Tag Archives: #foodies

FEDERAL DONUTS & CHICKEN – NOW OPEN at Red Rock Casino Las Vegas NV – The “Hot & Fresh Cinnamon Brown Sugar Doughnut is to die for

FEDERAL DONUTS & CHICKEN specializes in serving quality higher end doughnuts, marinated twice fried chicken, and coffee. This is a Philadelphia based franchise. Two of the five founders of this group are multi awards wining and multi James Bead Awards Wining Chef Michael Solomonov, and Steve Cook.

This is a small casual order-at-the-counter type of place. There are no seats here but only just around the corner is the food court with a good amount of seating. Here’s the menu-

We shared two of the sandwiches-

Buffalo chicken sandwich (Twice fried chicken breast with house made buffalo sauce and bread and butter pickles on a potato bun) Behind it are everything rooster sauce ,and chili garlic sauce, and Za’atar Fries.

South/West BBQ chicken sandwich (twice fried chicken breast with BBQ seasoning, pepper jack, peppadew slaw and potato bun)

Both sandwiches had moist tender chicken that was fried nicely with shattering crispy ends. I thought the buffalo sandwich had a lot more flavor going on with it. This (By-The-Way) was grand opening day and I’m not sure if things were running perfect or not yet…I think the SWBBQ chicken sandwich might have had something missing….It tasted like it needed something. I added some everything rooster sauce to it and it was much more delicious that way.

The chili-garlic sauce wasn’t the red Vietnamese style sauce that I was expecting. Instead it was an Asian-like Brown sauce that also was amazing. It tasted like really great Take Out Asian Food. (I will buy extra next time so I can have tasty take out style Asian food here…..It was much better than what I can get in this area)

The Za’atar fries were very good and seemed fresh made. They didn’t really need a sauce but I wished something like a tahini-feta sauce or a harissa something sauce came with them.

Then we sampled three doughnuts and brought the rest home.

We tried one of the fancy doughnuts called lemon bar.

Pomegranate mascarpone

“HOT & FRESH” Cinnamon brown Sugar

It’s hard to judge fairly because the fresh made to order “Hot & Fresh” cinnamon brown sugar blew the others away by a BUNCH……The others weren’t bad but can’t compare to the fresh made one that was so aromatic and just melted in the mouth. This doughnut was an AMAZING Doughnut. You won’t find one better anywhere.

Next time I’ll try a salad maybe with chili garlic sauce? Or tenders and a side salad with a few sauces? and a “Hot & Fresh” Cinnamon Brown Sugar Doughnut.

I don’t think I’ll be ever to leave Red Rock Casino without getting a “Hot & Fresh” Cinnamon Brown Sugar Doughnut from Federal Donuts & Chicken.

The “Hot & Fresh” Cinnamon Brown Sugar Doughnut is to die for- YUMmmmmmmm!

FEDERAL DONUTS & CHICKEN Newly Opened at Red Rock Casino

11011 W Charleston Blvd – 702-797-7759

www.FederalDonuts,com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Pate A Choux Recipe & Pastry Cream Recipes – Based on www.ItalianRecipeBook.com

You can find some amazing recipes on www.ItalianRecipeBook.com . I found a recipe there for a pate a choux based pastry called Saint Joseph’s Pastry. It differs some than other recipes I tried but I thought their way of making the pate a choux was explained better. Some things about the recipe did differ from what I got………You also might want to double the pastry cream. I only wanted a small squirt in the center. you might want to split more open than what I did and might want to use more.

I got 24 pastries instead of twelve. I didn’t make them smaller either.

There are two hard things about making them….The original recipe says that this should look not like dough and look more like cream………It tells you to use 4 eggs and only part of the 5th egg if needed………..that is what I did….

I used about 4 1/2 eggs but about doing so I think the pastries would have looked better with 4 eggs.

I think I would have gotten more defined ridges on the pastries but there is another issue…….

IT’S FORKING HARD TO SQUEEZE THIS OUT OF THE PASTRY BAG. Not everyone out there will be able to sqeeze this stuff out with a pastry bag.

The other issue is the pastry cream. It’s good if you want it very thick and not flavored much as written……… but a suggestion of lemon or orange zest is suggested. The next day mine was too thick to use so I added splashes of cream, vanilla, and honey to it.

Ingredients for up to 24 pastries

285ml water

200 grams flour

4 oz sweet butter

4 eggs (up to a 1/2 egg more if you want your dough thinner)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/3 cup milk

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1 oz butter (I used sweet butter)

Splash cream (to thin if desired)

splash vanilla extract (to flavor if desired)

splash honey (to sweeten if desired)

Directions

In a sauce pot bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil. Then reduce to low heat. Add all the flour. Cook on low a few minutes. Take off heat and when the dough is cool add one egg at a time. Here’s the tricky part….You can add up to a 1/2 egg more but dough might get soft and not hold shape well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pipe 3 inch rings onto parchment paper leaving room for rings to expand.

Let this bake till it turns light brown (in my oven 30 minutes) and open the oven door but leave the oven on with the pastries….They need to get harder….They need 5-10 minutes more with the oven door opened.

Repeat until done with dough.

Make the pastry cream.

Mix milk, cream, yolks, sugar, honey, corn starch, and vanilla. Bring to boil and stir well with a whisk. Thin as needed.

Decorate however you want!

Pate A Choux Pastries (and mini stuffed potatoes)

I made the puffier ones like eclairs by dipping the top in melted chocolate chips and splitting in half adding pastry cream. Some I swirled a little chocolate its de creme in the center and topped with a cherry.

A SPECIAL THANKS!!!!!!!! To www.ItalianRecipeBook.com so I could come up with what I got here.

The Forking Truth

My FORKING Thoughts on Dunkin’ Chocolates Jelly Donut Candy – Just SWEET – Maybe POWDERED Doughnuts

I noticed lately that there is a new trend of things that are not doughnuts that are “Doughnut Flavored.” I didn’t know until I purchased this candy that there are other Dunkin’ Chocolate Candies out there. I saw this one and I decided to give it a try even after reading the ingredients.

It’s made in Poland….

I open it up.

Darn! The one side is damaged and doesn’t come out so I take the other one.

My one dog thinks it smells good. The other dog is uninterested in it. I don’t give them any because this might be harmful to dogs.

I bite into it……It’s so sweet that it is almost hard to taste. I do taste raspberry and what seems like extra sweet white chocolate….I do not really get doughnut here………But I can imagine LOTS OF POWDERED SUGAR……..Maybe this can pass as POWDERED Jelly Doughnut?………I am undecided if I will eat the second one tomorrow……latter I threw the rest out.

Those were my FORKING thoughts on Dunkin’ Chocolates Jelly Donut.

Your FORKING Thoughts may indeed differ.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Pandora’s Burgers North Las Vegas NV

Pandora’s Burgers is a small Soul Food Restaurant located in North Las Vegas Nevada. It’s not a fancy place. It’s very casual and you order and pay at the counter and someone runs out your order when it’s ready.

Some of the foods that you can order here are – Of course burgers, (The Pandora Burger is ground in house..not sure about the other burgers), wings, chicken fingers, hot links, BBQ ribs, fried turkey chop, stuffed turkey leg, fried gizzards, catfish, cajun shrimp, and also soul food Sunday goodies. Soft beverages are offered here.

My husband tried a Pastrami Cheese Burger with Fries.

The bun was grilled nicely and the flavors are good. This burger was cooked all the way well that is typical Southern Style. The fries are the soft style…….

I tried the Turkey Leg Off The Pitt with a side order of macaroni and cheese.

It’s good but not perfect. The turkey really is fall off the bone tender. The flavors are good but it isn’t juicy…….The ,macaroni and cheese also is Southern Style (meaning the pasta is very soft). I can taste that the macaroni and cheese was made with real cheeses and is also seasoned very nicely……I think it might have a dash of hot Chile oil in it.

The owners were very nice and engaging.

That was my trip to Pandora’s Burgers.

Pandora’s Burgers – 3131 W. Craig Rd North Las Vegas NV

702-636-9859

www.PandorasBurgers.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

District One – Vietnamese & Asian Las Vegas NV – They are Different – Stewed Not Shaking

District One is a Vietnamese/Asian Bar and Restaurant located by an end of Chinatown in Las Vegas Nevada.

My husband started off by trying the pork belly buns.

They differ some than what he expected……It seems like the pork was stewed and is tasty but on the dry side.

I tried a shaking beef salad.

It’s also not what I expected. The beef usually is stir fried or wok-seared. This beef does taste marinated (like it should be) but also seems stewed instead seared.

Looks stewed……

The other problem with this salad is all the soup in the salad melting the greens.

This might be great for some but I didn’t enjoy.

The waiter highly recommended the shaking beef pho to my husband so that is what he tried.

He thought the flavors were ok but also didn’t care for the stewed type beef. We got this dish from many restaurants before and the beef was never stewed before.

This restaurant is different from other Vietnamese Restaurants. They do offer more seafood dishes like yellow tail tacos, yellow tail collar, fried whole fish, and lobster pho.

Different here…Shaking Beef is stewed and not shaking here.

District One – 3400 S Jones Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-413-6868

www.DistrictOneLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Al Solito Posto Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

Al Solito Posto is a richly decorated high quality Italian Restaurant located in Tivoli Village in the Summerlin part of Las Vegas Nevada.

There is a large patio that wraps around the restaurant.

Inside is busy and energetic. There is plenty of seating in the restaurant and large bar but reservations are recommended.

Everyone starts off with fresh baked focaccia and roasted garlic with oil and dried herbs presented table side.

We started off with the fried squash blossoms stuffed with three cheeses and garnished with basil aioli and a lemon wedge.

They were shattering crisp and kinda fun to eat.

I heard that the Italian Chop Salad was very good. It’s packed with greens, roasted tomatoes, chick peas, meats, cheeses, and peperoncini.

For my main I tried the Scottish Salmon.

They don’t ask you your preference (medium-rare, medium, etc.) and the fish comes out well done…..BUT it’s the best well done salmon that I have tried anywhere. It’s as moist as a medium and taste as fresh as can be. It’s also nicely grilled with all the skin and all the bloodline removed. It comes with tomato braised lentils and roasted carrots.

My husband tried the Maasaldine Cacio E Pepe.

He thought it was perfect. Said, “This is REALLY GOOD!”

We gave the Chocolate Hazelnut Semi Freddo a try.

To me it’s more like a mildly flavored mousse topped with very hard crunchy sticky nuts.

I’ll try a different dessert next time.

Al Solito Posto is Worth a Try!

420 S Rampart Blvd Las Vegas Nevada

702-463-6781

www.AlSolito.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Tenderstem Broccoli with Peanut Gochujang Dressing Recipe – Yotam Ottolenghi Style

The Sprouts Grocery in NORTH LAS VEGAS has some really great surprise sales. I walked in and they had BIG BAGS of two kinds of broccoli on sale for 99cents a bag. In case you don’t know Yotam Ottolenghi is a multi award wining and James Beard award wining chef, restauranteur, and cook book author. I figured that he would have a great tender stem broccoli recipe and he did on his website. I didn’t want to change anything in his recipe but I had to change a few things due to what I had around the house. So I made a few substitutions and left out one ingredient that I didn’t have. I also doubled the amount of brown sugar peanuts because I knew I would want more than a 1/4 cup. This came out different and delicious! It might be something that you might want to try? This made four generous side servings for me.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar – peanuts

2 teaspoons soy sauce – peanuts

2 teaspoons olive oil – peanuts

1/2 cup peanuts – peanuts

non stick spray – peanuts

1/2 cup peanut buttet – dressing

2 teaspoons gochujang – dressing

1 Tablespoon soy sauce – dressing

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar – dressing

1 lemon – just the juice

2 teaspoons – fresh grated ginger – dressing

2 garlic cloves , ground to paste – dressing

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon chives – to finish

1 pound broccoli (You can use whatever broccoli you want)

Salt to boil water

Directions

Set oven to 325 degrees F.

Get a small sheet tray ready and spray it with non stick spray.

In a small mixing bowl mix together the brown sugar, soy sauce, and oil. Then mix in the peanuts. Pour this out on your sprayed baking sheet in one layer and spread it out. This goes in the preheated oven for nine – ten minutes.

Put a pot of water on to boil and salt the water.

Mix up the dressing – in a small bowl mix together the peanut butter, gochujang, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, salt, and water. Put to the side.

When the peanuts come out of the oven they will be molten hot. You might want to break them up a little before they set and lump up together.

Boil the broccoli for three minutes. Drain the broccoli and either serve or if for latter put in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Serve with peanuts and sauce either on the side or drizzled on and finish with chives.

Tenderstem Broccoli with Peanut Gochujang Dressing

A Special THANKS!!!!! To Yotam Ottolenghi for his Tenderstem Broccoli with Gochujang Dressing Recipe so I could come up with what I got here.

The Forking Truth

Dining Out With DOGS in Las Vegas NV February 2024

Dining out with Dogs is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It all sort of started with my late dog Louie. He always LOVED going out to eat. When he got elderly he came down with aggressive cancer. We were told that he probably only had three months to live and possibly up to six months. Since Louie loved going out to eat I took him out as often as I could and Louie made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat when the weather is good and when I can.

We made it to #1 Hawaiian Barbecue. They don’t have their own patio but only two doors down is a community patio that we can use. Hawaiian Barbecue is traditionally EXTRA LARGE portions of food with lots of rice packed into a styrofoam container.

I got the grilled Mahi healthier plate.

It two mild fish filets over a giant salad with a hard boiled egg and brown rice. I give the dogs the fish without garlic on it, some of the brown rice and some of the egg.

My husband got the plate called The Bento Box. He got BBQ beef, BBQ Pork, BBQ Chicken, Fried Fish, macaroni salad, and rice.

The dogs got to eat some of his plate too.

Then they are back to me for more.

The dogs always LOVE going to #1Hawaiian Barbecue!

5870 N. Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV

702-642-4600

www.BestHawaiianBarbecue.com

The dogs always love SNS Diner BBQ. By-The-Way this restaurant was featured on Food Network’s Diners Drive-inns and Dives.

My husband got a three meat (BBQ brisket, BBQ pork, Hot links with potato salad) plate that is very hard to photo because everything is wrapped in foil.

The dogs got to try brisket and pork from that plate.

Me and the dogs got the BBQ 1/2 chicken with macaroni and cheese. They also got some cornbread.

The dogs always love going to SNS Diner BBQ.

3229 Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV

702-269-9696

www.SNSDiner.com

The next week it got cold here again so we just drove to a Wendy’s after a visit to the vet.

Then the dogs enjoyed their cheeseburger at home.

Wendy’s

1301 W Craig Rd N. Las. Vegas NV – 702-399-2351

www.Wendys.com

It’s getting warmer now so we made it to Those Guys Pies in North Las Vegas. They specialize in serving pizzas and steak sandwiches. If they seem familiar to you then you might have seen this restaurant on Food Network’s Diners Drive Ins and Dives. The dogs got some goat cheese and chicken from my salad.

“Ummmmm Chicken!”

The dogs also got gourmet fish dog biscuits from the dog biscuit vending machine here.

They also got a little bit of steak and some cheese from my husband’s cheesesteak.

They always enjoy Those Guys Pies!

Those Guys Pies – 5585 Simmons St North Las Vegas NV

725-251-5826

www.ThoseGuysPies.com

We hope that you’ve enjoyed Dining Out With Dogs for February 2024. We hope to see you next month!

The Forking Truth
In Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017

My Trip to Siena Italian Trattoria Las Vegas NV

Siena Italian Trattoria is a bar, restaurant, and Italian deli either in or near to the Summerlin part of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer long large menus for lunch, brunch, and dinner to try to accommodate many appetites or tastes.

To the left is a large bar as big as the dining room and to the right is a deli and store as large as the dining room.

The dining room is large and dimly lit …….so bring your flashlight and readers…….There is a wall of many wine bottles and an open kitchen.

They start you off with a basket of bread, crisp breads, and butter.

We tried the Bruschetta and salt cod mousse appetizer because you rarely see this Venetian Style appetizer on menus.

it’s different…..It’s not very mouse-ee…..You actually have big pieces of fish here embellished with something creamy, some shredded cheese, and some fish roe on toasted slices of bread. There is also dressed greens with olives and pickled peppers to adorn the bruschetta.

But here is where things went south on this particular dinner.

I was going to order the branzino because that is usually the best fish at an Italian Restaurant……….After I try to order the branzino…..My waiter goes off about the Chilean Sea Bass…..He had a very THICK ITALIAN accent and I did have a bunch of trouble understanding him but I could tell he was very passionate on PUSHING the Chilean Sea Bass….”He said it was one of the best two plates to get.”

So out comes the Chilean Sea Bass…..

It has a very strong fish odor………..

I try a very small piece and it taste as bad as it smells.

I even give my husband a tiny piece and he agrees it is smelly tasting.

Nobody can eat this…….I have to send this fish back. Now I’m beginning to wonder if he wanted me to get the Chilean Sea Bass because it was old and they needed to get rid of it or maybe he pushed it on me because it was the most expensive fish on the menu?????

ANYWAYS-

The waiter says that the branzino will take too long to prepare. I was going to switch to a chicken dish since that fish smelled here…………….But then the waiter says to get the salmon…..He said that salmon gets prepared fast. I don’t trust the waiter anymore but went with the salmon anyway.

My husband digs into his veal ossobuco.

He said that the risotto was very good. He also said that the. veal was indeed tender but not the most developed. with flavors.

Soon the salmon arrives.

The salmon is actually very good and was prepared to a perfect medium with a nice sear. The salmon to my surprise does taste fresh. It was served with fresh sautéed spinach that taste a bit buttery and garlicky.

They offer a long list of desserts…We don’t really need any but went with gelato and shared a scoop of pistachio and a scoop of hazelnut.

We wait a long time for them……..

it came implanted with a hard as a rock thin cookie. The pistachio I doubt was made here but taste good to me……….The hazelnut came to use all melted……

I might try Siena Italian again in the future because they offer a lot of lunch specials that sound good.

Siena Italian Trattoria

9500 W Sahara Ave Las Vegas NV – 702-360-3358

www.SienaItalian.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Italian Sesame Cookies based on Italian Recipe Book.com Recipe

This Italian Sesame Cookie Recipe is based on www.ItalianRecipeBook.com ‘s recipe for Italian Sesame Cookies. Maybe due to using a different brand of flour than what the recipe writer used I had different results and my dough was so dry I couldn’t make cookies out of it. I cut the recipe in half too because it made far more cookies than I can even give away. Then to half of the recipe – I added more butter, a Tablespoon of water, a whole lemon zest instead of a half and maybe due to my oven I had to bake the cookies 25 degrees F higher to make them come out. In the end I wound up with delicious not-too-sweet cookies. I made about 34 cookies (with 1/2 of the original recipe) I can see eating one or two cookies for a serving……so I’ll estimate about 20 servings.

Ingredients for around 20 servings

1 3/4 cup flour

4oz unsalted butter – room temperature and slightly melted

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar

1 egg

1 lemon – just the zest

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of sea salt

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Directions

Set Oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet or sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl mix together all the ingredients except for the sesame seeds. (flour, butter, water, sugar, egg, zest, baking powder, salt)

The dough gets rolled into small logs (something between a pen size and your pinky. Make each log almost as long as your thumb. Dip the log in water and sprinkle and roll in sesame seeds. Space some on baking sheet and Repeat till done.

The baking sheet goes on the middle rack till lightly browned. Ovens do differ some. In my oven this took 25 minutes.

Italian Sesame Cookies

Italian Sesame Cookies

A SPECIAL THANKS!!!!!! To www.ItalianRecipeBook.com for sharing their Italian Sesame Cookie Recipe so I could come up with what I got here!

The Forking Truth