Deep Fried Jacksonville

Jacksonville is one of those cities that doesn't even really belong in Florida. It gets cold in the winter; Spanish is not the PRIMARY language spoken; and, anywhere else in Florida, hosting something called "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" would be considered a badge of honor - not Jacksonville. No, Jacksonville is a misplaced southern city. Most folks realize that the rest of the state is not part of "The South," but rather is at the end of the off-ramp from a secret exit off of the Long Island Expressway.

I decided to take a few days last month to see the ACC Baseball Tournament in Jacksonville. From previous visits, I have found Jacksonville to be lacking somewhat in viable dining options. Fortunately, just prior to this trip, I found out that my cholesterol level was at a very respectable 151. Armed with that information, and taking into account Jacksonville's southern roots, I went out in search of some serious fried critters.

My first serious food stop was Clark's Fish Camp. This place was recommended by a serious foodie buddy, so I was really looking forward to it. Finding Clark's is a bit of a challenge. It isn't on any main road - requires a number of turns to get to from any direction, and is past a road sign that reads "DEAD END." I am kind of amazed that I made it there. I didn't get an exterior shot of this place because I arrived in the evening, with very little daylight - and there ain't much lighting on the exterior of this place to take photos. The parking lot (and adjoining street) was PACKED with cars.

Clark's is famous for their wildlife theme. Greeting you as you walk in the door is this nature scene...

"Florida Kitsch" is the best way I can describe the decorations that are not dead/stuffed animals...

This was the antler chandelier (one of many) that hung over my table....
If you want to see the food, continue down below the fold

I ordered the fried shrimp and fish combo, with fries and mac and cheese.
My buddy recommended the shrimp, and I should learn to take his recommendations very seriously. The shrimp was the star of the plate - by far. They were flavorful and plump - and were not overpowered by the light breading and frying process, which can often happen. Tilapia, which I like (in general), is not a fish that is coducive to frying very well. The nature of the fish is that it takes it's flavor from the preparation - and the frying didn't do well - it tasted like nothing. Catfish, cod, grouper (yeah, right!) - anything would have been better than tilapia. The fries were probably a little better than OK - and the mac and cheese was ordinary. It wasn't until after I left that I realized that my plate did not include the promised hush puppies. I was plenty full, so I didn't even notice them until I was discussing my dinner with a friend later on.

I screwed up on the ordering - should have just gotten the fried shrimp. However, my plan was to hit O'Steen's in St. Augustine at some point during the weekend, and I knew I would be having their fried shrimp (maybe my favorite), so I balked and split the meal with fish - my bad.

I do not often order dessert, but I was in the mood. What better way to end a deep-fried meal than with...
deep-fried cheesecake with a raspberry sauce. Mmmmm...good. I tried to get a picture of the inside of one of these bad boys, but the lighting would not not cooperate with my camera (and/or operator), and all the photos came out too blurry to use. I ate about half and took the rest back to the hotel. Bad move - this wasn't something that fared well after cooling off substantially. The cheesecake was wonderful warm. It was almost just a different dessert altogether than just to think about cheesecake. I have never even tried any of the deep-fried "fair" food (fried snickers, twinkies, coke, etc.). It just sounded good - for that night. The texture changed completely (not soggy), though, when they cooled - again, not horrible - but, it just wasn't the same experience that I had earlier. While they were no longer hot in the hotel room, they weren't cold, either - just room temperature - and it just didn't work for me.

If I am ever sentenced to be in Jacksonville again, I would give this place another shot - but, I will probably stick to the fried shrimp!

Clark's Fishing Camp • 12903 Hood Landing Road • Mandarin, FL 32258 • (904) 268-FISH (3474)

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The Lowdown on H-Town, Part II

This is part of a series that begins here.

After returning from Galveston, we made off for dinner at Magnolia Bar & Grill. This was my second trip to this venerable Houston establishment. The last time I was in town, the weather was great and we ate outside. This trip, temperatures dipped into the 40's, so we decided an indoor table was in order. Magnolia has a large and varied menu, but their specialties include a lot of creole seafood. First up on my agenda was this stellar bowl of shrimp gumbo. The picture, as usual, does not do this bowl of spicy goodness any justice. You could not dip the spoon into the bowl without pulling up three shrimp per spoonful. The broth was spicy, but not distractingly so.

My dinner entree was another Texas gulf specialty, stuffed redfish. There were three of us at the table, and two of us ordered the redfish. My other dining companion (the artist formerly known as "Wacky Mutant Assistant Chick") went with the stuffed shrimp, which were also described as excellent. The redfish came with a lump crabmeat stuffing (like the shrimp in the gumbo, you could pick out the large chunks of crabmeat in the stuffing). The mashed potatoes that accompanied the dish were some of the best I have ever had.

Wacky Mutant Assistant Chick also grabbed a piece of their key lime pie, and put away the whole thing. Personally, I liked the fruit garnish, but I am not a fan of key lime pie - and can I just tell you how hard it is to live in Florida and not like key lime pie?

Breakfast the following morning was at the Avalon Diner, which earned a prominent spot on my Best of 2006 list. You can follow along after the jump...

Before departing Houston, "wanderingjew" and I planned to meet up for breakfast at the Avalon. Unfortunately, he ran into some car trouble and had a rough go getting to the restaurant. We ended up in slightly more of a rush than we had anticipated, but the Avalon is a worthy stop for some pre-road trip grub. Located in a non-descript strip mall in a somewhat upscale neighborhood, the Avalon Diner doesn't look like the kind of place that would normally attract my attention. But, one step in the door, and you immediately feel as though you have taken a step back in time. The decor is retro - the traditional 1950's diner feel. I love the oversized soda caps hanging on the wall.



To be honest, my breakfast was unexciting - I ordered the old-fashioned, thin, small-tread waffle, based on a Michael Stern recommendation. It was good. But, just good. Wanderingjew ordered the chicken fried steak (sorry, I didn't get a photo), and I have to admit - he won. This is definitely an instance of "when in Rome..." and when in Texas, chicken fried steak is usually a pretty good option.

The real reason I added Avalon to the Houston recap, though, was to add the photos and the full attention that my previous visit deserved, but was never written. On my last visit, I sat at the counter and observed the inner workings of a tradtional diner from a cat bird seat at the counter. There is nothing like getting the first-hand view of the interaction between the cooks and the servers at the counter. On top of the ambiance, the thin-patty burgers at Avalon are delicious. The crinkle-cut fries are the ideal accompaniment.



The burger, fries and a shake was a great meal, but on my next trip through town, I want to check out their fresh-squeezed lemonade (they also do limeade). This machine makes the magic. You can see the fresh limes and lemons in the background. I watched as they created each glass, as it was ordered. Each lemon squeezed on the spot, a little syrup and sugar added and blended perfectly and served in an old-style fountain glass.



Well fed, we departed for Shiner, Texas, the home of Spoetzel Brewery - the makers of Shiner Bock beer. More on that in the next installment.

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Killer Shrimp

One of my favorite restaurants in southern California is a place in Marina Del Rey called "Killer Shrimp." To say that the place is a little "minimalist" might be a huge understatement. They have one thing on their menu -- three guesses as to what it is? Their shrimp is served a few different ways -- over pasta, over rice, or simply in a broth with a side of crusty French bread. The restaurant is barely decorated, the tables are nearly empty. Most folks know the original way to eat is with no utensils -- just diving into the bowl of broth-covered shrimp, peeling and eating the fleshy prawns; then soaking up the spicy broth with bread. It's so simple, it's complex.

So complex was this meal, that I decided that I had to be able to duplicate it. And, since I wanted to replicate the minimalist experience, I served the meal on TV trays! I made my first attempt last night. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp fresh or dried rosemary
2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 qts clam broth (I used crab broth, made from leftovers from my snow crab dinner)
6 ozs tomato paste
1 stick butter
5 lbs shrimp; med to large
loaf(ves) of crusty french bread

Let me just say that this recipe yields A TON of broth. I only cooked two pounds of shrimp, and I am only guesstimating that I could have easily added three more pounds -- but, I may have been able to make 10 pounds -- who knows? I figure that extra broth is not such a bad thing. It will keep. I was also unsure as to where the kick comes from in this recipe. I don't see anything listed in there that would create the kind of spicy effect that I had back in MDR. Well, I assure you -- this has some kick. I don't know if it is the red pepper (doesn't add kick like that to a slice of pizza!), the black pepper, or just the combination of spices, but it has kick -- you should like spicy foods if you want to try this.

Process:

Break up the spices, rather than grinding them. You should see recognizable pieces of rosemary, etc. when you are done. Mix the ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about two hours. If you are in a pinch for time, you can get by with less time, but the more time you allow, the better flavor you will get. Just before serving, add unpeeled shrimp to the stock pot. Continue to simmer for two to four minutes. The shrimp will be done QUICKLY.

Serve in bowls. Each bowl should contain a number of shrimp and a lot of broth. The broth should almost cover the shrimp.

The dish is eaten with your fingers -- no utensils. Grab a shrimp and peel and eat. Soak up the broth with the bread. Enjoy.

The broth was EXCELLENT -- about just like I remembered from California. But, I definitely made a mistake on the shrimp. Albertson's had a great price on some very large (16 ct.) frozen fresh water shrimp. Hmmm....they weren't that good. I need to find a good local source of shrimp -- maybe gulf shrimp. I don't know if the frozen aspect was an issue, but I guess fresh would be better. I take all of this on me, but the recipe rocks.

As I mentioned, I have plenty of broth, so I am going to make an attempt on some other shrimp and maybe give this a go again this weekend.

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