I wanted to do some barbecue this weekend and was thing about trying something different. I needed something light for dinner and decided on cold water lobster tails. These tails are the best money can buy. They are South African cold water lobster tails that are sweet, tender and delicious barbecued and dipped in drawn butter with the addition of cilantro. South African lobsters are different than Florida lobsters or even Maine lobsters because of the frigid waters they are raised in. Florida lobster tails have no claws and because of the warm water they tend to be a little tough and...

I love this time of year when morels and ramps are in season and I am waiting for the fiddlehead ferns become  available. Wild ramps have a very distinct and strong garlic/leek flavor and that is why I choose them for this dish. Wild ramps and morels grow well in the upper northwest in the early spring and make a nice paring for sauted rainbow trout. I purchased the ramps and morels from Foods in Season which is known for fresh, wild, foraged, and sustainable harvested foods.             The morel stems must be trimmed and then soak the morels  in running water...

Juniper, Lemon and Sea Salt Cured Salmon I have been doing a lot of research on food photography and I thought I would try to use some of my new found knowledge with a post on gravlox. I picked gravlox for two reasons, one because I used a Tasmanian Salmon that  I purchased from Honolulu Seafood company which turns out  a bright red color for my photos and the other  reason is that my wife and I like to sit around Sunday mornings eating gravlox with mustard sauce while watching the early news or a movie. Tasmanian salmon swim in very deep and cold water off the coast of Australia . The...

Mckendrick’s steak house loves celebrating the return of fresh Florida stone crab claws. As this years season arrives with good news that the Deep-water Horizon oil spill will not effect the catch. Stone crab claws are truly one of my favorite seafood dishes. I love shrimp, lobster, blue crabs and king crab but there is something about stone crabs.  Maybe it is because these tasty crustaceans are only available from October to May, making you wait all summer long for them. What is unique about stone crab claws is the way the are harvested. The fisherman set out traps, haul them...

When we opened Mckendricks 15 years ago we started out with a menu that was very basic. No real pizzazz  and as the months rolled by I would sit and trade menu ideas with Claudia Mckendrick. We tested menu ideas constantly, added new items to the menu and worked hard to quickly develop a brand. One item that has become a signature menu item is the Baked Oysters. Claudia came up with the idea and I developed the recipe into a fantastic dish that has been on our menu since the beginning. The Blue point oysters we use are a good steak house oyster from Long Island and are a medium size oyster with just...