I noticed with curiosity that the Cedar Crest Motel Restaurant on Rte 1 in Camden has changed its name to the Elm Street Grille. Greg and I went in the other afternoon around 3:30 and had a sausage and chicken alfredo pizza with spinach and it was really good! I like the ski chalet atmosphere of this place and also like the fact that its a bit off the path while still being on Route 1. There are no windows facing the road, so you are pretty cut off when you go into the place. I think there are some kinks that need ironing out, like the salad bar being right at the front door and having no hostess station, but other than that, we like this place and would go back for the regular menu anytime.

We tried valiently to go to dinner in Camden on Tuesday night and try someplace that we've not been before. Apparently though, almost everything is closed on Tuesday nights in that town! We ended up going to the Waterfront and having an ok time. The service sucked to the point that "J," one of the diners at our table, went to the front of the house and complained that we'd sat for 20 minutes without a drink!
Greg and I both had pear and goat cheese salads, I had the potato and cheese soup, which was ok, but had large lumps of grilled cheese floating around in it, making the texture something I didn't want. Greg had lobster crepes. We were both sick as dogs the next morning with stomach problems. Luckily for me, I didn't get it so bad as I had to do my Salem Mass and back trip that day. Greg was hurting though and thought about the emergency room for a while before spilling his guts and relieving the bloat....Not recommending the Waterfront in Camden anytime soon.

We had a party the other day, a New Year's Brunch where the guests were witty and wonderful and hungry. They ate us out of house and home. Everything was gone, which was perfect. I decided instead of making a lot of one thing and have it left over, I made a bit of a lot of things and everyone was sated. I think the two biggest hits were the camelized bacon wrapped sea scallops.

For the scallops:
I took thick slab bacon and dredged it in brown sugar sprinkled with red and black pepper and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees on the broiler pan. At the same time, I roasted several heads of garlic in butter and rosemary salt in the same oven. The smells in the kitchen were incredible!
Beware not to get the bacon too crispy! turn the strips once in the oven and then remove when flat and done. Let cool and then wrap around small sea scallops... I can usually get two scallops wrapped per piece of bacon and then I put them on skewers (about 8 per wooden skewer) and here is where you can make them ahead by one day and place in ziplock bags in your fridge. When ready, grill on gas grill for about 5 minutes, turning frequently and serve. I made 60 and they were gone in minutes.

Click the link for a picture and recipe of the leek tart. This time, to save time, I opted for puff pastry crust, which I bought frozen from the grocery. It got so many raves and was also gone in 60 seconds.

Leek tart

Other items for the brunch included a roast loin of pork grilled with sage infused olive oil, served with a sage aioli and roasted heads of garlic with good locally made breads; a spinach and apple salad with feta; a fruit salad; cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce and Ducktrap Maine smoked salmon with lemon and cilantro on buttered crackers.

I had on hand some small lemon poppy seed muffins and mini cinis (miniature cinnamon rolls from Hannaford) that went fast cause they are so good!! I also made a Louisiana Crunch cake on the morning of the brunch, which was a lot to do seeing as we partied until 2 and then came home.

I have to post these pictures of making the stuffed bosc pears yesterday. I took out my frustrations of the past couple of days on making a dessert that was complicated and involved. I had a great time making it, but it took over 2.5 hours to make enough for 14 people. The peeling, and coring took probably an hour.

The poaching liquid was cool to make, red wine, vanilla beans, cinammon stick, and anise (which I didn't use much of because I am not a licqorice fan.

The stuffing was also fun, it is diced dried apricots and pecans, cooked on the stove with butter and brown sugar to make a candied apricot mixture.

Once I stuffed the pears, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I must make sure to refridgerate the stuffed pears for a bit longer so that the stuffing stays inside the pear when I dunk the whole in chocolate.

So, dunking in really good bittersweet chocolate is a must.

What I don't have a photo of is the final plating. The recipe called for me to make a spicy sabayon sauce made with egg yolks, chile powder, sugar, and a cup of dry white wine. That went into a bowl first, topped with the pears, and then I sprinkled fresh raspberries around the base and added a sprig of fresh mint to the mix.
A friend's brother and sister-in-law were visiting from Ireland and she told me it was the best dessert that she had ever had. She wanted me to come back to Ireland with them as a cook...not a bad gig, I'm sure...but I don't know how to cook in a sheep's udder!
Personally, I think it was a bit much to eat after so much Mexican food (Thanks Peter!!) I was so full, that I had to leave the party almost immediately after dinner.
Now I have to get busy making things for tomorrow.
Seth

We had a three hour layover at the Jet Blue terminal at JFK airport on Christmas day. We were tired and hungry and didn't want to eat in the food court nor the Sports Grille. We decided to take the plunge and pay a bit more for dinner at Deep Blue Sushi. The restaurant is an oasis in a sea of chaos. It sits right in the middle of the terminal building, just inside the security gates. The designers did a great job with rice paper screens and fake bamboo plants and big upholstered seats and banquets which all serve to block out the sea of humanity that lurks just outside.
We had the place to ourselves for about 20 minutes and so had good service. Greg and I ordered drinks and then ordered steamed pork dumplings, chicken lo mein and tangerine peel chicken with red peppers. The food was good, but not as good as Seng Thai, but what can you expect from a food service, airport restaurant. The best part of the place was the comfy, oasis-like atmosphere.

Enjoy!
Seth

Making a gluten free chocolate cake with white and dark chocolate (mixed together because I didn't have enough of either) caramel frosting. I was at Ocean State Job Lots in Belfast and noticed the Bob's Red Mill gluten free chocolate cake mix. We are having dinner with friends whose daughter is allergic to wheat, so I thought this would be a nice present.

I went up to hear a lecture at Colby College in Waterville on Wednesday afternoon and had the distinct pleasure of being invited out to dinner with the speaker, several professors in the art and American Studies department, and the Director of the museum. We went to Apollo Spa and Bistro on Spring Street for dinner. I hold no great hopes for Waterville as a destination place for food, but the Apollo is a refreshing suprise. The bistro is on the second floor of an old Italianate Revival Victorian house with the spa and salon occupying the first floor. Once one gets upstairs, the soft glow of the lighting and the deep, rich colors of the walls immediately put one at ease and really makes one relax. There is a lot of atmosphere here, which is a good change from restaurants on the coast which are lacking in both good food and good atmosphere. One of the first things that I noticed was the abundance of fresh flowers in interesting vases. Each table held a vase of white freezia and at the end of the dining room was an array of white roses, lillies, freezia and other fresh flowers that made the room smell so gorgeous. Each table had starched white tableclothes and antique chairs...different sets of chairs at each table, making for an interesting visual. When menus were placed before us, I noticed with glee that they patronized local Maine farmers, meat producers and fisheries. That meant that everything was fresh and not more of this food service idyll that coastal restaurants like.
The restaurant knew we were coming and so delivered to the table a bottle of wine that the director of the museum favored. I must comment on the wine glasses here...big beautiful bowled glasses that fit perfectly in the palm of my huge hand, they were gorgeous! And the wine was just so smooth and rich...I was in heaven.
I decided for the vegetarian meal for the evening, so I went with the most delectible potato/ leek soup that arrived dotted with green pesto surrounding an island of crutons....I loved the presentation so much that I will probably steal it the next time I make potato/ leek soup (perhaps today). The soup was a perfect balance of potatoes and leeks and was really, really tasty. Other options were a beet salad that was beautifully colorful on the plate...if you like that sort of thing, and oysters on the half shell that were nicely presented.
For dinner, I had a roasted acorn squash filled with a buttery and smokey mixture of grains and vegetables topped with sauteed swiss chard...it was a treat to behold and a nice change of pace for me. We had an excellent time laughing and telling art jokes and stories. We had discussions ranging from tango melodies to the history of formica to the dangers and joys of skating on ponds in Maine in the winter.
I would highly recommend this lovely and suprising bistro. I would love it if there was something like this on the coast that could sustain itself somewhere around Belfast.

Enjoy,
Seth

We had some good friends over last night for dinner. We've been talking about it for a few months and I finally found the time to have them over. They brought their adorable kids along. The oldest who is 15 months, knew my name by the end of the night and kept saying "Seth!" It was way cool.

my menu last night was a 1/3 of a 15 lb pork loin that I roasted in garlic, olive oil and rosemary. Hannaford had a special on these huge loins of pork and I brought it home, divided into thirds and froze each section. Its great for easy parties of four or six. The best tip I've learned in making the perfect pork loin is to cook it until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees and then remove it from the oven, cover in tin foil and then let it rest while you get the remainder of the dinner finished. I was able to roast asparagus in the oven for 15 minutes while the pork finished cooking itself. 20 minutes later, I sliced into the pork and found it perfectly cooked and still juicy.

I also roasted purple and white potatoes together in the same roasting pan as the pork, so they got the advantage of roasting in fresh rosemary and a couple of cloves of garlic. The combination of purple and white potatoes gives the best look on a plate. With a side of roasted asparagus with crumbled feta and a spinach salad, the meal was complete. Much to my chagrin, I forgot to serve the salad AND othe feta on top of the asparagus.

Needless to say, Greg and I had the spinach salad with goat cheese and toy tomatos for lunch today.

I was also in the mood for a crusty boule yesterday and ended up not making that, but instead, making a multi-grain loaf of wheat with rolled oats and pumpernickel meal with yogurt. I sprinkled the top with black sea salt for that, you know, exotic look. I need to work on my bread skills...a bread making class is something that I would LOVE to take.

I made pear pie for dessert. It was a recipe I found in the 2005 Best of Gourmet (found at Ocean State Job Lots in Belfast for $5.00) The recipe was for a lattice work pie, but I had too many pears alread cut up, so I made two and put an oatmeal brown sugar crumble top on that was a bit dry. Luckily I made a cinnamon and apple cider infused whipped cream to go along with it to hide the dry top. Otherwise it was good (Greg ate most of the leftovers for breakfast). The pie is really easy. a bunch of pears peeled and cored, tossed with fresh ginger, nutmeg, 3 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar (I used brown sugar) a pinch of salt and then arranged in a deep dish crust (bought) lattice over the top brushed with milk or a crumb topping. They smelled delicious.

Greg took me to dinner at the Waterfront in Camden last night. We had a nice cozy table by the fire and I thought about what a treat it was to eat in a different place. Belfast sure does frustrate the foodie in one when there are only two places to go to get good food that isn't fried. I've been jonesin' for the Waterfront's roasted pear and cranberry salad. It kicks pear salad ass! I noticed on the menu that the prices had indeed dropped by a dollar or two on most items. In the summertime, the pear salad is $12 or $13 bucks and in the Winter, the price drops to $11. Its often what I say I would like to do if we opened a restaurant as a thank you to year rounders.
Anyway, Greg and I each had the pear salad and Greg had Oysters on the half shell which he said were fabulous. In my quest for the best Quesadilla around these parts, I ordered the chicken Quesadilla. It was so awful that I couldn't finish it. I think it was made with phylo dough as the "tortilla" was soft, flaky, and smooshy...now as some of my readers know, there is nothing I hate more in a quesadilla than a smooshy exterior. The whole thing was underdone, greasy, and the onion on the inside was so hard and almost raw that I burped it up most of the night.
Of course we will go back there, its one of my favorite places in the summer, but I do think the food quality in the winter goes down a notch or two.

Greg and I spent yesterday afternoon driving around doing things down in the Camden Rockland area. We decided to have a late lunch / early dinner around 4pm and pulled into Cody's Original Roadhouse on Ingraham Hill in Rockport. I had heard about this place when I was at Campbell's getting my hair cut several months ago and had pretty much decided to stay away. It sounded like a rib joint with picnic table style eating, not something that I would enjoy. I am not a bar-b-que sauce on my fingers and on my face kinda guy.

I was pleasantly suprised by the atmosphere at Cody's. We loved the gas pump handle as front door handle. It really got us in the mood for the interior of the place, which is thick with atmosphere. The front room is made from "old" white painted barnboards and the whole space is like walking into a huge old barn clubhouse decorated with old beer cans and bottles, hubcaps, license plates, with some vintage bikes, and other stuff thrown in.

We were shown to a small 2 person booth, which was a bit small. All the booths were decorated with "on the road" fabric, evocative of Route 66 in the 50s. Our window was actually an old loading dock door that had its paneled doors replaced with glass. There is a long straight bar with high stools and lots of beer taps. All in all a very cool space.

There were also crayons waiting at the table for us to draw with. We played hangman and tic tac toe while waiting and waiting and waiting for our burgers. Seriously, there were only about 4 tables full when we got there and our burgers took over a half an hour to get to our table. Our server Mel (who wrote her name with crayons on the butcher paper covering our table) seemed put out that we ordered water and tea and then only had burgers. Our food took over a half an hour to come to the table. It was good, though the buns were huge and so each mouthful was pretty much bun with some burger. And my tea was unceremoniously put on the table with tepid water in the mug and the Salada tea bag on the side....I hate that! The fries were tasty, so the food we good, better than fast food, but not as good as it sounded on the menu where the burger was described as a juicy steakburger. Its probably just a shade better than a Sizzler

When I explored the bottle of Cody's Original Roadhouse hot sauce on the table, I noticed that it was distributed by COR Enterprises of Clearwater Florida. The restaurant is part of a chain! Not that it matters much, but it did color our experience a bit.

So, the atmosphere is cool, a great place to bring your kids cause of all the stuff to look at. I fear that during prime dining hours, the place is loud and crowded. There are peanuts on the table that one is supposed to shell on the floor, so by the end of the night, one is walking on other people's food garbage, not a pretty thought. We would go back for early dinner I am sure, it might be fun with a big group of people. Perhaps our server was having an off day.

Enjoy!
Seth

Greg and I went down to Su Casa Mexican Restaurant in Camden last week before I drove to Portland. We were energized that there was a new Mexican place around to counter one in Northport that we don't like too much. Su Casa bills itself on its blog as an authentic Mexican restaurant. I like to refer to it as authentically mediocre. We were seated upstairs when we got there and I was pretty amazed that on a Friday night at 6:30, there were only 5 tables full..after dinner I think I knew why. The food was simply alright. the decor was laughable.

The restaurant owner's idea of decor run to a bunch of those cheap Mexican sombreros with sparkles glued all over them...kind of like what some dancing with the stars dancer would wear during a salsa dance. Or what bandoliers would throw down on the floor and stomp around. The other beautiful decor addition was a clear plastic sheet tacked to the wall with a silkscreened "mexican" couple walking in an outdoor scene...WTF? Classy, let me tell you. It seems that the owners took over the restaurant from a TGI Fridays and just changed the wall decor to hats and plastic sheets! There were booths and cheap tables and thats about it for the "decor" It was pretty sad. The music was certainly not authentic and featured semi-hard rock that was pretty annoying given the rest of the decor.

We were left with a big plastic tub of perfectly salted chips and cold salsa out of a jar. If the salsa had been warm, I would have loved it. As it was, the salsa was ice cold and didn't warm my heart. Since I was driving, we drank water. I asked for a hot tea, which they advertised on the menu, and was brought a cup of warm water from the tap and a lipton tea bag on the side. It was such a sad cup of tea. I have to tell you, as a tea drinker, I think we get shafted. Restaurants are well schooled in serving lattes, esspressos, and other coffee drinks, but when it comes to tea, the servers invariably put semi-cold water in a cup and serve a tea bag on the side...what is up with that? Tea bags need to be placed in the cup and HOT water poured overtop of the tea to let the flavor out......I was WAY disappointed.

Dinner for me was a Chicken quesadilla..I wanted to compare it to my favorite chicken quesadilla at 3TIDES. Didn't compare. For the same price, I received four wedges of quesadilla that had only pulled chicken and mexican cheese, no vegetables or onions or anything...the texture was squishy and not very appetizing. Greg had a chicken, meat and cheese roll up dish that was alright, but not the best.

We left feeling unsatisfied. We thought though that we might go back and give it one more try, perhaps with friends.

Enjoy,
seth

I made this great vegetarian dish last night. Its essentially vegetable lasagna without pasta.

Butternut squash and creamed spinach gratin

1 Large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, and cut into 1/8 strips, lengthwise

3 lbs fresh spinach or 3 packs frozen spinach (I used the organic baby spinach)

olive oil

1 medium onion diced

3 cloves garlic

nutmeg to taste

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup half and half

lots of fresh grated asiago

wilt the spinach and squeeze out excess water

heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet

add garlic and onion and stir and cook over medium heat until translucent and cooked through

add spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cream and mix together

butter and layer a 3 quart casserole with alternating layers of strips of squash, then spinach mix then cheese, starting and finishing with squash. layer on cheese on top and place in a 400 degree oven, with a foil covering for 30-40 minutes. Take off cover and let cook for another 20-30 minutes until tender and bubbly. Let sit for 5-7 minutes before serving.

This comes out beautifully and was extremely tasty. Suggestions for a bit of color by adding roasted red peppers were met enthusiastically by all who ate here last night. If one had the time, one could make a beautiful latticework lasagne with the strips of butternut squash and the spinach coming through underneath....hmmmm, I might just make this for Thanksgiving.

Other things at the table were: Homemade applesauce, a huge pork roast done up with rosemary and sea salt with little new potatoes and a rosemary white sauce made from drippings, white wine, and half and half.

UPDATE: So I made this the other night and it is gooooood! I ended up diluting the pumpkin caramel with a whole can of pumpkin, not just a cup, cause I thought it was too sweet. The finished product ended up having a very subtle pumpkin cream taste, kinda like I had topped the whole with whipped cream and then mixed it in before eating it. Very delicious. It was certainly not too sweet, which is good. I ended up making two single servings and one large casserole full, which I left on the front sttop of an old Irish guy in town who happened to turn 51 the day I made the dessert.

Enjoy!

Apple-Pear Crisp with Pumpkin-Caramel Sauce
3 large bosc pears, peeled, cored and cubed to make three cups
3 large Fuji apples, same deal as above
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
sprinkled cinnamon and ginger


Preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix fruit in a large bowl with lemon juice and spices.

Melt butter and toss into mix. Spread mixture out onto rimmed baking sheet or large casserole and roast, turning with spatula every 10 minutes, for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Fruit should not be cooked through.

For Pumpkin-caramel sauce:
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 can pure pumpkin

Melt butter and sugar in a sauce pan until mixture is a deep amber color, stirring constantly, about 8 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium low and add cream slowly (mixture will bubble and sputter)
stir until caramel bits dissolve, about 2-3 minutes
Add pumpkin and stir until heated
chill to cold (about 2 hours)

Stir fruit and sauce together and place in large casserole. Top with:

1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 stick butter cut into small pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
ground ginger and cinnamon to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with your fingers until it resembles coarse meal
sprinkle over fruit mixture and then bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 350 until golden and bubbly.

I'm going to a symposium next weekend in Salem, MA and staying with friends. My friends are having a dinner party the night before the symposium and the list has grown into a cast of thousands. As of tonight the speakers for the symposium are all coming too, so its a gathering of colleagues. I volunteered to make dessert. Casting about for something different, I thought about making a trifle in the traditional 19th century manner, but then thought better of that...who has that much time. I did find a recipe for trifle that I am going to use, but to make a fruit crisp instead. The recipe calls for roasting pears and apples and then mixing together with a pumpkin-caramel sauce. I will then add a good traditional crisp topping to that and call it good, but probably will also make a bunch of lemon squares and cookies to suppliment.

Hey All: I'm a bit late with this post, but Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. has produced their first brew, Tug Pale Ale. Its available at 3Tides. Go check it out and report back. I liked it, and I don't even like beer.

Lotsa people have dropped food off in the last few weeks for us to try and we are very fat and appreciative. Kim, I LOVED the chicken stew and those lemon ricotta cookies didn't last very long. Brian at the Edge gave Greg and fantastic soup to bring home to me: cider turnip and bacon soup. It was so good, I had it for breakfast.

Haven't had much time to cook these days. We did order out from Seng Thai on our way home from the museum yesterday. It was our first time ordering out from there and the food is still just as good. We had a 4 star hot green curry, which I have been thinking about all week and a beef and broccoli with cashews. The curry rocked!

A reader emailed me a link to The Smitten Kitchen. Now I have blog envy. Her photos and tales of woe and wonder in the kitchen are great. Apparently, Martha thinks its a cute web site.
If I only had the patience to do the same, I might have a steady readership! I think I started out on the right foot, but I always forget to photograph the things I am making or to even photograph them in progress. Perhaps the key is to write my tales out in word and then post them, rather than writing them out directly to the template. Do you want my recipes? I suppose I should get back into posting those too. Sigh...my kingdom for a life assistant, or at least a secretary!

OK, so the hors d'oeurves musta been kind of good because all of them were gone by the end of the dinner party last night. I was just bummed that they all looked the same, but were different things. The pastry flour worked wonders on the crust for the leek tarts as they were melt in your mouth good. People seemed to like the shape and feel of the "potato cookies" which were essentially spoon dropped onto baking sheets and left to melt into a puddle shape. The gruyere really made the potato puffs excellent.

Ok, ok, so its been a while since I made fancy food. I spent all day cooking and came up with two hors d'oeuvres for this fancy party and they both look the same!!! Luckily, they do taste different, but both are essentially mini quiches. What was I thinking!! But, as we learned last weekend in Kansas City: "cheese rules the world" put enough smelly cheese in something and it will taste delicious.

So, I now have six dozen potato quiches and 3 dozen Tarte St Germaines (a fancy term for quiche with leeks!). After all that trouble, I learned that I need to start experimenting again.

s

I had a bit of a kitchen tragedy this afternoon. I may have lost one of my AllClad pots :-( I was cooking potatos and decided to go have a bit of a toes up on the couch....I woke thinking...hmmm, whats in the oven??? Oh shit!! I ran into the kitchen to see that I had left the burner on HI and all the water had boiled off and the potatos were burning in the bottom of the pot. I thought all was lost for my planned potatos and gruyere in puff pastry! OH no, its time for another WWJD moment. Personally, I think Julia woulda been proud of me. I let the potatos cool and then I cut the burned bottoms off, carefully testing to see if the interior of the potato tasted faintly like carbon...No? it was a go! Then I made a big batch of garlic mashed potatos, ensuring that I used a hell of a lot of butter and cream. However, its going to take some muscle scrubbing to get the burned area on the bottom of the pot cleaned. Thank the gods for AllClad though, any other pot and it woulda melted on the stove.

So, I went to defrost my puff pastry and found that I'd grabbed puff pastry shells!!! DAMMMMNNNN. My hors d'oeuvres were not to be tonight, its karma......yet another episode of WWJD so soon?? Well thats what I'm trying to figure out right now. Do you think if I combined my recipe for cheese puffs with my mashed potatoes that I could possibly make something good that is passible? More from the "What Would Julia Do" test kitchen tomorrow.

I did make the best miniature Tarte St. Germains. I was able to find Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour at Odd Balls in Belfast. It really does make a nice flakey crust.

oops! My last post was meant for the other blog