FrogPrincesse

My husband, the photographer for my Foodblog the other week, travels to Charleston occasionally for business and just came back from there last week. He ate at FIG and McCrady’s, and highly recommends both. He says that FIG is more casual, while McCrady’s is more gastronomic and formal. Both make good use of local ingredients to elevate classic dishes. At FIG, the John’s Island tomato tartine and the corn chowder were outstanding, as was the locally caught triggerfish. The pork trotters were also excellent, if you’re a bit adventurous. At McCrady’s, the stone crab and uni (urchin) was his favorite dish, along with the Berkawattabaw pork. Both restaurants have first rate cocktail menus. FIG even has a dedicated Manhattan menu, with a choose-your-own list of bourbon, bitters, and vermouth! Otherwise, he tells me that the best cocktails in town can be found at The Gin Joint, which is also on East Bay, just down the road from McCrady’s. They pride themselves on their authentic vintage Prohibition-era cocktails, and they make their own syrups, bitters, and tonics, while also carrying an impressive selection of hard-to-find spirits. As you may know, one of the secrets to a good cocktail is good ice, and they hand carve their own cubes. They even have a machine which melts a block of ice into a giant sphere for the perfect Old Fashioned. They serve great small plates for a good snack, too. He also likes Husk, which apparently belongs to the same owner as McCrady’s, but is more on the casual side. For an authentic and casual Charleston seafood experience, he says that you must go to The Wreck in Mount Pleasant. It’s overlooking a beautiful old fishing port and you’ll think you’re lost trying to find it (behind a residential neighborhood and a boat storage facility). But the food couldn’t be any fresher and it’s got all the ambiance you’ll ever want – but bring bug spray! The Stone crab claws are his favorites there. He apparently has a lot of fun on his “business trips”. On another note, I am trying to convince him to open an eGullet account so he can report his experiences directly, but it looks like I still have to work on him.

So, so true! Jerry- I am enjoying your blog tremendously. I love your exuberant style and endless enthusiasm. And your writing is just great. Thanks for sharing your week with us, I can't wait to read what's next!

Alex, Have you made the Nutella ice cream from Chocolate & Zucchini before? I tried it a couple of years ago and had disastrous results - a very dense mass that never really froze (no wonder - it's almost 1/2 Nutella by weight!), like a solid version of Nutella. As for the taste, it was so rich that nobody cared for it. Definitely not recommended. On the other hand, my experience so far with all of David Lebovitz's ice cream recipes has been fantastic!

WOW. Shelby, the roe in your prawn dish looks absolutely unbelievable!! I bet it must have tasted wonderful.

Grilled peaches with homemade vanilla ice cream, that's what I would do!

Typically, I like a classic Negroni with Junipero gin, Dolin rouge and Campari, one dash each of Regan's and Angostura orange bitters. It's a good drink if you are feeling lazy since it can be built in the glass and uses a foolproof 1:1:1 ratio. Also my husband abhors Campari, so it's the first bottle that I grab when he is away on a business trip (well, that one and the Cynar)!

Honkman, I read about them as well, but unfortunately they don't have a stand at the markets that I frequent. I wonder if anyone had a chance to try their products? I did not find much information about them online other than the article that you linked in your post.

Just a quick note that Knight Salumi unfortunately closed their business earlier this year. It's too bad as we really enjoyed the sausage sandwiches at farmers market in Little Italy, and their dry salumi. I am hoping that we can find another good source for local sausages.

For the Gimlet, I like the recipe from Joy of Mixology. 2 1/2 gin, 3/4 Rose, lime wedge garnish

In addition to the above, here are some other options: Gimlet is an obvious choice with the Rose lime cordial Vesper Martini with the Lillet Tom Collins and John Collins, which are great and refreshing summer drinks Margarita with the Grand Marnier Bennett cocktail (gin, lime, simple, Angostura) Whiskey old-fashioned Whiskey sour

I did not feel like doing any grocery shopping last night, so I looked for something to make with what I already had at home - potatoes and black kale from my CSA, and a couple of frozen fish filets. I looked up these ingredients in Eat Your Books (which is a lot of fun; it's like recipe roulette and you never know what you are going to get!), and I ended up making a fish pie adapted from a Jamie Oliver's recipe. My husband cringed at the idea of a casserole-type dish, but it proved tasty and comforting. The cheese sauce was made with carrots, onions, heavy cream, cheddar cheese, lemon juice, and parsley. It's not super photogenic but here it is.

Kerry, Sorry to hear that you had a rough day at work. These carnitas look amazing! Were they fairly easy to make?

I am interested in what others have to say as well. I own a Global pairing knife and had limited success with sharpening on the EdgePro so far. My experience is that the steel is harder to sharpen compared to my others knives (Forschner and Messermeister chef knives), but that might be my technique.

The pâte de fruit looks amazing. What ingredients did you use? I've never made pâte de fruit, so I am really intrigued and already thinking about the possibilities!

With Peter the Eater blogging this week, I anticipate more wonderful seafood!

Regarding MIHO, I really love what they do and their great attitude! I am noticing more and more enthusiasm about food in San Diego and that’s great.

Thank you all for the nice comments. I am glad I was able to share some of what San Diego has to offer. Next time I hear people explaining how San Diego is considered a second-rate city in the “foodie pantheon”, I will just point them to my eGullet blog Also, my husband would like to thank everyone for the positive feedback on the pictures!

Peter, I am reading your first Foodblog now. I can't wait to read about your new adventures! Do your kids still eat pickled herring and blue cheese??

It's finally time to wrap up this blog. Thank you to the eGullet team for asking me to blog this week. It has helped me get out of my shell a little. I've had a fun time sharing many of my favorite places with all of you, the first barbecue/4th of July party I've ever hosted, and my everyday meals. Thanks to all who followed me around this week. This blog was my way of saying thank you to all the eGullet members from whom I've learned so much. eGullet is a fantastic resource and a great community. I hope that it continues to grow and flourish. Lastly, I would like to thank my husband who did such a wonderful job with the pictures. I have absolutely no idea how the other bloggers, who don't have a dedicated photographer following them around everywhere, manage to do this! I can't wait to read the next Foodblog!

For dessert tonight, I made vanilla ice cream with the eggs from Schaner Farms. I love how they all have different colors and sizes. I made the custard with a vanilla bean that we brought back from a trip to Tahiti. Churning the ice cream in the ice cream maker The ice cream is ready to go in the freezer. We did not want to wait so we had it as soft serve. We served the ice cream with plums, and a caramel fleur de sel sauce that we bought at the market yesterday.

I had some spinach from last week's CSA that I needed to use, so I made a savory tart for dinner tonight. I took my inspiration from a recipe in Sunday Suppers at Lucques, which itself is based on flammenkuche, a thin Alsatian tart topped with fromage blanc, onions and lardons. In tonight's version, the tart was first topped with a mixture made from homemade ricotta, homemade fromage blanc, and an egg yolk. Then I added spinach that had been blanched then sauteed in olive oil with caramelized shallots and herbes de Provence. Lastly, I added the crumbled feta.

Our snacks: Californian pistachios, black emerald grapes, more of the foie gras mousse with fleur de sel, ricotta & Parma ham with balsamic vinegar for him (foreground), and with truffle honey for me (background).

For our cocktail hour tonight, we had a Juliet and Romeo, a creation from Toby Maloney of the Violet Hour. I always complain that this cocktail is fussy to make and it is true - unless I decide some day to splurge on a couple of Japanese dasher bottles, it's a giant pain to count individual drops of rose water and Angostura bitters. But, of course, when you sip this, you realize that it's really worth all the trouble. This cocktail is very delicate and well balanced. You can taste the cucumber, mint and rose water and how they play with each other without being overpowering. The touch of salt adds interest and also changes the texture of the drink.

These figs with saba look beautiful! I want to try this when figs start showing up at the farmers' market. What kind of goat cheese was this?

I thought those were shrimp or something of the sort. Stymied - where is there seafood of good quality alongside gorgeous cattle? That looks like lobster. Seattle perhaps?