163 replies to this topic

[johnnyd]

This morning we went down to the beach to see what's going on. That's Whaleback Rock out on the point there. You can see the rockweed is everywhere. There are some mussels under that stuff that would do well in my chowder.

There are some beach plums that the local ladies haven't picked for their jam yet. The scent of this plant is everywhere during a New England Summer.



I see that Dr. Readie's grandson has taken his boat out to lobster as there are usually three boats moored in a channel just off the beach.



Coffee and more papaya and we are outta here for the day.

[petite tête de chou]

Those mangos sure look yummy on that Jadeite plate.

[lexy]

There are some beach plums that the local ladies haven't picked for their jam yet.  The scent of this plant is everywhere during a New England Summer.

Wait, are beach plums a kind of rose? I've just returned from a trip to Nova Scotia, and I saw plants that looked like that growing all over the south shore. I assumed they were roses, and that the 'plums' were the rose hips.

edited for clarity

Edited by lexy, 26 August 2005 - 11:03 AM.

[johnnyd]

Wait, are beach plums a kind of rose?

Lexy, you are totally right these are Rugosa and those are indeed rose hip fruit.

When I was small we used to get a cottage on chappy island off Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard. Way back then there was no Black Dog and you could dig clams in Katama bay with your toes. Rugosa was/is everywhere and my parents called the rose hip fruit "beach plums" in an effort to get me to eat them which would make my face curl. I remember jars of jam showing up on the breakfast table and when I asked what it was made from they would point outside to the rugosa and say "Beach plum!"

In all that time I never distinguished between the two, prefering to live with that open synapse as a tribute to my parents sometimes twisted sense of humor. So that was pretty embarrassing! Doh! I'm such a knucklehead!!

Here is a downright superb website on real beach plums.

...and for the record, you can make jam out of either fruit.

Edited by johnnyd, 26 August 2005 - 11:52 AM.

[Abra]

Even though I live on a beautiful island myself, your pictures are making me feel like a vacation out East is in order. Gorgeous.

And the next blogger's gotta be Ling. That girl can eat as much as any five of the rest of us, if her posts are to be believed. Not only that, she likes good food.

[zilla369]

This blog is going to be a classic, johnny!!

See how skillfully he embeds the internet links.

Watch as he makes lobster stock on a portable burner.

Experience an underwater wonderland.

Envy his photographic virtuosity.


In a world gone mad, one man takes the entire coast of Maine by storm and hopefully makes a fantastic corn chowder. (Please?)

Coming soon to a monitor near you, don't miss: johnnyd: Pine Tree State Pickle Pimpin'!!!!!

[petite tête de chou]

If I didn't live in Oregon or Alaska it would be in your neck of the woods. Truly, truly beautiful!
You mentioned using your local mussels (shellfish RULES!), do have any concerns about pollution from the boats and whatnot? Euell Gibbons would be proud.

[johnnyd]

You mentioned using your local mussels (shellfish RULES!), do have any concerns about pollution from the boats and whatnot? Euell Gibbons would be proud. biggrin.gif

The Gulf of Maine is a gigantic toiletbowl. It flushes twice a day. The tides are huge, huge, HUGE. I have a couple old photos from urchining that display at least twelve feet displacement which, if I find them, would offer a perspective. This guarantees fresh seawater on a dependable basis regardless of what is floating around. For this reason, the sealife is incredibly lush and healthy.

As far as mankind's impact is concerned, there exists a certain symbosis that has been standard since, well, humans came around. In a modern context, see this post above and know that more has been done lately to further preserve the health of Casco Bay, probably the busiest maritime area on the maine coast.

Just last week, Governer Baldacci was at Portland Head Light to call for a no-discharge status for Casco Bay. It's a big area, with 3000 islands, and people throw stuff overboard whether it's a big or small vessel.

I am not concerned about the mussels off Whaleback Rock. When I was in Portugal, we used to go to our favorite beach with a big pot, an onion, a bottle of local white, a cutting board and a knife, a loaf of bread, then go at the rocks for lunch.

Some things just stick, you know?

[johnnyd]

zilla! Ya killin' me!!!

Well we aren't underwater yet and all my peeps aren't calling me back so we'll just have to see what happens folks.

The corn is going nuts here. Corn (something) is definitely on the menu!

[johnnyd]

In Brasil, saturdays is feijoada day. Basically, whatever is leftover from the pig, like snouts, ears, etc. is thrown into a pot with black beans. It cooks for a lo-o-ong time and around noon, everyone tucks in.

I totally enjoyed this ritual when I was a kid in Brasil and as a result, make it regularly as an adult... (many friends would question this apparent status about me but we'll move on, shall we?!) I make a bunch of it and freeze what's left for the month. It so happens we are out and it's time to go for it. Happily, this coincides with the mysterious arrival of a bottle of cachaça in the mail. cachaça is a sugar-cane liquor made in many villages in Brasil and when combined with lime and sugar, it's called a caipirinha. It's one rockin' cocktail.

Feijoada takes two days to make. I put two pounds of black beans to soak this morning, then went to Pat's Meat Market for some ingredients.



They have lots of produce and make great sandwiches but I'm here for some meat...





The helpful staff is happy to oblige!

I pick up 1&1/2lb stew top round, 2 x smoked pork chop, three smoked ham hocks and about a pound of slab bacon. Mrs. johnnyd put the kibosh on snouts, ears and feet so this will have to do! I still need chorizo, but I'll pick that up tomorrow along with some farmer's bounty out on the cape.

Tonight, we start cooking the beans and a couple hours later, add the meats. This cooks another couple hours then we let it sit to meld. It will still be warm when we make our coffee tomorrow, so we put the heat back on then. By mid-day, it'll be ready.

Feijoada is served with plain white rice, collard greens, orange segments, sometimes coconut pieces, and an excellent hot sauce made with lime, chilis and garlic which I made just last week. Oh, and lots of caipirinhas and beer.

Edited by johnnyd, 26 August 2005 - 04:49 PM.

[edsel]

Alright! When I saw that you were blogging this week I was hoping that cachaça would make an appearance. Feijoada is even better! Can you get Brazilian-style chorizo there? I have trouble finding a reasonable substitute.

You didn't mention farofa as an accompaniment. Isn't that pretty traditional with feijoada?

I think you should start a second pot with all the scary bits (ears, tail, tongue, etc.) - or does Mrs johnnyD not even allow them in the house... Your stovetop has two burners, right?

[ghostrider]

Loving this blog! I'll be at the PPM next week, en route to points further north. Timing couldn't be better to whet my appetite.

In the distance, you can see Portland Head Light on Cape Elizabeth.  Our camp is on the other side of that point, about a mile.

(For any folks from away who may not get this, "camp" is a peculiarly Maineish bit of vernacular, referring to what the rest of the country knows as a "cabin.")

Edited by ghostrider, 27 August 2005 - 08:16 AM.

[suzilightning]

ohhhhh... johnnyd

mrsadam and i have been talking about growing up on the east end of long island and foraging for beachplums - especially to make jams or jellies.

i remember steaming our crabs and lobsters with rockweed( we called them poppers or sputnik grass).

do you gather irish moss like we did then use it to make dishes like blanc mange?

i am loving the pictures - in fact i can almost smell the low tide and know i'm home

many thanks

[Pan]

I was away in California for three weeks with limited computer time or access, so I still have a lot of reading to catch up on, including a few blogs. Anyway, though, having caught up on this one, I'm enjoying it.

So you grew up in Brazil, later lived in Portugal, and are now living in Maine. Are there other countries you've been to that influence your current cooking or/and eating habits?

[Susan in FL]

Here is a downright superb website on real beach plums. 

Ahhh yes, beach plum jelly or jam. My mom and her friends used to make it a lot during the season ...Delaware coast.
Much of what you're referring to reminds me of my previous lives, at the Delaware coast. Clamming and musseling. My parents always clammed with their toes, but not me. I've always been afraid of what my feet would come upon.
Thanks for trips down memory lanes! I'm enjoying this and love your blogging style. I suppose I'm an elementary-style-reader of blogs; I like to look at lots of pictures and don't want to take a long time to read through lots of paragraphs.

And the next blogger's gotta be Ling.  That girl can eat as much as any five of the rest of us, if her posts are to be believed.  Not only that, she likes good food.

My sentiments exactly.

[johnnyd]

On a quick trip into town for supplies now. The feijoada is bubbling gently away back at the "cabin" (thank you Mr. GRider!).

Last night I added some meats to the beans that had cooked for two hours.



This is my all purpose utility knife that does the dirty work I wouldn't let near my Wusthof 10" Chef's blade. It cost $3.99. When I worked Back Of the House a while back, the line crew sharpened their knives with a zen-like passion, so I picked it up too. I just can't afford a proper stone right now. So for $3.50 I picked up this CRYSTALON tool at a yard sale!



Here are the smoked chops (I thought the end piece would flavor the beans nicely)





A few more hours now...

Farofa is definitely on the menu, which I toast for a few minutes and then add butter to brown slightly. I'm in town to track down choriço from Maurice and Mark, the sausage guys I met upthread but traffic downtown is pretty mad on a beautiful Saturday like today.

[johnnyd]

So you grew up in Brazil, later lived in Portugal, and are now living in Maine. Are there other countries you've been to that influence your current cooking or/and eating habits?

I lived in Switzerland for four years and gained an appreciation for cuisine there and for Northern Italian. I haven't had a good Knockwurst since. I saw bundefleisch at Portland Green Grocer and nearly fainted.

I haven't been anywhere east of Venice but I love japanese cuisine, so far as to continue the struggle to make even reasonably good sushi rice. helenjp's blog about pickling caused me to have a few from our asian grocer handy at all times. Soon I'll have to try and make some.

I feel like I've only scratched the surface of Indian, Chinese and other neighboring cuisines, thanks primarily to eGullet, so I am looking forward to discovering more interesting flavors, which seem to be everywhere, but at the same time invisible here in the USA.

I am very interested in new and different things to eat... enough to make significant detours from other responsibilities to achieve that goal.

Is that so wrong?

[Soup]

really enjoying your posts. I love to hear about sea urchant experience. You bio was pretty interesting as well.

Looking forward to more.

BTW, I went to couple of Janpanease places in portland. The were ok at best and a bit expensive. You'll do better making your own.

Fresh raw scallops, almost as good as raw oysters.

[Smithy]

2 unrelated questions:

What does the rockweed contribute to the lobster steaming? Is there a salty scent that comes in, or some definite flavor, or does it just, oh, *feel* right?

What happens, or what should happen, to the scraps from the fishing and shellfish industry, such as fish offal and lobster shells? How does the Zero Discharge program propose to change that, if at all? What do restaurants do with that stuff now?

OK, so that's more than 2 question marks.

[Swisskaese]

I lived in Switzerland for four years and gained an appreciation for cuisine there and for Northern Italian.  I haven't had a good Knockwurst since. I saw bundefleisch at Portland Green Grocer and nearly fainted.

Where did you live in Switzerland? I lived in Lugano and also gained a great appreciation for everything Italian, full-stop. Luckily, I can find some of the Swiss specialities in Jerusalem. There is a Swiss delicatessen there.

Great blog.

[johnnyd]

What does the rockweed contribute to the lobster steaming? Is there a salty scent that comes in, or some definite flavor, or does it just, oh, *feel* right?

The steaming liquid becomes very oceany, salty and takes on a vague vegetable flavor. The best thing is that it provides a proper bed for the beasts to steam upon. Seems to work very well.

Using rockweed is a traditional trick for lobster "bakes". Lobster bakes occur when a bunch of people dig a trench about four feet long on a beach somewhere, start a roaring fire on which they heap a few rocks. After a few hours the rocks are scorching hot and ready to cook just about anything you have. In New England, that would be potatoes, lobster, corn and steamer clams. In between the layers of food, people put armfuls of plump rockweed which steams up the trench with moisture. The trench is covered with a tarp and you and your friends set about drinking a lot of beer until it's ready, about four to six hours.

As you can imagine, you don't do this without a couple days to kill, and plenty of supplies, especially if you are doing this on an island.

[johnnyd]

What happens, or what should happen, to the scraps from the fishing and shellfish industry, such as fish offal and lobster shells?

Good question and one that has been on the minds of waterfront managers for years. Usually, scraps are used for something. My fish market puts tuna skeletons and cooked lobster bodies up for sale at about $0.29/lb. They say it's all gone by noon, purchased mostly by our growing asian population. When urchins were processed (extracted and put in small 100gram containers for japanese supermarkets), the shells were put on a big old wooden lobsterboat called "Eeyore", and dumped out at sea. That was a smelly boat, man...

I also had a friend who was working diligently on sea-scrap conversion to fertilizer a few years ago. Since then I have seen bags of "sea-stuff" for sale to use in the garden. I would expect it would become a nutrient additive at some level of the process.

This week, when I made my lobster stock, I dumped the debris on the beach and let the seagulls have at it.

[johnnyd]

So back to our feijoada a la johnnyd!

The beans and meats have been simmering all day and the stew beef is beginning to fall apart, the hamhocks have disintegrated into wonderfully gelatinous goo and the smoked chop is in there somewhere!

About two hours before serving, I added some herbs from my garden: rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Also some chipotle in adobo...





I saute a couple onions and a couple tomatos in olive oil 'til almost saucey then add liquid from the bean pot. A few more ladles to insure a good blend and back into the main pot it goes.

At this point I head out to Jordan's farm stand to get some collard greens, a traditional accompaniment to feijoada.



Jordan's is a classic. There is a box where people put there money, which they count up themselves, even make their own change.





No collards. "Ain't much call for it up he-ah," said our garlic cleaning friend. So I bought some nice-looking beet greens instead.

[johnnyd]

Forgot to mention that we hit Two Lights Lobster Shack for a snack. Our cabin for the month of August is only a half-mile away.

The above is neither our cabin (!) or the Lobster Shack but one of the two lighthouses that sit on the point here. This particular lighthouse was granted to a private citizen a few years ago by the US Coast Guard and is one of the few privately-owned lighthouses in the world.



Today's prices and a reflection of the crowd at the Shack. I covered a visit here back on Memorial Day for the Best Fried Clams thread (pix!)over on the New England board. Today we poked around the knick-kanckery on the walls and found to my utter surprise an old lobster buoy with my last name on it! It was a bit spooky.

Edited by johnnyd, 28 August 2005 - 06:05 AM.

[johnnyd]

Now that the feijoada is basically ready and the rice is started, it's time for a caipirinha!



Caipirinhas are essentially, limes, sugar, ice and cachaça - a powerful, brew made from sugar-cane juice. How does it differ from Rum? Rum is made from molasses. See more about that distinction (and more!) at the venerable Fine Spirits and Cocktails thread.



First, we have decided to use a meyer lemon rather than limes today. They are juicier and have an orangey hint that I felt might make an interesting difference. Whatever you use, add a healthy spoonful of sugar and muddle with the appropriate tool:



It is important to let the mixture sit for a bit before you do anything else. This is why some of you don't get it when you order these in busy bars: caipirinhas, like mojitos, need time for the flavors to meld and busy bars don't have time, do they?



.... .... ..okay that's enough waiting! We add ice, now



then cachaçal...



Welcome to the Cafe Atlantico in Cape Elizabeth, Maine

[johnnyd]

I made a salad for our feifoada using heart-of-palm, local red onion, local red and yellow tomatoes, local cilantro and Boston lettuce.





Here, I am toasting farofa (ground manioc). Usually, feijoada is pretty soupy, so adding a spoonful of farofa bulks it up a bit. It's quite delicious.





This is my "Molho Pimento", a classic lime juice-based hot sauce that I made last week so it's about ready to use. It has:

- the juice of 4 limes
- three cloves local garlic, minced
- six thai hot peppers, minced

The right pepper is malagueta but we don't have that around he-ah.

[johnnyd]

The neighbors are having a party with a decent jazz band, a nice backdrop for our brazilian feast.





The dish is topped with the smoked pork. The bean dish has gloppy pieces of smoked hamhock fat and the occasional bone, nice and authentic! In the back is a bone bowl for when we find 'em in our plate. Farofa is nice and golden, right in the middle. The little yellow pot back by the candle holds a simple combo of lemon juice, EVOO, salt and pepper and a little honey for the salad.

What's missing is our greens which I totally forgot about, but hey, you can't get it right all the time.

Edited by johnnyd, 28 August 2005 - 06:59 AM.

[johnnyd]

I happened to have a small bottle of Suco de Caju, or Cashew Fruit Juice. Click Here, then hit "Our Products", then "Cashew" for the best photo I could find at the moment of a Cashew Fruit.



I had never made a Cashew Caipirinha, and after I made one I understood why it's... well, not all the rage right now! It was definitely interesting, it has a woody flavor with a touch of... pineapple, maybe? Hard to pin down, but I made something I never had before, and to me that's a good day.

For dessert, we had goiabada com dulce de leite. That's guava paste with that fabulous caramelley stuff, famous in latin countries. Instant Coffee Bustelo matched it nicely.



It comes as a layered bar which I'd never seen before. Had it laid out sliced for a pic but my trusty Canon's batteries were pooched.

Edited by johnnyd, 28 August 2005 - 07:00 AM.

[johnnyd]

This morning dawned muggier than usual. Local TV says we are getting hot and cloudy in advance of whatever Katrina has left for us after she floods the South. I am aprehensive. Having been a fisherman (not that I could ever claim that I was really any good at it), I know first hand that ocean storms are not to be underestimated.



Our Cabin sits on a small bluff of ledge about twelve foot above sea-level. There area a couple newer houses below us, on land that has been in a trust since the early 1700's.

This cool, old GE fridge is more recent than that, however:



The aluminum swinging shelves kill me!



This is the view from (very) near our townhouse in South Portland. Our view of the City of Portland is compromised by a couple of huge oil tanks but it's not too bad in between them and the price is right.

I need to get a couple bunches of herbs from my overgrown herb garden for today. I have a mass of Tarragon in the back, decent basil, Greek Oregano and thyme. Somewhere under Harry the Horseradish from Hell is my struggling Thai basil.



The bumble bees have taken over my oregano. If I get near it they gang up on me.

[Behemoth]

Now that the feijoada is basically ready and the rice is started, it's time for a caipirinha!

Caipis are hugely popular in Germany -- I don't understand why they haven't caught on in the states. We make them almost every night in the summer. The caipirinha is also, is by the way, the Behemoth family christmas eve cocktail of choice. We use key limes and demerara sugar, the drill is one person muddles and another crushes the ice. We go through about two or three bottles of cachaca by 4 am. I heart my in-laws...

Lovely photos, btw. I feel like I am still on vacation, which is impressive considering I've locked myself in a dark little room to get this damned paper finished!