Maine: Grilling and Cook's Lobster House

Here's our cabin on Bailey Island (at Driftwood Inn). We grilled every night that we didn't go out for Lobster: A full meal at Cook's --remember that Visa commercial from a few years back? -- and the less-famous, supposedly cheaper place across the road, Estes II. Cook's has taken a bit of a beating in some of the foodie websites; people say it's too big, too loud, the food's not that good. But we love it. I start thinking about their blue cheese dressing, oh sometime in May or June. But they upgraded the salad this year! Not one leaf of ice berg, and plenty of mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. But still the same blue cheese dressing, thank goodness. In addition, the lobsters are expertly steamed, and you can't pass up the brownie-mud-sundae.

Unfortunately, our grilling experience this year was less than stellar. We just didn't seem to get the grill hot enough for some of the stuff we did.

What did work was an old stand-by shrimp recipe, adapted from Lydia Bastianich's first cookbook of about fifteen years ago. At least that's where I think it came from; I've made it so many times, I internalized the recipe long ago.

Grilled Marinated Shrimp

Toss 1 pound peeled deveined large shrimp with 3 or 4 minced garlic cloves and 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley. Add dried bread crumbs and olive oil. Use enough bread crumbs and oil to coat the shrimp well; 1/4 to 1/2 cup crumbs and 2 to 4 tablespoons oil. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill for a hot fire. Thread the shrimp onto metal skewers, or place in a grill basket. Grill, inches from the charcoal, until cooked through and crispy brown. Serve with couscous and grilled peppers.

Maine: Portland Lunch at Duckfat

You've got to love a place called DUCK FAT.

Our lunch in Portland on Saturday was at DuckFat (on Middle Street, on the other side of Franklin). The fries were, in a word, excellent. The duck fat really makes them sing. The aioli that came with it was terrific as well.

As for the other, unimportant parts of the meal: I had a bacon-cheese-tomato panini, which was pretty good, but too much cheese. Austen had a cheese plate (with cheddar, nuts, flat bread, and apple), a bit skimpy on the cheese. Ira had the best – duck confit salad with frisee, red onion and shredded apple; it was perfectly balanced and delicious.

(Austen has more pictures of Maine here.)

Maine: Portland Breakfast

Saturday morning, after a long walk along the waterfront, we dove into sticky buns from the Standard Baking Co., along with a perfect cup of coffee.

Then it was on to the Portland Market, to pick up provisions for our first night in the cabin at Driftwood.

Maine: Portland

Just got back from more than a week in Maine. Lots of grilling at the cabin on Bailey Island, and plenty of good food in Portland.

We got into Portland around 3pm Friday, checking into the Regency Hotel right near the Old Port. Walked around a bit, then headed for the Porthole, a kind of divey restaurant/bar right on the wharf of the Old Port. Had a glass of wine and though we weren't all that hungry, ordered the mussels in a marsala/chile broth. They were incredible. Just the right amount of sweet; just the right amount of heat. Piqued our hunger right then and there.

Dinner was at Street & Co., a seafood restaurant that started the dining renaissance in Portland ten or fifteen years ago. Ira had the special, branzini with clams and chorizo. Very very good. I had the sole Francese – buttery and good, but not as good as the branzini. Broccoli and potatoes with it were excellent. Austen had shrimp with garlic butter and linguine. Way too much butter, but the shrimp was good.

Florida

We spent a few days in Florida visiting Max and Bob, and Bob, Linda and Gina. Bob has more photos here. And Austen has some here.

Old WW Recipe Cards

From candyboots.com, a hilarious collection (with even funnier commentary) of Weight Watchers recipe cards from the 70s. Here's what she says about Bean and Mushroom Salad:

"I hope that you can see that this is a jellied salad. Do you see it glisten? Do you require a close-up to understand that these beans and mushrooms and pimiento strips are one solid, glistening mass? Okay!

See how the Ceramic Mushroom Family has gathered to show their children what happens to bad little mushrooms. "

Some of the recipes are just downright scary. Fluffy Mackerel Pudding, anyone?

Thanks, Joyce, for the link!

Family Pics

While upstate, we were also able to play with Vance and Lulu. Lulu's crawling everywhere and Vance fell in love with the two tigers Austen gave to him (won at Six Flags).














The picture of Austen is based on similar swing pictures we have of him when he was Vance and Lulu's ages.














Ira and Elo entertain Lulu.

Beer-Can Chicken

Finally tried the ubiquitous Beer-Can Chicken, which has been popularized in the last few years by Steve Raichlen in his many barbecue books. In a nutshell: You steam a whole chicken from the inside by cooking it sitting on a half-filled beer can over indirect heat. You can find the recipe all over the web, like at Splendid Table and Cooking Light.

I was lucky enough to snag a copy of Raichlen's book, Beer-Can Chicken and 74 Other Offbeat Recipes for the Grill, because I spent a couple of days last week in the offices of Workman Publishing (thanks Debbie!). So we headed upstate to Eloise and Andrew's with the book, two chickens and two cans of Bud.



We used a pork rub on one of the chickens, and garlic, lemon zest and olive oil on the other. Then, after sacrificing half the beer from each can and impaling the poor creatures on the tops, they were ready for the grill.
And I'm not surprised to say that the chickens were very very good. Both rubs were tasty, but I think I preferred the garlic – a bit cleaner flavor. All in all, the chickens were the best we've ever cooked on the grill (not that we've had that much experience, being stuck in a NYC apartment 51 weeks out of the year). They were moist, flavorful, juicy and perfectly done.

Duane Reade

Here is proof that Duane Reade employees are the stupidest people in the world. Have I mentioned how much I hate Duane Reade?

Note to out-of-towners: Duane Reade is a ubiquitous drug store monopoly in NY. You literally can't walk more than two blocks without seeing one, and in the last ten years they have effectively eliminated just about every Mom-and-Pop and chain competitor in the city.

Peppers and Onions

For dinner last night, Ira brought home two beautiful yellow peppers. We had a large onion to go with them, but I wanted to do something a little bit more than just sautéing them together. So I finished them off with a little bit of garlic and anchovy. The anchovy gives the peppers an incredible depth of flavor, without overwhelming them at all. So even you're afraid of anchovies, give it a try. I'd done this in the oven before, but found out it's even easier on the stovetop.

Garlicked Peppers and Onions

Cut 2 yellow and/or red peppers into 1-inch pieces. Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Cut a large onion into wedges. Add to the peppers and stir, breaking up the onion wedges. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mince 2 large garlic cloves. Add 1 anchovy fillet and continue chopping the garlic and anchovy to a messy paste. About 5 minutes before the peppers and onions are cooked to your desired doneness, add the garlic and anchovy. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is well distributed and no longer looks raw, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for about 10 minutes to continue cooking the garlic and meld the flavors. Season with salt and black pepper.

Cooking in Paris

I've added a picture to my profile. Austen took it in the apartment we stayed in on the Rue de Seine, Paris. The kitchen is even smaller than the one in our NYC apartment.

Dry Scallops Redux

Tried again with the dry scallops; got the big ones this time. They are incredible. Fresh Direct messed up again and gave us bok choy instead of baby bok choy. So I came up with a hybrid of recipes from Elizabeth Schnieder and Good Housekeeping. A little too much dressing for that much bok choy, but good.

Scallops with Lobster Sauce

Sear 3/4 pound dry sea scallops in olive oil in a really hot pan; don't cook them all the way through as they will continue to cook after you take them out and you want them a bit underdone. Transfer the scallops to a plate and place in a warm oven. Add 2 chopped shallots to the pan and cook, stirring, to soften a bit. Add a splash of white wine and about 1/2 cup lobster stock. Reduce to about 1/4 cup and add about 1/4 cup cream; reduce a bit more. Add a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice. Serve scallops over farfallini (or other small pasta like orzo or ditalini), drizzle with the sauce and a few more squirts lemon juice.

Bok Choy Wilted in Mustard Dressing

Based on ingredients from a recipe in Elizabeth Schneider's Vegetables from A… to Z and a technique from a recipe in The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book.

2 large bok choy
2 medium scallions
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Cut off the ends of the bok choy and separate the leaves. Wash thoroughly. Cut stems into 1/2-inch pieces and cut leaves into 1/2-inch pieces; keep stems and leaves separate. Mince scallion white parts, and slice green parts

Combine the scallion whites, lemon juice, mustard and salt. Add olive oil and mix well. Warm the dressing in large skillet over medium heat. Add the bok choy stems and cook, stirring, until softened a bit, about 4 minutes. Add leaves and cook, stirring until wilted.

Dry Scallops

I went to a program a week or so ago put on by the New York Women's Culinary Alliance. It was held in a fish store in Soho called Fresh Catch, where we compared steamed thawed frozen shrimp (which is usually the only kind of shrimp available -- even if it's not frozen when you buy it) and steamed fresh, never-been-frozen shrimp. Big difference between the two. The fresh shrimp was much sweeter, and the texture was very firm. The frozen shrimp was mushy.

We also tasted "wet" scallops and "dry" scallops. Wet scallops have been treated with something to make them stay fresh longer, and also to bulk them up with water so they're more profitable. Again, a huge difference. The wet scallops had a chemical taste – just why I've never liked scallops. But the dry scallops were incredible: sweet, milky, perfect.

So Monday Ira goes to Citarella to get dry scallops. Problem is, he comes back with a pound of bay scallops (the small ones), when I really wanted sea scallops. Oh well. He did a good job cooking them:

Pasta with Bay Scallops

Lightly flour 1 pound dry scallops, then cook quickly in olive oil in a very hot pan. Remove the scallops, then sauté some chopped shallots and garlic in the pan. Put the scallops back in, add cooked thin spaghetti, and toss. Add a bit of chopped parsley, if you have it.

Overheard in New York

I was in Central Park on Sunday, and this well-dressed black guy, with his lady by his side, stops me and asks ....

Well, read about it here (the last entry).

Too Hot to Cook: Pasta with Asparagus and Prosciutto

It's been so friggin' hot here that it's hard to think about cooking, much less do it. So we fell back on one of our old standards: Pasta with Asparagus and Prosciutto. Not sure where it came from, but I think Ira came up with the basic elements years ago, based on a dish he had in Italy, even longer ago. It's nice because it requires very little actual cooking beyond boiling the pasta water.

Pasta with Asparagus and Prosciutto

Cook about 3/4 pound linguine or fettuccine in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, cook 3/4 pound asparagus in a medium skillet of salted water for just a few minutes; the spears should be underdone. Cut into bite-size pieces. Empty the skillet and add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil; saute 1 or 2 minced shallots until soft. Add the asparagus and heat through. Add about 1/2 cup chicken stock (if you have it), then 1/4 to 1/2 cup cream. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese. Add the cooked pasta and toss to mix. Season with salt. At the table, top each serving with chopped prosciutto (you'll need about 4 ounces total; if you can, have the meat guy cut the prosciutto thicker than the standard, paper-thin pieces used for sandwiches). And grind on a lot of black pepper.

Coming Soon

Thanks for all the support. And extra thanks to Austen for setting it all up and actually writing the first two posts!

Now, if I can get out from under this mountain of work I have, I WILL start posting.

And to answer your question Linda (I think it was you, Linda): I'm not sure why. The easy answer is that Austen made me do it. It started because Austen wanted me to put up all the notes (and pictures) I took about what we ate in Paris. But that seems so old news now. The real answer is: I dunno.

Just some info about me

Here's a little info about me:

Name: Deri Reed
Favorite Color: Blue
Hobbies: Editing cookbooks, cooking, excersicing and screaming at my son, Austen
Reason for starting this blog: My son, Austen set it up for me. He INSISTED.
Republican or Democrat: Democrat
Favorite movie: Well, my son's favorite movie is Star Wars, but I don't really have one.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog!
I hope that you check back here regurally as I will post new posts all the time! Enjoy!