Hawkstone Cabernet Sauvignon

 Hawkstone of Napa Valley

Barney’s Heritage Cuvee

2012

Limited release of 5491 cases

While sipping this wine, the Dude of Food felt like he had obtained a bargain. This bottle radiates heritage. From the moment you handle the bottle time slows down a little and you begin to feel the serenity of this creation. This is no fast lane wine. This wine exudes the tranquility, longevity and educated qualities of a chateau in the countryside owned by a university scholar/author. The flavors do not jump out of the glass as a sophisticated lady would not sit with her legs open. The characteristics of this wine are more subdued. They have a sense of time and are  not in a hurry to get to the end. The delicate balance of depth in fruitiness, richness of earth tones and uniqueness of flavor are well balanced and make this an enjoyable bottle of wine at a reasonable price if you can find it.

hawkstone

The Dude of Food likes Company 77 Fire Truck Pizza

What could be better than great homemade pizza delivered on a fire truck that has beer on tap?   This place has a good thing going.

The Dude of Food had this truck come to our christmas party last year and it was well worth it.  If you live in the southern california area then you need to experience this.

The staff is super cool. The truck is fun and has a photo booth and beer taps.  The pizza is hand crafted, refined and excellent.    This is the best food truck!

contact them at

 http://www.company77.com

yummy_pizza_8_original

water_5_original

Santa Monica Pizza – Paris, France

santa monica sign

At the web site listed below you may find the information to the first sign I saw upon arriving in the Paris underground metro. Exiting the Métro at Place des Fêtes and having just left Santa Monica you can imagine the surprise this sign caught me by. I laughed and knew I must go check it out.

After traveling for 14 hours I was ready to drop my bags off, eat and wander around Paris. The pizzeria was closed so I didn’t eat there until the second night of my stay and found Ismail and the staff to be friendly and hospitable. Thank you.

check them out at-

www.lafourchette.com/restaurant/santa-monica/22029

      or if in Paris –  15 Rue Henri Ribiere   75019 Paris

santa monica france

3 amigos pizza

 

RAVENSWOOD California wine

Going to a party and can’t decide how much to spend and not buy some junk wine that was a waste of money and made you the indirect voice of ridicule as the tasters made their statements regarding your choice? Well there is another wine to add to the list. Reasonably priced, decent tasting. The Ravenwood line is alright.ravens wood

 

Champion Breakfast Sandwich

good startRoast Beef with Tomato, Egg and Cheese

Toast some bread in the toaster. While it’s toasting heat up a pan for some sliced roast beef. When the toast pops, spread mayo on the bread and add some sliced cheese on one side and some sliced tomato on the other. When the pan gets warmed up, put some sliced roast beef in it and heat it for a minute then flip it and heat the other side for a minute. When the roast beef is warmed up stack it on top of the cheese that’s on the bread. Then while the pan is still hot cook a scrambled egg in it and put the egg on the sandwich too. It is delicious, easy to make and gives you a great start to the day.

Port Wine Recommendation

The dude of food has obtained a bottle of 10 year old tawny port from Trader Joe’s. The producer is Quarles Harris, established 1680, in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. This beauty of a port wine was roughly $12. but tastes like a fine, expensive bottle. This port boasts a light and fruity but not too sweet flavor that follows through nicely.

portoIt is a great after dinner sipper and also goes great with chocolate. Let out your inner man and WOW your lady tonight with this fine selection.

The Dude now has trucks.

hot truck and kitchen
hot truck and kitchen
small kitchen
small kitchen

Hello foodies and everyone else. The Dude of Food has become friends with some of the west sides best rolling mexican fleet. The owners actually have a market where the produce comes from and where the tamales are hand made. Whether you are having a tailgate party, gallery opening, second meal or need food for a late night club event, we can provide awesome options for you to satisfy your guests desires. We are now looking for routes so if you need breakfast, snacks or meals, punch in with the Dude and let’s eat and be happy together.   (note: there is a larger, state of the art truck also available but not pictured)

Tomato Soup

tomatoe soup Delicious winter favorite.

This is the kind of thing that I found

really made me feel like a kitchen artist.

In the summertime some friends and I

had some ambitious plans to make an

urban garden and planted some tomato

plants. Well we thought we had green

thumbs as the plants yielded an abundant

supply of lovely red ornaments. We had so

much harvest that we began to put

tomatoes into plastic bags and freeze them. Well when winter came I pulled the bags of tomatoes out of the freezer and let them thaw.

As they began to thaw from the outside the skin became easy to peel off and the frozen remnants went into a large cooking vessel. After

the smoke cleared there was a delicious brew of home made tomato soup. This was the kind of thick and zesty home made tomato soup

that warms your bones after a good winter surf and leaves you with that cozy feeling.

Serve with crackers.

update-7/27

Thank you faithful eaters and readers. since it is that time of year when all of the urban gardens around town are exploding with

tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, corn, broccoli, squash, etc. the tomato soup referred to in the original post was in need of an update.

Using fresh grown produce is satisfying and makes the gardening experience come full circle. The flavors are robust and the freshness

is unbeatable even by your local farmers market. Also the nutrition factor is at a premium when your food is vine ripened at home.

Another cool thing i learned about the tomato soup was freezing the tomatoes and then peeling them easily as they thawed. Great time

saving trick.

I never really was a “trekky” but as i sit in the kitchen with my beer in one hand and the spatchula in the other and tell stories

of fighting off spiders and pulling weeds with 4 inch roots with just my left hand while the aroma of cooking goodness permeates the

kitchen, i know the greatness captain kirk must have felt cruising his way through the galaxy.

live long and prosper,

dude out.