HOME ENTERTAINING By Nanette Wiser
If you’re visiting, there’s nothing better than bringing a taste of Paradise home (key lime patties, gummy sharks or alligator-shaped chocolates). For locals, living in Paradise is about cooking with homegrown products, spices, farm-fresh produce and beverages.
Whether it’s happy hour, supper or a small backyard party (Easter/St. Patrick’s Day), spice up your menu with these locally-made faves. (Like them on Facebook for more info, events, market participation and online merchandise.)
Gathering Goodies: Start with the local markets in Gulfport (Tuesday), Madeira Beach (Wednesday), Treasure Island (Friday), Saturday Market DTSP, St. Pete Beach Corey Ave. and Indian Shores (Sunday). Located inside Greenstock, St. Pete Meat & Provisions offers meat, seasonings, dressings and other handcrafted provisions.
Beverages: Sip Squeeze Juiceworks, Aqua Luna’s holistic herbal concoctions, Mother Kombucha, Sunny Culture’s handcrafted live sparkling probiotic water kefirs, St. Pete Ferments and Mama Ninfa’s authentic agua frescas at Sat. Market. Mad Hatters Ethno-Botanical Tea Bar and Bula serve distinctive kava and kratom drinks while Clean Juice St. Pete and Sunny Culture’s probiotics boost your healthy living resolutions. Peruse the spirited solutions created by Kozuba & Sons, American Freedom or St. Petersburg Distilleries and the more than 100+ craft beers made in Tampa Bay. Be sure to enjoy Desiree Noisette’s fantastic Mermosa, available at Total Wine & More, Book+Bottle and Elizabeth’s Boutique.
Breads/Desserts: St. Pete General’s delicious small-batch bagels, muffins, salted chocolate chunk cookies and sourdough bread are a staple at my house. For desserts, it’s Katie’s Fine Cookies, Astoria Pastry ShopNothing Bundt Cake, Sweet Life or swah-rey cupcakes and Wandering Whisk’s macarons and Easter treats. At Saturday Market, we stock up on Augustine Cheesecakes, Breadwinners’ Bakery, organic Cosmicki Cookies, Hale-Life Gluten/Vegan Bakery and Southern Bay Bakery. Match your wine and cheese with Gulf Coast Sourdough and The Bread Artisans. Nosh on Brooklyn Knish (bacon, potato) and Petite France’s crepes at Sat. Market. Look for Clara Rose’s Ice Cream Truck around town and be sure to stock up on famed William Dean’s Chocolates, especially their Easter collection.
International Home-Cooked Meals: Just like Nonna used to make dishes Mazzaro’s and Ippolito’s Italian take the sting out of prep. Bring home local food truck fare from Twisted Indian Fusion, the St. Pete Taco Lady, Flip’n Tasty Filipino Food Truck, Hoke Poke Food Truck, Latin Lunch Box, Three Generations Food Truck, Sunkissed Food Truck and Foodie Labs. Thanks to Door Dash and Uber Eats, your favorite local restaurant dish can be tonight’s dinner.
Produce: Plant City berries, Brick Farms, Worden’s, Blue’s Berry Farm, First Leaf Farm microgreens, Urban Farms organic produce, Just Ginger, Lifegarden Farms’ 15 pepper varietals, Willow’s Herbal Delights and Little Pond.
Meats/Seafoods: Key West Shrimp, Shaner’s Land & Sea, Fresh Market can’t be beat. At the Saturday Market’s take home Circle 6 Farm & Ranch (eggs, chicken), Dancing Goat eggs/cheese, TrailBale Farms’ eggs and organic chicken. For smoked fish spread, you can’t beat Nachman’s Seafood, Ted Peters or No Bonez Fish Spread @ Saturday Market.
Snacks: Salty Sisters Gourmet Popcorn and The Poppery’s kettle corn complement any rom-com.
Spices & Sauces: Browse the vinegars, olive oils, sauces and more at Kalamazoo Olive Company (try the fig vinegar and infused oils), Savory Spice Shop, Spice & Tea Exchange (John’s Pass, Sundial) and Vine & Grind (Treasure Island). We like the briny Florida Pure Sea Salt Pure sea salt at the Sat. market.
Teas/Coffees: On 9th, we love Blush Tea + Coffee’s aromatic mixes, especially the red chai. Check out their Spring Fling Sunday 3/21 from 9-2 showcasing local makers and artist, coffee, tea, food and live music including Nightshift Wax Co. Wild Roots Daisy and Honey Studios. Kahwa, Bandit and Gypsy Beans Coffee Roasters are our go-to place for local java. For honey, we buzz over to Queen & Colony or Rebecca’s Bees.
LOCAL COOKBOOKS
Cooking local is easy with the help of these Tampa Bay beauties such as “Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook”, celebrated author Joyce LaFray’s “Key Lime Cookbook”, former TBT Food editor Janet Keeler’s “Cookielicious”, the Junior League of Tampa’s “Gasparilla Cookbook” and “Mazzaro’s Family Cookbook”. Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin collected healthy recipes from local restaurants and shared a few of her own in “St. Pete Eats: A Cookbook”.
The Chef’s Hat Culinary Entertainment owner and celebrity Chef Ivan Jeanblanc serves up 52 weeks of recipes to explore in “A Year of Brunches”. With a home in St. Pete and Chicago, Chef Ivan puts the fun back in food, teaching cooking classes and catering events. After-hours classes (kitchen skills, cooking prep, date night, brunch) for two or a small group will be back on the menu soon. Chef Ivan is the new owner of Savory Spice Shop in downtown St. Pete where you can also buy his book (and online), delectable global spices and salts as well as local artisan pasta, A Bee’s Place honey and Intensity Academy’s specialty sauces (Goodness Garlic, Must Thai, Saucy Everything). Ask him about what wines best pair with spices!
I made his Mexican Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo for Valentine’s Day and plan to serve his Grouper Eggs Benedict or Salmon with Poached Eggs and Asparagus for Easter brunch. www.achefhat.com
A Year of Brunches Cookbook, Courtesy of Chef Ivan Jeanblanc
LOBSTER & CRAB CAKE BENEDICT
INGREDIENTS:
- 1-1½ lb fresh lobster
- 6 purchased crab cakes or freshly made from recipe that follows
- 6 poached eggs
- 1 cup hollandaise sauce
- 1 tbsp hot sauce (Tabasco or another brand)
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 4oz lump crabmeat
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Make the crab cakes (unless you are using purchased ones).
- Fill a large pot with water to point capable of holding the fresh lobster submerged.
- Bring the pot of water to a boil, then submerge the live lobster
- Boil the lobster for 10 to 12 minutes until it has turned to a bright red color.
- Remove the lobster and let cool until you can crack the claws and tail. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Keep warm.
- Make the hollandaise sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan and let cool, then remove the white milk solids from the butter with a spoon.
- In a large saucepan, add 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer.
- Add egg yolks, 1/2 tbsp salt and lemon juice to a metal mixing bowl and place over the saucepan with water. Whisk vigorously until it peaks (two to five minutes). Remove from heat.
- Slowly whisk butter into egg yolk mixture until smooth and slightly thickened.
- Heat the crab cakes in the microwave until hot and place two on a serving plate. Drizzle the crab cakes with the hot sauce. Place lobster pieces on the crab cake halves, cover with the poached egg and hollandaise sauce. Place small amount of crab on top of the eggs. Garnish with smoked paprika.
CRAB CAKES FROM SCRATCH
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp hot sauce
- 1/2 lb jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the crabmeat with the panko. Mix in the mayonnaise mixture. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
3. Form the crab mixture into eight patties, about 1½ inches thick. In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium high. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderately high heat until deeply golden and heated through, about three minutes per side. Drizzle with fresh lemon juice.