Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

We have just returned from a quick vacation in Key West. But one of my blogging buddies, Dave of My Year on the Grill, along with his wife Jackie, are having an extended six month vacation in the Virgin Islands. Jackie works for The Government and she has pulled this unfortunate duty, so Dave being a dutiful husband has moved his grill from snowy Kansas and has set up shop in paradise.

Dave is also a weekly contributer to another blog, Our Krazy Kitchen and Min and the girls wanted to throw a beachwarming party for Dave and Jackie. We were all invited to bring something to the party and my contribution is this wonderful Conch Chowder. Surely Dave can get conchs in the Virgin Islands so I hope he will try this recipe. Enjoy your virtual party Dave!

The above picture is the carriage house. Our apartment is located in the lower rooms with the double patio doors.

This is the pool area right outside of our door. Even though the pool was heated, it was too cold to take a dip.

The grounds were lush with vegetation and I did manage to find a ray of sun to sit by the pool in the above lounge chairs.

The Hollinsed House is located in the historic section of Key West and just blocks from the famous Duval Street and Mallory Square where sunset is celebrated each evening.

Crowds of people are drawn to the square next to the sea by street perfomers like this unicyclist, juggling fellow.

As the crowd watched, a four-masted schooner passed by in the harbor.

Cruise ships anchor here and this one almost blocked the nightly spectacle of the sunset.

No trip to Key West would be complete without a visit to The Hemingway House. Ernest Hemingway settled in Key West in the late 1920’s. He was drawn to the area by the abundant fishing possibilties.

The house reflects a Spanish Colonial style. The walls were constructed from coral rocks found in the area. Ceiling to floor windows were used as doors to access the patio and upper porches.

The first room I headed to was the kitchen. It is small but bright. The appliances and counters were raised to accomodate Hemingway’s tall frame.

A picture of Hemingway in the dining room shows him as he appeared when he and his wife Pauline bought the house. He was a young thiry year old.

Hemingway loved cats and there are still forty or more cats roaming the grounds descended from the original six-toed cat. This cat has found a comfortable spot on the buffet in the dining room.

Here are two more cats resting comfortably in Hemingway’s king size bed. The headboard is an old Spanish gate.

This is a view of one of the upper porches with it’s exterior shutters.

Hemingway’s office was located in a carriage building behind the main house. He wrote “To Have and Have Not” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls” in this room.

Cats are not the only creatures to have freedom to wander in Key West. Chickens and roosters are on every street corner; talk about free range chickens!

One of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite hangouts was Sloppy Joe’s Bar. This is not the original location, but it has become the place that everyone associates with Hemingway.

We could not go without sampling the original sloppy joe. It was delicious. I will see if I can get the recipe. But in the meantime, here is a recipe for Conch Chowder for Dave and any of you who want to participate in his Beachwarming Party. Enjoy your stay in The Virgin Islands Dave!

CONCH CHOWDER

1/4 cup diced bacon

1 garlic clove

1/2 thyme sprig

2 celery stalks, sliced finely

1/4 cup tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

2 finely chopped onions

1 teaspoon paprika

2 medium green pepper, diced

2 potatoes, diced

1 pound conch meat

1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 cup water to thin broth

In a Dutch oven, fry bacon until golden brown. Drain. Add peppers, celery, onions, thyme, and garlic. Cook until soft. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, conch, and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Add enough more water to cover mixture. Simmer for 25 minutes. Return bacon to pot. Make sure there is always sufficient water in pot. Serves 4 -6.

We had the conch chowder with a plate of conch fritters.

Printable recipe

This was such an easy dish to prepare and it is perfect for company because you can do all the prep work ahead of time and then just put it in the oven when you are ready. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a good shrimp scampi and I want to thank Jill of Insanely Good Food for picking this as the Barefoot Bloggers recipe for this Thursday.

The Shrimp scampi was rich and garlicy and paired beautifully with pasta. For some reason my crumbs did not brown as much as Ina’s as pictured in her Back to Basics cookbook, but the flavor was outstanding. Give this a try the next time you have company.

BAKED SHRIMP SCAMPI

2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko crumbs
Lemon wedges, for serving

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. To butterfly shrimp, cut around the outer curve and open like a book. Cut each shrimp deeply enough to open but not to cut in half. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and toward the center of the dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute. Serve with lemon wedges.

As of this moment we are heading down to Key West. I will be posting pictures and a travelogue sometime on Sunday.

This plate of food makes me smile. It is a happy plate. It is happy because David did most of the cooking. And it is happy because it is full of good tasting and good for you foods. David is a terrific grill cook and he is great with both salmon and vegetables. I love the vibrant colors of grilled vegies. He brushed them with a little olive oil and let the grill do it’s work. I love the char on the onions and the grill marks on the zucchini.

The only thing I cooked were the mashed potatoes. I tried a new recipe from Ellie Krieger. It came from her new book So Easy. She is known for her healthy cooking and is a nutritionist and host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network. I was a little skeptical of these garlic mashed potatoes at first. There is no butter, cream or milk in them. But according to Ellie, Yukon Gold potatoes have a luxurious texture and a natural creaminess on their own. She is right and these are now one of my favorite recipes for garlic mashed potatoes. Give them a try and get happy.

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

1 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, left unpeeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 large cloves garlic, peeled and quartered

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the potatoes and garlic in a steamer basket fitted over a large pot of boiling water. Cover and steam until the potatoes are knife-tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Warm the chicken broth in a small saucepan on the stove or in a glass container in the microwave. Remove the steamer basket and drain the water from the large pot. Transfer the potatoes and garlic to the pot, add the oil, salt, and broth and mash until smooth.

Printable recipe

When you read a novel, do you do what I do? No matter what dire straits the main characters find themselves in, I am always comforted by the interludes when they stop for a meal. Sometimes it is nothing more than a thick sandwich of pastrami on rye eaten over the kitchen sink, with grainy mustard dripping seductively out around the edges. Sometimes, in the middle of a murder trial, the beleaguered defense attorney finds solace in a hastily prepared meal of a cheese omelet and buttered toast washed down with a good Cabernet.

No matter the seriousness of the drama unfolding, I judge many books on how they address food. I can stand only so much suspense and drama—I need the grounding presence of people who eat and enjoy food to keep me interested. Is it just me? It could just be one of my quirks because I am such a foodie.

One of the hardest parts of being on this diet is I feel like one of my favorite toys has been taken away from me. Food in all of its guises fascinates me. I would probably be happy just reading cookbooks for the rest of my life. So . . . . I am bored with what I have been eating and I feel like I have nothing to say on my blog. But I do know what I have to say about this turkey meatloaf. It is really good and it has given me comfort in the middle of this weight loss campaign. And to tell you the truth it is lower in calories and fat than a standard meatloaf. Also I am down six pounds now and that is keeping me motivated.

This turkey meatloaf is from the Barefoot Contessa and I have been making it for a few years now. I have always loved it. It just occurred to me that it would fit in well with our eating program, so we invited our fellow Weight Watcher friends over for dinner last night and shared it with them. It makes a lot of meatloaf. I halved the recipe and we still had leftovers. Hmmm, maybe a meatloaf sandwich for lunch eaten over the sink today with mayo dripping seductively around the edges . . . no . . . better hold the mayo for now. Oh well, don’t get bored with me. We are going to Key West next week and I promise pictures of Sloppy Joe’s Bar. But I may not eat one. Do you think Hemingway would approve?

THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA’S TURKEY MEATLOAF

3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
2 Tablespoons good olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 tsp dried)
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
5 pounds ground turkey breast (I used regular ground turkey)
1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
3 extra large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup ketchup

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through. ( A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.) Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich. I did not use the pan of hot water.

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