Tag Archives: #food

The Forking Truth is that Sometimes a Very Good Restaurant will SCREW UP

The Forking Truth is that sometimes a Very Good Restaurant WILL SCREW UP. I was at this well known usually very good restaurant recently in Carefree Arizona. This is a restaurant that has a James Beard Nominated Chef/owner. I love nearly all the food I’ve tried at this Chef’s Restaurants. The food is always highest quality, mostly locally sourced, very creative and masterfully prepared. The food is always forking good and sometimes it’s so good it’s mind-blowing. I’ve been here several times before so I was looking forward to an amazing lunch. I have blogged about all the Chef’s other restaurants and was hoping for a new “Worth a Fork” story to tell. Sadly what happened to me here I wouldn’t want to happen to you so I don’t feel like writing a “Worth a Fork” story. Instead I have to just tell The Forking Truth about what happened kind of forking story.

We arrived and a server told us to pick any table we wanted so I picked a table facing the scenic mountains instead of the other direction with a table facing the parking lot. The server takes our beverage order and I soon receive an iced tea. I was looking forward to starting with a creative vegetable plate prepared with interesting ingredients I’d never think of paring together. Then a lunch plate of some sort and if I had room maybe dessert.

It wasn’t too busy yet in the restaurant and only a few tables were seated behind me.

Then the forking unthinkable happens.

Nobody forking comes back to wait on us……

We wait……

We forking wait some more……

We notice the three tables behind us were all waited on and those people are eating but we didn’t get any FORKING service.

Why?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

What am I Forking Chopped Liver?

Forking Chopped Liver

A forking Leper?

A Forking Leper

Twenty five or more minutes go by so we decided to have lunch some forking place else.

Against my husband’s wishes I left $4.00 on the table. Not as a tip but I wanted to pay for the forking iced tea I hardly drank.

I wrote my story on one review site and the same day someone who identified themselves to me as the waitress from that restaurant contacted me to let me know that they apologized for bad service and wanted to buy me lunch. To me not getting waited on is the worst thing that can happen (besides forking food poisoning). It’s not like you got any food to rave or complain about. It’s like going to the amusement park and they won’t let you on any rides.

I would have thought the owner would have apologized on this one because it’s a biggy…I think.

I was very unhappy about making the trip to this restaurant and not getting waited on. I traveled maybe 30-45 forking minutes to dine here. It’s not terribly far but it’s not in my forking back yard either.

I also feel really forking weird about the offer to come back because if I come back to take them up on the free lunch offer they might just artificially kiss up to me.

I’m just very unhappy that this happened…….

I guess I should be happy that they want to fix this and I should take them up on their offer.

I do note that you will usually get service from this particular restaurant and the food is usually very good but, on my last visit THEY DID FORKING SCREW UP.

As a forking update…..Nothing has happened so far…………

The Forking Truth is that Sometimes A Very Good Restaurant WILL SCREW UP and if they are a very good restaurant they will try to fix it.

The Forking Truth

Italian Style Beans Recipe

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Italian Style Beans

These beans I’m told by several people are just amazing. They are very rich and luxurious. The secret ingredient is chicken fat that you save from your roasted chicken. Only chicken fat can give that deep intense taste that is the backbone to this dish. Also instead of adding salt I use chicken base and think of it as chicken flavored salt for more flavor. The taste with the beans, spices with tomato and chicken is almost like pasta fagioli. This is one of those recipes that I don’t usually measure but made a point this time to measure.

I also make this dish slightly different because that depends on what I have in my pantry. Last time I used canned Italian tomatoes in this dish and this time I used fresh roasted tomatoes.

I’ve made these beans often using local dried beans from the farmer’s market. Those are the only dry beans that come out well all the time. Often the beans from any store are old and an old bean will never be tender. Although the farmer’s market beans are by far the best I ever cooked I went with the second best bean, the low sodium canned varieties. I had one problem with the farmer market’s beans and they are always packed with small stones and I always miss a few. I don’t want to damage my teeth or anyones so I went with low sodium beans because they taste the best of the canned beans.

Ingredients for 20 small servings

1/2 onion chopped fine

3 garlic cloves smashed

6 hot/sweet cherry peppers chopped fine (maybe 4 if you don’t want heat)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chicken fat

1/4 cup flour

3 cups chicken stock

1 6.2oz. can tomato paste

2 15.5 cans reduced sodium cannelloni beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 oz. can reduced sodium garbanzo beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 oz. can reduced sodium pinto beans rinsed well and drained

1/2 cup roasted bell peppers chopped

1 cup (heaping) roasted tomatoes – rough chopped

2 15.5 cans of large butter beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium cannelloni beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium kidney beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium garbanzo beans rinsed well and drained

2 teaspoons reduced sodium all natural chicken base ( I use better than bullion brand) (this is instead of salt)

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 Tablespoon pluss 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon savory

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (cut to 1/4 if you don’t want heat)

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

In your medium/large sauce on medium high heat add your, onion, cherry peppers, and olive oil after a minute or two add your garlic and cook a few minutes till onions are translucent. Remove mixture from pot and set to the side. Add your chicken fat and flour and cook till it bubbles. Whip in the chicken stock, tomato paste, 2 cans cannelloni beans, garbanzo beans and pinto beans and blend this all up with your stick mixer. Bring this to a slow boil. Next is adding everything else you have left. Lower heat slightly and bring to slow boil and lower again to low and let simmer at least a half hour.

You will have this much left after someone in your house helps himself to two bowls.

Freezes well to be used for latter.

People just forking love this dish.

This is Forking great and that’s The Forking Truth

I got a Dog who Forking LOVES Romaine Lettuce

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Normally this cute Aussie looks like this, with a squeaky ball in her mouth ready to play catch. But something forking weird happens every forking time I start washing the romaine.

My little buddy sits behind my feet and taps my leg letting me know she wants forking lettuce. She gives me this cute doggie smile and I have to give her forking lettuce.

So then I forking give her some.

I give her several pieces.

She doesn’t behave this way for any other food. I have noticed she is also oddly found of BEANS and inhales them. She sucks them up like a vacuum. But Romaine lettuce is the only food that makes her give me leg taps.

I think she’s forking unusual but very cute!

“I FORKING love romaine lettuce”

The Forking Truth

Ocotillo – Destination Casual Dining in Phoenix – Certainly Worth a Fork!

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Ocotillo is a Compound that looks like it takes up an acre and consist of a coffee shop,

an outdoor bar with all kinds of outdoor seating

and multiple patios (also another larger patio that spills out of the inside dining room that I didn’t photo) and a big sleek modern light and airy restaurant with comfortable seating. The menu is very varied but is Modern American that changes with the season with International Accents. Ocotillo offers breakfast items, detailed salads, small (but not so small) plates, hot plates cold plates big plates. Interesting vegetable plates, sandwich plates, house made pastas, A selection of roasted chicken plates and much more! From what I tried the food seems to be quality casual detailed food at reasonable prices.

I’ve been at Ocotillo a few times and this is what I tried so far…..

A well thought out detailed Spinach Salad with Smoked Salmon. The salmon was rich and buttery. Everything tasted perfect together. The eggs were prepared medium and weren’t chalky. Fresh herbs were used and brightened everything up and crisp capers added that perfect crunch.

The Mole Chicken Salad. Also delicious but far more substantial than the Spinach Salad. If I only ate the spinach salad with smoked salmon I’d still be hungry. I ate around 1/3rd of the chicken mole salad and was almost full. I’d be willing to put it out there that if you don’t like mole or never had mole you will still enjoy this salad for a few reasons. The chicken in all the dishes I tried from Ocotillo are exceptional. Very good quality chicken that’s prepared to perfection that happens to be delicious. The chicken is only lightly kissed with mole. You have just enough to taste it but it’s not blanketed with mole. Everything in the salad is very good from the heirloom cherry tomatoes to the fresh marinated avocado. The pepitas are also roasted and are bursting with flavor.

On the small plate menu are Japanese Fish and Chips.

The plate is not so small. Big Sweet Pieces of Panko Covered Cod that are served with Seaweed and Sea salt Seasoned Fries. The fish was so mild and sweet I didn’t even think this could be cod. Fries with just a light touch of seaweed were tasty too. Everything seemed like it was oil free.

The Tandoori Style Chicken Sandwich is delicious. Besides many exotic spices it has this red lentil hummus kind of spread on it that elevates the already delicious charred chicken in it. This sandwich was very layered in textures and flavors. Crispy slightly bitter greens the charred in a good way moist flavorful chicken with tomatoes that added sweetness and cut threw the richness of the lentil hummus. I had my choice of fries or the side dish of the day, the watermelon and tomato salad with mild chiles. It was light and not spicy but interesting. The light bread seemed like it was fresh made and didn’t get soggy even two days latter when I ate the other half. I thought this was a real bargain for only $9.00.

My husband had the Grilled Steak Sandwich but I tasted a small piece of the steak.

The Steak was tender, moist and flavorful. The tabasco horseradish cream on the side was amazing. It was suppose to be served spread on the sandwich but my husband wanted it on the side.

So far I only tried one of the roasted Chicken dishes.

It was the Thai Style Roasted Chicken. The Chicken was moist and developed with flavors and had a delicious red curry style sauce on it. I thought this was a large portion and this was shared the day I ate it.

Can’t wait to go back and try more.

Everything I tried was delicious so far. Unfortunately I didn’t have have room to try a dessert here yet. I thought the prices were reasonable. Atmosphere is attractive and comfortable.

For me service was like from most restaurants.

On my first visit service wasn’t so great because the hostess sat me at a table that was being used as a bus-stand. On my fist visit the server I had knew little about the food and didn’t pace our plates. Perhaps that was just opening growing pains and the bugs were worked out because on my next visit the service was greatly improved. This server could answer questions about the food and we were checked on and served in a timely manner.

Between the menu and atmosphere you might want to come here if you are from out of town for a solid good casual detailed meal that isn’t too expensive. If you live here you might want to travel across town for a very nice meal out.

Ocotillo is Worth A Fork!

Worth a Fork….. You might Travel across Town to Dine Here

The Forking Truth

The Healthiest Cheapest and Best Snack Food can be made in your Forking Microwave Oven

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Carrot Chips- carrots are cheap about $2.99 for 5 lbs. Just slice them thin place in a microwave safe plate for about 3 minutes. Wipe the plate dry add a light coating of nonstick spray to your plate turn the carrots over and they only need 1-2 minutes more and you have chips. Finish with some fresh ground sea salt.

Potato Chips- Potatoes are forking cheap. You can usually buy a ten pound bag of spuds for less than $3.00. Potato chips cook up faster than carrots in the microwave. Just slice them thin and try 3 minutes in the microwave. Wipe out plate or bowl and potato that isn’t done put back and microwave 30 seconds at a time till done. Finish with sea salt

Pop corn not from a store bought bag with that yucky chemical goo but using dried kernels. Just 1/4 cup of kernels in a brown paper lunch bag that is folded close. Let the microwave go about 2 minutes (or when you hear the popping almost stopping) and you have cheap healthy pop corn. No fat is needed. Loose pop corn is very cheap and a 10 lb. bag will last you a year and it only cost about $1.00 a lb. I do note for the best tasting and textured pop corn you need to use the BIG kernels.

These are Good and that's The Forking Truth

These are Good, Healthy, Forking Cheap and that’s The Forking Truth

Thanksgiving 2015 Got Forking Stuffed

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Thanksgiving 2015

Not many people can say they cooked a forking 500 turkey dinners all by themselves. But that was a long time ago. I think I worked harder on serving just 10 people than the 500 I did once. This year I cooked for only 10 people but made enough food for maybe 20. I prepared over 20 items. My husband prepared the mashed potatoes. I know I didn’t have to prepare so many different dishes but I wanted too. To me Thanksgiving is an abundance of turkey, stuffing and potatoes that you share with who ever you forking can so you should offer all you can of those items and then some. Here’s what I forking served this year.

Fennel Fava Radish and Walnut Salad in Lemon Dijon Dressing

Thanksgiving Style Individual Turkey Meatloaf

Thanksgiving Style Individual Turkey Meatloaves

I prepared turkey four forking ways!

Sous Vide Turkey Breast with Oven Crisp Turkey Skin

Comments I got were..”.How did you cook this?” …..”This turkey is forking moist”……

Oven Fried Crisp Turkey Wings (425 degrees F for about one hour) (just drizzle them with evoo s&p garlic and paprika)

Oven Roasted Turkey Legs

Herbed Turkey Gravy

Traditional Stuffing and Rosemary Herb Stuffing

Leek Pudding

Cornbread Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Potato Casserole

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans, Dates and some Brown Sugar

Sweet Potatoes with Cherry peppers, Figs, Green Onions and Balsamic Drizzle

Some people really enjoyed the non-traditional Sweet Potatoes with Figs, Green Onions, Chiles and Balsamic Drizzle (add s&p drizzle evoo roast potatoes at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes vegetables for about 15 min)

Italian Style Beans

Macaroni and Cheese

Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus

Rainbow Carrots

Vegetable Essence Spinach with onion

Sweet Corn off the Cob

Soaked Semolina Limequat Cakes with Sumac Citrus Mascarpone

Bouchons (Bouchon Bakery Recipe – very chocolate very moist individual cakes)

A few Chocolate Pots de Creme

Cinnamon Brown Sugared Chestnuts in Crispy Wontons (served with honey)

Cinnamon Brown Sugared Chestnuts in Crispy Won Tons served with honey

Cinnamon Crumb Bars with Apple

Lots of wine

Guest brought the pumpkin pie

Hope you also had Thanksgiving Dinner too and got Forking stuffed too!

This was Forking Good and that's The Forking Truth

This was Forking Great and that’s The Forking Truth

Fennel Fava Bean Radish and Walnut Salad in Lemon Dijon Dressing

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Fennel Fava Bean Radish and Walnut Salad in Lemon Dijon Dressing

A great little tasty light refreshing salad that’s easy to prepare with a good presentation. The dressing is very delicious. You might want to save it for many other salads. It taste almost like an eggless caesar.

Ingredients for 4 servings

2 celery ribs with some inner leaves – peal the celery, slice thin at slight diagonal. Set the inner leaves to the side.

1 fennel bulb – wash and core fennel and slice thin on slight diagonal – save some of the fennel fronds and set them to the side

3-4 radishes depending on size and variety.- thinly sliced

2 cups fava beans – shelled and pealed and cooked

cup (scant) walnuts – toasted

1/4 cup parmesan – shaved

1 garlic clove – minced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

splash Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Mix up the garlic, salt, black pepper, dijon, olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire and sugar together. Add the fennel, walnuts, celery and beans and mix well. Top with fennel fronds, celery leaves and parmesan shavings.

Fennel Fava Radish and Walnut Salad in Lemon Dijon Dressing

This is Forking Good and that’s The Forking Truth

Thanksgiving Style Individual Turkey Meatloaves Recipe

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Thanksgiving Style Individual Turkey Meatloaf

It can be Thanksgiving any day when you prepare these Thanksgiving Seasoned Individual meatloaves. This turkey meatloaf taste just like really good stuffing. It will remind anyone of Thanksgiving. It’s easy to prepare and is perfectly seasoned and comes out moist if you don’t change the forking recipe. It’s almost likeThanksgiving in a few forkfuls.

Ingredients to make 19 individual small meatloaves

2 lbs. ground lean turkey

1 carrot shredded

9 oz. sour dough bread – cut up in very small cubes

2 XL eggs – beaten

1 12.3 oz. package silken firm tofu (the kind that’s 3 oz. for 50 calories) – blended

1 celery rib – chopped fine

2 garlic cloves – mashed fine

1/2 sweet large white onion – grated

1 Tablespoon Turkey base (instead of salt- I used organic Better Than Bullion brand)

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 fresh sprig rosemary

1 Tablespoon fresh sage – chopped fine

1 sprig fresh thyme – chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 cup water

nonstick cooking spray

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika to finish

Directions set your oven to 350 degrees.

in a large bowl mix all your ingredients except for the paprika.

Spray your baking sheet(s) with nonstick cooking spray. Use a serving spoon with a Tablespoon to dish out your loaves because the mixture is very soft and the serving spoon size will make the loaves the right size.

In my oven they took 20 minutes to cook though. The loaves do come out pale. Sprinkle lightly with sweet paprika and fine fresh chopped parsley. Serve with turkey gravy if desired.

Thanksgiving Style Individual Turkey Meatloaf

They are delicious would also make a super forking great meat stuffing. They come out very moist and flavorful!

This is great and that’s The Forking Truth

Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus Recipe

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Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus

Last year I made cranberry sauce with a little hibiscus syrup and added to it and it was well received by a very discriminating crowd. So I made a very similar cranberry sauce but with whole hibiscus flowers and juice of one lime and a small of amount of spices to balance things out. This sauce is not very sweet but is flavored nicely and is still traditional tasting because you don’t mess with Thanksgiving too much. I think hibiscus goes very well with cranberry. It adds something so slight but the flavor is more full.

Ingredients that makes around 7 cups about 25 servings (leftovers can be frozen)

2 pounds cranberries (washed)

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups water

1 lime (fresh squeezed) you only need the juice

1 cup dried whole hibiscus flowers

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

pinch nora pepper (it’s a fine chopped medium heat fruity pepper similar to Aleppo but from Spain) I would substitute Aleppo pepper because it’s likely you won’t find nora pepper. I just nora pepper was more perfect with these ingredients.

Directions

In your sauce pan on medium/high heat add everything except the cranberries and bring to boil. Then add the cranberries. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and let it go stirring occasionally for around a half hour or until the berries have all broken up.

Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus

This is Forking Good and that’s The Forking Truth

Forking Dining with Dogs at Leo’s Island BBQ Peoria AZ November 2015

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We recently went to Leo’s Island BBQ in Peoria AZ. Leo’s Island BBQ is located in the Arrowhead Shopping area across the street from the mall. This is one of the only locally owned restaurants in the immediate area. This is a small fast casual restaurant that serves up the Hawaiian Plate lunch. You have around forking thirty choices to pick from with the average price running around $8.00 a plate. The styrofoam packages are filled with enormous amounts of meat that rest on some steamed vegetables (mostly cabbage), a double scoop of rice, creamy macaroni salad.

Me and my dogs had the Chicken and Rib Combo Plate.

“I’m just sweet and I wait my turn.”

“Good choice, we can forking eat till we burst.” “This place is forking great.”

"The closer you are to the food the forking more you get!"

“That other dog is cute but doesn’t know that the closer you are to the food the forking more food you forking get!”

I got two short ribs, TONS of crispy breaded white meat chicken and TONS of boneless dark meat bbq chicken. Everything tasted fresh and all the was tender and tasty. This is all fresh made food. The sauces are prepared in house and the chicken is natural chicken. The macaroni salad is very creamy and a little dap of Korean hot sauce makes it very tasty.

Both dogs were very happy. Even with my two helpers and my husband helping himself to some this meal is still to massive to finish.

My husband got the Spam Loco Moco.

It was maybe a half dozen slices of grilled spam topped with two fried eggs and lots of gravy.

Go to Leo’s Island BBQ and bring your appetite and wear loose jeans.

For more information on Leo’s Island BBQ www.LeosIslandBBQ.net

The Forking Truth

TheForkingTruth

Forking Thoughts on Food and Restaurants

Tag Archives: #food

The Forking Truth is that Sometimes a Very Good Restaurant will SCREW UP

Like this:

Italian Style Beans Recipe

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I got a Dog who Forking LOVES Romaine Lettuce

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Ocotillo – Destination Casual Dining in Phoenix – Certainly Worth a Fork!

Like this:

The Healthiest Cheapest and Best Snack Food can be made in your Forking Microwave Oven

Like this:

Thanksgiving 2015 Got Forking Stuffed

Like this:

Fennel Fava Bean Radish and Walnut Salad in Lemon Dijon Dressing

Like this:

Thanksgiving Style Individual Turkey Meatloaves Recipe

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Cranberry Sauce with Hibiscus Recipe

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Forking Dining with Dogs at Leo’s Island BBQ Peoria AZ November 2015

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