food

Culinary Discoveries

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Our typical day at the beach starts with breakfast around eight. Then we spend the morning on the beach where Ella has a snack of goldfish. For lunch, we have sandwiches, chicken nuggets and the occasional leftover. It isn’t until dinner time that things get interesting.

Our plan this week has been to cook four dinners and eat out twice. We’ve had chicken fajitas, hamburgers cooked on the stove and more standard fare; however, two meals in particular standout.

The Restaurant Around the Corner

20110602-012924.jpgTuesday night was one of our designated evenings to eat out. Not knowing where to go, Beth and I used the Yelp app on my iPhone to find recommended local restaurants.

If you’re not familiar with Yelp, it’s a service which lets users post reviews of businesses. It’s great for finding local restaurants because the reviews are by people like you and me.

20110602-013526.jpgAmong the restaurants listed, Roastfish and Cornbread seemed most appealing. Better yet, when we used Yelp to create a map, it turned out the restaurant was just a mile or so down the road.

The setting for Roastfish and Cornbread was a sandy lot covered by tall trees. The restaurant was in a large stucco house. We accidentally walked in through the service entrance, but they were nice enough to seat us anyway.

We ordered chicken fingers and waffle fries for Ella, Beth got the fish and shrimp, and I ordered a whole roasted tilapia. Everything we ordered was great. Beth and I thought our fish was seasoned particularly well. Having heard on NPR how good a whole fish can be, I didn’t hesitate to make my order despite the fact that I’d never had fish prepared that way. All in all, Roastfish and Cornbread definitely gets our recommendation should you ever find yourself in Hilton Head.

A New Meal for Our Dinner Rotation

Beth and I are very familiar with the practice of buying a rotisserie chicken as the foundation of a meal; however, we’d never tried this ourselves. This was our week to try this dinner trick, and we were very pleased with the results.

For last night’s meal, I quartered some golden new potatoes and boiled them on the stove along with some carrots. Then I rubbed some olive oil on the chicken and heated it in the oven at 400 degrees for twenty minutes. After the vegetables finished cooking on the stove, I added some butter, salt and pepper. We completed the meal with a tossed salad.

It was wonderful. The chicken heated up perfect. It was seasoned just right, and the vegetables and salad were a perfect compliment. Beth and I resolved to add rotisserie chicken to our regular meal plans once we get back home.

All in all, we’ve eaten well on this vacation. Our credo has been, “Keep it simple and delicious.” Whether it’s finding a great restaurant just down the road or utilizing a rotisserie chicken, we’ve been able to eat well with no fuss whatsoever.

Lunch at The Beacon

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On our way to Hilton Head, we stopped for lunch at The Beacon. It is the prototypical “greasy spoon”. You better have your order ready as you get to the counter, because the caller, aka JC, doesn’t want you slowing down his line.

Beth, Ella and I ordered two cheeseburgers, one “A-Plenty” served with fries and onion rings, and one child’s chicken fingers. Ella kept her head on mommy’s shoulder as we made our way down the counter for it was quite loud.

Once seated, we chowed down although we didn’t finish all of it (that would have been a lot of grease). At one point without prompting, Ella rubbed her tummy and said, “Belly ache,” but she seemed fine shortly after. I also went to the car and supplemented our meal with some fresh grapes and a banana.

All-in-all it was quite an experience for us. It brought back memories for me as the last time I was there was back in the late 1970′s with my mother and my brothers on the way to the beach.

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