oinkster

a few weeks ago, while driving in eagle rock area i noticed a restaurant, oinkster. later on, my friend mentioned oinkster again. he told me that it was highlighted on the food network's show, "the best thing i ever ate" which highlights favorites by famous chefs.

they are famous for their pastrami. i ordered the oinkster pastrami with gruyere cheese and red cabbage slaw. they serve it with a fabulous garlic aioli. the pastrami was delicious! full of flavor and it tasted great with the garlic aioli.

we also ordered a side of their fresh cut french fries. the fries were so nice and crispy. they were covered with thousand island, caramelized onions and cheese.

welcome, home!

after being away for 2 1/2 weeks, i was really craving a home cooked meal. ely's sister-in-law has been staying with us, so ely called her to ask if she could make us dinner on our return. usually i'm craving kimchi chigae (stew) but i doubt she could make that b/c she's chinese.

well, she made a delicious meal of chicken wings in a sweet soy sauce, green beans and shrimp, tofu and a chicken potato salad that is common in bolivia.

the chicken was flavored with soy sauce and brown sugar giving it a hint of sweetness. i'll have to get her to translate this recipe. she found it online, but it's all in chinese.

it's good to be home!

fuego bistro

so there's gotta be good food in phoenix, right?? not just tacos and stuff?

i yelped restaurants, and i discovered fuego bistro. it had pretty good reviews, so i thought ely and i would check it out. it's too bad she didn't come in earlier b/c then we could have gone for their happy hour.

we ordered their seared ahi tuna mini tostadas served with fresh guacamole, chipotle aioli sauce, organic corn salsa, sugar cured cabbage and jack cheese. these tostadas were a nice cool treat on a warm summer night. the cabbage had a great crunchy texture.

for the entree we split the signature pernil asado, slow roasted succulent pork served with an orange habanero mojo and corn tortillas. we chose for our two sides their green chili corn bread casserole and sauteed organic green beans. the pork was so flavorful and tender. the orange habanero mojo had a sweetness to it and then a kick from the habanero.

it was a delicious meal on a warm summer night with our glass of sangria.

and we received a 20% discount on the food b/c i told them that i found them on yelp.com

oh, fry bread!

my friend, carmen, took me to fry bread house. she said that fry bread is something that is distinctive to the phoenix area.

i ordered the fry bread with beans and beef with lettuce. for dessert we also ordered fry bread with butter, cinnamon and sugar.

so.. first the savory fry bread. the bread is light and chewy, but of course, anything that is fried tastes good. i added a bit of hot sauce to give it a kick.

the fry bread with butter, cinnamon and sugar was truly divine! we ate that first actually b/c it tastes better when it's first. you want to eat it when it's still warm. we enjoyed it so much we ordered another one for the four of us to split.

eating fry bread reminded me of my missions trip in 1997 to new mexico. that was the last time i had fry bread. it's been 13 years since my last taste of fry bread. we ate a lot of fry bread. it was good then. it's still good now.

can retreat food be good?

usually my expectations of retreat center food is pretty low after years of having mediocre food. i guess that's a good thing though. since my expectations are low, when retreat food is good, it's a wonderful surprise!

i've been at a retreat center in cornville, az for the last couple of days. this morning we were served an amish casserole, biscuits and gravy, and homemade cherry cobbler. i had to quickly eat my breakfast, and i didn't have time to finish my cobbler, but i took it to go to enjoy later. the crust is buttery and light. i enjoyed the sweetness of the cherries. overall the combination of the crust and the cherries was a delightful morning treat.

even the other day i woke up to the smell of bacon. mmm.. bacon.... :)

and the other night we had a campfire. and a campfire isn't a campfire without s'mores! i like my slightly browned.

so far i've been very impressed with the retreat center food. so we'll see what's for lunch.

i guess food in arizona food isn't so bad.

what's good in arizona?

i'm here in arizona for a week for a two week training, but sadly i don't have much to update on food over here. mainly b/c food has been provided so i'm not venturing out to try new places. i've gotten some recommendations. but i think my food experience in arizona will be a bit lacking.

however i did enjoy a yummy homemade peach cobbler tonight. as soon as my nectarines on my tree are ripe, i'm going to try and make a nectarine cobbler. mmm... that will be a nice recipe to test.