On the recommendation of two fellow employees at our office, my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful meal, complete with drinks, appetizers and great company, at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. It was a wonderful dining experience in every way.

First, we arrived early on a Saturday afternoon, so we beat the late night crowd. We began with drinks at the bar while we waited for our table. Our table was ready within 5 minutes of our arrival, so great service so far. Once we sat down and had a few minutes to look over the menu, we ordered some appetizers. We tried the Fried Calamari, Coconut Shrimp and Crabfingers, which were delicious as each was served with its own signature sauce of some kind. The Coconut shrimp came with some coleslaw is a spicy red sauce, and it was a big hit! Next it was time to order dinner. Lolis ordered the Jumbo Shrimp Brochette (char-grilled bacon wrapped shrimp filled with Monterey jack cheese & a sliver of jalapeno and dirty rice), and she loved it! Spencer went for the Hudson Bay Platter (shrimp brochette, grilled scallops & Caribbean lobster tail, with fresh green beans & dirty rice), and he enjoyed it very much. I decided to have the Costa Rican Tilapia Lafayette (grilled tilapia topped with fresh lump crabmeat, shrimp, tomato’s, capers & basil in beurre blanc with fresh green beans and spaghetti squash), and I am very, very happy with what I ordered. To top off the meal, we each ordered some wonderful dessert which included Crème brelee and Banana wafer pudding. The entire experience was fantastic from beginning to end, and the service from our waiter Ryan was top notch.

I would recommend Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen to anyone who is in Arizona, whether you are a local resident or a winter visitor enjoying a relaxing Scottsdale rental, (or one of the vacation rentals in Phoenix Arizona) and experience it for yourself. I think you will be happy you did. Oh, and don’t forget, if you need assistance finding a wonderful rental in Arizona, then you can call the experts at Arizona Lodging Experts. With over 10 years experience and lodging in many areas in Arizona, they will do their best to find you the best lodging available. Call the experts today at 602-404-2982 and 866-785-2350.

My wife and I wanted to share a local restaurant here in Phoenix that we just discovered this past weekend, with the help of our good friend & Phoenix Property Manager, Spencer, at Arizona Lodging Experts. The place is called Uncle Sam’s, and they actually have 3 locations here in the Valley of the Sun. The one we went to is located on Shea blvd, between the 51 Freeway and 32^nd street. On their website at www.unclesamsaz.com they claim to have the only true Cheese Steaks, Hoagies and Grinders “this side of Philadelphia”, and after eating lunch there for the first time on Sunday, I have to agree with them. They have some really good sandwiches and tasty hot wings. My wife had the Mushroom Pepper Cheese Steak and 6 hot wings and I had the All American Hoagie, which has 6 meats and 2 cheeses. We really enjoyed the food very much and we look forward to our next visit. The best part is that Uncle Sam’s is only 15 minutes from our apartment in Phoenix, so we will become regulars in no time at all. So, whether you’re a local in Arizona, or a winter visitor enjoying one of many beautiful Arizona resort condos, we encourage you to stop by Uncle Sam’s and enjoy a great meal with family and friends. Your tummy will be very happy that you did.

“Az Crazies”

I have a wonderful appetizer that you can serve at your next family gathering, and it will be “love at first bite”! This recipe was inspired by the Jerome Brewery in Jerome, Arizona.

This recipe is called Chef-Shea’s Artichoke Bruchetta.

Here are the ingredients you will need.
(This recipe feeds 3 to 5 people)

3 Medium to Large Artichokes
1/2 – 1 Cup of Mayonnaise
1 5oz Container of Shredded Parmesan/Reggiano
Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

First, you will need to steam the artichokes in a large pan for 40 to 45 minutes so the leaves and heart get nice and soft. You will want to add water about every 15 minutes or so to ensure that you don’t run dry during the steaming process. It can evaporate fast if you’re not watching. Cover the pan and let the steam go to work, checking every 15 minutes when you add water.

Steamed Artichokes

Once the artichokes are steamed to perfection, you can remove them from the steamer and place them on a large plate to cool for a few minutes. You don’t want to “dive right in” and begin shucking and scraping the leaves because they are piping hot right now. Let them cool a little, but not too long.

steamed for 45 minutes

Now, after a short cooling down period, you want to begin to remove the leaves one by one and scrape each leaf from top to bottom with a spoon to scrape off all the wonderful soft “meat” and then put the goodies you scraped in a bowl for mixing later. You will get a good amount of scrapings from the leaves, which you will add together with the artichoke heart, once you reach the heart of each artichoke. For each heart, all you want to do is scrape off the fuzzy part on top of the heart and cut off any of the green stem left on the bottom, so all you have left is a clean artichoke heart, like so.

Now we need to mash the artichoke hearts with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of mayonnaise, depending on how much scraping you end up with, and a 1/2 cup of parmesan reggiano cheese. Add ground black pepper to taste. Mash with a fork until creamy and spreadable.

creamy artichoke goodness!

Turn the over to 400 degrees.

Next, you want to arrange some slices of bread on a baking sheet and spread your fresh bruchetta over as many pieces as possible until the mash is all gone. You also want to sprinkle a little more cheese over each piece as well. When the oven reaches temperature, you want to place the cooking sheet in the oven on the middle rack and set the timer for about 8 to 10 minutes. Here is the end result!

Ready to eat!

My wife and I love to use a nice fresh round loaf of Italian bread. This tasty treat will delight everyone who tries it. Not all the Property Management Companies in Phoenix give away secrets like this. Enjoy!

I just found out about this cool Ice Cream Shop in north Scottsdale called Sweet Republic and I’m excited to go to the store and check out their menu. It looks like they have some really different and seemingly strange flavors on menu, like the Cheese Course Duo which is a pairing of Roquefort blue cheese and Arizona Medjool dates.

Sweet Republic also has somewhat more conventional, although not that common of flavors that you would normally see, like the Salted Butter Carmel flavor and the Real Mint Chip. The web page say’s they have 24 flavors available daily and seasonal flavors like Eggnog, Pumpkin Spice and Sweet Corn.

It looks like this shop has been mentioned by the press including bon appetit, and they have won the much coveted New Times Best of Phoenix.

I would recommend all of Arizona Lodging Experts guest to visit this shop when they come to Scottsdale.  We do Scottsdale Property Management and actually have two vacation homes that are less then a mile from this shop. We have Arroyo Madera #154 and Arroyo Madera #142.