May 10, 2015 - Tarbell's - Scottsdale, Arizona

Joshua and Jody Hayes along with their sons, Judson and Jonah invited Judy and Jack Svendsen and I to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day - 2015.

What a fantastic dinner!

I arrived first…then Jack and Judy.  We were served two small bowls of Crispy Chickpeas with Parmesan.  Judy and I ordered the Bloody Mary…and Jack ordered a Gin and Tonic.

Crispy Chickpeas with Parmesan

Serves 2-4

1 can (8 to 10 oz) chickpeas, thoroughly drained and gently dried in a clean napkin
1/2 cup olive oil
About 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan|
About 2 T minced fresh parsley
Kosher or sea salt to taste
Fresh lemon juice to taste

1. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. 

2. When hot, add olive oil and heat oil until it ripples, but is not smoking.

3. Carefully add chickpeas that have been drained and dried.

4. Shaking the pan, cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the chickpeas are tan to golden brown.  They will pop and bounce as they cook.  When finished, they will sound hollow.

5. Pour chickpeas into a basket strainer and let most of the oil strain away.

6. Toss chickpeas in a bowl with 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1 T parsley, about 2 tsp lemon juice, and salt.  Taste and add more of everything as desired.

7. Serve immediately.

I am going to try and make the Crispy Parmesan Chickpeas as a snack for other Hayes meals.  I just fell in love with them.  And, I have never eaten chickpeas like this.  What a great find for me to try.

I just couldn't quite get a good picture of the Crispy Parmesan Chickpeas.  We had our own private dining alcove.  It was quite dark inside the alcove.  That was great ambience for eating...but I should have had someone turn up the lights whenever I wanted to take pictures.

Once the Hayes family arrived and ordered wine we began to discuss the menu. 

For appetizers we ordered Poutine  w/Cheese Curds – even though this is a side dish we had to order it as an appetizer because we spent a lot of time in Canada playing hockey.  We grew to love poutine.  Joshua, Jody and Judson were able to eat this many times during their trip to Quebec for hockey early in 2014.  Our order presented tiny, tiny thin fries with a light brown gravy sauce and cheese curds.  It was rather salty…but good poutine always is…loved being able to try this side.

Mark ( I should mention that the restaurant is owned by Joshua and Jody's friend Mark Tarbell)  also sent us "Beyond Prime" Beef Carpaccio with baby arugula, Parmigiano-Reggiano, olive oil, crostini for those of us who didn’t order the Crab Bisque….Jack, Judy and Jody ordered the Bisque.  Jack gave me a spoonful to taste..and had a hearty crab taste…just delicious.

Crab Bisque

"Beyond Prime" Beef Carpaccio

Our main entrees:  Joshua ordered Squid Ink Angel Hair Pasta - Chock Full of Fish and Mussels in a Smoked Tomato Sauce.  I had one bite with a piece of fish.  I thought it had a really prevalent mushroom taste…by that I don’t intend to infer that the prevalent taste took over the dish…it did not…but seemed to enhance the dish.

Jody ordered Giant Georges Bank Scallops Saffron risotto, Hand-foraged Morel Mushrooms, Wild Ramps.  Jody shared a half of a  very large scallop with me.  Perfect.  I used to eat a lot of scallops but in recent years gave up ordering scallops at any restaurant  because they just were too squishy…and not tasty..these were just as I remember eating fresh scallops….not tough but had substance…a crisp sear on both sides…as I said, “Perfect.” 

Judy ordered The Meatball – it was served in  organic house-made marinara sauce.  Judy also gave me a bite.  It was big…between a half to a pound size meatball.  So mentally I started comparing them to my Grandma Filicetti’s…and she also used a beef, pork sausage and veal mixture which I am sure these were…but not a Romano cheese taste to them.  They weren’t Grandma’s but I liked them just the same…and the marinara sauce was light.  I am not crazy about marinara sauce but this sauce was nice.  Mark’s recipe doesn’t use the beef…and not too much Romano so I called the cheese correctly.  In Grandma’s kitchen the more Romano…the better the taste.

Jack and I both ordered the Scotch Beef - With buttermilk mashed, roasted veggies and red velvet gravy.  I thought my dish tasted marvelous…and besides I wanted a little comfort food for Mother’s Day.

Tarbell's Scotch Beef with Red Wine Gravy

Serves 4-6

1 6-7 pound cross-rib or chuck roast

4 ounces vegetable oil

2 stalks celery

2 medium carrots

1 yellow onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

3 Roma tomatoes

2 cups red wine

1 quart water

Fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, and oregano

1. In heavy-bottomed pan, heat vegetable oil.
2. Season beef with salt and pepper and sear on all sides until dark brown. 
3. Remove to small roasting pan.
4. Sauté all vegetables in same heavy pan until light brown, and deglaze with red wine.
5. Add to beef.
6. Add water and aromatic herbs, cover, and cook at 350⁰ until fork tender, about 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Red Wine Gravy:

2 ounces flour

2 ounces melted butter

1 quart beef stock

1 quart veal stock

1/2 bottle dry red wine

2 sprigs fresh thyme

3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

1/2 a yellow onion.

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In small pan, combine flour and butter to make a roux.
2. Add liquids, thyme, garlic, and onion and simmer to reduce by half.
3. Strain, discarding solids.
4. Season gravy to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve Scotch Beef surrounded with sautéed, seasonal vegetables

©  Tarbell’s 1998

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

8-10 Servings

5 each peeled Russet potatoes
1/2 pound unsalted butter (preferably European-style)
1 cup buttermilk
Salt to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add potatoes, and boil briskly until tender.
2. Strain and stir in butter and buttermilk.
3. Hand whip (the secret!) until smooth and fluffy.
4. Season to taste with salt.

Judson and Jonah shared a Suzy’s Meatball Pizza.  I had a bite shared by Judson…no…he gave me two bites…a very crisp crust with a tasty meatball topping in marinara sauce.  I thought a great way to try the meatball.  I liked it.

Mark also sent out two dishes of vegetables.  One a Ramp covered with salad…larges curls of Parmesan cheese and a carrot puree.  I loved it.  This is the first time ever in my life that I ate Ramp.  It is a root vegetable between an onion and a garlic.  Delicious.

The second dish was a sauteed carrot and fennel dish.  I love carrots so both dishes went over quite well with me.  I really liked the second dish especially the taste of the fennel with the carrots.  I didn’t recognize the fennel.  I had to ask our waiter.  I was so taken with the vegetables that I can’t even describe the sauce but I believe it had a sweet taste to it but not sugary.

Can you see the Happy Face that Mark's kitchen sent to us in the carrot dish?  How sweet of them.

For dessert we ordered everything on the menu…and then did my ritual of “forks around”.

Tarbell’s Vanilla Cheesecake with Rosemary Caramel Sauce – this is my kind of cheesecake…firm..stands up alone…very tasty…and I liked the hint of rosemary in the caramel sauce.  One could really taste it.  Joshua said that he didn’t think he would have without my pointing it out.

Classic Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée – perfect – I am not crazy about a really hard crust but this was hard…and still good at the same time.  The crème was perfect…not cold…but it had a warm, buttery taste to it.   Most of you know that I also keep a list of my “best” crème brulees…and this one just knocked the cactus juice one that I so dearly loved off the number one position.  I think it was the creamy buttery texture of the crème that did it.

Molten Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel – this was very good but I have to admit I am not a chocolate cake eater in any way.  So I had a taste just so I could taste the salted carmel sauce…and the entire dish was good.  Judson went to work on this choice.  I believe it was his choice.

Fresh Berries with Lemon Curd – once again the lemon curd had a creamy buttery texture that I liked.  It was probably the perfect dessert for this type of weather, but that didn’t stop this family from trying them all. I don’t think we ordered this but Mark sent it to our table…thank you, Mark.  It was also a favorite of Judson.

The Beloved Chocolate Mousse with Guittard Chocolate – what can I say?  Divine!  I can see why this restaurant has won the “Best Chocolate Mousse” award so many times.  Like no other chocolate mousse that I have ever tasted.

Vanilla or Chocolate Gelato – Jonah ate this…and he ordered chocolate

I loved everyone of them.

I thought I would share some of Mark’s other recipes.  I am always looking for a wonderful way to caramelize onions.

Caramelizing Onions

3 yellow onions, peeled, cored, and finely diced

1/4 cup Canola oil

1. Heat large sauté pan over medium-high heat.

2. Add Canola oil and toss onions to coat.

3. Cook 1-2 minutes until onions start to color.

4. Reduce to low heat and cook for 45 minutes, tossing every 3-5 minutes. 

5. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before serving.

Note:  Onions may be made ahead of time and reheated over low heat.

I thought I might try making my own vegetable stock.

Making Super Stocks

The secret is time, and richly roasting the ingredients from which you're going to make the stock.

Vegetable Stock:

1. Heat oven to 450. 
2. Toss 2 cloves of peeled garlic, 1 large, quartered, onion, 3 peeled carrots cut into 1" pieces, 3 chopped tomatoes, and the white parts of 3 leeks, cut into 1" pieces, with about 2 T of olive oil, until gently coated.
3. Place the vegetables in a roasting pan or on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for about half an hour, turning them occasionally.  They should be nicely browned and very aromatic.
4. Place all these ingredients in a large pot, scraping all the good brown stuff from the roasting pan into the pot. 
5. Fill with water and place on the stovetop on medium high heat.
6. Bring to a boil, lower the temperature, and boil gently for 2-3 hours. Keep an eye on the water level. 
7. Let cool. Strain, then place the remaining liquid in a sauce pan.

Simmer until reduced by three quarters; this could take about an hour.

Veal Stock:

Roast 3 pounds of veal bones in a separate roasting pan from the vegetables above.  Roast until very brown and be sure to scrape all the brown bits from the roasting pan into the stockpot when it's time for boiling.  Use the vegetable base described above. 

Tarbell’s

On the Southeast Corner of 32^nd Street and Camelback Road

3213 E. Camelback Road

Scottsdale, Arizona 85018

(602) 955-8100

History: 

Mark Tarbell (the only winning competitor on the 5th season of "Iron Chef America") opened Tarbell's in 1994.

Previously Mark had studied in Paris at the l'Academie du Vin and earned a Grande Diplôme d'Etude Culinaire from Ecole du Cuisine La Varenne.

Mark and is restaurant has  earned more than 50 city and industry awards, including a "Best Restaurant" from Food and Wine magazine and a nomination as "Best Chef - Southwest" by the James Beard Foundation.

Others include:

Best New Restaurant  – City Search

Top 20 Places in American for Solo Meal – Esquire

Best Place to Eat at the Bar – New Phoenix Magazine

Diner’s Choice Winner 2011 – Open Table.com

Award of Excellence – Wine Spectator

Best Chocolate Mousse – CityAZ

Top 5 Wine Lists in Phoenix – Haute Food

Best Steak – City Search