FLORIDA PART II: T-Rex Cafe - Dining with Dinosaurs

Orlando... 

After Tallahassee, I went with my friends M. & J. straight to Orlando where we met up with my boyfriend.

We spent some amazing time at Disney's Typhoon Waterpark and the Islands of Adventure and its Wizarding World of Harry Potter. My boyfriend and I also visited Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot at Disney World, we played mini-golf at Disney's Fantasia Gardens and we went to a Pirate Dinner Show. 

T-Rex Cafe...

As you can see, I had a wonderful time. One of my food highlights here was a visit to the "T-Rex Cafe" at Disney Downtown, which is basically a "brother" restaurant to the Rainforest Cafe. This place does not just have great and tasty food and cocktails, it also seems to come alive. The entire theme of the place is prehistoric with an interactive display of dinosaurs and different dining areas. Several times each hour a short show starts in which the dinosaurs start moving, making sounds and lights are flickering.

J. and I ordered the "Woolly Mommoth Chicken" (amazing grilled chicken over garlic mushed potatoes in a tomato broth with lots of vegetables - so good), my boyfriend got the "Tribal Fish Tacos"(cute little tasty tacos, wrapped in a nice way in tin foil) and M. got the "Paleozoic Chicken Sandwich" (delicious sandwich made out of pizza dough with grilled chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, lemon aioli). I tasted them all and can recommend them :)

A fun experience, well worth the wait in line, and I have to admit we even didn't need to wait that long. And again, this is something I would have never experienced without my friends M. & J. :)

Check also out, M's Blog entry to this day at: http://peachesnorangesflorida.blogspot.com/2013/09/tropical-and-prehistoric.html

Woolly Mommoth Chicken

Tribal Fish Tacos

FLORIDA PART I: At Tallahassee's Front Porch

Last month I went to Tallahassee, Florida to visit my good old friends M. & J. from my German college time who had moved to the US about a year ago. It was M.'s B-day and we had a wonderful few days in Tallahassee before we moved on to Orlando together. It really felt like old times...

The Food Highlight...

On my last night in Tallahassee, M. & J. took me to an amazing dinner at the "Front Porch". It is a very nice restaurant with great atmosphere and outdoor dining options, cute cocktails and amazing food. However, I have to admit as they told me about the speciality at that restaurant, my first thought was, that is nothing for me... As a speciality you can order a whole fish, that is freshly fried and grilled and served for about 3 people. I had never seen an entire fish with head and tail on the plate and I couldn't imagine myself eating it. However, the more I thought about it, the more I got curious and I decided I wanted to try it. Best decision ever! The fish was so delicious, crispy and flavorful, I believe it was a red snapper. I did not touch the head, but there were nice filet pieces that we could pick out.

Thanks for an amazing time and for letting me try something new :)

Tallahassee's highlights besides food...

M. & J. did their best to present Tallahassee from its best side and they did a damn good job with that!
Next to the Front Porch Adventure, here is a brief summary of the Highlights:

• An amazing sunset B-Day picnic at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refugee (I also have to congratulate J.'s driving skills on the way back home as somehow all the wildlife wanted to make an appearance and cross the street in front of us - raccoons, deer, alligators, opossums...)
• A delightful boats tour at Wakulla Springs 
• A visit to the Maclay Gardens State Park 
• An adventurous full-moon kayak tour
• And last but not least, an enjoyable and relaxed afternoon at M. & J.'s pool :)

St. Marks National Wildlife Refugee

Wakulla Springs

Maclay Gardens State Park

Chicken Cordon Bleu à la Adam

I do love to cook, so my boyfriend usually doesn't get a chance to do so... However, I am really lucky when he does cook, as he is an amazing cook :)

This time he decided to put his own spin on "Chicken Cordon Bleu" and it was so delicious...

 

Ingredients (for 2 people):

• 4 Chicken breasts
• 4 slices of prociutto (air dried ham)
• 4 slices of pesto-parmesan ham (thinnly sliced from the Deli bar)
• 4 slices of swiss cheese
• Parmesan cheese (finely shredded)
• Panco's breadcrumps (parmesan flavor works great)
• 2 Eggs and 2 cups of Flour (for the breading process)
• salt, pepper, red pepper to taste
• oil 
• side dishes: quinoa and baby carrots and peas

 

Preparation:

First, he cut open the chicken breasts and flipped the side open, so that it created a big flat surface. He pounded the chicken breast to thin cutlets by placing a plastic wrap on top of the chicken, so that the pounding does not damage it.

Then he placed the following slices on each cutlet, covering up as much of the cutlet as possible: 1 slice of Prociutto, 1 slice of Pesto-Parmesan Ham and 1 slice of Swiss Cheese. Now he rolled each cutlet and secured it with a toothpick.

He prepared 3 bowls for the breading process: 1 bowl with flower, 1 bowl with eggs, 1 bowl with Panco's breadcrumps. He beat the eggs and spiced them with salt, pepper and red pepper. Each cutlets was first dusted with the flour, covering all sides of it. Then it was dipped into the eggs. And lastly the cutlets were coated with the bread crumbs.

 Lightly spray a baking pan with oil and place the cutlets in there. Sprinkle some parmesan on top of them and bake them in the pre-heated oven at about 390 degree for about 20-25 min until they are golden brown. 

In the meantime, prepare the side dishes. My boyfriends prepared some quinoa and baby carrots and peas, but you can also serve it over some rice or salad.

THIS YEAR'S camping experience - Dinner à la Crab Pot

This meal was inspired by: Seattle's famous Crab Pot  http://www.thecrabpotseattle.com/

And the adventure continues...

Friday, 13th 2013 (more or less) - THIS Year

And again we went camping with our good friends J. & S., this time it was S. birthday. We went to the Beverly Beach State Park at the Oregon Coast. While setting up our tents on the 13th and celebrating the B-Day with Hot Dogs, Beer and Whiskey, we had a very sophisticated B-Day dinner planned for the 14th.

The Crab Pot...

We bought fresh seafood including entire Crabs, Oysters, Clams and Andouille Sausage from one of the coastal stores. Prepared with additional Corn on the Cobs, Potatoes and Crab Boil spices, we were able to prepare an authentic Crab Pot dinner. The only challenge left, was to try to get all the incredients in one big pot... After cooking all the ingredients that same big pot of boiling water, we drained the content and poured it on the with newspaper prepared table. Armed with hammers and fondue forks we went for it... So delicious...

LAST YEAR'S camping experience - Camping & Breakfast?

What comes to mind, if you think about camping? 

I think about sleeping in a tent, outside in the forest or at a lake and open fires. Food would be an adventure, meals would be planned based on a limited supply of cooking equipments, spices and basic food options. Grilling sausages on a stick or steaks on a grill, hamburgers or hot dogs would be typical, and of course s'mores as a crowning finish. If you want to get a little more sophisticated, you can also roast some potatoes and vegetables on the side and corn on the cob.

2012 - Last year however... 

I discovered how amazing breakfast can be while camping. We went camping in South Oregon, at the Lost Creek Lake to catch a Shakespeare out-door play in Ashland and to see the famous Crater Lake with its Wizard Island. Beautiful places! And thanks to my good friends J. & S. and their iron cast cooking equipment I was surprised what you can do on an open fire. We prepared an amazing breakfast with everything that a typical American breakfast includes:

Blackberry Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Fried Bacon and Fresh Fruits 


As we are already talking about Camping & Amazing Food, wait till you see THIS YEARS camping experience....

Crater Lake and Wizard Island

Elizabethan Stage in Asland, OR

Rainbow Fruit Cups

Ever wondered how to make a fruit salad look pretty? Well, fruits are so delicious and exoctic that it actually is not a big challenge. However, for my work colleague's baby shower I thought to try something special. I googled "fruit salad + baby shower" and found this really cute idea:

Rainbow Fruit cups

Ingredients: 

• Nice cups (I actually bought plastic wine cups from the dollar store and they worked perfectly)
• Rainbow colored fruits
• Whipped cream
• Cookie sticks (or as my Mom suggested, these little cute cocktail umbrellas if you can find them)

I used the following fruit, however, all those fruits can be exchanged for fruits of the same color:

Red strawberries, Orange tangerines, Yellow pineapple, Green kiwi, Blue blueberries

Preparation:

Just cut the fruit in slices and layer them up in the cup in the order of the rainbow colors:

RED - ORANGE - YELLOW - GREEN - BLUE

  

Corn Chowder

Lately I have been really into soups. And even so I do like clam chowders, I am a big fan of this "kinda" vegetarian version of a chowder. I got the idea from my good friend M. who always brought a part of the US to us to Germany. Years ago, back in Germany, she cooked a delicious corn chowder (I believe it was for her birthday), the first time that I have ever heard of this recipe.

This recipe is an adaptation of several different corn chowder recipes I found. You can use fresh or frozen corn, you can use bacon to increase the flavor, and you can play around with adding milk, cream, chicken stock and/or white wine. Here is what I used:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbs butter/margerine
• 2 strips of bacon 

• 1 yellow onion - diced
• 1 carrot - diced
• 1 celery stalk - diced
• 1 red chili pepper (or a milder green serrano pepper) - sliced

• 3-4 cups of corn (e.g. I used a mix of fresh and frozen corn: 2 ears of sweet corn, 1 bag of frozen corn)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 thyme leave - chopped
• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine

• 1 big potato (I prefer Yukon Gold) - diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper - diced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

• for garnishment: sliced chives, green onions, chili pepper, shredded cheese and/or croutons

PREPARATION

First, melt the butter over low-medium heat and add the bacon strips. Fry it till its fat is rendered (the fat is what gives it flavor), but doens't let it get brown or burned. While waiting, dice the onions, carrots and celery and slice the chili pepper. 

Now add the onions and saute them till they are translucent. Then add the carrot, celery and chili pepper and let cook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, cut the corn off the corn cob. Just use a knife and slice along the sides. You will notice how juicy the corn cob itself is. Best do it over a bowl so that the kernels don't fly around. 

Then add the corn cobs to the pot, add the bay leaf, thyme, milk, cream, chicken stock and wine. Let simmer on lowest heat for 15-30 minutes to get the flavor out of the bacon and corn cobs. Make sure that it is not boiling as that would separate the cream. Dice the potatoes and bell pepper in small pieces. 

Now remove the corn cobs and bacon. Add the potatoes and red bell pepper cubes. Spice with cumin, pepper and salt (if you like it spicy add some cayenne pepper). Turn up the heat a little bit to medium and bring it to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes are soft.

Add the fresh and frozen corn and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 5 min.
As a last step, I like to take 1/2 - 2/3 of the soup and blend it. Then mix it with the not blended soup and you will have a soup with some nice pieces of potatoe, corn and carrot.  

Serve with some sliced chives, green onions, chilies, shredded cheese or croutons.

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