Upside Down Broiled Seafood Platter – Part 2

Since the crab cakes and onions were such a hit with the seafood meal, I thought they deserved a separate post.  But before I get to that, here is my Keto friendly breakfast the morning after the seafood meal.

Upside Down Broiled Seafood Platter

When I traveled to Pittsburgh, PA on business during my working days, one of my favorite restaurants was Poli’s, located a few miles east of center city in Squirrel Hill.  The restaurant opened in 1921 and closed in 2005 and when I ate there, it was always the broiled seafood platter.  It was the best I ever ate and I’ve often fantasized about being able to recreate it at home.

For this meal, I began with recipes from All Recipes and Mr. Food to get the basics – the originals can be found by clicking on the links.  I was going for something like this.

Oysters, Wings, And Jerk Chicken

As you may recall, during our RV trip in April to Pensacola, we made a couple of stops at Joe Patti’s Seafood and one of the things we bought was shucked oysters, which I froze.

I had been advised that the frozen ones were not that good when eaten raw but just as good as fresh when cooked so we deep fried them.  I thawed and drained the 24 oz container which contained 20 select oysters that looked fresh shucked.

Lemon Garlic Swordfish

Of the four people who regular eat at our house, Cindy and I are “never met a fish I didn’t like” kind of folks and Pat and Beverly are very picky, especially Pat who will only eat fried mild fish.  While Bev will eat salmon, oysters, etc, when it comes to fin fish it’s only salmon and fried mild fish for her as well – think fried crappie.

The Texas Kids Annual Visit – Final Days

For their final days at Almost Heaven South, our visitors began with a busy Monday.  The girls all went to a local nail shop for manicures and pedicures courtesy of Meme, then they all went to Gatlinburg for a round of Hillbilly golf and supper at the Cherokee Grill.

The Texas Kids Annual Visit - Low Country Boil For Seventeen & Karaoke

Along with the burgers and fried potatoes that we ate on Friday, Kathy always requests low country boil during their visits and we ended up with 17 diners on Sunday evening - I was ready to fire things up at 4:30.

The Texas Kids Annual Visit – Part 2

Each of the guest couples had decided to make at least one meal during the week and so far Katelyn & Xavier have made meatloaf and Lauren & Jackson made the stir fry, but I got no pics of either one.  However, when Jennafer & Chase (a Californian), made Loco Moco (Hawaiian) for breakfast, pics were definitely required.  I had never heard of the dish or even the concept but it begins with a bed of rice (or leftover fried potatoes for Bev & I) topped with a cream cheese stuffed grilled burger, scrambled or fried egg and all topped with brown gravy – gravy on burger for fried egg like this web shot.

The Texas Kids Annual Visit – Part 1

After missing last year due to Covid-19, we have all been excited about the annual visit from Kathy and her girls, except this time with a twist – the girls all brought a boyfriend.  When we built our house on the lake, this is exactly what we had in mind and we are thrilled that the grandkids, who are now adults, still want to come visit with us.

Katelyn, the oldest, and her fellow came in on Saturday from a nine person college friends trip to Glacier NP.  For Sat evening we cooked a reverse seared coulette (sirloin cap, picanha) with broccoli casserole and salad.  

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

I saw this recipe on Food Network and thought it would be great for my low-carb diet and to turn it into a main dish, I added two cups of cubed Kentucky Legends Ham.  The recipe calls for roasting the cauliflower prior to assembling the casserole but since I’m not a fan of roasting veggies, (except potatoes), I steamed the florets until they were nearly done.  Also, since I like every bite to be the same, I mixed everything in a large bowl (except the final cheese topping) rather than adding dollops after baking.  You can click on the above link for the original recipe.