SOUTH FLORIDA/MIDWEST TOUR, FLORIDITA, AND LIQUID SUMMER BLOODY MARY

WOW! What a tour.  Here I am in Ottawa, jamming with the Voices of the Wetlands. From the left to right, Cyril Neville, Sauce Boss, Tab Benoit, Johnny Sansone, Marsha Ball, and Anders Osborne. Lighting it up!  Thanks to all on this tour, Scott Sterling at the Dinosaur BBQ, Mark Monahan and everyone at the Ottawa Bluesfest, the great folks from the Cape Fear Blues Cruise, Daughter Mary who put us up at her country estate, the Washington DC Parrot Heads, for their generous benefit for Planet Gumbo, And the Big Owl Tiki Bar on the Maryland Shore for an unforgettable afternoon adventure.

Now its off to Miami, Key Largo, and the Midwest for another killer adventure. HERE’S THE SCHEDULE

HOT N HEAVY AIRPLAY
Sirius Radio’s Bluesville channel has been playing “Marquis de Swamp” a whole lot.  Justin’s mom said she heard it four times one day.  Keep it rolling. Here’s the link to request yer fave Sauce Boss tunes.

EL FLORIDITA SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
13501 S.W. 136 STREET MIAMI, FL 305-233-7575
8399 S.W. 40 STREET MIAMI, FL 305-221-1511

YUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!

A real find, a people’s restaurant, none of that Miami glitz. Just great fresh seafood, superior service, fabulous prices, and unpretentious friendly vibe.  This is what I’ve been looking for.  These folks are really proud of what they do, and there is an esprit that’s evident the moment you walk in the door.  It’s the Old World reverence for sustinance. The rice is light and fluffy, the whole grilled snapper is two pounds of marinated bliss.  Five kinds of Paella share the menu with varied preparations of seafood and home made pasta. A surprising $12 bottle of Napa Valley cab blew my mind.  Ten minutes after opening, it mellowed down into a smooth finish.  Breakfast  with dynamite café con leche included starts at $2.99, and it’s served all day long. Try that at Starbuck’s.

A Refreshing Liquid Summer Bloody Mary

LIQUID SUMMER MAKES THE BEST BLOODY MARY…EVER!
1 cup V-8
1 teaspoon LIQUID SUMMER HOT SAUCE
1 teaspoon Horseradish
Dash of celery salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
A couple shots of vodka
Mix ingredients together and pour into a glass of ice.
Fresh stalk of celery and olives

SHRIMP, KEY WEST PINKS, SHRIMP SHACK, SHRIMP COCKTAIL AND DID I SAY “SHRIMPS”?

key west, Spartanburg, Knoxville, Palatka, New Jersey, Rochester, Pittsburgh. We are cookin the shrimp all over the place.
TOUR DATES HERE.

GREEN PARROT LIVE WEBCAM HERE
If you can not make it to key west, you can dig the Sauce Boss via the Parrot’s live webcam.
Show times are:
5:30 on Friday afternoon, 10:30 Friday nite, 10:30 Saturday nite, and 5:30 on Sunday afternoon.

CHECK OUT THIS REVIEW OF HOT N HEAVY

THE SAUCE BOSS STORE IS KICKING.
It’s not like the old site with a couple of choices for sauce and some CDs.  Now there’s mix and match specials, single bottles, cases, package deals, t-shirts…all kinds of stuff.  And stay tuned for limited run sauce and music items.  Coming soon is Sauce Boss vinyl. Check out the store here.

PINKS!

THE SHRIMP SHACK GRILL AND AUTHENTIC FISH MARKET
6840 FRONT ST. KEY WEST (STOCK ISLAND) 305-294-33040

Y’all ready for the freshest seafood in key west?  The last best kept secret in the keys? The newest hush-hush, only known to locals, off the beaten track, completely chill, right next to the boats, bringing home the catch to the few, the chosen, the truly hip, the lucky dogs who are in the “know”?
Try the Shrimp Shack.  My good friend Ray runs the place.  Ray and the Sauce Boss go back 20 years.  After retiring from being GM at Margaritaville, he took over the chores of a little restaurant on the docks of Stock Island.  The Shrimp Shack gets the seafood from the fish market which is in the same location.  It has huge piles of right off the boat key west pinks, lobsters, snappers, mahi, tuna, oysters, clams, conch, mussels, squid, smoked fish, and fresh catch. (whatever’s coming off the boats at that moment)
This place is right on the docks.  Right next to the shrimp boats tied up to their moorings, with the charm and surly character of the wild and fiercely independent professional fishermen.  This is a part of key west which has sadly disappeared as condos, upscale eateries, and t-shirt shops have replaced the true character with sanitized imitations of the old key west, suitable for a cruise ship crowd.  I don”t know about you, but I would rather eat with the fleet.

Dining On The Docks

Shrimp Cocktail With Liquid Summer Datil Sauce
Boil or steam some of those key west pinks just long enough to be considered done. Do not over cook the shrimp. Mix a half a cup of ketchup with the juice of a lemon, 2 tbs of  Liquid Summer Datil Pepper Hot Sauce,  1 tbs horseradish,  and proceed to chow down.

CD Release Parties, Grouper Amandine a la Sauce Boss, AND…the World’s Best Chili Dog (maybe)

That’s right! Hot N Heavy is coming soon. If you want to be one of the first to get yours, you can pre-order it at our new SAUCE BOSS STORE. You can also pre-order our newest sauce: Hot and Heavy Peach Sauce. We have the recipe for a good time DOWN.  Yer not gonna believe how gooood this stuff is.  Our official release is March 23rd, but for our special  friends, we’re sneaking a few discs and bottles for early release parties.  Here’s where we will be in the next few weeks. Tallahassee, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Pelham GA, Coral Gables, and Melbourne.If you can’t make any of our Florida  and Georgia shows, you can listen to a live Sauce Boss show this Saturday night (3/6/10) at the BBC (that’s the Bradfordville Blues Club). Hank 99 FM is going to be broadcasting it live over the air and on the internet from 10:00pm to 11:30 pm.

Grouper Amandine a la Sauce Boss
1 pound grouper filet
4 Tbs olive oil
1/2  pound almonds chopped
2 Tbs mustard
2 Tbs Liquid Summer Hot Sauce
1 Tbs honey
Grease a cast iron frying pan with half of the olive oil
Slop the fish around on both sides coating it with the oil
Bake at 350 degrees
Mix remaining ingredients
When the fish is almost done, put the almond mixture on top of the fish and finish it off in the oven.
Serve with lemon

LAFAYETTE CONEY ISLAND
118 W Lafayette Blvd  Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 964-8198

“Coney Island hot dog (also Coney Dog or Coney) refers to a hot dog made of beef with casing, topped with an all meat chili, diced onion and yellow mustard.  The variety is a fixture in Detroit Michigan, served there and in the “heartland” states of the American Midwest.  Despite the name, the preparation style has little direct association with Coney Island itself beyond recognition of the birthplace of the original hot dog… Coney Islands generally offer a choice of either Flint or Detroit style coney dogs.  Flint style is characterized by a dry chili more similar to ground beef than chili, while Detroit style is more soupy, heavy with chili and cumin powders.” So says the oracle, Wikipedia.

Late Nite Coney Customers

There is a debate raging as to which style and indeed, which Coney Island restaurant is the best.  In 1917, Gust Keros and his brother established the American Coney Island in Detroit.  Soon after they opened, an argument ensued, and they split the restaurant, starting a culinary feud which has lasted  the better part of a century. To this day, the Lafayette Coney Island and The American Coney Island stand in resolute defiance of one another, right next door, dishing out what each considers the best chili dog in the world.

I have eaten the Flint and  Detroit varieties, and I must say the slop, goop, mish mash, hot dawg soup of Detroit has my vote.  It’s like playin slide guitar.  You don’t want it to be too clean, to clear, too pristine. You need the proper amount of extortion in the amp. You want slop. You want the notes to blend together, like cane syrup and butter on a big stack of hoe cakes.  It’s this blending that galvanizes the rich overtones. Pure sound.  So it is with coney dogs.  I mean it’s three in the morning after a balls to the walls jamming set at the Greektown Casino.  Any body want a salad?  I don’t think so.

Couple o' coney dogs

Mardi Gras in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. Fish Market Restaurants, Fresh Oysters, and a Veggie Plate

LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULEZ!
Join us for Mardi Gras in Orlando, Steinhatchee, Sharon, PA, Buffalo, NY, and Upper Michigan.
Here’s the schedule.

THE FISH MARKET
3150 E. EL CAMINO RD. PALO ALTO, CA   650-493-8862
The Fish Market is a chain of seven restaurants in California and Arizona.  They are actually markets where you can buy fresh seafood to cook at home, or you can sit and dine in the restaurant.  This is a Cali style restaurant, with sushi, oysters, smoked and mesquite grilled fish, salads, and a selection of California wines.  It’s not your down home, funky, best kept secret kind of place, however it is fresh, good quality seafood. Stop in the market after you chow down on Dungeness Crabs, and take home some Smoked Wild Alaskan King Salmon.

APALACHICOLA OYSTERS, A REAL BARGAIN IN THE FL PANHANDLE

For a more down home approach to the fish market/restaurant approach, try The Oyster Bar Seafood Shack in Blountstown, Florida.  A welcome change from most fish houses, there’s no fried food. Everything is grilled, smoked, steamed, or raw. And the price difference is great. Instead of around $12 for six raw oysters in California, try $9 for a dozen in Florida. The Seafood Shack is truly a family operation. The mother in law of the owner makes the homemade desserts.
20003 Central Ave. West.  Blountstown, FL 32424       850-647-1250

OR…for the best kept secret in the Florida Keys, try the Shrimp Shack on Stock Island.  The review of my friend, Ray’s place soon come.

VEGGIE PLATE WITH SQUASH CASSEROLE

Don’t you think it’s time to just cook up a bunch of veggies for dinner.  Man, that makes me feel all right!  Here’s my veggie plate with chard, potatoes, squash casserole, fresh sliced tomatoes, and green beans.  Yummm!

SQUASH CASSEROLE

2 cups yellow squash, sliced
1 cup onion, diced
2 cups bread crumbs

1/4 cup butter

Medium white sauce (2 tbs butter, 2 tbs flour, and one cup of milk)

Saute squash and onion in part of the butter

Mix with white sauce

Stir bread crumbs into the remaining hot butter

Put the squash mixture in a casserole dish with the bread crumbs on top

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees

Of course you will want to dowse yer veggies with Liquid Summer Hot Sauce