@ForkReporter | Hour 1

Technique of the Week: Grilling Techniques
Jack in the Box AI
LA Times Nominated Fork Report
Panda Express Ornage Chicken Sandwich

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
A tony. Yes, Oh,I like this. This is nice.
It's like we have a whole wholeback line crew just in case. Why
wouldn't the sesame seed leave Morongo Casino. I don't know, because it was
on a roll. It was ona roll. Hey, it's Ulsave Adrian.
You're listening to kf I Am sixforty the four Purport on demand on

(00:23):
the iHeartRadio app. We are broadcastinglive as we are wont to do from
Morongo Casino Resort and Spa. Andwhat a great time to do it,
the weather getting warm. Of coursethey have the beautiful pool and the lazy
River, which is exactly what youthink it is. It's you a tube,

(00:45):
some moving water and no worries.I'm looking out at the casino floor
here as we're in front, rightnext to the marketplace, which is an
amazing food hall designed by Fabio Viviani. He's an amazing chef, very well
known celebrity chef. He'll be callingin a little bit later. We'll talk

(01:06):
to some chefs here on the ground, and of course some other things going
on. We'll get into Strawberry Festivalnext, the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival next
weekend, and we'll talk about thatin at three o'clock hour, So go
nowhere. Since this is the FolkReport, we always start the show with
a couple of segments of technique ofthe week, and we are in that

(01:30):
weather, so why not get intotips and tricks for grilling? And there
are many As a matter of fact, One that a lot of people don't
think about is that a grill similarto your oven, has hotspots. The
assumption is, hey, we're gonnaheat this thing and across the board it's

(01:52):
going to heat perfectly. Now,of course, at this point, I'm
talking about a gas grill because youcan modify the charcoal grill, or if
you're doing solid fuel, you canmix those and move those around and make
sure that they're in the places youneed. You can control that. When

(02:12):
you're using a gas grill, youcan't. Where the heat comes out.
It comes out. Now, thisis the same tip that I've talked about
before for your oven, because youroven's going to have hot spots too.
And what you want to do isyou want to for your grill. You
want to get a couple of cheaploaves of white bread. Now, don't

(02:34):
worry about wasting them. Because onceyou toast them up, you can toast
them even more into crutons. Theyeven work really well toasted bread. It
really works well for French toast becauseyou're going to be putting it into a
custard bath and that's going to loosenit up. There's many things you can
do with it. Don't toss it. You can make it into bread crumbs.
You can do all kinds of things. But to identify those hot spots

(02:58):
on your grill, even your pelletgrill, you preheat your gas grill to
medium. Then you lay the slicesof again cheap loaf style bread shoulder to
shoulder, butt them up on thegrate, flipping them. When they begin
to toast, you're gonna see variationsin the color. Okay, you're gonna

(03:19):
look for this slice. You're gonnalook at that slice. This one's gonna
be a little darker, this one'sgonna be a little lighter. Whatever it
may be, it's not going tobe consistent across the board. If it
is, then hallelujah, you justgot yourself the best grill on the planet
that with the most even cooking.So it'll indicate the hot spots on your
grill by the way it's toasted it. The more toasted means there's a hotter

(03:42):
spot there. This is key.At this point you take a photo of
it so you don't have to gothrough more loafs of bread later on down
the line. Take a photo ofit and and say, at medium heat
mark the day, this is whatcame out, and these are the hot
spots on your grill. Then youwill have that forever. To keep in

(04:03):
mind that your grill does have hotspots and where to put things if you
want them hotter. And this iswhen you've got the grill on one temperature.
Okay, this is like if you'regrilling lots of one thing and you've
got it all on there, andyou want to know and make sure where
the hot spots is. We'll getinto indirect cooking later or indirect grilling later,

(04:27):
because then you're forcibly changing the heatso that you can control certain things.
When it comes to chicken, canyou cook a great chicken breast on
the grill? Yes? The issuewith that is a chicken breast is by
its very nature like a drop,you know, like a water balloon.
And I don't go there. Nomore examples of what a chicken breast looks

(04:50):
like. Wash that out of yourmind. But it does have the thicker
side and it goes to a pointthat is going to the point is going
to grill more quickly than the thickpart of the chicken. The best thing
to cook on a grill if you'regonna do chicken is thighs. You really

(05:14):
stick to the dark meat. Thepurpose of that is it's been oxygenated differently.
That's white stark in the first place. It's usually in areas of running
or movement, and therefore it theway oxygen goes to it and travels through
it causes it to get dark.It's also much more fatty around it and

(05:36):
much more flavorful. So if you'regoing to be grilling and you want to
do some chicken legs or thighs,they're so great, so much more flavor.
They stay moist and even with thedry heat of the grill, and
they're cheaper. If you really wantto think about it, you can briden

(05:57):
them. And for those of youdon't know, Brian is just a bath.
It's mostly salt, a salt andsugar bath. And in that process
you're building something that it will soakup so through osmosis, which is a
big fancy term. Right through osmosis, what ends up happening is the chicken
the You can do it with anypoultry. You can do it with pork

(06:19):
as well. It gets and itabsorbs that salt water and continues to bring
it and it will help with moisture, keeping moisture in and also flavor,
but ultimately ultimately just having dark meat. It's going to put you ahead of
the game. And it's a greatchoice when you're going to be growing fish.

(06:44):
You know, I don't think I'munique when it comes to this,
but I'm afraid of cooking fish whetherI'm in the kitchen or the grow because
and I prefer to cook it outsidebecause let's be honest, fish can ruin
a kitchen pretty quickly as far asmaking it smell like that one ingredient.
But there's a lot of great fish, sturdy, robust fish that grill wonderfully.

(07:12):
And if you want zero problems orissues, get a cedar plank.
You soak this either plank, youput the fish on top, you put
some Lennon slices and all of thatworks out great. They have grill baskets.
Also, you oil them up,you put it inside there, it's
great. Make sure it's clean.But if you've got a thin bladed spatula

(07:33):
and you've got fish like salmon,halibit, swordfish, they work really great
on the grill and have wonderful outcomes. So stick around. More to come.
I've got a tip of for ahamburger working on the grill that you're

(07:54):
gonna want to hear, so goknow where it is. The Fok Report
on Neil Savedra broadcasting line from MorongoCasino Resort in Spa today in Cabazon.
And if you're around, come bysay hi. You're listening to the Fork
Report with Niels of Adra on demandfrom KFI AMZI forty everybody, it's the
Fork Report all things food, beverageand beyond. Of course we kind of

(08:16):
shake off the heaviness of the week. Come together for our Signatuary of two
to five in the afternoon and justenjoy food. We're broadcasting live today from
Morongo Casino Resort in Spa here inCabazon, and it's already got just a
great crowd here, people gaming,having a wonderful time. There's tons of

(08:39):
great food, here if you're stayinghere, obviously the rooms are stunning,
and I'm just gonna drop a coupleof words on you. Lazy River.
All I'm saying, lazy River,I'm lazy, I can float. It's
like a perfect combination for me.So we'll be talking more about everything going

(09:01):
on here. We're in the middleof technique of the wheat, talking about
grilling tips. I also want toremind you, and this is really cool
because sitting at Morongo, you cansee that they have notices up all around
that they have been nominated by LaTimes listeners for the LA Times twenty twenty
three Best of Southern California. Andso you can find that by going to

(09:28):
La Times look for the Best ofSouthern California and look for the different categories
and they're nominated. But guess what, so is your buddy Neil on the
Fork Report. So I'm going toask you if you don't already join us
on Instagram at Fork Reporter, pleasedo, or at least go to Fork
Reporter on Instagram and you'll see inmy bio there there's a link. It's

(09:54):
usually the KFI link to go tolisten live, but this one will go
directly to where you can vote.Voting I think ends tomorrow night, so
very little time. But if youenjoy the Folk Report, please go there
and select and vote for the FolkReport in the Orange County category of Entertainment

(10:16):
Radio and Podcast. So I wouldreally appreciate that you have to scroll down
a bit to find it. Attop. I think you'll see the Morongo
if you wish to vote for themas well. That's pretty cool. And
if you have any questions, justhit me up on social media and I'll
help you find it. But Iappreciate that we were very honored. Here's
the line, right, We're veryhonored just to be nominated. Okay,

(10:39):
took art to choke. So acouple of things. When you're dealing with
the grill. That grilly season ishere. We love it. It's wonderful
outdoors. But there's some things thatwe do and we can learn better.
I learned all the time from grillmasters and people like, hey, keep
this, send mine fuel. Don'trun out of fuel. It's a rookie

(11:03):
mistake. If you're using solid fuel, if you're using briquettes, whatever you're
using, if you're using pellets,if you're using gas make sure you have
it. The woodshed in Orange Countyis one of my all time faves.
The sharp folks over there are doinga great job and you can get anything.

(11:26):
I mean just they're the ones thatturned me on to pecan wood,
and which I recommend if you're usingsolid fuel, or even if you need
little bits and pieces for your smokerbox or something like that. It just
is perfectly lovely. Don't run out. If you've got gas and you've got
like the containers, make sure youcan get There are some things out there

(11:50):
where you can put them on theside or sometimes I'm connected to the actual
gas container that will let you knowat what point you are, if you've
got twenty five percent left, whateverit might be. But a lot of
people don't get those. So ifyou don't have that and you want to
check, disconnect everything, turn itoff, disconnect everything. Bring they canister

(12:16):
out, the gas canister out.Get a container of very hot water,
Be careful and pour it on downthe side of the container the gas container.
Put it upright again. Run yourhand down and where the heat goes
to cold, that is the linewhere your gas is. You can feel
it because the heat will go intothe metal, it won't go into the

(12:37):
gas. So the anything that's hot, that's the metal. Anything that's cold,
that's where the gas line is.And it's good to know and always
have a backup somewhere when you're arrangingyour food. It's important. I know,
you see some grill masters ring theyI mean it looks like military on
there with the precision. That precisionthere that is on purpose it grills.

(13:03):
So if you're doing you know,thighs, you're doing chicken legs, make
sure that they're lined up in away that it's easier on the eye.
You're gonna know which one because you'rethey're in rows, You're gonna know which
ones have been flipped which ones haven't. They're going to cook more evenly because
you're keeping them fairly snug, givinga little space in between. But it's

(13:24):
the best way to do it.It's not just because it's pretty. When
you're dealing with kebabs, a coupleof things, get a flat sewer.
You can find them a quarter inchand find them a half inch. It's
going to be easier to flip everythingover without it flopping around like a circus
act. And then you don't knowwhat's been grilled or what hasn't Chef a

(13:46):
Gusto just walk by, so knowingthese things are imperative. If you don't
have a flat skewer for your kebabs, then get two of the wooden ones
the bamboo ones. Just make surethey've soaked for at least twenty five minutes
and put two of them into whateveryou're going to make into a kebab,

(14:07):
and that way they will stay together, especially with shrimp and the like.
Otherwise it just kind of swings over, swings over and swings over. You're
listening to the Fork Report with NielSavedra on demand from KFI AMZI forty.
We're broadcasting live from Morongo Casino Resortand Spa today right next to the marketplace,
which if you have not gone,is a maze balls. It is

(14:30):
so good and it's hard to explain. It's not a buffet, but it
is all you can eat, butyou're talking about made to order, fantastic
food, ready to go. Youcan watch them do it in a great
seating area and we're just next doorto there. We're waiting to hear from

(14:52):
Chef Fabio Viviani, who is thecurator of all of the different restaurants in
there and concepts, and we'll gethim on we can, but very cool.
I also want to remind you thatwe have been nominated and thanks to
you folks, the La Times nominatedus for Radio Show of the Year Southern

(15:16):
California, and I'd love for youto check it out. You can check
out different areas. I think Garyand Shannon. I think Tim Conway Junior
has been nominated as well, socheck when you go on. It's the
easiest way is I'm only nominated inOrange County. So if you go on

(15:39):
Instagram, my Instagram, and yougo to fourth quarter my Instagram, you'll
see them my little bio and onthat bio you can click a link and
it says La Times. It'll takeyou to the list for Orange County and
you just scroll down until you findPersonality or podcast or Radio Show of the

(16:00):
Year for twenty twenty three Orange County. I would be honored if you would
do that. Very easy. Again, like I said, you just go
to my Instagram at Folk Reporter,and if you're not following us, please
do otherwise. Just go click onthat link in the bio and it will
take you to the section. You'rejust gonna have to scroll down to find
the section. Then I'm in so, like, if you win, do

(16:22):
we get like free food in thestudio? Is that how that works?
You get free food in the studio? Now trust the complaint. I give
and I give and I give.But there's always going to be food in
the studio, that's for sure.But I thought it was very cool.
And in addition to that, atthe top, our friends here at Morongo
Casino Resorting Spa are nominated as wellfor Best Casinos, So give them some

(16:48):
love as well. Okay, Doky, so Jack in the Box. A
lot of I'm noticing a lot oftopics going towards fast food lately. There's
a lot going on in fast food. I think as food is looking around
to see what is going to workfor the future, whether it be staff,
whether it's having the best food,interesting food, new food, whether

(17:11):
it's wrestling with the competition of thechicken sandwich for instance, any of these
types of things. As they gotowards they're trying to find their mark again
and find what is going to bein the future. I'm guessing a lot
of places aren't going to have thesit down restaurant inside anymore. They're probably

(17:32):
going to keep that to a minimumbecause people aren't using it the same way,
and they're going to focus on gettingthe best food, best ingredients,
the speediest, if you will,to you, and that's what they're going
to concern themselves. One of thethings that's going to go down with that
is AI. I know that's thehot topic right now. It's the topic

(17:56):
du jure and beyond. But AIis already being incorporated. I know Wendy's
is incorporating it, as is Carl'sJunior and Hardies I believe are the three
that are incorporating it right now.And that means in some areas they've brought
in AI to take your order,and I think that that's going to be

(18:22):
huge. I think that is goingto make the process much easier and much
cleaner when you order. So Ithink that's a smart thing, that's a
good smart first thing to do,and with that is going to come expediency.
However, there are also the foodaspects where they're playing around with what

(18:44):
they should be, what they shouldhave on their menus and what they shouldn't
jack in the box for instance,and is replacing the late night Munchy Meal
menu, you remember that, thefourth meal, all those things getting you
know, late nights and all ofthat. Well, they're doing a build
your own Munchino option and that iscoming soon. So that's a whole rather

(19:08):
than just having the options they had. Now you can stack and make and
build and do what you want andit's pretty outstanding. So the building own
munchineal lets you customize your eats fromthe right regular menu options and you get
one entree from four choices, twooptional sides, one small fountain drink for

(19:33):
just ten bucks. So you cando a lot of different things. The
Ultimate cheeseburger, Jack, Spicy Chickensandwich, the Kluck sandwich. Double Ye
have to say that fast double Jack. And we'll see how that takes them
to the next level and how otherrestaurants are going to respond. We shall
see. It is the fourth Court. Annio Savedra kf I AM six forty

(19:56):
broadcasting live from Morongo Casino Resort,SPA. For those of you have taken
the time just to pop by andsay hello, it means a lot.
It's very very cool and I alwayslike meeting folks, but no need,
it's just me sit here, smiling. I don't really do any tricks,
but I'm always happy to shake ahand and say hello. You're listening to
The Fork Report with Neil Savedra ondemand from KFI AMZI forty. Hey everybody,

(20:22):
it's the Fork Report. I'm yourwell fed host, Neil Savadra.
How do you do? Don't forgetwhen you listen to us on the iHeartRadio
app to also follow us. There'sa little place where you can impress the
button and follow us and that allowsyou to receive breaking news from KFI and
when we have special guests on theprograms. So I do it, I

(20:45):
invite you to do it as well. Also, I'm thrilled to say that
this show, The Fork Report,was nominated as the Best of Southern California
the LA Times Best of Southern Californiain the Radio and pod cast category in
Orange County. And if you wouldbe so kind as to go to my
Instagram, and if you're not followingit, please do at fork Reporter on

(21:10):
Instagram at fork Reporter and then you'llsee the Lincoln bio and you click on
that and you can scroll down towhere it gets to my category Radio and
podcast shows and do that would bereally really wonderful and I would appreciate it.
But I am honored to be nominated. And the cool thing is when

(21:30):
walking into Morongo. We're broadcasting livefrom Morongo Casino resorting spot today and walking
in they were nominated as well.They've got big banners up and everything very
cool. The voting ends tomorrow,so I sure would hope that you'd go
ahead and do that as soon asyou get a chance. And I thank
you kindly. Talking about fast foodand the battle that goes on, it's

(21:53):
not just the battle for getting staffing, coming up with the best foods,
trying to do it in an efficientway, cost a friendly and time friendly
way. That's what fast food is. And this is another one. Now,
this one seems like a no brainer. And I have this weird recollection

(22:15):
that they had tried or have donethis before. This comes out of Panda
Express. They're testing a chicken sandwich. Of course everybody is, but hear
me out on this one. It'stheir orange chicken in sandwich form. So
it's made, I know, right, made with crispy chicken, glazed with

(22:37):
their orange sauce, topped with picklesand sarachaoli on a Potato Bot. Now
it's not everywhere right now they aredoing this, they're testing it out.
This particular orange chicken sandwich at Pandaexpresses in at five LA and OC locations,

(22:57):
so finding them will be the key. Let's see fourteen four eight zero
Merced Avenue in Baldwin Park, eighteighty five ten Firestone Boulevard in Downey,
fifteen five to eight Whittier Boulevard Bin Whittier, Ros, Whittier. WHOA

(23:22):
two five two seven six Marguerite Parkwaynumber one O four in Mission Va Ho.
And lastly two seven sixty seven zeroB Santa Margarita Parkway in Mission Via
Ho. So if you're curious,I am curious. I will have to
probably go out Mount Downey, Downeyor Baldwin Park. It's probably where I

(23:51):
will have to go to check thatout. But man, it does look
and sound delicious. The combination ofthat sweet say read a little bit of
heat on there, I think isgoing to pack a nice solid wallop.
But chicken sandwiches are here to stay. Tried a new one. Wendy's has

(24:11):
a new one of the Ghost Chili, and I gotta tell you I had
the burger they have it both inburger form and in a chicken sandwich.
And I was told that the burgerwas more mild than the chicken, and
I thought personally that it had tickedto it. So if I'm being told

(24:33):
that's the mild one, I thoughtit had heat. And a couple of
the folks at the station tried it. My buddy Oscar, former producer Oscar
of this very show. He andI were talking afterwards. He took one
home, and listen, we're bothMexican. I'm a half breed, he's

(24:56):
full. So I'm a little sensitivewhen my nose starts to run when I
have something hot. But he comesback the next day and he goes,
yeah, it was hot, soI don't feel bad. I ate all
but two bites because it was theheat was building for me. But man,

(25:19):
was it delicious. So if youlike the heat, I highly recommend
it because the flavors were great.It wasn't just heat for heat sake.
But they don't have fries now withit. They have a chicken sandwich.
So if you're on your way tolooking for a spicy chicken sandwich, I'm
gonna recommend giving it a shot.At Wendy's with this new ghost pepper.

(25:45):
The sauce I loved on it.It also has like crunchy onions on it
on top and just the flavors,the textures, everything were really really well
done and it was a delight.But for me, I had to do
it with a backup Frosty. Hadto have the Frosty at my side just
in case I don't want to burnanything. All right, stick around.

(26:11):
We got more to come, asa matter of fact, coming up the
festival, the Strawberry Festival in GardenGrove is going on next weekend and we're
going to interview some folks to tellyou about it. So go nowhere as
we're broadcasting live from Morongo Casino Resortand Spa here in Kabazon and much much
more to come. It is KFIand KOSTHD two Los Angeles, Orange County.

(26:37):
You've been listening to the Fok Report, you can always hear us live
on KFI AM six forty two tofive pm on Saturday and anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio APPUM