The Perfect Summer Barbecue

You can’t call it a ‘barbecue’ if you’re not using indirect heat to cook something. Otherwise you’re just grilling and grilling with a crowd is called a cookout. Barbecues, like most good things, take a little bit more time than slapping a hunk of meat on the grill – although that’s pretty good, too.

The ‘Hoe Down and BBQ’ my family hosted on June 25^th had all the components of a perfect summer barbecue. Good friends and family were in attendance. It was hot but we didn’t care; we had a pool to dip into, homemade mojitos and ice-cold beers to assuage the swelter. The breeze picked up the scent of meat slowly roasting over hickory chips soaked in Corona and delivered them to our nose hairs—just for a second—feeding our growing appetites.

The menu that evening was simple and not a thing was cooked indoors except my mother’s blueberry pie:

• Grilled Hearts of Romaine with Pickled Red Onions and a Homemade Roasted Garlic, Chive and Scallion Buttermilk Dressing
•  Herbed Potato Salad (courtesy of Clay, a fabulous cook, friend and neighbor)
• Blueberry Slab Pie
• Barn Chicken (the most tender grilled chicken you’ve ever had—but the recipe will forever be a family secret)
• Hickory and Corona Barbecued Pork
• Grilled Corn with Lime Zest and Sea Salt Compound Butter
• Meryn’s Fruit Dip (aka cool whip and cream cheese whipped into submission accompanied by sliced seasonal fruit—gone in three seconds)

I was too busy running in between the grill and the guests to take photos. You know what? I take that as a good sign.

Indochine

The the right of Burrito Gallery you will find Indochine. Up the wrought iron stairs you'll be greeted with exposed brick walls, friendly service and very flavorful Thai inspired food. Indochine offers a number of appetizers, delicious looking cocktails (that I didn't indulge in as it was lunchtime-- but I'll be back!), main courses from the wok and curries.


A friend and I split the spring rolls as an appetizer for our lunch date and they were exactly what you want in a spring roll: fresh, satisfying and light enough to whet your appetite without spoiling it. The accompanying sweet sauce was equally light and brought out the flavors of the shrimp, fresh vegetables, mint, cilantro and chicken. 

Indochine has a heat scale for its entrees ranging from 1-6, one being not spicy and six being Thai spicy (aka smoke coming out of your ears hot.) Being a fan of very spicy food I decided four would be a good jumping off point. It took me a long time to decide which curry I wanted, but the chicken panang curry came highly recommended by our waitress. She made an excellent recommendation, though I doubt any other curry would be a poor selection. The flavor profile of the curry was excellent: substantial, creamy, spicy and well rounded. I was pleased with the level of heat. I couldn't finish the generous portion, but I would definitely order the panang curry again. 

Chew

The boyfriend and I both work in downtown Jacksonville (as of last Monday) which means we're finally able to take lunch together. As today is a special day, our one and a half year anniversary, I chose a restaurant I've heard so many great things about for lunch: Chew.

Though Chew is about 10 minutes from my office I am still unsure if the walk was worth it. I ordered the banh mi sandwich, boyfriend ordered the hot brown sandwich and we split the fried green tomatoes with gorgonzola fondue. The fried green tomatoes were good and boyfriend's hot brown sandwich was delicious. For those of you who do not know what a hot brown sandwich is you're missing out. My banh mi sandwich, on the other hand, was another story.

My banh mi sandwich arrived with a side salad dressed in a delightfully light and lemony vinaigrette. "This is gonna be good," I thought. One bite into the sandwich, and I was disappointed, firstly, with the pork was absolutely far too dry. Secondly? There was too much bread, not enough pickled vegetables and not enough chili lime dressing. I sent the banh mi sandwich back.

Round two of the banh mi sandwich was significantly better. The pork was crispy outside, tender, hot and succulent inside. While banh mi sandwich number two did not have more pickled vegetables than the first it did have more chili lime dressing, which helped to create a more flavorful sandwich overall.

Next time, I will not be ordering the banh mi sandwich, but I will be returning to Chew. All in all I am not quite sure I have made a decision as to whether or not Chew is as good as everyone else says it is.

Cantina Laredo

Cantina Laredo at the St. Johns Town Center is situated near some stiff competition in terms of restaurants: Capital Grill, Mitchell's Fish Market and J. Alexander's are all within a stone's throw of the Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately any and all of Cantina Laredo's competitors would have been a better choice this evening.


Previous visits to Cantina Laredo have been satisfactory, however this outing has prompted Cantina Laredo and I to split up. He, obviously, cannot give me what I want and I am sick of waiting for the relationship to improve. 


A friend of mine chose Cantina Laredo because she is obsessed with Mexican food. Cantina Laredo also has great pomegranate margaritas. Perhaps we should have ordered a few and the 45 minute wait for an incorrect food order would not have seemed so bad. Unfortunately the most exciting beverage on the table was water.


I ordered the Honey Shrimp salad. I've had it before, enjoyed it, and was not in the mood for the ubiquitous refried beans and queso of a Mexican joint. My friend ordered the Cilantro Chicken Salad. Both of us requested our dressing be on the side. 45 minutes later our salads show up. We've eaten our full of tortilla chips at this point. Nonetheless we dig in. I bite into a tough, lukewarm, overly grilled shrimp. My friend doesn't even bother to take a bite. The server has brought her the cranberry pecan salad. We send our orders back. He tells me the order took so long in the first place because shrimp take awhile to cook. (Note: shrimp take moments to prepare and are usually overcooked for this reason.) Our food returns. I immediately am annoyed when I see my plate. My first salad had five shrimp. My second one, though the shrimp are appropriately prepared, only has four shrimp. My friend's salad has dressing all over it. A manager walks over. We explain her order still isn't right. We ask that both of our meals be put in to go boxes, we're no longer hungry. The manager says the meal is complimentary and he apologizes. 


While the manager handled the situation correctly, I was still pretty annoyed. Sending food back once is bad enough. Sending two salads back, one of them three times, is embarrassing. I walked out with a free meal, but frustrated. Needless to say I will not be returning soon. Next time I am picking the restaurant.