“So, you’ve made a few recipes without burning anything. Big deal! Bet you can’t make something without a recipe, using just the ingredients in your pantry!” I have a lot of friends who cook well. One stay-at-home mom is always whipping up soft, chewy chocolate cookies from scratch every time…
Peanuts and Cracker Jacks? Uh, sorry, but even the most hardcore baseball fan will eventually get fed up with all the ballpark junk food and start looking for a real meal. Where to go for some good grub if you’re heading to (or from) a Cactus League game? Hop in…
Quinoa (pronounced: keen-wah) is an ancient seed native to the Andes mountain regions of Peru and Bolivia. Historically, Quinoa was cultivated in terraced fields by the Inca’s who treasured their “mother grain” for sustenance as well as its healing and mystical properties. Quinoa was used by warriors to enhance endurance while…
Caramelpalooza Countdown! The big, sweet event is less than two weeks away, and we are counting the days — and the candymakers. First up is Tammie Coe. Coe’s dream took her from her mother’s kitchen to Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she met her husband and…
We love trying new coffees and energy drinks around town, but sometimes, we want to brew our own java, and the most popular brands of coffee don’t really float our boats. It wasn’t until we picked up a can of Cafe Du Monde Coffee & Chicory that we truly fell…
Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Free Pancake Day!Join Valley IHOP locations tomorrow for IHOP’s National Pancake Day. Every year IHOP celebrates by handing out free pancakes in exchange for your donation to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Last year the pancake house…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week. AVION Silver Tequila “Too Good,” New Times Editorial Staff…
What a week. The Epi-Log on Epicurious.com gave props to FnB’s gilfeather rutabaga dish the other day, and then explored whether Pizzeria Bianco is worth the wait. Meanwhile, celeb chef Jamie Oliver’s website picked up the story about FnB’s visit to a local school, which was first reported on Chow Bella last month.Lots…
Can Scottsdale’s nightlife district do a trendy restaurant/ultra-lounge concept that doesn’t just attract pretty young things in search of a candy cocktail and a phone number scribbled on a napkin, but actually has cred with food fanatics? With the help of chef Johnny Chu, a new spot called The Mint just…
As Cactus League games are just kicking in, people who obsess about baseball as much as this restaurant critic obsesses about food are finding themselves with rumbling bellies, wondering what places to hit up in the vicinity of their favorite spring training ballparks. Not in the mood to fill up on…
We happily spent a beautiful winter afternoon outside on the balcony sipping beer and enjoying a savory blackened mahi mahi sandwich with a side of crispy garlic fries. We normally tend to stay away from chain restaurants, but sometimes you need a beer, a sandwich and a patio stat. Can…
The adjacent liquor store, Tops Liquors, stocks hundreds of bottles of tequila, vodka, rum and the like, but Taste of Tops (403 W. University Drive, 480-967-5643) doesn’t serve any of that. In fact, ask for a pint of Bud on draft and you’ll be laughed out of the place. Taste of Tops…
The best seat in this house is at the copper, wood and granite tapas bar facing Prado’s wood-fired oven. The view is of chef de cuisine Peter DeRuvo and his “pickle master,” Jay, working the oven, firing up the food, and finishing the plates. The chef says he is “having…
The best ethnic food is often the most difficult to find. So each week we’ll spin the globe and search for a new other-worldly spot to expand our eating horizons around the Valley.This week we go to Lebanon, Israel and Greece at Middle Eastern Bakery & Deli. Authenticity-rating: According to the…
Staying in? We’ve got you covered — both on the culinary and entertainment fronts. Now presenting Dinner and a Movie — a guide to a do it yourself evening of food and film. For many of us film and food nerds, Oscar Sunday is bigger than Superbowl Sunday. Each year…
Somehow there’s always some sort of edible entertainment when I eat at Hana — a flaming sugar cube, a whole fish getting carved up behind the counter, a bubbling bowl of noodles. Yesterday, lunch was a glowing trio of littleneck clams, set atop a small pile of flaming salt. As the…
Recently, we were asked: what’s the best method for boiling an egg? Some of you are smirking now, right? How can someone not know how to boil- an-egg? Well, wipe the smirk off your face. You may know how to boil an egg, but how about an egg boiled to…
Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?A Worldly WeekendThere is no shortage of events this weekend. Crepes, Sushi, Haggis, whatever you’re into, finding a food adventure shouldn’t be a problem this weekend. Oo la la! HB Hanratty’s Pub on Camelback is teaming up…
At what point does one elevate from merely drinking beer to being a full-on beer snob? Answer: when you feel compelled to tell other people what to drink. And the inevitable result of this peculiar ailment is the beer argument. In the spirit of all great beer-related discussions, we present…
This week: The monstrous King of Tortas, served up by Tortas El Rey. ¿Como se dice?: Man vs. Food’s Adam Richman and our own Zach Fowle’s Feasts of Fury demonstrate that here in the Valley, the more cartoonish the food, the more willing people are to subject themselves to some good old-fashioned American overindulgence. Arizonans…
We’ve got some serious competition lined up for Caramelpalooza 2011 — March 11, 7 pm at Smeeks in central Phoenix. Now we’re looking for judges. Interested? Tell us why. Leave us a comment (and be sure you leave us a way to find you, like an email address) in the comments section…
Our chat with Chef Christopher Nicosia of Sassi concluded yesterday with him telling us how the best compliment he has ever received was that from a patron claiming Nicosia’s food was better than his own mother’s. The recipe he is showing us today, however, is something mom probably hasn’t made…
