Eating In Florida

I'm trying to do this logically.  So.  Yesterday we got here.  Now it's time to eat!  It was a lovely surprise to discover that Florida restaurants on the whole are a lot cheaper than here in SoCal.

Friday, the 13th
Four Points of Sheraton Ft. Myers Airport - Breakfast
They have an extensive menu with surprisingly many Mexican breakfasts.  My scrambled eggs and well-done bacon and cheese quesadilla  - the eggs were the fluffiest scrambled eggs I've ever eaten.  The tortilla was warm and dry and cut in four pizza-type servings.  Richie wolfed down his sausage and eggs burrito with enjoyment.
     Our daily orange juice (fresh but no pulp which I welcomed) was served in a beer glass - the kind that has a pinched waist toward the bottom of the tall glass.  Generous to say the least, well worth the $3 each they cost.  We ate breakfast there Saturday and Sunday, too.  $23 +/- each day.

Friday - Lunch
Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill   docfords.com  Captiva Island locaton
This was a great place, a sprawling huge place with a vast veranda.  Even though it was a nice day, we ate inside as Richie's cousin Ruth Ellen, a longtime resident, is bored with the heat and I can't blame her.  It was about 80.  It was slightly dim inside and the a/c was nicely gentle, not arctic blasts as are usual in other hot climes.

It was a late lunch (3 p.m.) because Ruth had toured us all over Sanibel AND Captiva and it was so interesting that we didn't start yowling to be fed at the usual noon-ish hour.

Richie - 1/2 order fresh oysters on the half shell - $8.95
1 1/2 lb. order Yucatan Shrimp, the house specialty.  $15.95
A Stella Artois $6.25

Ruth Ellen - A fried Grouper sandwich with Tartar sauce $18.95
Generous shot of Johnny Walker Black $9.00

Me - Yucatan Shrimp, 1/2 lb. order $15.95  Comes with two generous chunks of buttered, toasted bread to sop up the sauce.
One split Brut champagne $7.95

Tab was $88 + 20% tip

The restaurant is used to recipe requests and after we raved about the shrimp, he put the recipe in with the tab.

YUCATAN SHRIMP
4 T sweet butter
1 large garlic clove minced
Juice of two limes
1 T Indonesian sambal - this is the hot part and it is quite hot.  Turn it down and use whatever appeals that is milder is my suggestion.  Not theirs.
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1 lb. large, fresh, shell-on shrimp
Garnish - 2 T chopped cilantro

1.  In a small sauce pan on low heat, melt 1 T of butter, add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
2.  Add the remaining 2 T of butter and when it melts, stir in the lime juice, sambal, salt and pepper.  Turn off the heat and let it all "rest" (from what is not in the recipe)
3.  Boil the shrimp in well-salted water for 2 minutes until they are just firm and pink.
4.  Toss the shrimp and sauce well, sprinkle with cilantro and toss again. Serve with plenty of bread to sop up the delicious sauce.

As we'd eaten so much for lunch and so late, none of us were hungry for dinner so we repaired to Ruth Ellen and sons pizzeria Maria's on Cape Coral to sit around on the patio with a glass of wine and visit.  Eventually we did feel a bit puckish so we split an excellent 12-in pizza.  More on Maria's later.