Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine publisher Merrill Williams appears with Chef Steve Corry of Portland's 555 restaurant on "The Chef's Kitchen", broadcast this Thursday in Maine on WPXT-TV (12) CW, as well as in other market locations. Following is this week's schedule.
Tuesday, January 13th at 2pm on Las Vegas One
Wednesday, January 14th at 10:30am on ONN Cable in the Ohio market
Thursday, January 15th at 10am on WPXT-TV (12) CW (12) in Maine
Watch Chef Corry prepare "Not Your Grandmother's Stuffed Chicken," and then talk with Merrill about the role of the magazine in Maine's food scene
From the staff at Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
I traveled to the West Coast to visit family for the holidays, and although the tangerines and avocados were irresistible, I was soon pining for fresh Maine seafood. My friends Joan and John McNeil (aka King Cioppino) knew I was getting homesick, so they invited me to join them for a homemade meal that would satisfy my yearnings.
Continue reading “Finding Maine in California” »
Tune in this Wednesday, January 7th at 10AM, to see Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine publisher Merrill Williams when she appears with Chef Steve Corry of Portland's 555 restaurant on "The Chef's Kitchen", broadcast in Maine on WPXT-TV (12) CW.
Watch Chef Corry prepare "Not Your Grandmother's Stuffed Chicken," and then talk with Merrill about the role of the magazine in Maine's food scene.
The show also airs Thursday, January 8 at 10:30 a.m. on ONN Cable in the Ohio market.
From the staff at Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
Everyone’s childhood favorite and quite possibly a cultural icon: the classic tollhouse chocolate chip cookie.
This was the first recipe I ever made with my mother and then—ta da!—the first recipe that I could manage alone. The smell of these cookies baking evokes so many happy times gone by. Neighborhood "best girl friends" joined in the fun. My wonderful mom not only let us take over the kitchen but let us add holiday colored sprinkles and those marginally edible silver dragées that were so popular back then. Gilding the lily to be sure!
Continue reading “Tollhouse Cookies for the Holidays” »
President-Elect Obama has not announced his choice yet, so there is still time to make our voices heard. Please join those who are urging him to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who cares more about small farmers than industrialized food production.
Lovers of vegetarian food can rejoice! So can vegans, and fans of Asian cuisine. And it can all be found at Portland’s Green Elephant, a restaurant that has taken the local dining scene by surprise.
We spent a day with owners Dan Sriprasert and Bob Wonsaichua who have created an inventive menu that appeals to health-conscious diners who are flocking to their doors to order dishes like Peanut Curry, Malaysian-style Roti Canai, and Siamese Dream Curry Noodles. Not to mention desserts like their creamy vegan tofu cheesecake and a chocolate orange mousse pie garnished with fresh oranges dipped in chocolate.
In the new issue of Maine Food & Lifestyle, we share their recipes for Spinach Noodles with Shiitake & Ginger Sauce and Vegetarian Thai Cucumber & Carrot Salad, two light and healthy dishes that would be welcome interruptions to holiday over-indulgence.
My surrogate grandmother and mentor, the late Ethelyn Morse, was the founder of Morse’s Sauerkraut in Waldoboro. A great lady, a graduate of Bates College, a traveling nurse who tended to the Midcoast island communities, a great keeper of local oral history, and a fine cook. I was honored to have been chosen as her friend.
Continue reading “Ethelyn Morse’s Venison Mincemeat” »
Until my mother died in May, I never gave tourtière pie much thought. It was the wonderful, spicy meat pie she made each Christmas, and my only job was to enjoy it. But with her death, I have become the matriarch of the family, and now it is my responsibility to make tourtière pie, which goes back through my Franco-American family all the way to France.
Continue reading “The Tradition of Tourtière Pie” »
If Jerry Shriver and other food mavens have it right, Maine should be sitting in the catbird seat next year when it comes to cashing in on dining trends.
In USA Today, food and wine correspondent Shriver is reporting that 2009's forecast is for a greater focus on more casual dining, less expensive menus and ingredients, and farm-to-table cuisine. The country's
top restaurant consultants are predicting that the global economic meltdown is causing significant changes in the way restaurants will have to respond to their consumers.
Continue reading “Food Trends in 2009″ »
Those of us who live here, know that the coast of Maine is the home of world-class oysters with names that have become “boutique” brands for the restaurants and oyster bars everywhere who demand nothing but the best. Glidden Point. Basket Island. Flying Point. Weskeag. Pemaquid Point. Penobscot Bay. Oak Point. Cape Blue. Their names alone are enough to make your mouth start watering in anticipation of their incredible fresh flavors.
Continue reading “Boutique Oysters from Maine” »
In our new issue, we devote a lot of attention to the crisis in the Maine lobster industry. As everyone is now aware, a perfect storm of depressed demand, low prices, rising fuel and bait costs, and tougher regulations has combined to plummet what has been the cash cow of our fishing industry into an economic disaster.
Continue reading “Lobster Weathering the Storm” »
I never knew I always wanted to ride in a dump truck until I saw it on the auction block.
The
Penobscot Bay Region Chamber has pulled together an amazing smorgasbord of products and adventures and put the entire collection up for bid. Their
online auction ends tomorrow night, and the live auction takes place Friday evening when all these goodies will disappear. Unless you've been smart enough to grab up some of these gems.
Continue reading “Maine Food Up for Bid” »
I was raised by a mother who sat down every afternoon to a cup of hot tea. No, she wasn't British or from any Commonwealth nation where the ritual of tea time is religiously observed. She was just a lady who appreciated the finer things in life, and a mom with three kids and a husband which meant she had barely a few hours before the "night shift" began: dinner, homework, baths, pet feeding, the evening paper to read, and countless other invisible chores that can gobble up an entire evening.
So when I read about the "Winter Wonderlands Holiday Tea" at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on December 6, I was transported back to that magical interlude called Afternoon Tea. CMBG is getting all dolled up for the holidays, and is serving sweet and savory treats like scones, tea sandwiches, and, of course, pots and pots of hot tea. What an elegant way to usher in the season! And for those of us who are bracing for the storm of holiday shopping, cooking, and entertaining, this may our last chance to enjoy a dignified "cuppa" together.
Merrill Williams is the publisher of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
The Maine Literary Festival took place this weekend in
Camden, and it was a doozy. The theme, “For This Earth: Visions in Literature”
featured writers who tackled topics like Science and the Environment,
Spirituality and the Environment, and Eco-Poetry. But it was the session
entitled “The Sustainable Kitchen & Table” that knocked my socks off.
Continue reading “The Sustainable Kitchen in Maine” »
In the new issue of Health magazine, the editors reveal a nationwide survey of supermarkets they deem to have the healthiest food products and in-store consumer education programs designed to help shoppers make the best choices. A regular inventory of organic, seasonal, and local produce, meats, and poultry was a big consideration.
It comes as no surprise that
Whole Foods, a valued advertiser in Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine, ranks as the top supermarket for finding the widest selection of healthy food. Whole Foods in Portland has become a mecca for people in Maine who seek high-quality and organic foods from the store's worldwide sources. We're hoping Whole Foods will open a second location in Maine, then a third, then….
Coming in second in the survey was Safeway, followed by Harris Teeter, Trader Joe's,
Hannaford (#5), Albertson's, Food Lion, Publix, Pathmark, and SuperTarget (#10).
Although some of names on the Top Ten list surprised us at first, it's good to know that even the biggest food chains in the country are yielding to consumer demand for good, clean, healthy food choices. And we're glad to see that Mainers have plenty of choices for finding healthy food wherever they live in the PIne Tree state.
Merrill Williams is the publisher of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
In light of the current downturn in Maine’s lobster industry, I spoke with a local fisherman to get his take on the situation. Captain Gary Libby is a groundfisherman who also lobsters out of Port Clyde. His thoughts:
“It’s very alarming that the number one fishing industry in our state has fallen on awful economic times at a time of year when the lobstermen make most of their income.
Continue reading “Maine Lobster in Troubled Waters” »
Our spectacular fall weather lured me back into the garden this weekend. It’s well past growing season, although a few stubborn cherry tomatoes were clinging tenaciously to vines that had snaked their way across the ground and up the wire fence. Knowing that all those pale green and yellow tomatoes were never going to reach maturity, I put them out of their misery and jerked them unceremoniously out of the ground. Basil and peppers that had blackened after a few nights of near-frost, met a similar fate. Still robust were parsley, thyme, and Swiss chard, which I picked and brought in to the kitchen. But it won’t be long before everything in the garden will finally give up and lie down for the winter.
Continue reading “Garden Trials and Tribulations” »
In the New York Times food section, famed California rancher Bill Niman is touted as "breaking away from the herd" to raise goat meat for chefs who are discovering the merits of this sweet-tasting, low fat meat. But Maine gets its due as well as a leader in this fledgling industry. Thyme for Goat in Dresden, a collaborative of four Midcoast family farms, says there is good customer demand for their products that they sell at farmers’ markets and online.
In case you’re a bit squeamish about having goat meat on your dinner plate, think of it as "chevon," a more palatable, Frenchy kind of word that might get you to try the most commonly consumed meat in the world.
Merrill Williams is the publisher of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
I first tasted this soup many years ago at a friend’s house and fell in love with its flavor and the easy, no-fail recipe. When my kids were old enough to appreciate curry, I started serving it as the first course at our Thanksgiving feast, then again at Christmas, and whenever a cold night warranted a spicy, warm-your-innards kind of dish.
I served it again this weekend to friends who came by for dinner and we paired it with a crisp Chardonnay from Graceland Cellars’ signature wines collection. It was a great way to jump start a lively evening of reminiscing and laughter by four Baby Boomers who grew up with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Continue reading “Curried Pumpkin Soup meets The King” »
We’re just barely into fall, and here we are already reminiscing about the highlights of the summer. Since my summer was split into 2 parts, here’s how I remember my favorite summer meals:
Continue reading “Favorite Summer Meals: Left Coast vs. Right Coast” »
