Daily Loaf

400 Beach Seafood and Tap House (400 Beach Dr., St. Petersburg, 727-896-2400)
This new restaurant by Steve Westphal (of Parkshore Grill), is in the the spot made famous as the potential home of a restaurant by lying Food Network chef Robert Irvine. 400 Beach’s focus is on seafood in almost all its forms, from baskets of fried clams to raw oysters to fish en papilote.

Take a look. (Pictures by jamesostrand.com.)

Many more pictures after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

The summer in San Francisco arrives late, in September and October, as the days get longer and the cold bay breezes subside. While the East coast is planning for fall, we sit in our city and soak in the rare sunshine that has been so graciously bestowed upon us, knowing that November brings  fall and winter temps for about 7 months.

Warm weather and clear skies inspire me to my Florida seafood roots, and alternative cooking methods which point me towards the grill. With your outdoor cooking skills, basic recipes and a great cocktail in hand, you can entertain a crowd of two, or the masses.

This recipe calls for simple flavors, combined to create a starter that is light, fresh and flavorful. If you’ve never experimented with aioli, give it a try. It can add so much to the plate as a sauce and sublime, acidic, creamy accent to your dish. Read the rest of this entry »

Each time I find really nice sea scallops available at the market*, my recipe wheels immediately start turning. There’s a slightly majestic quality to their clean, delicate flesh and unique flavor which I simply cannot resist. So, this week’s shopping trip yielded not only the most fantastic scallops I’ve seen in a while, but also a new dish that is fresh and satisfying.

There are a few rules to live by when cooking scallops, and once you have it down it really is very simple. Be sure to dry them completely after washing as excess water in the pan will cause them to steam and sacrifice the deep golden crust that creates such an impressive presentation. The pan must also be very hot to achieve this signature scallop sear. Take care to remember the two minute rule as a cooking timeline as well- overdone scallops are rubbery and tough, and no fun to eat.

This recipe combines the classic pairing of scallops and bacon with a topping based loosely on a variation of maque choux. The flavors left in the pan after cooking the bacon and mushrooms will marry with the cream to create a rich and tasty sauce. After all, it is my firm belief that every good scallop deserves an equally good sauce.

Here’s the recipe:

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Stone crab season started yesterday and it’s time to break out the wetsuit and begin harvesting one of Florida’s tastiest indigenous foods. Best thing about stone crabs is that they are — largely — sustainable: the tough little buggers’ claws are made to fall of to distract predators and they grow back in about a year. Grab a crab, twist off a claw — just one so that the guy has another to defend himself — and throw him back to make more delicious food for next year. Even vegetarians have to love that, right?

Check out the piece I wrote last year for more info on our native delicacy, along with a great mustard sauce recipe.