Saturday, August 20, 2011

Is it ever really worthwhile to travel to Orlando?

For the first time ever the entire family went to Orlando with no intention of going to any theme parks.  We also really didn't want to do all the normal freak show or water park entertainment options available to a family of 5.  We started the trip off in very strange fashion. 

We took I-95 which is not the normal route taken when going to Orlando.  As a marketing and sales person I find the drive fascinating, making mental lists of the some of the larger named buildings that we're driving by as far North as Jupiter.  It's only a little over an hour away with no traffic incidents.  It's a much more stimulating drive than the normal Turnpike route.  On the way we decided to call a friend of mine from High School and see if he and his wife and son were home.  As always the phone rang and went to voice mail.  I figured I'd hear from hear in a few days which is the usual time delay for him, very busy with a toddler and two houses separated by 120 miles or more. 

Well low and behold he calls and they're actually home in Jensen Beach.  I tell him wow we're literally less than 10 minutes from your house, not that I had ever been there.  He then gave us directions for a pretty approach to his house.  The funniest things was he says as you come down the street you'll come over a blind descent say, "Whee!".  I've been living in Florida for more than 35 years and laughed at his suggestion figuring it was something he's been saying to his two year old and he couldn't help pulling us into his young family routines.  I was epically wrong.  The hill is one of the steepest and quickest descents in Florida.  The whole car said, "Wheee!!" for a while as we shot down the hill and quickly passed his street on the way down.  Later that morning my son found skateboard type device(I forget the name but it wiggles to generate momentum instead of tick tacking as you would on a skateboard.  The crappy little hill my friend's house is on was enough for the boy that day although I suspect if we went back he'd put on a helmet and try the big hill.  I must say just driving over it is awesome.  I think the blind nature of the drop helps a lot.  We had a great visit with our friends although the toddler didn't wake up(thankfully for his mom and dad) in time for us to say hello and make him generally crazy. 

We had a nice visit and got back on the road driving through a very Florida inspired landscape.  There were very pretty older homes, brand new homes, and completely dilapidated most likely forclosure properties side by side.  Driving on this rolling hilly barrier island(?) was awesome.  Made me want a motorcycle for the first time in a very long time.  Most of Florida's roads don't make me long for a motorcycle, a high speed tank would be more apropos.  After a bit of a detour through Jensen Beach's inner city neighborhoods we wound up back on A1A and drove past a variety of pretty homes though we couldn't see the water through the houses.  Then we wound up near the air force base which forced us to back track to get to Titusville so we could eat at Dixie Crossroads.  The restaurant was a little pricey but very tasty.  Their specialty is seafood of all types with an emphasis on Rock Shrimp which aren't nearly as pretty as regular shrimp.  They do however taste great broiled with butter.  We had two nice sized platter of rock shrimp, regular shrimp, Maine lobster and large bay scallops.  Everything was very good including the decadent appetizer of fried corn fritters covered in powdered sugar.  I warned everyone to eat as few as possible so they would have room for dinner.  We had their clam soup as well which was good but I don't think I could call it great. 

We then got in the car and headed to Orlando full and relatively happy though when it comes to seafood we eat more than your average bear.  We got to the hotel and unpacked.  Then got snacks and movies for the next two nights.   The kids decided to get their dinner in the form of fruit roll ups.  I was eating perfectly ripe Georgia peaches we bought on the side of the road.  Can't remember what else we ate but it was light.  We crashed after watching the slowest movie of all time, Sucker Punch.  When we got up we were hungry.  Somehow we wound up at Shoney's.  That's what happens on family trips sometimes.  Bad decisions are made based on expediency.  As it turned out the only issue for everyone but my wife was the lack of proper air conditioning.  The food was good enough and very plentiful.  Dirty rice worked for me since it was brunch time by the time we ate.  Everyone gorged and we went on with our day.  Dinner that night was tremendous while a lacking at the same time.

But I'll save that dinner for my next post.  When it's your first rodizio it's special.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Great Ceviche and Finally a few excellent Food Trucks

So it was a great week for eating.  My wife and I tried Saxsay Deli near our house just off NW 94th Ave and Commercial Blvd near Bru's Room.  We got the mixed seafood ceviche and it was the bomb diggity.  There was no fishiness whatsoever and the lime juice and cilantro came bursting through just like they should.  They have a hot pepper sauce on the side that has some kick and adds a wonderful colorful flavor to the ceviche, but a little goes a long way.  The decor of the restaurant leaves much to leave desired as does the seating, but once the ceviche comes all that is long forgotten.  We happen to get Fish a la meniere.  Far too salty for my taste but otherwise perfectly done.  Truly can't wait to get more ceviche.  Thinking maybe take out next time.  If you are a fan you've gotta go.

I also went to Gulfstream Park on Saturday night for the 790 the Ticket Food Truck tour event.  The lines were terrible as usual at some of the trucks.  There were some truly normal trucks there as well Bru's Room, Giuseppe's Cheese Steaks and Sausages(excellent but not gourmet in the least).  However there were some excellent finds there as well.  I went on a limited budget and had vegetable samosas from a truck I can't remember, then I had a Cuban Frita which was awesome, and then had some truly kick ass wings at dim ssam a go go.  Korean style wings that were the best wings I've had in some time.  Completely addictive.  The entire drive home I had to stop myself from turning around and going back for more.  Sakaya Kitchen is the restaurant behind the truck and if they have the wings run don't walk to get em.  Can't wait to make them at home.  I will post the recipe once I've got it perfected.  The Cuban Frita is a spiced hamburger with fresh fried shoe string potatoes and hot sauce.  Didn't think it would be good and it wasn't, it was great.  Everything about it was excellent.  Can't wait to have another one in the near future.

I will try to take pictures the next time.  Keep forgetting that aspect of blogging.  Couldn't really take too many pictures a the food truck event due to the lighting issue.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Is that it? Miami Food Trucks

So my wife and I decide to go to a food truck gathering on Saturday night at a local car dealership.  There will be 20 food trucks on site selling their different Gourmet items.  Let's see if I can remember what was there without naming names.  There was a Dominican truck which didn't look all that wonderful to me, but I'm not a mayo,meat, cheese and sauce drenched french fry eater.  Though the truck was packed with people eating at the two fold out tables and chairs the cart graciously provided.  There was an Argentinian Truck with grilled meats also with two tables nearby.  Really none of the other food trucks at the event provided the type of tables and chairs that would be a boon to their respective food truck business.  I guess that's not the way the food truck thing usually goes down.  People bring their own tables, chairs, beverages, etc. and enjoy themselves.  Ok, so back to the rundown there were also two Mediterranean style trucks with felafel,  hummus, Greek and Jerusalem salads and the like.  There was one dessert truck which was packed.  There was an Asian fusion truck.  It served a variety of different dishes from Indonesia, Southeast Asia and their own creations.  We got some food from said truck and really didn't think a lot of it.  The braised Southeast Asian beef dish was good with a nice touch of coconut milk but the fried rice was insanely salty and too moist for my taste.  The side of green papaya salad was one of the worst versions I've ever eaten.  It had no taste, hadn't been allowed to sit long enough to weep and become the salad they want to serve.  It needed more lime juice, sugar, salt, fish sauce, salt, pepper, siracha sauce, etc.  It's really too bad because for $8 I thought it was a little skimpy.  I'm in the business and he's making good money on that dish.  It should be cheaper in my humble opinion.  My wife and I had a fish taco, the aforementioned beef dinner box, a glass of excellent ginger, basil?, limeade, Colombian style ceviche and a coke.  I know of restaurants that I can get equally or better tasting food and much more of it for a lot less money.  If they want to charge mid level money for items they better be good.  It would also be nice if they came up with tasting plates for the kind of events that I attended.  Signage is another big problem.  Make everything larger so we can read it from farther away.  If you are going to put a sign on the ground or next to the truck definitely make the print much larger.  I will say that the ceviche we ate was excellent and the soup I tried at that truck was very good.  The fish taco was a fish taco.  It's cool, but I can get em all over the place locally that are equally good.  There was nothing too them that put them over the top and made me HAVE to get another.  That's what I was hoping for as opposed to another fish taco stand.  Yes they were perfectly done.  If I was at the beach hungry and that truck pulled up I would love to have them, but at the food truck event I want a salsa or something on top that simply makes me get another one as soon as I finish the first.    We ran out of room and money for dessert which was mid level priced at around $4 an item.  The line was long but that doesn't mean anything since they were the only truck that was dessert only.  I also think more salads, cold items that cool you down in the heat would be a good idea.  I was stunned that there wasn't a noodle shop on wheels of any kind Italian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese or other.  There was surely room for more adventurous trucks and better value.   There wasn't a Sushi truck on wheels.  Why, since god knows it's popular enough.  Wish I was crazy enough to want to get into the food truck business, but that business has issues that are all it's own. I sort of look forward to my next adventure in food truck eating at the beginning of August.  I hope that I at least get to see some different trucks than my first adventure.  I wish all of them luck since making money out of a food truck seems like it might be rather difficult.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Mexican Style Corn

I've been thinking about it for a while.  I'm hoping to actually take some pictures of tonight's dinner.  My hope is that I'm going to find some really lovely corn that I can add fresh garlic, salt, pepper, butter, and cilantro right before we serve it.  Thinking of taking off the cob, but the kids won't be happy about it.  On the other hand I might just make a garlic, salt, pepper, butter and cilantro compound butter.  Just need to remember to get the butter soft but not too soft before I put it in the food processor.  So what to make for the rest of the dinner is the problem.  I have two bogo(by one get one free) California chuck roasts in the continual marinade.  Didn't add anything to the marinade yet, but I will an hour before cooking.  Just more soy, sugar, ginger, garlic and some kind of juice or wine or something.  That's the whole point just see what is laying around. 

The real question is what other sides and what starch will I serve.  I know it's kind of boring but that's the way our family eats.  One half of the family runs on a freakishly high metabolism and the rest of us are genetically challenged Eastern European meaning not skinny and definitely not a high metabolism at all.  It's a battle for that side of the family to stay thin.  We are typical Americans.  Not too over weight but not at the weight we should be at either.   The fun part of this equation is going to the store.  Can't really decide until I say what's fresh, what's on sale, what's in the super cheap shelf that can be used.  Like tomatoes which can be saved by cutting out the bad part then grilling or broiling with a topping or not.  Eggplant kind of similarly can be used all kinds of ways after getting rid of the part that isn't so good, things like ratatouille.  I've also bought beets recently that were marked down to six for a dollar or so.  That became incredible roasted beets with fresh garlic, dried basil, dried oregano the juice of two lemons, salt, pepper and a little e.v.o.o. and blamo a great tasty side dish and nibble for the next day. 

I think sweet potatoes are the way to go for the starch.  If I can find some that I like.  Hasn't been easy recently.  I think I'm going to make a grated fresh ginger, fresh grated onion (Vidalia if possible), rice vinegar, ketchup, sugar, oil, kosher salt and pepper.  Should be heavy on onion flavor.  Don't go light on the ketchup.  No there aren't any measurements here.  If you need them let me know.  If you make your own dressings you should have more than enough info. 

Time to go to the market for some inspiration.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

New Adventures in Marinades

So I've started a new adventure.  I made a marinade of brown sugar (handful), soy sauce, fresh pressed garlic, fresh grated ginger(Try the smallest holes on a box grater.  Reach in with a knife and make sure you scrape everything off the wall of the box grater.), one to two teaspoons of fish sauce, couple of shots of bourbon, and a little bit of apple juice to make just under two cups of marinade depending on how much sugar and soy you like.  Soak anything in for however long you like.  Overnight will be good but strong for beef, pork, and chicken.  Haven't used it on fish yet so I don't want to vouch for its effectiveness in that environment.  After marinading your protein or veggies grill, bake, fry, or broil until charred a little and done.  Whatever marinade is left over needs to be boiled for a few minutes to make sure all the raw proteins in the marinade are cooked.  It can then be used as a sauce for the finished product or put in the fridge to be a sauce that can be added to over and over even when putting different things in it.  Tofu would be great I think.  Need to try that for sure.

I started making this type of marinade for pork or dark meat chicken.  Something with enough intrinsic fat to let the marinade really sing after a bit of charring occurs.  Then I realized that it would be good on veggies meat etc.  As thing soak in the stuff they give off a little of their own flavor that we finish by cooking the new marinade down for a few minutes.

If you were in a bind and wanted to make a quick stir fry just add a little of this sauce from the fridge to the mix if sweet works and tah dah tasty stir fry.  Start the stir fry with fresh pressed garlic and fresh grated ginger or some other spice mix that you like.  Sesame oil wouldn't hurt either.  I bet it would be good on corn mixed with a little butter.  Kind of that kettle corn thing with added flavors.  Finally is spicy is your thing then put some clean heat in there like an Jalapeno or Habanero if you like.  My family couldn't deal with that so I'm not doing it currently.

Still eating the last of my mangoes gleaned from the ground around town.  Gonna be a long wait till next years crop.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Marketing is hard to do. (Yes that's Neil Sedaka your hearing if your an ancient)

I'm not sure why it's so hard but marketing products or anything for that matter is still an art.  Even in the days of social networking, guerrilla marketing, pay per click advertising and the like.  I've been trying to help a family member market a new dried food product they've created.  I've already eaten hundreds of these little goodies.  Very addictive little tropical banana goodies.  They stay fresh for a very long time in the fridge.  So back to the problem. 

The first problem is that they hold better in the fridge than on the shelf.  Different texture depending on the storage choice.  If left out they are a bit chewy.  I happen to like them that way, but if kept in the fridge they have a satisfying crunch.  So if they could be dried using something other than a standard food dehydrator maybe they would hold crunchy on the shelf.  Otherwise they would have to be sold out of the fridge.  That cuts down on impulse buying at the checkout counter and these little goodies are definitely an impulse buy. 

Now for the bigger marketing problem.  I've been searching for help with a health food crossover product of this kind for a while now.  No matter how deep I go into the matrix I simply can't find what I want, at least on the internet.  We need help with packaging and possible with presentation.  The little nuggets aren't uniform at the moment.  I think we could make them uniform while keeping them raw and basically unprocessed, other than the drying.  I know it seems strange but you don't want people stealing your idea so taking it to someone becomes an issue as well.  Just getting a legal document made is expensive but worth it in the end.  The only reason I have a sense of urgency on this particular item my brother makes is that I can't find them anywhere.  I look for a product like it all the time and still haven't seen one yet.  My brothers company is Our Marvelous Garden.  Check them out on Facebook or the web.  If you have any advice on marketing I'd love to hear it. 

It's funny once his company solves the marketing problem he'll have a new problem to deal with mainly making a lot of an artisinal product.  Luckily he comes from a family that was self employed so he should be able to deal with the challenges of growing a private business.  If not he can lean on the family at least.  Check out his products and if you're not getting enough fiber and vegetable matter in general into your diet get some of his products.  If you don't like green foods but eat fruit get some of his fruit and vegetable leathers.  They taste great and they're incredibly good for you and raw.

I will be posting some general recipes or at least items I've made at home recently.   Still trying to remember to take pictures of the stuff.  I'll get there.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Broward County's Chinatown

I'm not sure how many people are aware of it, but there is kind of a mini Chinatown in Broward county.  It can be found almost in it's entirety in a long strip center just South of Commercial Blvd and 441.  There is a Asian bakery that has roll cakes, more than a dozen different types of buns baked and steamed, and all kinds of cakes filled with anything from custard to sweet red beans and bean paste.  Just a few doors down is a Saigon City Vietnamese restaurant.  If you go South in the strip you'll see a Vietnamese market that sells Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and other Asian staples, fresh produce, frozen everything and even a meat section that sells mostly offal.  If one keeps walking South in the plaza there is a store that sells prepared Chinese foods like a few kinds of dumplings, various types of rice pastes and other items that most of us don't eat.  Still a little bit farther South is the best Chinese cooked meat market around.  They have hanging ducks, whole crispy  pork hanging, three different kinds of chicken, Char Sui pork and of course spare ribs.  They have a few different kinds of buns and dumplings and a variety of offal of course for you to peruse and buy.  Very good value for the dollar.  The roast pork, duck and chickens are as good as your going to get in this area. 

But as always I would love to hear your opinion of these places.  Am I on the mark or have I swung and missed.  Just let me know.  I want the reviews to be as legitimate as possible.  Next up for the blog will be some recipes from my restaurants that are frequently requested and a quick discourse on meat purchasing.