Malbec – SENSUAL 2012

Malbec - Sensual 2012

Produced & bottled by Valentin Bianchi, Mendoza, Argentina

Imported by Quintessential LLC, Napa

www.quintessentialwines.com

Reasonably priced, nicely painted and cheesily named, this Mendoza raised wine is the Malbec the Dude of Food used as my standard to compare the other wines.

Grapey, but not overly. OK. Not sweet. Kind of flat. Short tongue life. On the heavy side ala a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Seafood Guide and Watch.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium puts out a sustainable seafood watch guide booklet. It recommends to avoid the following due to overfishing or harmful conditions-

Cod Pacific (imported)
Cobia (imported farm raised)
Crab King (imported)
Grenader
Lobster (Brazilian)
Mahi Mahi (imported longline)
Monkfish
Pacific Snapper/Rockfish (trawled)
Shrimp (imported)
Tilapia (Asian farm raised)
Tuna (skipjack, tongol, canned)

It goes on to say minimize the following consumption due to mercury levels-

California Halibut
Caviar Sturgeon (wild imported)
Chilean Seabass
Dogfish (US)
Lingcod
Marlin (striped pacific blue)
Orange Roughy
Salmon (farm raised including Atlantic)
Sharks
Swordfish (US & imported)
Tuna (albacore, bigeye, bluefin, yellowfin)

Visit www.edf.org/seafoodhealth or www.seafoodwatch.org
for more information.

World’s best fried egg by Chef Alex

>border grill's own chef alex creates a dude food favorite   All I know is that this thing is amazing.

If you like eggs, then you’ll love this.

Chef Alex, from Border Grill Santa Monica, creates a daily special that he tweets and this happened to be one that the Dude of Food will never forget. This egg dish has been raved about to all my friends in the neighborhood. The shell is pancake batter.

 

 

Border Grill weekend brunch awesomeness.

If you like to be refreshed with a delicious fresh squeezed orange juice mimosa, then you need to get yourself over to the Border Grill in Santa Monica one of these weekends. Bartender Geronimo will keep an eye on your glass so you can concentrate on what awesome dish to order next.

Once you get your whistle wetted, it’s time to settle into an entree section with some incredible dishes to choose from. Chef Alex prepares these dishes with a full spectrum of forethought and care. The meats are naturally raised. All of the produce is organically grown on local farms.

The shrimp grits were pretty good and a great way to begin. The shrimps were big and they had a cajun taste to them that reminded me of Drew Brees and the Saints. The Yucatan eggs benedict stoked my taste buds pretty hard. The flaky crusted bisquit was light and perfect.

The next thing I had was another mimosa,  and the steak and eggs. This experience was cool.

It seemed I just couldn’t go wrong.

The beef came and reminded of that delicious skirt steak from the Brazilian steak house. It was tender and tasty with a perfectly cooked egg on it.

I was loving it.

Geronimo brought me another mimosa and chef Alex made some machaca chilaquiles for me. I was having a really good time just hanging out and enjoying really delicious food. The chilaquiles and mimosa came and my day just kept getting better. The tender chunks of beef were in a tasty sauce with guacamole, light eggs and pico de gallo. Delicious.

The next thing I tried were the Oaxacan pancakes. These were super yummy. They were light and had Mexican chocolate chips and coffee caramel syrup with whipped cream on them. Like I said, they were really good.

The staff at the Border Grill is amazing. I have tried both the downtown and Santa Monica spots and have found everyone to be really friendly and knowledgeable.  This proved true again and my crush on the Border Grill became stronger.

The next item i tried was the peanut butter & jelly with bacon, egg and jalapeno sandwich. It was not my favorite thing, but I have to say it was pretty good.  Standing on it’s own it was good, but the other dishes were just so tasty that they all couldn’t be the best.

Chef Alex came out and introduced himself and was another really nice person from the Border Grill tribe.

He was real cool, knowledgeable and hospitable. He let me in on a secret and made me the daily special ‘special’ which was a pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon with an egg. Again my taste buds danced and my good time continued.

The level of awareness is respectable. These folks have earned their places and a lot of thought and preparation goes into this operation to ensure your good experience.

A friend of mine arrived and she tried some of the things i hadn’t so I tasted the bisquit and gravy and the bread pudding french toast. The french toast is another favorite.

This brunch happens in Santa Monica from 10am-3p and if you like food or mimosas, then the Dude highly recommends you give this a try.  If you don’t like this you’re still a caveman.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

Champion Breakfast Sandwich

good start

Roast Beef with Tomato, Egg and Cheese is tasty.

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.

Food freshness

Before your cabinets and fridge become mold incubators, take a minute to check things out.

The pantry             The  fridge                    The freezer

Dried black beans-1 year                             Open salsa- 1 month                                              Frozen broccoli- 9 months

Opened almonds- 1 month                          Open mayo-a month after the jar date                  Beef- 8 months

Open peanut butter- 3 months                    Meats- 3 to 5 days                                                 Fresh shrimp- 9 months

Unopened Mayonnaise- 1 year                    Open Italian dressing- 8 months                            Salmon-10 weeks

Open tortilla chips- 1 week                          Raw eggs in shell- 1 month                                    Homemade chili- 8 months

Milk- smell it or give it the coffee test           Strawberries- 10 months

Some hints to preserve your foods longevity.

1. Use tupperware or sealable bags to preserve your products, including bread and chips.

2. Keep your fridge chilly but not too cold. The lower temp will help keep food fresher by a couple days, plus who doesn’t love cold milk!

3. Do not overload the fridge with too much junk. An overstuffed fridge doesn’t function as well.

4. Use your nose and eyes. If food looks OK and doesn’t smell or have a weird sheen to it, it is most likely good.

5. If it smells odd, looks a bit off, is slimy, or seems like it would not be good, it probably isn’t. Error on the side of caution and throw it away.