Looking for a seasonal dinner with “wow factor” that can be prepared in 3 minutes?
If you have a food processor and garlic growing in your garden, you’re in luck! Try garlic scape pesto. Pesto can be made with almost any green herb but when it’s mid-summer in Maine, we have gorgeous scapes for two minutes. So let’s use them on pasta, baguette, grains…or whatever!
INGREDIENTS:
SCAPE TIPS (the tender part) 1 CUP (you may blanch these to tame the flavor, if preferred)
1/2 CUP TOASTED PINE NUTS OR WALNUTS
1/2 CUP XVOO
1/4 CUP PARMESAN
1/2 CUP BASIL TOPS, OPTIONAL
A FEW DROPS OF LEMON JUICE AT TIME OF SERVICE, TO BRIGHTEN THE FLAVORS.
METHOD:
THIS IS A SIMPLE RECIPE, BUT THE ORDER OF INGREDIENTS INTO THE FOOD PROCESSOR MATTERS.
FIRST PULSE THE SCAPES IN PROCESSOR FOR 30 SECONDS.ADD BASIL HERE, IF DESIRED
ADD NUTS AND PROCESS FOR ANOTHER 30 SECONDS. SCRAPE DOWN THE BOWL
ADD THE OLIVE OIL AND PROCESS FOR 1 MINUTE ON HIGH
ADD THE CHEESE AND PULSE UNTIL ALL IS COMBINED
ADD SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE.
SERVE IMMEDIATELY TOPPING WITH A SQUEEZE OF LEMON.
Romesco Sauce, while pairing beautifully with salmon, is a culinary gift from Spain and brings that excitement to our fresh fish dish.
It only requires a handful of ingredients and is easy to prepare using a food processor:
Fire grilled roasted red peppers, cleaned of their charred skin and seeds
Smoked paprika
Salt and peper
A little anchovy paste, optional
Fresh chopped garlic to taste, start with a tsp.
A bit of orange zest
Crushed Natural almonds, start with one cup
1/4 cup of good olive oil
Some dried or stale bread, less is more but it works to tighten up the sauce.
Romesco doesn’t even need a recipe. To make a quart I begin with perhaps 6-8 roasted whole red peppers, cleaned. And a cup of almonds. Pulse these in a food processor with the seasonings, nuts and bread to desired texture. I prefer mine slightly chunky but a silky texture can be achieved with more and longer processing time.
Correct seasonings
I top mine with more oil and it keeps for a week under refrigeration. It’s a terrific go-to for most any grilled protein. Enjoy!
MAKES A QUART. Keeps for a week covered under refrigeration. Takes 20 minutes. Use a good sized double boiler and have a sturdy whisk on hand As well as a cool bowl to pour the sauce into when finished.
In French Cuisine, Hollandaise is a classic Mother sauce, meaning one of the basics that others spring from, such as Béarnaise. It is an emulsified sauce. Basically the same idea, but using a different acidifier in this case lemon juice rather than a reduction of wine, vinegar, herbs and pepper which acidify and typify a Béarnaise.
This is a stove top recipe taught to me “on the fly” during a sauce crisis at dinner service one evening by the very able James Hatch who was assisting me on the line back in the Pine Cone days, circa 1989. Visit James now at his dining spot, the fabulous Home Kitchen Cafe in Rockland ME….he still uses this recipe taught to him, no doubt, by his Dad at the Cupboard Cafe in New Harbor, Maine.
For our Hollandaise, use the best eggs and butter you can find. I like free range eggs and good unsalted butter ( gives a rich color to the sauce) which I melt, then clarify.
To clarify just means pouring off the milk that collects in the bottom of the melted butter… or simply don’t use it. I save mine for a chowder.
INGREDIENTS
A DOZEN ORGANIC EGGS, SEPARATED ( save the whites for an low fat omelette)
1 POUND OF UNSALTED BUTTER,MELTED. I LIKE GRASS FED
1 CUP FRESH SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE at the ready
SALT AND FRESH GROUND WHITE PEPPER TO TASTE
A DASH OF TOBASCO SAUCE OR CAYENNE PEPPER
On your stovetop, warm the water at a medium heat under the double boiler as you pour your yolks into the top half.
From THIS POINT ON NEVER STOP WHISKING. Adjusting the heat lower as needed, slowly drip in the melted clarified butter until the eggs emulsify and the sauce thickens to your desired consistency . It will thicken further as it cools. If too thick for your purposes, add back in some of the milk from the clarifying process to thin it. Correct the taste with salt, pepper and tabasco, continue stirring until some of the heat is out of the sauce.
Pour your Hollandaise into an airtight container or bowl, cover with Saran wrap. Best if used immediately, but the sauce will hold for a few days in the refrigerator and can be brought back to room temp carefully. Good at Brunch, on crab cakes or poached salmon!
This recipe is courtesy of my friend in fine cookery, Charlotte Davenhill. She makes the most delectable ramp butter….and you can see by her recipe that it isn’t hard. The trick is to chop more than you need in a food processor with sea salt and EVOO, then store it under refrigeration until more is needed:
Use only the strappy, green leaves.
Wash and dry them throughly.
Process with salt to taste and EVOO in a food processor.
To make ramp butter, just add cubed, fresh butter to the chopped greens mixture and blend until there are no more butter lumps . More greens equal a stronger garlic flavor. Keeps well and tastes heavenly.
Just roasted a fat chicken? You don’t need to be a Grandmother to ace this dish. This is a very forgiving recipe, the quantities are somewhat fluid.
Try this recipe after you create a rich chicken stock:
Shred 2 cups chicken and set aside.
In a large and heavy pot, sauté a medium dice of ( one cup each) onion, celery and carrot in olive oil. Add 1/4 cup of finely diced garlic after the other veg is half cooked.
Add 2 quarts rich broth and a bay leaf. Bring to a rolling boil. Then add a cup of raw, washed rice and simmer on low for 20 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Once the rice is cooked and still very brothy, add 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken.
Prepare and temper the egg and lemon sauce :
Whisk 2 eggs in a medium bowl with 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice. Temper the eggs by slowly adding in a label or two of hot broth….slowly.
Add to the soup and remove from heat immediately or the soup will separate.
Serve immediately, admire broth if you choose…check the salt, and enjoy with crusty bread and a salad. Maybe a glass of OUZO?
This soup freezes beautifully, being fat free. It’s rich and velvety…completely delicious. Decedent without the calories! Easy too.
One of Maine’s favorite winter foods get a Latin American spin with this Peruvian preparation.
Here is one of my favorite way to enjoy scallops:
SERVES 4 TO 6
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 POUNDS MAINE SEA SCALLOPS
2 DICED, FIRM RED TOMATO
1 LARGE MINCED SHALLOT
1 SMALL JALEPENO, DICED FINE ( USE THE SEEDS IF YOU LIKE IT HOT)
1/2 CUP FRESHLY SQUEEZED LIME JUICE
1/2 CUP FRESH ORANGE JUICE, SLIGHTLY MORE TO TASTE
1 TSP. PINK SALT, MORE TO TASTE
AVOCADO SLICES AND CILANTRO , TO GARNISH
MIX ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER IN A GLASS BOWL.
COVER AND CHILL FOR AT LEAST 4 TO 6 HOURS, GIVE IT AN OCCASIONAL STIR.
WHEN READY TO PLATE, USE A BED OF CRISP BOSTON LETTUCE AND TOP WITH SEVICHE.
SEASON TO TASTE WITH MORE SALT AND PEPPER. GARNISH WITH LIME AND AVOCADO SLICES AND CORN CHIPS.
HAVE SOME COLD CERVEZA ON HAND! OR A PISCO SOUR!
THIS CAN ALSO BE MADE WITH A FIRM WHITE FISH LIKE HALIBUT OR COD.
PISCO SOUR RECIPE
PERU’S NATIONAL DRINK is oddly attributed to an American bartender from the early 1920’s.
Due to the addition of egg whites, the Pisco sour sports a thick and frothy head of foam attained by a method called “dry shaking”, where by the ingredients are first combined by vigorous shaking before the second shake with ice to chill the drink:
2 oz. Pisco ( spring for a good one!)
1 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1 egg white
Angostura bitters, to garnish
Add all ingredients, except bitters and ice. Shake vigorously until a nice cap of foam forms.
Add crushed ice and shake again until well chilled.
Strain into a cocktail coupe or a rocks glass over more ice.
Garnish with a few drops of bitters.
There you have it!
Enjoy this distinctive drink with toasted, salted corn nuts, the Peruvian bar snack of choice.
Giving for Valentine’s Day isn’t always easy….unless you’re Justin Timberlake: You start with a box, you put a hole in that box….etc…lol..
I prefer something with more calories. Like chocolate.
Chocolate ganache is a shape shifter and needs to be in everyone’s repertoire. Make exclusively from any good type of chocolate and heavy cream, it is very versatile and a one to one ratio.
When warm, it makes a pourable dip for fruit ( think strawberries) or a drizzle for cakes or pastry. When cool, you can ice a cake. If chilled, the best rolled truffles in the world become within reach. If you fancy hot fudge sundaes , here’s your sauce!
I like to bottle it and give it to my bridal couples with a small paintbrush and the directive that ”this sauce really can go to your thighs!”. Good clean and delicious fun, whether you’re married or not!
Here is there recipe:
CHOCOLATE GANACHE, MAKES ONE CUP
16 oz, finely chopped chocolate ( good quality is best) you can use chocolate chips. I prefer bittersweet.
1 cup heavy cream
COOK THESE TWO INGREDIENTS IN A DOUBLE BOILER ORVER MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL MELTED.
LET IT COOL UNCOVERED THEN STORE AIRTIGHT IN THE FRIDGE. LASTS A LONG WHILE!
It’s my birthday week and a time of year that I always look forward to.
Here in Maine, the light is slowly returning. But it’s still a contemplative time in the North . A time to consider the New Year and our resolutions to improve, but also a time to gather and to celebrate ourselves and our friends.
So my birthday, Jan 21, comes at a great time. The holidays are over and there is a bit of a let down. Valentine’s is still a couple weeks away. So why not open some champagne and throw a party?
This year, I plan to invite a half a dozen friends, bring out vintage champagne and bake this cake. It’s built like a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. II like coconut,toasted walnuts and raisins in mine:
Makes one 9 inch layer, I double it for a layer cake.
THE CAKE
1 1/2 cup ap flour, sifted to measure
2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp each ginger and cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
1 stick unsalted butter
1cup light brown sugar
3 large brown eggs at room temp.
1/2 c yoghurt
1 TB real vanilla
2 cups grated parsnip. GRATE THEM SMALL, BY HAND
1/2 cup each h rain, conceit shreds and toasted walnuts
Cream the butter and sugar, adding in the eggs , yoghurt and vanilla slowly.
Combine with dry, ingredients folding in carefully . Add the parsnip,nuts, raisins and coconut last and mix in lightly but thoroughly .
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease 9 inch pan, with amply high sides as the batter is generous.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until done, I use a toothpick as a tester.
Let the cake cool partially before turning it out on a rack .
FROSTING PREPRATION
To cover 2 layers and in between:
Soften 2 1/2 # cream cheese and one stick of butter .
Cook a medium beet, covered and on low heat in a couple inches of water, saving some of the liquid. Cool.
Use a kitchen Aid mixer and whisk, drop in the softened cream cheese and butter. Add a tsp. of vanilla, a 1/4 tsp. of lemon zest ( small grate)and a cup of sifted powdered sugar.
Start the machine slowly until all ingredients for the icing are in corporatated. Then beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Be sure the icing is thick enough to spread.
If you like pink as much as I do, add a bit of beet liquid to the icing to achieve the color you want. You may need to add some additional powdered sugar to correct the thickness .
Pffeffernusse or Pepper Nuts,a traditional European Christmas cookie
Thank you Aunt Marie!
Sift together the dry ingredients:
2 c. flour plus 2 tb flour
1/4 tsp.baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
1/4 tsp. Each nutmeg, clove and cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
Cream together:
1/2 cup each butter and sugar
Add one egg, beating until light.
Add: 1/4 c finely chopped almonds
1 TB each candied orange peel and candied *citron*
Add the flour to the creamed ingredients slowly and alternate with:
1/2 generous cup or Barbados molasses
1/2 cup brandy or Cognac
1 tsp lemon rind, grated
1 TB lemon juice
Combine and beat well, allow to sit covered overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Form the dough into one inch balls.
Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
While warm, roll in powdered sugar Keep tightly covered and the flavor will develop nicely!
* a note on candied citron: I tried preparing my own candied citron one year. It’s a lot of work and a lot of sugar…but worth it if you’re an avid baker. And it keeps!
A citron is a special small melon like fruit,called a Buddha’s Hand (most commonly) which you dice small and cook in a thick sugar syrup, then dry on a rack and add more sugar to coat. A candy thermometer is worthwhile for this endeavor.
Sift together the dry ingredients:
