A Culinary Friday

Tina and I rose to the challenge today. . . The fish taco challenge. . . The local NBC station is running a competition for the best fish taco in San Diego. The two restaurants are El Zarape (in University Heights) and South Beach Grill (in Ocean Beach) (here's the website: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/around_town/debates/ ).

It was pretty obvious to both Tina and me that the fish taco served in Ocean Beach is the better of the two. I hate to admit that since Ocean Beach is a little wacky, but it is the truth. We did Valentine's Day early by visiting Alexander's (http://alexanderson30th.com/) for dinner. Afterwards, we went to a new wine bar just across University Ave. called Splash (http://www.asplashofwine.com/). To end the evening, we headed to the local dessert shop, Heaven Sent (http://www.heavensentdesserts.com/). All in all, we had a wonderful time on the town while Otto relaxed at home with his good buddy Rachmaninoff.

~Josh

The Beach Run

Today, I had the opportunity to go on a pretty decent run down Mission Beach and up into Pacific Beach with Gil and Bobby, two officers from the staff. Here's the run:

It was just under 5.25 miles. We capped it off with a couple beers and a slice of 30" pizza at Luigi's at the Beach (http://luigisatthebeach.com/). The pizza was pretty good, but it was not as good at Luigi's downtown (http://www.pizzerialuigi.com/), and neither match Lefty's (http://www.leftyspizza.com/) in my humble, though well-pizza-educated palate. Lefty's is Chicago style and the two Luigi's are New York style, so some would say that's "apples and oranges." I'm going by taste. Lefty's is the best.

Tonight, Tina and I went over to Brian and Tisha's for some dinner. Tisha put together a really nice spread, including some fantastic chicken and some Martha Stewart biscuits that she had little faith in early on, but turned out great.

~Josh

A Post for Tisha

So, Tisha mentioned that I should post some of the stuff that Tina and I cook instead of the running and riding maps. I can do that. Here goes:





Pasta Joshua





1/2 to 1 lb Italian Sausage (mild or hot)


5 garlic cloves; crushed


1/2 to 1 medium onion, finely chopped


12 to 15 oz. pasta sauce


1/4 cup EVOO


12-16 oz. Penne


1 cup finely shredded Parmesan Reggiano





Heat the olive oil on low-medium. Cook the sausage, garlic, and onions in the heated olive oil. Do not drain. Add the pasta sauce and simmer. Cook and drain the pasta and add to the sauce mixture along with the Parmesan Reggiano. Stir thoroughly and serve. Of course, the amounts listed are not exact, but some people like more pasta, less onions, etc. Adjust as necessary.





How's that Tish? If you're not interested in that. . . Here's the route I ran today:

~Josh