Call Me Dr. Jones

This past weekend I was lucky enough to enjoy some great food but not so lucky enough to watch game 1 of the Boston/Orlando series or any other sports for that matter. It was just one of those weekends with Bay to Breakers taking up the majority of my time. So this entry is mostly foodie related but I will review the Conference Finals match-ups in my next post. Also, congrats to the Chicago Black Hawks for a nice victory in game 1 over the Sharks…let’s hope they can continue the solid play.

When I first moved to San Francisco I moved into a neighborhood called the Mission District with my brother Mike. One of our first suppers was at was a place called Ramblas Tapas Bar on Valencia street. Ramblas is authentic Spanish tapas that also have serve great cocktails. This place is also significant to me because I took my girl friend there for one of our first dates four years ago.

We found ourselves in the Mission neighborhood over the weekend and decided to dine in again after such a great experience, we had not been back since our first date. I am starting with the good news first:

We started with drinks at the bar while we waiting for our table to be ready. People who know me understand how much I enjoy a martini its the Lithuanian and Polish roots driving this cause, I was born to like the vodka. So I order a Grey Goose martini straight up with olives. The bartender made a great martini but the glass that it was served in made my evening. I am notoriously known for observing food/drinks in movie/TV shows and get excited when they cross my path in real life. Let me explain…..Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has one of the best introductions to a movie. When Dr. Jones drinks his martini out of the 1950’s martini glass that contains poison that was giving to him by Lao Che is priceless. When Ramblas served my martini in a similar glass on Saturday night I felt like Dr. Jones himself except whiteout the white suite. So this got me thinking, what are the best 10 food/drink moments in TV/movie history? Here are the rankings:


10.) Big Trouble in Little China Town-Egg Shen's secret potion that made Jack Burton “feel invincalbe”. Who would not try something that contains a six-demon bag?



9.) Honey I Shrunk The Kids-Yes this is a kids movie but how good did that huge cookie look?



8.) Demolition Man- 2 nice dishes to choose from: one being the high-end taco bell dish but more importantly the Rat Burger Stallone eats in the underground community.



7.) Ground Hog Day- Bill Murray enjoying life's favorites food without any consequences.


6.) Back to the Future 2- Who would not try a dehydrated pizza? I did also enjoy the fruit tree that came down from the ceiling.



5.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze- The turtles called it Ninja Pizza and I ate a lot of it.




4.) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom- I had to list 2 from this movie. First the martini glass I mentioned earlier, very classic and 2nd the "chilled monkey brains", after all is was served for desert.



3.) Big Lebowski- White Russian, nothing else to say.

2.) Cosby Show- I grew up watching the Cosby show and this is probably why I really enjoyed Hoagies with chips sprinkled in the sandwich so much. Plus, it was always greeted with orange drink or cola.



1.)Pulp Fiction- Big Kahuna burger and the thick shakes…Samuel Jackson really sells that burger and soda for that matter.

Did I miss anything? let me know.

Back to dinner
We had one of the following:
Salt Roasted Beets- I did not even like beets before I had this dish.
Niman Ranch Bavette Steak
Spanish Pasta-Best thing I had that night
Zuckerman Farms Grilled Asparagus
Garlic Shrimp
Onion Roasted Potatoes-Second favorite
Organic House-Made Flatbread

Ramblas does not disappoint but earlier I did mention there is bad news. Ramblas will be closing at the end of May, which is truly sad but I am happy I was able to dine their one more time. If your around the Mission area in the next few weeks get in before it's too late and ask for a martini straight up.

Boston Bakes Beans

All I keep hearing in my mind is the old NBC NBA theme song from the mid 90’s, please listen because this will get anyone pumped to watch or play some hoops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UooitEU6AtE

The hype leading up to Game 6 of the Cleveland Boston game was full of mixed emotions. It was all about Lebron’s future and how bad Cleveland sports have been for the past forever, forever ever... On the other hand Boston was sitting back getting ready to play, no distractions or looming free agency which is very important for a team trying to win a NBA championship. Tonight called for a sweet main course to go with the most exciting basketball game of the year.

This is one of my favorite dishes to make and one of the simplest too. This recipe only calls for a few ingredients and about 2-3hrs (I cook this in my crock-pot but if you don’t have the time you can bake in the oven at 375 for about 35 minutes).

2 pieces of boneless organic chicken (skinless)

28 oz can of baked beans (if you make your own beans even better)

12-15 cherry tomatoes cut in half

Fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Dash of paprika

2 cups of white rice

Clove of garlic

Start out by seasoning the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Place in crock-pot and cover chicken with fresh basil leaves, again use as much as one likes. Next chop your cherry tomatoes in half and place in crock-pot. Cover chicken with baked beans and add your bay leaf. Serve with white rice and enjoy this sweet yet savory dish.

Boston’s crowd arrived on time and was up to the challenge. Boston got off to a great start in Game 6, which can make or break a game. (Just look at Game 3 in Boston last week). This series was similar to the Bulls Pistons series of the late 80’s. Rick Mahorn said it best,

“We were just throwing stuff out there for (the media). It was just a joke. Chuck (Daly, Pistons coach) throws it out there that we had some secret plan to stop Jordan, and everybody just jumped on it. Everybody was writing stories about this strategy. When we kept reading about it, Isiah told us that we had gotten in their heads, and that's how we had them beat”.

Except Boston did not speak out, they actually said nothing. It was the pending free agency media circus for the services of Lebron James. It was the what if’s and negative sport moments that have happened to the city of Cleveland. I heard the horror stories about Cleveland all day from many different media outlets. The Sports Guy ran through them, before the game ESPN educated us, in the 3rd quarter announcer Mike Breen mentioned all the tragic events (even saying sorry up front kinda like I hate to do this but) and the post game reports where know different. Maybe this is why Cleveland did not look as focused?

Boston beat them the same way they did all series with team basketball. Rondo ran the offense at Boston’s pace and controlled the game. Mo Williams had a nice first half but choose to disappeared in the second half. Antwan was flat out terrible, as Barkley would say, the whole series. To defend Antwan on the offensive end; Cleveland does not run plays for him, no pick and rolls just one-on-one shots. I think Mike Brown will get fired, actually he has to get fired. How can he come back after not making the finals two years in a row after being the number 1 team during the regular season. Brown lost confidence in players and the team showed it. Hickson was a non-factor, which made no sense to me why he did not play. Cleveland needed to be more athletic in this series because Boston is hardly athletic. Cleveland should have run more because Boston does not want any part of that. I said this to many of my friends last summer when the Cavs traded for Shaq that it was the wrong move to make. He is too slow, clogs the paint and plays no defense. What difference did he really make? Have we seen the last of Shaq? Big Z?

I think KG’s quotes after the game where really interesting. He spoke about Lebron's future and loyalty. Saying,

“Loyalty is something that hurts you at times because you can't get youth back. I can honestly say that if I can go back and do my situation over, knowing what I know now with this organization, I'd of done it a little sooner”.

After all, the NBA is a business as so many players say, so why should Lebron not look around for the best situation possible for him and his family? He is trying to build his own legacy so why not go where he thinks he has the best chance of making his dreams come true. If another company recruited you to go and work for them that had a better place to live, co-workers, and more of an opportunity to have career advancement, would you go? Most people would not think twice even if you had to relocate. After all you’re only young once? Only 49 days to go. If I am a Cleveland fan I would send Lebron something else to listen to then Jay-Z right now.

I got a million ways to get it
Choose one (choose one)
Hey, bring it back (bring it back)
Now double your money and make a stack

I’m on to the next one
On to the next one
On to the next one
On to the next one
On to the next one
On to the next one
On to the next one

Game 5’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

Prep Work:

I was looking for a little comfort food to cook up as I was driving to see my butcher Baron last night. I wanted to make something that was easy and not keep me in the kitchen since game 5 of the Cleveland/Celtics is on early ( I live in Cali), the Black hawks where trying to close out their series against the Canucks and the White Sox needed to get off to a good start against the Hot Twins. Sometimes comfort food is the only way to get through these difficult match-ups so if you understand where I am coming from here is the recipe that serves 2 but you will have leftovers.

1 lb organic ground beef

1 lb organic ground pork

Fresh basil

Couple squirts of Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

Sprinkle some bread crumbs

Salt & pepper to taste

Garlic

I used dry Oregano, fresh would be best.

(Just an FYI, I did use certain amounts of ingredients for this recipe. I did everything to taste. If you like a lot of garlic, add a lot of garlic, etc…)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and make as many meatballs as you can make. Heat a pan with olive oil and cook meatballs until each side is brown. On the side start boiling water and add spaghetti but only cook for about 5 minutes. Drain water and add meatballs and sauce together to cook for another 15-20 minutes. Next to my butcher is a wonderful bakery that makes French baguettes that are made fresh around 4pm daily, perfect for this dish.

Digestion:

Game 5 did not look like anything anyone would have predicted. Boston played like a team. Let me say that again, Boston played like a team, which is very entertaining to watch mind you. Rondo runs this team almost better than my NBA 2k10 character, (avatar name uttermostcomma, Xbox 360 find me). Rondo was setting up Ray Ray for almost every single one of his threes (6-9 shooting). Rondo knows how to find people in rhyme which is so important, tonight he found Ray Ray and he did not miss much. They ran plays for KG who Antwan clearly cannot guard one-on-one. KG cleared space and shot over him. When KG makes his 12-15 footers and is active Boston looks so much more relaxed. A lot of people have started to doubt him in the press which is true to some degree. He is not the same KG of old but he does not need to dominate the whole game, just stretches of them. Pierce finally got his shot going and is starting to look like he is getting his swagger back.

Cleveland wanted to stop Rondo early but he was looking to pass and got Pierce going. Rondo controlled the pace in the first half and the Original Big Three did their thing, leading their team in scoring in the first half. (Rondo had zero pts taking only 2 shots). The Second half just got ugly. Cleveland guarded Rondo to pass and make plays so he took Mo off the dribble and drove to the hole. He started scoring; Mo Williams plays no defense, FYI and if he is not hitting his pull up jumpers he is not being very effective. Big baby got into the fun as well. Again, Antwan can’t play one-on-one D, he let baby spin and try to steal the ball. If this gamble does not work, easy layups will follow. He has never had to play D in big games. He has played for the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizard and now the Cleveland Cavs, all offensive teams that really don’t stress D, except Cleveland but he has only been there for a few months. He has played in 32 playoffs games and his numbers are decent scoring around 20pts and 8 rpg per, pretty much his career average. When in the playoffs did his team win anything?