Fall in Full Swing

Well it has been awhile since I posted and things have been busy here at tha Marina Inn. We have been to and hosted some events but I have also made it possible to slip of every now and then and spend some time in the woods.

Speaking of events Tina, myself and a friend of mine Ryan went to the Charleston Greenfair and cooked in the Sustainable Seafood Initiative tent.  It was a Shrimp cooking contest and we did Blackened Shrimp Tacos with Smoked Corn Salsa and Guajillo Avocado Yogurt.  We saw some old friends at the event and even though we did not win we had a great time.  After the event  we went over to Caviar and Bananas which is like a miniature Dean & Deluca and had the Duck Confit Panini which was killer and now writing this post I am craving one.

Canning

I have always wanted to do this and we got some killer small Romas from Sarah and Sam at Indigo Farms so we dried a bunch and we canned some also.

Tina got some Figs from Sarah and Sam also and made Perserves.

We also did some Pickled Okra and Dilly Beans!

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Scorpion Fish

I have gotten a few of these from Wayne and he does not have them all the time but when is does I love to get them.  The meat taste and cooks very much like Lobster.  They are also great served raw or Ceviche.

 

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I know I know!!

I know its been a long time since I made a post Summer can get pretty busy here and I got caught up in my work and less on writing.  We have had a great Summer here and we have still been getting beautiful fish from Wayne like Black Snapper, Scamp Grouper, Amberjack, Trigger-fish ect..  we have been using Indigo Farms for some of your local produce and we have gotten Peaches, Peanuts, Tomatoes, Corn, Watermelons, Cantaloupe, Squash, Peppers, Eggplant, Okra and so on and so on. 

We have done some fun things this summer also.  Bill Hartley one of the Chef’s in WaterScapes and I went to Charleston to the Charleston Culinary Institute and cooked a course for the Sustainable Seafood Initiative.  We did sauteed Trigger Fish with Sweet English Peas and Smoked Shrimp Relish.  The other Chefs were Scott Stefanelli who is the Executive and Instructor at the Culinary School which by the way is incredible.  They every bell and whistle there and it is very nice I would defiantly recommend it for a Culinary Education.  Frank McMahon who is the Executive Chef at Hank’s in Charleston who did a really beautiful dish of Tuna and Gazpacho it was very good.  Robert Wysong was the last chef that was there and he came up from the Sanctuary at Kiawah.  It was great to meet the other Chefs and be a part of the dinner.  Also attending the dinner was Frank Lee who is the Executive Chef for Maverick group and Bob Wagoner two very well know chefs so that made even more of a treat to be able to cook for them.

We do have a lot of new things coming up that we are excited about.  Speaking of the Sustainable Seafood Initiative Tina and I will be going back down to Charleston on the September 27th for the Charleston Green Fair and doing a Shrimp cooking contest for SSI which we are excited about.  Also we will be hosting the March of Dimes Signature Chef’s Event here at the Marina Inn and if you are interested in becoming a Sponsor or would like tickets for the event please feel free to e-mail me.

New York

Last week I went on a long over due trip to New York.  I had been once before but spent most of the time working but did get to go to the Blue Ribbon which from what I remember was great.  Last week was just a trip for fun and a big THANK YOU!! to my Mom for the wonderful time and experience.

We only had a few days to spend in NYC so we really made the most of our trip and since I am so crazy for fish I choose places that I though would be the best places to go for fish.  I had the opportunity to try 16 different verities of fish which were Skate Wing, Grouper, Arctic Char, Fluke, Blow Fish, Razor Clam, Scorpion Fish, Halibut, Hamachi, Oysters, Scallop, John Dory, Orata (Sea Bream), Salmon, Lobster and Red Snapper. 

Here are some of the places we went to eat.

Day 1

Fatty Crab for Lunch Pork Belly Tea Sandwiches & Crispy Skate Wing Sandwiches with Panag Sauce.

 

Dinner At:

 Crudo tasting

Blow-fish Tails

Sardines & Anchovies

Scorpion Fish

Day Two

Started the morning with a trip to Zabar’s for some looking and tasting. Then we did some NY site seeing like Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Then Lunch at the Fish Cooking Mecca Le Bernardin in which it is almost imposable to make a decisionon what to have for a first course because everything look so amazing.  After Lunch we then went to Bar Boulud for the Charcruterie Platter which was also incredible.

 

Then dinner that night we went to Cortonwhich was really phenomenal.  Mom still can not stop talking about her dessert or entree.

Mom’s Dessert

Day Three we got up early and went for a quick and small breakfast at Balthazar.

Then over to Russ and Daughters for Bagel, Irish Smoked Salmon and Scallion Cream Cheese that was awesome. 

And then right down the street was Katz’s Deli for a Beef  Tongue Sandwich which I took home with me cause I was way to full to eat it.

We did some shopping , tasting and looking around at The Chelsea Market.

And then we had Lunch at The John Dory which was great but they had a new server which kinda butchered my whole Sea Bream when he took it off the bone but it was still great.

Thank you again Mom for a trip I will never forget!!-

Soft Shell Crabs!!

Well it is that time of year again when the dogwoods are blooming, the Turkeys are gobbling, the shad are running and the CRABS are PEELING!!

On Tueday few other local chef’s and I went on a field trip and meet with some farms over in Andrews (which I will talk about more latter on)and after lunch we went over to visit Bill and Kathy at Livingston’s Bulls Bay Seafood in McClellanville SC.  We had heard that they had a fresh load of peeler crabs in and that they were about to molt and become soft shells. Peeler crabs are caught in peeler pots and what that means is the peeler pots are baited with 3or4 mature males (not food) and the females are attracted to them and crawl inside the trap.  These small females are then taking out and placed in the tanks and are watched for 24hours untill they start to shed or as they say Bust out of their shells.

 

I had never seen this this happen before and it was very intresting to talk to Kathy and her telling us all about the process.

Here are two video clips.  The first one is of Kathy telling us about the crabs shedding or “Busting” and the next video is a crab slowly busting out of her shell.

I really thought this was very cool to see.

Here are some more pictures I took in the shedding house.

This is what is left after the crab sheds its shell.

Here is Ryan and Kurt from Divine Group looking over the Shedding Tanks.

This is inside the shedding house.

Welcome Back Spring !!!!!

We are all so happy that Spring has finally gotten here.  We have a lot of great things coming up this Spring here at the Hotel and around town.  We will be changing our menu in WaterScapes on April 2nd to reflect the new season and of course we will have some soft shells coming in soon.  I talked with Jeff down at Livingston’s this week about the soft shells and he said it wont be long just look for the Dogwoods to bloom and it should be on. 

On April 8th we will be opening our Anchor Cafe out in the Marina.  It will be open Thursday thru Sunday 11am till and after Memorial Day it will be open daily at 11am until Labor Day.  We have changed some items on the menu this year but we will still have great burgers, fish tacos and Ice Cold Beer.

On Monday April 20 Tina and I will be attending the Trio Dinner at the Convention Center.  Tina and I did this event last year and its a lot fun.  We are paired up with two students one in High School and one in Culinary School and create some dishes together. Check out  www.triodinner.org for more info or buying tickets.

Chaine Dinner!

Marcey and I went to the Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner last night that was at the Horry Georgetown Technical College.  This event was put on by the Alumni to help raise money for the culinary program at HGTC.  Our pastry Chef Tina Spaltro did one of the dishes.  Here is a picture of Marcey and I with Eric Wagner & Tina.

Rockfish

We got a great looking Rockfish and even though it is not a local fish it did come from VA.  It is illegal to catch and sell a Rockfish here in South Carolina and that is just one of the reasons you see the tags in the Rockfish mouths.

This is one of my favorite fish because I know that spring is right around the corner.

Thank You Steve Porter.

There was a very nice artical published by Steve Porter about me and WaterScapes this past week in the Myrtle Beach Herald which you can read here.

So thank you Steve for the kind words.