We had roast chicken last night for dinner...its Sebastian's favorite (for those of you who don't know, Sebastian is a BIG black beast of a giant schnauzer, weighing in at 115 lbs) I made it with a rub of fresh rosemary and sage from the garden and stuffed the inside with oranges and onions. Also made a white wine risotto and sauteed brussel sprouts for Greg (yuck) and lima beans for me...mmmmm Anyway, Sebastian has a routine when I roast a chicken that he never does with any other meal...he lays outside the gate to the kitchen while its cooking and just sniffs the air and moans every once in a while (we have chicken a lot, just cause I love it when he gets into his groove thang). When we carve it up, he whines outside the gate because he thinks he should be the one to get the first taste. He and Libby (Our other giant schnauzer and David's favorite pooch) usually get snacks after dinner. Last night however, we ate dinner while watching a movie while it thundered and poured rain outside. Sebastian hates thunder and he skulked off to a dark corner of the bathroom to wait it out.....or so I thought. When I got back to the kitchen, the gate had been opened and the chicken carcass was nowhere to be seen...the roasting pan however, was right where I'd left it on the counter. Sebastian was asleep on his back, paws in the air, in the corner of the kitchen...with chicken grease all over his beard! I was amazed that he ate the whole carcass, leaving only the onion from the inside as evidence. I am still worried that the cooked bones will harm him. I stayed up late into the night watching to make sure that he didn't get sick, choke, etc. I fed him ice chips to cool his throat, but he just went about his business and contentedly went to sleep with his head under our bed. He seems fine and perfectly normal this morning....no adverse effects yet. I hope he'll be ok.

Hey all. Well, I can finally say with some assurance that summer is here on the midcoast. How do I know? We have to wait for tables to clear at the local eateries! (Actually, I know because my roses are in full swing.

Anyway, you didn't come here to hear me wax poetic about my garden. Greg and I decided to drive to New York on a whim last week to get some errands done and have some business meetings. On our way down, we stopped at Moody's Diner in Waldoboro for breakfast. Now, I usually stop at Moody's in the wintertime on my way south and get a cinnamon roll to go and they come out all warm from the kitchen. I hardly ever stop for a full mea, but Greg likes his eggs and toast in the morning, so we stopped. By 10am, the place was packed! Hardly an instate license plate in the lot (locals eat early and are probably out by 7). Our server was really in a state when we got there and was really not interested in taking our orders. But she did. I had a sausage and cheese omlet with toast and Greg had a burger. The portions were enormous, but the omlet wasn't done and they charged me .60 cents extra for the cheese even though the omlet was listed on the menu for one price. Greg got soggy fries and a kind of dry burger...two things he can't stand. We did get a cinnamon roll to split and that was good, but they are much better in the winter months.
All I can say is never have that much sugar and plan to drive another 6 hours...I was so sleepy!

Back to work...this job thing does get in the way of blogging, now doesn't it.

By the way, thanks to the readers who recommended my blog on Chowhound.com That was very cool. I love chowhound and used to have a link to it somewhere on my blog page...hmmmm I am not the most technologically saavy dude around, so I'll have to work on getting that back.

Oh..the ratings for Moody's
Chaaam.....A
Food....B-
Service....B-

Enjoy,
Seth

After several exhausting days working on the house...NEVER start 4 projects at once......we had the age ole debate about going someplace local that is "Cheap and Cheerful." Where the hell would that be! Tonight we have a candidate for that very spot. A place that we never even thought to try since they've been open after a remodel. Whooda thought that Willy World right here in Northport would be so excellent for the Cheap and Cheerful type of meal. So the place is now called "David's @ Willy World" complete with a pool table and live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
David was slammed and only had one server when we got there, so after a short wait, David came by himself and took our orders for wine and Mike's Hard Lemonade (beer and wine coolers are available too) as well as for Fried Haddock for Greg and the Cheeseburger with sweet potato fries for me. How delightful the food was! Perfectly crispy fries, moist quarter pounder with creamy cheese and a lightly battered and fried fresh haddock that was perfectly cooked on the inside. The decor is suitable, lots of nautical things to look at, fishing nets and paintings of ships on log roundels. Since there was a wait, David told us to make ourselves at home at the salad bar and then brought warm bread and soft salted butter, our favorite! Both David and his server were very attentive and really served the large crowd well. There are three tables outside and more inside where we were. Greg and I mentioned that we wanted to play miniature golf and David went and found us clubs and balls...we don't think anyone has used the course in awhile. Free icecream after dinner was the best treat.
This is really the perfect antidote to some of the other places in town that are getting a bit tired.

Food: A
Service: A+
Atmosphere: Suitable to cheap and cheerful: B+

Willy World is just South of the Blue Goose in Northport on Rte 1. For three drinks, Fried Haddock and a burger, the bill was $27.00 and change...not too bad for dinner and drinks out on the "town."

Enjoy,
Seth

Greetings from searingly hot, windy, and rainy Florida. I came down here for my mom's birthday, even though it is terrible weather and I hate this type of humid heat...but, parental guilt works so well on me! I got the "You don't really want to come down here, you should make the trip" and then the next sentance was the killer "but I would love it if you would come down".

Aannnyway...we went out last night and had a fabulous meal at a local place I've never been to and we got talking about having Whispers at the old Whisper Inn in Sarasota. The first one I had was with my grandmother years ago and we got schnokered on them. If you've never had a whisper, you should. They are decadent and delicious. Usually served in a big martini glass, the whisper is a delicate balance of ice cream and booze....mmmmmm, two of my favorite things. The recipe has always been a well-kept secret until the advent of the internet. I hereby give to you the recipe and urge all the drinkers out there to serve this as a party favor at least once.

Ingredients:
1 oz kahlua
1 oz amaretto
1 oz vodka
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
ice
Directions:
Mix in blender...not too much ice, the trick to the whisper is to make it smooth, like a thick chocolate shake.

Enjoy,
Seth

oops, well a perceptive reader emailed to tell me that I had excluded most viewers from posting comments because of the settings I had chosen for the site.....stupid me, thats what I get for being a complete techno moron. I have changed the settings so hopefully, you'll be able to comment on my scathing reviews and tell me how totally off base I am!

Enjoy,
Seth (posting from my window overlooking the Gulf of Mexico as we wait for tropical storm Arlene to arrive in Florida.)

There is not much choice in dining establishments for a Sunday night in Belfast. We aimlessly drove to town while considering our options last night....pizza hut? naw.....Darby's?...probably closed and the fries are limp.....ok, lets see whats up at Seng Thai. We've eaten at Seng Thai a number of times and it was always good, but never "wow!" so we were kind of lacklustre about the whole thing. I do have to say that we left feeling "Wow, that was an excellent meal." Hooray for our team, we cheered ourselves up on a Sunday night with food out!

So, we get to the Thai shack on Rte 1 in East Belfast and the place is packed with cars. Nowhere even to park....I finally squeezed in next to a few cars and we went in expecting to wait a while because the place is small.....it appeared that everyone came in separate cars and ate together, because there were empty tables to spare...another good sign.

So Greg looks at me and squinches up his face and says "I'm SO hungry...I'm starving!!!....Lets get lots of food!" We ordered the crispy potatos and the chive dumplings to start....the potatos came out first and they were slices of sweet potatos dipped in tempura batter and deep fried and came with a nice peanut sauce. The presentation was divine, even down to the radish cut into a rose blossom. The potatos were fresh and excellent and I highly recommend them. Next to come out was the plate of four chive dumplings. The flavor was good, but I was expecting something different and couldn't get passed the texture, which was a bit slimy. Greg loved them and raved about them. We ended up leaving one of the dumplings behind.
I was in the mood for spicy, so I had the chicken in hot basil leaves extra hot....my mouth was on fire for the rest of the night....loved every bite! I need to figure out how to make that at home...damn! Greg had the garlic chicken which was very fresh...even down to the fresh garlic...an A+ in my book. We cleaned out plates and shared a bowl of ginger ice cream....a perfect evening.
One piece of advice though...stick with the American red wines...the Thai one that they advertise is not as good as the other wines they serve.
A new coat of paint would serve this place well.

Food A for excellent
Service A-
Atmosphere: Kind of a dive on the inside. Could do with spruceing up. But we loved the sparkles on a lot of the pictures! B for the sparkles!

Enjoy,
Seth

Seems that tasting restuarants are all the rage in New York now. When I was there two weeks ago, I ended up going to two very different places, one was fairly middle brow on the upper East Side, close to the apartment that I use when Im there and the other was down near Gramercy Park in a very chi-chi part of town. The tables were about three inches apart in this place, and at the end of our meal there (I was taken there by a client) we were asked to vacate our table for the waiting customers at the door! I've never seen anything like it.

The first place I went to with Greg near the apartment was called Fig and Olive on Lexington and 64th. It is a small place, serving wine only, with the cool added attraction of a long communal eating bar in the center of the restaurant. When we sat down, our server brought us four different olive oils and bread, with a side of figs. The menu offered two ways of ordering. One could either get a variety of tasting appetizers such as cheese, vegetable, or meat plates or toasted crostini with a variety of toppings to spoon on. OR one could order more filling meals to share that were more like lunch portions. We decided to just order the whole first menu minus the meat tray. Crostini toppings included roasted red pepper, a confit of different colored tomatos, an eggplant caviar, and other things I can't remember. Cheeses were mostly hard and sharp but with a gorgonzolla and a goat cheese added in, the vegetables were mostly hip, New York style things like roasted leeks, chard, etc.
I know we got out of there pretty full for under $60.00, which is very good for two people in New York City.

I'll talk more about the other place when I can remember what the name of it was.

Enjoy!
Seth

Good Pizza

Well, last night I think I made a really perfect pizza. I've been experimenting over the last couple of years with sauces and crusts and toppings, but I really liked what we came up with last night. I've tried to make a healthy crust with a mixture of cornmeal and oat flour, but the dough just doesn't rise and the pizza ends up tasting like yeast! I then tried cornmeal and whole wheat flour and the same thing happened, so I went back to plain old whole wheat flour and only let it rise once for a single pizza and twice for two pizzas. I also just dispensed with making sauce all together because after watching the pizza makers in NYC...if you love pizza, you know that NYC has the best pizza ever made. Someday, I will apprentice myself to a pizza maker in NY and find out exactly how to make their crust.

ANNNNNNyway....here is what I did:
You'll need a pizza stone...never thought they worked until Vicky gave me one for my birthday...thank you Vicky!

for the crust:

1 cup hot tap water (not too hot)
2 packs yeast

dump the yeast in the bottom of a bowl and sprinkle the hot water overtop let stand ten minutes until frothy.

2 cups whole wheat flour
couple of dashes of sea salt
crumbled rosemary leaves
perhaps some oregano and or garlic powder
olive oil

Toppings:
Fresh tomatos (with basil when the season hits)
chedder or monteray Jack cheese
and your favorite toppings

Put ingredients except olive oil in a bowl and pour ready made yeast mixture on top. Stir together with a fork until dough comes together. It should be dry. Add 1/4 cup olive oil as needed over dough and begin kneading dough in the bowl with your hands. Dough should come together in a ball at this point. I keep my dough in the bowl and knead it for several minutes, adding more olive oil as it gets sticky. Don't over knead! When it feels right, cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and a tea towel and place in a warm spot (I have this nifty warmer burner on my oven that I use sometimes) and let stand for about an hour or until doubled.

If you want to make two pizzas: After the dough has doubled, punch it down, halve it with a dough blade and let the two doughs rise for another hour.

Spread olive oil on your pizza stone and dump dough in the middle, pushing and pressing it to the sides and corners...if your dough doesn't cooperate, let it sit for a couple of minutes on the stone and it will rise again for you enough to push and prod some more.

Cover dough with a sprinking of olive oil and a dash more sea salt for flavor, cover with tomatos and your favorite toppings (last night was spinach and sausage) and then your favorite cheese..we use either monteray Jack or chedder most nights...it gives the pizza that much more flavor. There is a great jalapeno chedder that works wonders. Pop in a 400 degree oven on a lower shelf until the cheese is golden brown.

I can't believe we ate the whole thing!

Enjoy,
Seth

So you'd think with all this weather to slit your wrists by, that I would have time to sit inside and update the Mainefoodie blog. Sigh.....more excuses, excuses, excuses....I just haven't gotten around to telling you about the great meal we had at Francine's in Camden. Well, if I don't lose this post before publishing, you'll hear about it right here. I want to thank all the people who have emailed me to tell me what they like and don't like about the Mainefoodie blog. I have registered all your suggestions and decided that I will continue anyway I want. After all, it is my blog. I guess I should think a bit harder before posting my review about a new restaurant in Belfast on the Village Soup letter board. I got raked over the coals on that one! At least it let me know that people are awake out there.

So Mainefoodie has been busy with other writing projects and client hand-holding lately. But I resolved to sit here and write down some thoughts about Francine's, so here goes:

Francine's, Camden Maine

A wonderful friend and neighbor took Greg and me to Francine's the other night for dinner as payback for watching her house and watering her plants over the winter. Very nice payback if you ask me. Greg and I have stopped into Francine's on numerous occasions to see if we can get a table, but were always turned away. Its a very small place, on a back street in Camden across from where the old YMCA was. It opened about two years ago. We got there right on time for our 7:30 reservation and had to wait by the door for almost 30 mintues for our table. Since the place is small, Greg acted as the doorman because he had to stand right in front of the entrance!

The walls are painted a dark chocolate brown and are devoid of most decoration except for a few mirrors. Lots of glowing candles around and a bar with about 6 seats. The smells from the kitchen that night were a mixture of garlic and rosemary....my favorite!

We finally sat down and were left to our own devices for about 15 more mintues before our server came over with menus and asked what we wanted to drink. The menu looked great, lots of seafood (unfortunately for me) and some delectible looking turf food. I stared with the spinach soup with porchini mushrooms. The soup was incredible, being broth based instead of cream based, which one would expect. Greg and our friend shared appetizers of a whole soft shelled crab, battered and cooked, served on a bed of celery root and a special of roasted oysters, which they said was out of this world. The presentation was wonderful and raves were given all around.

Main courses were: steak frites for me which was beautiful and seasoned perfectly. The steak was butter soft and beautiful. Greg had a halibut steak and our friend had the tuna...both of which were moist and tender. I haven't had a meal this good locally in a very long time. We skipped dessert as there were other hungry looking souls waiting for our table.

My only adverse comment besides having to wait would be the decor. I like clutter, so the place felt a bit bare to me with nothing on the walls. The atmosphere was better than any of the restaurants in Belfast though.

Ratings:

Food: A+

Atmosphere: A-

Service: B+ (It seemed like our server's first day)

Enjoy,

Seth

Hey food fans! Maine Foodie has been on the road for the last week or so, and there is lots to tell. So we should have some great posts here over the next few days. But first, I want to back up to a few weeks ago when Greg and I met my sister and her friend down in Rockland at the Park Street Grille for drinks. Greg and I were starving, so we ended up staying for food. The margaritas were very good, but pricey at around $7.00 per. The food was average, I had a chicken quesadilla and greg had the chimichanga. His was dry, but there was some good flavor. Mine was a lot of food, but not as good as some that I have had in the past. This one was a bit soggy, which can happen. If I go to a place a second time, I usually ask for extra crispy on the outside. I am still searching for that elusive, fantastic, quesadilla that I used to get in Chicago at the Mexican joint we frequented. Anyway, with booths lined up against the windows, the Park Street Grille is a nice place to meet after work for a round or two. We had a great time and the server was really nice. I'd recommend the place for drinks and appetizers.
Atmosphere: B
Food: B-
Service: A

Enjoy!
Seth

Last night was one of those nights where I kept opening the fridge, hoping something delicicous and interesting would appear as if by magic. All that was there was ground turkey, some frozen sausages, and an old head of purple cabbage.....mmmmmmmmm. After yelling upstairs and asking Greg what he wanted for dinner, he said "make meatloaf!" Now I know to some, this might not sound delicious or interesting, but to the two of us, meatloaf is excellent. Turkey loaf on the other hand is kind of gross. So when all you have is ground turkey and sausage, you make turkey sausage meatloaf.....it was pretty darn good.

1lb of ground turkey
four sausages with casings removed, or ground sausage
1/2 cup of oatmeal
several dashes of Louisiana hot sauce
1 egg
a few pinches of oregano
a few dashes of soy sauce

combine all ingredients in a large bowl and dig in with both hands to knead together. when fully combined, shape the loaf and place on a broiler pan in a preheated 350 degree oven.
Bake for at least 30-45 minutes until firm and done.

The other thing we had in the kitchen was an acorn squash that had been around for a few weeks. I took my vegetable peeler to the outside skin then cut the squash in half and scooped out the seeds. Added a pat of butter or two to the wells, salt and peppered them and shoved them in the oven in a shallow pan filled with water. The squash was done when the meatloaf was ready and it was soooooo good.

Enjoy!
Seth

Pineapple upside-down cake

Ok, I know what you are all thinking..Oh my god, I haven't had that since my mom made it in the late '50s! I know you're thinking that because two people made that comment to me after I served it at dinner the other night.

It all started after our friend Sarah gave birth last week to little baby Luna, who was a month early. Sarah adores pineapple upside-down cake and so I thought I would try a recipe I found at www.epicurious.com For one, the recipe called for dark rum...mmmmmm and B, the cake is baked in cast-iron skillet (probably my favorite kitchen tool). I took the recipe and tweaked it just a bit.

When I took the cake out of the oven, Greg almost flew down the staircase from his studio and kept badgering me about making him one too. He actually wanted me to cut the cake in the shape of a crescent moon (not because the cutest baby in the world is named Luna, but because he wanted to eat the center!) He pouted and stuck out his bottom lip and wondered why I never made him cake anymore.....I told him when he gave birth, I would make him a pineapple upside-down cake!

Anyway, he pressured me to make another one for him and then agreed to share it with friends who came over for dinner....I have to say that the cake is amazingly rich and moist. Its a reat treat if you like pineapple. Its pretty easy to make too, and will impress all your friends.

One note....This recipe call for sugar, though I used Splenda for the body of the cake and brown sugar for the top and didn't really see any difference in taste.

For topping
I medium can of Dole pineapple chunks in juice (drain juice and reserve for later
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

For batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-2 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum
reserved pineapple juice
2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake

Special equipment: a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet

Preheat to 350 degrees
melt butter and brownsugar in skillet and cook for about 4 minutes until blended and completely melted. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly. Spread chunks of pineapple even over the butter sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients (I normally never do this because I don't want to dirty another bowl, but you might want to)

Cream butter and sugar together and add eggs one at a time making sure they are completely incorporated. mixture should be nice and thick. Add vanilla and rum. Alternately add dry ingredients and pineapple juice and mix until fully incorporated. Pour batter over butter sugar mixture making sure it spread evenly.

Cook in oven for between 30- 45 minutes depending on how hot your oven cooks. Test cake at 30 minutes for optimium moistness. If test comes out dry, pull pan out of oven and let sit for 5-7 minutes. HERE IS THE PART THAT SEEM HARD BUT ISN"T You might want to do this over the sink.

Take a cake plate that is larger than the skillet and invert it over the top of the skillet. Holding both the skillet and the plate firmly together...flip...cake should transfer to plate. Put chunks back in place and serve warm or at room temp.

Enjoy,
Seth

Papa J's Wine & Lobster Bar, East Belfast

After hauling wood around all day so that we were sore and crabby, Greg took me out on a date last night, sweet boy that he is. We decided to try the new restaurant that opened in East Belfast yesterday. I'd read about it in Village Soup and it sounded interesting. I knew there wouldn't be a lot on the menu for me since it bills itself as a lobster bar, but we decided to try it.

The restaurant opened up in the old Fat Boy's Diner. It promises great water views, but the windows overlook the RV resort, which is fine for right now since there are no patrons in the resort, but come summer, thats what you'll see when you look out the windows, a sea of shiny metal and lots of lawn chairs. So anyway, the interior has been spiffed up and we give them an A for effort there. A nice deep red wall color greets you in the foyer upon arrival, there are different shaped and colored lampshades over each of the tables, and two dining areas, both with televisions tuned to sporting events (strike one for a wine bar). Unfortunately, I felt that we were in a restaurant that was trying really hard not to be a diner, but failed. It tried to be cozy, but was a bit cold for me...floors painted a flat grey, diner tables with ugly abstract painted designs in mauve and gold, and wierd posters tacked to the accustical tiles on the ceiling. Just not the atmosphere for a place that calls itself a wine bar.

Service was very friendly and our server was so attentive. While they cleaned a table for us by the window, we were waiting out front and several people smiled and asked if we were being helped. The wine list was extensive and the prices were very reasonable. The red wine glasses are huge and fit nicely in one's hand. The owner came over to pour Greg's wine, but didn't welcome us until Greg asked if he was the owner. The first pour of wine was a bit small to the point where we looked at each other because it was noticeable. Greg wants me to mention that if you call yourself a wine bar, and you have enormous wine glasses, you should please your customers by filling the damn thing up more than a 1/4 full!! He said he'd even pay more for a better pour. My stoli on the rocks came in a small stemmed glass crammed with ice. I hate small rocks glasses primarily because I am a big guy and have large hands.

Menu was brought out to us on a chalk board and most everything was seafood. Besides seared sea scallops, lobster stew and clam chowder, the appetizers were standard bar fare..mozzerella sticks, wings, and jalapeno poppers, which I was dismayed about...have something a bit more original. I must say the prices are very reasonable. I chose what I thought said Penne Chicken (12.95, but no pasta arrived with it, so I think it had something to do with being pan fried. Greg had the 1 1/4 lb lobster for 14.95. Each came with a salad of greens with tomatos, red peppers and purple onions. We chose the house dressing of balsamic and roasted garlic vinagrette which was excellent. A lovely looking basket of warm herb bread came out with the salads. The bread smelled great, but was completely tasteless. I think it was bread machine bread which has a tendancy to be really flat tasting...whoever made this bread forgot to put in the salt to unify the flavors. The lobster arrived and Greg said it was really sweet and perfectly cooked. He had a great time tearing into it and ate every bite. My chicken came out next with a side of garlic mashed potatos. It was a boneless breast with a lemon caper sauce on top., (no capers to be found though). I carved into it and found that it was undercooked and still pink in the middle. I asked the owner, who stood at a bar table next to us with his friends all evening, to have it cooked a bit more because it was still pink in the middle and he looked at me and said "so you want it well done?" and I immediately said, "well, I'd like it cooked so its not raw in the middle." when it came back, it was cooked through and was really tasty. The caper sauce was actually sweet onion garlic and lemon that was really nice. The garlic mashed potatos were good, needed to be a less dense. They were unceremoniously plopped on my plate with an ice cream scoop, reminding me of institutional food. I was served my white chicken and white potatoes on a white plate with no garnish or side vegetables....in fact, no vegetables were offered at all. Even though the food was good, there needs to be a bit of creativity on the plate if one wants to be a wine bar and not a diner.

Desserts were lemon merengue, apple or bluberry pie and we passed, craving something a bit more in keeping with a nicer meal, some chocolate confection or rich cheesecake (we stopped at Darby's on the way home and split carrot cake and another drink.)

We got out of there for about $50.00 for four drinks and dinner. Not bad at all. I do think it will be a total tourist draw in the summer. One thing I have to mention that really got to us was the acoustics in the place. It might have just been the loud people at the bar, but we could hear every word and every laugh coming from every corner to the point that it was annoying as hell. A couple of single women at the bar were flirting with a guy and they were shouting and laughing this really shrill laugh that grated. Maybe a carpet to deaden the voices.

I left liking the food, but not the restaurant itself. I wanted more from a place that bills itself as a wine bar. Wine bars should have jazz piano playing softly in the background, should be dark and cozy, should have white tablecloths and waiters in white aprons. Perhaps I am expecting too much, because this is the way wine bars are in the big city. Papa J's is essentially a diner with good food lamely disguised as a restaurant.

Atmosphere: B-

Food: B (would have been higher save for the uncooked chicken, lack of vegetables and bad bread)

Service: A

Enjoy!

Seth

Food musings from Florida part 2

I was just over on the beach watching the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico and thinking about some of the other food experiments I tried this winter that
I have not shared but should. I'll write them down here and then probably put the recipes on site when I get home. If there is something in these musings that you absolutely must try, shoot me a comment or an email, mostly so that I know that David, aka "my biggest fan" is really not the only person who reads these. There was a wonderful woman who emailed me a while back, but I bet I lost her in my winter inertia.

Anyway, one of the hits of recent dinners in Maine Foodie's kitchen was a very simple yet tasty Chicken curry with mashed acorn squash and a delicious wild rice mix I found at the Coop in Belfast.

One dish that needs more experimenting, but got raves (I love the attention, I think thats why I cook) was a spicy potato encrusted chicken breast that I made up. It was really tasty, but definitely needed help in the crispy potato department. This evolved out of making pecan and cornmeal encrusted pork chops...maybe thats what I'll make the old folks tomorrow night (can you say geriatric dinner party? I knew you could) We are having my grandparent's friends for dinner....my grandparents died in the early '80s if this gives you a hint as to age here!

Ok, time to wrap up the ramblings and clean the kitchen (the other reason I cook...I usually don't have to clean, but since Mom made spagetti, I get to scour...oh my cuticles!

Enjoy!

Seth

Food Musings

Maine Foodie has been so busy with his day job that he hasn't had time to write about anything in such a long time. Now that I am down in Florida for a bit of a rest, it might be good to update things a bit. Because I've been so busy commuting from Maine to New York and points beyond, Greg and I haven't had much of a chance to dine out. We've been making comfort food a lot...in fact, if I ever open a restaurant around these parts, thats what I want to call it..."Comfort Food." Serving things we had as children, but with a flair. I've been perfecting my meatloaf and found that putting whole grain oatmeal in as a binder is really a nice touch. Also making a kick-ass whole wheat-cormeal pizza dough with fresh rosemary and seasalt as well as a fabulously easy lentil soup with sausage.mmmm mmmm mmmm. I promise to post these soon, right now I have to imbibe on my mom's spagetti and meatballs....damn its good to be home sometimes.

Enjoy,
Seth

Update on Three Tides, Belfast

We had one one of the best meals we've had at Three Tides last night. It was our anniversary and we decided to spend the evening with friends, so we went to Three Tides and sat at the bar. We were able to snatch bits of conversation with David and Sara, the owners, who are great friends of ours. They reserved us two seats at the far end of the bar and poured champagne for us when we got there.

The chef, Tom, prepared the most beautiful delectable scallops surrounding a small bed of greens for Greg. I had the quesadilla with chicken, extra crispy just for me and we shared a tomato basil and mozzarella salad.

The new desserts by "Let Them Eat Cake" of Belfast were out of this world, a definite improvement over the desserts from now defunct Periwinkles (And thats a tall order, because those desserts were really good) We sampled the carrot cake with a caramel prailene center and the decadent coffee chocolate fudge cake. mmmmmmm David, if you're reading this, we had an excellent time last night..thank you! Of course the atmosphere at 3Tides is the best around. Three cheers for David, Sara, and little Luna!

Food A+

Atmosphere A

Verve A++

Enjoy,

Seth

Hideaway Diner, Northport

This is an update of a place that used to be one of our favorite, easy places to go for dinner. Its been taken over in the last year or so and has really gone downhill rapidly. Last night's food was terrible! There was only one table occupied save for the table the owner was using and it was a "special menu" night (Mexican Fiesta) as well as their normal menu.

Every once in a while, when we are tired and working late, we want to just go someplace cheap and cheerful for dinner....well, that just doesn't exist here on the midcoast..so we go to the hideaway, which is at least cheap. The decor is old, tacky and a bit dirty. They have removed traditional diner food like burgers and chicken strips and hot dogs from the menu in favor of things they think will impress the locals...like smothered beef tips and chicken parmesan. Yuck is what I have to say to this.

Greg, of course, always has the fried haddock which he said was fair to mediocre. Me, I found it hard to order something safe from the menu to order. Tried to order the roast turkey, but they were out of it...tried to order the pork, but they were out of that too....had to have the chicken parm, because it was the next safest looking thing....it arrived just as I knew it would....fried chicken strips sitting in overdone greasy pasta covered in bottled sauce with parmesan cheese on top and then microwaved......my stomach is still greasy!

Food D+

Atmosphere D-

Enjoy while I go out and get a bromo seltzer,

Seth

Tournadoes of Beef with a Red Wine Sauce

Last night we used up the leftover beef fillet that we had from my birthday last week and invited some friends into share. I searched for a recipe for redwine sauce and found one where I didn't have half the ingredients. I figured that I would substitute stuff to see what happened and it came out with rave reviews from everyone.

2 tblspoons canola oil

1 leek chopped

4 cloves garlic

1 tblspoon sugar

2 tblspoons redwine vinegar

3/4 bottle red wine

1 can chicken broth

1 can beef broth (I didn't have any and used a mixture of kitchen bouquet and worcestershire)

teaspoon ground thyme

1 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 tblspoon butter

1 tblspoon flour

sautee leek and garlic in oil until tender and add sugar and vinegar..cook down for about 5 minutes. Add red wine and boil down to about 3/4s of what you put in (10 minutes or so) then add chicken and beef broth and let boil for 1/2 hour or so. Add thyme, peppercorns, and white pepper and simmer for another 20 minutes to blend, stirring occasionally.

Run mixture through a sieve and place back on heat. Meantime melt butter and add flour, mix and add to redwine sauce and stir. adjust with salt and pepper accordingly.

I then wrapped the tournadoes in bacon and tied off with kitchen string. Sauteed in butter for four-five minutes per side, slipped out of pan, untied the string and took off the bacon, added fresh pepper and salt on tops and served with sauce, spinach, and garlic mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Seth

Chocolate Orange Fruitcake

The fruitcake hater's fruitcake

Cake
2 1/2 cups large pecan pieces, toasted
1 cup (packed) chopped dried black Mission figs
1 cup (packed) chopped pitted prunes1 cup (packed) chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
2 tablespoons grated orange peel

3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup (packed) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1-pound box dark brown sugar
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup purchased prune butter

Glaze
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, thawed
Chopped candied fruit peel (optional)

For cake:Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 325°F. Generously butter and flour 12-cup angel food cake pan. Combine toasted pecans, chopped dried figs, prunes, dates, orange juice concentrate, Grand Marnier and grated orange peel in large bowl. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Sift flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Combine brown sugar and 6 ounces chocolate in processor and chop into small pieces.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl to blend. Add chocolate mixture and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in prune butter. Stir in 1/4 of dry ingredients. Mix in fruit mixture and remaining dry ingredients in 3 additions each.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted near center with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour 55 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Turn pan over onto rack; let stand 5 minutes. Lift off pan; cool cake completely. Wrap cake in plastic and store at room temperature 2 days.
For Glaze:Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted and smooth. Whisk in orange juice concentrate.
Place cake on rack. Spread some of chocolate glaze thickly over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Spread remaining chocolate glaze over cake, covering completely. Sprinkle with chopped candied fruit peel, if desired. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes to set glaze. (Fruitcake can be prepared 3 weeks ahead. Wrap cake in plastic and refrigerate.)

Decadent Christmas Gingerbread

Greg and I usually make something to give to friends and family for the holidays. I try to do something different every year, but there was so much pressure on us to make our decadent holiday gingerbread that I caved and made a whole bunch this year. This is a really moist, dense, and strongly rich treat. It is important to do several things with this recipe. One is to whisk all the ingredients together to maintain the air inside the batter, another is to make sure to generously butter and flour the bundt pan, the last is to make sure and use a bundt or a springform pan with the hole in the middle or else the cake will not cook. LOAF PANS DO NOT WORK HERE! One can find oatmeal stout at speciality stores like Trader Joe's. Otherwise, the Guinness Stout works just fine..though I've always wondered what honey brown ale would do. This is the gingerbread recipe from the Gramercy Tavern in New York City

1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

10" bundt pan

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. (very important)
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream.

Enjoy,
Seth