It’s Maine wild blueberry season, and time for the annual Union Fair. Here’s a blueberry gingerbread recipe from cookbook author Georgia Manzo Joachim to try!
image: grayberryfarm.blogspot.com
Continue reading “Blueberry Gingerbread with Whipped Cream” »
Affectionately know as “dilly beans” in Maine, these tongue-tingling pickles constitute something of a small cottage industry in the Pine Tree State. You see locally made dillies for sale at just about every farm stand and tourist-oriented food emporium in the state. Since I am convinced that part of their charm is in the way they look, standing neatly upright packed into their glass jars, I have written this recipe accordingly. As with all the pickle recipes in this book, you can treat these dilly beans as a refrigerator pickle. Or, if you like, you may process the jars, while they’re still hot, in a boiling-water-bath canner according to the canner’s directions.
image: foodsnobberyhobbery.blogspot.com
Continue reading “Down East Dilly Beans” »
We here at Camp Cook & Tell – counselors, campers in the field, and the Head Counselor (me) are pleasantly occupied in the business of conversation about what’s going on in our kitchens. We have a grand time amending, correcting, and one-upping each other’s recipes, and, in general, carrying on a sort of talk show by mail, e-mail, and telephone.
Here’s another great lobster recipe in honor of the Maine Lobster Festival going on now in Harbor Park in Rockland. Make this stew the day before serving for ultimate taste, and reheat as mentioned below. Never let it boil while cooking or re-heating, as the milk fats will separate.
image: tammyheff.wordpress.com
The traditional lobster roll—meat from a boiled lobster mixed with nothing but mayonnaise and packed into a toasted hot dog roll—has stood the test of time and simply cannot be improved. Nevertheless, I keep trying. To subdue some of the la-di-da quality of my gussied up version, I recommend wearing old clothes and sitting on a big rock when you eat them. Or you could forget the rolls and serve the filling as a salad, with more than a few sprigs of watercress.
image above from flickr.com: One version of Local Lobster Roll Nirvana is available at Red’s Eats, Wiscasset
Tom Seymour, Maine native and author of several books on the Maine outdoors, recently published his new book Wild Plants of Maine, A Useful Guide. I am fortunate enough to have a copy of this fascinating guide to foraging, and it harkens me back to memories long dormant: combing a certain secret spot in town for fiddlehead ferns with my Dad and Grammie when I was a little girl, digging dandelion greens to be boiled and eaten with potatoes and salt pork, and learning which wild things were good and safe to eat.
image: cultivateyourwellness.com
A quick sauté of ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes is fun to make while a tenderloin roasts in the oven or fish cooks outdoors on the grill. Fix them at the last minute to ensure perfect roundness.
image courtesy of flickr.com
During the summer, I try my best to sample as many fried clams as possible at the seasonal clam shacks up and down the New England coast. Which is better—clams coated in batter or crumbs? Depends on a lot of factors, such as the freshness of the clams, the quality of the oil, and other things, but when everything is right I tend to prefer batter. If the clams are large, I like to “squeeze the bellies,” which means pinching the belly to get the gross black goo out, but truthfully, by the time the clams are coated with batter and fried, you can’t see the goo anymore and it really doesn’t taste bad.
image: nytimes.com
Ginny Maxfield uses canned stewed tomatoes, the kind with onions, celery, and peppers mixed in, to produce a cold soup that delivers all the advantages of gazpacho, but doesn’t require a whole lot of chopping. This was one of the slightly-chic-but-homey recipes that made Ginny’s restaurant, Maxfield’s, over the bridge in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, so popular for so long.
image: dailymail.co.uk Continue reading “Easy Chilled Tomato-Cucumber Soup” »
Many food chains make this thirst quenching summer drink with soft-serve ice cream; a reasonable facsimile can be created at home with vanilla frozen yogurt or regular vanilla ice cream. With a few creative additions, this would also make a fantastic summer cocktail. It’s the ideal refreshing pick-me-up to sip and savor after spending a day at the beach or in your own back yard.
image courtesy of partybluprintsblog.com
Continue reading “Orange Freeze” »
The following recipe makes a great summer dessert using fresh carrots from your garden.
This recipe was shared with me by Grace Leeman and Harriet Huff of Orr’s Island, Maine, known as the Thelma and Louise of their island. And if they say it’s good, it’s good!
image: deepdishsouth.com
Vangie Peasley made pies for Bagaduce Lunch in Brooksville, Maine, for just about her entire life. She started when she was young, in the 1960s, when her parents owned the clam shack, and kept it up during the years that she and her husband ran the business. Day-to-day operations have now passed on to the third generation, and Vangie’s daughter, Judy Astbury, praises the memory of her Mom and her amazing strawberry-rhubarb pie. “She had to make the pies. No one else could even come close to being so good at it.”
image: foodgeekery.com
Finés Herbes is a blend of basil, chervil, tarragon, marjoram, and chives. There are many brands of this herb mixture marketed, a good one is Frontier, or you can make your own.
image: localkitchen.files.wordpress.com
Continue reading “Soft Scrambled Eggs with Finés Herbes & Cheddar Cheese” »
Feast on fiddleheads year round, and learn how to do it with ease. Maine author and forager Tom Seymour offers tips, techniques, and recipes for this delicate and versatile fern in the new issue of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine. You’ll be able to ‘freezer forage’ and enjoy this harbinger of Maine spring anytime.
Tom Seymour’s column includes tested recipes for fiddlehead and cheese casserole, sauteed fiddleheads, and fiddlehead salad. If you’ve never tried them, this column will entice you to explore a unique Maine green, and for those already fiddlehead savvy, you will have a renewed appreciation!
Fiddlehead ferns are available for a limited time only in Maine during the spring. Check out how you can enjoy them year round in the new issue of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine. Order your subscription today!
This is a deliciously different salad you’ll definitely want to try!
image: pinchmysalt.com
For this dish you need one of those deep-frying baskets, plus a bit of skill with a chef’s knife. And you thought the only way to cook asparagus was standing them up in an asparagus steamer or simmering them in a reclining position, in an inch of water in a skillet.
image: flickr.com
A jar of this basic vinaigrette is always there in my refrigerator, ready to dress greens or all manner of other salads, or even to dribble over steamed vegetables or grilled meats and fish. It can be varied in numerous ways. For lighter salads, for instance, use lemon juice instead of vinegars, and light olive oil only, or for an Asian slant, add a touch of toasted sesame oil.
image: epicurious.com
Continue reading “Mixed Greens with Simple Shallot Vinaigrette” »
I collect cookbooks and cooking magazines. Because I am totally addicted and can’t bear to throw them out, I have a cluttered house to say the least. A few years ago, I remember an article about a Washington, D.C. dinner party. The menu caught my eye because evidently former Senator Bill Cohen from Maine brought a dish called Cool Green Salad. I love Senator Cohen (who doesn’t?). Perhaps that had something to do with why I made the salad for my next dinner party, and I’ve been making it ever since.
image: allyou.com
image: onceuponacakestand.com
This wonderful supper salad is a perfect vehicle for “hot smoked” salmon or other smoked seafood. Or you can also use just about any non-smoked canned or leftover fish–tuna, salmon, and so on. The seashell-shaped pasta echoes the ocean theme, but of course any pasta shape will work fine.
