Conch Salad Recipe

Even the queen of fatback needs to eat healthy every now and then, and I can think of no better recipe to satisfy a craving for a flavorful low-fat dish than conch salad.

I first tasted fresh conch (as in pulled straight from the waters in front of you while you stare in complete awe) when my husband and I eloped to the Turks and Caicos islands to get married on the beach at sunset with a couple of witnesses, a minister and a photographer. (I have never been a big wedding kinda gal.) At any rate, we spent one afternoon touring a small conch farm and finished up our day with a lunch of fried conch fritters, lime-enhanced conch salad, and a couple of Heineken's on the beach. It was one of the best meals I ever had, so when I had the opportunity to visit Pink Sands Resort on the small yet mighty Bahamian outcropping known as Harbour Island, Eleuthera, to take a cooking class with the resort's Executive Chef James Van Dyke, I was all over it.

First off, the beaches of Harbour Island are mind-blowingly gorgeous. The water right outside my cottage looked exactly like this. If I recall correctly, when I first stepped out onto this deck, I wept.

Now this is a room with a view.

While one could easily hole up at Pink Sands for at least a month life, any visitor to this friendly island would be remiss if she didn't take a lunchtime stroll to the other side of the island (it's only a half-mile wide) to sample some local street fare. One of my favorite stops along this route was a waterside shack simply known as Queen Conch.

No cars on Harbour Island, so I recommend brushing up on your golf cart driving skills.

Talk about devoting your cooking prowess to one item and making that one dish spectacular. This is what Queen Conch is all about-- conch salad, and doing it up right. Served paper and plastic spork-style at outside tables right along the Harbor, this is probably the best conch salad you'll ever eat.

Rustic, simple and utterly divine, this fresh-from-the-water delicacy made from chopped conch mixed with onions, peppers, lime juice and hot sauce is best washed down with a cold Kalik lager (a Bahamian tradition) which can be conveniently purchased across the street for one whole dollar. As you can see, this is some seriously good gastropod. If you're lucky, while you wait for your salad, you can step around back and witness Queen Conch owner Richard Percentie pull a conch from his underwater cage and literally knock the sweet, white meat (still moving) right out of the shell. Told you it was fresh.

If you want to learn how to make your own conch salad, I highly recommend taking one of Chef Van Dyke's cooking classes at Pink Sands which are offered al fresco overlooking that stunning beach.

Conch salad is super easy to make. The hardest part, at least for us Mid-Atlantic folk, is getting a hold of fresh conch. You can order it online, but alas, it ain't cheap and arrives frozen in large quantities (usually 5 pounds or more). If you plan ahead, you can place an order with your local fishmonger or even go in on a larger order with a couple of friends. However, your best bet is just to pony up the cash and visit the Bahamas firsthand or at least put it on your bucket list.

As you can see from Chef James' recipe below, conch salad is awfully similar to ceviche except instead of fish, scallops or shrimp, your working with tougher conch meat. With this in mind, a nice, flaky whitefish would work very nicely in this dish as would scungilli, whelks or calamari. Just make sure your fish is super fresh and marinate "cook" it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Fresh Briland Conch Salad with Sweet Pepper Confetti
Recipe courtesy Chef James Van Dyke of Pink Sands Resort, Harbour Island, Bahamas
Serves 4

For Salad:
Two freshly cleaned diced conch*, cut into small dice
¼ red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ green bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup red onion, diced
½ large tomato, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon Conchy Joes Bahamian Hot Sauce or other favorite hot sauce
¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
Pinch of salt and black pepper
4 fresh corn tortillas
Oil, for frying

For Confetti:
½ red bell pepper, seeded
½ green pepper, seeded
One cup ice
½ cup cold water
Pinch of salt

Method:

For the salad, add all the salad ingredients into a medium sized bowl through to the hot sauce and then toss to combine. Then, add the fresh lime juice, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cut the corn tortillas into triangles.  Gently fry tortillas in hot oil for about 60 seconds or until crispy. Drain and then lightly salt the chips.  Set aside.

For the confetti, cut the peppers into quarters and then lay skin side down on the cutting board. Gently press the peppers flat with the palm of your hand. With your knife held horizontally filet the bell pepper to ½ of its original thickness and discard top layer. Lay the pepper flat on the cutting board and slice paper thin along the grain of the peppers. Put peppers in a medium sized bowl and cover with ice and water. When time to serve, drain peppers and then cut them into a very fine dice.

To serve, place the conch salad into four small serving bowls, martini glasses or coconut shells and garnish with sweet pepper confetti and chips. 

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Scrambled Eggs with Smoked BC Wild Salmon and Caviar

Rocky Mountaineer's GoldLeaf breakfast of eggs, smoked salmon, caviar & creme fraiche

I just got back from an incredible trip aboard the Rocky Mountaineer on a food and wine laden culinary rail tour of the Canadian Rockies beginning in Vancouver and ending in Banff.  It was a two day tour with an overnight stopover in the quaint village of Kamloops, and in between there was much deliciousness to be had (see above for photo and below for the recipe for this drool worthy breakfast dish).

Rocky Mountaineer offers 45 unique rail tours throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Without a doubt it's a luxury experience, especially their GoldLeaf service where our group wined and dined inside a glass-dome coach while winding leisurely through stunning mountain scenery. Service is simply impeccable aboard Rocky Mountaineer, with exceptional breakfasts and lunches paired with local wines served in the train's dining car.  

Chef Frederic Couton oversees Rocky Mountaineer's menu which boasts an array of local delicacies including Steelhead Salmon in Mustard Cream over Red Potato Hash (above), Alberta beef short ribs and pork loin, British Columbian mushrooms as well as locally made ice creams and British Columbian wines, including a particularly decent Sumac Ridge White Meritage. Along the way, we saw plenty of wildlife including marmots, bighorn sheep and elk. Oftentimes, guests aboard the train spot black bears and grizzly bears, but unfortunately we didn't see any on this trip, but no worries. As the wines flowed and the views commenced, we forgot all about those bears.

View from the train coming into Banff National Park

So, back to the food. The desserts aboard the train were simply to die for. Overwhelmingly decadent in the best sense, I derailed (pun intended) from my diet during our first meal. As you can see, these sugary treats were impossible to resist.

If you can't climb aboard the Rocky Mountaineer anytime soon, at least you can try your hand at one of their signature recipes The GoldLeaf Breakfast of Scrambled Eggs with Smoked British Columbia Wild Salmon, Caviar and Dilled Creme Fraiche.  Trust me, it's not a hard to make as it sounds and it's totally worth the extra effort. Goes perfectly with a chilled mimosa.  Photo note: This recipe called for molding the salmon and eggs. However, as you'll note, the photos I took show it served with salmon placed on top. Either way, it's lovely.

Scrambled Eggs and Smoked BC Wild Salmon
Recipe courtesy of Rocky Mountaineer
Serves 6








Ingredients:
1 pound smoked wild salmon, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
12 eggs
1 cup dill creme fraiche (see recipe below)
1 ounce caviar
1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped plus four springs for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter

Method:

Rub the inside of six small bowls or medium ramekins lightly with vegetable oil. Line each bowl evenly with smoked salmon, covering all areas but being careful not to layer too thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (Note: This can be done in advance and refrigerates overnight. If so, allow 10 minutes out of the fridge before adding cooked eggs.)

Crack eggs into a large bowl and whisk. Scramble lightly over medium heat in a saute pan with butter, salt and pepper until eggs are medium firm. Fill salmon-lined bowls immediately with eggs, pressing into a firm mold. Turn bowl over and lightly remove mold, serving flat side down. Drizzle with 1/4 cup dill creme fraiche per plate and spoon caviar on top. Garnish each with a dill sprig.

For the Dill Creme Fraiche: Mix one cup whipping cream with two tablespoons buttermilk. Pour into a glass jar and cover. Let stand at room temperature for 8-24 hours or until thickened. Stir well and refrigerate (up to 10 days). Remove from fridge 10 minutes before serving and stir in fresh, chopped dill.

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission Pin It Now!

Stuff You Gotta Eat in Barbados: An Amateur's Photo Journey

Flying fish sandwich from Hilton Barbados

Yeah, you know you wish you were in Barbados. Heck, who doesn't? It's stinking February, and if you're like me, you've got some serious cabin fever going on right now. Virginia has been nothing but cold, snow, icy rain or generally depressing overcast days that make one want to hit a local watering hole and waste an entire afternoon downing cheap beer with the locals while inhaling gobs of secondhand smoke. Not that I've done that or anything....

A couple of months back, I was fortunate enough to acquire a hall pass from all this crappy weather and make my first visit ever to the land best known as the birthplace of rum for none other than the annual Food, Wine & Rum Fest which featured all kinds of culinary genius, from foodie television gods Tom Colicchio and Ming Tsai to culinary innovators like Texan/cowboy cutie, Tim Love and "nose to tail" man-of-the-moment Fergus Henderson.

In addition to the events that surrounded the festival itself, which included intimate cooking classes with all of the chefs in attendance as well as a grand tasting where both local and guest chefs served up mini-tastes of their best of the best, Bajan food in general is nothing to snicker at. Generally, Barbadian food is hearty comfort fare dominated by fried goodies like flying fish sandwiches topped with plantains, platters of fried chicken or snapper served up with a big wedge of macaroni pie or alongside okra and cornmeal-laden Cou Cou with nearly all of it drizzled in Bajan hot sauce (a vinegar and habanero blend that'll set you right). 

Stuffed pork, macaroni pie & fried snapper

 And, don't forget the street food: saltfish cakes, Indian-inspired roti's, cutters (fried fish sandwiches topped with egg or cheese), souse (boiled pig's head and feet) and grilled pig's tails. You can sample most if not all of these goodies in one fell swoop if you're lucky enough to hit Oistin's Fish Fry on the weekends, which is a must.

Curried pork & potato roti. Hearty and dirt cheap.

Then, there's the fine dining options, which like rum shacks, can be found all over the island. Local fare goes upscale at most of these establishments yet also comes with a hefty price tag, but when you're enjoying delights such as warm lobster salad in a truffled vinaigrette or Parmesan encrusted Barracuda while overlooking a moonlight ocean, I say, save your pennies and splurge a little.

Here are a few drool-worthy highlights from the Food, Wine & Rum Fest and the lovely island of Barbados:

Chef Tim Love (left) whips up his local Black Belly Lamb Sandwiches from the Food, Wine & Rum fest at the Lion Castle Polo Estate's grand gala.

Canadian Chef Rob Feenie knocked it out of the park with his Butternut Squash and Mascarpone Ravioli topped with a Black Truffle Beurre Blanc sauce as his sous chef begins plating (below).

Not a bad view for a beach side picnic of cutters, roti's and rum punch.

Bajan brunch: fried chicken, peas and rice, plantain stuffing and a good squeeze from the hot sauce bottle.

No meal is complete without a platter of fish cakes. These were from Tapas Restaurant and were uniquely Thai inspired with just a touch of lemongrass.

For more about visiting Barbados, check out Visit Barbados

To get in on next year's, Food, Wine & Rum Fest check out the dates for 2011

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission Pin It Now!

Winter on the Amalfi Coast and Real-Deal Neapolitan Pizza

View of Arienzo, Amalfi Coast, Italy.

So, I've been gone, but there's been a pretty good reason. Along with nursing my elderly dog, Charlie, who has not been doing well these days, and somehow getting a herniated disc in my neck (getting old sucks), I had the opportunity to fulfill one of my bucket list travel dreams-- Italy. Nearly seven years ago, my husband and I agreed that, come hell or high water, we would somehow get ourselves over to Rome and the Amalfi Coast and essentially eat and drink as much as our wallets and stomachs would allow. So, when I happened across one of those not-to-be-missed ticket sales on US Airways that surprisingly included a decently-priced upgrade to business class (which, if you can afford the extra cost, is an excellent way to rack up some serious frequent flyer points quickly-- 21,000 to be exact, which is enough for a RT domestic ticket) I jumped all over it.

Planning a trip to Italy can be quite overwhelming, especially if your sole purpose is to partake of some of the best food and wine this country has to offer, yet you've only got a mere seven days to do this. So, after careful consideration and quite a bit of back and forth, we decided to hit Rome for a few days, then the medieval village of Mazzano Romano to learn how to make Roman-style pasta with Chef Fabio Bongianni at his home, where we also stayed the night and rang in the New Year (a totally separate post in and of itself---amazing experience). From there, we decided to drive to Positano (not for the faint of heart) and the Amalfi Coast for several more days and then, bang, it was back on the plane to the states.  Not long enough, for sure, not even close, but real life seems to find you no matter how far away from home you are and you just got to get back.

So to begin, here's little glimpse of what you'll find when traveling to the Amalfi Coast.

Sunset dinner at Li Galli in Positano

Positano is so picturesque is almost seems unreal. Around 1pm, al fresco dining literally takes over (and we were darn lucky to get 60 degrees in January) where diners sip glasses of wine made from local Anglianico grapes from the Campania region and nibble multi-course meals dominated by specialties from the sea: spaghetti with wild clams, fritto misto's laden with local squid, zuppa de pesce and anything and everything made from the famed Amalfi lemons, which can plucked from the trees during winter to accent semifreddo's, baba's and fluffy sponge cakes.

No meal is complete without a chilled glass of locally made Limoncello alongside a cup of espresso. An average lunch can last several hours, a heady nod to the origins to the slow food line of thought. After three days of this style of dining, one can't help but ponder, "I could seriously get used to this."

Then, there's the pizza....

Let me start off by saying that this is not a post about what constitutes authentic Neapolitan-style pizza or otherwise, since I have come to discover, for some-such odd reason, pizza has become an incredibly touchy subject for foodies across the board. I didn't come to Amalfi, which is less than hour from Naples by the way, to research authentic versus non authentic pies or what the VPN Association considers "real Neapolitan pizza" or the like. I came here to chill out with my husband, eat great food, drink plenty of local wine and generally be on vacation, which considering I write about food and travel for a living, is a rare opportunity these days.

I wanted to shut my food brain off for one week and simply taste real Italian pizza for the first time, and believe me, we ate ALOT of it, mainly because it was cheap, with a 14-inch sized pie costing about 10-12 Euros. Two pies alongside a bottle of wine for 10 Euros and you're sitting pretty for pricey Italy. 

When it came to my first bite of Naples-style pizza, we hit the well-known Bucca di Bacco in Positano. Since it was the off-season, the main restaurant and accompanying hotel were closed (like most places in Positano during this time of year, so take note) but the outdoor restaurant which sits right on the beach was open.

We ordered our wine, pet the chubby dog, who clearly has had his share of pizza nibbles, and finally decided on two classic pies: an olive oil based white pizza topped with fresh porcini mushrooms and a tomato sauce based pizza topped with mozzarella and arugula.

Both arrived fresh out of the wood-fired oven, and unlike American-style pies were uncut, something we saw repeatedly during our pizza-eating extravaganza. In most places in Italy, pizzas arrive wholly intact with diners receiving a knife and fork to eat their pie one bite at a time. We never saw a local pick up a slice and eat it by hand when dining in a sit down restaurant. Not once.

As far as the Neapolitan pies go in and of themselves, as you can imagine, they were amazingly good and surprisingly simple. Upon first bite, the thin crust had a lovely salty crunch which soon morphed into a chewy almost earthy, yeasty flavor that paired effortlessly with the umami-laden porcini's. As far as the standard slightly soggy center that Neapolitan pizza's are said to exhibit, this one, while having a firm crust at the edges, was indeed slightly soggy in the center. Perhaps there's a better word here than soggy (such as pillowy?) since by no means was the pizza wet or loose in the middle. It simply wasn't uber-crispy.

The pizza rucola was slightly softened in the middle as well, even a bit more than its white counterpart due to the generous amount of San Marzano tomato sauce on its crust. We had this style of pizza several times while in Italy, topped with everything from hand-pulled buffalo mozzarella to nothing but a little Parmesan and fresh basil. Like the porcini pizza, the crust was crispy, a bit salty and had just the right amount of black char to give it depth, yet the chopped arugula added another layer of peppery flavor. So divine.

The key to all this goodness is simplicity. All of the pizzas we sampled were very lightly dressed and flavored. No crazy-on-the-garlic flavor (sorry Mamma Zu). No gooey cheese-laden pies piled high with ground beef, sausage, bacon etc...and no fancy schmancy toppings like smoked gouda, chicken or pineapple (blech) and no greasy, bready crust (a la Bottom's Up). Just wood-fired crusty goodness delicately accented with a locally grown tomatoes, handmade mozzarella (or ricotta) and olive oil made from olive trees only miles away.

Keep an eye out for more Italy posts.  Next up, the medieval village of Mazzano for New Years and two days in Rome.

All photos and text ©2010 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

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Welcome to Cajun Country: the deliciousness that is Lake Charles, Louisiana

Fresh boudin sausage from Cajun Cowboy's Restaurant Vinton, LA

So, I just spent the past week eating my weight in boudin sausage (and lots of other local goodies) while visiting the Cajun culinary mecca of Lake Charles, Louisiana.  Lake Charles lies in the Southwestern part of the state, not too far from the Texas border, yet still deep south enough to be less than an hour and a half from the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

Lake Charles is a charming place, where deep Southern accents prevail and just about everyone you meet is quick to offer a handshake, or when you're lucky, a big 'ole Cajun-style bear hug.  It's the kind of town where folks spend the afternoon crowding around unadulterated diner tables sipping coffee and sharing tall fishing and hunting tales.  The vibe here is pure Cajun pride, and locals are quick to share with visitors their favorite haunts to get real deal crawfish etouffee, shrimp gumbo, fried catfish or homemade deer sausage.

Yet, it's the Cajun boudin sausage that triumphs with pride throughout the area.  Hearkening back to the area's French culinary roots (by way of a mass Acadian exile from Nova Scotia in the 1700's), Southwest Louisiana's boudin sausage is akin to North Carolina barbecue, with numerous variations (and consequent debates as to whose is best) ranging from spicy smoked boudin to fresh boudin rouge spiked with pig's blood.  However, while each sausage tastes just a tad different, several constants remain in all forms of boudin. First, there's got to be plenty of cooked Louisiana long-grain rice mixed in with the roasted pork.  Second, there are spices galore, many of which are top secret, never to be revealed.  There's always a generous helping of fresh green onions, and finally, all this Cajun goodness is packed into fresh hog's intestines.

People are happy here, with an innate pride and joy that is most evidenced in the foods they create, especially their particular brand of boudin.  It's all about Cajun cooking.  From pork cracklin's to crawfish pistolettes, every bite that hits your palate simply bursts with spice, texture and the flavor of the deep south.  If you're serious about good eating, the many off-the-beaten-track pit stops that circumvent the town of Lake Charles are must-stops for any lover of real home-cooked food.  From diner dives to gas station gems, Lake Charles is one place where you can eat like a king on a peasant's salary.

Here's a little slide show primer of some of the best of the best that this unique area of Cajun country has to offer.

Boudin expert, Glenn Earl of Cajun Cowboys

Shrimp Po'Boy, fried catfish & collards from Hollier's Cajun Kitchen

Pork cracklin's and smoked sausage from The Sausage Link

Green onions, hog's intestines (used for natural boudin casings)and homemade hog's head cheese (bites).  The Sausage Link.

Fried crabs, frog legs, crab claws and crawfish pies from The Seafood Palace

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