Nothing is better than living on the Gulf Coast — unless, of course, you are also taking advantage of the local fruits de mer (French for “fruits of the sea”), such as fresh clams, oysters and plump shrimp. I love when locals talk passionately about the fresh Southern coastal cuisine we have here in Pensacola. I enjoy nothing more than watching fishing boats bringing into Seville Harbour fresh-caught snapper and shellfish, which go straight into the Fish House and Atlas Oyster House’s kitchens.
Some of my favorite local customers have celebrated one of the biggest days of their lives with us here in one of our private rooms overlooking Seville Harbour and Pensacola Bay. With their love of seafood and good wine, it was easy to prepare the menu and theme for their perfect wedding reception. This week, I want to go over some great ways of pulling off a Fruits de Mer Party for any occasion — whether it is a wedding reception or just a gathering of close friends.
Nothing beats the summer heat like a Fruits de Mer display of chilled cocktail shrimp and fresh Apalachicola oysters. Any kind of shellfish, from snow crab to lobster tails to fresh steamed mussels and clams can be incorporated into your food display. To make things easier on you, the chef, I recommend precooking most of the items, such as the cocktail shrimp, snow crab and various sauces the day before. (more…)
On April 20, the oysters will undoubtedly be a hit with fundraising foodies.
Ballou, along with several other area chefs, will tempt appetites for a good cause at Autism Pensacola’s eighth annual “Connecting the Pieces” Gala. The event, at the Sanders Beach Corinne Jones Community Center, will raise money for Kids for Camp, a summer learning program for children with autism.
The menu is delicious from start to finish.
East Bay oysters from The Fish House, 150 pounds or so, will be the star of the oyster bar. The Great Southern Restaurant Group’s other restaurants, Jackson’s Steakhouse and the Atlas Oyster House, will kick off the evening with passed appetizers: shrimp and chicken satay glazed with Moroccan spiced apricot jam and rim tuna tacos.
Ballou, who created a grilled watermelon salad for last year’s gala, is happy to be back.
“It’s a really good cause,” he said. “And I enjoy seeing what the other chefs are doing.”
This year, the main course is a Gulf Coast take on the classic surf-and-turf.
McGuire’s Irish Pub and Flounder’s Chowder House will present a “Town and Beach” entree consisting of chargrilled tri-tip sirloin steak with an apple brandy-scented demi glace, miso barbecue-glazed triggerfish, rosemary-roasted fingerling potatoes and lemon honey snip-top carrots.
Chef Mark Murphy of Flounder’s Chowder House will prepare about 400 entrees for fundraiser attendees.
“There’s always a good crowd,” he said. “We’ll make a few extra, just in case.”
Like Ballou, Murphy is happy to donate his time and skills to Autism Pensacola. The cause, he revealed, hits close to home.
“I have two family members who have children with autism,” he said. “I always wear my autism pin on my hat to show my support.”
The gala is a chance for area chefs to not only help raise money, but mix and mingle.
“It’s nice to spend time with everyone,” Murphy said. “We’re all friends. If someone needs something, we’ll help each other out.”
Susan Byram is the executive director of Autism Pensacola, which serves Santa Rosa and Escambia counties. She described the gala — and all those helping hands — as vital to the success of their summer camp program.
“Because we offer high quality teaching, our staffing costs are quite high,” she said. “Plus, parents have a significant financial burden. More than 50 percent of our families qualify for some support from us.”
This year, Autism Pensacola hopes to raise $150,000 at the gala.
Byram said she is ever grateful for the support shown by area restaurants and the community.
“Everyone has been incredibly generous,” she said. “Each year, we all look forward to the gala. The food is amazing and so are the participants.”
And the gala chefs are eager to sate all those healthy appetites.
“I’ll be there with my oyster knife,” Ballou promised. “I’m ready.”
Other chefs scheduled to participate in the event include Blake Rushing of Elise Coastal Dining, Dan Dunn of H2O Cajun Asian Grill, Irv Miller of Jackson’s and Jim Shirley of The Fish House.
Baked oysters is just one of the great recipes you can find on our website.
The Grits Girl explores the Who, What and Huh? — of cooking this holiday season.
It’s that time of year again. The holiday season. Most folks get in a real panic over what to serve. The Grits Girl keeps it simple. I orderto go.
Some people like to make holiday dinners fancy. I’ve seen these recipes with highfalutin’ names, usually in French or Latin. Personally, the Grits Girl doesn’t recommend trying something too complicated if family is coming over. Especially your momma. This has not worked out well for me in the past, and my mother loves to tell everyone about the peanut butter and green beans.
This month we had a great opportunity to be featured on Fox 10’s new morning show, “Studio10.” Starting hosts are Cherish Lombard and Joe Emer. The dynamic morning duo visited our restaurant and set up a makeshift television studio in our private dining room, The Bait Shop. The theme of the show was Thanksgiving sides. Chef Billy Ballou was first up and chose to prepare a recipe for dressing that is a favorite of his father’s. Billy told the television audience that his father is a huge fan of oysters, which causes him to have to prepare two pans of dressing each Thanksgiving, one with oysters and one without. Billy’s mother doesn’t care for oysters, so the wise father chooses to lose the dressing battle in order to win the oyster war. Enjoy Billy’s recipe for oyster and andouille sausage dressing.
The last time the United States and England played one another in the World Cup, it came to be known as “The Miracle on Grass.” England fans will never live down the famous upset that occurred 60 years ago that left America walking away with the game. Overcoming their 500-1 odds for winning, America celebrated a well-deserved victory.
Did you know that there was only one American journalist in the stands at that famous 1950 game? And only the smallest English newspapers picked up the shocking story! My guess is that there will be more than one journalist in attendance at the game this year, and that newspapers all over the world will have the game results as their front-page sports headline.
Here we are, 60 years later, ready to relive that exciting legacy! We would love nothing more for you to come watch this thrilling match at our house! No matter which team you cheer for, we’ll give you awesome drink specials; to be exact, we’ll give you buy one, get one free drinks from 3-6. So come on out at 3 o’clock Saturday, June 12, to watch the United States in their rematch against England. We’ll pull down the big screen at the Atlas as we enjoy cold drinks, fresh food, and one thrilling match!
Let us know a cool fact about the World Cup or something neat about your favorite team as a comment and you will be entered to win a $25 gift certificate.
Coach McCarthy, local soccer coach and former player for Liverpool, shares his insights on the upcoming World Cup game between the United States and England.
Style Salon is our neighbor and a great friend to the Fish House. Often you can find the style girls helping with and/or attending the many events we have here! Notably, they helped get the party started by offering their creative services to Lindsay and Whitney’s big jersey style birthday party on the Atlas deck. Style is Pensacola’s hottest beauty boutique. Their mission is to provide beauty, education, excellence and consistency to their employees and customers.
Their beautiful salon is located in a historic 100-year-old building on 192 N. Palafox Street. The historic architecture, along with modern style and services provided by the stylists, create an unparalleled salon experience in Pensacola.
Style believes in caring for the environment, so they carry environmentally friendly products from manufacturers such as PureOlogy and KMS California.
Style is a Goldwell Alliance Salon, and all stylists are updated with the latest Goldwell color news, trends, products and education.
Food is at the core of Southern culture, and many of our notable Southern specialties are based on ingredients indigenous to the region. One of the South’s most delicious home grown favorites is the pecan (you say pee-can, we say pa-kahn). Enjoy them salted, roasted or honey glazed, and of course as the star in pie (here’s a great history of pecan pie). Spectacular seafood from grouper and mahi to shrimp and oysters are the freshest catches you can find and a staple of southern coastal cuisine. The South is also known for its long history of delicious recipes with black-eyed peas that are good for the soul.
Learn how to cook these Southern comforts at home from Jackson’s Chef Irv Miller on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. For only $40 per person, you will learn the secrets from our own top chef along with food tastings and wine pairings. Chef Irv will walk you through perfecting Southern specialties while sharing locally available and seafood favorites from the waters of our own Gulf of Mexico. He will also demonstrate how to prepare some of his favorite regional recipes including pecan-crusted Mississippi wild redfish with Louisiana meunière sauce, country fried chicken and Chef Edna Lewis biscuits. For more information and to make reservations, please call 850-217-2347. In the meantime, you can practice at home with some Chef Irv’s exclusive recipes. Here’s one to get you started –Baked Oysters with Hot Peppered Collards and Andouille Cream and Cornbread Crust! (”Read More” for the recipe)
Share with us! What are some of your favorite traditional Southern recipes? Where did the recipe come from?
