Archive for March, 2010

Here is great fact sheet for the festival this year.  Click here to purchase tickets before they sell out!!

32^nd Annual Scottsdale Culinary Festival

Event Details, April 13 – 18, 2010 

ScottsdaleCulinaryFestival.org

Presented by the Scottsdale League for the Arts

For media inquires contact MMPR Marketing at (602) 264-2655

1940 E. Camelback Road, Ste. 207 | Phoenix, AZ 85016 | tel. (602) 264-2655 | fax (602) 264-2633 | www.margomedia.com

I live in a town, not even an official “city” in Arizona.  You may have heard of it, Fountain Hills is the name.  This is a very nice community.  Very safe, a great place to raise your kids.  It has a very large retirement and snowbird crowd and absolutely ZERO restaurants worth while to eat at.  When I heard that El Encanto, (a successful restaurant 20 years in the making in Cave Creek) was opening an eatery in Fountain Hills, I thought..”finally something we can actually enjoy in Fountain Hills!!!”

We went here for my husband’s birthday in January this year with a party of 10 and we got excellent service and every single one of us liked our food.  On the first trip my only criticism was that the margaritas were too small and the price was a tad too much for what you get.  After our second trip I still stick to my original observation. The patio and front of the restaurant is very roomy and comfortable.  If you end up in the back “hallway” as I like to call it, you are very close to the next table and to me it seems very claustrophobic.

Here’s a few very positive things I have to say about El Encanto: When you get to the table you get a choice of three salsas: mild, salsa verde, and a fire roasted hot salsa which is my favorite.  I like that they give you a variety and their salsa is excellent..we’ll speak of the chips later.  Their “Cocktail de camerones” ($10.95) made me feel like I was in Rocky Point, it tasted so authentic.  The shrimp was plenty and the crunchy cucumber and soft avacado tasted soo good in the perfectly seasoned cold tomato broth.  My other favorite thing about this place is that they offer more than one kind of bean and more than one kind of rice.  If you’re not in the mood for refried beans, just ask for the black beans and if you’re not a fan of the traditional Mexican rice, get the corn rice, it is very good.

the way a shrimp cocktail should be!

Something I’m not diggin is their tortilla chips.  Maybe it was just an off night when we went in, but they were super dry and tasted like cardboard.  If I am at an authentic Mexican restaurant I really expect hot, fresh, salted chips that you can tell were made right away or at least in the last hour or so.  Another thing I was underwhelmed by was their desserts.  They used store bought chocolate chip mint ice cream to accompany their chocolate chimis and their fried ice cream was begging for some hot fudge or chocolate sauce.

Here’s a list of our entrees for the second trip, Fajita taco salad ($9.95), Fish tacos ($11.95), Chile Relleno con Pollo ($14.95), and Lamb Barbacoa ($16.95).  Without a doubt the standout dish of the evening was the Lamb Barbacoa that my dad ordered, that I drooled over for the rest of my dinner.  I really enjoyed my Chile Relleno, but his lamb was so delicious.  The sauce that is was obviously slowly simmered in for hours had the perfect heat, spice wise, and just a nice rich flavor.  The lamb was super tender and went well in soft tortilla with the black beans. 

yummy yummy lamb

one overstuffed chile

I wasn’t super impressed with their desserts…maybe one of us should have ordered the flan, but their lemon meringue custard was the table favorite.  It had a rich, creamy lemony filling in a graham cracker cup with spiky meringue on top.  I had maybe two bites of my deep fried ice cream…wasn’t liking the water strawberry mixture they put over top, wish they would have offered a choice of chocolate sauce, that may have been good.  For the price we paid for four people and three courses I should have been sitting at a fine dining restaurant..not a Mexican restaurant.  I’m sure we will return, but maybe happy hour would be a better fit??

porcupine like lemon dessert

El Encanto de la Fuente

11044 N Saguaro Blvd

Fountain Hills, AZ 85268

480-837-1070

I did the best onion soup ever and I truly think I hold the recipe to the best corned beef ever!  St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite time of year as it lends an excuse to make one of my favorite dishes.  You’ll love this recipe as I’ve been searching for years and trying new things and I finally found the best last year.  The combination of the dark beer and malt vinegar makes all the difference in the cooking process.

Ingredients

2 lbs yellow onion

2 lbs carrots

6 lb corned beef brisket

1 cup malt vinegar

8 oz  Irish Stout  beer

1 tbsp coriander seed

1 tbsp mustard seed

1/2 tbsp dill seed

1/2 tbsp whole allspice

1/2 tbsp black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

3 lbs cabbage

2 lbs red potatoes

For Glaze

1 cup coarse ground garlic mustard

1/2 – 1 cup orange marmalade (depending on how sweet you want the glaze to be)

Now, the cooking of this corned beef can be done in the crock pot or a 9qt dutch oven or a very big stock pot.  They all work.  The problem with the crock pot is that there is not enough room to cook all of the veggies so you have to cook the veggies in the liquid after you take the corned beef out to glaze it, which is fine though.  This year I am cooking it in my dutch oven..didn’t have one last year.

Peel and cut carrots up into larger chunks.  Cut onion into wedges.  Slice your cabbage heads into 8 wedges per head of cabbage.  Clean potatoes, they can be left whole or cut in half if you’d like.

Place beef in the bottom of the pot.  Add only 1 cup of onion and 1 cup of carrot.  Place rest of onion, carrot, cabbage and potatoes in fridge for later.

Add all the spices, beer, and malt vinegar to the pot.  Add enough water to cover beef.  Bring liquid to a boil then turn heat down to a mild simmer for 3 hours.  If you’re using crock pot, you’ll cook this all on low for about 6 hours.

Next step is to remove the beef if you’re doing the glaze.  I highly recommend the glaze, it is so delicious and everyone will love it!  So, remove the beef and place on a roasting pan, cover with glaze and finish in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

When you remove the beef, place the rest of the carrots, onion, all cabbage and potatoes into the pot and cover and bring to full boil for 20 minutes or so.

Put this whole yummy meal on a platter and let the family go to town!! Always remember to slice your beef against the grain.  You won’t be sorry with this recipe, ENJOY!!!!

Yay!!! Giveaway time is here.  I’m teaming up with Redleaf Water, the official water of Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics.  During spring training you will find these waters at the Tempe Diablo stadium (home of the Angels) and at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium (home of the A’s) giving fans the luxury of an ultra premium water for their sport going experience.  Also, Redleaf Water will be available in United States grocery stores this month.

Redleaf is bottled at the Canadian Rockies and comes in an extraordinary BPA free eco-friendly bottle.  Besides this, here are a ton of other health benefits of drinking the leaf:

Ultra-premium source:

•         An artesian aquifer in the Canadian Rockies that is renewable and naturally replenished.

Ultra-premium for the body:

•         No chemicals used in the bottling process or plant.

•         Micro-oxygenated to boost alertness, energy and re-hydration.

•         Magnetized which allows red blood cells to easily absorb oxygen.

•         Filtered four times for ultra-purification and natural mineral retention.

Ultra-premium commitment to the earth:

•         Bottled at the source in a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly bottling facility.

•         1:1 filtration process for no wasted water (most bottled waters are 6:1).

•         The BPA-free bottle, cap and shrink wrap are 100% recyclable.

•         Small carbon footprint – not shipped from overseas.

More information on redleaf water and store availability may be found at www.redleafwater.com.

About Redleaf

Redleaf, Canada’s ultra-premium bottled water, is superior in content, taste and purity.  Redleaf’s corporate mission is simple: produce and distribute bottled water that is good for people as well as good for the earth.  Founded in 2008, Redleaf’s state-of-the-art, 75,000 square foot, earth-friendly bottling facility is built over the artesian aquifer at the base of the Canadian Rockies in Chilliwack, British Columbia.  Follow Redleaf water on Twitter: www.twitter.com/redleafwateror fan on Facebook (search “redleaf water”). 

So, how do you win the water???? The Food Tramp  and Redleaf Water is giving away 5- 12pks of this premium water to my loyal readers.  Redleaf will ship the water right to your door!!  There are three ways to earn an entry and you can do this as many times as you would like until Tuesday at midnight.

1.  Post a comment on this blog post

2. Share the Food Tramp Diaries/Redleaf Water post as a link on Facebook

3.  Share the Food Tramp Diaries/Redleaf Water post as a link on Twitter (reference @foodtrampEF)

I will randomly choose 5 winners on Wednesday morning.  If you comment on my blog please leave your email address.  Thank you and good luck!!!!

*to view the nature of my blog and disclosure policy, please read on the “About” page.

The first person to give me the correct answer to this riddle will win a free conventional produce basket from Bountiful Baskets Co-op!!  Please go onto their website first and make sure you can go to one of their many pick up locations.  Fountain Hills people, we have one right here in town at the Community Theater for week B pickup!!  This giveaway is only good to people living in Arizona, Utah, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada.  You may answer as a comment to the article or you can post the answer on Facebook or Twitter.  Good luck!!!!!

This is my favorite item I’ve recieved in the baskets so far.  Iam a type of navel grown in California’s San Joaquin Valley, I’m available January through April.  My outward appearance is similar to other navels, but my interior is a distinctive pinkish red and has an exceptionally sweet flavor with a tangy cranberry-like zing.  I am a rich source of Vitamins A and C, fiber and Lycopene.  What type of orange am I????????