Best Corn Muffins - EVER!

Thursday night Hubby made his awesome Emeril's chili. Yum! Like I usually do, I made my famous corn bread. Actually, I can't really claim the recipe. The recipe I use is Kenny Roger's Roasters Corn Bread Muffins with one adjustment. Remember Kenny Rogers Roasters? We used to have one in Roanoke at Towers that we would go to occasionally for lunch. These muffins are in a class of their own, with chunks of corn and a sweetness that is a perfect counterpart to the spiciness of the chili. Every time I make these, I get tons of complements and they are gobbled up in moments.

Best Corn Muffins - Ever!

1/2 cup of butter
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of salt
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup of milk (I use 1%)
1 1/4 cups of frozen yellow corn (the original recipe calls for 3/4 of a cup)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream together butter, sugar, honey and eggs in a large bowl. Then add the salt, flour, cornmeal and baking powder. Add the milk slowly while mixing in the dry ingredients.

Add corn to mixture and combine by hand until the corn is worked in.

Grease a 12 cup muffin pan and fill evenly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until edges become golden brown.

Enjoy!

La Bel Mar

Our last night in St. Maarten we ate at La Bel Mar. La Bel Mar had just opened that night - in the old Le Bec Fin. We had a wonderful time here (even drank them out of 3 different labels)!!! The food was great and the service was as well! We started with conch fritters, chicken sate and shrimp cocktail. All was wonderful. Then we had probably the best black bean soup I have ever had!! I had the grass fed filet. Dad & Hubby ordered bone-in rib-eyes that were overcooked - but when they were brought out other ones, they were fabulous. My brother had the rack of lamb which was seriously out of this world. Mama and my sister had shrimp scampi that looked delicious. Hubby and I finished the meal with a piece of key lime pie. At the end of the meal, we were at the bar watching the Olympics with a Jamaican waitress and the rest of the staff - it was crazy!!! What a great last dinner!

Sunset Beach Bar

Sunset Beach Bar, which is one of the other bars on the beach at end of the runway. It had been closed at the beginning of the week, but it re-opened before we left St. Maarten. We all grabbed a beer here. The views are great, and its a bit nicer than the "no name beach bar". Definitely a must see on a visit to St. Maarten.

Air France flight arriving from Paris

Uncle Harry's

On Friday evening, we all went to Uncle Harry's on Airport Road.
Uncle Harry's is open air and actually sits over the water on poles. It has a great view of Simpson Bay. Harry's was AMAZING!!! The wine here was great too! We started with escargot, which was some of the best I have ever had - so garlicky and cheesy - yummo! For my entree I had the petite filet. OMG, it was cooked perfectly and definitely rivaled Ruth Chris and Mortons. Hubby had the large filet, which was also excellent. The service was fantastic - they even sent over appletini shooters at the end of our meal. We can't wait to go back here. This place was such a great way to end a perfect day!!!

Buccaneer Beach Bar

Having stopped by earlier on Thursday, we decided to do a casual dinner on Thursday night at the Buccaneer Beach Bar. We were there for several hours - watching the sunset over Simpson Bay was beautiful. BBB is oceanfront/beachfront and outdoors. We all had a ton of food - shrimp pizza, cheeseburgers, ribs, etc. They also made some great drinks here!! :) Definitely a fun night.

Sunset over Simpson Bay

Los Gauchos

On Wednesday night we went to Los Gauchos, an Argentinian restaurant. We loved this place! It was waterfront. The restaurant was a lot of fun. All of the seats were covered in a cow print!!

The white sangria was out of this world!!

Hubby & I shared the stuffed mushrooms for our appetizer. They were wonderful. I had the tenderloin kabobs with onions, bacon and peppers for my entree. Hubby had the rib-eye. All the meat was cooked to perfection.

We would definitely return here!

Hideaway

Tuesday night, wewent to dinner at Hideaway, overlooking the pool at La Vista. Brother was tired from the boys day in the sun at Maho Beach & still sleeping. :) Hideaway was a pretty little open air restaurant with white curtains hanging everywhere.

I started with the tomato mozzarella salad. Hubby had the conch fritters. Both were great.

For entrees, I had the mahi mahi with a creole sauce (which was almost like a dry salsa). It was fantastic. Hubby had the grouper with creole sauce.

Skip Jack's

On Monday night the rest of the family arrived and we went to Skip Jack's for a late dinner. My parents had been here before on a previous trip to St. Maarten. Skip Jack's was wonderful!

We had calamari to start with which was great, as well as tomato bruschetta.

Sis & I split the blackened grouper - it was delicious and more than enough food for 2 people. The mango sauce served with it was fabulous.

Hubby had the pan fried grouper.

AND, Dad got a 6 lb lobster!! I have never seen anything like it my life. SEE THE PIC BELOW!! We all feasted on it - it was succulent and amazing. All I can say is WOW!

Dad's Six Pound Lobster

Toppers at Pelican Key

Sunday night in St. Maarten ended up just being Hubby & I. Due to mechanical problems, the rest of the family got stuck in Miami for the night, unable to fly in to SXM until Monday afternoon. Since Hubby &I had had a few celebratory cocktails ;) we decided to go somewhere in walking distance. Only thing was, we had no idea what was around! So we asked the security guard at the gate, who pointed us in two different directions. We ended up at Topper's (not the main one on Welfare Road, but the one at Pelican Key). This was a very laid back place, situated right on the beach - kind of like a large open air tiki hut strung with Christmas lights. They even had some tables situated right in the sand.

They had a pretty varied menu, though surprisingly not a lot of seafood choices. We started with the Hummus & Baba Ghanoush (trying to be healthy). For my entree, I had the Gnocchi, which was amazing - tons of goat cheese & spinach. Hubby had the Roast Pork, which ended up being completely different than what he expected. Personally, I thought it was delicious, though it was more Southern style than what you would expect in St. Maarten.

Our experience there was interesting. We got there and there was a wait, which was not a problem for us, so we took a seat at the bar and ordered cocktails. We then were seated but didn't see a waitress for about 20 minutes. Finally she came and got an appetizer order, but didn't get our drink order. Our appetizer came and then she the waitress returned and we ordered a bottle of wine and our meals. Well, 45 MINUTES LATER, still no food or wine. So, feeling good, I walked up to the manager (she is a story in and of itself) and explained the situation. Apparently our order did not get placed, but we got a free bottle of wine, which made it a lot better. Overall, we had a good time though with the lackluster service and so many other restaurants in the area, we probably would not return.

Toppers can be seen in the distance with the lights

Mr. Busby's Beach Bar

So Hubby & I had read about Mr. Busby's Beach Bar, which was reported to be just down the beach from the Westin. Mr. Busby's is famous for their 75 cent Carib beers all day long, as well as having pretty good food. Everything we had read (TripAdvisor and other forums) said you had to climb over a few rocks to get from the Westin to Mr. Busby's. Well, a few rocks is an understatement (see pictures below). We decided to grab breakfast their on Sunday morning and check it out. I must admit, I had several freak outs on the rocks (due to having to jump from rock to rock, while the waves were crashing all around me and Hubby focusing more on taking pictures, lol). We are glad we went. It was a perfect, casual spot - with a great view. We both had made to order omelettes, which were fresh and chock full of veggies. This is a must if you are staying in the area.

Hubby took this as we were climbing over the rocks

This was the easy part...

Finally, we reached Mr. Busby's

View from Mr. Busby's

Omnivore's Hundred

The Omnivore's Hundred is a poll that has been going around the Internet. The Omnivore's Hundred is an interesting list of 100 international items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life. He offered this list with the following instructions:


1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten

3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I am putting everything in red in this category)


The Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak Tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba Ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J Sandwich
14. Aloo Gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16 Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom Tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie Gras
24. Rice and Beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de Leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna Cruda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikki marsala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly Pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Tropical Chicken with Pineapple Skewers

Last night I made a dinner adapted from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. It ended up being wonderful! Very light, a tiny bit sweet - the brown sugar and pineapple juice provide crunchy carmelization on the outside - but not too sweet, because it is balanced by the soy sauce. I served the chicken and pineapple skewers with jasmine rice.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs of chicken breast tenders
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1 20oz can chunk pineapple in pineapple juice
skewers (I prefer metal)

Combine the juice from the canned pineapple, soy sauce and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat once sugar is dissolved and the mixture is about to boil.

Place the chicken breast tenders in a bowl and pour the mixture of it. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Using 4 or 5 skewers for the chunks of pineapple (push pretty tightly together).

Grill on low heat. Baste chicken repeatedly.

Hubby (King of the Grill) used a gas grill, but a grill pan would work just as well.

Rachael Ray Spicy BBQ Chicken

This evening I made a semi-dry rub for about a pound of organic chicken breast tenders. I used a recipe that I watched Rachael Ray make on "30 Minute Meals". This recipe is wonderful. Spicy, tangy and slightly sweet.

Mix in a large zip loc bag:

1 tablespoon grill seasoning

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon coriander

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Drizzle about a pound of boneless, skinless chicken with a 1 tbsp of EVOO. Drop chicken in bag and shake around until everything is well coated. Rachael says that the chicken only needs to marinate a few minutes in the mixture, but I chose to let it sit for 2 hours. Then grill for a few minutes on each side. DELICIOUS. I served this with grilled zucchini and squash.

Chicken: Pre-grill

Chicken - Post grill, plated

Curry Corn Recipe

Curry Corn

• Shuck the corn and rub it with olive oil.
• Once the corn is coated, sprinkle salt over it, turning entirely to ensure good coverage.
• After applying the salt, sprinkle curry, turning entirely to ensure good coverage.

I Grilled over low (gas) heat for 20-25 minutes, turning once.

Caprese Salad

We grilled steaks the other night and I made this simple side dish on a whim.

Tomato Mozzarella Salad
3 Roma Tomatos
1 Ball Fresh Mozzarella
1 Small Onion
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/8 Cup Olive Oil

-Quarter the onion and break layers apart.
-Slice the tomato
-Slice the mozzarella
-Alternately layer the tomato and mozzarella

Shake together to oil and vinegar and douse over the tomato and mozzarella.

Sprink parsley, oregano or any other herb over top for a garnish.

Curry Chicken Marinade

Last night I made a great curry chicken using the marinade below. The chicken was delicious even though I only was able to marinate it for about 30 minutes. Next time, I will marinate the chicken over night. This flavor combination was excellent - sweet & spicy at the same time. I served this with jasmine rice (so fragrant!) and black beans. A perfect, healthy meal!!

Curry Chicken Marinade
(this is for 2 portions, double for 4, etc.)

2 tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp ground ginger
a good sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup of honey (warmed to make mixing easier)
1/4 cup of oil

Marinate over night. Continually baste while baking. (Baking time & temperature varies based on cuts of chicken).