Terry Howard » Cooking

Florida Cracker Paella

Terry Howard — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:04:30 +0000

Here’s a good recipe I just made up from clams harvested in Mosquito Lagoon today. I think the more locally produced and self caught ingredients you can use in this, the better it will taste.

From Food

Sunrise Park at Sunrise
Justin and I launched the canoe just after 7:30 and caught a perfect sunrise to start our day. I kept the phone in the Aqua-Pac the entire time, so this is the only picture from the water, but it pretty much does the job.

From Food

The Haul
Fish weren’t biting and an approaching thunderstorm chased us back to shore by 10:30. Saw a perfect slot sized Redfish by the boat but not really much in the way of bites. I was able to harvest about 15 Hardshell Clams of various sizes.

From Food

Locally Gathered
I picked up some mussels, chopped a locally grown yellow onion and tomato, and grabbed some Lakeridge Southern White Wine (also locally produced.) I decided to make a quick and easy Florida Cracker Paella. I think I’d like to in the future use a key lime here instead of normal lime juice. Some chopped garlic to bring it all together.

From Food

Melt Wet Ingredients
Melted butter spread with a dash of the wine and lime juice.

From Food

Shellfish and Veggies
Added all the clams and mussels, garlic and veggies and let simmer until all the shellfish opened. I only had 2 clams that didn’t open so I made sure to remove them and toss.

From Food

Shells Out, More Seafood
After a bit of siimmering the clams and mussels just give up their shells, falling right out. I carefully made sure to remove all shells and then added some shrimp and crab leg meat.

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Simmering Meat Goods
This time I used alaskan king crab leg meat because it was on sale real cheap, but to make this even better I want to use Blue Crab that I also catch. Can’t get any fresher than gathered by hand. I think you could also through in some cuts of fish fillets if your trip happens to yield some.

From Food

Grain and Spices
I tossed in cous cous (probably about a cup, just 2 scooper fulls) along with a dash of hot sauce and a sprinkling of dried red pepper flakes. You could use any kind of grain here, yellow rice or maybe even grits would be an interesting take. When the grain is cooked, the meal is done.

From Food

Portion and Leftovers
Made enough for one epic meal and a sensible lunch the next day. It would easily be enough for 2 or 3 people, probably would need a bigger pan to make enough for 4 or more, but I have a large cast iron I could call on to do the job.

From Food

On the Plate in 30 Minutes
I was suprised at how fast I was able to get this seemingly complicated meal to the table. It was exactly a half hour on the nose. Pairs Nicely with Yuengling.

Recipe Timeline

80′s Birthday Cake

Terry Howard — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:40:31 +0000

My talented wife has been making these really spectacular fondant based cakes for a little while now, and today she crafted this one for a friend’s 30th birthday. The party is going to be 80′s themed, so the cake is as well. It came out totally rad. I crafted the Stay Puft Marshmallow man myself, because I’m a big 80′s movie nerd. Rachel, you rock!

From Rachel’s Cakes

I Eat Pardoned Turkeys

Terry Howard — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:45:00 +0000

Pardoning turkeys is stupid. Turkeys are for eating. In fact, I think I would vote for a presidential candidate who vowed to eat the turkeys given to them for the length of their term. I also want a shirt that reads “I Eat Pardoned Turkeys”.

Alton Brown’s Fried Turkey

Terry Howard — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 01:06:00 +0000

This is the process by which I will be frying the turkey. I’m following Alton Brown’s recipe, who is my favorite TV chef. He’s by far the most knowledgeable cooking expert on TV and always explains the whys and hows of cooking.

Mmmmmm Fried Turkey

Terry Howard — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:27:00 +0000

Getting geared up for hosting our first Thanksgiving and looking to put together the perfect menu. We want to do the traditional Thanksgiving feast but give it a little something extra and unique. We’ll be frying the turkey, which is not all that unique these days (but oh so tasty,) and stuffing and mashed potatoes will surely be in attendance. Just watched an Alton Brown Good Eats where he showed how to make a from scratch souped up version of the green bean casserole that looked fantastic.

I thought about doing some fishing the weekend before and seeing if I couldn’t put some nice fish dishes on the table for something different and with a local flare. Anybody have some good interesting fish recipes or any other unique ideas for Thanksgiving?

Best BBQ in Orlando

Terry Howard — Mon, 07 May 2007 13:11:00 +0000

Chris Gent on the Sentinel’s new Conway Blog poses the question what’s the best barbecue in Orlando? We had this discussion on Orlando Metroblogging a little while back too. I really like Uncle Jones’ BBQ now that I’ve given it a try. Great BBQ lunch buffet. Bubbalou’s is definitely good as well. I do miss Red’s BBQ though. Mrs. Red and Pee Wee were the nicest restaurateurs I’ve ever met and their hot BBQ sauce and Texas toast pork sandwiches were awesome. I wish I could say I like Conway’s BBQ, but I can’t enjoy Q from a place that doesn’t have Texas toast, plus their meat needs some rub or something, not enough flavor.

This whole discussion reminded me of the time the Florida legislature kicked around the idea of creating a Florida BBQ Czar position to oversee the promotion of Florida style BBQ, help it to get the same recognition as Memphis, Carolina, Texas, etc… I would so love to have that title!