Recipe Of The Day: Shrimp Scampi & Garlic Toast

National Shrimp Scampi Day is April 29^th and with that we wanted to take a few moments and speak on how incredibly important dishes such as these are to the world. What little people know about how overhunted our oceans have become is scary and even more horrifying is the lack of quality Seafood that will be available to both ourselves and our children, over the next 25 to 50 years.

So that we don’t go off on a tangent about switching up diets and always keepings things rotating to avoid eating ourselves into extinction consider this little fact;

Cod, which is one of the most commonly used fish in numerous applications from the Fish Filet to everyday fish-sticks, is in danger of being wiped off the face of the Earth relatively soon.

Shrimp Scampi is a great alternative to fried fish, fish tacos or fried shrimp and cooks up incredibly quick. Served with great tasting Garlic Toast to help soak up all of that wonderful juice, this dish is a meal that comes together in under 20 mins and leaves you full, but not grossly overstuffed so that you cant move and need a nap after your done eating. It is also a great way to introduce kids to seafood because the flavors of the garlic and butter are easy on the palate.

 The term Scampi is actually derived from a Greek word that refers to a species of Lobster that has been widely adapted around the world to reference a style of cooking seafood that commonly includes serving it in butter with lemon on the side.

Enjoy this simple Shrimp Scampi dish with a sweet Moscato wine or some chilled Vodka & Cranberry Juice.

Ingredients:

3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

3 TBS unsalted butter

5 cloves garlic, chopped

Kosher salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes

8 - ½inch- thick slices crusty bread

1 ¼ lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact

¾ cup dry white wine or low-sodium chicken broth

Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon, plus lemon wedges for serving

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup chopped fresh chives

Sriracha Sauce (as a condiment if desired)

Southern California Cadillac Fest

Over Easter weekend in Irvine, CA, the first ever "Cadillac Fest" was held, for Cadillac lovers, owners and enthusiasts to come out and check out each others cars, in support of a good cause "The Social Responsibility Project." 

First and foremost, huge amounts of respect and props have to be thrown in the direction of Mr. Cadillac Connect himself, for putting together an amazing event that showcased how dedicated, driven and detailed peoples minds can be when it comes to hooking up their cars. 

California without a doubt cannot be touched when it comes to cars, let alone lowriders and old schools. The event went off without one problem, other than the park being filled to capacity and having the gates closed for a few hours. Over 60 cars, from multiple car clubs such as: Majestics, WestSide, High Class, Delegation, GoodTimes, came out to represent that CADILLAC Lifestyle.

Check out all the photos after the break and for more on a few of these cars, check back often, were going to be running a few stories on some of these amazing vehicles and the dedication it took to pull them off.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, supporting the cause and eating up all those chili dogs.

In Case You Forgot "Fuck Racism"

Shout out to Face & the entire Gang over at Inkface Tattoos. 

No bullshit is given and none is accepted in his shop, strictly RESPECT!

A Taste of The Good Life... Taste on Melrose

Ambience and attitude are two often found ingredients in some of the most profound moments in life. Be it a tragic event, a romantic first encounter or a memorable dinner where new friends are made, Ambience and Attitude can definitely make or break the moment. 

This rings especially true when those moments are taking place on the “World Famous” Melrose Avenue. Where, whether you hope for it or not, the clientele your establishment entertains could insight a paparazzi frenzy in the blink of eye, having millions of out of towners flocking to your doors literally overnight.  

What a business owner must hope for at that moment, is that they had the foresight to hire or partner up with a Chef who has a fondness for fresh well articulated flavors and combining ingredients other menus might be afraid to approach with such passion. 

Luckily for us, Taste on Melrose is one of those places where you can always guarantee you will have a few moments of joy brought into your life whether it’s from the food, the atmosphere or both.

Classic Throwback Recipe: Chocolate Amaretto Brownies w/ Walnuts

The Chocolate Brownie. The ultimate dessert that almost needs no sidekick when being eaten. With a few key ingredients and a bit of time perfect brownies are as easy to make as tying your shoes (yeah I know some people cant tie a shoe to save their lives but that is a topic I'll address later.) 

These brownies use a bit of Amaretto and Walnuts to give the ultimate flavor and crunch to top off the Fudge / Cake-like consistency. 

These aren't those nasty brownies you find at the local convenience store, these right here are the kind that make people ask for seconds or thirds and fight over the last few scraps in the pan. 

Don't worry about the Amaretto overpowering the chocolate or leaving any kind of alcoholic taste it mellows out when the Brownies hit the oven.

Enjoy.

Happy Garlic Day

With the #FoodHoliday of the day being National Garlic Day, we wanted to take a moment and promote the many wonderful uses of Garlic, and yes, there certainly are many uses above and beyond flavoring a dish or thwarting off the fiendish attempts of an evil force.

We all have seen a movie or two where Garlic is believed to ward off evil spirits, but hey what do we know about evil spirits? The only evil spirits we know are the ones made with cheap Heritage liquor and smell of next day headaches.

Garlic is a vegetable, its' an herb, and is used in recipes around the world. Garlic has been used medicinally for thousands of years.

About the only negative things you can say about garlic, are that it can negatively affect an otherwise romantic evening and can be toxic to your cats and dogs.

As a medicinal herb garlic is used to:

Phytochemicals (Chemical compounds such a Beta-Carotene, found naturally in plants) provide protection against heart disease and cancer, specifically, stomach and colorectal cancers.

Garlic has been proven to help fight off colds and flu, lower blood cholesterol levels and

reduce the buildup of plaque in arteries.

Other great uses are that Garlic has been found to reduce the unpleasant appearance of acne and warts and even better can also help towards calming toothaches.

Almost every recipe we have on the site calls for Garlic in one way or another so please make use of these recipes. Look at it this way your helping to build up your immune system, fend off a vampire or just make a nasty person stay up out your face either way you look at it.

Once you take a little bit of time and research all of its medical benefits, you might find yourself adding it into just about everything you eat (except your breakfast cereal of course.)

Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwich

The classics never seem to go out of style. Walk around your local mall and take notice to how the kids of today always seem to be reverting back to some form of style that dates much further back than they can even comprehend. Ahh yes the classics, movies, music, clothes and of course food. 

Classic foods such as today’s #FoodHoliday “National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day” seem to always bee in style. Let us be honest as we grow up sometimes nothing makes us happier than to revert back to what we know and are familiar with. And I for one sure am familiar with a good old fashioned Grilled Cheese w/ a Kosher pickle on the side and big glass of Pepsi.

This version adds a bit of grilled onion, cayenne an paprika to the mix giving it a rustic Earthy taste.

Enjoy this sandwich today, tomorrow and even Saturday morning, we all could always use a little comfort food in our lives.

(Click read more to review the entire recipe.)

Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right (Revisited)

This shit right here, is going to be hilarious. Respect to the Beastie Boys for never selling out and making great music for 30 years or so at this point.

Empanadas Venezuela

Today Ladies & Gents is National Empanada Day. Nothing bad can be said about Empanadas as they encompass so many great things, a flaky crust wrapped around an uncountable amount of possible fillings, from meats, to fruits to even vegetables these are the original on the go treat used to sustain people who had to endure long journeys where food wasn’t always readily available.

Living in Southern California, if you don’t know what they are, or you haven’t had one, first I must say what rock have you been living under and second why the hell haven’t you tried one?

Today’s Recipe of The Day comes from Venezuela, where Empanadas are commonly found just about everywhere you look. The recipe calls for a simple cut of beef that is broken down by slow cooking which results in tender juicy pieces of perfectly seasoned beef wrapped in a warm flaky crust in every bite.

For those that aren’t up on these great treats, an empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries of Latin America and the south of Europe. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada’s, are made by folding dough around any firm of stuffing you desire and baking or frying them until they are crispy enough to eat.

The stuffing can consist of a variety of meats, vegetables, or even fruits.

Enjoy a few of these today, this weekend or sometime soon, you have no clue what your missing out on.

(Read The Entire Recipe After The Jump)

Tamales Dulce w/ Mango & Black Beans

We got hit up by an East Coast cohort of ours who was looking for a sweet and savory dessert recipe to make for one of his new female friends he was to be entertaining for the evening. 

With today being National Raisins & Spice Day, and figuring since the guy hardly eats meat and is trying to turn vegetarian at some point in his life, we would give his a great recipe for a sweet yet savory Tamale that would give his date the impression he could cook (and was intuitive enough to not order takeout.) 

Needless to say the date was a success, the Tamales came out perfect and we couldn’t be happier (well that is unless he paid us for this lesson,) but hey who are we to complain, we do this for the love of food and full stomachs.

Now back to the recipe, these Tamales go perfect with a bit of Black Beans & fresh Mango, so we decided why not give you all the steps to make yourself a delicious dessert (that doesn't cost that much.)

Enjoy this dish and make sure you let them know how many painstaking hours it took you in the kitchen to pull it off.  

(Click READ MORE to read the entire recipe)

The Food Holidays of April

April is home to numerous #FoodHolidays that allow us to eat healthier, more natural foods that are found in abundance this time of year. True the weather being as off as it has been the last few months, mixed with the constant threats of overseas war, prices have raised dramatically and availability of certain super foods have diminished quite unnaturally. It is in times like these that we must band together and help each other get what we need to survive as well as grow physically and mentally.

April is:

National Florida Tomato Month

National Food Month

National Soft Pretzel Month

National Soy Foods Month

The 2^nd week of April is:

National Bake

April 1            National Sourdough Bread Day           

April 2            National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day

April 3            National Chocolate Mousse Day

April 4            National Cordon Bleu Day

April 5            National Caramel Day

April 5            National Raisin & Spice Day

April 6            National Caramel Popcorn Day

April 7            National Coffee Cake Day

April 8            National Empanada Day

April 9            Chinese Almond Cookie Day

April 10            National Cinnamon Crescent Day

April 11            National Cheese Fondue Day

April 12            National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

April 12            National Licorice Day

April 13            National Peach Cobbler Day

April 14            National Pecan Day

April 15            National Glazed-Spiral Ham Day

April 16            National Eggs Benedict Day

April 16            Day of the Mushroom

April 17            National Cheeseball Day

April 18            Animal Crackers Day

April 19            Garlic Day

April 19            National Amaretto Day

April 20            National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day

April 20            Lima Bean Respect Day

April 21            Chocolate Covered Cashew Truffle Day

April 22            National Jelly Bean Day

April 23            National Cherry Cheesecake Day

April 23            National Picnic Day

April 24            National Pigs in a Blanket Day

April 25            National Zucchini Bread Day

April 26            National Pretzel Day

April 27            National Prime Rib Day

April 28            National Blueberry Pie Day

April 29            National Shrimp Scampi Day

April 30            National Raisin Day

Soulful Sunday - The Mohawks "The Champ"

This one right here puts that glide in the stride and that dip in the hip. Diss as your own risk.

Soulful Sunday - Isaac Hayes "Blue's Crib"

Some more of that good old classic feel good music from Black Moses himself, Isaac Hayes (RIP)

Soulful Sunday - The Steve Miller Band "Fly Like An Eagle"

Sampled by some of the greatest Hip Hop songs of all time.

Shout Out to my Aunt Diane (R.I.P) for always putting me on to the classics when I was a little youth.