“This dish works as a nice passed appetizer if using small oysters or as a first course with larger, plumper oysters. Two of our favorite food groups—tarragon and bacon—are included here! At Summer Winter, we’re lucky to have year-round access to this great herb thanks to the restaurant’s on-site green house, but fresh tarragon can be found at most local farmers’ markets and groceries. ” –Mark and Clark
Broiled Oysters with Bacon and Herbs
Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, Chefs of Arrows in Ogunquit, Maine; MC Perkins Cove and Summer Winter in Burlington, MA, and authors of Maine Classics
24 oysters on the half shell
6 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ Tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
½ Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the broiler. Arrange the opened oysters and their shells on a cookie sheet. Combine the bacon, breadcrumbs, butter, cheese, tarragon, and thyme in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the breadcrumbs mixture evenly over the oysters. Broil until golden brown and serve at once.
“Oysters on the half shell are a festive way to start a special dinner or party. Some New Englanders still buy them by the bushel! We like to serve them right in the kitchen on large iced platters. It’s very important to keep oysters cold; room-temperature oysters are not at all pleasant. Red wine with oysters you say? Absolutely! Just a little bit of this simple, vibrant sauce really brings out their briny flavors.” – Mark and Clark
Chilled Oysters on the Half Shell with Herb and Red Wine Sauce
Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, Chefs of Arrows in Ogunquit, Maine; MC Perkins Cove and Summer Winter in Burlington, MA and authors of Maine Classics
½ cup medium-bodied red wine, such as Beaujolais
½ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 Tablespoon finely chopped tarragon
¼ cup sugar
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix lightly. The sauce can be made ahead of time and kept for a few days in the refrigerator if sealed tightly. The recipe is enough for twenty-four oysters, lightly drizzled on top after opening.
Yields 1 cup.
Mark & Clark love to utilize the bounty of their surrounding wilderness, and are known to scour the forest floor for wild mushrooms, fiddleheads, thickets of wild blueberries, acorns, and honey. This recipe reflects their love for the forest by incorporating freshly foraged wild mushrooms into a holiday meal. Though many Mainers have access to wild mushrooms in their very own backyards, plenty of Mark & Clark’s favorite varieties are available in the supermarket or at the farmers’ market.
photo by Ron Manville Continue reading “Yukon Gold Potato and Wild Mushroom Gratin” »
For the holiday season, James Beard Award-winning Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier have created a savory and sweet Pear Gravy. A twist on a traditional Thanksgiving favorite, the recipe features pear juice, a touch of dark rum, and fresh marjoram. Mark & Clark like to pair this recipe from their recently released Maine Classics cookbook with their Herb-Brined Turkey.
Mark & Clark, 20+ year restaurateur veterans, have pioneered sustainable dining with their three restaurants: the acclaimed Arrows in Ogunquit, Maine; MC Perkins Cove and Summer Winter in Burlington, MA. The duo recently released their Maine Classics cookbook, complete with more than 150 recipes of Down East eats reflecting their commitment to farm-to-table cuisine.
Pear Gravy
Courtesy of Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier
markandclarkrestaurants.com
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 cup pear juice
2 Tablespoons dark rum
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
Melt butter into a large saucepan over medium heat and mix in the flour. Stir and cook until light brown, about 2 minutes.
Gradually add the chicken broth and pear juice. Simmer until thickened, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the rum, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Yields 8 servings.
One of our favorite greens to grow is arugula, which is so versatile—delicious warm or chilled. Its sharp, peppery flavor complements the sweet, briny taste of Maine clams, which are similar to the tiny Adriatic clams favored in Italy.
image: sunjournal.com Continue reading “Maine Sweet Clams with Risotto and Arugula” »
For this salad, try to find white balsamic vinegar, available in many supermarkets and specialty markets. Because it is not aged, it is much lighter (and less viscous) than brown balsamic vinegar, although it is still more intense than conventional white wine vinegar. You can substitute a good-quality brown balsamic vinegar.
image: thecottagehome.blogspot.com Continue reading “Arrows Summer Salad” »
Rhubarb is one of the first crops of spring, when it usually appears in dessert pies, often with strawberries. This recipe features it in a savory dish. You can substitute 3 small ducks or chickens for the quail, in which case you should split the birds and allow a half for each person. Cooking time should then increase to about 15 minutes per side. This dish goes well with chive mashed potatoes.
image:cookingpanda.com Continue reading “Grilled Quail with Rhubarb Compote” »
People are always amazed that we can grow lemongrass, an essential ingredient of Southeast Asian cooking, in Maine. Actually it grows quite well here; it needs very little care and doesn’t seem to interest Maine’s many bugs.
Lemongrass is typically used in savory dishes, but we also make lemongrass tea, sorbet, and ice cream. This chicken is easy to prepare and perfect with steamed jasmine rice and sweet-and-sour fennel salad.
Continue reading “Lemongrass and Lemon Roasted Chicken” »
The strong, piney taste of rosemary goes well with lamb. It’s also one of those herbs, like oregano and marjoram, that you can dig up in the fall and move indoors for the winter. Then you’ll have it fresh in the spring, when lamb is at its best.
To grown rosemary indoors, pick a plant that’s not too big, say a foot or so high. Water it well, then dig out enough of the roots and soil to fill a 10- or 12-inch round pot; they like to be a little root bound, so better to have a pot that’s slightly small rather than too large. Water it again after positioning it snugly in the pot (you may beed to add a little potting soil) and transfer it to a sunny spot in the house. Don’t let it get too dry and be sure to bring it outdoors again in spring, because rosemary can’t really survive indoors year-round. (You can replant it in the ground or keep it going in a large pot.)
image: userealbutter.com
Continue reading “Spring Lamb Loin with Rosemary” »
Cod is a sweet, delicate fish that in New England is often overpowered by butter, bread crumbs, and stuffing. We like to pair this northeastern classic with Far Eastern spices. This is great served with baby bok choy with chives.
star anise image: lowfatchick.wordpress.com
Continue reading “Sautéed Maine Cod with Burnt Tangerine and Star Anise Sauce” »
Plank-roasting is an ancient method of cooking among the Indians of the Pacific Northwest. For important feasts known as potlatches, whole salmon fillets were suspended on cedar planks and placed around a fire to cook.
Plank-roasting in your home oven is simple and infuses the salmon with a complex woody flavor, similar to the way oak barrels add flavor to wine. At your local lumberyard or home center, select a piece of 1 x 8-inch or 1 x 6-inch cedar just long enough to fit inside you oven. (The salmon fillets will be laid out in a row on this board.) About 20 inches long should work, but measure your oven to be sure. Pine or fir can be substituted, with a little less aromatic flavor; it’s better to spend a few dollars more for the real thing. Make sure the wood has not been primed or treated with any chemicals.
At Arrows, we often use fresh herbs or dry seasonings to add another level of flavor the the plank-roasted fish. Rosemary, with its robust character, is a perfect match for salmon.
Continue reading “Plank-Roasted Salmon with Rosemary-Mustard Vinaigrette” »
Cole slaw is not just for summer picnics. If you save your fall harvest of cabbages in a cool, dry place, you can enjoy slaw throughout the winter.
image:sauceandsensibility.com
Continue reading “Cole Slaw with Creamy Mustard-Ginger Vinaigrette” »
By turning a duck during roasting, the breast cooks in its own rendered fat (and a little water), yielding a flavorful bird. Both the process and the taste bear some resemblance to confit—without days of marinating, hours of slow cooking, and extra fat required for genuine confit. This technique comes from Clark’s mother, who learned it from a Hungarian friend. (That explains the paprika!) We have simply added fresh herbs.
image: telegraph.co.uk Continue reading “Roast Duck with Paprika, Garlic, and Herbs” »
This easy-to-prepare and robust soup is perfect for early fall, when the eggplants need to be picked. Puréeing the lentils and roasted eggplant gives this soup a more refined texture than traditional lentil soup.
image: recipes.terra-organics.com Continue reading “Roasted Eggplant and Lentil Soup with Sage Butter” »
Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, Chefs-Owners of Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit, have certainly put Maine on the culinary map. Recently awarded Best Chefs Northeast by the James Beard Foundation, here they share a recipe for Chilled Maine Lobster Salad.
Mark and Clark have this to say about this uniquely refreshing spin they put on a lobster recipe:
“Tarragon has a sweet, almost anise like flavor that we love in chilled dishes like potato salad, lobster rolls, artichoke salad, or even on a simple plate of sliced tomatoes. Here we combine some of these favorite tastes in one dish. In the garden, tarragon grows slowly and is best started from a small plant—it is propagated from cuttings, not seeds.”
image of James Beard Winners Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier of Arrows in Ogunquit courtesy of wine-flair.com
Continue reading “Chilled Maine Lobster Salad” »
A garden delivers so many little pleasures, and peas hidden behind the leaves is certainly one of them. Who can resist sugar snap peas right off the trellis? The challenge is to refrain from picking them too soon, before they’ve developed sweetness; when ready, the pods will be swelled with large peas. The Asian greens in this salad add a spicy note, and they’re so easy to grow.
Rock shrimp, which come from the Gulf of Mexico, are small and delicate (similar to Maine shrimp), and they stay quite firm after cooking. Any small shrimp will work in this recipe.
image of sugar snap pea courtesy of flickr.com
Continue reading “Sugar Snap Pea and Rock Shrimp Salad” »
This variation on classic pesto is a rich accompaniment to lamb and veal.
Roasted Pepper Pesto
Arrows Restaurant, Ogunquit
4 red bell peppers
2/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
2 Tablespoons finely grated Reggiano Parmesan
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, peeled
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 450°. In a bowl toss the peppers with the 1 Tablespoon oil. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the peppers over and cook for another 10 minutes until completely soft.
Remove the peppers from the oven. Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; set aside for 10 minutes. Remove the peppers from the bowl, and when they are cool enough to handle, remove the stems, seeds, and as much of the the skin as possible.
Combine the roasted peppers in the jar of a blender with 2/3 cup oil, the pine nuts, Parmesan, lemon juice, and garlic and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until needed, for up to 2 days.
Makes about 2 cups.
When Clark lived in Beijing as a student, one of his favorite things to do was to get a group of friends together and ride bikes to the legendary Roast Meat Restaurant, situated in an ancient part of Beijing overlooking a small pond where old men fished. The first floor of the restaurant was crowded and noisy with drop-in business. The upstairs dining room overlooked the pond and had a huge inverted wok upon which tender morsels of meat would sizzle. In the center of the spacious room sat an old pot-bellied stove, and over the fire was a double boiler with a ceramic bottle of Xiao Xing wine, China’s dark and heady version of our more familiar sake.
The marinade in this recipe evokes the style of the food at Roast Meat Restaurant. The skewers used for this brochette are basil stems left to dry over the winter. When the meat is grilled, they give off great flavor.
Although there are many ingredients in the marinade, it’s easy to make. Be sure to start a day ahead or the marinade won’t be nearly as good. For a dipping sauce, put out rice vinegar, soy sauce, and chili paste; tell your guests to mix them together as the Chinese do.
Continue reading “Grilled Lamb Brochettes on Basil Skewers” »
One of Mark’s favorite dishes growing up was his mother’s pork roast, which she served with his uncle’s homemade sauerkraut or with braised red cabbage. When we cooked at Stars for Jeremiah Tower, we made several different red cabbage salads. Gradually we changed this recipe to be more like Mark’s mom’s, but the cooking technique that we learned from Jeremiah is still the best. Great served with Roast Pork Loin with Rosemary and Garlic.
(image courtesy of kalynskitchen.blogspot.com) Continue reading “Warm Red Cabbage Slaw with Creamy Herbed Goat Cheese” »
This is a great way to infuse fish quickly with the smoky flavor of hickory. The technique grew out of our desire to serve a sautéed fish with a subtle, smoky flavor–not the heaviness of genuine slow smoking. You can do it right in your oven with no special equipment. It’s an ambitious recipe, but each of the components is quite simple, and several can be done ahead of time.
Black sea bass has more flavor and firmness than many white fish, lending it to accompaniments typical of red meat, such as mushrooms and thyme. This recipe calls for fillets, but black bass is also excellent served whole because it has a simple bone structure. This dish is nice with chive mashed potatoes.
Hickory-Roasted Black Sea Bass with Mushroom Broth and Thyme Crème Fraîche
Arrows Restaurant, Ogunquit
Continue reading “Hickory-Roasted Black Sea Bass with Mushroom Broth and Thyme Crème Fraîche” »
