Seared tuna salad

Made use of my significant fresh fish inventory for dinner. Seared some of the yellowfin tuna with blackening seasoning and some sesame seeds. Added some tomatoes and blue cheese to make a good dinner salad.

Sushi

Here is some fresh sushi. We caught these fish about three or four hours prior to slicing some off to eat back at the docks. The one on top is a yellowfin tuna and the bottom is a blackfin tuna. They were caught in the Gulf stream about 60 miles out from Carolina Beach. I had a few big bites of the yellowfin back at the dock which were excellent. More sushi to come for sure.

Pork Burgers

I was recently inspired by this NY Times article to cook pork burgers. I seasoned mine with five spice, and added a little grill seasoning on the top. Topped it with tomato, onion, and a drop of Dave's Insanity. Trust me, all you need is a drop or you'll burn your mouth off as I witnessed some of my guests.

Argintinian Deli

Stoped by Buenos Aires Bakery in Miami Beach for breakfast this
morning. This is one of about 5 cases to choose from. This is way too
many decisions for 9:00 a.m. in the morning.

Oshi Thai

Had some good spicy red curry at Oshi Thai in Aventura. This is an
awesome $8 lunch in Miami.

US Air

A little first class candy.

Spinach spaghetti lunch

Still trying to use up the big bag of spinach I bought before going back out of town. Made wheat spaghetti with sauteed spinach in olive oil with onions, garlic and some lemon juice. Not a bad dish, but way outclassed by the lemontini I had to go with it. This is just a good summer drink. I make mine w/some Triple Sec, that way I can have more.

Lemontini:

1/4 fresh lemon

1 oz citrus vodka

1 0z Triple Sec

1 oz simple syrup

Spinach Souffle

Have the day off so decided to start with some good breakfast. After several cups of coffee I scoured the fridge and pretty much only had enough for a spinach souffle. I had to substitute Pecorino Romano for the Parmigiano Reggiano since that's all I had. The souffle was accompanied by some mimosas and Mahalia Jackson played loudly.

Beef stir fry

Read an article about beef stir fry in the NY Times yesterday, so decided to give it a try. I used skirt steak and added zucchini to my recipe, but pretty much followed this one. Not a whole lot to making this really, hardest part is stopping yourself from continuing to eat it all night long. Finally had to stop what I was doing and put the leftovers away just to stop myself.

Ox Tail

Got to enjoy my first ox tail at the Haitian resturant Tap Tap in
Miami. Tasted like it was braised in a tomato base sauce that gave
nice flavor to the meat. The meat tastes about the same as a braised
short rib but less fat. On the side was beans mixed with cornmeal
which I now like better than beans and rice. Not pictured are several
rum punches used to wash everything down.

Heavenly Biscuit

Awesome biscuit and homefries at the Heavenly Biscuit in Ft Meyers
Beach. Biscuits with tomatoes on them are my new favorite. The
homefries seemed to be deep fried potato slices with onions and sea
salt. Great noon-time breakfast to get the day at the beach off to a
good start.
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Il Migliore

Got the chance to enjoy some excellent Italian food tonight in Miami. I had the Branzino topped with sauteed tomatoes with garlic and basil. The fish was great, but I think the tomatoes may have been even better with the garlic. Best part was without a doubt the banana bread pudding. Covered in chocolate and accompanied by ice cream, additional description not really necessary. Only problem with this place is that you force yourself to eat way too much. Once I got back to the hotel I realized the button on my jeans literally broke into two pieces, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with my ab muscles.

Cuban for Lunch

Got a chance to stop by my favorite Cuban spot in Miami for lunch today, Little Havana. As usual I had to have the roast pork with rice and beans. Also had a cortadito which I'll miss as well when I have to leave Miami. I've tried before to describe the overwhelming deliciousness of the pork in previous posts, but I think it's best summed up with a comparison to the old Saturday night live skit with Harry Caray and the hot dog. So, in summary if you were a pig would you eat yourself? I know I would, I'd slather myself in whatever this Cuban juice is and eat every last shred and wash it down with a cortadito.

Tandoori chicken fried rice

Used my leftover tandoori chicken to make some fried rice for lunch. The tandoori spice pretty much turned the rice orange, and flavored the whole dish. Not much to it really, just fried the leftover rice with an egg and some onions and added the cut up chicken.

Tandoori Chicken

Had Tandoori chicken w/rice and a roti tonight. Used a Tandoori mix I got from my local Indian store and marinated the chicken in it all day. Didn't really follow directions, and since I think the pack was probably enough for about ten pieces of chicken as opposed to three, it came out pretty spicy. Roti was awesome as usual, but definitely should have made some sauce w/the tandoori to put on the rice instead of grilling the chicken.

WTF Lagunitas from California

Great balanced hoppy beer from California. Had this at Mellow Mushroom
with a jerk chicken sandwich that didn't last long enough to take a
picture of. It's nice to have a hoppy beer that's balanced and doesn't
make your tongue shrivel up into a raisen.

Braised sausage and lentils

Forgot how good lentils are, not sure why I don't eat these more often. I got the recipe from a French cookbook I have, but had to adapt as I had no pancetta and it was too hot to drive to the grocery store.

1/2 red onion

2 cloves garlic

fresh thyme

2 sausages

3 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups lentils

salt & pepper

add fresh spinach at the end

Spinach and arugula salad

Made this salad for a light lunch today. It has spinach and arugula with orange slices, blue cheese and toasted sunflower seeds. Not much to it other than it was good and a healthy change from all the crap I ate a MerleFest yesterday.

Strawberry icecream

What would make a hot NC day of bluegrass even better, a strawberry
icecream cone. This is the best flavor for hot weather without a doubt.

MerleFest fried rice

There is actually Thai food at MerleFest. At least that's what they
called it. You can judge by the amount of sriracha sauce required how
good it was. Now I can go buy some $3 water.

Vegetarian spaghetti

Quick late night vegetarian spaghetti w/a side of Mad Men. When rummaging through the pantry and fridge didn't produce anything, this came together from the various findings. I don't like using old dried spices, but a quick run through the mortar pestle will go a long way in freshening them up.

Wheat spaghetti

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup red wine

salt, pepper, oregano

1 zucchini

2 Roma tomatoes

1/2 can tomato sauce

dash cayenne pepper

Pecorino Romano