Salsa Showdown: Breakfast Taco Salsa

Real cooks can’t stay out of the kitchen. That’s why four of Chow Bella’s regular contributors have concocted four different types of salsa just in time for Cinco de Mayo. Check in next week to see who won the showdown. Now, someone pass the chips.  Today’s salsa: Breakfast Taco Salsa…

Battle of the BBQ: Let’s Get Sauced!

Music editor Martin Cizmar’s recent blog on his exploits at the Arizona Barbecue Festival left me craving some rib stickin’, finger lickin’ good food. Whether you prefer your ‘cue dry-rubbed Texas style or coated in sticky sweet sauce like they do it in Kansas City, somewhere in Phoenix they’ve got your fave. My…

Gretchen Larsen, What Are You Eating?

Gretchen Gerber Larsen The improviser performs regularly with Valley Fever Improv and has a show with the Improvised Book Club Sunday, May 23 at 7 p.m. at Space 55 What’d you eat for dinner last night? Carne asada tacos, homemade by my coworker’s wife. Favorite food: Navajo tacos Least favorite…

Fry Girl Review: Burger King’s Whiplash Whopper

Like everyone else on the planet, I can’t wait for Iron Man 2. Every day that goes by without seeing Mickey Rourke cracking electro-whips, portable suitcase Iron Man suits, and Monaco sports car racing is like watching an eternity of The Back-Up Plan trailers. What better way to ease my…

This Week In Chow Bella

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: Challenge to the Chefs at the Scottsdale Culinary Fest…

Top 5 Food Films That Will Make You Lose Your Appetite

A few weeks ago we brought you the Top 10 Foodie Movies. This time around here are five more films where food is a central theme — though not in the most appetizing of ways. Here’s to a group of films keeping the “taste” in tasteless.  ​5. Delicatessen (1991): Delicatessen…

Coach & Willie’s planning downtown Chandler location

​Downtown Chandler, already bustling with a dozen restaurants bordering its block-long A.J. Chandler Park, is preparing to welcome yet another: Coach & Willie’s. Eric Stoltz, an owner of the downtown Phoenix tavern, says he and his partner hope to open a second location on the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue…

America Corrales’ “America’s Corn”

 America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop joined us for this week’s Chef Chat. Hope you’re in the mood for a spicy side dish, because she’s about to share the recipe for her famous corn on the cob …..

Fry Girl Finds Allies at the Lucky Boy Burger Joint

Some families serve up dinners of macaroni casseroles and meatloaf, but for the Nano family — owners and operators of the Lucky Boy burger joint in central Phoenix — it’s daily doses of creamy shakes, fries smothered in chili and cheese, and a burger called the Lucky International that’ll have…

Chef Chat: America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop (part two)

Yesterday we heard from chef America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop. Today the conversation continues. Sometimes, mom really does know best. Growing up in Mexico, America Corrales learned how to cook most of the items on her menu from her mother. Because of these memories in the kitchen, Corrales says she makes…

The Worst Matzoh Ball I Ever Ate

It took me 43 years to get over my fear of matzoh balls. Making them, that is, not eating them. I’ve eaten my fair share of the Jewish dumplings over the years — in many homes, in many delis. And one thing that my collective experience (both making and eating) has taught…

Chef Chat: America Corrales of America’s Taco Shop

America Corrales wasn’t exactly playing hooky; she was checking up on her restaurant. The full-time teacher and owner of America’s Taco Shop decided it was time to pack up her first grade classroom last year and focus on her Downtown taco shop. The buzz that used to be in her…