Kitchen Still Closed

     The kitchen here is still closed until further notice.  Since I'm home alone for a few days I am enjoying certain meals that my wife does not particularly care for.  On Good Friday I took the advice of a culinary buddy and scouted out Zachary's BBQ on Markley Street in Norristown.  The food was very authentic southern cuisine and very good.  Who'd have thunk it in Norristown?  I ordered up a fried oyster po'boy with a side of baked beans.  There were 4 huge oysters stuffed into a long roll with freshly sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce and a spicy remoulade on the side.  And there was something in the baked beans that made them exceptionally tasty but I wasn't exactly sure what. 
     As I began my southern feast Zachary himself came out of the kitchen to inquire how I liked my meal.  He told me that he gets his oysters from a supplier out on the West Coast because they are bigger, plumper and juicier and better meets his strict standards.  Then I inquired about the baked beans.  The secret ingredient is thinly sliced pineapple sections.  Baked beans are sometimes considered the step child of a meal and need to stand out with distinctive flavor.  Well the pineapple certainly accomplished that goal.  It was a great meal that didn't break the bank.  From their menu I also learned that another dimension of their food preparation is in catering special occasions.
     Saturday afternoon I took a short drive down I-95 and made my way on some back roads to Chesapeake City, MD.  It's a tiny town along the C & D Canal, but they have quite a culinary calling card in The Tap Room.  It's a small, non-descript restaurant that serves up some award winning steamed crabs year round.  The place isn't much to look at, but then again, you can't eat atmosphere:

     I walked in and took a look at the price board.  It's a bit early to find any Maryland Blues available so currently the crabs are being flown in from the Gulf.  A dozen larges were priced at $62, not cheap!  So I ordered up a half dozen and settled in for the next two hours to pick my way through them.  They were all full and heavy with succulent crab meat and I was full by the time I finished off the final one.

     Satiated, I waddled back to my little room at the B & B across the street, The Inn at the Canal.  It was my third time there and I had become friendly with the owner and his wife.  Bob lived in Glenside for a time and was a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America.  He learned his lessons well there as the following morning's breakfast can attest.

     So with one more night of singular meal preparation I will plumb the depths of the freezer to see what I might enjoy on my own tonight.