March 12, 2007 by d_vindiola.

We had dinner with some close friends and made some new ones, Seth, Tracy, Logan and Preseton, this weekend. Jon was in town for a little sailboat racing with Harbor Yacht Club so we organized a dinner to allow me to cook and to let all of us raid his wine cellar. Anna drove out from AZ, using our shortcut route Saturday AM, while the boys and I drove PB Woody around town to provision up. We hit the PB Farmers market and got some fresh Arugula and one of my favorite spring ingredients, fava beans. Then over to Seisel’s to have my man Frank hand select some great Beef Short ribs, a quick trip next door to the fish market left us with a few dollars less in our pocket but some fresh halibut steaks. A fast trip to the local “big grocery store” as Miles calls it and we were set to head home, eat lunch and start prepping. Dinner was the above dish, recipe on the recipe tab, plus second entree of Pan Seared Halibut over Garlic Wilted Arugula with a side dish of Pasta with Bay Scallops and Pesto from Preston and a incredible salad that contained sliced Carlsbad Strawberries from Chris. Dessert was a Chocolate Torte from Extraordinary Desserts and Amaretto Macerated Berries. 9 of us drank 14 bottles of wine (yes most slept there or DD it home).  Wow…I can’t wait to get this crew back together for another meal.

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March 9, 2007 by d_vindiola.

At a recent Vindiola’s Smokealicious BBQ catered lunch the following was heard from our local Iron Chef (like) judges:

“That BBQ is the best. It has very, very,… wait… very, very good flavor. ”

” I would have to say that my first tasting, of the non-sauced meats, was delightfully peppery and spunky.  I’d give it an A.  The sauce enhanced it and gave it a more robust flavor.  I give that an A+ (I’m just a sauce person). ”

” I thought it was excellent.  It’s been a while since I last enjoyed his cooking, so it’s a little hard to compare to that experience, but what I can say is that this one seemed to be my most favorite so far.  I thought the meat was cooked excellently; the meat was moist, thoroughly done (but not overdone in the slightest) and definitely enjoyable.”

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March 4, 2007 by d_vindiola.

Smokealicious BBQ is about more than just BBQ…its about beer too. Seems part of the team started homebrewing…an enamel pot led to a bottling system which led to the dual kegerator…what will these boys do next?

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