Florida Keys Treasures

This recipe is taken from the Best Cookin’ Under the Sun! by the Ladies Auxillary of the Islamorada Volunteer Fire, Ambulance and Rescue Corps. Published in 1975. It is listed under Salads, by Naomi. (more…)

I love Conch Fritters. Back in the days before conch harvesting was made illegal in Florida, I spent many summer days collecting conch and many summer nights cooking conch fritters. If you make them remember not to skimp on the conch in each fritter or else you might as well be eating hush puppies. I would suggest running your conch through a meat grinder or food processor, finely ground, for this quick, easy and tasty recipe. (more…)

Ceviche, comprised of raw seafood marinated in a citrus-based sauce, is a dish native to the Viceroyalty of Peru, a colonial district of Spain that was in effect from the 16th to the 18th century and covered many of the countries within modern-day South America. As both Chile and Peru were once governed by the Viceroyalty of Peru, both countries claim to be the original homes of ceviche. Try this tasty recipe and let me know your thoughts. (more…)

Conch is can be kind of chewy (that’s a nice way of saying tough). There are several methods to solve this: 1. put it through a grinder or food processor, 2. pound it until tender and then cut it up in small pieces 3. slow cook it extra long (this method will work well with this recipe). Let me know how your’s turned out. (more…)

Conch is very firm, so place the meat between two pieces of plastic wrap. Use a meat tenderizing mallet to pound the conch until it is smooth and flattened to the thickness your recipe requires. Reduce the cooking time if you have pounded it really thin. (more…)

I love Conch Fritters. Back in the days before conch harvesting was made illegal in Florida, I spent many summer days collecting conch and many summer nights cooking conch fritters. If you make them remember not to skimp on the conch in each fritter or else you might as well be eating hush puppies. I would suggest running your conch through a meat grinder or food processor, finely ground, for this recipe. (more…)

Queen Conch (pronounced “Konk”) is a common seafood throughout the Caribbean and Florida Keys. Harvesting Queen Conch is prohibited in the Florida Keys so any conch you buy or eat in a restaurant is imported.

Good conch should be white with pink and orange edges. Avoid conch with a grayish color. Like other seafood, conch should not smell fishy. If there are any dark pieces of skin, trim them off. Because of its firm texture, conch needs to be tenderized before being cooked. This can be accomplished by placing the meat between pieces of plastic wrap and giving it a good pounding with a mallet. How much is too much? Don’t beat it to a pulp — smooth and flatten it to the desired thickness.

When it comes to cooking conch, treat it like squid: either barely cook it, or cook the heck out of it. After heating briefly, conch will begin to toughen until essentially inedible. However, after being cooked for a while (simmered for about an hour in a stew, for example) the conch will come back, tender again.