I had this idea that balsamic vinegar and bomba (a hot spicy Italian pepper condiment) would go well with beets and they do. Onions, basil, blood oranges and robiola cheese tie it all together. I fried some plain capers and a few mushrooms rolled in cornstarch just for fun. I didn’t include any frying for this recipe but you can if you want. I also note that my idea of a serving size might differ from yours. I think this is something that you only eat a small dish of.
Ingredients for 6 small servings
1 1/2 lbs red beet root – washed well, skin removed – depending on size cut in half and if large quarter
1 Tablespoon Bomba or Bomba Calabrese (each brand is very different and also might be an inconsistent product as far as heat (you might need more or want to use slightly less). Today I’m using Trader Joe’s Bomba that is made with fermented Calabrian chili peppers)
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 large sweet onion – sliced very thin
3 blood oranges – supreme them if you can
8 oz robiola cheese – cut in cubes that aren’t too big
1/4 cup fresh basil
Directions
Set oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large baking dish or pan add the bomba, balsamic, water and fennel seeds and mix well. Then add the beets and cover pan tight with foil. Put on the middle rack. This stays in the oven till beets are fork tender. The time will differ depending on age and size of beets, the pan and the oven. Usually this takes one-one and one half hours. When fork tender remove the beets from the oven. Remove the beets from the liquid so they can cool ooff and you can cut them in a desired shape.
Use the liquid and add the sliced onions to it. Now you have bomba balsamic onions. After the beets are cut to desired shape mix them with the onions.
To serve top with blood oranges, basil and robiola cheese.
ENJOY!
Bomba Balsamic Beets and Onions with Blood Oranges, Basil and Robiola CheeseThe Forking Truth
Popo’s is the busiest restaurant that I know of on the upper west side in Glendale Arizona. I don’t know of any other restaurant that is often on an hour wait at 4:30 pm. They are a Mexican Restaurant that offers appetizers, soups, salads, fajitas, chimichangas, combo plates, specialty plates, sides, American plates, eggs, lunch specials, a children’s menu and happy hour.
Even the bar is packed at 4:30
Two tables just left and another is getting seated.
I should note that this is an older former Garcias Restaurant and it is very large with multiple dining rooms and a large bar area with lots of tables. The place is packed. I can’t believe we had to wait to get seated at 4:30. I thought we’d get lucky and beat the crowd.
That means that Popo’s is doing something right.
Popo’s serves very good hot chips and the very best salsa in town.
Popo’s offers the STRONGEST CHEAPEST Margarita….in town…actually more like the strongest cheapest margarita in the FORKING UNIVERSE……I don’t know what that drink is made of. I know the drink is around $5.75 on the menu but we seem to hit the happy hour and get it for $4.00 lately….It is so STRONG it can FORKING DO PUSHUPS……..IT”S IMPOSSIBLE to drink more than two…..actually it’s hard to drink more than one. It’s like they seem stronger than straight booze…..
My husband ate his way threw maybe half the menu and tried many of the plates. (sorry I haven’t kept all the photos) His favorites are the carnitas, fajitas, and the beef picadillo.
Combo #1carnitasbeef picadillo
I’ve tried the fajitas, fish taco and the chile relleno. But after trying them I usually only order the Chicken Fajita salad with the cheese on the side no dressing because I use the delicious spicy salsa instead.
Chile RellenoInside Chile Relleno…..it’s egg battered……this day the pepper tastes like tin can so I never ordered it again.Usually the chicken fajita salad looks like this when I order cheese on the side…..This day they gave me tons of avocado…..and I got my husband’s side of guacamole
Today they forgot the avocado and I didn’t say anything because the last time they forgot the avocado they brought me a big bowl of avocado that was more than I could possibly eat.
Today the chicken was seasoned much better than the last few times. it’s not very moist today but I glad it isn’t real dry like the last time. (I find it differs greatly……so you just get happy when it’s good.)
Went back a couple months latter and got the chicken fajita salad again ($12.11).
Today it is moist (Whoo Hoo!) and nicely seasoned. They gave me a whole half of avocado today!
I have never been able to finish a Popo’s Fajita salad as it’s the most filling salad in the the Forking world.
I get about halfway and my stomach locks up
It’s like this salad cast a spell on those who eat it……and you get painfully full just half way threw. Since I’ve never been able to finish a Popo’s fajita salad sadly I’ve never tried a Popo’s dessert.
My husband had the 1/2 pound carnitas tonight ($16.42). He enjoyed them and had a little extra to bring home.
Popo’s Fiesta Del Sol in Glendale AZ might be the busiest restaurant in town. It’s often on an hour wait starting at 4:30 and longer after that.
www.PoposMexicanFood.com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
Tacos Y Mariscos 7 Oceanos is a Mexican Restaurant and Bar located in Glendale on the Phoenix Boarder. English is the second language here but the menu is pretty easy with the pictures to figure out. This isn’t a fancy place but is colorful and seems clean.
Apon arriving we were greeted with menus and a complimentary basket of chips and tangy salsa with just the right amount of fresh cilantro.
Our server apologized to us for not specking much English but she did alright. We ordered and in reasonable time our platters arriving with steaming hot tortillas.
I got the pescado a la diablo ($12.99). They gave me a good portion of mild white fish that was covered in a tangy spicy sauce. There was also refried beans, rice and a little vegetable and pico garnish.
My husband had the same plate with shrimp (camarones a la diablo $13.99)
Here is most of the menu. (I forgot the shellfish menu)
You pay at the register when you are ready.
Worth a try if you are in the area.
They are on Facebook and the do have a website that matches name and address but the menu is different….maybe not set up correctly as of yet.
www.elmejortacosymariscos.com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.
Devour the World is a food and libation festival. In 2020 DTW was held in Peoria AZ at the Peoria City Hall Complex. This festival celebrates international foods. Other features are cultural music and dance performances and also live artist demonstrations. The festival took place Saturday February 15th. 2020 from 11am-3pm. Tickets were $55.00.
It’s different from the Devour Classic. No long lines. No waits and close easy parking. Just go and get what you want and sit at a table or stand at a high top. There was so much to try that I couldn’t try everything but I tried A LOT. My husband tried even more!
The first thing I tried was a very tasty garlic mochiko chicken and rice from Red Ginger.
Here are pork and cheese pupusasa with rice and beans from Salvadoreno Restaurant.
There was a coconut bao milk bread to share from Happy Buns.
Carolina’s Chocolates were FORKING Amazing and complex…full of flavors. Some of the chocolates we tried were Spicy Sonoran Chocolate, Jalisco Jalapeño and Hole Mole Chocolate.
Really delicious Ethiopian Food from Abyssinian Restaurant and Cafe. They offered cabbage, lentils and spicy beef on home made bread.
They were overly generous with the bread
Paz cantina offered barbacoa tacos and pork belly tacos
Some of the artwork
Kawaii offered California rolls with lots of cream cheese in them.
Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante offered a mini buffet of bruschetta, pasta with meat sauce, really Forking Great meatballs and cannoli. They are so nice….the owner even asked about my dogs.
“We are big fan of Bottega Pizzeria Ristorante.” “We are regulars.”
Casa Corazon Restaurant brought chicken mole, red beet sauced cheese and enchiladas and cochinta.
Rodger Cline Moonshine (soon a name change…..) Served pairing with the tastings….This. was really good!
More art
Scallop Aguachili from Mochilero Kitchen (soon to open end of March in Peoria by Christ Church of the Valley)
OMG…this was soo Forking Good! The eggplant tabouli hummus nachos with shrug sauce….so fresh, herby, spicy tasty delicious!
The arroz con pollo and cabbage slaw was another that was among my favorites.
Checking out some of the art again.
This was unexpected.
This was also unexpected.
Pachamama served coconut ceviche and potato tacos.
Everest Momo and Sherpa Kitchen offered butternut squash tikka, chicken tikka and raita naan.
The Breadfruit and Run Bar gave out Spicy escowitch oyster shooters.
That wasn’t everything and there was a lot of booze to try but I ate instead and was ready to bust.
Devour the World was really great in Peoria 2020. I hope it’s here next year!
I happen to have a jar of neonata. It’s a Calabrian Hot Fish condiment that often is just used on pasta. My jar was expiring so I looked up recipes on the web for neonata and Chef Matthew Taylor’s Recipe for summer squash with neonata (spelled incorrectly “neoata”), smoked yogurt and peppered feta came up so I thought I’d give it a try. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I thought of olive oil smoked paprika potatoes instead of smoked yogurt. I didn’t roast baby squash so I broiled regular squash instead. The last change was that I didn’t use Fresno peppers. I used baby bell peppers because I had baby bell peppers at home. I do note that you need to pickle the peppers the day before so they have a chance to pickle. A special THANKS to Chef Matt Taylor from Mora Italian Restaurant. This recipe is FORKING AWESOME! My idea of a serving size might differ from yours…..This makes around 4 servings.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
8 baby bell peppers sliced in thin rings (original recipe calls for 6 Fresno peppers)
1 cup champagne vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 lb potatoes – peel – cut in half
1 Tablespoon sea salt (to season the potatoes boiling)
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (maybe up to 2 Tablespoons more or add a little water till potatoes are the right consistency) ((I used 2 Tablespoons water because the neonata has a lot of oil in it and I wanted to keep the potatoes free of dairy)
1 Tablespoon pepper brine from peppers you pickled
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
crushed sea salt to taste
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
2 lbs squash (original recipe calls to roast baby squash in a 400 F degree oven for 5 minutes) ((I used Mexican squash and cut the squash in planks and broiled with olive oil.
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – that got sprayed lightly on both sides of squash
3 Tablespoons neonata
4 Tablespoons peppered feta cheese
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Directions
Make the pickled peppers. Bring the vinegar, sugar and water to a boil. Pour over pepper rings. Let cool on the counter to room temperature and then refrigerate.
The next day you can do the rest.
If you are broiling turn your oven on to broil.
You can either roast, grill or broil (if you cut into planks) the squash. I used Mexican green squash that were smaller in size in trimmed ends and cut into thirds longways and then half so the planks weren’t too long.
Put the potatoes and one Tablespoon sea salt in a pot. Cover the potatoes well with water. Bring to a medium boil and cook till fork tender. (around 15-20 minutes). Mash the potatoes by hand with a masher. Add the olive oil, pepper brine, smoked paprika, salt and either add more olive oil or just water till the potatoes are the correct consistency. Add sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste.
Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Place squash on baking sheet. Lightly spray top of squash with olive oil. Place under broiler till browned. Turn squash over and brown other side. Apply salt, pepper, fresh thyme to taste.
SERVE IMMEDIATELEY!
Spread out the potatoes on plate.
Toss the squash with neonata and place over potatoes.
Top squash with peppered feta and pickled peppers.
ENJOY
Squash with neonata, olive oil smoked paprika mashed potatoes, peppered feta and pickled peppers
A Special THANKS to Chef Matthew Taylor and Mora Italian Restaurant for sharing his Forking Awesome recipe Summer Squash with Neonata, Smoked Yogurt and Peppered Feta with us so we all can enjoy!
I planned to make a dijon tarragon wine sauce to go with turkey. Then I found out that I didn’t have any white wine at home so I made this slaw instead. You know I bet it will taste really great with turkey.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
1 small head cabbage – shredded very thin
2 cups corn kernels (cooked however you want)
1 red bell pepper – diced
1 celery rib – diced
1 shallot – sliced thin
1 carrot – shredded
2 teaspoons course sea salt (this goes on cabbage to melt it)
2 teaspoons sugar (this goes on cabbage to melt it)
2 Tablespoons hot sauce (tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot)
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon piment d’ espelette pepper
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 oz fresh tarragon – torn
Directions
In a large bowl add the cabbage, shallots, celery, bell pepper and carrot. Toss in the sugar and salt and mix well. Let sit on counter for an hour and drain. Add the corn and set to the side.
In a small mixing bowl add the dijon, oil, vinegar, hot sauce, celery seeds, white pepper, piment d’ espelette and honey and mix well. Toss the dressing into the large bowl with cabbage and mix well. Tear the tarragon leaves in half and mix into the slaw.
Greek Palace is a full service Greek Restaurant located in Peoria Arizona. They opened around June 2019. Since my first visit they added two patios. The inside dining consist of a large bar, traditional tables and tables with benches. It’s bright and airy with some greek accents on the walls.
We ordered our dinners and two fresh Greek Salads come out shortly.
Then our appetizer comes out.
OPA! FLAMING CHEESE! Now THAT is an OPA!
It’s saganak flamed with brandy and lemon and it came with pita bread ($9.99). It’s really delicious!
For dinner I tried the chicken kefta because I never saw chicken kefta on a menu before ($15.99).
.It’s caramelized long logs of seasoned ground chicken that is tasty and a very large portion. It rest over yellow basmati rice and comes with charred zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots and tzatziki sauce.
My husband got the three meat platter called the supreme platter ($22.99).
He got a chicken kabob, a kefta (beef), gyro (beef & lamb), yellow basmati rice, mixed vegetable tzatziki and garlic sauce. All the meats are moist and seasoned. His favorite is the gyro. I like the garlic sauce but it is too much garlic for my husband’s taste.
Last time we had-
combo Appetizer plate $14.99
Lunch chicken kabob plate $10.99
The lunch firefighter plate $10.99
Greek Palace Peoria AZ – It’s Greek Food and they offer really delicious saganak (flaming cheese)
www.GreekPalace.net
Every thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.
This recipe won’t come out right unless you follow the recipe. II would also not recommend this recipe to people with arthritis. It’s easy but you have to make your own ricotta cheese because you need the whey for the sauce. Also home made ricotta taste a million times better than store bought. Once you make your own and taste the difference you will never buy a tub of ricotta again. This recipe is easy but you also have to be able to hand mix the dough and be dexterous enough to use a pastry bag over boiling water. My idea of serving size most likely will differ from yours. This will make up to 8 very small servings. If you enjoy eating a big plate of pasta than it only makes three servings……see what I mean……but they are maybe the best ricotta gnocchi that you have ever had. This will come out best if you make the cheese the day before.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1/2 gallon whole milk
16 oz heavy cream (I do note some brands of heavy cream contain too many stabilizers for the cream to curd. No matter what you do these creams will not work for cheese. Stay away from anything marked manufacturing cream or cream for shelf use)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (for cheese)
2 lemons – just the fresh squeezed juice
2 1/4 cups fresh ricotta (this ricotta should be drained and very dry)
1 cup parmesan – shredded
1 egg – beaten
1 1/2 cups flour (this is always right for me but can differ slightly)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (to add to gnocchi dough)
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
few grates fresh nutmeg
Tablespoon sea salt for boiling gnocchi
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (to squirt on gnocchi for taste and also so they don’t stick)
3oz walnuts – crush
1 bunch of parsley (remove the stems because they are bitter (mine weighed .7oz)
.07 oz. celery leaves – chopped (use the same amount as parsley)
1 Meyer lemon (the juice and zest)
1 garlic clove – ground to paste or microplane
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 Tablespoons whey (or to desired thickness) you might want less or you might want more.
Directions
Put a medium/large pot on your stove with the milk, cream and 1/2 teaspoon of salt on medium heat. This needs to be stirred periodically. It takes a while to bring to a slow boil but once it starts it can boil over so you need to keep an eye on it. You might need to turn down the heat slightly. Once it comes to a slow boil then you SLOWLY add half the lemon juice…this will cool the cheese down and wait till you see it boiling again and then SLOWLY add the rest of the lemon juice. Slightly lower the heat and let it slowly boil for maybe 5 minutes. It should look like this.
Then you scoop out the curds with something mesh and shake out all the whey.
Put the curds in a tub…more whey(liquid) will come out of the cheese. You will have to drain several times. Save about a cup of the whey. You will use some for the Walnut Parsley Celery Leaf Pesto Sauce. The extra whey would also be good for thinning down other sauces or to add a cheesy taste to a soup.
The next day make the gnocchi dough.
In a large mixing bowl add the drained ricotta. (you should have a little over 2 cups of cheese…something like 2 1/4 cups). (If you don’t have around 2 1/4 cups of cheese some adjustments need to happen)….Add the parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, white pepper, a few grates of nutmeg and the egg. Mix well. Now add the flour. It will seem too dry. You will get angry and think I screwed this up. But then like magic the dough turns out.
*****DO A TESTER GNOCCHI*****
Have a pot of water boiling…medium boiling. Pinch off a piece of gnocchi dough the size of a gnocchi. Once it floats let it cook about 4 minutes. Let it cool and try it out. If it is too soft you can work more flour into the dough. But just so you know a good gnocchi is suppose to be light and soft. You don’t really know until you taste one.
I don’t roll my gnocchi but you can if you want. It’s less time consuming and less mess to just squirt them out with a pastry bag.
This time I didn’t use a tip on the bag. (I usually don’t use a tip)
Then you fill it with a handful of dough.
Twist the end so the dough doesn’t spill out and push the dough.
Install a string so you can cut the gnocchi off easy…BUT BE FORKING CAFEFUL not to catch the string on fire.
I do about one bagful of gnocchi dough at a time. When I’m done I wait about 5 minutes to make sure the gnocchi are filly cooked. Then the gnocchi get lifted out with a slotted spoon. Try to drain off the water. Add the gnocchi to a container. Squirt a little olive oil on the gnocchi for added flavor and also so they don’t stick. Repeat till you are out of dough.
The rest is quick and easy!
in a container with a stick blender add the walnuts, parsley, celery leaves, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic olive oil, parmesan, white pepper and a Tablespoon of whey. Blend…till smooth. This will be thick add more whey (or olive oil if you prefer) till the pesto is the consistency that you want.
Toss with the gnocchi that you are serving now.
Serve right away!
Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi with Walnut Parsley Celery Leaf Pesto
I was ordering some hard to find pantry items from yummy bazaar and came across some small bags of unusual flavors of Lay’s Potato Chips. Here are the Seaweed Chips. It came in a one and a half ounce size bag. Here’s the back of the bag.
Here’s a closer look at the ingredients.
Not too many ingredients in these potato chips. Potato, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce powder, seaweed flakes, seafood seasoning and spices.
I open the bag and take a whiff.
Not much of an aroma….Just smells like potato chips.
Spill some out.
They are speckled and are extra thin and very delicate. They don’t feel very powdery like many of the flavored chips.
At first bite they have very little flavor but they grow with flavor. They taste just like seaweed…it’s like you are eating a thin sheet of nori that is firmer and crisper than usual. They are overly easy to eat because they are so thin and delicate. I think these are the thinnest chips that I have ever eaten.
You get far more flavor in your mouth when you let the chip dissolve in your mouth. You get some sweetness, the soy sauce flavor and other very subtle flavors in the background from the seaweed.
These chips are actually pretty good.
Worth a Fork if you like seaweed and potato chips.
My favorite way to cook dark chicken parts is to make an easy delicious stew or soup. The chicken is always flavorful and tender and the stew always comes out delicious. You can make this with one tray ( 4 pounds or a little more) of either chicken leg quarters or chicken thighs that have bone and skin. The skin will not come out edible but gives great flavor to the dish. You must cook till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat but I prefer my dark meat chicken to be at least 180 degrees F. You cook it to what you prefer. I got 6 dinners (small bowl with 4oz chicken) out of this but your portions might differ than mine. To make this a complete dinner or meal you might want to add rice or noodles or even spiral cut zucchini.
Ingredients for around 6 smaller portions
4 lbs leg quarters or thighs with skin and bone (one tray go for biggest tray they have)
1 can (13.5 oz) light coconut milk
1 large sweet onion chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 inch grated ginger
1 lime – just the fresh squeezed juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (some tender stems are ok) – chopped
2 carrots – peeled – sliced
2 celery ribs – cut half long ways and sliced
13 garlic cloves – fine chopped
1 hot pepper (either dried and crumbled or fresh chopped fine)
1 Tablespoon course sea salt
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
To a large baking dish or buffet 1/2 pan add the coconut milk, onion, bay leaves, turmeric, ginger, lime juice, cilantro, carrots, celery, fresh garlic, hot pepper and mix. On top of that add the chicken in an even layer. On top of the chicken in an even layer add the salt, granulated garlic and black pepper. Cover tightly with foil and put in pre-heated 350 degree F oven on the middle rack. This stays in the oven till the chicken is at least 165 degrees F to be safe to eat. I prefer my dark meat chicken to be cooked more than that and think it’s much better at 180 degrees F or even up to 200. Ovens do differ but in my oven this dish was perfect in 2 1/2 hours. Your timing may differ. When the dish is done I pull out the chicken and when it cools off (an hour latter) I separate the meat from the bone and skin. I chill the soup over night and scrape off the fat that rises to the top and warm up what I want the next day.
Forking East & Delicious Turmeric Ginger Chicken Soup
