Jan Norris: Food and Florida

Let’s cut to the chase. Get these things now!

Hurricane cocktail

And – print and save this article if you’re planning ahead for impending hurricanes – please say you are!

1. A full tank of gas for your gas grill. You won’t need much more if you have canned food.

2. Water. Lots more than you think you need – you never know. And it won’t go bad. You can live a long time on little food – but less than a week in extreme heat with no water.

3. Canned food. Go for protein, low-sodium eats  – beans, pouched chicken and tuna in oil for flavor. Fruits – in juice, not syrup. Sweet stuff makes you thirsty. Nut spreads (almond, peanut butter).

4. Hardware: A manual can opener. Matches, garbage bags, and extra coolers for ice if you get it. Paper plates and utensils. Anti-bacteria wipes.

5. Green bananas – they’ll ripen and you’ll have to eat them, but they’ll last a while longer and you need potassium. Dried figs, apricots and prunes are excellent for potassium, too.

6. Multigrain flatbread and whole grain crackers. (Or, instant whole grain oatmeal. If you have said grill, you can make oatmeal and don’t need to worry about grains.)

7. Shelf-stable bacon, or hard salami and pepperoni – to add to other canned foods for flavor. It’s really good.

8. Canned pudding – it provides one creamy thing your mouth will eventually crave, and this satisfies it.

9. Boxed milk. Make a creamy tomato soup with it, or make mac and cheese for the kids on the grill.

10. Tea, instant coffee, fruit juices – avoid sweet sodas and alcohol.

Don’t buy: salty snacks, beer, soda, perishable dairy or meats, salty premade soups or canned casseroles. Avoid salted stuff all around. Get fresh veggies that will last and that you can eat raw – carrots, turnips, radishes – they will last a few more days than soft veggies and fruits. Apples will last; citrus will not.

On my way across North Carolina on a searing hot July day, I stopped off to visit my good friend and grill columnist, Debbie Moose, in Raleigh.

She asked us to lunch and we debated on either barbecue, or New Southern cooking. I wasn’t up for barbecue, so we ended up at 18 Seaboard, a red brick two-level restaurant set in a former train station.

The chef-owner is Jason Smith – an amiable man who has quite the experiences under his rather young belt: cooking for big name chefs in North Carolina and New York, running a kitchen to feed 1300 daily in Antarctica, and now, being a new father with two restaurants. (He also owns Cantina 18 in Raleigh.)

18 Seaboard’s menu is modern Southern and American fare. Each dish that we ordered – we chose several  to get a great sampling – showed finesse and control. The plates were not only eye-pleasing, but every plate had a focused flavor.

Today’s feast

I’ll share an interview with the chef in an upcoming article here, but for now, I’ll share our menu and his simple, delicious recipe for corn soup.

• Corn Soup (made from corn delivered from the farmer that day)
• Snead’s Ferry She-Crab Soup with a sherry reduction
• Iceberg wedge with big bacon crunch
• Blackeyed pea cakes with zucchini, squash, and summer vegetable vinaigrette
• Crispy Pamlico shrimp salad with Asiago dressing and focaccia croutons

We had no room for dessert!

18 Seaboard’s Corn Soup recipe

• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 2 tablespoons diced onion
• 3 ears fresh silver queen corn, shucked, kernels removed
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• Salt and white pepper to taste

Heat large saute pan over medium heat; add butter when pan is hot. Swirl butter to melt; do not allow to brown. Add onion and saute 1 minute; add corn and cook 3 minutes more, stirring. Set aside. Combine cream, stock and thyme in small saucepan; cook for three minutes over medium heat with thyme. Remove thyme. Combine corn and stock mixture in blender; puree until smooth. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Serve hot or chilled.

Makes 4 appetizer servings.

To jump-start the party that celebrates the start of Flavor Palm Beach, the restaurant month with good deals for dining, a tasting party will be held tonight along West Palm Beach’s waterfront. A group of chefs representing the restaurants will be on hand with small plates and wines; a string band is set to play. It’s from 5:30-8:30 p.m. -look for the check-in tent near the fountain on Clematis at Flagler.

Cost is $30 in advance or $35 on site.

Flavor Palm Beach starts September 1 and continues through the month with more than 30 restaurants participating in the fixed price menus. For $20, diners get a three-course lunch; for $30, a three-course dinner at most participating restaurants.

Here are the restaurants initially signed up for Flavor – others may be added. To get a complete list or tickets for tonight’s party, visit flavorpalmbeach.com.

Flavor Palm Beach Restaurants
North Palm Beach County

• III Forks – Palm Beach Gardens
• Cafe Chardonnay – Palm Beach Gardens
• Cantina Laredo – Palm Beach Gardens
• Capital Grille – Palm Beach Gardens
• Gazebo Cafe – Jupiter
• Ironwood Grille- Palm Beach Gardens
• Ruth’s Chris – North Palm Beach
• Season’s 52 – Palm Beach Gardens
• Solu at the Marriott Resort – Singer Island
• Talay Thai – Palm Beach Gardens

Central Palm Beach County

• CITYPLACE – West Palm Beach
• BB Kings – (VIP Ticket included)
• City Cellar
• Il Bellagio
• Kona Grill
• McCormick & Schmick’s
• Ruth’s Chris
• Saito’s Japanese Steakhouse
• Thai Jo
• Morton’s The Steakhouse- West Palm Beach
• Off the Hookah – West Palm Beach
• Top of the Point – West Palm Beach (dinner only $35pp)
• Pistache French Bistro – West Palm Beach
• Reef Road – West Palm Beach

Southern Palm Beach County

• III Forks – Boca Raton
• Cucino Mio – Delray Beach
• City Fish Market – Boca Raton
• City Oyster – Delray Beach
• LOLA Restaurant and Ultra Lounge – Delray Beach
• Morton’s The Steakhouse- Boca Raton
• Ruth’s Chris – Boca Raton
• The Melting Pot – Boca Raton

Blue Martini, CityPlace, West Palm Beach

Happy hours: Monday-Sunday, 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the bar and the patio lounge.

The crowd: Movie-goers, shoppers, and professionals from the nearby office tower generate an exciting vibe.

Surrounds: The  outdoor patio provides perfect people-watching, while the indoor lounge provides a smoky darkness, even when the sun is blazing.

Barback: You will find probably the best barmaids around working here. Dressed in flashy bustiers, they are as charming and attentive as they are good-looking.

The sips: House wines and beers are $5 and all the specialty martinis are half-priced. Note: The price is  rounded up when the half-price doesn’t come out evenly. If you like your martini satisfying but unfussy, try the Masterpiece Bleu. It contains Stoli vodka with three bleu-cheese-stuffed olives. Our waitress said drinkers come back just for those tasty tidbits. You can have fun tasting any of the 20 martinis on the menu, from mango mojito to, yes, Key lime pie. They range from $6 to $7 a glass. And for the ladies who have those free VIP cards, take note that they are valid any time for a free house wine, beer,  or martini.

The noshes: Blue Martini has a great bar menu. I especially love the miniature martini lamb chops, with mint-marinated rack of lamb and seasoned rice. Also good is the whiskey chicken tenderloin, with Jack Daniels marinated fresh tenderloins of chicken with a blend of seasonings and rice. The chops are $9 and the chicken tenders are $6. The chops are juicy and mouth-watering; the chicken tenders have a palate-pleasing kick.

Tunes or noise: Loud music and outdoor sounds make it hard to communicate with your date.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 olives.

Blue Martini

• 550 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach
• 561-835-8601; www.bluemartini.com

Carolyn Susman, a West Palm Beach reporter, covers happy hours in the area, giving the readers at JanNorris.com a look at where to go for great little plates, super sips and mellow music….after 5. Contact her at AfterFive@JanNorris.com

Trousdale

Four notable Broward and Palm Beach Beach chefs will do the equivalent of a chef grip-and-grin tonight, demo’ing foods and providing tastes to a mingling crowd at Florida Builder Appliances in Pompano Beach. It’s for the big food bank in the area, Feeding South Florida (formerly the Daily Bread).

Chef Oliver Saucy, of Cafe Maxx (Pompano Beach), Carlos Fernandez of the Hi-Life Cafe (Ft. Lauderdale), Andy Trousdale of Le Bistro (Lighthouse Point) and Allen Susser of Taste (Delray Beach) will prepare a dish for the crowd, and samples of the foods will be served to the guests.

Wines to be paired are from the Starmont and Merryvale labels.

Tickets are $20 and benefit Feeding South Florida.

The Boys of Summer

• When: Wednesday, Aug. 25, 6-9 p.m.
• Where: Florida Builder Appliances, 1742 W. Atlantic Ave., Pompano Beach
• Cost: $20 donation to Feeding South Florida
• For tickets: www.feedingsouthflorida.org, or call (954) 977-6407