Da Kine of Place You'll Love

Since I started the new job and the misses started at home training for her new gig, we really haven't had any us time besides the few moments we relax on the couch together before bed. So on the day where we were both off we took advantage of it, I decided to stay out of the house doing this that and the other for as long as possible. We were doing this and that, we were talking about looking for someplace new to eat, this is every time we want to eat out occurrence so nothing new there. I had planned to take her to Pinkberry the night before, but the time at the gym kind of ran over and by the time we were showered and ready to go they had closed. So while out I decided we would get Pinkberry for sure but that doesn't fill you up.

Mid way through our entire day date the misses and I started to get hungry so we started looking for a small (by small I mean non-chain) place to get some good food, We drove by Da Kine and I'm a fan of food trucks, since the idea of food from a truck is sub par, most food truck vendors go above and beyond when it comes to quality food. So I had the Misses urbanspoon it based on the reviews and the fact we were starving and without any other hopefuls in sight we stopped by (and thank god we did).

We get out of the car and you could smell the wonderful aroma of all things great. It's a small food trailer where everything is cooked out of, they have all types of options on the menu, dinner plates, mix and match, samplers, and more. A few different drinks that you can't normally find, so we walked up scanned the menu, placed our order and watch as they cook our food, then take and hand chop the chicken and fill the styrofoam containers completely full.

We got our drinks and I should have got 2, the coconut water with pineapple was the best I have ever had, and I can't find the brand they sell anywhere else in town. The service was great, very quick to get the order ready. Now the seating is small like only one picnic bench under a tent, but what do you expect from a food trailer? So we opted to get it to go and headed down to cypress point park, found a nice spot under a tree for some shade. Then proceeded to open up the containers, the smell again was amazing as we look at 3 types of chicken Sweet Shoyu, Sweet'n'Hot, and Teriyaki.

All three were good, the sweet shoyu had great flavor and was a perfect match with the Sweet'n'Hot, the only complaint was with the teriyaki was a bit salty, more than to be expected. Besides the over dose of sodium the food was great, the chicken was cooked perfectly, not overcooked. We ordered a side of veggies and macaroni salad.

 I have to say that Da Kine has the only macaroni salad I have ever tasted and liked. The veggies were just steamed bag veggies so you can't really mess up on them. I plan to go back if I'm in that neck of the woods again, the food was great but not worth the trek from my house to just get some grub. If you're in that part of town and looking for some good food for a decent price that will not only fill you but give you something to eat later go check out; Da-Kine Hawaiian Café located at 3316 S Dale Mabry Hwy

Tampa, FL 33629 or visit their website at http://www.dakinehc.com/

We also hit up Pinkberry for some frozen yogurt and fresh fruit, then decided we needed to walk off all the food we ate from Da Kine and walked through Westshore mall for a few, over all the day date went well and I enjoy spending time with the Misses as she is the best company I could ask for.

Damn Commercials !!!

A few weeks back a red lobster commercial flashed across the tv screen and well the seafood lover I am it put me in the mood. If you have been following along you already know the misses is pregnant so that got her craving ball a rolling. It was replayed for what seemed to be like every 5th commercial for what seemed to be weeks, so I decided to have the Lady and our 2 sons pick their favorite item from the red lobster menu and I would reproduce it at home. I'm always up to a challenge, and I know I can make better food than some chain restaurant cook.....no disrespect.

So the menu ended up being new england clam chowder, side salad, coconut shrimp, popcorn shrimp, peach bourbon bbq shrimp, bacon wrapped scallops, peppercorn sirloin and of course some cheddar bay biscuits......then there were the request for some off the menu items I also made broiled butter garlic lemon gator tail, boiled some crawdads & corn, and for dessert it was bananas foster!

The family helped cook this feast under my order and it flowed so well like a 5 star kitchen that has been working together for years. The food came out perfectly and before dessert everyone was stuffed like we just left a free buffet. So after we cleaned our plates and clean the table, we went to the gym and worked off the dinner. By the time we got back home everyone was ready for dessert so I taught the boys how to make bananas foster and they still remember weeks later so that's a plus, but I think the taste helps too! After all was said and done the food was better and cheaper than red lobsters plus since we bought stuff in bulk there were shrimp, scallops, crawdads, and all left for other dinners later in the month. So I only have a clam chowder recipe for you, better than my last few posts which included none. The clam chowder recipe was wrote by my 13 year old son as I called out the things I was throwing into the pan so there might be something missing, I made it again and added what he did miss but just a warning, but as we all know a recipe is just a guide I never follow one 100%, always adding and subbing out something for another. Its what cooking is all about EXPRESSION! On to the recipes;

Clam Chowder

1 c diced white onions

½ c diced celery

½ c diced carrots

4 slices diced bacon

Fry bacon, remove to plate to drain.

Use bacon fat to sweat mirpiox, drain grease.

Add 2 cans 6.5 oz clams with sauce (reduce by ¼ or half)

1 ½ c milk

1 ½ c cream

1 tb basil

2 ½ tb parsley

1 tb cilantro

½ tb old bay

30 grinds pepper

Add bacon

Add can diced potatoes

Heat on med for 10 mins

Mix ½ tb cornstarch with 1 tb cream, add then heat additional 10 min covered on med-low.