Today while looking for ideas to update my blog to make it more visually pleasing, I stumbled upon Best of the Food Blogs at www.delish.com. There are so many wonderfully designed, informative, and addictive food blogs out there! I highly recommend checking them out!
WARNING: click here only if you have a fair amount of time to be absorbed into the vast array of recipes, stories, and beautiful photographs that await.
The weather was perfect yesterday for a beach day, and being the last day of Summer vacation, we decided to make the most of it. We packed some munchies, and hiked to a secluded spot in Mid-Coast Maine for a relaxing day.
The highlights of our beach munchies were pumpkin seed cheddar flatbreads with smoked shrimp and aged gouda.
Today I had a lovely lunch with my teaching team at a new restaurant called Marché. Sister restaurant to Fuel, Marché is only open Monday-Friday from 11-2, and Monday evenings for dinner by reservation. Some of the chefs and other restaurant staff from Fuel also work at Marché and have done a wonderful job of bringing a fast, high quality lunch option to the area. Their menu is fairly simple, offering sandwiches, salads, crepes, and burgers all made with fresh ingredients. One of their specialties is a whole roasted chicken served with haricot verts for only $9.00. As quoted from their menu, “We fill our chickens with fresh herbs, whole garlic cloves and Cabot creamery butter. We truss them by hand and cook them in the rotisserie ( our favorite cooking tool), every day. Our rotisserie can only hold 15 chickens, so when they are gone, they are gone!” They also use these chickens to top salads, make homemade chicken salad for sandwiches (not the mayonnaise-drenched stuff), and as a filling for some of their crepes.
Their crepes are made with Julia Child’s recipe, and can be ordered full or “mid” sized. A full size order has two crepes, while a mid has one crepe. Their lobster crepe is amazing, though I didn’t have my camera when I tried it a few weeks ago.
Silly’s is an unusual place with excellent dinner options, and the sort of atmosphere that you can’t find everywhere. It’s a very small restaurant on Washington Ave. in Portland, Maine, and one of our favorite stops for a casual adventurous dinner. After enjoying the Cellar Door Winery’s release party at Grace, we hopped over to Silly’s for a more relaxed atmosphere and dinner.
Silly's Specials Boards
This is another good use for Streaked Mountain Herbs and Crafts Heaps of Herbs dipping oil. Simply dice several potatoes, and toss the pieces with a little of the dipping oil. Bake in a preheated oven (400 degrees) for about 20 minutes, turning half way through the cooking time.
My grandmother introduced me to Rolly’s Diner a little over five years ago, when I moved to the Auburn area. Having lived near Portland for several years, and only visiting family in the Auburn/Lewiston area, I really didn’t know my way around, or what places I should plan to try out… I remember our little road trip that day, me driving, and Memere telling me which roads to take while pointing out landmarks along the way. She showed me where to find the best farmers’ markets, shopping centers, Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary, historic sites, and we ended the tour of L/A with lunch at Rolly’s. Now we try to make time each summer for at least one lunch out at Rolly’s together.
When I first moved to Auburn, I heard about Farmer Whiting. Just up the hill from BJ’s, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Shaw’s, and the somewhat pathetic Auburn Mall, is a red farm stand that’s only open in the Fall. Just beyond that is a beautiful old white farmhouse and a narrow driveway with a sign listing the vegetables available in a small garage-like structure situated near the greenhouses. There is nothing fancy about this structure, but inside you will find a varying selection of the freshest vegetables available. On my most recent visit, I spent a whopping $4.12 and brought home a pint of beautiful sungolds, a pearl cucumber, a burpless cucumber, an eggplant, and a purple pepper.
While my own garden isn’t doing so well, it’s nice to know that there are fresh and interesting options available at a very fair price so close to home!
Inspired by a recent trip to Quebec City, and two pints of pure Maine maple syrup sitting in my cupboard, I decided to make a batch of maple walnut ice cream. I found a recipe online at epicurious, but modified it a bit, and was very pleased with the results. Instead of using two cups of heavy whipping cream, I used one cup of heavy whipping cream and one cup of half and half. I also used grade A dark amber maple syrup because that’s what I had, instead of the grade B syrup that the recipe called for. I chilled the custard overnight, and found that it was nearly as thick as pudding in the morning. I was a bit worried as I poured, or rather scooped, it into my ice cream maker. It actually froze nicely, and had a very creamy, smooth texture. I would put as much as 3/4 c. of walnuts in next time to give it a little more crunch.
Our trip to Quebec was on par with other vacations–the camera stayed in our hotel room… Fortunately we were traveling with friends, who are much better at remembering to carry their camera! What I can write about is the wonderful, though small, collection of products that we brought home with us.
From left to right:
1) Ice Cider from Isle D’Orleans Domaine Steinbach ~ The official name of this product is Fantaisy, and it is a blend of ice cider and black currant liquour. We selected this as a gift for my parents after a tasting at Domaine Steinbach.
2) Moutarde a l’orange from Domaine Steinbach ~ This is a very tangy, flavorful mustard. It is delicious on a sandwich, or as a pretzel dip. We selected this as a gift for my husband’s parents because we recalled their enjoyment of this mustard when we visited Isle D’Orleans with them a few years ago.
3) Feuille D’Erable (Maple Leaf Cookies) ~ These are a favorite of mine, and there are several brands available in Quebec. Every once in a while we find them in Maine. These were an impulse buy on the day we left Quebec City, while stocking up on snacks for the five hour car ride home.
4) The tiny jar labeled Biodelices is a maple spread. It’s made from pure maple syrup, and I couldn’t resist buying it after sampling it at J.A. Moisan Epicier at 699 Rue Saint-Jean, Quebec.
5) Le Petit Bonheur, a cider and maple syrup based apertif, which is sort of like an ice cider with a hint of maple flavor. This was our selection to bring home for ourselves, after sampling it at Ciderie/Verger Bilodeau on Chemin Royal in St. Pierre, Isle D’Orleans.
For more details about our trip to Quebec City, and some amazing photography, visit our friends’ blog, Blame it on the Food.
