Vacationing Chef

This week we had to put down our dear cat Casper.  She was 17 and led a good life.  Casper was a good companion and we’ll miss her very much.  Here is our beautiful Casper.

I love Texas Cuisine!  Other than my family and friends it’s the one thing that I’d move back for.  Fresh Gulf Coast Seafood, real Tex-Mex, the best Pho outside Vietnam, Crawfish, and BBQ are just a few of the things that are now missing in my foodie life.  Texas is a foodie paradise.  A few weeks ago I was in Houston to visit family and old chef friends and when I arrived I had a list of restaurants I HAD to eat at.  I had 17 restaurants on my list and only 1 week.  Well, I didn’t make all 17 but one restaurant I really could not miss was Goode Co. Seafood in Houston.  If you love seafood and are in or around Houston, do yourself a favor and look them up.  The Gumbo is luscious and rich with the perfect dark roux.  I only wish mine was this good, these guys know how to do it.  Fried Catfish PoBoy that is light as air yet hearty, crispy and perfectly dressed.  But it’s the Campechana that makes Goode Co. one of the most memorable restaurants I’ve ever been to.

So what is Campechana?  Well it’s a Seafood Cocktail Mexican Style.  Shrimp, Crab, Fish or other seafood is combined with a tomato and avocado salsa and served with chips.  Unlike a Ceveche, the seafood in a Campechana is pre cooked before being added to the salsa.

For years, no one had the recipe for this Goode Co. favorite but a while back in 2009, owner Levi Goode let the cat out of the bag.  Here is the recipe and video as posted on chron.com

So today I made Campechana for dinner and it was really good.  The only thing I think I could have done better is to add just a bit of hot sauce to the recipe.  I found it didn’t have the punch that I wanted.

I’m no longer a working chef but to keep my foot, or at least my big toe in the door, I still do culinary demos in grocery stores from time to time.  And this week I did a demo of Jimmy Dean Sausage Breakfast Biscuit.  It comes frozen and you remove it from the package, wrap it in a paper towel and nuke it.  It’s OK if you need breakfast in less than a minute but not really my thing.

 It got me thinking that Jimmy Dean passed away just a few weeks ago on June 13^th.  He was a country singer, actor, and creator of Jimmy Dean Sausage.  On the rare occasion that I buy breakfast sausage at the grocery store, I only buy Jimmy Dean.  My favorite is the Sage Pork Sausage and the Turkey Breakfast Sausage Links.  Jimmy Dean was from Virginia.  Don’t ask me why I know that, my head is filled with some of the most useless information in the world but I can’t remember my own phone number.

 Virginia is for Lovers.  That’s what the tourism board says.  I’m not sure what that means because as far as I know anyone can have a great vacation in Virginia lover or not.  You can find Summer sports, Winter sports, Theme Parks, History, Ocean/Beach, Mountains, and Culture.  Very few states have both great Beaches and great Mountains so that’s very attractive to me when I’m looking for a place to go on vacation.  Arnold and I haven’t traveled there as much as we would like but we love the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley that were among the stops on our very first vacation together. 

 My cousin lives on the water in Virginia Beach and I’ve only been there once but it’s made quite an impression on me.  Now that we live in Florida, it’s not too far to drive so I hope to visit there again soon.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have Thanksgiving at your house Claudia? Hint Hint Wink Wink…

 But Virginia isn’t just for lovers, Virginia is for Foodies.

 http://www.virginia.org/site/features.asp?FeatureID=124&Rgn=10000

I love Mexican food!  Last week when I went to Houston for a visit, my son picked me up from the airport and I informed him that I had a list of restaurants I wanted to eat at while I was there.  Topping the list is my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant Gringos.  The very best in Tex-Mex and Margaritas can be found there and I’ve been dreaming about their salsa for days.  Lunch was more chips and salsa (green and red) than a person should eat, chicken falutas, with the best refried beans and rice and lots of guacamole.  OMG, I was in heaven.  I became so overwhelmed with a Tex-Mex food high that I left my credit card there and had to go back the next morning to get it.

But one thing that Florida does have is good burrito shops.  And when I want good burrito or tacos there’s no shortage of places to go.  Tijuana Flats, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Chipotle to name just a few.  But when I’m in or around Downtown St. Pete I go to Burrito Boarder.  It’s a funky little restaurant with skateboards hanging from the ceiling and tables made from surf boards.  The food is healthy, fresh and natural.  They use hormone free meats and organic veggies and best of all is that ALL the food is prepared fresh every day.  They don’t even have a freezer in this place.  The restaurant is totally eco friendly and most importantly to me it’s vegetarian friendly.  The veggie tacos are awesome and the freshly made guacamole is soooooo good that I can’t pass it up.

I’m not a night owl but this place is open until after 2am so it’s a great stop for after the club.  Sometimes there is a live band so tune into their Facebook Page to stay connected and for cheap eats check out Taco Tuesday for $1 tacos after 2pm.