Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner
Hi! I'm Mike Vrobel. I'm a dad, enthusiastic home cook, indie cookbook author, and food blogger with a day job, a patient spouse, and three kids who would rather have hamburgers for dinner.
I believe that simple home cooking needs all the supporters it can get. I hope my stories help other home cooks become more confident and try their own kitchen experiments.
About Mike Vrobel
My love of cooking started when I bought my house and got a grill for the backyard. (Hey, I'm a guy, I think it's a law.) After years of enthusiastic home cooking, I started writing DadCooksDinner in 2008 after a vacation in France, where I took cooking classes in Provence and Paris. I came back wanting to share, and because I had been reading food blogs for years, I finally took the plunge and made my own. That was over 15 years ago, and I've been creating recipes and writing about my home cooking ever since. (And I have millions of page views to show for it—thank you for reading!)
I am addicted to cooking gadgets, especially Pressure Cookers. (The rise of the Instant Pot took me by surprise, but I'm delighted everyone learned how great pressure cooking is.)
I love my grill, and am pretty good in the kitchen, if I do say so myself. And, being a nerd, I have learned enough about the science of cooking to be dangerous. I come home from my computer programming day job and make dinner for three picky kids every night of the week.
How did I learn all this stuff?
Food is my hobby and my obsession. I am a self-taught home cook, and I learned most of what I know through reading cookbooks and magazines, watching food TV and videos, and surfing the Internet, followed by a lot of trial and error in my kitchen. While I don't have any formal culinary training, I have traveled the world to learn about cooking. Here are some of the places where I've attended cooking classes:
- Hudson, Ohio, USA (at the Western Reserve School of Cooking, RIP)
- Provence, France (at Famous Provence - Patrick Payet)
- Paris, France (at On Rue Tatin with Susan Loomis)
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA (with Michael Symon at Lola Bistro)
- Oaxaca, Mexico (at Season of my Heart with Susana Trilling)
- Wadsworth, Ohio, USA (at the Certified Angus Beef Culinary Center)
- Verona, Italy (at Enoteca Della Valpolicella and Riseria Ferron with Dianne Jacobs and Demet Guzey)
- Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (with Locos x La Parrilla at the International Food Bloggers Conference, Visit El Paso and Visit Chihuahua)
- Chicago, Illinois, USA (at The Chopping Block with Tastemakers Food Conference)
- Kyoto, Japan (at Cooking Sun)
- Tokyo, Japan (at Sushi Yachiyo)
Locally, I've held cooking demos at the Cuyahoga Valley Farmers Market and won the West Point Market/Taste of Akron Finest Cut Steak Cook-Off.
My Cookbooks
I have three cookbooks available: Rotisserie Grilling, Rotisserie Chicken Grilling, and Rotisserie Turkey. Check out my Amazon Author page here: Mike Vrobel.
Media and Brand Partners
I've been featured on and worked with:
- Akron Beacon Journal
- Certified Angus Beef® Brand
- Life of Dad Podcast
- Lorna Sass
- New York Times
- Three Many Cooks
- Weber Grills
- Wirecutter
Most Popular Recipes
Looking for a place to start on DadCooksDinner? Check out my most popular recipes:
- Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soaking)
- Pressure Cooker Chili Verde (Green Pork Chili)
- Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
- Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas (No Soaking)
- Instant Pot Chicken Legs (with Herb Rub)
- Quick Baked Potatoes
- Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
- Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
- Instant Pot Beef Ribs (Texas BBQ Style)
- Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
- Grilled Thin Pork Chops, Quick Brinerated
- Rotisserie Beef Prime Rib Roast
Keep in Touch
Follow me on Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and/or Twitter (aka X).
Also, sign up for my emails so you won't miss a single recipe.
Contact Me
If you have any questions, comments, or recipe suggestions, please email me at DadCooksDinner@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading!