Maine Bicentennial, A Cookbook, and Me

 I've been looking forward to this meal for months! It looks so seafood-scrumptious! And naturally, we had to wait until New Year's Eve... I noticed that the recipe calls this a soup. And so I talked with the Resident Archeologist about doing a roux to thicken the soup, since we really wanted to have more of a sauce poured over rice. A roux was "at the ready" but I soon realized that the soup cooks down such that you don't even need to thicken it.  Not sure why, but I chose to use frozen chopped spinach, where it calls for spinach. We discovered that it is "too chopped" and that it just goes everywhere and wasn't quite the texture on the tongue that we were looking for. Next time, we will buy baby spinach and just gently wilt it at the very end of cooking time, which will look so pretty and lend better flavor than the frozen spinach. Pay attention to the order of cooking the seafood. Whatever just needs warming, pop into the pot for the last five min...

 This is an awesome way to serve lobster! And I discovered that the "big box" grocery offers to cook your lobster while you shop, so all I had to do was bring those babies home, crack them open to get the meat, cut meat in chunks, dip in a simple batter, and drop into hot vegetable oil til golden brown.  If you are not familiar with making homemade batter, just listen to the advice in the recipe, as it is good advice--the batter needs to be "like salad dressing." I did have to play with the ratio of milk to flour, til it looked right, but I've never really met a batter dip that didn't need a little play to get it just the way you want it. I was a little worried that the lobster meat might get overcooked, but I kept a close eye on the batter bits in the oil, and pulled them out the minute they browned up. Serve with fried onion rings, ketchup, sriracha mayo, and cocktail sauce. Yum!

 For Thanksgiving, since it was just the two of us, I chose this fabulous seafood recipe. It has quite a spice load, so I cut back considerably on the hot pepper. I've always been rather fond of lobster and crab simply drenched in butter as the best way to enjoy their flavor. Covering them up with hot pepper loses something in the seafood translation. We decided this is something like a newburg, with lots of veggies. So we might try cutting back on the amount of veggies, next time around, to keep the seafood the star of the show. Served over basmati rice, it tasted great. 

 After pouring the delightful jumble of potatoes, onions, hot dogs, chourico sausage, breakfast sausage, and clams onto the big white platter, I looked at my husband with a big smile and said, joyfully, "This is the first time I've cooked clams!" To which he replied, in his inimitable dry manner, "You boiled water." It's a good thing I love that guy, that's all I'm saying. First thing, dump the clams in the sink, pour in cold water, dump ice cubes in the water, and let the clams siphon out the sand. This is the difference between an enjoyable meal and a gritty meal. When I was a kid, I think my parents skipped this step. Anyway, I remember as a kid biting into a clam and biting down on sand, and I (somewhat dramatically) declared I would never eat clams again. Look what I missed out on all these years, because of a few grains of sand. I shall have to make up for lost time now! This is not the season for corn on the cob, so the meal was lacking that c...

 I've prepared how many lobsters for recipes in this cookbook? I've lost count, to tell the truth. But with this recipe (the 180th), I learned something new and wonderful about the seafood counter at the local grocery store. They will cook your lobster while you shop! No charge! It made this recipe all the easier. Prepare the rice (needs to cool before frying). Prep your veggies and spices. Put everything together, saving the lobster meat for last, otherwise it will overcook and become tough. A lovely bowlful of some of my favorite foods. Try this recipe and you will be transported to a state of pure bliss. Who could ask for anything more?!

 I'm reminded of the Salt Cod recipe (see blog of that name). That recipe called for vinegared onions and mashed potatoes and fried salt pork cubes, too. And boiling the fish until it flakes. And I really loved that recipe, so I was eager to try the hake. Hake is a new fish for me. A nice white fish, a little more substantial than haddock.  I was unclear as to the reason to salt the fish and refrigerate for several hours prior to rinsing and cooking the fish in water. But I followed directions. And poached hake is now on my go-to list for fish meals. It cooked up surprisingly quickly, given the thickness of the fish.  I mashed golden potatoes (they just look so beautiful, love that rich yellow color) and plated them. I laid the cooked hake on top of the mashed potato. I sprinkled vinegared onion rounds on top of the hake, and sprinkled cubed fried salt pork over everything. Then some ground pepper over everything, because, of course, everything tastes better with pepper. ...

 When I cooked up a mess of smelts (see Marinated Fried Smelts blog), I set aside a few of them in a small dish, to try this recipe. It simply consists of simmering a few vegetables, adding vinegar, and pouring it all over the fried smelts. Then refrigerate overnight. The person who submitted these two smelt recipes shares that she and her mom loved to eat the marinated fish, but her dad loved the fish served straight out of the fry pan, preferably with potatoes. I'm with her dad. Smelts straight out of the fry pan for me, please. I'll gladly give this pickled version away to those who will appreciate it more than I do!

New fish for me! And, I like it! I like dredging the fish in flour and frying it to make the skin all crispy. Unfortunately, my evening got unexpectedly busy, such that I ate a few of the little darlings while frying up the batch, then had to leave the kitchen to take care of some work. By the time I got the work done, supper was long over.  No worries! I enjoyed some of the fried smelts the next day, in soft flour tortillas spread with a mayo mixture of fresh lime juice, mayo and garlic powder. Those little fish fit perfectly in a six-inch tortilla. 

 Angelique Bitshiluala moved to Maine from the Democratic Republic of Congo and submitted this recipe. I was unable to locate the seasoning called for, Maggi seasoning, but was able to use Tamari sauce instead. We also don't have amaranth leaves or fried plantains in this region, so had to do without. Even so, this salt cod recipe compares favorably with the other salt cod recipe in this cookbook (see my blog on Salt Cod). I've never fried fish without a breading, so that was decidedly new for me. And I do wonder if a breading might have kept it moist. The fish was a little too dry/chewy for me, but maybe I overcooked it. We don't do much frying in this household, so I have limited experience in judging when to pull fish out of the oil. I loved cooking the eggplant, bell pepper, onions, and garlic in the olive oil. It just looked joyous, all jumbled together, with the bright red of the bell pepper as the vegetable star. I'm personally not an eggplant fan, but the Reside...

 Me to the woman at the fish counter: I need salted cod, please. Woman at fish counter: *gives me a puzzled look* We have cod for $$/lb. Me: It's for a new recipe I have. It has to be salted? Woman at fish counter: *gives me an enlightened look* Follow me.  She walks to the fish freezer and opens the door and pulls out an adorable little wooden box and hands it to me. Exactly one pound of salted cod, folded into this wee wooden box. Amazing! Obviously, cooking salt cod is a new experience for me. So, I buy the wee wooden box, planning to cook it the following day. The following day arrives, and my schedule changes unexpectedly, requiring me to be out of town all day. So, I couldn't prepare the cod. I wondered how long it would be okay to leave it in the fridge (silly, in retrospect, but I had worries on my mind crowding out my common sense). I googled salt cod longevity. And had a good laugh at my own expense. Of course, it lasts virtually forever, being as how before refriger...

 I've lived in Maine all of my adult life and much of my youth, however, mussels seem to have escaped my palate. I think I always looked at them the way I look at clams, with trepidation (had a very gritty clam-eating experience in my youth). Heavens, these little beer-steamed confections are impossibly exquisite! I adore them! And there is something about the sweet jumble of black and white and yellow and green colors on the serving platter, in a delicious creamy liquid, that makes you want to sit and enjoy a cold brew with your best friend, taking bites of the mussels, enjoying the flavorful corn/cream sauce, dipping bread to soak it all up. Sweet! And the best thing? It hardly takes any time at all to put it together and deliver to table. Well, two best things. It hardly costs anything. Now, keep in mind, this will not fill you up, unless you have some kind of enormous pile of mussels. This would be a starter for a meal, or a delightful way to take an afternoon break. The fellow...

This recipe would be absolutely delicious in the hands of a chef more skilled than myself. It was submitted by the chef at the Blaine House. Enough said... I learned a couple of things, being a cook not accustomed to making fancy meals. I have no idea if the mushrooms I used were oyster mushrooms or not. Yes, I looked up pictures of them, but still not sure. Don't let me go hunting for wild mushrooms, I could probably kill somebody with my lack of identification skills. My husband surprised me by bringing home scallops from the grocery store. I didn't even remember there was a scallop recipe in the cookbook (most of the recipes require a combination of seafoods). But there it was, when I went searching. A nice surprise. I thought I'd scoured this cookbook, since I made a master list of somewhat harder to find foods, like oyster mushrooms. And I do love scallops. So I collected the other ingredients, as best I could. We didn't have any seafood stock, so I substituted mus...

This is a marvelous recipe for those nights when you need to get supper on the table in under thirty minutes. And it is so delicious that folks will be asking for seconds. Yes, this is what a Bechamel sauce with a few easy additions can do to dress up your main dish! I can't reveal the secret ingredient for the sauce, for that you'll want to buy the cookbook. But trust me, this is one meal you'll want to make over and over again, not only because it's a quick prep, but because it tastes great!  I have had limited experience with sauces, prior to meeting the Resident Archeologist. It is amazing to taste the difference a good sauce can make when serving an entree. The only thing I would add to this sauce is perhaps a squeeze of lemon. Oh, and I cut the recommended amount of cayenne in half, and still tasted its heat just fine, but not overwhelmingly so.

 My husband and I are not on a gluten-free diet, so we used regular pasta. I didn't feel like macaroni, so I used mini penne. Really turned out to be the perfect choice, allowing the cheese sauce to cling to its ridges. I read the recipe, then just basically used what I had on hand. I did plan for the cooked lobster itself, since I had 2 small cooked lobsters in the fridge from the church Lobster Takeout the night before. We don't use Velveeta, plus I have never heard of shredded Velveeta, which seems like an anomaly. We had shredded Swiss, shredded Cabot sharp cheddar, and of course, grated Parmesan on hand. And milk, and butter. It tosses together quickly, and only has to bake about 15 minutes in the oven. Which is good, because it was well past my lunchtime and I was starving! As you can see from the recipe title, there should be a scallop in the mix somewhere. But there is not. We just didn't have any on hand. And I'm a bit of a purist. I like my lobster as the star...

When a written recipe is circa 1880, unless you have a way to speak with the great-grandchild of the recipe creator, and unless this great-grandchild has been blessed with being taught by the family cooks as to the details that are not written in the recipe itself... then it is sometimes mighty hard to figure out how to cook said recipe, sans details. This is my problem with Salmon Souffle--it lacks details. I read through the recipe, which is from The St. Croix Recipe Book for Cooking, published by the Ladies of the Second Baptist Church in Calais, and I have so many questions. Now, I happen to know right where the Second Baptist Church is located, as I've attended several Christian concerts there.  Wish I knew someone from that church who makes this recipe to this day, and could answer my questions. Lacking such connection to culinary wisdom, I decide to focus on the part of the recipe that appealed to me the most.  The very last sentence refers to "puff paste...in a quick o...

If you like crab cakes (see Mom's Wicked Awesome Crab Cakes in this cookbook and in my blog), you'll love these clam cakes. A little bit sloppier to put together, due to all the clam liquid, but the end result is "wicked good." I'm getting pretty good at looking at the amount of herbs called for in a recipe, and walking out to the herb garden and picking just about exactly the amount needed. The fresh parsley in this recipe (1/2 cup) is simply a "nice handful" from the garden. This is my first summer with an herb garden for the parsonage, and I'm so enjoying adding fresh herbs to my recipes. Due to the liquid (I drained as best I could), I tossed in more panko bread crumbs than called for, by about a half a cup, to give more solidity to the cakes.  Directions call for frying quickly over medium-low heat, turning once. I don't know what quickly means, but my cakes appeared done after about five minutes each side. The recipe makes up four thick cak...

How do you fall in love with a particular food? Is it the way that it is cooked? Is it the people who have prepared the food for you (or you for them?) Is it the people that you are with when you are eating the food? Or is it the location in which you first eat it that settles into your food=pleasure memory files? When I was a very young child, I lived with my parents and my older sister in Vermont. My dad took us hiking on the Long Trail regularly, even tho we were just wee tykes, my sister and I. I have fond memories of sleeping over in a log lean-to alongside the trail, and waking up in the morning to Dad frying up brookies in a cast-iron frying pan over an open fire. That is how I came to love eating brook trout. And the love of brook trout is all wrapped up in my love for my dad, and the wonder of hiking and exploring God's good creation, and the simple joy of participating in a fun activity with my family. This recipe for Fried Brook Trout comes from a 1913 Houlton Cook Book,...

Full disclosure: the fish you see in the photo is not sole! It is flounder. I was at the seafood shop and picked up the crabmeat and asked if they had sole, and the answer was no. So I asked if they had any similar fish, and they said, yes, flounder. New experience for me! And I liked it! But I knew I would like it, because haddock is a white fish, and I love haddock. Of the three pieces on the plate, interestingly, the moistest, most flavorful was the largest piece. The two smaller ones were on the dry side, but the largest piece was perfect, just the right amount of crabmeat stuffing and the fish was cooked to perfection. I bathed all three in lemon, and that added to the flavor. It should be noted that the recipe calls for too much crabmeat. It's simply not possible to stuff tiny little flounder filets with that much crabmeat. Which is a happy problem, I'll admit. We'll use the leftover crabmeat for salads tomorrow! This recipe takes minutes to prepare, and sounds and ta...

Again, it was the story that drew me in. The recipe contributor submitted a family photo with the elderly cousin who put this recipe in a 1903 North Edgecomb Cookbook "in aid of parsonage fund." Good church food, for a good cause! At the turn of the century, of course, lobster would have been very cheap, and so the recipe calls for far more lobster than my photo shows. Indeed, I cut the amount of lobster in half, and it still was far more lobster than I am accustomed to in a lobster newburg. The recipe appears to focus mostly on the lobster, and virtually not at all on the sauce. Hence, it was more like slightly-sherry-flavored lobster on toast, rather than a pool of the flavorful sauce filled with bits of lobster to marvel at when the sweetness meets your mouth. I can't say that I was disappointed, because lobster in any form never disappoints! But I do like a nice sauce with my lobster newburg, and it just wasn't a part of this recipe.  If you crave a lobster newbur...

This recipe rates right up there in the top ten, my friends. It's a little pricey on the pocketbook, but doesn't it taste like Heaven! From the swirly cavatappi pasta that captures cheesy goodness in all of its nooks and crannies, to the succulent lobster chunks surprising my tongue with sweetness in every bite, this is Bliss with a capital B. I was introduced to several cheeses I had never met before: fontina cheese and mascarpone cheese. The fontina is quite well-mannered, melting without a fuss.  And Ms. Mascarpone? Well, she is simply divine! Let's just say that such a cheese never graced my morning bagel before. But now that we've met? You can bet we'll see more of her in our cheese drawer! Only for special occasions, of course, but she's definitely worth the investment. My taste buds could not discern any noticeable difference by adding the 1 1/2 Tablespoons of cognac. And it is my opinion that the lovely cheeses and star-of-the-show lobster upstage the co...