Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

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Most Recent Entries

• Generation Food Truck Goes For Guinness World Record For Food Trucks In Tampa
• The Sip: Dawn Heidemann Represents Tampa in New York City At The ‘Bartending Olympics’
• Bill Walsh: Author, Copy Editor, Language Snob Who Finds Plenty Of Peeves On The Menu
• An Inconvenient Convenience Store Truth: Mom-And-Pop Shops Are More Fun
• Weekend Eats: Grouper Tacos, Deviled Eggs With Truffled Salt, Birch Beer Cupcakes
• Join The Plate Licker’s Club; Leave No Morsel Behind
• Greg And Michelle Baker To Follow The Refinery In Seminole Heights With Fodder & Shine
• Weekend Eats: Homemade Moussaka, French Fries With Cheese Gravy, Meatball Banh Mi Sandwiches
• The Sip: Drinking In ‘The Great Gatsby’ With Martinis And Mint Julep.
• Mouth Safari: The Stein & Vine Brings Great Eats, Outstanding Drinks To Valrico
• Weekend Eats: ‏Pork Tonkotsu Ramen, Spicy Chicken And Waffles, Oysters With Crispy Shallots
• The Underbelly Tour Devours Central Avenue Restaurants In St. Petersburg
• Hot Rod’s BBQ In Lutz Serves Up It’s Last Plate Of Barbecue Fruit Bat. Or Whatever It Was.
• Hank Shaw - Hunter, Gardener, Fisherman, Cook - Wins A James Beard Award
• Gary and Amy Moran Out At Wimauma Restaurant In South Tampa

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• January 2013

BBQ Mac & Cheese, Homemade Sushi, Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict [This Week’s Weekend Eats]

Posted Jan 14, 2013 by Jeff Houck

Updated Jan 14, 2013 at 03:48 PM

“Is there any rhyme or reason to Weekend Eats?” people invariably do not ask me.

Well, yes. There is.

Food comes in clumps. I don’t know why, it just does. People like to eat certain things at specific times of year.

Like scallops. One week, nobody has ever heard of them. The next week, boom, it’s like a Vegas buffet of mollusks.

This week is just such an example. There were several outstanding scallop entries for the best of the weekend’s feeding.

Normally, I’d be all, “THIS ISN’T WEEKEND SCALLOP! IT’S WEEKEND EATS!”

But I’m weak for the little buggers. I am. Gladly so. Even when they’re seared tougher than a callous, they’re still darn tasty.

Despite the plethora of scallop grazing, only one entry could win.

And it is this one:

It comes from my Twitter friend @ryhand31, who undersold the dish by merely calling it, “scallops and grits from @roysorlando.”

My interest and palate piqued, I checked out the dish on the Roy’s site. It is described thusly:

Seared U-10 Scallops & Grits - Bacon, Scallions, King Oyster, Shiitake & Beech Mushrooms - 29.95

Well. Hells to the bells. That sounds like Marilyn Monroe in scallop form.

Which is why @ryhand31 won this week’s contest.

For that outstanding effort, the prize is this comfort food companion:

It’s a copy of “Mac & Cheese, Please!” by Laura Werlin

If that doesn’t trigger the taste buds, you may be clinically dead.

As is custom, the scallops and grits shall now enter the Weekend Eats Hall of Fame on Pinterest. 

Other entries this week included:

@mogroith: Cuban (one of the best in the area) & fresh cut fries at Tavern at Bayboro

@otmdish: fresh garden Jerusalem Artichokes roasted w juniper berries, lotsa garlic & evoo.

@mmWine: Had oeufs forestiere Saturday at Cafe Boloud on Palm Beach, but host was not cellphone friendly at the table

@bergus: My mommy’s homemade pizza, which inspires serious competitive eating.

@DrewOnTheRadio: No photo but the Love Potion pancakes at @Datz4Foodies with prickly pear drizzle… amazing.

As if that didn’t sound enticing enough, here is this week’s outstanding Gallery of Noms: