Author Archives for popcorngirl12

Dinner at Sapphire Grill (Savannah, GA)

Our friends Lori & Mike have told us about their friend’s restaurant, Sapphire Grill, in Savannah, GA for a while now. We always said if we were ever to get up to Savannah we’d check it out. Well on the way home from Charleston we took a detour and decided to have dinner at Sapphire Grill before heading home. We arrived in Savannah on Sunday at 5:15pm. Found the restaurant and discovered they didn’t open till 6pm for dinner! So we made a reservation for 6pm. We were looking forward to meeting the owner/chef Chris Nason. But as luck would have it Chris was off that night. Either way, the restaurant was incredible. Great decor, brick walls, low lights, candles, full bar, very classy. It reminded me of a small intimate New York City type restaurant. The service was impeccable and the food was incredible! Besides the regular menu and ala carte menu they were also offering a “4 course sampler dinner” for $45 a person. We each decided to go for that. We had a choice of 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, 2 salads and a dessert. We were also given a loaf of crispy HOT bread and olive oil for dipping. The olive oil had a great salt/pepper mixture in it as well. Incredible!

I of course didn’t get pics of the food as I forgot the camera in the car. But I had the following: Appetizer: Champagne Poached Lobster on tomato/spinach. Salad: Caesar salad with an anchovy confit on top of four large crispy croutons. Entree: Wild Atlantic Salmon over polenta, with grilled asparagus. Dessert: Mini chocolate gateau with lavender vanilla ice cream. Everything was incredible! My husband had: Appetizer: Large Diver Scallop atop “forbidden” black grits. Salad: Caesar salad. Entree: 7 oz. sirloin with thin crispy french fries made to look like a tic tac toe board and roasted cherry tomatoes. Dessert: Mini chocolate gateau as well. We were also allowed to choose several sauces to go with our meal and we chose Sweet Soy & Wasabi, Truffle Butter, and Jalapeno Tartar! All were delicious!

All the portions were small but perfect. Just enough food, we were not overly stuffed and didn’t feel hungry afterwards. This was great since we still had to drive another 6 hours to get home!

The waiter, Gerome, was wonderful. Very attentive and fixed our napkins every time we got up from the table. We were made to feel very welcome and enjoyed every minute.

The restaurant is located at 110 West Congress St. in Savannah. It’s actually directly next door to Paula Deen’s restaurant! I recommend everyone giving it a try when in Savannah. The restaurant also has a third floor that I am guessing is for private parties or overflow.

Next time I will take pics of the food for sure! (The restaurant photos are from their website)

Road Trip to Charleston, South Carolina

Ok I am finally back to my routine after being away for four days on our little vacation to Charleston, SC. What a great time. Lots of fun and sightseeing and eating of course! Charleston is definitely one of the most friendly cities I have ever been too! Can’t wait to go back!

Our first night there we had dinner late since we arrived pretty late and were starving. We found a great little restaurant called TOAST. They have a full bar and serve breakfast all day long as well as having a regular menu. So of course I look over the menu and see one of the dishes I wanted to try while in Charleston. Shrimp and Grits! Yummm…It was a huge serving. Sautéed shrimp, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and sausage with garlic, deglazed with white wine and served with thyme cream sauce over grits. So good! I ate almost the entire bowl.

The next morning we went back to TOAST for breakfast. Had to try what they were famous for! They are the Home of the Bottomless Mimosa! Couldn’t pass that up! They weren’t kidding either. We must have had our glasses filled up at least 4 or 5 times!

For breakfast I had “Eggs Meeting Street”: A fried green tomato topped with a crab cake, poached egg, and Lowcountry rémoulade sauce, served with cheese grits. I also had a cup of She-crab soup, my other must have on this trip! Everything was incredible! The biscuit was huge!

The next day after walking around sightseeing we stopped in a local sports bar called TBonz. Just wanted to have a few drinks and a snack! Lets just say we never made it to dinner that night! We were so full from the snacks there was no way we could eat dinner. I think my body has also gone into a junk-food carb coma! At TBonz we sat at the bar and made friends with a local named Bruce. What a riot. He looked like a shorter older version of Sam Elliot, mustache and all! I’m just saying…For drinks my husband had a couple of Hurricanes and I had two Peach Ice Picks made with Firefly Sweat Tea Vodka and peach iced tea and I think some kind of whisky. Don’t remember really but I had two of them and they were very good!

Our snacks consisted on Bleu Cheese Potato Chips: Homemade potato chips topped with warm bleu cheese that they put under the broiler to melt the cheese! OMG! It was so decadent and delicious! I’m making them for our Super Bowl party next yer!

Our other snack was Lowcountry Crispy Calamari: Hand battered rings of succulent calamari golden fried, served with homemade marinara and Thai sauces! Again incredibly delicious! Look at the presentation!

Another night we found this awesome rooftop bar called the Library Rooftop Bar and Restaurant in the Vendue Inn. We had a couple margaritas while enjoying the view.

The view was incredible. After a couple of drinks we walked back to our car and called it a day. On our way home we stopped in Savannah, GA and had dinner at a restaurant that our friends recommended.  They know the owners and have been talking about it for a while so we figured it was a no-brainer. The restaurant is called Sapphire Grill. More on that tomorrow!

Charleston Cocktail

I am going to be in Charleston, SC for a few days and thought I’d look into a drink associated with the city. I found the Charleston Cocktail. It uses Mandarin Napoleon Orange Liqueur. I had never heard of this so I did some research. It is a Belgian orange liqueur made from cognac and flavored with essential oils that are extracted from fresh Sicilian tangerines. If you can’t find the Mandarin Napoleon Orange Liqueur you can substitute Grand Marnier or Cointreau for it. This cocktail is a great drink for sipping while sitting on the porch on a nice warm day. I am looking forward to trying it while there or making it on my own when I return! Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

3.5 ounces Mandarin Napoleon Orange Liqueur

3.5 ounces cherry brandy

6 ounces lemonade

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the Mandarin Napoleon and cherry brandy into a Collins glass half-filled with ice cubes. Top with lemonade, to taste, and serve.

Makes 2 drinks

She-Crab Soup

Keeping with the Charleston recipes today’s is She-Crab Soup. I have had this soup here in Florida and it was delicious. So creamy and rich and just plain scrumptious! It is not a low-calorie soup but you can lighten it up a bit by substituting some ingredients with their lighter counterparts. But for now I’m leaving the recipe as is. I won’t put in the calories I found on this either. No need. We know it’s high and we’ll leave it at that. Now what is a “she-crab” and why is it in a soup?

The soup is a regional specialty from the South Carolina Lowcountry. It is considered to be the signature dish of Charleston, SC and is featured on the menus of many of the city’s restaurants.

The soup is named for the “She-Crab”, or female crab, originally a gravid crab, heavy with the flavorful orange crab roe that is typically a main ingredient in traditional she-crab soup. You can leave the roe out of this recipe if you wish, nobody will know! I definitely plan on having this while on our little visit and I will be making a lighter version of my own when I get home. I looked through many recipes and formed my own version for this recipe.

If you want to learn a little more on the history of  She-Crab Soup, just click on the link for more information and another version of the recipe. I will add my substitutions after some ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons butter (or butter substitute)

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or soy flour)

1 small sweet onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 quarts half-and-half (or fat-free half-and-half)

1 pint heavy cream (or light cream)

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chicken broth (fat-free)

1 pound lump crabmeat

3 tablespoons crab roe (optional)

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (my husband would want more I am sure!)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons fresh dill (2 tsp. dried)

2 tablespoons scallions, chopped

½ cup sherry wine

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt the butter in a large stockpot/dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a smooth paste (a roux) and cook for about 3 minutes, making sure you stir constantly! Stir in the onion and garlic and season with the salt and pepper. Continue cooking and stirring for about 4 more minutes.

2. Gradually whisk in the half-and-half making sure no lumps form. Stir in the chicken broth and heavy cream. Bring this to a simmer and pour in half of the sherry. Add the dill, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the soup has reduced by a third. Add the crabmeat (and roe if you decide to use it), stir carefully. Simmer for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Serve the soup and top each bowl off with a splash of the rest of the sherry and a sprinkle of the scallions!

Serves 8 (cut the recipe in half if this will be too much for your family)


Garlic Cheese Grits and Shrimp

So for the next four days my husband and I are heading to Charleston, SC. I thought I’d look up some local recipes and adapt them to my cooking style. I have heard so much about their shrimp and grits so I figured I’d start there. My husband loves grits (he should marry them!) and I like them. We both like shrimp and garlic so this recipe seemed like a no-brainer. I haven’t made it yet but I do plan to once we get back from our trip. I am going to definitely try it while up there though! The original recipe called for 6 ounces of garlic flavored processed cheese. I am going to be using 8 wedges of Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb cheese. Fewer calories for sure and still with all the flavor. I would also use fat-free chicken broth instead of water when cooking the grits. Again, more flavor!


INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup uncooked grits

6 ounces Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb cheese (8 wedges)

pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons butter (or butter substitute)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomato, diced

2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ lemon, juiced

salt to taste


DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook grits according to package directions. Stir in the Laughing Cow cheese and cayenne pepper. Keep warm over low heat.

2. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute garlic and tomato until tomato begins to soften. Stir in shrimp and lemon juice. Saute until shrimp are pink. Season with salt to taste.

3. Spread warm grits on a serving platter and pour shrimp mixture on top.

Serves 4

Pumpkin Mania

Every year I try to buy those little sugar pumpkins so I can bake or cook with them after the season is done and put away. But as with most of my ideas I tend to put things off and then it’s too late. This year I did buy two small pumpkins and I am determined to use them to bake or cook with. Plus I love roasting the seeds to munch on. But for those of you and me most of the time, I buy the canned pumpkin to use in my recipes. And with the pumpkin shortage a thing of the past, for this year anyway, I have lots of cans just ready to be used. But besides baking what can we do with all that canned pumpkin? Remember that pumpkin is in the squash family and it’s very versatile, tasty and good for you! It’s got a lot of fiber and beta-carotene and almost no fat! Winners in my book! And with only 42 calories in a half-cup serving it’s a dieter’s dream ingredient! So today I am going to give you some tips on what you can do with all that canned pumpkin. Something besides pie that is! I usually buy Libby’s which is pretty much the most popular brand you will find on the shelves.

Tip #1:

You can make a very simple soup by sautéing an onion and adding about 4 cups of chicken broth and a 28-ounce can of pumpkin. Stir in 2-3 ounces of goat cheese and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Tip #2:

Use canned pumpkin as a thickener. Add a cup to a vegetable chili to round out the flavor and add some thickness to the texture. You can also add this to a spicy stew or black bean soup! It’ll make a boring ho-hum recipe just burst with flavor!

Tip #3:

In making quick breads substitute canned pumpkin for half the fat. It will not only add color and flavor but it goes great with cinnamon, citrus and even chocolate!

Tip #4:

When making cheesecake, add canned pumpkin to half of your cheesecake filling, and swirl the “pumpkin” half into the plain half before baking.

Tip #5:

Mix canned pumpkin into softened ice cream and then refreeze for a quick pumpkin dessert! Yummy!

Tip #6:

Add ½ cup canned pumpkin to the cooking water for rice, millet, or quinoa.

Tip #7:

Add some canned pumpkin to white sauces; they will turn a beautiful color.

Don’t be afraid to add pumpkin to just about any dish. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is and how good it will taste!

Falling Back

Hi everyone! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted but my cousin from New York was here visiting and I didn’t get a chance to do much blogging. We ate and drank quite a bit though. The first weekend she was here we all went to EPCOT for the Wine and Food Festival. I think we drank more than we ate actually. But it was a great time for sure! Before we hit the Food Festival we took a drive the night before to City Walk at Universal Studios and went to Margaritaville for dinner and margaritas of course!

Margarita at Orlando Margaritaville

Our appetizer was a deep-fried sliced kosher dill pickle with a ranch dipping sauce. It was incredible! We should have gotten at least three orders!

Fried Pickle!

Next we had Cheeseburgers in Paradise of course!

Cheeseburger in Paradise!

The next two days were spent in EPCOT. Our first stop was France where we got the usual Pomegranate Kir and Escargot in Brioche! So decadent!

Sluggo enjoying some French cuisine!

Next stop was Germany for the usual German sausage in a pretzel roll. This year the sausage was twice the size of the roll! We also had a delicious serving of cheese spaetzel! No counting calories today! We had to wash it all down with some German beer of course!

German sausage in a pretzel roll with cheese spaetzel

Belgium was next and we had the mussels in the garlic cream sauce. I posted this recipe last week so check it out!

Mussels in Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce at Belgium in EPCOT

We drank a few Proseccos in Italy and had a baked ravioli and canoli as well. Needless to say, I forgot to take pics after a while. But I recommend that everyone go to the festival if you can. It’s a lot of fun and you get to try so many awesome things.

John and the 15th Anniversary Festival Cake

On the way home from Disney we planned to head to Cape Canaveral to see the shuttle Discovery launch on November 1. But as all of you may or may not know by now, it never launched. We planned it perfectly to be out there and we were sad when it couldn’t launch. Nov. 30 is the next date. But on the way home from there we stopped in Titusville, and had dinner at our favorite place. Dixie Crossroads. It’s nothing fancy but they have these little bites of deliciousness called Rock Shrimp. They look like mini lobsters! So cute! We have them steamed and dip in butter, just like lobster! We also had a lobster dinner as well. Why not, we were on a roll already at this point!

They serve everyone these little dough corn fritters. They are so tasty but I try not to go crazy eating too many!

You can't eat just one of these corn fritters!

Lobster and rock shrimp to fill us up for the drive back home.

Sluggo loves his lobster!

Rock Shrimp

So that was just four days of my cousin’s visit. We had many more excellent meals but I am getting full just thinking of them. She left to go back to New York today so now it’s back to normal eating. Maybe soup tonight?

Tomorrow I will be back to the regular recipes before my husband and I head to Charleston for a few days to check it out. More food! I hear their specialty is shrimp and grits! I can’t wait!

Till tomorrow!

Mussels in Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

Well I am back from the Wine and Food Festival at EPCOT in Walt Disney World. We ate, we drank, we walked and sweated! A great time was had by all! This recipe was actually posted on Disney’s blog before the festival because it was going to be a new dish from a new country at the festival. Belgium. But before I made it or wrote about it I at least wanted to taste it. It was delicious! I would have gotten it again but we were so full we were happy to have tasted it at least once. The recipe looks long and difficult but it’s pretty straight forward. They actually call for fresh mussels that you have to scrub and “de-beard”, which is fine, but I have lots of frozen cooked mussels in my freezer so I will just cook them according to the package. Which is really just heating them up. So either way you want to do this will be fine. I can’t wait to make them at home. Maybe this weekend! If you like garlic and mussels then you will love this recipe.

Mussels in Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce at Belgium in EPCOT

INGREDIENTS:

ROASTED GARLIC PUREE:

2 large heads garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

ROASTED GARLIC CREAM SAUCE:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, minced

½ cup white wine

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons Roasted Garlic Puree

½ teaspoon coarse salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

MUSSELS:

4 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup water

4 thick slices sourdough bread, toasted

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

DIRECTIONS:

ROASTED GARLIC PUREE:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Remove excess papery skin from garlic, keeping head intact. Cut about ¼ off of garlic head, exposing the cloves.

2. Place each head of garlic cut side up on an individual square of aluminum foil. Drizzle each with oil. Wrap in foil, sealing edges.

3. Place pouch in oven and roast for 45 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

4. Squeeze garlic from skins into small bowl. Discard skins. Mash garlic with a fork until smooth.

ROASTED GARLIC CREAM SAUCE:

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice, stirring to combine. Cook until reduced by half, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

2. Add cream, roasted garlic purée, salt and pepper, whisking to combine. Simmer (DO NOT BOIL) until sauce is slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside.

MUSSELS:

1. Place mussels, wine and water into a large stockpot over high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook until mussels open, about 4 minutes. Remove and discard any mussels that do not open. Strain cooking liquid from mussels and discard liquid.

2. Place mussels in a large serving bowl or individual shallow bowls. Pour roasted garlic cream sauce over mussels and garnish with parsley, dill and chives. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Layered Greek Dip

This is such an easy and quick dip to throw together. There are only 5 ingredients! Nice! I love Greek food and we don’t get to go out for it too often. Probably because where I live in south Florida there are very few good Greek restaurants. We did find a great one in St. Augustine called Athena’s. But I’m not driving over 3 hours for Greek food! Anyway this is just a snack food anyway but it’s healthy too.

This is best in a round nine-inch pie plate but if you don’t have one, just use something else. A long oval dish is fine also. You want something that has sides so everything stays where it should.

Photo is for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

7 ounces prepared hummus (any brand you like)

4 ounces crumbled light Feta cheese (use regular if you are not watching calories)

½ cup chopped tomatoes

¼ cup chopped cucumbers (best to use the English ones and leave the skin on)

2 tablespoons chopped Kalamata olives

oregano

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spread the hummus onto bottom of a 9″ pie plate or other serving dish.

2. Cover with feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives.

3. Sprinkle with a little oregano if you wish.

4. Serve with baked pita chips!

Traveling Around the World

Not really, but close! Today and this weekend I will not have regular posts as I will be at the Wine and Food Festival in EPCOT at Disney World. This will be our (hubby and me) 9th year in a row. This year we are bringing my cousin Linda with us. (She is the one who is not so fond of Sluggo.) She is in for a treat! Yes Disney is expensive, yes they charge for EVERYTHING, and yes we will spend some money. BUT, we love going anyway and the food festival is just incredible. We drink wine, beer, champagne, sake, from all over the world and taste food that we might never ever get a chance to experience in person. Being so close to Disney is also a plus. We are only a little over 2 hours away by car. Plus Florida residents get all kinds of discounts on the park tickets. We have a seasonal pass and we can go into as many parks as we want every single day! All 4 in one day, if we wanted to! We won’t. Sticking to EPCOT this trip. So the pics I’m going to post now are from past trips. The new ones will be posted once I get home. Sluggo will also be joining us and we’ll get lots of photos of him enjoying the food and wine! (And Linda if she doesn’t notice me taking her picture as well!)

Happy Halloween to everyone also!


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