUR HOURS covered with plastic wrap.
You need either one large baking sheet or two smaller baking sheets to be covered with parchment and the parchment needs a light coating of semolina flour.
After 4 hours punch it down and divide it in quarters and divide each quarter in a half so you have eight even pieces.
Kenad each piece in a ball. Slap it around a bit. Roll it in a log and then knead it into a ball and place on semolina lined parchment. Repeat till all 8 rolls are done spewing them apart some.
Brush with egg whites twice. Be careful and don’t get too close to the parchment or you will glue the roll to the paper. Sprinkle each roll with some caraway seeds and a very light pinch of flaked salt.
These go in a preheated 425 degree F oven. When they turn brown (13-15 minutes) turn down to 350 degrees F. They only need maybe 5 more minutes in the oven. In my oven the rolls took a total of 20 minutes. The timing may differ some.
ENJOY
Rye Rolls
My husband kept raving about these rolls. I thought they were pretty darn good.
I made this easy quick kraut style slaw to go on my turkey pastrami. It’s flavored like kraut but no fermentation. It’s not as harsh as some krauts are. It takes about three days to get full flavored. This recipe might make more kraut slaw than you need but it will stay good for at least two weeks. My idea of serving size will differ from yours but this makes over eight serving.
ingredients for around 8 servings
1 small cabbage – sliced very thin on a mandolin
1 red onion – sliced very thin on a mandolin (white or sweet onion is fine too)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
8 juniper berries – ground
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
Directions
Combine everything in a large bowl and mix well. Let this sit on the counter for one hour. Mix well again. Refrigerate. Mix once a day till day three.
Enjoy!
Here it is on a Forking Truth Rye Roll with Forking Truth Turkey Pastrami.
We are supporting local restaurants as much as we can during the pandemic.
We did take out from a newly opened casual Taco Fusion. I’ve been there a couple weeks ago and was blown away with how great the food was….(particularly the mild habanero chicken taco with pineapple salsa…)…. I also was so happy that it wasn’t too far from where I lived so I thought it was extra important to stop here and give them some business. When we made our take out order we were told that they were offering 4 of their 8 salsas today and didn’t have pineapple salsa today.
All the tacos and quesadilla was delicious. The tortillas are hand made. The flour tortilla is thinner and bigger with less flavor than the hand made corn tortilla. The asada is more flavorful and more tender than from another popular taco place in the area. The fish taco is different and is topped with sweet carrots. They are all very good tacos but I still like the mild habanero chicken taco best. It’s full of really good flavors. It’s the one taco that is even better than a chicken taco from Mexico. (I’ve actually tasted many tacos on the streets of Mexico a few times) The sauces are good..we got one I’ve never tried before anywhere. It’s a dark ultra spicy sauce that is borderline too hot for me but if I only use a drop or two is wildly delicious. Very GOOD Tacos from Taco Fusion in Glendale.
Our next take out was from Pita Kitchen in Glendale. This is small Greek Casual Mediterranean restaurant.
We packed up our dogs and did a pick up.
I got my usual chicken kabob salad. I have to say that this chicken is abundant, moist, developed with flavors, delicious with a really tasty char on it. I really think their chicken kabob is the best in town.
My husband got the gyro Greek salad with added pickles.
We also got delicious fresh pita bread that they make there.
Our friends also helped us enjoy the food on our patio.
We did get take out from the AMAZING Confluence Restaurant in Carefree.
We picked up a fresh baked fontina roll that is to die for.
Tried some delicious vegetable soup that was so light and different. It was made with the fancy cauliflower and lots of parsnips.
For dinner had that incredible FORKING DELICIOUS Fried Chicken with broccolini and buttery cooked potato.
The sweet ending was a dark chocolate brownie for dessert.
We enjoyed delicious Thai Food from Sala Thai in Peoria.
I had the spicy pumpkin basil with chicken and brown rice.
They gave us a CRAZY amount of brown rice. After we took what we wanted there was THREE EXTRA whole cups of rice that I portioned out and froze.
My husband had the spicy egg bomb with chicken and brown rice.
Then we went to Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale.
I got my usual chicken fajita salad.
My husband got some sort of Mexican Beef Plate with rice, beans and tortillas.
We got margaritas to go. They were packed nicely and were very strong.
This week we were able to support five restaurants.
Taco Fusion in Glendale
Pita Kitchen in Glendale
Confluence in Carefree
Sala Thai in Peoria
Popo’s Fiesta Del Soll in Glendale
We are doing our best to help support small business restaurants. If you care about a small business you should give your support.
I happened to have some potatoes, sage and fontina cheese that I had to use and came across Melissa Clark’s recipe for Mashed Potato Casserole with Sage and Fontina Cheese from Food and Wine Magazine. I did her recipe but when I tasted the potatoes they didn’t seem flavorful enough. Maybe it was a typo since her recipe didn’t include salt to boil the potatoes? I bet Mellisa Clark used better potatoes than mine. If you ever tasted potatoes from the farmers market you know that they taste a whole lot better than super market potatoes. She also maybe used a better quality fontina cheese that had more flavor so her recipe was good with better ingredients. I added additional spices and a 1/2 teaspoon of bomba (an Italian hot pepper condiment) and I thought the potatoes tasted much better. Incase you aren’t familiar with bomba it’s a delicious condiment that I highly recommend. It’s full of flavors and heat. A little bit just adds so much flavor to foods. Incase you are wondering the potatoes aren’t spicy but are very flavorful. Bomba is a secret weapon to make food delicious. I also cut her recipe in half because I didn’t need eight servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 1/2 lbs potatoes – peeled and cut in maybe 6 pieces
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 oz creme fraiche (or substitut sour cream or a thick yogurt)
1 1/2 teaspoon sage – chopped
4 oz fontina cheese – shredded
1 Tablespoon parsley leaves – chopped
1/2 teaspoon bomba
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
few grates of fresh ground nutmeg
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter – grated
2 1/2 Tablespoons bread crumbs
2 1/2 Tablespoons parmigiano reggiano – grated
small handful fresh sage leaves
A little oil to fry or oven fry the sage leaves
non stick spray or butter or oil to grease a small baking dish
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F. Grease your smaller baking dish and set it to the side.
The potato go in a pot and get covered well with water. Bring to medium boil and boil them till tender (usually 15 minutes). drain and mash them with butter, creme fraiche, chopped sage, fontina cheese, parsley, bomba, salt, peppers, nutmeg.
Add this mixture to your greased baking dish and smooth the top.
In a small bowl mix up the remaining butter, bread crumbs and parmigiana reggiano cheese and spread it out evenly over the potatoes.
Put in oven till the crumbs are nicely browned (about 15 minutes). Then cover to stop the browning for around 5 more minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Bomba Mashed Potato Casserole with Sage and Fontina
A special THANKS to Melissa Clark for her Mashed Potato Casserole Recipe that inspired my version.
Last week was brutal. My local Safeway super market was only filled with 20%-30% groceries. There was very little that could be purchased.
This week I went to Walmart Grocery.
I almost cried when I saw all the produce. It’s so much closer to normal.
They were also out of a lot of things like onions, potatoes, hot dogs, eggs, all paper products. A lot of things were very low or missing but at least they had fresh looking chicken so I was happy.
packaged cheeses
No eggs today.
Since I’m down to my last paper towel I stopped at CVS. They had a few paper towels left with a sign that says limit one. I grabbed a two pack of bounty paper towels. I don’t know if they priced gouged me because with tax the two rolls cost over TEN DOLlARS…dang I normally pay a little over a dollar a roll in a big multi roll pack from Costco….
A few days latter I went back to Walmart Grocery. I also had trouble buying my dog’s Blue Buffalo Food. The Dog Food Stores were out of the big bags and I was almost out but got lucky and found a couple small bags at Walmart. They still lacked paper products but there was maybe a half dozen containers of eggs with a limit of one per customer. I was lucky to get eggs this time. They only had 6 cartons and one was an extra large box of eggs so I snagged it up.
I also went to Costco. They now make you wait in a line and so many people are allowed in at a time. Many were waring masks. I’m not a fan of Costco raw chicken since they switched to Foster Farms Brand but they were still out of raw chicken and most paper products. I did notice that the empty shelves from last week now are filled with water bottles. They also had eggs this week. Now they block off the aisles and funnel you to one area with six foot spaces to check out. All cart contents stay in the cart and sneeze guards have been installed by the cashiers.
That’s how things were this week.
The CoronaVirus Apocalypse in Metro Phoenix Week Two – Annoying but no Famine this week.
Everything is subject to change and I hope it does for the better.
Dining out with dogs is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all sort of started when my dog Louie was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. He was given 3-6 months. He already was old and couldn’t do a lot but he enjoyed going out to eat so I took him out as often as I could. Instead of the 3-6 months Louie made it another 17 months. Today my current dogs enjoy going out to eat.
Before you dine out with dogs there are some things to know. Most restaurants in Phoenix have patios but not all patios are dog friendly. It is always BEST to call any restaurant on the day of your visit and ask if it’s ok to dine there with your dog. That way you find out if it’s ok to bring your dog and you also find out if the patio is available that day. It’s also AWAYS BEST to dine at off times to avoid as many people and other dogs as possible. Not all people share your love for dogs and some people are allergic to dogs. It’s best to avoid other dogs because dogs like to bark at each other and you might get asked to leave.
You need to beware that when dining out with dogs that your dog must be by your side at all times. Dogs are NOT permitted to sit on restaurant furniture or to eat off of restaurant plates. You should bring a bowl from home for water for your dog. You need to be aware that most food and drink that you consume can be harmful or even TOXIC to your dog. You must get a list of safe and a list of foods to avoid from your veterinarian. Usually a small piece of lean meat that is without sauce is usually a safe bet. Here in Phoenix you also need to know that your dog is not as heat tolerant as you are. All people and all dogs do have different tolerances for heat. In general but not for all dogs I’d say over 90 degrees F is too hot to dine out with dogs. Maybe 90 degrees is tolerable but only in FULL SHADE. All dogs do differ. Hopefully you know your dog well enough to decide. When there is any doubt PLEASE LEAVE YOUR DOG AT HOME.
Now I will let The Forking Truth go to my dogs. They will tell you about their dining experiences.
“We were on our way to Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante but my folks didn’t make it early enough and the patio was full of people so we left.” “BAH!” “But we did great at Phila-Deli.”
“The nice owner runs us out some turkey before my folks got their meals.”
“Our female human companion got a turkey wrap again.”
“It’s a different brand of turkey today.” “I think I like this one better because it’s more moist without that smoke taste and I really like the pepper jack cheese that gets pulled out for us.”
“We also really Forking love cheese steaks (without the onions for us dogs!’
“We always get a “Phila-Belly from Phila Deli…….(we enjoy that!)”
www.PhilaDeliAZ.com
“We are on our way to Culver’s in the Deer Valley part of Phoenix.” “Culver’s is a national group oof quick casual restaurants.” “Culver’s is famous for their signature never from frozen butter burgers, hand battered Icelandic cod and their daily made fresh frozen custard.”
“That butter burger is nicely caramelized and smells delicious.”
“We get the eat some yummy butter burger!”
“Our folks like the limited walleye special.” “It’s a very large platter.” “We helped eat that one too!”
“We always do great at Culver’s.”
www.Culvers.com
“We are on our way to Banh Mi Vietnamese Bistro in Phoenix.”
“Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery serves up most of your usual favorite Vietnamese foods except for pho.” “They are a pho-free eatery and post signs that say,”Eat a banh mi instead.”
“Today our folks got a lotus root salad ($5.00), chicken potstickers ($4.00) and a pork rice plate ($10.00).”
“We are doing so good today!”
“We loved everything we tried from Banh Mi Vietnamese Bistro!”
“Yep that was delicious!”
www.BanhMiBistroAZ.com
“Holy FORK!” “Now we are having a coronavirus crisis!” “Our folks did take out from Fabio On Fire today!” “We got to enjoy a small amount of sausage pizza.”
We didn’t get any of the bufalina pizza because it isn’t dog friendly with the balsamic vinegar.”
“So we were fed some eye roast she made.”
“We also did Banh Mi Bistro Vietnamese Eatery this week because it’s very important to keep our local restaurants in business.”
1/2 of chicken banh mi
“Helped with two lunches out of one chicken banh mi.”
“We also helped with a delicious shaken beef banh mi ($8.00).
“We also got to eat food from Cucina Tagliani.”
www.CucinaTagliani.com
“Well that was Dining Out and DINING IN with Dogs in Metro Phoenix for March 2020.” “We hope for the best during this pandemic.” “We also hope that you’ve enjoyed and we hope to see you next month!”
The Forking TruthIn Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017
