A Weekend At the Beach - Dinner

This past weekend Rootbeer's boyfriend, Spryogyra, was generous enough to invite us to his family's beach house in Rehoboth. Located in the very tony, North Shore development, the Spyrogyra beach house is one of the few modest bungalows left. The decor is pure beach house with a commemorative plate collection and a captain's wheel. The house is right on the canal that separate the North Shore development from a wildlife preserve which means we had a beautiful view to wake up to and an obligation to wave to all the boats passing by.

The highlight of the the house for me was the huge open kitchen which had a generous counter which divided the kitchen from the dining room. This allowed all of us to cook at the same time. The kitchen also had a pass-through to the screen in porch which had an dining room table of its own.

Dinner was a cavalcade of food. I don't think I've ever had so many courses in my life that didn't involve a Chinese banquet room and a lazy susan. We kept thinking of more fresh things we just had to eat.

The first course consisted of perfectly grilled shrimp. In a true departure for me, the flavorings were minimal - I just tossed the shrimp in a ton of chopped garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. We skewered the shrimp and tossed them on the barby for a scant five minutes. They were perfect.

Along with the shrimp was a salad of heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers with a balsamic reduction. I simply cannot sing the praises of a balsamic reduction enough. It turns the soprano notes of balsamic vinegar into more alto notes of a syrup. What I cannot sing the praises of are the assy heirloom tomatoes from Giant. Heirloom my ass. Their flavor was flat and lacked the vibrant sweetness of a true garden tomato. If you are going to buy a cucumber, buy an English one. I love that Spyragyra and I both wanted the one vaccuum wrapped in plastic on the regular cucumbers. They have fewers seeds and a less bitter taste. As if we didn't have enough fresh food, we also made a mixed green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette.

So the salads and shrimp were the starters. I know I know, that's already a meal. But Spyragyra had brought ribeye steaks and lamb chops from Costco. In case Costco's corporate practices weren't enough for you to shop there, the meat is incredible. While I marinated the lamb chops in garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil, they really didn't need it. The full, meaty, flavor of the lamb was the strong flavor and the most delicious. They were tender and meaty. The ribeyes were only season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and they tasted divine. The only starch in this smorgasborg of protein and vegetables was corn on the cob. While they tasted fine boiled, I decdied to make hte most out of the hot coals and put a few ears on the BBQ to roast. This turned them from tasty to spectacular. The smokiness of the BBQ complimented the sweetness of the corn.

Dessert were chocolate/caramel turtles procured from the Candy Shack.