by Kent Kimes for Garden City Realty
Why choose a vacation rental with a fully equipped kitchen at your disposal if you are not going to take advantage of it?
Yes, the South Strand is teeming with mouth-watering restaurants.
You may not be Emeril Lagasse, but you can get maximum usage out of that vacation rental kitchen and still get a taste of the local flavor, while also saving money. It just takes a little bit of planning ahead.
Bam!
With that in mind, here is a week’s worth of meals you and your family can prepare and serve at your Garden City Realty vacation rental.
We have mixed it up between lunch, breakfast, dinner, and brunch while offering one meal suggestion per day, thus leaving plenty of opportunities to hit up your favorite eateries and discover new ones during your stay.
DAY 1
You are tired, your posse is ravenous and since you couldn’t get into your unit until after 4 p.m., the last thing you really want to do is go wait for a table at a busy restaurant. Unpacking and getting situated in your new home-away-from-home all night after feasting at a seafood buffet is not optimal, so we suggest eating in with a quick, easy, and pleasing dinner dish with a total prep and cook time of 40 minutes.
DINNER: Shrimp Scampi, Garlic Toast, and Green Salad
Ingredients: Wild-caught shrimp, package of any stringed pasta (such as angel hair or linguine), butter, olive oil, shallots, garlic, Kosher salt, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, dry white wine, lemon juice, and parsley.
Follow this simple recipe.
TIP: Bring the ingredients for this first meal with you; use frozen shrimp and frozen garlic bread which can help keep your cooler cool along the journey.
DAY 2
Use your first morning at the beach to go grocery shopping for the food products you’ll need to get through the week, including the day’s lunch option, and while supermarkets are fine, you may want to patronize local seafood markets, such as Seven Seas and Harrelson’s in Murrells Inlet, for your freshest fresh-catch items.
LUNCH: Atlantic Salmon Greek Salad
Ingredients: Fresh salmon filets, olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper, romaine lettuce, kale, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, feta cheese, walnuts, and lemon basil vinaigrette.
Here is an easy recipe to follow.
TIP: Buy and go ahead and cook enough salmon for the next day’s menu offering.
DAY 3
You went out to dinner the night before, had a good time, and slept in – while the kids immediately hit the beach and the swimming pool first thing this morning, with nary a thought of breakfast.
Who needs breakfast anyway when you can have brunch?
BRUNCH: Bacon, Asparagus and Salmon Quiche
Ingredients: Bacon, cooked salmon, asparagus, eggs, mozzarella, puff pastry sheet or premade pie crust, onion, salt, and pepper.
Here is an easy recipe to follow.
TIP: You can prepare and cook this the day before and simply warm it up to serve for brunch. Fresh fruit, such as orange slices and cantaloupe, are great complementary sides. Mimosas and Bloody Marys optional.
DAY 4
Lowcountry Boil, or Frogmore Stew, is a Southern coastal delicacy…and fun for the whole family. What is it? It is a whole meal cooked in one pot. For large batches, an outdoor propane-fueled boiler is the ticket, but the same flavors can be accomplished on the stovetop using a Dutch oven, or other large pot.
DINNER: Lowcountry Boil
Ingredients: Raw shrimp, red potatoes, corn on the cob, kielbasa, onion, lemons, crab boil or Old Bay.
Follow this easy recipe.
TIP: If your rental property has a balcony or deck, lay out some newspaper on the table and dump the Lowcountry Boil on top, for a self-serve smorgasbord. Also, save enough kielbasa for Day 5’s meal plan below.
SPICE & ICE: Remember, kitchen staples such as salt, pepper, sugar, spices, etc. and condiments are not provided in your vacation rental. Also, it may take the refrigerator in your vacation rental up to five hours to cool your beverages, snacks, and meals, so bringing a cooler and ice is recommended.
DAY 5
You know a certain dish is of this place when a local festival is dedicated to it. You can’t get much more of an authentic Horry/Georgetown County comfort food than chicken bog, as evidenced by the Loris Bog Off held every autumn in the northern Horry town. Bog what? It’s a cooking competition to see who can make the tastiest chicken bog. According to the Loris Chamber of Commerce, “chicken bog generally consists of chicken, rice, sausage and spices of your choice; though over the years there have been many variations of this basic recipe.” Sometimes called Chicken Perlo, it’s another one-pot special, but it’s slightly more nuanced than Lowcountry Boil and involves longer cooking time.
DINNER: Chicken Bog
Ingredients: Whole chicken, celery, onion, garlic cloves, butter, kielbasa, long grain rice, salt, and pepper.
Check out this recipe from SouthernBite.com.
TIP: Use par-boiled rice if possible.
DAY 6
This is another one for the landlubbers. The South Carolina coast is known for its seafood cuisine, but barbecue is a signature dish as well. And we do not mean thick, sweet red sauce slathered on a chicken leg. Rather, barbecue around here means pulled pork – and to get the authentic flavor of the Palmetto State, a vinegar and mustard-based sauce, such as Carolina Gold, is essential.
For optimum results, start cooking in the morning and you will be able to closely replicate that savory smokehouse flavor by dinner time. It needs at least eight hours of cooking time. But you can set it, leave it, and relax.
DINNER: Slow-cooked Pulled Pork
Ingredients: Boston Butt, salt, paprika, onion powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, apple cider vinegar, water, and sauce of your choice.
Here is a recipe to guide you.
TIP: Homemade slaw and fresh green beans make excellent side dishes to pulled pork. Check ahead to see if your property has a slow cooker, if not, bring one. It can also be used to store your non-perishable kitchen items on your journey rather than simply taking up bulky space.
DAY 7
What to do with that leftover pulled pork from the night before? Give it a little Latin twist and it won’t seem like a rerun when you offer Pulled Pork Quesadillas to your hungry gang. Finger food is great for lunch, especially if you’re packing a beach picnic basket, and quesadillas are versatile enough to be served on-the-go, hot, warm or chilled.
LUNCH: Pulled Pork Quesadillas
Ingredients: Pulled pork, flour tortillas, olive oil, barbecue sauce (from the night before), grated cheese, sour cream, avocado, onion, jalapenos, and green onion (for garnish).
Try this self-subscribed “mega-easy” recipe.
TIP: Make sure you save enough tortillas and avocados for Day 8’s breakfast plan.
DAY 8
It’s getaway day, you’re trying to pack, clean up, move out and head home. Breakfast might seem like an afterthought in this scenario, but with a little bit of prep work the night before, you can feed your crew quickly and get on the road. We suggest assembling breakfast burritos the night before, refrigerate overnight and reheat in the morning. Breakfast burritos are portable enough to eat with one hand on the wheel if you are pressed for time, especially if you wrap them in foil.
Bon voyage!
BREAKFAST: Breakfast Burritos
Ingredients: Eggs, bacon, milk, butter, Kosher salt, black pepper, flour tortillas, a package of frozen hash browns, shredded cheese, avocado, mild salsa.
Check out this quick recipe.
