Vegas Unstripped is about 30 of Las Vegas’s most acclaimed and creative chefs. This is an “OFF THE STRIP EVENT” downtown in the Arts District on California Street Between Ester’s Kitchen and Garagiste Saturday October 14 2023 7pm – 10. Tickets were $150., They include unlimited tastes and also include cocktails, and are non profit.
www.VegasUnstripped.com listed the chefs that are expected.
Nearly all the foods that we’ve tried was next level FORKING AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! There was more food and drink than I could do but all but one thing I tried was over the top amazing! Also not all of my photos came out but here are most.
frogs legs
Asian style chicken
Tuna pasta adorned with burnt kimchi aioli
guacamole and salsa macha tostada – YUM!
tuna tostada – YUM!!!
Really complex flavors from this chicken wrap
vegetarian African food – delicious
That Korean fried chicken really just melted in your mouth. The hamachi was also delicious.
I didn’t try this one but my husband said that this was very VERY VERY Good!
I have to say that this was the very best barbacoa I’ve ever tried.
Amazing flavors here.
LOOK at the way they melt that incredible cheese on their amazing bread.
I was looking forward to this..because this is from a Bravo Top Chef….but passed because the short rib was rabbit. My husband did try it and said the flavors were very interesting.
Very good food from another Bravo Top Chef.
We both thought that the potato was super amazing!
I saw a picture of this lemon poppy seed cake that I thought looked delicious so I started to make this recipe. Thankfully I stopped to re-read the directions and I found a long list of complaints about the recipe not working out. Also some people complained about the taste and how heavy the cake was. When I made the batter it was heavy like pizza dough so I can imagine it would be very heavy. I had to fix the recipe and made over 6 changes and added ingredients to make it taste better. The temperature needed to be changed as well. I made the recipe easy to prepare and it came out lemony, delicious, moist, and not too heavy or too sweet. I’m bringing these Lemon Poppy Seed Mini Cakes to an event that I’m going to. This made 16 mini cakes.
Ingredients for about 16 servings
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter – room temperature
3 eggs – lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
2 Large ripe lemons – You need all the zest for the cake. Juice from one for the cake, and juice from the second lemon for the glaze
1 + 1/3 cup flour
1 + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon PURE lemon extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
non stick spray
1 cup 10x sugar – for the glaze
Juice from your 2nd lemon – for the glaze
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Pull out two trays of cupcake pans. Line 16 with cupcake liners. If your liners are very thin then you should double them. Spray the cupcake liners LIGHTLY with non stick spray.
In a large bowl add the eggs, sugar, butter, poppy seeds, all the zest, juice of ONE lemon, flour, baking powder, extract, salt. Hand mix with a fork till smooth.
Spoon the batter into the cupcake liner till 3/4 full.
These go on middle rack till cooked. Ovens do differ and cupcake liners differ slightly in size. My first rack with 12 was done in 16 minutes. My second rack of four was done in 18 minutes. At around 15 minutes you should test them with your finger. If they feel done then they are. If they feel soft and raw on the top they need a little longer…..
The glaze only takes a minute to prepare. You can do that while the mini cakes are in the oven or after you take them out.
In a small bowl add the 10x sugar and the juice from your second lemon and mix well.
Spoon about one teaspoon of glaze over each lemon poppy seed mini cake.
They came out lemon-ee, moist, delicious, light, and not too sweet.
Those Guys Pies is a pizza and cheesesteak restaurant with a location in North Las Vegas Nevada. If they seem familiar then maybe you caught them featured on Food Network’s Diners Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fire. Those Guys Pies is one of the few dog friendly restaurants in North Las Vegas Nevada and the they were open and set up for us unlike another restaurant we were thinking about trying……. Those Guys Pies also might be the only restaurant with a Craft Dog Biscuit Vending Machine too!
So today my dogs got to try Sniff Pistols Craft Beef Dog Biscuits.
Both dogs enjoy the beef dog biscuits.
I didn’t give the dogs any of the diablo fries because they are FORKING HOT!!!!! I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone because they are TOO HOT for anyone to enjoy. I’m surprised that they make them that hot.
Everything else was good.
I had a house salad with grilled chicken.
Both dogs enjoyed the chicken from my salad.
The dogs also got to enjoy some sausage from my husband’s sausage sandwich.
That was Dining Out With DOGS at Those Guys Pies. We Hope you’ve enjoyed!
Those Guys Pies
5585 Simmons Street North Las Vegas Nevada – 725-251-5826
www.ThoseGuysPies.com
The Forking TruthIn Memory of Louie 5-5-2001 – 3-3-2017
Casa Don Juan is a full service Mexican Restaurant in Las Vegas Nevada with three locations. The Main Street location in the Arts District has an out side patio. Inside this location has a Frida Kahlo theme with many pictures of her on their wall. Incase you don’t know Frida Kahlo is considered to be Mexico’s most important artist and is part of Mexico’s culture.
Whatever you order they start you off with complimentary chips, salsa, and bean dip.
To me the chips don’t taste freshly made. The salsa is spicy but taste mostly like oregano. I didn’t try the beans.
I tried a chicken fajita salad (with the jack cheese on the side) that is called ensalada de fajitas here.
Soulbelly BBQ is an artisanal central Texas inspired kind of BBQ restaurant by seasoned chef (James Beard Nominated, Food Network Chopped Champion, and Bravo Top Chef) Bruce Kalman. The Las Vegas Arts District location offers outdoor seating by the smokers.
Indoor seating in the bar and take out area.
And main dining area where the live music happens.
The tables are set up with carriers of sauces that include the house made Jiggly Meat BBQ sauces.
I wanted to try the tri tip pastrami but they were sold out of that today……so I went with Caesar Salad with their BBQ Smoked Turkey.
The turkey is tender, moist, and delicious………The salad taste far different than it looks…….It’s kind of deconstructed……..The black pepper cornbread croutons in there are really amazing and contain some of the flavors of Caesar….It’s different…but all together delicious. But might be even more delicious with a few drops of house BBQ sauce….. The vinegar sauce only a few drops kicks it up a level.
My husband tried the sandwich called, The Belly of The Soul (smoked brisket, fried egg, cheese sauce, pickled onions, spicy BBQ sauce, and crispy BBQ onions).
He said that this was really great. I tried a small bite of the BBQ Brisket and I have to say it was really perfect today.
On a second visit my husband had to have the Belly Of Soul sandwich again but with beans this time. He said it was just as good as from last time.
This time I got to try the tri tip pastrami sandwich – topped with slaw with a side of watermelon-cucumber salad.
It’s pretty good but isn’t cured with nitrates……the special dangerous pink salt that turns the meat pink…… resulting in a different taste. It’s beefier and less corned……..Well it’s healthier than what I’m used to and is pretty good. It seems like you won’t go wrong with the brisket, and the turkey. I want to try the fresh ground in house smoked brisket burger next time.
So we went back.
We started out by sharing their fried macaroni and cheese balls special.
Ummmm! and the pepper puree dipping sauce is unique and delicious too!
This time we both had their amazing smoked ground in house brisket burgers that are finished on the grill. They suggest to get them medium rare so we both did.
My husband got his with extra American Cheese and Soul Belly made Bacon with a side of potato salad.
The burger is really great. For my taste the potato salad is too smooth and has too much mustard in it….I can’t eat it but I do admit that I am sensitive to mustard.
I had my burger without cheese but with with slaw, pickles and special sauce with their cornbread on the side.
WOW! this is a really great burger! Juicy, smoky, flavorful. It really doesn’t need anything else. It is large. I thought it might be 8 ounces but our server said it’s a 7 ounce burger. The cornbread also is very good and really doesn’t need the honey butter since it is so rich, moist and with crunchy ends. It’s not too sweet or too savory. It’s just right!
On another visit we had some repeats that were just as good as before. We also relied the BBQ mushrooms with chimichurri.
They might be the meatiest mushrooms ever….but…they are very strong with the smoke today.
I also noticed that the menu has changed a little bit. The pastrami sandwich and the watermelon salad are no longer on the menu. Also the macaroni and cheese balls are on the menu now.
I have to say Soulbelly BBQ is Worth a Fork!
Worth aFork!
Soulbelly BBQ 1327 S. Main St Las Vegas NV – 702-483-4404
I came across a Nigerian Jollof Recipe by Ozoz Sokoh that goes by Kitchen Butterfly. I enjoyed a no added meat version of Jollof Rice that I tasted at a restaurant called West Hut in Phoenix AZ. There are many varieties of jollof rice out there. There are over a dozen different West African countries and they all make Jollof rice different. When I read the Kitchen Butterfly Version I thought it might taste similar to what I tried at West Hut. Then I’m thinking that I don’t need a big pot of rice and really only need to cook vegetables today so I used her spices to come up with what I got here. I made my version FAT FREE and it came out FORKING DELICIOUS!!!! I think everyone out there would like this! Serving size may differ because I don’t know if you want a small side serving or a large bowl full.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 lbs carrots -peel if not organic, cut in chunks
1/4 cabbage – rough cut
1 onion – slices and cut the slices in half
4 oz celery – chop
hot pepper to taste – I use one hot hatch chile – fine dice
2 teaspoons Caribbean Curry Powder (I used Kitchen Butterfly’s recipe and 1/2ed her recipe and I still have quite a bit extra here’s 1/2 her recipe 1 1/2 Tablespoons turmeric, 1 1/2 Tablespoons ground coriander, 1 Tablespoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek, 1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon fennel)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
24 oz. tomato puree (preferably from Italy so it’s sweet)
1/4 cup water to get all the tomato puree out
12 oz peas (I used a bag of frozen that I thawed)
optional – sea salt – to taste
optional – ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl add the carrots, cabbage, onion, hot pepper, Caribbean curry powder, thyme, bay leaves, tomato puree. (water to the can or bottle) and that liquid gets added, Mix well.
This goes in a large covered pan (or two pans) on the middle rack till the vegetables are fork tender. Ovens do differ and so do the vegetables so it will take 90-120 minutes.
Your thawed peas should get heated up slightly. (microwave, oven or pan) and stir them in before serving.
West African Inspired Carrots, Cabbage & Peas
WOW! This came out so FORKING DELICIOUS!
A Special THANKS!!!!!! to Kitchen Butterfly (Ozoz Sokoh) and Food52 for your recipes so I could do what I got here.
I haven’t purchased a frozen dinner in maybe a few decades. I live close to several Gordon Ramsay Restaurants but I was curious about Chef Ramsay frozen fish and chips at my local Walmart so I thought I’d give it a try with the 4 cheese macaroni.
On the back of the fish and chips box it says that it contains two servings……….I thinking maybe 2 servings for a toddler….This is what I got. I guess it’s more like one serving with too many fries.
I do note that I don’t have an air fryer and an air fryer is the preferred method for preparing the fish and chips. My husband followed the directions for oven preparation.
I have to admit that the fish and flavor of fish nugguts are very good but the breading didn’t get crisp. The fish is very flaky and is very moist. The potatoes or “CHIPS” have a delicious fluffy interiors but their exteriors aren’t crisp.
WtFORK would Gordon Ramsay say?….I think he’d say something like, “My dead grandmum can make crispier fish and chips than that.”
Anyways-
Here’s the back of the box for the 4 cheese macaroni. The box says one serving. I prefer it as a side serving so this is two servings to me.
It says to microwave it.
It taste very good. It actually taste much better than from many restaurants but it didn’t come out right.
It’s all stuck together.
I wonder what would Gordon Ramsay say?…..I think he’d say something like, ” Well you are a DUMP F****ing Donkey for buying microwave frozen food.”
Also my half didn’t have any corn bread crumbs.
I doubt that I will ever buy anything premade frozen again.
Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Chef Ramsay Fish & Chips and Four Cheese Macaroni. and what I thought Gordon Ramsay might say.
I do note that YOUR FORKING THOUGHTS may indeed differ. (and you might have an air fryer and do a little better)
Victory’s Cafe is an American casual restaurant located in the Cannery Casino in North Las Vegas. They offer starters, breakfast, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, sandwiches, and some entrees from 7am-11pm and after that they offer a late night menu.
Inside is a mix of traditional tables and booths. The walls are decorated with can labels. I asked if the can labels pictured on the walls came from this cannery but nobody knew. (later I found out that this was never an actual cannery)
They started us off with warmed up rolls with soft butter.
The buns got hard and chewy like maybe they were over microwaved?
In reasonable time my Chinese Chicken Salad arrives. (romaine, carrots, mandarins, crisp noodles, red bell pepper, and cashews…..
For my taste the Asian dressing is too sweet so I doctor it up with some vinegar-ee hot sauce. The chicken breast is very tender but at the same time it is also very dry….I wouldn’t get this again.
My husband thought the meatloaf was ok.
The meatloaf and mashed potatoes were covered with gravy and it came with boiled vegetables.
That was my trip to Victory’s Cafe at The Cannery Casino
2121 E. Craig Road North Las Vegas NV – 866-999-4899
Secret of Siam is a Thai Restaurant located in the Centennial Area of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer most of your usual Thai Dishes, a good amount of sharing plates, seafood dishes, beer, and wine.
Most of the seating are booths.
The crispy spinach is an interesting starter.
The spinach is shattering crisp and seems free of oil. The dipping sauce on the side is on the sweet side and is adorned with red onion and cashews.
I tried the basil eggplant with chicken.
The heat level (3 out of 5) is good to me. The chicken was moist, tender, and developed with flavors. The eggplant is creamy and sweet and doesn’t seem oily.
My husband tried the drunken noodles with beef (heat level 4 out of 5)
Today the #4 heat might be running more like a #3 but everything else is good….Good flavors, tender beef.
On a second visit my husband tried the spicy basil #4 heat with combination (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp) that was reasonably good like everything else so far………..
I tried a dish I never noticed on a Thai Menu before. The Green apple pompano (green apple salad green apples, tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, cashews, lime sauce) over crispy fried fish).
I have to say that the slaw is delicious……..but
The fish is not edible. It’s like it was fried in glue. You can’t dig the flesh out and when you manage to get a little morsel it’s fishy.
The Secret of Siam is not to order the Green Apple Pompano……..I wouldn’t take a chance with the red snapper or salmon either because of the taste of the morsel I tried.
Secret of Siam ….The Secret might be………….. (not to get the fish)
Secret of Siam
5705 Centennial Center Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702-331-4406
