Although this weekend’s weather was less than perfect, out here on Isle au Haut the spirits of the island gourmet girls were not dampened. Opening weekend here at the Inn at Isle au Haut was all about the food with  cooking demos in the Inn’s kitchen, a grill session with the undisputable queen of swordfish Linda Greenlaw and a sweet ending with Kate Shaffer of Black Dinah Chocolatiers.

Guests arrived on a lovely Friday afternoon, got settled, then relaxed on the porch with a plate of smoked salmon dip, a glass of blueberry lemonade and  a perfect Maine evening. Dinner followed with fish chowder, homemade bread, steamed lobster and lemon blueberry shortcake.

Saturday morning showed us a gray face then pouring down rain and thunderstorms, the perfect day for hanging out in a warm cozy kitchen. We made spinach soup, a fresh strawberry galette and the highlight of the morning, rainbow bread. Folks had a blast braiding and swirling three different colored bread doughs into loaves that came out of the oven beautifully puffed and shiny, dotted with white and black sesame seeds.
Later in the day we whipped up a batch of Maine shrimp puffs to be dunked in garlic aioli,  greens with fresh asparagus and crispy proscuitto, seared scallops with lemon herb couscous and sautéed  fiddleheads.

Sunday lived up to it’s name with the sun making a comeback,
allowing guests the opportunity for a day of hiking in the park. Around
4:30 pm we packed up the “Griswold” (a wood paneled station wagon
that’s a dead ringer for the one driven by Chevy Chase in the Vacation
movies) with supplies and headed over to Linda Greenlaw’s home on the
west side of the island. Together we prepared dishes from Linda and
Martha’s cookbook “Recipes From a Very Small Island”. Linda made
everyone feel like old friends, treating us to her easy personality and
story telling as we fixed up a batch of Rhubarb Sour Cream Squares with
fresh island rhubarb and a lovely salad of spinach, fresh strawberries,
dried cranberries and goat cheese. We sipped wine as Linda seared a
couple of gorgeous tuna steaks, that she thinly sliced and served on a
board with ponzu sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger and chopsticks. Amazing!

We gathered on the deck to catch the sunset and grill up swordfish
steaks that were served with a Mediterranean inspired cream sauce and
lemon rice. We lingered at our hostesses table for some time enjoying
delicious food and lively conversation. After dinner as we said our
goodbyes each person was presented with an autographed copy of Linda
and Martha’s cookbook and an Isle au Haut apron. A good time was
definitely had by all.

Monday morning, after breakfast we set out for Black Dinah
Chocolatiers and a hands on tutorial with Kate Shaffer (aka chocolate
Kate).  We learned about the intricacies of tempering chocolate, making
ganache, and hand forming and dipping truffles, a sensuous art with
rich aromas and the softness of warm melted chocolate through your
fingers. We decorated our freshly made chocolates with roasted nuts,
turbinado sugar and chocolate jimmies and let them set up before
packing them into boxes that we tied with pretty ribbons. Everyone left
with recipes for truffles and tarts and chocolates to savor and share.

Guests had time for a mini hike before heading to the town landing
to catch the mailboat  back to Stonington. There were hugs and requests
for a repeat performance at some later date. The Island Gourmet Girls
agreed. We’ll keep ya posted.

In the meantime bake up a batch of Rainbow Bread on your own.

Rainbow Bread

For each loaf:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 T dry yeast

1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

2 T butter

1 egg

For the green dough:

1 pkg frozen spinach thawed and squeezed of excess water

1/4 cup milk

For the pink dough:

2 T milk
1 cup tomato sauce or pureed beets

For the white dough:

2 T milk
2/3 cup hot water

Only instructions for the white loaf follow since the 3 loaves are
so similar. For the colored dough just add the above ingredients
Measure 2 1/2 cups flour into the bowl of a food processor. Add the
yeast, salt sugar and butter and pulse to blend. With the machine on
add the liquid to form a heavy batter. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time and
process until dough cleans sides of bowl. Dump out and knead a few
times. Put into a greased bowl and let rise till double. Proceed with
the other 2 loaves. After doughs have risen turn out and knead a few
times. Divide each dough into 3 equal pieces and roll into a rope.
Braid together and place on a baking sheet to rise again for about 30
minutes. Brush with a beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds
and bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes.

Diana Santospago is the chef and innkeeper of The Inn at Isle au Haut.