Cubanos...comfort food for the rest of us

Adolfo Mendez, owner of the locals-only joint known as Cubano's in Silver Spring, is a dear friend of mine. We've been through a lot together.

My wife and I have an annual Cinqo de Mayo party which is catered exclusively by Adolfo and his crew, though they're all Cuban and Venezuelan and have no ties to Mexico. It just seems appropriate considering the fact that he was such an integral part of our lives while we were living in Silver Spring. We were married on 5/5/00 and he was involved in everything (well, not everything) that took place after that. My son loves spending time with Adolfo and often asks me to repeat the tricks that Adolfo performs for him, though sometimes I'm left lacking. Alex's nickname at Cubano's was Beanboy, because he used to just grab hand-fulls of the black beans and smear them into his face.

To get to the point, I had some time after attending a very special event at Jaleo on Monday. The whole crew was there, but I was attending for business purposes, so I wasn't part of the party. I called Adolfo and asked if he was free for dinner as I'd already arranged for Cheryl to pick up Alex and I had a few free hours. He said he'd whip something up for me.

I love it when he says that.

We started out with some glasses of sherry that were sweating profusely. We then stepped into some sausage sliced up and broiled in garlic and some camarones in white wine and garlic. After that, it was onto my favorite dish, Lechon Assada. NO ONE makes it like him. This was his grandmothers recipe and he is stead-fast. We switched to beer during dinner, then followed up with my favorite after-dinner drink, the Cuban Coffee. I'm not sure of the parts or composition, but it is this in my mind: Creamy espresso poured into a cup that already has about 2 packs of Sugar In The Raw in it, then for good measure they add one ounce of Ouzo.

That was served as an accompaniement to my Tres Leches dessert, which has become less sweet, but just as enjoyable, since I last dined with my friend.

For a good meal with no pretense and people who truly want nothing other than for you to return and enjoy their hospitality again, I couldn't recommend this place any higher.

Adolfo, if you're reading this, I love you like a brother.

See you soon.

Next up: revisiting Redwood. These guys are the next big thing in Bethesda. Really.
When I'm back from Mexico I'll spill the beans.

Until then, keep eatin'. I'll keep bloggin.
Passiones de Amores.

Alison & Andrew's new kitchen..

So this is what a kitchen looks like when you have someone competent redo it.

The picture doesn't do it justice. There is a Wolf range with a very nice Wolf dual oven. Both ovens have a convection or conventional option with a soft-touch self-hiding control panel. Very nice. There are also dual opposing sinks. You can't see both in the picture.

Anyhow, she invited me over to cook dinner on Sunday. While our kids were playing in the pile of dirt in their backyard that the landscapers have yet to spread, we whipped up some good stuff.

We started with a spinach and artichoke heart dip with fresh Parmiggiano.

Artichoke/Spinach Dip

We had a composed salad with strawberries, some very creamy goat cheese, and some home-made balsamic dressing that Alison Made.

Composed Salad A la'Alison

We followed that up with a perfectly roasted chicken. It was only perfect because I used Tony Bourdain's recipe from the Les Halle cook book.

Making the pan gravy

Tony's Pan Gravy (finished product). Note the veggies. Don't neglect the pyramid!

For dessert, it was a fresh Mango, Peach, Nectarine and Blueberry Cobbler.

So we finished dinner and had the cobbler on the front porch while the kids caught fire flies. Now that's a slice of Americana.

Thanks for reading. My next post, which I hope to finish before I go on vacation this weekend, will be about an un-planned dinner with a good friend of mine, Adolfo Mendez, owner of Cubano's in Silver Spring and Nellie's in the District.

Keep eatin'.