Santa Monica Pizza – Paris, France

santa monica sign

At the web site listed below you will find the information to the first sign I saw upon exiting the Métro at Place des Fêtes . Having left Santa Monica, CA 15 hours earlier you can imagine the surprise this sign caught me by. I laughed and knew I must go check it out.

After traveling for 15 hours I was ready to drop my bags off, eat and wander around Paris. The Santa Monica pizzeria was closed so I didn’t get to eat there until the second night of my stay and found Ismail and the staff to be friendly and hospitable. I went back as much as I could while in Paris. Merci Santa Monica Grill.

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 Cabernet Sauvignon

ravens wood

Going to a party and can’t decide how much to spend and not trying to buy some junk wine that was a waste of money? Nobody wants to hear the voice of ridicule as party goers make their statements regarding your choice of wine. Well there is a wine to add to the buy list that won’t get you ridiculed. It’s reasonably priced and decent tasting. The Ravenswood line of wines are alright. Try some.

MALBEC Review – Espuela del Gaucho Reserve 2012

peter pearce photo
peter pearce photo

This tasty limited edition Malbec was also grown and bottled in the Mendoza region of Argentina and is imported by WX Imports, Novato, CA

Do Not Confuse with the 2011 which wasn’t good.

          www.espueladelgaucho.com

This is another fine Malbec that is now on my Top 5 Malbec list. Not as good as my favorite, Bodega de ELENA, but gets close. This winning wine is a 2012, so maybe could use a year to age, but is a very good selection.

The Espuela del Gaucho has unique, slow running, heavy legs. It carries a lighter body, that lands gently on the tongue, joyfully leaving hints of mixed berries grown in the fresh Andes air and then drifts away.

This is another quality Malbec from Argentina, that any California cab or Merlot drinker will enjoy for under $12.

Celebrity Kitchen LA – Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin

Celebrity Kitchen 3

Imagine that table filled with platters of various appetizers, while us guests sip sangria served up by kitchen mermaid Rachael Ray and enjoy the smells of BBQing meats by another of my favorite grillers wafting in from outside through the open french doors to the patio.

In the meantime, the musical entertainment plays and we wait for the Dude of Food to throw the fresh coconut crusted cod in the pans heating up on the grill of this kitchen in the home of some fabulous people for all to enjoy

Champion Breakfast Sandwich

good start

Roast Beef with Tomato, Egg and Cheese is tasty.

  • Toast some bread or a bagel 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.

This is a delicious and easy way to get a good start to your day.

Dude of Food 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.

porto

It 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.

Homemade Tomato Soup is good.

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.

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. it is time to explore this fun and delicious recipe.

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 “treky” 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.

Marinated Fish for Grilling

marinated fish

SIMPLY AWESOME TASTING !”

Halibut, Chilean sea bass or shrimp work well. In this photo you see thick fresh halibut fillets and fresh sea bass fillets all after having been soaked overnight in a delicious marinade I found at a local market in Santa Monica.

The marinade is an island blend sauce that was perfect. I then topped the mix with a pineapple ring, covered and let sit in the fridge. The ingredients pictured in the pan were thrown on a grill for a few minutes at a local architectural firm for Friday lunch, served with potato salad, grilled shrimp, grilled salmon with a rosemary lemon sauce and a side of mixed fruit chutney and it was simply delicious.

Buddhist Delight Stir Fry

stir fry

Easy. Quick. Delicious.

Take the bok choy, grape tomatoes, broccoli, green or white onion and other desired veggies from the fridge, wash and dice to desired size. I like the bok choy whole so I don’t bother chopping it or the tomatoes, but please  yourself.

Put some olive oil in a pan with some soy or teriyaki sauce over medium heat.

Add veggies and cover, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and promote even heating. Cook for 10- 15 minutes depending on heat level.

When it looks ready to eat, scoop a heap on a plate over some warm rice and serve. For a lovely extra flavor, stir in drained pineapple chunks to the pan about 5 minutes before removing from heat.

Sit. Eat. Enjoy. Be happy.

Plantain Dessert

Rum plantain glazed dessert.
Rum plantain glazed dessert.

Yum, I visualized this and made it happen.

Scoop out a pineapple and fill it half with vanilla ice cream. Install pineapple chunks, berries, melon and put in freezer.

Pan fry some molasses, smokey rum and touch of pineapple juice with some plantains. When the plantains look like they are getting soft, pull the pineapple from the freezer. In a couple minutes, when the plantains are fully done, pour the mix over the top of the fruit and ice cream stuffed pineapple and get ready to watch some TV.