The other day I saw calamari rings for sale and said to myself, “Dude of Food, you don’t see calamari rings at this market every day, especially on sale, so take a good look” and I did. The rings still were still vibrant, colorful and fresh looking. I had been wanting to make a red sauce anyways so I decided to buy myself some calamari rings to toss them in the sauce.
Once in the kitchen prepared something similar to a semi spicy Arribbiata sauce with chopped tomato, garlic, onion, chili flakes and the usual assortment of spice suspects. In a separate pan I fried the calamari rings in some olive oil and set them on top of the spaghetti and sauce I had prepared. There was no wine in this sauce. The dish was delicious and a photo is below.
So after this creation I went back to see how a dish like this was supposed to be prepared.
I read a couple of recipes and they recommended that I add a little sugar to my dish. Many folks do this to offset the tomato acidity but I never have and probably never will add any sugar to any of my sauces, coffee, tea or anything else I happen to be preparing, as I don’t have a sweet tooth and don’t like sugary things. The photos below are from other recipes I used to compare my mix to. Click on photo to link to their pages.
Other than that sugar difference, my recipe and process were pretty much on point. This is an easy to prepare dish that can be enjoyed by all. Go get in that kitchen and prepare a meal surprise for someone special.
Visit the Cadbury web address above and you’ll find the following statement; “From a grocery shop, to a factory, to the Cadbury we know today. This is the story of a father and two sons and how their generosity inspired generations to come. They poured a ‘glass and a half’ into their Dairy Milk and into their workers and communities too. At Cadbury, people always have been and will be at the heart of everything we do.”
Quaker John Cadbury was first apprenticed to a tea dealer in Leeds in 1818. In 1824, John opened a grocery shop at 93 Bull Street, Birmingham, England. He sold tea, coffee, hops and mustard along with cocoa and drinking chocolate. John prepared the drinking chocolate himself by using a mortar and pestle and crushing the cocoa. The treat became quite popular and eventually John decided to start commercial manufacturing. He opened a warehouse on Crooked Lane in 1831 where he started his drinking chocolate operations with the help of his 2 sons, Richard and George. By 1842, the Cadbury’s were selling 16 varieties of drinking chocolate and 11 varieties of cocoa. In 1850, John’s oldest son, Richard and his brother George were learning to handle operations and 11 years later John Cadbury retired from the business and Richard and George took over.
George heard about a Dutch chocolate maker, Coenraad van Houten, who had devised a method of extracting most of the fat from cocoa, which made it a more appealing drink. George went to Holland to see Van Houten and returned with a cocoa fat removal machine which proved successful. By using the cocoa press, Richard and George found they were able to make their cocoa 100% pure. They focused on making totally pure cocoa and in 1866 the Cadbury’s launched their “Absolutely Pure Therefore Best” cocoa product. This product line enabled the Cadbury’s to grow their company into a successful enterprise with a reputation for quality products and for treating its employees well.
Cocoa ad
George had big ideas. He asked, ‘Why should an industrial area be squalid and depressing? If the country is a good place to live in, then why not work in it?’. George wanted to build a place full of green spaces, where Cadbury workers could leave the crowded, dirty city behind and enjoy a better quality of life. He began to draw up plans for his new country factory with Birmingham architect George H. Gadd.
In 1878, Cadbury acquired 14.5 acres of open land, four miles (6 km) south-west of Birmingham. In January 1879, Cadbury, his architect and their construction team building began the factory, along with the first 16 houses for some of his 200 plus employees. September 1879, 230 workers by train to begin their lives in the new town and facility. The name of this new town would be Bournville. This new country live/work concept was a significant upgrade from the poor living conditions of the urban environment. In Bournville, families had houses and could enjoy yards, gardens, parks, schools, medical care and fresh air. Children enjoyed new playgrounds, country outings and summer camps. The men played football, hockey and cricket in the open park spaces. Tennis and squash courts were built, along with a bowling green and swimming pools with heated changing rooms an kitchens for heating up food. All employees were encouraged to become good swimmers. There were no pubs and no alcohol was sold in Bournville and none is sold there still to this day.
Old Bournville street photo
For workers to have facilities and a home life like this was unheard of in Victorian times. Cadbury became one of the first firms to introduce a 1/2 day of work Saturday. “People told us it would mean ruin, but I don’t think any men could have been happier.” said George. By 1899 the company had 2,600 employees and was incorporated as a limited company on June 16, 1899. Richard and George owned all of the ordinary shares in their business.
Bournville locals biking
By 1900 George Cadbury renounced his proprietorship of the estate and set up the Bournville Village Trust. There were 313 houses for various social classes. In 1902, 30% of Cadbury’s capital expenditure was spent on the welfare of its workers. By 1960 the Bournville Village Trust held 1,000 acres with 3,500 houses and to this date, the town still offers affordable housing. After Richard passed, George opened a works committee for each gender to discuss proposals for improving the company. He also pressed ahead with other ideas, like a deposit account and education facilities for every employee. The site also states, “We’ve come a long way in 200 years but one thing that will never change is the generous spirit we bring to everything we do. Another exciting opportunity came along in 2010, when we found a new home alongside the Kraft Foods family. Kraft created a new division in 2012, called ‘Mondelez International’ which we are still proud to be a part of today.”
John Cadbury – Aug 12, 1801 – May 11, 1889
Richard Barrow Cadbury – Aug 29, 1835 – March 22, 1899Geo. Cadbury Sr. – Sept 19, 1839 – Oct 24, 1922
Many lives have been touched by the sweet philanthropic gestures of the Cadbury family and to this day 10% of the company profits are still donated to charity.
The Dude of Food has noticed that America is particularly funny when it comes to regional foods. For example, many folks who grew up on the east coast do not like avocados. Folks from the north don’t really eat squirrel/ possum stew but might take a road killed deer home to eat. Similar peculiarities exist for some folks from the west as they don’t like lobster as much as folks from the east side of our nation. It could be due to abundance but who knows. I grew up near the beaches of Los Angeles and personally like avocados as well as lobster, crab, oysters, mussels and shrimps. I’ve wondered in the past why do I like all the crustaceans. I like fish too, but aren’t these bottom feeder animals sort of like the liver of the ocean that’s job is to clean up the mess? Also, I can honestly say that possum and squirrel are not items I’ve ever tried nor have sought to try. Slowly coming back from my digression, I’ll add that during the Covid19 timeout I learned to home brew beer. I had some practice time at home and eventually met the owner of the Lobster and Beer chain of restaurants, Mike, who had an available space and he was interested in brewing beer too. Mike let me practice in the empty space and I worked on making brew while I redid the interior design of the place. Six months later the building and my process were both more functional.
When the Covid19 lock down was over and restaurants were allowed to open back up our little neighborhood bar in Hawthorne surged with local business. People loved both the lobster and the crab rolls and many local folks spent time socializing at our little spot. I served the beers and a cook made the food. We were both kept busy as we also took online orders for a couple food delivery services. We would do nearly $2k in sales and generate decent tips in 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon with just 3 little sidewalk tables and maybe 8 bar stools.
It was during this time that I learned how to properly prepare these delicious sandwiches to the Lobster and Beer standard. I learned to portion the meats, make the aioli, chop, clean, stock, cook, box, answer the phone and serve as well as run the bar. It got hectic sometimes but it was always fun and I look back fondly to these times sharing with our customers, getting feedback on my beers and operating a fun environment. Thank you Mike and partner. (I forget his partners name but he was cool and taught me a lot.)
Recently I’ve had the craving for a lobster roll so I finally decided to make one and squash my cravings. Below is a photo of the one I made.
Home made Lobster Roll photo: p3
The preparation process is simple.
Procure Lobster and some form of roll from your favorite spot. Soft, split top New England style buns, Hawaiian bread or hot dog buns work well. I used a dinner roll. You’ll also need butter, mayo, chives, minced celery, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
Try adding minced tarragon, red onion or chopped green onion for some variety.
1lb lobster meat ¼ cup minced celery ¼ cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon minced chives 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon zest ¼ teaspoon salt 4 buns ¼ teaspoon ground pepper 4 approx tablespoons butter
PREPARATION:
Heat lobster in pan with butter. Don’t over cook.
Mix everything but the lobster and bread in a bowl.
Cut bread and place face down on hot buttered grill to lightly toast.
Mix warmed lobster in a bowl with some of the mixed ingredient sauce and load into grilled face bun.
The Dude of Food can’t remember where he crossed paths with the Herdez sauce representative but when he did he was given a few bottles to try by the agent. Since I had a couple bottles to play with I tried experimenting and discovered that this product is a great addition to my Croc Pot with a pork roast and some onions. After a few hours of slow cooking you’ll pull the top off the Croc Pot and discover you have a pretty amazingly concocted Chile Verde. When the Dude of Food tasted this product he realized that this little bottle of green sauce contained a kick.
The avocado hot sauce can simply be used as a dip for tortilla chips but is pleasantly spicy and might be too strong for some on its own. Splashing some hot sauce into freshly crushed avocados works well. Spooning some into a fondue or as a side dip next to a plate of chicken nachos or chicken fingers would also be good options.
Herdez did well when they came up with this product. If you click on the image or Herdez name you will be redirected to Amazon to where you can purchase your own.
The boss of a film crew I was working with gave the 7 member’s of our team thoughtful homemade gift bags for Christmas. One of the cool gifts in my bag included a bottle of Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Company Picante Sauce. When used in a dish I discovered this product was pleasantly surprising and complimented the dish nicely. The flavor was unique and delicious. The bottle information said the company and sauce were located near my mom. I asked mom if she was familiar with this brand of sauce and she said she knew the brand and told me the family was a well respected part of the local business community. It turns out the granddaughter of the founders of Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co and my mother had met her at an event somewhere in town in the past. My mom confirmed that the granddaughter was a very nice lady whose name is Jeanie England Neubauer. Jeanie is the granddaughter of an international business agent named Beck Kibbey. Jeanie has done a great job maintaining the business her parents and another couple began in 1943. Her family roots are deep and have ties with the towns of Nogales, Arizona and across the border in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Her family history is amazing and the Anaheim chili became their friend. Gene England, Jeanie’s grand-father, had developed methods to stew and grind chili’s to make paste. They also ground chili pods down into powder for seasoning. The folks at Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co still support the family traditions of the founders and have employees generations deep maintaining these traditions.
The online sales page will show you the various sauces offered. Other pages will show that these folks support some really cool causes. If you are near the Tucson area and headed to the Mexican border you can go visit the Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co gift store in person which is located a few minutes south of Tubac. The drive from Tucson is roughly 60 miles and if you love chili, then it’s well worth the trip.
This 2022 holiday season I introduced a couple of new items to my kitchen tool box which is important as we grow as chefs.
The paella pan is made by Garcima from Valencia, Spain and is a traditional polished steel paella pan that I plan to use to prepare risotto. The pan seems well made and carries a 2 year guarantee. I look forward to cooking with it.
The Dutch Oven is called Pure Intentions ‘Ecolution’ by Epoca Int’l in Florida. This pan is also stainless steel with a tempered glass top. This item has a Limited Lifetime Warranty and will be good for boiling stuff.
The wooden roller is an Everyday Living item distributed by Inter-American Products and was made in Taiwan. It has held up pretty well so far for helping to thin out homemade pasta for my noodle cutting machine. This item has a quality guarantee or receive a full refund. How can you go wrong?
Whatever your budget or skill level remember that joy comes from sharing and cooking is to be shared, so bring joy to the world and keep cooking. Happy holidays.
The famous beer author Pete Brown describes Lambic and Gueueze style beers, commonly called sour beers, in the following way – ‘Instead of adding laboratory-cultured yeasts to start the fermentation of sugar into alcohol, lambic brewers rely on the natural yeasts in the air around them.’ Pete would know. I love reading his books because he knows about beer.
Making beer this way was the way of fermenting your brew. Back in the early brewing day taste was partially dependent on what bacteria fell into your beer. That would start the fermentation process and affect the taste of your wort or alcohol stew. The luckiest brewers came up with something different and delicious.
Below are three brewers the Dude of Food recommends you should begin your sour beer journey by investigating first. Prost.
One of the latest things the Dude of Food has experienced is this food called Cauliflower Hot Wings. When my buddy said we were going to a vegan place to have a couple beers because they had a good selection, I felt my enthusiasm drop a bit. ‘I’m not a vegan’ I thought to myself. ‘This has the potential to really suck’ was the last thought that flowed through my head as we got out of the car.
Upon entering the room, Sage Plant Based Bistro in Echo Park, we saw the place was as full as any good happy hour spot should be and everyone seemed to be having a genuine good time. Not a bunch of folks looking around gauging how the cool people act, but real folks having real conversations. ‘This is starting out great’ my head whispered to itself.
My buddy and I found the last 2 seats at the bar and asked for a couple of IPA’s on tap. The beer choices were decent. Then we requested the Cauliflower Hot Wings. I wasn’t totally down with these by the way they sounded but after they arrived at the table and I tasted one, I was addicted. These things are delicious! The vinegar was strong and burned the senses just like they did in Buffalo at the old Garcia’s Bar or the original Anchor Bar (home of wings).
If you are trying to stick to your New Year’s resolution by eating better, than get yourself and some friends over to the Sage Plant Based Bistro in Silver Lake and enjoy something delicious.
If you love sushi then all you need to know is the above web address. This will lead you to a place called Hana Japanese Restaurant and the Best Sushi in California!! I had never heard of black throat mackerel and normally don’t like mackerel but this black throat mackerel is great. The blue fin tuna belly was so good I had seconds. Same with the black throat mackerel.
The special thing in a spoon was really good. It was all good. The chef is one of the best in the industry at his craft and has taught many other chefs. My bill was $100. for lunch and the Dude of Food could have easily gone bigger but my meal was awesome tasting and well worth the splurge.
If you are ever near Santa Rosa or in Rohnert Park, CA, go to this place and see for yourself what quality sushi is supposed to be like.
The first place to eat that 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. It was awesome to sit under the shadow of the Vatican and enjoy the grace of the Lord and be blessed with a deliciously preparred meal.
“I would eat here all the time, if I was the Pope” exclaimed the Dude of Food.
