Florida Food- Vacation Cooking/Eating Adventures part 2

Part 2 of our Florida food adventure starts with the drive to Miami from Kissimmee.

Wednesday, Nick and I left just before lunch so we could stop on our way. For some reason there are commercials for Popeye's in Columbia even though the closest one is 77 miles away. I spotted a Popeye's on our way in from the turnpike so, I had decided we would need to stop for lunch on our way to Miami. I gorged myself on chicken strips dipped in ranch (spiked with Louisiana hot sauce), Cajun fries and a biscuit....

Love that chicken from Popeye's!

Great, now I am hungry...

Karina, Nick's younger sister, called to make sure we save room for dinner. Soon after we arrived it was time to sit down for dinner. Everything from the conversation to the meal itself is a memorable experience when I sit down for a meal in Miami. The dinner on Wednesday was black beans, rice, Cuban bread, tostones, homemade garlic onion olive oil dressing/sauce, yucca, and Cuban pork. Nick's uncle Alexie owned a restaurant in Miami and, he provided the pork for our meal. Nick's dad made dessert from scratch, peach cobbler with homemade Grand Marnier whipped cream.

For years I did not like pork. Maybe it was a weird phobia that carried over from my youth but, I only recently have seen the err of my ways. From time to time pork still does weird me out. If I hadn't found my way back to eating pork, Alexie's dish would have set me straight. The pork was juicy, tender, and well seasoned. I wish that I could have gone to the restaurant before he decided to sell it because I am sure it was outstanding.  

Alexie's Pork and yucca, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

First Miami dinner of the trip!

Thursday, we went to the Dolphin mall for some shopping. I bought some work clothes and, miracle of miracles I bought a pair of jeans! Nick and I were starting to get hungry when we spotted a churrascaria. Churrascaria's tend to be a really large meal so we called Nick's dad to see what the plans were for dinner, Alba's(Nick's dad's wife) Chicken and Rice. We decided on sandwiches from the food court. I never expect much from a sandwich but, Apropo's Itallian sub was great. It had prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, provolone, greens, pesto, mayo, olive oil, tomatoes, onion, salt, and pepper on a fresh bun toasted. Yum!

Best mall food, ever!

 I am glad we saved room for dinner. Alba's Chicken and Rice is legendary(I almost typed it as Barney Stinson would have). There are no additional words I need to use to describe the meal. I was halfway through my second serving when I realized I had not taken a picture!

Legendary! With a tostone.