Full Moon Saloon Fish Sandwich

FULL MOON FISH SANDWICH, ‘FULL MOON SALOON’ Norman Van Aken © All rights reserved.  No sandwich in the history of Key West was consumed by more drunks on premise than this one. No sandwich saved more people from a certain, potentially lethal, hangover. Essentially it is a fresh as can…

Pastel Del Choclo

PASTEL DE CHOCLO The “Choclo” refers to sweet corn and the pastel indicates that there is a pie-like or pastry-like construction to the dish. Think quiche in a Latin way. And like a quiche the filling inside this pastel could be varied almost infinitely. This one is made with a…

Thanksgiving and the Bean Kit

It was a woman. She was the one who gave me the gift. She was not gentle. But she was giving. And so it is on Thanksgiving that I want to pay respects to Betty Howard. She lived in Key West and was the Head, (and only) Breakfast Cook at…

Of Country Hams, Husk And Earl

When I was about 19 years old I started hitchhiking around America with a couple of buddies. It seems reckless to me now, but we were sheathed in the armor of youth and thusly protected. One of the routes I came to know was the one between my hometown in…

Bollitos Go To Kiawah Island

I’m happy to be going to the beautiful Kiawah Resort about 30 mile south of Charleston to cook with the team there to raise money for the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. Kiawah is located along 10 miles of pristine beach and their golf resort…

Cooking Old Key West

I walked into shack of a restaurant (even by Key West standards) on a late morning in the spring of 1971 and was handed a sea-water damp menu with items like Turtle Steak, Jewfish Chowder, Fried Bollos, Tostones, Guava Milkshakes, a meat dish that translated as “old clothes”, (Ropa Vieja)….

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

It has been a busy time with travel but I wanted to share the great time we had cooking together and doing a demo at the always blissful Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden just off Coral Way in Coral Gables. We had been asked to participate in the ‘Edible Garden Project’…

Fried Chicken: Memories And A Recipe

When I was about 19 I discovered a few very old hardcover books in my grandmother, “Nana’s” collection. They were in excellent condition unlike her battered paperback detective novels she had taken a fancy to late in life. She had always been more than happy to share any part of…

Guava Is Goodness

When fresh this round or oval fruit is classified as a berry and is high in vitamin C. The edible skin can be white, yellow, green or pink in color; the pale yellow variety is often the sweetest. The Aztecs called them xalxocotl or “sand plums”. Our son, Justin is…

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