One of the many advantages to staying at Beacher’s Lodge in Crescent Beach are our nicely equipped kitchens. Travelers of all sorts love having a vacation rental with an equipped kitchen so they can dine in when they want to.
At times we have been asked by our guests if we have any recipes that have been inspired by the area that we could share with them. After all isn’t that part of the experience when you visit Florida, the food? We have put together a few of our favorite recipes for the three major meals of the day, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Breakfast
Breakfast at Beacher’s Lodge is often a guest favorite. Our guests love enjoying breakfast either via their balcony or patio suite with the fresh ocean breeze and amazing ocean view that accompanies the delicious breakfast they have prepared for themselves. Fresh fruit is one that is not only healthy for you, but in our opinion, it feels like having a bowl of Florida sunshine to start your day!
One boiled egg. We prefer medium boiled. Have your egg boil for 2 mins then run cold water over it to cool. This will present a soft and firm yolk.
Whole wheat honey toast, with your favorite jam. We prefer the fresh jams you can find at the Pecan Outlet on US 1 South as well as some of the best Florida orange juice in this area. They also have tons of other goodies there you might like.
A mixed bowl of fresh fruit. Publix provides a nice spread of various fresh fru its. We prefer mango, oranges (Florida ones of course), kiwi, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries for our breakfast fruit bowl. And of course, you can’t forget a southerner’s favorite, grits! Grits can be picked up at any grocery store. A pot of grits can be kept on the stove top while you wake up, and just keep adding some water to buy you some time on the balcony with a cup of hot coffee. Ask any Floridian, you have to have your daily grits to start your Florida morning.
Lunch
Many of us continue to have fresh fruit with our lunch, especially during the Summer months. It’s a great way to cool off and enjoy the natural tastes of Florida.
Along with our fresh fruit bowl, we love enjoying a good ole fashioned ham sandwich, with a local twist. We really like the Publix brand of smoked gouda cheese, Publix brand sweet honey ham and if you would rather have turkey, try their smoked turkey, it’s pretty good!! Now we don’t want you to put your fixings on just any bread. You have to get Hawaiin rolls! They have just enough sweetness that makes all the other flavors pop! For those of you that are mustard fans, you have to try Zaba’s Datil mustard. This mustard is manufactured right here in St. Augustine with local datil peppers. You may have seen the word datil on many menus in the area. It’s a local pepper that locals love! We will datil just about anything.
Dinner
We have two of our favorites to share with you. If you are in the mood to grill, we think you would enjoy grilling bacon and cheese burgers out in the bbq grill area on property. If you want these premade, again Publix has some great bacon and cheese burgers ready to be cooked in their fresh meats section. A local favorite we suggest putting on your burgers are the pickles from the redneck pantry. You can find them at the Fresh Market Island here in St. Augustine. Their Texas recipe produces just the right amount of zest and will make your mouth pop with flavor! This is also a locally produced favorite.
If you happened to go fishing while here, we have an amazing marinade you will want to try. One of our staff members has used the recipe for years on just about every fish she has caught here. Now she is a girl from the south, so her measurements aren’t exactly precise; however, she did her best jotting this down for us.
White Wine Marinade
Mix in a bowl the following:
¼ cup of olive oil,
Not quite a ½ cup of white wine. I like San Sebastian’s Pinot Grigio,
2 tablespoons of lemon juice,
Sprinkle some thyme and rosemary into the bowl,
Add 2 small spoonfuls of minced garlic. The kind you buy in a jar that has the garlic oil.
A pinch of sea salt.
Whisk it together and let your fish soak in it for at least an hour. The longer it marinates, the better the flavor. This is also a good marinade for Chicken. (depending on the thickness of your fish, you may have to turn it a few times while it marinates.)
If you opt for fish, it could be the perfect time to make…another pot of grits! But dinner grits can be much different than breakfast grits, if you didn’t know. After cooking your grits, add a square of american cheese and a couple dallops of minorcan datil pepper Jelly, offered in most of our local seafood shoppes in town, this is a St. Augustine favorite. This cheesy, sweet yet mildly spicy addition will make for the perfect beachside meal memories and will have you feeling Floridian in no time.
We have had some guests that love their Instant Pot so much, that they bring it with them. We have a really good chicken recipe that we think you will enjoy, in case cooking fish is not your forte.
We love the chicken you can buy from the Chop Shop, a local butcher. You can also pick up local fruits and vegetables as well as other spices and rubs at this local shop.
What you will need:
- Skinless chicken breasts
- Sweet red pepper, yellow pepper and orange pepper
- Rice
- Avocado Oil
- World Market Greek Mediterranean seasoning
- ½ -¾ cup white wine, you can use the same one you did for your marinade
- 1 cup chicken broth
- Argo (cornstarch)
Go ahead and pit the peppers and cut them up like you would for stir fry. Next, cut up your chicken into bite sized chunks.
Put your Instant Pot on saute, heat the avocado oil and then toss the chicken breasts in the oil, browning them. Once the chicken is thoroughly tossed in oil, sprinkle the Greek seasoning. Don’t get too carried away as you need about a small handful to sprinkle. Add chicken broth and white wine to chicken mixture, cover and set the settings on poultry.
While the chicken is cooking, saute your peppers in oil and wine and cook your rice. Once most of the wine is cooked away, the chicken should be done. Once it is done you can either add it to the chicken or add it separately.
When the chicken is done, you will want to set it back on saute so the juice boils. Take about a spoonful of argo in a cup and mix it with about ¼ cup of water. Once mixed and the chicken sauce is boiling, pour your argo mixture in a little at a time to gather the thickness you desire.
Once it’s done, add chicken mixture and peppers to rice and enjoy. We love having this with a fresh Greek salad.
We hope you enjoy our recipes during your stay. Next time, we will talk about deserts!