As time goes by, July turns into August shortly we will be off to Sanibel Island. Gentle waves and white beaches, quiet, calm gives you permission to exhale. Even the children relax and reconnect. It’s so nice to see them together. My husband and I have always been so grateful they get along as well as they do. They take bike rides, go to the beach, play tennis, go shopping, or grab lunch at Schnaper’s Hots.
As far as the restaurants go, sadly, fried foods rule the island. There are some good restaurants. We ate at Sweet Melissa’s, a new restaurant to us at least; the food is the main attraction, not the seashells, painted cows or any nautical theme and fried whatever. I had the ‘Fish stew’ (bouillabaisse), sweet breads, which the children loved and had no idea what they were aside from the fact that they tasted good. We figured out a long time ago that to raise a child with a broad range of foods is to have them taste first and skip the description or the words altogether. They ate mussels in lemon butter sauce in kindergarten, calamari, and loved all their veggies. The first great restaurant is on Captiva, The Mad Hatter. We first came across this little gem because we didn’t want to wait for a table at the Bubble Room. At this time, it was owned by a very particular, truly gifted chef. It was sold shortly there after to a catering couple from New York. The bouillabaisse was a little heavy on the saffron, but the salmon was poached to perfection. The Mad Hatter still has the best food on the island, not a fried item in site. There seems to be a void between the restaurants offering cuisine and fried seafood shanties.
However traditions are traditions so we pay our homage to our traditions. I learned that our first meal on the island must be consumed at The Lazy Flamingo, as dictated by the kids, definitely a seafood shack, but fun none-the-less. So when we visit the Lazy Flamingo I, as I am my father’s daughter, must order the dead parrot wings. When ordering these hot wings you will be questioned by your waiter/waitress if you have ever consumed these before? They don’t have you sign a release, but they do question you thoroughly prior to allowing you to order them. They are, bar none, the hottest wings I have ever tasted. I have not tried to copy the recipe, however I believe it is some combination of tomato paste, Motauk’s flambeau sauce, crushed red pepper, and puree cherry peppers. Just a guess but you get the picture. This really isn’t a meal but rather a challenge.
This time around my husband did the lion’s share of the cooking. His menu included marinated rib eyes grilled perfectly as he is the reining Grill King. He found this hickory infused marinade called Moore’s, which you can find online or if your local at Albertson's grocery store.
He placed them in the marinade for a day then melt a stick of butter, heat grill, brush grill with butter, grill one side, then brush the top with butter, rare (tip: pinch the area between your thumb and forefinger, This should be the resistant of the rare steak when cooked), nothing to it. Well, the temperature and timing of the cooking is an important part that he has down to a science. Slice thin and served with roasted asparagus, which is just tossed to coat with olive oil, mixed with diced garlic, roasted in a 350 oven until roasted tender.
Brian’s Lemon Shrimp Pasta was the hands down favorite. The pasta was savory and lemony at the same time. Not easy to pull off. Recipe comes together like this.
4 lbs large raw shrimp, peeled, dried
1 box of linguini, cooked as directed
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour, make a roux
1/2 pint heavy cream
2-3 ounces of shaved Parmesan
3 tablespoons chopped scallions
5 cloves of garlic, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
bay seasoning
paprika
cayenne
2 lemons juiced,
1-2 entire lemons zested to taste
Boil the pasta with salt and olive oil, drained.
In another pan, make combine your butter and flour to make roux, then add the cream cheese (should be a thick pasty glob). In another pan sauté garlic in half olive oil and butter combo until just cooked not browned. Add garlic into the roux mixture and then fold into pasta add juice of one lemon. In a separate bowl, season the shrimp heavily with cayenne, old bay, and paprika. Separate into two batches, add half olive oil and butter in pan to smoking and add shrimp batch flip after just golden, 1to 1.5 minutes. After both batches are cooked add to pasta, throw in scallions, (with your hands mix) then add the last lemon juice and zest. Mix.
Wash and thoroughly dry Watercress
Crushed Almonds
Dijon Vinaigrette: whisk together the following ingredients
1/2 Champagne vinegar
1/3 olive oil
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Dress the greens with just enough dressing to coat, but not drown. Plate and sprinkle with almonds
Hemingway Key Lime Pie Recipe
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup white flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups spring water
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup fresh lime juice or more to taste
grated rind of 1 lime
one baked pie shell: optional sprinkle crushed macadamia nuts and sprinkled sugar on the bottom of the pie shell prior to pouring the custard in.
Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch in top of double boiler and gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, whisk constantly until thickened
Beat egg yolks and gradually stir some of cooked mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return this mixture to double boiler and cook and whisk another 3 minutes.
Stir in butter, limejuice and rind. Cook to lukewarm. (optional sprinkle crushed macadamia nuts and sprinkled sugar on the bottom of the pie shell prior to pouring the custard in.)
Pour into your baked shell and cool thoroughly, or real whipped cream topping, purchased or homemade, see recipe below
Whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon maraschino or vanilla extract
In a chilled bowl, whip the cream until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla. Whip to fluffy peaks, about 2 minutes.
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