Portofino, City Island

Cold Seafood Salad at Portofino, City Island

Calamari, mussels, shrimp and clams tossed with tomatoes and parsley in a very simple vinaigrette. It's loaded with citrus and is very reminiscent of a ceviche. This is definitely in my top 3 favorite seafood dishes.

Gaslight, Hoboken

$20 Clambake at The Gaslight, Hoboken, NJ

Can't really go wrong here - lobster tail, shrimp, mussels & clams, cooked perfectly.  Not a huge portion but hey, it was only $20.

Crab Shanty, City Island

The Original Crab Shanty; City Island, NY

This is "Joe V's Deep Diver Feast". It's meant to serve two and it is seriously a struggle! It's shellfish heaven - baby tails, shrimp, scallops, clams, lobster and snow crab legs. Look at the size of the plate in comparison to my beer - this thing is massive but so delicious.

The seafood is super fresh and broiled perfectly.  They lay low on the seasoning and let the seafood speak for itself.  My only regret is that the lobster seemed lightly breaded and that the clams are stuffed (I'd much rather steamers) but so delicious none the less.

Intro

I have finally found time to create a blog about my favorite things in life - food, wine and my boyfriend (usually in that order ;) jk Joe).

The name of this blog, sampler, is short for app sampler (yes, from Applebee's). That was my "diverse" (ha!) culinary venture every weekend and I once thought it was completely acceptable. Two things changed that - 1. I finally graduated and moved out of the dorms & it's shoebox sized kitchen, and 2. I wanted to lose weight. So I moved back home, bought Fitness/Women's Health/Cooking Light/Shape magazine and explored my way around the kitchen.

What you'll see here are my simple weeknight dinners and photo-worthy weekend meals.

Enjoy :)