Brad Melter- Jumbo’s Secret Fried Conch

New York Times Bestselling author Brad Meltzer joins the show to talk about his Sesame Street home in Brooklyn and the several influential kitchens that followed. He talks with Michele about his mom’s gift for interior design, visits to his future father-in-law’s restaurant as a teenager and a propensity for the men in his family to get struck by lightning - literally.

Plus…drumroll please…he shares the fried conch recipe from the famous Miami restaurant and Civil Rights landmark, Jumbo’s!

This is a recipe that will take your tastebuds straight to the sunshine state!

Listen, and as always, let us know whatcha think!

Ingredients

Buy 100 percent clean conch.  

Bisquick

Water

Gold Medal  flour

Lowry’s Seasoning salt

Garlic powder

Black pepper

Paprika

Vegetable oil for frying

Lemon

Tartar Sauce

Your favorite hot sauce

STEP 1

Tenderize by hammer manually or with tenderizing machine. 

STEP 2

Run conch through the tenderizing machine 3 times for best results.  

STEP 3

Make a batter with bisquick and water.  

STEP 4

Next use all purpose Gold Medal  flour with Lowry’s Seasoning salt, garlic powder, black

pepper, and Paprika. 

STEP 5

Mix conch first in flour, then in batter, then back to flour.

STEP 6

Fry in clean 350 degrees vegetable oil for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. 

STEP 7

Drain and serve with lemon and tartar sauce and hot sauce. 

Giddy up from Bobby Flam and Jumbo’s Restaurant in Miami from 1955 to 2014. 

“Just Good Food and Good Friends.”

Michele’s Kitchen Notes

The history of Jumbo’s is legendary to many Floridians. We are so lucky to have Brad’s recipe for Jumbo’s famous Fried Conch and to learn a little more about a Civil Rights landmark.

Learn more about Jumbo’s history through my work at The Race Card Project where we captured owner Bobby Flam’s story, linked below.

“Those were rules for uncivilized times”
Bobby Flam,
Miami, FL

Owner of Jumbo’s, the first restaurant in Miami to integrate.