“If you think big, then it’s going to be big.” Emeril Lagasse
Meet Chef Joe Tuna. He is everything you would think a chef should be; bigger than life. A New Yorker, direct, funny, and he came to his sister and brother-in-law’s house to spend the weekend and cook for eight of us. Wait a minute, we did help.
As I was saying…Benedette surrendered her clean kitchen, Jeff was the Sous Chef, I brought a Spinach Gratin, and followed directions on how to take food photos and how to sprinkle parsley on a plate to make it presentable. I had never done anything like that ?
It was a gorgeous day in Delmarva so here is what we had.
We could have fed an army.
First things first…A good chef travels with his kitchen arsenal.
Appetizers:
Clams stuffed with clams and crabmeat. Spinach Pie.
I truly love Grilled Octopus. Joe Tuna did a fantastic job. Off the grill and into our mouths.
The Homemade Fetuccini with shrimp and grape tomatoes was a combined effort, making that day that contraption to dry the noodles.
Joe Tuna cooked and I tasted.
Doesn’t that parsley look amazing on the plate? I thought you would like it.
Now that we had the appetizers out of the way, we took like a half hour break where we talked, well, Joe did, cracked jokes but not for long. There was still some eating to do.
Main Course:
The Brisket with a peppery rub. Perfectly cooked.
My contribution of the Spinach Gratin.
Collard Greens which are a specialty of Jeff’s with ham and bacon.
A sweet ending to this feast was a Pumpkin Pie which everyone raved about courtesy of Jeanette and Jeff (not sure how much Jeff contributed?)??
What can I say? In our blessings before dinner we all thanked for the ability to share a meal together. That’s what’s important.
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Last night was the first time in the New Year that I decided to go out and grab something to eat. My choice? Barbecue. Not only in the summer do I get a craving for ribs and brisket but on a cold winter night, I just love it. I barbecue year-round in my own home; I really do like it; a casual way to eat.
I wrote a post on Bethany Blues back on 1/2/10 so if you would like to read it just click on the month of January of 2010 and scroll down to the date.
Bethany Blues is located at 618285 Coastal Highway (Rt. 1), Lewes, DE 19958. The telephone is 302-644-2500. The website? www.bethanyblues.com. The first Bethany Blues is in Bethany Beach but the one in Lewes is the one that is being reviewed on this post.
This restaurant seems to be one of those in our coastal area that is crowded evey night. Something for everyone with plenty of specials and entertainment every night of the week.
As you come into the restaurant you will be greeted by their host; Michael was there last night and he has been in the Rehoboth Beach area for many years. There is also a counter where t-shirts, rubs and sauces, with the Bethany Blues label, are available for purchase.
The restaurant has booths and tables on one side for a more quiet dining atmosphere.
Last night the action was more in their bar; a football game was about to start. It is, actually, a pretty good size bar with t.v.s, booths, high tables; on one side, a stage for musical entertainment.
We decided to sit at a booth and immediately our waitress came over and when we mentioned the gluten free allergy, she proceeded to get the manager who went over the menu, sauces, etc. with us. This is one of those restaurants that is on top of the gluten allergy and other food related allergies. No gluten menu because some items change so much that they prefer to go over with them with the customer.
The appetizer we chose was a smoked pork belly, served with apple cider syrup on the side. I had never had it and it was tasty, crunchy, delicious and it reminded me of eating roasted pig in Puerto Rico. Perfect for the Three King’s holidays.
One other dish ordered was just the baby backs. On the side? A jalapeno slaw with rice vinegar and an order of creamed corn.
My dish? I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach but besides wanting baby backs I also wanted some brisket. A side of that jalapeno slaw, which by the way had a nice refreshing kick to it and their veggies of the day.
As my dish was delivered to the table a couple went by and the lady look and my dish and said “oh that’s big”. I really did not eat it all, believe me. I have left-overs in my refrigerator, at the moment.
The meat on the ribs fell off the bone and the brisket was perfectly cooked, as well. A little bit of their papaya grilling sauce and their spicy barbecue sauce complemented them perfectly.
Definitely, there was no dessert tried.
As I mentioned before Bethany Blues is bringing entertainment to their restaurant pretty much every week. Last night they had open mic and you could bring your instruments and jam, then on Wednesdays is loveseed unplugged with Rick & Pete live, Thursday is trivia night, Saturdays is Keith Mack live. You can get more info. from their website.
But what caught my attention was Sydney’s Music Revival. Do you remember Sydney’s in Rehoboth Beach? This is the same Sydney Arzt, who developed Sydney’s restaurant in Rehoboth as a very good restaurant with very good creole food. At the same time she brought to her restaurant local and national jazz and blues musicians.
Well, for the past year she has been bringing jazz and blues to Bethany Blues. This restaurant is a new venue for Jazz and Blues at the beach. So make sure to check out the website because it is starting again on January 14th and every week after that.
The term “the blues” refers to the “blue devils”, meaning melancholy and sadness. The word “jazz” began as a West Coast slang term, first used to refer to music in Chicago about 1915.
It might be winter, here at the beaches but if you want to, you can really find plenty of things to do.
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