delicious – THE DUDE OF FOOD

“Create tapas and you create joy!” the Dude of Food

This form of eating called Tapas can be traced back many moons to when bar owners used salty meat strips to cover drinks and keep the flies from swimming. The salty meats promoted thirst amongst the patrons and drink sales thrived. Soon the drink covers became other salty creative snacks and a bar culture of food was born. Spain gets most of the credit for this type of nourishment as many of the ingredients used in creating these food gems are found abundantly in their region.

This salty sales theory is why in the 70’s and early 80’s many bar owners in the US offered free peanuts to bar patrons. Peanuts were cheap and salty and the President (Jimmy Carter) was a peanut farmer. Jimmy’s brother Billy was a famous beer drinker. See how these things go together. The cool thing was back then that many places just let you throw the empty peanut shells on the floor like at a hockey game.

The Dude of Food was really impressed in Donostia/San Sabastian. While visiting this beautiful Basque place many great items were discovered. I stumbled upon a place named Bar Desy that invited me to try tons of great foods including an extensive tapas menu. I went back to Bar Desy a lot, sometimes 3 times a day, for the next week. The staff was great and I even met the owners father.

The top photo is one I took after I created a few tapas for my Brazilian girlfriend to enjoy while listening to some Samba and sipping on wine. We would look deep into each others eyes and share moments that made the world outside go quiet. Love was in the air. I digress.

Anyways as stated, the Dude of Food created the above pictured tapas. On the various breads are oil, cheese, meats, tomato sauce, veggies, sardines, salt and herbs. Tapas are fun to make, great to share and super enjoyable to eat.

Below was my first pass by the home made tapas table.

Enjoy some tapas soon.

“Egg, chicken and potato salad is a delicious ‘super food’.” the Dude of Food

Body builders, fighters, athletes, nutritionists, historians, archivists and intelligent eaters everywhere all agree that eggs and chicken are good sources of protein and carbs are good for a body in motion. They too would agree upon the fact that vegetables are good for folks. So when I mixed eggs, chicken, potatoes, celery and onions together, in theory, I made super food, no? The recipe ingredients follow at the end of article.

I started by peeling, cubing and boiling 3 potatoes in salted water. I use and love my Oneida knife. I’m not endorsed by them but this knife and I have grown together in the kitchen and we both try to look good while staying sharp.

You can add steamed peas to the mix if you like. If so now is the time to retrieve them from the freezer and steam a cup full of them. Once steamed, cover and let sit.

Now is the time to chop the vegetables, onions and celery, while the potatoes are warming up. I like to leave the onion a little chunkier and dice the celery up pretty small as you can see in the photo.

Peel and chop up the hard boiled eggs.

Remove the meat from the precooked chicken thighs.

Once the potatoes are cooked you need to drain them and return them to the hot pan. Add the chopped onions, celery, eggs and chicken to the warm potatoes. If you are adding peas add them now too. Stir in the mayo, mustard, vinegar, relish and spices. No need to stir hard or use mixer as the potatoes are soft and will become mashed if you mix vigorously. It’s not bad, as some may prefer the texture, but personally I like the potatoes to maintain some cube shape. The taste is the same.

Once mixed you can enjoy warm with crackers or cool in fridge and enjoy in lettuce bowls later or between toasted sourdough slices in the morning with a slice of cheese. It’s a bit like tapas and goes great with wine, anti pasta salads, appetizer trays and sunsets.

Now getting back to the nutritional status of being called a ‘super food’. I think it certainly qualifies for the title as it tastes ‘super’. The Dude of Food fully approves and recommends trying this. This new super food group deserves all 5+ Golden Fork Awards if any are to be given.

3 large gold potatoes
4 hard boiled eggs
4 chicken cooked thighs
3 chopped celery sticks
2 chopped green onion stalks
1/4 chopped white onion
3 spoon fulls of mayonnaise
3 circle squirt of yellow mustard
1 spoon full of dill relish
2 cap fulls apple cider vinegar
Add salt, pepper, paprika to your taste.

Additional options could include but certainly not limited to: avocado, peas, sour cream, ranch dressing or raisins. If you add grapes then we probably aren’t friends.

Northern Costa Ricas ‘Hot Grill’ – Sal & Fuego

Recently I spent a few days in Playas del Coco in northern Costa Rica before entering Nicaragua. I found a room named ‘Casa Maria and Mario’ and was happy I stayed there. Maria couldn’t have been a nicer lady and made sure I was comfortable there. Another discovery was an excellent restaurant called Sal & Fuego.

The town offers a number places to eat on the main street but what I discovered by walking up one of the side streets was a real find. Most folks are on the main strip so it gets quieter when you leave the main drag which was the case of this well put together restaurant I discovered. The sign in front read Sal & Fuego and the master chef, Arturo, and his helper, Sebastian, were warmly greeting guests, serving drinks and proudly displaying their tomahawk steaks.

Arturo is a native that learned BBQ techniques in a place known for great beef and meat cooking skills, Argentina, where he became an expert in South American meat cuts. He is now a youthful 50 years old, an awesome chef and great host of a fine restaurant located a short walk from the beach.
Both Arturo and Sebastian will make you feel right at home and ensure that you have everything you need.

If you find yourself in Playas del Coco and are looking for an excellent dinner with a group of friends then you will need to wander up one of the side streets in Playas del Coco to discover the best steakhouse around, Sal & Fuego.

Gracias Arturo y Sebastian. Pura Vida.

Find them on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/people/Steak-House-Sal-y-Fuego-la-Aut%C3%A9ntica-Parrilla/100083568422156/

or on Instagram @salyfuegocr

Pasta, Angels, Family & the Dude of Food.

Cooking With Grandma Gina

The Dude of Food grew up an only child with a working mom who disliked cooking. Her 3 motto’s in life to me were:

‘where there’s smoke, there’s dinner’
‘you can never be too rich or too thin’
‘go play on the freeway’

The refrigerator to me was something to go look in at someone else’s house. That is how I learned about food, by looking in other peoples fridges and lunch boxes to see what they ate like. It took me years to get over just casually opening and looking inside of someones fridge.

On special Saturday mornings as a kid I used to make a can of Spaghettios or Franco American Macaroni with cheese sauce as a treat.

One of the places I would wander over to visit was the house of the Italian family down the street. They had 3 older girls and a boy my age and they always had food. Their kitchen was the best. Something was always out on the table or on the stove top, warmed and ready to be eaten. Homemade pastas, sauces, pizzas, rapini and as we got older everything with onions in it so our lungs would stay healthier. This Italian mother even made liver taste good with thin slices and loads of onions.

When we would go back east to visit their Italian relatives I would be blown away that every Italian kitchen was the same, warm and full of food. We couldn’t go anywhere without eating a plate of food and sipping some homemade wine. By the third or fourth visit you’d be pretty full but the hosts would get offended if you didn’t eat their food and thought you liked the other family better so you had to eat, drink and be merry. It was great.

When I went to visit the youthful home of my buddies father in Italy I was blown away at the genuine love, hospitality and meals shared with me.

This love of family and food has never left me and recently I began preparing homemade pasta noodles after a lesson from my friends father’s sister, Aunt Mary, whom I’ve known since I was in 5th grade. I’m now 56 years old. In researching how to make a better noodle I was directed to Youtube and discovered the next best thing since beer was created. The name of this Angel is Grandma Gina Petitti. She has a food channel that you must see.

Grandma Gina is precious and I instantly fell in love with her. She speaks just like everyone in my buddies family and reminds me of the best of my childhood. If you are still reading this then you must go to visit Gina https://www.youtube.com/c/BuonAPetitti/videos and see for yourself.

Learn to make noodles, ravioli or whatever else you might be interested in preparing but be ready to get sucked in. You will learn to cook and have your heart warmed at the same time.

You can also purchase Gina’s cookbook online as well. It’s titled, ‘Cooking With Grandma Gina’.

Grazie Nonna Gina. May God continue to bless you.

According to Buzzfeed Pasta Facts, https://www.buzzfeed.com/jesseszewczyk/pasta-facts ,
the average Italian eats 60 pounds of pasta a year while Americans average eating just 26 pounds per year.

October 25 – World Pasta Day
January 4 – National Spaghetti Day

“Now I’ma gunna maykeh a pasta carbonarra.” the Dude of Food.

Discover Roasted Almond Snacks

M & W Gourmet Foods – Oxnard, CA

M & W Gourmet Foods of Oxnard, CA was begun in 2006 at 3 Farmers Markets with the desire to create “a healthy snack alternative.” Over the last 16 years these snack makers have grown into a really good thing keeping many people happily snacked up.

The Dude of Food discovered these tasty snack treats while being on set and finding his way to the craft service table. These roasted almond filled snack bags are a great replacement to donuts and potato chips. Over time more and more flavors became available with 11 roasted almond flavors currently available at their web page (https://www.mwgourmetfoods.com) including many creative tasty flavors. Some of the Dude of Foods favorites include Coconut Macaroon, Honey Cinnamon and Cappuccino.

For more information you can visit https://www.mwgourmetfoods.com or call 661.305-3515. They can also be found on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mwgourmetfoods and on Instagram, @mwgourmet

Thank you M & W Gourmet Foods.
Enjoy.

The Dude of Food

La Tur cheese will mooove you, baaaaa.

This blend of cow, sheep and goat milk from Italy made by the fine folks at Caseificio Dell’Alta Langa is absolutely delicious. Soft enough to spread on crackers and easily melts into hot pasta. The flavor in this cheese is rich enough for cheese experts and lively enough to wake up a boring appetizer party.

The Dude of Food melted a good chunk of this cheese into some hot noodles the other day and was stoked I did. I can see myself craving this in the near future.

Thank you Caseificio Dell’Alta Langa for your La Tur cheese. It is delicioso.

Paella search Barcelona? See the Cheriff.

When the Dude of Food was wandering around the streets of Barcelona asking folks where he could find the best paella in the city there was 1 name that kept popping up. Located on a corner in the easily accessible Barcelonetta district, it’s easy to find this restaurant named Cheriff.

Cheriff opens for dinner at 8p and there were 3 parties waiting to come in when the doors opened. The Dude began with a bottle of local dry white wine and a salad.

Both were satisfying. Then when it came time to order I had a last minute change of mind and instead of ordering the normal seafood paella I decided to try the black ink squid paella.

The choice turned out to be a good one and the black ink paella with fresh squeezed lemon was delicious.

The Cheriff is a family run place, where mama is running the kitchen and papa is managing the finances. They are great and make awesome food.

The Dude of Food thinks when in Barcelona you need to go here!

“Wait until they discover Il Barroccio.” the Dude of Food.

It’s true what they say about Il Barroccio on Trip Advisor and elsewhere on the internet. It is just a matter of time before folks will discover and be flocking to Il Barroccio . It is located just around the corner from a huge crowded and overpriced plaza and is an easily found hidden gem.

The Dude of Food tried ‘the homemade noodles wrestling with soft chucks of wild boar in the seriously delicious sauce, please.’

It looked unbelievable and truly tasted better as it made it’s way over my taste buds followed by a bath of decadent Tuscan red wine.

Giovanni and Roberto are top notch and Il Barroccio offers food to match.

Volterra. Historically fine dining – Restaurante Enoteca del Duca

Restaurante Enoteca del Duca Volterra, Italy

Opening just in time for 7 hungry tourists walking in to enjoy lunch, we were led to the back patio garden to enjoy a warm spring day. After some refreshing wine the group chose a number of various items as seen above. All were incredible. If you are unsure which place to eat while visiting Volterra, Italy then decide to eat at Restaurante Enoteca del Duca. Luckily, The Dude of Food and friends chose to go in and it was one of the best decisions ever!

Aldo Restaurante – Vatican City, Italia

The first place to eat the Dude of Food came across after exiting the Vatican City museum is this sidewalk cafe called ALDO. After much walking, I was ready to sit down and have some nutritious authentic Italian lunch and the Aldo Restaurant provided it for me. The thoughtful staff, cool service and really good food left me feeling blessed and content and the meal was very reasonably priced. “I would eat here all the time, if I was the Pope” exclaimed the Dude of Food.