Went down to Portland for a weekend get-a-way and had a great time with my sister at the boat show there. We decided that we really loved the Hinkley picnic boat and will order one as soon as we can scrape together $750,000 from the loose change in our pockets! Ann took us out for lunch at the Flatbread Co., a wood-fired brick oven pizza joint on the waterfront. We walked from the boat show and came upon the block long St. Pat's day parade with the Governor leading along....kind of cool! Greg and I would have a chance to see the Governor later at a dinner we attended for Equality Maine.

The interior of the Flatbread Co. is largely built and decorated with recycled and reclaimed materials and the seating booths were beautiful and large and roomy :-) Lots of kid art on the walls and lots of yuppie granolas with their kids in attendance. The only things on the menu were pizza and salad, which really reinforce my thoughts on restaurants....make it simple! Have 4-6 things on the menu and do them right...too many places have pages and pages of things to eat and I think the quality goes down the more entrees there are from which to choose...but I digress, again!

One can order a whole or a 1/2 pizza and most if not all of the ingredients are organic (I'm sure a Portland reader will set me straight on this) I had a mozzerella and Asiago cheese pizza, Greg had mushroom and onion and Ann had the maple and fennel sausage pizza. I thought mine was outstanding, the cheese was a perfect mixture of strong asiago and melty mozzerella. Ann's pizza was too sweet, I would have liked an organic spicy sausage instead, and Greg's was nice, though not as strong as mine. Thin whole wheat crust was excellent too.

Greg and I had desserts which were alright..he the chocolate brownie sundae and I the apple crisp a-la-mode. Mine was very homemade tasting with excellent crust, though a kind of dry interior. Very cinnamon-y and warm...perfect for the 30 degree day. Greg's was warm too, but not as fudgy as you'd like that dessert to be.

Our service was a bit poor and our server kind of spacy. Ann's coffee was cold on the first cup and the server offered to make a fresh pot for her...nice save on her part..then she forgot to bring it out! She also forgot to bring back Ann's unfinished pizza in a doggie bag, so Chowder, Ann's new yellow lab, missed out on lunch. Our desserts took forever and after waiting for our server to come do the credit card thing, Ann whipped out her wad of cash and paid by greenbacks (so much for saving for the boat!)

So, we loved the place, the location, the food, but not the service. The bathrooms were kinda dingy too.

Enjoy,
Seth

missin' 3Tides...jonesin' for some extra crispy quesadillas. Opening day is Friday

:-P

Seth

Oh my God, Jack's totally rocks for sammies! In what seems to have become our informal tasting of sammie stops in Belfast, the all out winner so far is Jack's. We stopped for a roast beef and cheese with tomatos on fresh bread with mayo, and came out with a sandwich piled with about 3/4 lb of fresh red meat (sounds great huh?) cheese and fresh tomatos on squishy wheat bread....all for $3.50!!! Yea Jacks! Way to go......love it.

Enjoy,
Seth

I've been on this lunch kick thing lately...or it just might be that we are in Belfast usually around lunchtime and we might as well eat something. I guess we were going up to Bangor to test sit some more cars (not a lot up there suprisingly). So we decided on Belfast Bay Wrap on Beaver Street (say that ten times fast). Their website http://www.baywrap.com/gourmetWraps_w.cfm
to my suprise showed that they have two locations, one in Belfast and one in Augusta of all places. Charlie Laurel is the owner of both places and he came to Maine from Colorado to provide a better life for his kids. We met him at a wedding last year...a point about which he reminded us the other day. What we had a taste for was a "To Thai For" which is grilled chicken with a spicy red peanut sauce, jasmine rice, asian slaw ( green onion, carrot , cucumber) all “thaid” up in a cilantro tortilla. There was certainly enough in one wrap to feed the both of us. It was delicious, very healthy and juicy, but certainly a once a month treat as the wraps are pretty expensive at about $8.00 a pop. Charlie likes to think of these as a healthy fast food, and we certainly got out of there in about 7 minutes. I always forget that Bay Wrap is there, because I don't always walk down Beaver street, which is that diagonal street that runs from Post Office Square to the Co-op. Its a cute shop with two or three tables and several newspapers to peruse while you are waiting or when you eat there. Bay Wraps is a great alternative to a "normal sit-down lunch"

Enjoy,
Seth

We happened to be down in Rockland the other night and so decided to cruise the strip for dinner options. What I like about Rockland at night is that there are dinner options available for almost any taste buds. We looked into Amalfi, but the menu wasn't what we had in mind that night, so we bee-lined it to the Black Bull Tavern and sidled up to the copper bar where we proceeded to have an excellent dinner. The bar side of the tavern reminds me of places we frequented as youngsters straight out of college....one place in particular comes to mind: John Barleycorn's in Chicago where we used to go for all you can eat Lasagna on Wednesday nights.

I digress again. We ordered and I had pork potstickers and an excellent ceasar salad..perfect mixture of cheese and tangy lemon dressing. Greg had the fresh dipped and deep fried haddock with crispy fries and thank god the fries were perfectly done! He loved the haddock, but said it was a bit dry (I pointed out that he asked for it extra crispy, which tends to dry things out a bit) The place was just what we were looking for, that is until the drunk came in for dinner at the bar and kept making no sense. We left soon after his arrival. The black bull is a tavern experience. Its a better interior than, say Rollies in Belfast...more of a Boston or other big city pub with big windows out to the street.

Enjoy,
Seth

Got called for Jury duty today in Belfast. The way it works here is that you are required to serve for no longer than 15 days at a stretch every 5 years. They call in 150 potential jurors and we sat there all day while they picked six juries to handle the six cases they were hearing this month. I have not getting picked down to a science. I got dressed in casual chic (something that I NEVER do) goldtone cufflinks, buttondown shirt, nice pants and nice shoes (no tie) and a blazer. I also bring a big book to read and sit in the front row. I was called to potentially sit on four of the juries and never got picked for any of them....I've served my sentence for the next five years.
During our lunch break, I decided to try the Belfast Soup and Sandwich Shop in Post Office Square. Now it was 12:30 and the guy who runs the place was sitting at a table reading the paper....not a good sign. I hope for his sake that he isn't the owner of the shop, cause I recognized him from working behind the deli counter at Hannaford and I would want him to do really well if it was his place of business.
That said, I ordered a stuffed turkey sandwich which came with cranberry sauce, stuffing, turkey and cheese on chewy middle eastern bread. I have to say, the concept is great, but put some mayo on the sandwich and add more stuffing. There are a lot of restaurants that serve this sandwich and they are reallllllllly good when done right. I loved the bread on this one, but that and dry turkey were the only ingredients I tasted. Too bad. At $8.95 for a sandwich and an ice tea, I can go back to Bell the Cat and get a similar sandwich melted, with better cheese and pesto along with chips or pretzels..for 50 cents less. The guy has a great location downtown, he just needs to bump up his quality a notch or two.
The interior tries to be quaint with old repro photos of Belfast from the 19th century that you can't quite see when you are sitting at your booth. Booths are really small and hard to get in and out of if you happen to be 6'6" I didn't try the soups, and I might go back if only to give this struggling place another try.

Enjoy, Seth

Turkey Sammiches

On our way to Augusta yesterday to test sit cars (being 6'6" makes car shopping quite a different experience, I test sat in about 40 cars and actually drove just one, the Saab 9-3 sport-combi wagon which gets 32mpg on the highway!) we stopped for take out lunches in Belfast....Greg to McDonalds of course and me to Bell the Cat where I had a roasted turkey and munster melt with pesto mayo and lettuce and tomato on rye. It was delicious, but cost me almost $9.00 with a bottle of water. Great place for complicated sandwiches and nearby shopping at Reny's, our favorite. Greg says that he got a kick ass fresh made turkey sandwich at Jack's on High Street for about $3.50 the day before...Jeez with the savings, I'll be able to afford that Saab in just about 10 years, or at least be able to afford to fill up my hugh honking SUV !

Enjoy,

Seth

I've been asked to provide the recipe for my sausage puffs. I know the recipe is on here somewhere, but who knows where that might be! They are always a crowd pleaser and are super easy to make, if you like folding hundreds of little pieces of puff pastry over mounds of ground sausage....

1 sheet puff pastry (available in frozen food section)
1 roll of Jimmy Dean Sausage (50% less fat version so the puffs won't be so greasy)
1/2 cup yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspn cayanne pepper
couple of pinches of dried thyme
perhaps some rosemary or oregano

Thaw 1 sheet puff pastry. Preheat oven to 350

Saute onion and garlic together until transluscent (about 7 minutes)
add sausage and brown and then add spices. Cook sausage until done
allow mixture to cool completely.

Roll out puff pastry until thin and pliable. cut into squares. Take square and add heaping teaspoon of the sausage mixture into the middle and then fold corner over top, completely sealing mixture, place seam side down on baking sheet.

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven until pastry is golden brown. Serve with a mustard sauce or on their own. Makes about 3 dozen

Enjoy,
Seth

We had a fabulous Mardi Gras party last night and Greg made seafood jambalaya and a sausage chicken jambalya that were fantastic. Everyone raved and I was a little jealous that he made everything.

I was given the task of the appetizers, so I found a recipe on Epicurious that really seemed the say New Orleans. Apparently it is from Emeril's kitchen. I couldn't eat it because of the crabmeat, but I got my own raves last night for it. A friend who is originally from New Orleans said that it tasted just like aligator pie she used to get in her favorite restaurant. Another friend said we should open our own restaurant. I toyed with the recipe and added more of the goodies like mushrooms and crabmeat and sprinkled in some cayanne for a bit of a bite. It makes an enormous amount of food, so have extra bread around. Here is what I came up with.

Crabmeat and wild mushroom cheesecake

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4-5 coarsely chopped assorted fresh wild mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster and stemmed shiitake)
32 oz of cream cheese softened
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayanne
4 large eggs
1/2 cup whipping cream
12-14 ounces crabmeat (about 2 cups), drained well, picked over
1 cup (about 4 ounces) grated smoked Gouda cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2-3 French bread baguette, sliced, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and bell pepper and sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Cool.
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, salt and pepper in large bowl until mixture is fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then whipping cream. Mix in vegetable mixture, crabmeat, smoked Gouda and chopped parsley.
Pour filling into 9" springform pan. Bake until cake puffs and browns on top but center moves slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool. (Cheesecake can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cheesecake. Release pan sides. Transfer cheesecake to platter. Serve cold or at room temperature with baguette slices.
Serves 16 to 20 as an appetizer.

I also made my special sausage in puff pastry nibbles and those were gone on the first round.

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg brought home take out from Hellen's kitchen in Northport (its attached to the Mobil Station on Rte 1) Take my advice and stay away from here! He brought home philly cheese steak sandwich and chicken tenders and I must say that I can buy better low end frozen food and cook it myself. What a horror this place is.

Be afraid, be very afraid

Seth

Greg was "rich for a day" a few days ago...thats what we call it when we're flush with cash , cause thats about how long it lasts. I was having a bad day with pot hell (ever have a cupboard in your kitchen where all the junk goes? Its where we keep the baking and springform pans as well as the storage jars and lids...always like socks, you can never find the right lid for the container) and so was yelling up one side and down the other...his solution was to bring me a dozen long stemmed roses...good boy, Greg, gooood boy! and take me to lunch on our way to town for errands.
We decided on the Summer House Cafe on rte 1 just south of Belfast. Its been reviewed here, but not in a long time and not by both of us. First, what irked me about the place the first time we went in happened again right off the bat. The first time we went in, we must have been told 9 times by passing servers and other employees "someone will be with you in a minute." We finally left and went to Dudley's for breakfast that day. A year later, two people ran past us spewing out "someone will be with you in a minute" as they flew by...what I want to know is "who is this mythical someone???" Strike 1 Anyway, the place was pretty empty for lunch and our server came to ask if we wanted to try the black angus burger with steak fries, which Greg ordered, along with extra, extra, extra, extra, extra crispy fries, his usual. I had a chai and a chicken salad sandwich on marble rye. The server ran off to put Greg's fry order in pronto so that they would be done in time for lunch...which puzzled us at first...until the burger and fries arrived. {inserting a Greg says:} "Never offer fries on the menu unless you actually have a frier. Putting potato wedges or even "steak fries" from Sysco on a baking sheet and putting them in the oven is not fries, its roasted potatoes." Strike 2 The potatoes came out seasoned, somwhat brown on one side and raw on the other...it was just too sad to see happen to a good steak fry. My chai was good, but arrived luke warm and I could tell that the water hadn't boiled before it was added to the chai (tea drinkers are constantly disappointed in restaurants where we feel we get shafted..no one pays attention to the proper way to make tea...though the restaurant may have 12 different varieties of coffee) But I digress. My chicken sandwich was perfectly fine and tasty as was Greg's burger. We weren't blown away and probably will not make this place a destination. I will say that the place is at least bright and cheery, but for the same price, there are much better places for lunch in town.

Enjoy,
Seth

Last night we went out with two friends to the Penobscot Inn and Restaurant on Rte 1 just south of Belfast. This inn has changed hands three times in the 4 years we've been here. The previous owner teamed up with Belfast celeb chef Oliver Outerbridge and opened Oliver's inside the inn. When she lost interest in the whole enterprise, she closed the restaurant, subdivided the property and sold off the ocean lot with a huge house she built on it. Now the Inn is owned by a very nice couple who are running the restaurant themselves. The have three rooms full of tables which I belive can fit up to 40 people for dinner. A bonus is their sunday brunch, which we'll have to try sometime later.

We ate on the early side and when we got the menus, what suprised us most were the prices. Every entry came with soup, salad, dessert and coffee and also included choice of vegetable and either roasted or mashed potatoes. Thats a heck of a lot of food, even for yours truly. The wine list had mostly $20ish range wines and there is a full bar...a bonus for me. With two bottles of red wine, two mixed drinks and two glasses of white, the total bill for four of us was $150.00, not too shabby.

Anyway onto the review....The first thing we all agreed upon was the lighting which was perfect; medium level, not too dim or too bright with small lamps on the tables, white christmas lights hidden behind the curtains and some over heads. We sat in the old covered porch which will be very crowded for diners come summer if all the tables are filled, but since there were only three tables open while we were there, it wasn't bad. The atmosphere was really nice and cozy. Leather couches and reading material in the hall outside, and nice prints and painted woodwork on the porch.
Three of us ordered the NY strip steak based on the recommendation of a friend who had eaten there previously and raved about the steak. Greg had the chicken schnitzle, which was a breaded and fried chicken with vegetables. We all had the lentil soup and ceasar salads and the comments after we left were that it was a good concept, all the food for one price, but because it was food service food, the quality was lacking. The lentil soup had too much onion and lacked any outstanding flavor. the ceasar salads were really weak looking but did include nicely shaved parmesan cheese on top. I would suggest salad in a bag from Hannaford with the extra cheese on top, it looks and tastes much better than what we got. The steaks were really nice cut, but probably also food service. They seemed to be fairly well brined. Greg says his chicken was thin and dry. When I had a taste I was pretty amazed that there was NO flavor to the chicken at all. It is fairly simple to add a bit of cayanne and some garlic powder to add a fantastic flavor to otherwise bland food. There were two thumbs up for the asaparagus, but I have to say how disappointed I was with the mashed potatoes, which tasted as if they were right from the box. Mashed potatoes should be lumpy, have the skins on, be mixed with chicken broth and liberally salted. ITS NOT THAT HARD!!!!
For dessert we all chose different things. Greg had cheesecake from a box with sad blueberry sauce over the top. I had the warm double fudge brownie sundae which was excellent and our friends had the rhubarb trifle which was passable and icecream which was creamy and nice. I had a very well appointed pot of tea too.
The overall thought on the place was a 6 to 7 out of 10. and the comment that if the place just concentrated on making the main courses better and more hand made while leaving out the soup and salad, and charging for better desserts, the place would be a real winner. It has potential here, but just stop with the food service food!!!!!

Enjoy,
Seth

Just a short note to say that I made a cool discovery last night when I cooked acorn squash in the oven. I filled the cavities with chicken broth, salt, pepper, and celery seed and the squash imparted a great flavor to the broth and vise versa. So much healthier than filling with butter and brown sugar!
Were going out to a new restaurant tomorrow night, so stay tuned for a rip roarin' review.

Enjoy,
Seth

I was in Portsmouth a few weeks ago with my friend Christine and her friend Ted. We were driving up from Boston to attend an auction preview and in the 45 minutes it took us to drive there, Chris received about 6 phone calls from what I like to refer to now as her entourage. Everyone wanted to know if Chris was going to the preview (this was at about 8 am on a Saturday morning). I don't get that many phone calls in a week, much less on a saturday morning! Chris is my popular friend...I feel like so cool when she lets me hang out with her.
After we got to the preview, Chris collected her entourage and they planned a lunch outing. I had over 100 lots to examine at this auction, so I thought I might not go, but then I thought...hmmmm...I need SOMETHING to write about on this site. We took off in no less than five cars bound for the Rusty Hammer in downtown Portsmouth. The Rusty Hammer is pretty much a sports bar restaurant. They have a HUGE menu and their hamburgers, known as wimpys, are famous. I think I was the only one at the table of 13 people who didn't have a wimpy. Take my advice when eating at the Rusty Hammer, have the waffle fries. I think fries taste better when they are cut in the shape of waffles. My chicken tenders were actually homemade and very good and juicy. Everyone drank, except me since I had to go back to work, and the cocktails looked bountiful.
The RH seems like a great place to meet friends, drink at the bar, or sit at the table and watch "the game" Its a very friendly place, and has a TGI FRIDAY'S type of decor and feel, yet you know its not a chain restaurant.

Enjoy,
Seth

We had a great mini vacation visiting my parents in Florida...I say mini because who can actually feel that they are on vacation when visiting their parents? We were there for four days which was just enough time. One night we wanted to explore on our own, much to my mother's chagrin since she had a pork roast all set for that night. Greg and I left in the afternoon and went shopping. When we were hungry, we both decided not to try any of the restaurants on US41, which were either huge Italian eateries in pastel stucco buildings, or big chain places like Applebees and Ruth Chris. Its hard in Sarasota to find a restaurant with some charm, but we did it. We drove through the historic Burns Arts District where there are cute bungalows with overgrown front yards and huge trees arching overhead and found a bungalow with tikki torches lit outside, white christmas lights around the windows and a warm cozy look to it, so we stopped. Keep in mind that this was Tuesday, so the place was empty...and I mean, out of 30 tables, we were the only ones in the place. It was a bit steamy outside, but otherwise a beautiful night, so we sat outside and soaked in the chaaaam. The restaurant, called Le Cafe, is on 238 South Links Ave. We were fawned over by the server who gave us all the service we wanted, but also left us alone outside for good long stretches. Greg had the tomato, basil, and mozzarella stuffed meatloaf with a red wine reduction sauce and it was fantastic. Apparently it is a favorite of regular diners. I had an osso bucco risotto that was nice, but a bit soupy, so the texture was a bit off. What was great was having a nice meal in Florida where the food is made by hand rather than by Sysco. The wine, a merlot / shiraz blend, was very smooth and quite nice.

We then walked down main street in Sarasota and popped into a gelateria and had tasty servings of gelato. We took a late night drive to Saint Armands Circle on Longboat Key to window shop. What a very nice night indeed.

Back to cold Maine

Enjoy,
Seth

I just returned from auction viewing down in Boston. My friend Christine and I went to Skinner kind of late in the day and decided to stay downtown and have dinner. I picked her up at the airport and waited over an hour for her to land because of all those winds we had on Saturday. Chris was so happy to see me that she invited me to dinner and I accepted. We bumped into some collegues at Skinner and one suggested a great restaurant on Charles Street, close by and inexpensive by neighborhood standards. So we called for to say that we were just 5 minutes by foot and would they hold a table for us (no reservations) Ted, who recommended the place, was really familiar with the menu, which worked out great. We arrived at a non descript door to what we would term in Chicago, a garden restaurant, meaning one that was in the basement. And voila, we were at Artu at # 89 Charles Street. (Beacon Hill Location) This restaurant is not kind to tall people. I had to slump my shoulders a bit so my head wouldn't hit the ceiling. It is warm and inviting and extremely friendly.

We ordered a good bottle of Chianti (the most expensive wine on the menu is $58.00) and the vegetable antipasto which came heaping with gorgeous fresh squash, zucchini, carrots, green beans, and fried eggplant, drizzled in oil and perfectly grilled.
For dinner, I had the tortolini with sage butter and cheese sauce which was heavenly, though I do regret not going with my gut choice with was veal and gnocci. My two dinner companions both had the breaded chicken stuffed with prosciutto and spinach.

The meal was fantastic, the company scintillating, and the staff, so friendly and warm....all with no entree costing over $16.00. This is my kind of place. Sign me up again, I'm a regular now.

Enjoy,
Seth

Eureka, I've discovered a cool trick for my pizza dough. 1/2 cup corn meal in the dough makes it super crispy on the outside and still moist and chewy on the inside. Two packs of dry yeast into a cup of 120 degree warm water and let steep for 10 minutes. pour into bowl having 1 3/4 cups flour, salt to taste, rosemary to taste and 1/2 cup corn meal. Stir around with a fork until combined and then add about 1/4 cup olive oil and mix the rest by hand, kneading right in the bowl until elastic. If dough becomes sticky add more olive oil. When done, seal bowl with plastic wrap and set in warm place to rise for at least 1 hr.

When at least doubled in bulk turn out onto oiled cookie sheet with sides and work into corners. Add a drained can of delmonte organic diced tomatos, your favorite toppings and grated chedder cheese on top. (I used left over cheese from our last cocktail party, it was a particularly dry Irish Chedder from Dublin that tasted really good melted). Cook until dough is golden brown.

I'm off on the road today for work...don't panic food fans, I'll be back. Also giving you advanced warning that I'm leaving Monday for a week...might try and post while I'm gone, but the sun might lure to the beach instead. :-)

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg and I had one of the best lunches we've had in a long time on Valentine's Day. We decided to do something different to celebrate and be together with the dogs, cause going out to dinner on the biggest amature dining night of the year just doesn't appeal to me. Its another hallmark holiday as far as I'm concerned (though I did go out and find the biggest box of candy in the shape of a heart I could find at Reny's). We decided to take a hike up Mt. Megunticook in Camden and have a picnic at the top. Crazy you might say, but true. It was about 35 degrees and beautifully sunny, so we made sammiches from the pot roast I had cooked a few days before, added lots of mayo and jalapeno cheese, brought water and oranges and turkey hot dogs for the pooches and off we went. We haven't really been hiking that hard since the summer, and the snow made it more difficult, but is was truly amazing. I only wish I had brought my camera! We were the only ones up there which was suprising but fantastic, since we could unleash the hounds and really move on. It took us about an hour to reach the top, about 1/2 mile above the cross at Maiden Cliff and there on top we found the best spot, a natural bench out of the wind with a back support. I could have stayed there for hours and stared out at the view which spanned about 200 degrees from the ocean to Appleton Ridge and beyond. We pulled out our smooshed sammies and had the most glorious meal while the dogs ran around and did face plants in the snow (their favorite) and came over occasionally for hot dog treats.

The way down was treacherous and slippery and my knees still haven't recovered. 7 miles on the bike at the gym helped a bit yesterday, but I am still sore in the knees and groan and ache coming up the stairs.

Enjoy,
Seth

never put bacon in mac and cheese...its a sin!

never order your Thai food at spicy #5, you can't taste anything

never put mashed potatoes on your pizza

always make sure your turkey is thawed COMPLETELY before cooking it

always check to make sure you remove those packs of innards from your turkey before you put it in the oven

try and replace your spices at least every few years

throw away those bottles of red hots and sprinkles used for Christmas cookies after 3 years

never wait more than 20 minutes for a table at a restaurant...go somewhere else.

always sautee in 1/2 butter and half olive oil...it tastes so much better

nobody ever cooks better than you in your own kitchen

everyone likes soup

never cook when you don't feel like it...order out instead!

Enjoy,
Seth

While Greg and I were in New York we went to see Brokeback Mountain, which, by the time we got popcorn and sodas, cost us like $35.00. anyway, I liked the movie, loved the short story so much more...am a HUGE fan of Annie Proulx's work partially because she went to Colby. Anyway, I had been warned by many of my straight friends that this was such a powerfully moving film and that it made them think about it for a long time. I went in prepared to be awestruck and came out thinking it was a beautiful love story between two people...a bit Romeo and Romeo...textbook forbidden love case with nice scenery. I spoke with a lesbian friend and she had the same reaction...no big deal straight friends, its the way life is with us too....
We were starving after the movie and walked up to the Empire Diner on 61st and 1st ave for patty melts and fries. Nothing better than patty melts on rye bread with fries. The diner was almost empty and the food was not memorable, so I would recommend trying some other place i the hood instead.
I urge all of you to see brokeback if you haven't yet. If nothing else, it really reveals that love transends all else. We can all feel it and it shouldn't be a sin in the eyes of anyone.

Feeling a bit philosophical tonight. Certainly don't feel like cooking, but I must see what there is in the fridge for Valentine's dinner.

Enjoy and happy Valentiny's day
Seth

So I stole 3Tides asiago dip idea and served it last night and I've never seen 6 people devour a bowl of something so fast. I messed with the recipe a bit and here is what I came up with: 3/4 cup mayo, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup plus of asiago cheese, 1 or 2 jalapenos choppped, 3 cloves fresh garlic and fresh ground black pepper. Whip all these up in a bowl and let sit in fridge for the day to meld and get cold. Pop in oven and bake at 350 until top is brown. Serve with slices of toasted french bread brushed with garlic olive oil and fresh pepper. mmmmm

Got raves for the rest of the dinner too, which consisted of old standbys like beef wellington, roasted potatoes, sauteed butternut squash. People are amazed when they get any sort of home cooking because no one cooks anymore!

Enjoy,
Seth

Saturday night was the last night open for 3Tides until St. Partrick's Day, so we went down to say so long for the next five weeks. It was quiet when we got there and both David and Sarah found a rare moment to sit at our table with us. It was David's step-father's birthday, and so that was a festive treat to rib Phil and sing him happy birthday.
We tried the Spicy Asiago dip which was Sarah's contribution for the specials board. It was awesome and she gave me the recipe which I'll make tonight for our dinner party. I would change the proportions a bit so there is less mayo, hopefully making it less oily. Essentially its mayo, cheese, sundried tomatos, mushrooms, jalapenos and sour cream. The thinly sliced garlic french bread that came along with it was a perfect accompanyment.
Other than that, I had a spicy sausage quesadilla, which was more smoky and strong than spicy, not bad, but not was I was looking for.
Good travels to David who braved the snow storm yesterday by getting himself to Boston and on a plane to Ireland for a week. He called me from the airport to say that his flight would be leaving...a miracle. Have fun David!


Its about 6am and I'm about the start preparing dinner for tonight. I opened my big mouth a few weeks ago and told a friend who is moving that I would just love to make beef wellington for her since she has never had it. Well that morphed into a full blown dinner party complete with two celebration cakes, a flourless chocolate cake for her (which Greg will make) and a carrot cake for her husband. The celebration is of their time together. She is leaving town and he is staying here. How wierd is that?

Enjoy,
Seth

Its 6:30 am and Greg and I have both been up since about 3am with insomnia. Of course now I am getting tired and so will probably go back to bed or go to the gym...but its like 2 below out and, well, BRRRRRRRRRR! No wonder the dogs are still buried under the covers.

Thinking this morning about the restaurants in NY I visited with friends or as business dinners. An auctioneer in NH threw a big party at a rustic French restaurant on 56th and 2nd called Sans Coullotes, which I of course translate to "Without Pants" which was pretty apropos considering the group of folks there. Lots of drinking and waving of chicken legs from the peanut gallery. I walked in and an old boss of mine from 15 years ago was there. She is a big time Chicago auctioneer, but she wasn't invited to the party...wierd to see her there after so many years and wierd to see her slink out when the host kind of made a scene about her being there. Anyway.....1/2 way through dinner I realized that I had left the iron on in the apartment, so I dashed up, fled in a cab, turned the iron off in the apartment and dashed back to the party...my roast chicken was still warm too. The place was good but the whole scene was so surreal that I can't really review the food since it was a preset menu..but I had to share the iron story.

A few nights later some old friends took me to Patsys Pizza on 69th and 2nd. Its a very convenient place for the neighborhood, very hipster place to take your family and babies if you are a young upper east sider. Personally, I would rather have real New York Pizza from Rays or someplace else. Trendy pizza has its place, but not in the pizza capital of the world. I can't believe that by the time we left, there was a waiting line of about 40 minutes....I just can't imagine that anymore. I have a tough time standing around waiting for a table for an hour in an overpriced, crowded restaurant. Gimme the diner down the street and a patty melt with fries and I'll be so much more content.

Enjoy,
Seth

Made pot roast the other day for Greg so he can have pot roast sammiches for lunch during the week. I took the broth, strained it, separated out the fat and had a beautiful beef broth to which I added lentils and carrots. It didn't make much more than two bowls full, but it was a perfect treat for me. Tres hearty, but healthy too.

For a soup today, I thawed some frozen chicken stock and added it to two Yukon Gold potatoes, a bunch of cut up baby carrots and a diced leek with garlic. Then added some yellow curry, salt and pepper and let it simmer down and cook. When tender, I added a bunch of fresh baby spinach, and a broccoli head and cooked for a bit longer then ran the whole thing through a blender to puree. It was a healthy alternative to cream of spinach soup and hugely tasty.

Enjoy,
Seth

I was reading our local online paper www.villagesoup.com and found that they have a new auction site where lots of restaurants I never knew exitsted seem to be offering gift certificates for food. The White House, a B&B in Belfast, has a dinner menu on the weekends. The Mermaid Restaurant at the Homeport Inn in Searsport is another place I've never heard of....jeez, I think ole' Maine Foodie has to get out more. Anyway I am tempted to bid. Dinner for two with a value of $50.00? hmmmm sounds like a bargain, I wonder what the fine print says!

Enjoy,
Seth

Amidst my rambles about our trip through NY, I wanted to stop and add a review of the Cedar Crest Motel Restaurant in Camden. We stopped there the other day after hiking the hounds on some coastal mountain land trust trails. Hungry and tired, we walked in and immediately noticed the changes from the "diner" it used to be. The kitchen has been closed in, save for a window to the pizza oven. The new walls have been painted a great deep yellow color. The owners put in a pizza and bread oven and hired a pizza chef. I have to tell you that the pizzas are fantastic. The crusts are hand thrown and have a great texture I had a sausage pesto pizza and Greg had fish and chips which he said was soggy and not as good as it used to be. That aside, the place was packed, almost every table was taken up. The establishment was also giving out samples of crusty artisan bread that they were baking on the premises. $3.00 a loaf and it was really very good.

Nicely done Cedar Crest.

Enjoy
Seth

Ok, ok, here I am. Did you all email each other and decide to inundate me with emails about my not posting for weeks and weeks? It was very touching to get so many emails in the last few days asking where I was and if I was alright. Thanks, I'm fine...its just winter here and there are projects to get done. Greg and I were in New York for a week and made dinner at home just one night...meaning that there is a lot to discuss...now if I could just remember the names of the restaurants!

The first night we were in New York, our friend Joan, of Joan and David, which is how she introduces herself, took us to this marvelous Greek restaurant called Pilos. It is down in alphabet city on 7th between 1st and A, an area where I used to live when I was just out of college and interning at a museum in NYC. Well let me tell you, that neighborhood has changed a bit. Its very swank now, the chic hip urban place to live...yuck.
The restaurant's entrance is very unassuming. When you walk in, you are enveloped by the warmth of the place. The owners comissioned a local potter to make hundred and hundreds of terra cotta vessels which they hung from the ceiling all tight together. Some have light fixtures installed inside the jugs and vases. The tables are close together and I was struck by the fact that there were two greek couples eating at the table next to us. The food was incredible. We ordered a bunch of appetizers, including stewed fava beans, broiled cheese, marinated, grilled prawns, hearty meatballs in savory sauce and a grilled vegetable platter. It was enough food to feed an army. We were completely sated and rolled ourselves into a cab after dropping Joan off at her place.
For any reader who might remember wearing Joan and David shoes or clothes, know that Joan is well and is now a professor at Columbia School of International Business. As she likes to tell it, she picked me up at Sotheby's one afternoon several years ago when I had my head under a chest of drawers. She came over to inquire why the chest had such a bold auction estimate. We ended up having lunch and have been great friends ever since.

Enjoy,
Seth

Its been a peanut butter and mac and cheese kind of winter so far. We have both been super busy and really haven't done anything but work work work and grab some grub in between. I think there were about 3 days where there was just peanut butter and pumpernickle in the fridge.
Well now that my three week holiday binge is over (I get an extra 7 days due to my birthday week--hey you grab what you can in life, right?) I have gone back to the gym and started to eat better. I just treated myself to a gob of peanut butter on artisan bread because I'm just home from the gym.
I used to be a raving Skippy super chunk fan but then decided I wanted my peanut butter's only ingredient to be peanuts! I think Skippy's first ingredient is corn syrup. I made the switch to Teddie's crunchy. It takes a long time to get used to, but I can't go back, its so good now.... maybe I'll peel an orange now...sigh!

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg has a friend who buys him really fashionable clothes for Christmas every year. Usually she is spot on for his style. This year however, she came up with a John Galiano hunting jacket with pleather highlights and huge, ugly pockets, prompting Greg to remark upon opening the package "guess the old girl has finally gone 'round the bend!"
We took a trip to Boston yesterday to return the coat to Saks for a refund. I have never in my life been treated as poorly by shop girls and shop boys as I have at the Saks in Boston. I mean what rock did these "fashionistas (insert giggle here)" crawl out from so they could be snotty to the public? These people work on commission! We left with Greg's credit vowing to spend it in New York next week at the Saks there....at least you expect to be treated like some gum on the foot of a bug in NYC, but in Boston?????
Well, after an exhaustive day of trying on clothes that cost more than my stove, we decided to get a bite of cheap Thai or something and ended up at Chili Duck across the street from the Prudential Center. Why do all Thai restaurants have to get the flashiest, tackiest decor to put on the walls...I mean is there a craptastic catalog sent out to all the Asian restaurants with framed wrapping paper and sparkly velvet paintings of pagodas for sale? Yikes!
We decided on an appetizer from the authentic Thai menu, so we chose Nom Tok, which is a spicy pork in a ginger, basil, vinegar sauce. Man, it was great! Came with a beautiful orchid blossom on the side. I could have eaten that for lunch, but we went to the regular menu for that and were a bit disappointed. I had yellow chicken curry with vegetables and potatoes and it was nice, and somewhat hot, but not the best. Greg had another chicken dish with hot basil leaves that was ok, but not as hot as he was looking for.
But, for 30 bucks with tip in downtown Boston, you can't beat the price. The service was great too. There was never anytime where we had to wait for anything. I'd go back, but I would order off the small authentic menu instead.

Enjoy,
Seth

My birthday was last Saturday (no cheers, just throw money...) Anyway, I ceaded control of the kitchen to Greg who asked several people over and made the whole dinner while I drove to Southern Maine and back for work! When I got home, he was just in the throws of making a NY cheesecake with Chocolate cookie crust...it was amazing and totally decadent. For dinner he whipped up a very spicy and festive sausage and chicken jambalaya. We sang the Jambalaya song for days whenever we had leftovers Replace "Tonolayo" with Jambalaya and you have a song about stew! (There's an accompanying dance, but I think I've shared enough already)
He also made the best Tuscan flat bread with rosemary and other herbs all over the top.

I may retire my New Wusthofs and go to the Islands!!!

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg says: Cheesy, tasty, texture is like...like...vomit you can eat with a fork! and with that he gave me a huge cute grin...what am I supposed to do with that???? Anyway, so I guess lots of cheese can't hide the blandness of the shepard's pie...musta been the absence of corn. Oh well, Sigh...back to the recipe books for me.

g'night and enjoy!
Seth

Ahh back to the kitchen after being sick and sick of making food after the holidays. Tonights gourmet meal is something a bit fancier that what we term SIAP (S**t in a pot to be a bit more on the ball) Its my version of Shepards Pie. I boiled some purple potatoes and the rest of the Yucon Gold that I had (skins on of course) and then sauteed scallions with garlic until tender, threw in some yellow peppers and then about a lb of ground turkey and simmered until just done. While this was going on, I whipped up a rou with butter and a bit of flour and browned it for a few minutes in our new saucier pan that our neighbor Tangie gave us (its so awesome...Italian design and NOTHING sticks) then poured a 1/4 cup of white wine in the rou with equal part milk and let cook on low simmer while I stirred in salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. Last was a touch of colby-jack cheese to make it creamier.
After adding carrots and lima beans to the turkey and stirring for a while, I added fresh asparagus and took it off the heat. Scraping the mix into a casserole, I then poured over the creamy cheese mixture and let it sit while I finished the mashed taters (skins on for extra vitamins!) with garlic, salt, and butter. Add to the top and then grate some more cheese over the top for colla as we say in New Yawk.
Hey, if it doesn't taste good, at least it tastes cheesy!

I'll let you know Greg's comments tomorrow in a new feature called "Greg Says:"

Enjoy,
Seth
Hey and by the way....if you don't click the ads up above, I can't take the local Mainefoodie readers out for ice cream until at least 2009!

Just emerging from a cold today, couple that with the holidays and having to spend 5 days with my family, I have left off posting for almost a month. I must say that I haven't been inspired to cook anything new lately and am loathe to go out to restaurants during the season. So, I ve been reading about food instead. This article was in the NYTimes today and I totally agree with it.

I think I've explained that Mondays are my night off as Greg is off playing mah jongg with the girls. No cooking for me except to make my favorite...mac and cheese with chedder cheese and lots of butter and salt and pepper. Its simply the best.


Macaroni and Lots of Cheese
By JULIA MOSKIN
MACARONI and cheese is just the kind of all-American, old-fashioned home cooking I was not raised on.
New York City in the 1970's was a hotbed of culinary radicalism. Food-forward parents like mine served dinners of homemade falafel, Mediterranean fish stew or stir-fried beef with broccoli. To me, dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, mashed potatoes with gravy and macaroni and cheese seemed exotic and unattainable.
Naturally, this is where my greatest passions lie as a cook. And after the frenzy of holiday cooking, a simple dish like macaroni and cheese is just what I want to make now.
Lacking a family recipe, I turned to cookbooks for guidance. A strange substance called "white sauce" cropped up again and again. Bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce and alien cheeses like smoked gouda and parmigiano also kept finding their way in. None of the recipes came close to my fantasy of what the dish should be: nothing more than tender elbows of pasta suspended in pure molten cheddar, with a chewy, golden-brown crust of cheese on top.
While reading the following passage in a 20-year-old cookbook called "Simple Cooking," the problem became clear:
" A good dish of macaroni and cheese is hard to find these days. The recipes in most cookbooks are not to be trusted...usually it is their vexatious infatuation with white sauce, a noxious paste of flour-thickened milk, for this dish flavored with a tiny grating of cheese. Contrary to popular belief, this is not macaroni and cheese but macaroni with cheese sauce. It is awful stuff and every cookbook in which it appears should be thrown out the window."
The book's author, John Thorne, still adheres to this position, but said that he has largely given up the fight. "Starting at about the turn of the 20th century, there was a huge fashion for white sauce in America - chafing-dish stuff like chicken à la king, or creamed onions," he said last week. "They were cheap and seemed elegant, and their legacy is that people choose 'creamy' over everything else. But I maintain that macaroni and cheese should be primarily cheesy."
Marlena Spieler, author of a forthcoming book, "Macaroni and Cheese" (Chronicle), agreed that most recipes simply do not have enough cheese. "I believe in making a cheese sauce and also using shredded cheese," she said.
But she refuses to forgo white sauce altogether. "You need a little goo to keep the pasta and cheese together," she said. Having made a global study of the subject, she ticked off a list of alternative binders: mascarpone, crème fraîche, eggs, heavy cream, egg yolks, cottage cheese, butter and evaporated milk, which she deems a little too sweet but "delightfully trashy."
Like me, Ms. Spieler believes that macaroni and cheese, which is often served alongside fried chicken or barbecue, deserves pride of place as a main dish. "I love it so much that I want to focus on it," she said. A crisp green salad and a glass of wine turn mac and cheese into a meal, she added.
I first made Mr. Thorne's recipe, a step in the right direction: it combines a whole pound of cheddar cheese with half a pound of macaroni. But the method, which entails taking the dish out of the oven every five minutes to stir in more cheese, is tiresome. And so, armed with the knowledge that a seemingly outrageous 2:1 ratio of cheese to macaroni is indeed possible, I set out in search of the ideal recipe.
At cheese counters across New York City, complex blends of pungent, unaged, rind-washed and cave-ripened cheeses have been devised for makers of macaroni and cheese. Rob Kaufelt, who owns Murray's Cheese in Greenwich Village, counsels a 30-50-20 blend of Swiss Gruyère, young Irish cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a blend of English cheddars. At Artisanal, cooks are steered toward the softness of Italian fontina and Welsh Caerphilly.
These are all indisputably glorious cheeses. But they do not all belong in a casserole dish. An impromptu focus group of children living in my apartment building showed a strong preference for the cheddar family. Ultimately, I found, the dirty little secret of an honest macaroni and cheese is often American cheese.
American cheese is simply cheddar or colby that is ground and emulsified with water, said Bonnie Chlebecek, a test kitchen manager at Land O'Lakes in Arden Hills, Minn.
"The process denatures the proteins in the cheese," she said, "which in plain English means that it won't clump up or get grainy when you melt it. With natural cheese, it's much harder to get a smooth melt." The cheese industry and the Food and Drug Administration call a cheese "natural" if it has been produced from milk, as cheddar and mozzarella (and virtually all other nonindustrial cheeses) are.
Plain American cheese, labeled pasteurized process cheese, contains the most natural cheese and is the best for cooking. American cheese derivatives are made from cheese and additives like sodium phosphates (acids that promote melting), nonfat dry milk and carrageenan. In descending order of their relationship to natural cheese, they are cheese food, cheese spread (such as Velveeta) and cheese product.
Daphne Mahoney, the Jamaican-born owner of Daphne's Caribbean Express in Manhattan's East Village, makes a wonderfully dense version of macaroni and cheese that combines American cheese with extra-sharp cheddar. Macaroni pie is hugely popular in the Caribbean, especially on islands like Jamaica and Barbados that once received regular stocks of cheddar from other members of the British commonwealth: Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
"We put a little pepper in it to spice it up," she said. "But as long as you don't make the macaroni soggy, and you use plenty of cheese, it will be good."
The macaroni must not be slippery and soft, but firm and substantial. This is not the time to bring out your whole-wheat penne and artisanal orecchiette: elbow pasta is the way to go.
One of the most surprising recipes I tried called for uncooked pasta. Full of doubt, I mixed raw elbow noodles with a sludge of cottage cheese, milk and grated cheese. The result was stunning: the noodles obediently absorbed the liquid as they cooked, encasing themselves in fluffy cheese and a crust of deep rich brown.
The last decision - to top or not to top - is easily dispensed with. Resist the temptation to fiddle around with bread crumbs, corn flakes, tortilla chips and other ingredients that have nothing to do with the dish. When there is enough cheese in and on top of your creation, a brown, crisp crust of toasted cheese will form naturally. There is nothing more delicious.
The moral of the story: When in doubt, add more cheese.
Copyright 2006The New York Times Company

So we are having a pot luck Christmas party on Saturday night and I have been too busy to think about it, much less decorate the house for the holidays. Its Thursday and I better get cracking. Since we are leaving for Christmas and going to Florida, we decided not to get a big tree, so sometime today between thawing pipes and making food I have to go cut a tree from somewhere. Anyway, decided to make my life complicated by making a buche de noel for the first time. My mom is a pro at these and hers are so festive. They are kinda corny, but do bring a smile to everyone's face when they see it, especially decked out with merangue mushrooms.

I'm not a fan of buttercream frosting, so I am going to make mine a bit more decadent and use parts of four different recipes and see how it comes out. I'm going to make an orange spice sponge cake, and make orange cream cheese frosting for the inside and a chocolate ganache for the frosting. The recipe is below and I will let you know how it turns out. Wish me luck.

Seth

Cake
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
Powdered sugar

For cake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan or cookie sheet with sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter parchment. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend.
Heat milk in medium saucepan over medium heat to 150°F. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in large bowl until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla and grated orange peel. Beat in flour mixture until just blended. Gradually beat in warm milk. Pour batter into pan.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Spread kitchen towel on work surface; cover with parchment. Sprinkle parchment lightly with powdered sugar. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen cake. Invert hot cake onto parchment. Peel parchment off top of cake. Starting at 1 long side and using towel as aid, gently roll up cake jelly-roll style. Cool.

Filling:
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
16 oz cream cheese
juice of one orange and 2 tablespoons zest
1 stick butter
4 teaspoons vanilla extract


For ganache
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

Make ganache:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, corn syrup and liqueur. Stir until mixture is smooth. Let ganache stand until cool and thick.
Whisk ganache just until soft peaks form (do not overmix). Spread ganache over roll. Using tines of fork, draw lines through ganache to represent tree bark. (Roll can be made 1 day ahead. Tent with foil and refrigerate.)

I also made merangue mushrooms to place around the outside: Wrap cookie sheet in foil and preheat to 250. beat 3-4 egg whites with a pinch of salt and a pinch of cream of tartar until foamy and soft peaks form. Add 1 cup sugar in 1 tablespoon additions (beat for at least 20 seconds between additions. After 1/2 cup of sugar then beat in dash of vanilla and keep adding sugar. After all sugar is in, beat for 8 minutes or so until you cannot taste the sugar crystals. Scoop into pastry bag with #7 tip and make 20 "stems" by slowly lifing bag as you squirt out merangues. Make caps by leaving tip just above cookie sheet and squeezing bag. Wet finger to push down peaks. sprinkle with cocoa and bake for over an hour at 250 until merangues are hard and peel off foil. Scrape out underside of "caps" slightly, fill with dark chocolate and then "glue" stem to cap and let harden upside-down.

Vicky had us over last night for beef tenderloin and Christmas tree decorating. The tenderlion, just roasted in the oven plain, was fantastic. We all marvelled at the fact that she got it at Hannaford! She had to ask the butcher for one, but he trimmed it out for her and tied it up and really picked out a nice one for her. Served with Bernaise sauce and asparagus, it was the perfect meal, I forgot how terrific a good beef tenderloin can be.

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg and I had a wonderful time on Saturday meeting up with a Maine Foodie blog reader and her husband at 3Tides. They are from Georgia and just started looking around the area for houses because they want to move here. I think its a great idea to come in the winter to see what its really all about up here. I suggest you come back in the dead of January or February to get the Full Flava of our fair state.
Anyway, we had a really great time meeting them and hope they enjoyed our little corner of the world. I do hope my waxing poetic about 3Tides on these pages held up to scrutiny from the South lands. Ohhh and thank you for the peach salsa and the honey (which I've had with my tea these past several mornings!)

Thanks again and do come back

Enjoy,
Seth

So, I thought I'd get really fancy this year and make everyone truffles for Christmas presents. I figured that everyone thought truffles would be really special. Found several recipes and melded them together to make my own special recipe and went out to gather the ingredients. I was told that the coop in Belfast had really good chocolate for baking and cooking, so I went there and found some German semi-sweet chocolate with a 66% cacao blend. Since I was there, I also found heavy organic whipping cream to go along with the really expensive chocolate. When all was gathered, I found myself writing a check for $40 + !!!! Ahh well, it is Christmas you know.
I must say that making the truffle mixture is really easy, actually forming the truffles is the hardest part. I made two batches and called it a day...no more truffles for this guy, especially since neither Greg, Tangie nor Vicky's eyes lit up in amazement over the taste.....they said they were delicious and pretty, but not a "spectacular!" or an "Oh my god these are amazing" among the bunch. Hmmmmmm.....Greg said his family loved the almond bark and the gingerbread the best out of all the Christmas eats I've sent...So I will make the frigging almond bark and send out both candy boxes to each of his siblings. I made enough truffles for 5 boxes..there are three different kinds: cocoa dusted, white chocolate dipped with dark chocolate drizzled on top, and bourbon dipped and rolled in almonds. The recipe follows:


11.5 oz good baking or eating chocolate at least 59% cacao
heavy whipping cream
various dips

heat 2/3 cup whipping cream to boil
chop chocolate and put in non-reactive bowl and pour cream over top

Stir clockwise from the center outwards with a whisk, but be careful not to beat the mixture. If it doesn'g get smooth, place bowl on warm burner and stir until smooth. Set aside mixture for 1 hour until chocolate is thick enough to hold a shape. Form truffles either by hand or with spoons and lay on parchment lined baking tray. Place in freezer for at least 30 mintues. Dip in various mixtures and chill.

Place in decorative foil cup and place in small candy boxes. They are beautiful to behold, but apparently my almond bark still takes the prize. Fa la la la la

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg and I decided to get out of the house last night and go down to 3Tides for dinner. It was pouring rain and so there was a quiet crowd gathered there. As I said before, there are some new menue specials there for the likes of us who don't eat seafood. A hot artichoke spinach dip and Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes caught my eye. Sarah recommended the meatballs and we also had a chicken quesadilla...they really are the best in town. While we were chatting around the bar, David brought our usuals over without our even ordering them...Have I said that I love 3Tides? We had appetizers with little Luna, who is 7 months old. She shared her organic fruit rice cakes with us, but I thought them rather sticky for my palette.
The meatballs and quesadilla arrived and Tom, the cook at 3Tides perfected getting the quesadillas extra crispy by baking them on a round pizza pan...this was the best one yet. Meatballs were good, and the mashed potatoes had a nice bit of ligonberry sauce on them, but the meatballs needed a bit more sauce to make them moist..all in all a great evening with old friends.
Today is Libby's birthday, so I have to make the dogs a liver cake for dinner...Perhaps I won't share that recipe with you!

Enjoy,
Seth

I just got the ultimate MaineFoodie type box from UPS today. Didn't know what was in it, so I opened it and found 15 fresh Persian limes wrapped in bubble wrap from my mom! They got to Florida to find all their fruit trees sagging with fresh Persian and Mexican limes and two kinds of oranges. Aside from making wicked margaritas, I'm taking suggestions for what to do with these juicy limes. (my sister got all the mexcan limes as she is a key-lime fanatic.) Personally, I'm thinking of great lime sorbet or perhaps a lime pie.

Enjoy,
Seth

Ken wrote me to say that he got his mom to make him the pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving. Its best straight on a fork from the fridge several days after baking. My comment back to you Ken would be to get your mom to try this recipe for your next holiday gathering: I made it the day before Thanksgiving and put it in the fridge overnight and the depth to the soup was incredible. Don't let the ingredients scare you, the taste is out of this world.

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup chopped carrot

3/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup ripe banana

1/2 onion chopped

1 clove garlic minced

1 bay leaf

1 whole clove (or ground is fine too)

5 cups chicken broth (I happened to have homemade turkey broth that I used)

2 cups canned pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

i teasoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground corriander

1/2 teasppon dried sage (or a few leaves of fresh sage...makes all the difference)

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teasppon yellow curry

sprinkling of toasted pecans before serving

Melt the butter and add the next seven ingredients and sautee until the vegetables are soft. Add 1 cup of broth after 10 minutes or so and then take off heat,remove bayleaf, cool slightly and add vegetable mix to blender. Blend until smooth and put back in pot. Add the rest of the stock and all the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring so as not to scald the milks. Let it slow boil on simmer for 10-20 minutes. If soup is smooth you are done, if not, let cool and reprocess until smooth. Best if made the day before, refridgerated and reheated.

Enjoy,

Seth

While I was in Boston last week, friends took me to Finale next to the Park Plaza Hotel. When they said we were going there, I thought it was some great Italian family place with cannolis on the menu! It was actually conceived to be the final act for the theater crowd and as such has a very light food menu and a very heavy dessert menu. So, for about 10 bucks one can get a chicken ceasar that is small, but really good, or a gourmet pizza that is quite large and delicious. Other items are paninni sandwiches, other salads, etc. What people die for here are the desserts, some of which can cost upwards of $30.00. We split a dessert for two between three of us for $16.00 which consisted of their famous molten chocolate dish, hard cocoa brownie on the outside and delectible runny chocolate on the inside with three scoops of ice cream and chocolate sauce. It was a pleasant meal, though the place was a bit noisy and somewhat of a scene with a lot of younger patrons. If you want a good, quiet, hearty meal, this isn't the place for you. But for a hick from the woods of the Maine Coast, it was a treat!

Food:A-/B+
Atmosphere: B

Enjoy,
Seth

Jeez, so much to write about, that I dunno where to start. Well, lets start with Cafe Miranda in Rockland since its been on my mind recently. We went there last Wednesday at a friend's invitation so that we could have a pre Thanksgiving feast together before all going our separate ways for the holiday.

First I have to say that its a loooooong drive to Rockland for dinner. But we've enjoyed Miranda before and were looking forward to our return. We all settled in and were given menus, which read like novellas and take about as long! I am always wary of restaurants that have such a profusion of things on the menu. I went the easy route, picking two appetizers, ceasar salad and asian dumplings. Greg had fried oysters and something called "the best thing on the menu", which when he ordered it, I thought, "thats a lot of cheek to order the best thing on the menu when you are being taken to dinner." Little did I know it was an actual item on the menu. Mary had chicken paprikash and Vicky had baked haddock. Quite possibly the best dish was Greg's fried oysters in an oyster sauce. They were passed around and everybody raved. The dish was small, having only 6 oysters, so it didn't last long. My ceasar was shot over with way too much lemon, so that was the only thing I tasted, which was too bad because it looked really fresh and had some nice parmasan shavings on it. Greg said his best thing on the menu was terrible, luke warm and tasted too much of uncooked, bottled minced garlic, which stayed with him alllllll night. My dumplings tasted like they were precooked and then warmed over as they were a bit hard, the sauce though was out of sight, very spicy and tongue numbing. Mary said her paprikash was just like her grandmother used to make in the old country (Frankly I didn't know they used paprika in Ireland) and Vicky was very pleased with her fish. The company made the dinner and the atmosphere was warm and cozy. All in all a good solid B-

Enjoy,
Seth

I called a client yesterday about an unrelated matter and the first thing she said to me was..."you gave me that almond bark recipe two years ago, is it the right one?" I told her it was (wink wink) and all was right with the world! Don't worry fuzzbe, I wasn't so devious two years ago and yes, you did get the right recipe (wink, wink, nod, nod).

So, am I a bad person? A neighbor asked me for my recipe for almond bark recently. Both she and her daughter pestered me for a month for it and I started thinking that they were going to make it and sell it along with the Christmas Wreaths that they make and sell around town.
Everyone tells me how good mine is and I've often thought of doing the whole cottage industry thing and making it for sale in my kitchen, so I don't want to give the recipe away to everyone.

So, I gave them a recipe for almond bark, but it wasn't the one I use! I have neighbor guilt now. I figure if they are good cooks, they'll figure out their own version and I should just leave it at that, for that is what I do.

who needs a deep fat fryer? I don't! I finally got the fried chicken breast recipe pretty well down pat last night.

What I did with boneless chicken breast was to pound them flat like scallopini then soak in egg and dredge in a mixture of flour, salt, pepper garlic and red pepper.

I heated a saute pan until hot and then added an inch of vegetable oil and got it hot but not smoking. I added two breaded breasts at a time and let them cook until golden...I tell you, there is nothing better then fresh hot juicy fried chicken, specially when there is no bone!

Thinking about Thanksgiving recipes this week. We are not hosting this year, so I really don't have to make too much. Perhaps the spiced pumpkin soup though.

Enjoy,
Seth

Been asked to post my butternut squash soup recipe, so here it is in one form. I've experimented with it and depending on whether I want something quick and healthy for lunches or something a bit richer and fancier for parties, I change the recipe accordingly.

For a quick healthy soup:

saute one leek or a medium yellow onion in about 2 tblspoons butter and a bit of olive oil
add minced garlic to taste (one or two cloves)
add one peeled and cubed butternut squash (use a vegetable peeler for best results or purchase the already peeled and packaged version at the grocery
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
two teaspoons ground sage or fresh sage from your garden
1 cubed apple( skin on for fibre)
let saute for about 10 minutes and then add chicken or vegetable broth to just cover the vegetables. Simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.

Take off heat and let cool before transferring to blender. Blend until smooth and return to pot
heat and serve.


If you want something a bit richer for parties, ditch the apple and add 1 cup carrots, cook and blend. After returning to pot, add 1 cup parmesan cheese heat, pour into bowls and swirl in a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche. Top with fried sage leaves (dredge leaves in flour and fry in vegetable oil until crisp)

Enjoy,
Seth

We had one of our winter pot roasts last night. I got a great cut of pot roast meat at Graves in Camden and salt and peppered it, dredged it in flour, browned it in a pot with sauteed leeks and then added a 1/2 cup of port, 1/2 cup of bourbon, and about a cup of water to the pot and brought to a boil, adding minced garlic to the fray and then letting it simmer for four hours. Served with roasted cubed butternut squash that I put in a roasting pan with chicken broth and salt and pepper and roasted for a bout 45 minutes until tender. mmmmm


We then treated ourselves by going out to 3Tides for drinks with Vicky. David set down their new special menu which contains all sorts of great things to eat, including garlic mashed potatoes, pasta bean and herb soup, spicy hot crab and lobster dip, and lots of new pizzas and sandwiches. Sounds perfect for the long winter months.
We got talking to David about Vodkas and before we knew it, he had set up a Vodka tasting for us with two grain vodkas and three potato vodkas, including a new high end potato vodka, Cold River, that is distilled and bottled in Freeport, Maine.
Here are the results:

Potato Vodkas:
Chopin: a bit of biting aftertaste, somewhat sour to my palette, doesn't mix well with cranberry
Luksusowa: strong but smooth, perfect for sipping
Cold River: The smoothest of the potatoes, but has a hint of butterscotch and vanilla flavors at the end that I didn't find enjoyable. Mixes well with cranberry, but the expense makes it not a great choice as a mixing vodka.

Grain Vodkas:
Belvedere: Very smooth, my favorite after Luksusowa. Chilled and straight up, this is a winner
Grey Goose: Certainly, the strongest taste, not so smooth, clearly the loser of the bunch. Mixes very well though.

Thanks again to David and Sarah at 3Tides for a great evening. As I say, its so nice to walk into a bar or restaurant and know not only the owners, but a lot of the patrons as well.

Enjoy,
Seth

Hey everyone, this has been a very busy week for me, been to Boston twice and Portsmouth once on different auction ventures. Waste of time if you ask me. After all of that I bought a single stoneware jug for a client....hohum!

Needless to say, I haven't been out to eat or cooking too much. It is soup season, so I had the chance to make my butternut squash and apple soup last week. Bit of ground sage in it and I was good to go. Greg hates soup, but I'm sure you all know that by now if you read everything on this site. The squash soup recipe is on here somewhere.

Am off to vote today. Remember if you live in Maine and have the will to vote...vote no on 1.

Vote no on 1 and help end discrimination in Maine.

Last night we had a great evening with our punny friend Mary out at Seng Thai in East Belfast. The food delicious as always, the atmosphere is certain to foster comments from the peanut gallery what with the sparkley paintings on velvet and such. But the biggest enjoyment at Seng Thai is the presentation of the food. Thai Chicken arrives in a pineapple boat with carved carrot rose blossoms. The curry comes in a pretty covered blue and white dish and that makes the food taste that much better. We're still at hot level number 4, not daring to go to a five yet.

Afterwards, we stopped by our favorite watering hole to chat with our friends David and Sarah at 3Tides. There was a nice crowd, including little Luna's grandparents who were feeding her cereal when we got there. A nice night out on the town to recharge our batteries.

Tonight we are making pot stickers and taking them over to Vicky's house where we will imbibe lots of steamed stickers and carve our pumpkins. I also need to make a few loads of almond bark for the hospital halloween party as well as for the 6 tricksters we get.

Tune in tomorrow foodie fans and you'll hear about making stickers.

Thanks for keeping the ad clicking alive. We are a long way from a group ice cream run, but we'll get there.

Enjoy,
Seth

For those of you who wanted to learn more about how the Haute for Hospice show went, click on the link for coverage of the event. The picture of the cute guy at the end is Greg...he thinks most of you probably envision him the size of a beach ball what with all the stuff I feed him!

http://belfast.villagesoup.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=62653

Enjoy,
Seth

I'm making dog cookies again today using leftover pork, an apple, oatmeal and carrots, binding with an egg. I realized how desperately I need to go restock the kitchen as I have no garlic or parsley to add to the mix.

Hope they like it...smells pretty good to me.

Enjoy,
Seth

Keep on clicking up there, only make $3.90 so far this month.

So, I read in the paper today that the Lookout Pub in Belfast is reopening with two new owners, young women in their early 20s, one of whom bartended at the old place. Good for them! They plan to be a family oriented restaurant during the day, serving lunch and dinner and then a bar at night after 9pm. The new name will be the Lookout Bar and Grille (is that grill or grilly?). Gone will be the martini bar upstairs and the beergarden outside, which is great news as that was probably a big money loser for the old Lookout. I never understood why it was called the lookout though, since all the look out on is the back of 3Tides restaurant...oh sorry, 3Tides isn't a restaurant, its a bar with food.
So I say. good luck to the new and improved Lookout bar and grille. We'll be in soon to take it on a "taste drive". Oh, my slides are splitting from that one.

Enjoy,
Seth

Wet winter weather is here! I can't believe I can see the islands and the bay already now that the leaves have not only fallen off the trees, but seemingly run screaming from their branches to the ground. Anyway, its time for a bit of tea in the afternoons in front of the fire and what better to accompany a bit of constant comment tea than this delicous Lemon Rosemary Tea cake. Its a bit like pound cake with a distinct rosemary taste. I was down visiting my aunt several weeks ago and she served this for dessert after dinner with a plum sauce...its also good warm or even toasted in the oven. I have someone coming to see a painting next week and I might just make a loaf of this to put them in a good enough mood to buy it :-)
Thanks AJ!

Lemon Rosemary Tea Cake
(with olive oil and buttermilk)


4 cups flour
1 T baking powder
½ t salt
4 t lemon zest
4 t dried minced rosemary (more if fresh) 2/3 cup light olive oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups lowfat buttermilk


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Oil 2 9x5” loaf pans, or equivalent.
Thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, lemon zest, rosemary and salt. In a large bowl or electric mixer, beat oil and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until mixture is pale yellow.
Add 1/3 flour mixture to eggs, then half of buttermilk, stirring to blend. Add remaining buttermilk, stirring, then 1/3 more flour mixture, then stir in final 1/3 . Spread in pans and bake until golden, and sides of cake pull away from edge of pan (50-55 min?)

Glaze
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners sugar 4-6 T fresh lemon juice

Stir glaze until smooth and spread on warm loaves. After cooling, turn out of pan. Alternatively, remove loaves and cool before spreading icing on all sides. You may need more glaze.

Enjoy,
Seth

Between repainting the bathroom yesterday and working the phone lines with clients, I had to squeeze in a pumpkin cheesecake for potluck tonight. The bathroom is still a mess and I gave up after one wall. Its a whole new color scheme to cover up the horrible mistake we made with the color last time. We wanted something bright and cheery because the bathroom was so dark....then we cut the trees down in the front of the house and low and behold, we had sun...and a tacky paint job! We are going a bit more conservative this time with a wall color called Shiloh which is a soft pebble gray with bright white trim and a sage green floor. Speaking of sage, probably you didn't log on to hear about my color choices for the bathroom. What follows is the recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake. What I did here was combine my favorite NY cheesecake recipe with one for Pumpkin, the results are a light and tasty dessert that gets raves.

Preheat a slow oven at 325
excessively butter a 9-10" round springform pan
crumble 2-3 cups of ginger snaps (I ground them in my little food processor)
line the bottom of the pan with the crumbs and press them into the sides of the pan for the crust (I only press them about 1/2 way up the sides of the pan so that there is a nice contrast to the color of the pumpkin cake and the crumbs when you take out of pan)

In a large bowl combine
1 lb cream cheese and 1 lb ricotta (my secret cheese for cheesecakes) softened and using a spook or a mixer, combine until light and fluffy
add:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon each of ground cloves and nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger or allspice
pinch of salt

Then add 6 eggs, room temperature, one at a time until mixed thoroughly

Fold in 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1 lb sour cream

Pour into springform pan. I find that I usually have more batter left over and luckily I have a tiny spring form pan so I can make a little one for Greg. I've learned to do this because he'll always bug me to have a little piece just for him. I'll be doing things around the house and I'll hear this voice behind me "can I have a piece of cake?" "why can't we just take a cheese log to potluck and leave this here for me?" Its cute and makes me laugh, but now I can say, I made one just for you!

Anyway place in the center rack in the center of the oven and bake for one hour. Without opening the door, turn oven off and leave cheesecake in oven to dry for 2 hours. take out and cool completely, (top may crack, which is fine) and chill overnight.

You can serve it plain or with a topping such as fresh cranberry sauce or glaceed pecans, candied orange peels or sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Enjoy,
Seth

Alright, the pressure to post more is getting to me!!!! Found this cake recipe on Epicurious and it sounded decadent and impressive enough to serve to Greg's mom for her birthday this year. The caramel-milk chocolate frosting is to die for. Everyone was moaning over it! Better the second day, so you might want to make it a day ahead. There is a ton of frosting to use and it gets nice and hard when the cake is chilled.

Chocolate cake with milk chocolate-caramel frosting.


Cake
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups sifted cake flour (sifted, then measured)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract ( I was out and used bourbon)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 cup lukewarm water

Frosting
24 ounces good milk chocolate (Dove or imported), finely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 1/4 cups whipping cream

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Sift Flour and next four ingredients together in bowl. Using electric mixer or by hand, beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla or bourbon. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Beat in 1/2 cup lukewarm water.

Divide batter among prepared pans (about 2 1/3 cups for each). Smooth tops. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Cool completely in pans on racks. Invert cakes onto parchment (cakes are delicate). Peel off parchment on bottom.

For frosting: Combine milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate in large bowl. Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil without stirring until syrup is deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 10 minutes. Carefully and slowly add whipping cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir over low heat until any hard caramel bits dissolve and mixture is smooth. Pour caramel over chocolate; let stand 1 minute to allow chocolate to soften, then whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Chill chocolate-caramel frosting until completely cool, about 2 hours. (or freeze bowl if you are pressed for time) Let stand 1 hour at room temperature before continuing (or microwave a bit to melt)

Using electric mixer, beat frosting just until color resembles milk chocolate and frosting is easily spreadable, about 1 minute (do not overbeat or frosting will become stiff and grainy). If necessary to correct graininess, set bowl with frosting over saucepan of simmering water for 10-second intervals, whisking just until frosting is smooth and spreadable.
Place 1 cake layer on platter, flat side up. Spread 1 cup frosting evenly over top. Top with second cake layer, flat side up, pressing slightly to adhere. Spread 1 cup frosting over top. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake, swirling decoratively.


Enjoy,
Seth

I've been ordered by Greg to post here tonight. Currently, Greg is in the kitchen sopping up the leftover sauce I made for my chicken fried pork chops with a german pumpernickle cocktail bread that I found at Renys.

I got three thumbs up for dinner tonight, one from Greg and one each from Vicky and Mary who both happened to stop by around 5:30 to see "what was up." What was up was two hungry females sniffing around for a dinner invite!

Anyway, my skeleton for dinner was a load of boneless pork chops, some swiss chard that I need to use, and an acorn squash. I halved the squash scooped out the seeds and placed both halves flesh side up in a roasting pan with about 2 inches of water in the bottom. I placed a bit of butter and salt and pepper in each half and roasted them at 350 for an hour.

I decided to chicken fry the pork, so I trimmed the chops, beat the crap out of them with a wooden mallet to flatten them, dredged them in a mixture of flour, ground sage, cayanne, salt and pepper and then added them to a skillet with hot hot vegetable oil (almost to smoking hot) and fried on each side for about 3 minutes a side.

While that was going on, I sauteed chopped leeks with garlic and olive oil and then added the swiss chard and let it wilt down and "marinate " on low until time to eat.

After the pork was done, I removed the chops, drained off the oil, and then scraped the scrapings off the bottom the pan, added butter and about 1/2 the remaining dredge flour with spices to make a rue. I had some nice strong homemade chicken stock in the fridge that I added to make a sauce, then placed the pork back in the sauce and made sure they were covered.

The pork was very juicy and had a great spice to it. Greg is still in the kitchen searching for leftovers.

Even if you don't try the pork, try the chard, it is one of my favorite easy vegetables and everyone will be really impressed.

Enjoy,
Seth

So this morning was clean the fridge morning. We've had so many people here over the last week that there was a ton of stuff just sitting in there waiting to be made into something.....I thought, "time to make dog cookies" I took left over roast beast, some old celery, and some left over broccoli spears and ground them up in the cuisineart. Then had some left over lobster stock to temp the puppies, so I threw that in. Add lots of oatmeal, a bit of peanut butter and an egg and mix well. Drop onto cookie sheet like peanut butter cookies and flatten with a fork for best results. I baked at 300 for a while and then dropped it to 200 to dry the cookies out and now the pups are enjoying a rather lovely rich, natural dog treat. They are doing the happy dance in front of the kitchen as I type.

Enjoy,
Seth

I came home from being out on the road for several days to find Greg and his parents and our house guests sitting down to a big lobster dinner. When they were finished, I put the shells in water and set the water to boil with a few bay leaves, some garlic, and some celery salt. I boiled it for about an hour and then reduced the liquid somewhat.

Found a recipe for lobster bisque where I took the shells out of the water, crushed them up and sauteed them in oil, adding onions, and a 1/2 cup of coniac and sauteeing until brown. T hen adding a head of garlic, a few carrots, celery, one sliced up tomato, tarragon, thyme, and 3 cups of the lobster water...(I then reduced the lobster water in the other pot by about 2/3rds and added this to the pot as well.) I simmered the whole for over an hour and then strained and set back onto boil while whisking in a can of tomato paste to thicken it. I took it off the stove to cool and then put it in the fridge for the day to meld the flavors. Right before serving I added cream and dissolved corn starch and set to slow boil again to get the flavors going. It got rave reviews, though I don't know how it tastes personally. I served it from Greg's mother's birthday dinner along with roast chicken, broccoli, and chocolate cake with milk chocolate caramel frosting.

Enjoy,
Seth

So, the Hospice show went really well. I made the pork tenderloin sandwiches by roasting these mammoth tenderloins with rosemary and garlic and then slicing them very thin, placing the slices on a platter and then pouring the juices overtop and refrigerating the platter until we were ready to assemble the sandwiches. The night before, I had wisked garlic and lemon juice together with mayo and then combined that with a homemade pesto to create a wonderfully fragrant, light pesto aioli sauce.

Needless to say, there were no sandwiches left after the party.

So my whole plan for food for the Haute for Hospice event went out the window yesterday when I walked into Sam's Club in Bangor. Vicky has a Sam's membership and since I said that I would buy the soft drinks and water for the show, plus the fact that Greg's parents and friends are coming for a whole week, I thought I would stock up. I forget that Sam's has great meat and fantastic prices. Where else will you find 90% lean hamburger for $1.96 a pound...of course you have to buy 9 pounds of it! So, Sam's was running a special on pork tenderloin in 7 pound roasts. I decided to get two, grill them, and then make pork tenderloin sandwiches with a garlic pesto mayonaise for the show. I got 100 little rolls so I can make 100 little sandwiches. I also got cheese and fruit and crackers as an emergency side hors d'ourevre just in case. More food will be provided by area restaurants, but in case one cancels last minute, I want to have a backup. Its a control issue!

Enjoy,
Seth

Greg came home from the grocery store the other day proudly toting a 6 pound pot roast that he wanted me to cook for sandwiches. I took one look at it and said to myself, "thats a great piece of roast beef.....no pot roasting for this baby!" Not being a red meat cooker, I googled what to do with a top round roast. I decided to go with the Italian beef roast, which made the house smell great all evening.
Though James Beard told me not to put the roast in a pan without a rack, and NEVER add liquid to the pan for fear of steaming the meat...I threw caution to the wind and decided to go my own way.
I took the roast and slathered it in olive oil, cut slits in the top and shoved in fresh garlic, and then peppered the hell out of it with both black and red pepper. Added some garlic powder and then rolled the whole thing in oregano. I put the beast back in the roasting pan and then added 1/2 a cup of red wine and 2 cups of water, with about 1/2 a cup of chopped onion. It took approximately 3 hours to cook at 325. When done save the juice and put aside
I let the beast set and then shoved it in the fridge, but not before cutting off a few tasters for the dogs and me. I'm supposed to slice it thin and then soak the slices in the juice and reheat in the oven....its pretty tender, I made a sandwich out of it with cheese and it was excellent.

I'm going to have a taste test today and see if this might be appropriate to make into sandwiches for the fashion show this weekend. Ever been to a party and they have those tiny roast beef sandwiches? I love that! hmmmmmm...thats an idea.

Enjoy,
Seth

We drove over to Deer Isle yesterday to deliver a blanket for a client. The drive was stupendous and the leaves over that way are turning a bit faster than they are here on the mid-coast. We had to find the Goose Cove Lodge (thank you reader for setting me straight on the name), which was a very cool place, down a long dirt road at the end of the earth it seemed. The view was spectacular from what I could see of it. What a place with cabins nestled in the woods and a small main lodge. Anyway, there was a wedding there yesterday and we just delivered the blanket for the bride and groom and took off. (This from a reader who shares all sorts of restaurant tidbits and recipes with me: [Its a ] great place with a decent chef.)

We decided to stop in Blue Hill for lunch and went into the first place we found, The Blue Moose. Whether it was late or just a slow day out of season, we were one of only two tables in the place. It was pretty sterile and generic, with art for sale on the walls and pine tables and chairs. The menu looked good and I chose the Chicken salad with raisins and toasted pine nuts on rye. Greg had something called the gobbler which was essentially turkey, cheese, and lettuce and tomato wrapped in a tortilla with guac and sour cream. Typical sandwich place. Service was overly attentive and the ginger smooshy (as opposed to ginger snaps) cookies we got for the car were great.

Atmosphere was a definite C
Service was an A
Food was a B

Enjoy,
Seth

Its comfort food season again! For me that means using heartier vegetables with dinner. Last night we had chicken breast, floured, seasoned and browned in butter and olive oil and then simmered in lemon juice until tender and juicy along with fresh butternut squash and spinach. For the squash, I took a vegetable peeler and removed the skin, chucked the whole squash on a plate in the microwave for about 2 minutes to soften and then cut, deseeded and cubed it. The whole went into a pot with about 1/4 cup water, olive oil, a tablespoon butter, and salt, pepper, ground sage, garlic, and just the tiniest amount of brown sugar. I then simmered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender. The result was a very flavorful, hearty and healthy vegetable alternative. Mmmm mmm good.

Enjoy,
Seth

I finally had lunch at Chase's Daily in Belfast yesterday. I have always resisted for some reason. I'm not a big fan of trendy organic food places that look like they should be in Easthampton rather than in Belfast, Maine. But, friends of my parents dropped by and I had to take them somewhere, so I figured we should go there. I watched with bemusement as this ultra conservative guy perused a menu that included black beans and rice, hummus sandwiches, and omlets with tofu. Both Ed and his very cool wife, Milly, had the tomato and mozzerella sandwich. I had the black beans and rice with a side quesadilla, cause followers of this stream of food nonsense know that I like quesadillas. Ed and Milly loved their sandwiches, commenting that the baguettes were extremely fresh and good and the tomatos were perfect. I thought the beans and rice was great, if a bit too heavy on the cilantro. But it came with grated cheese, tomatos and a side of salsa. The quesadilla on the other hand was awful. I think the tortillas were microwaved and they used goat cheese for the filling...and while thats fine for some people...gimme a cheese with some heft and a bit of spice and make sure the quesadilla is extra crispy or take it away!
Anyway.....it was nice to know every other person who walked in the door and the space is pleasing and has some great atmosphere and people watching. Overall, I'd give the food a B+/A- (didn't you hate getting this grade is school...looking back now, it was such a control issue thing...if the teacher had liked you better, you would've gotten the darn A- free and clear) and the atmospehere an A. Great service too.

Enjoy,
Seth

my vintage bottle of French vinegar sold for over $200 on Ebay. Someone is going to be kinda mad if they ever open this one. BUT, Ebay will only allow us sellers to auction the collectable bottles and their labels rather than the wine itself as auctioning wine is against their policies. And, quite frankly, I started the auction at $9.99 with no reserve so its not like I ever though the wine would get up to that price! (Can you tell I am struggling with seller's guilt? Not so much that it stopped me from offering the buyer the second bottle I have for the same price)

:-)
Seth

I've made $10.00 from these ads at the top of the page..thanks

So our neighbor's son wedding was great. It was in their backyard under a tent behind their 1797 Federal house with a fantastic view of the Bay. It was catered by a local caterer in Belfast, Trillium. They had a full bar and served apple cider martinis which were very tasty. The passed hors d'oeurves were vegetarian sushi which were passable and crab and avacado quesadillas, which looked wonderful, but yours truly didn't have any, and Greg was having too much fun to notice. There was also a cheese and fruit bar and an oyster bar...very swanky.

Dinner was a buffet with lamb kabobs and scallop kabobs. The lamb was really tender and lean though a bit cold. Greg said the scallops were lukewarm and a bit underdone. There were also big fresh orange and red tomato slices with purple basil which were great and colorful and the most memorable part of the dinner. We also had salad and rice pilaf.

The cake was gorgeous, five layers of square marble cake with a super smooth icing and small wine grapes and currants spilling over the sides, but the icing tasted too much like butter and the cake itself was hard...I guess you need that to make something so pretty. I always want my cakes to be moist, so they are always lopsided!

Anyway, we had a fabulous time. Food was secondary (can you believe I said that?) or even third on the list after the '80s cover band to which everyone danced

Enjoy,
Seth