163 replies to this topic

[johnnyd]

Time to cook up some of these fabulous, fresh mussels. Mussels Parisiennes has to be one of the best ways to cook these little beasts.

Start with a good butter,



Clean, debeard mussels. Chop onion or shallot, prep some tarragon and basil chiffonade style,

Get a tablespoon of butter bubbling and add onion. When glassy, pour a cup of white wine in (no more), and when that bubbles, add a couple capfuls of pernod. Then your mussels.



Before you put the cover on, scatter herbs over the mussels. Keep an eye on things while you open a new bottle of wine. I made a salad with the fresh vegatables I bought from the Alewive's market.



On a whim, I boiled one of the fresh-picked corn for four minutes and rolled it in butter and a crank or two of pepper. This turned out to be the killer match...



This dish was simply spectacular. But it was augmented by a simple ear of very fresh sweet corn, rolled in a little butter. The salty, herbed, licorice mussel portion was perfectly matched by the sweetness of an ear of corn-on-the-cob.



I don't have a pic of my corn. It was an afterthought. Little did I know how it would transform this meal of mussels, freshly picked off a rope on an aquaculture raft in Casco Bay.

Edited by johnnyd, 31 August 2005 - 08:50 PM.

[chromedome]

<sigh> This Nova Scotian's been living inland for 2 1/2 years. Last time I did that (early 1980's) I made two trips to the East Coast and one to the West during that time. No such luck this go-round...I can't fit all I own in a duffle bag anymore, and hitchhiking with the wife & kids is O-U-T out!

Your pix have been wonderful medicine for the homesickness. Maine looks almost as nice (cough, cough) as New Scotland.

[ludja]

Yum... the mussels and corn sound (and look) like a wonderful meal. I made a similar mussel dish recently minus the Pernod--I must try them this way. Anise and seafood is good!

Thank you very much for so gracefullly sharing this week with us. The food and beautiful pix are making me homesick for New England.

I also loved the shots from your 'camp'. The white wooden boards in the kitchen and porch almost make me smell and hear the Atlantic and feel the ocean mist on my cheeks.

[Marya]

Since that's a cataplana, I'm hoping that clams with linguica, etc. will be making an appearance.

[Abra]

I see that Marya beat me to identifying the cataplana, and here I made myself a caipirinha as a prize for good guessing. So, now this one's for you, johnnyd



Those mussels look killer, and similar to some I make with Pastis, fennel, and saffron. Corn is an inspired accompaniment - I'll have to try that. What a delicious blog you're cooking up!

[johnnyd]

Since that's a cataplana, I'm hoping that clams with linguica, etc. will be making an appearance.

I knew it wouldn't take long in this crowd. That one is about forty years old and was purchased at a street market in Portimão, in the Algarve, probably for about $5.

I have been making Ameijoas na Cataplana with some of the locally made Choriço because it's fresh. The available linguiça is made in New Bedford, Mass, but loaded with sulfites and other nastiness common to pre-prepared food which I try to avoid. I am a firm believer in using fresh ingredients whenever possible. The math is simple: you will stay healthy. The fun is deciding what to do with what's around at the moment.

They are both good. which shall I use tonight? The only ingredient I have are mussels so far... so that makes it Mexilhoes na Cataplana.

Edited by johnnyd, 01 September 2005 - 07:04 AM.

[johnnyd]

I see that Marya beat me to identifying the cataplana, and here I made myself a caipirinha as a prize for good guessing. So, now this one's for you, johnnyd

... and a nice one if I may say so.

[little ms foodie]

those mussels look divine, I will try your method next time we steam some up!

[johnnyd]

One of the highlights of being Director of Development at a non-profit radio station is the opportunity to visit our underwriters. Today I visited David L. Geary, the owner operator of the oldest microbrewery in New England.



David chucked his sales job a while back and followed his passion to England and Scotland where he was invited to study with some traditionalists for a time. The result is a very popular pale ale brewed right here in Portland.



He also has the coolest label...



David gave me a tour. This is his classic Pale Ale. It has Two row English malt (pale, crystal and chocolate); Cascade, Mt Hood, Tettnang and Fuggle Hops. Alcohol by volume: 4.5%.

His loyal bottling crew is, he says, right out of the bar scene on Star Wars. This is ANT.





Bottling apparatus hums merrily along, assuring the town of some very fine beer.

Every summer, David calls for designs from the Maine College of Art to put on his summer-only brew.



David insists beer came before mankind as yeast in the air inevitably settled in a sweet, protein-rich puddle somewhere in the primordial stew...



...my kind of guy...

Edited by johnnyd, 02 September 2005 - 03:17 AM.

[ghostrider]

Start with a good butter,

Ha! Kate's has become my everyday butter, for as long as I'm working across the street from a Whole Foods.

I wonder if Kate's is nationwide now, thanx to WF, or still a regional delicacy.

[johnnyd]

The season's first heirloom tomato. I think it's a cherokee but I'll know when I taste it.

Tonight we are making Mexilhoes na Cataplana, Mussels in a weird-copper-thingie-that-iberian-gypsies-have-used-for-generations.

Essentially, it is a pork and shellfish dish popular in Spain and Portugal. I lived in the Algarve province of Portugal on and off for ten years as a young man and had many culinary epiphanies there. This is one of them.

Tonight, I am adding some squid and some nice fresh cod to this seasoned tomato-based dish. I have some prosciutto and choriço from Mark and Maurice's Sausage Kitchen upthread, and Craig and Bernie's gift of fresh mussels from their raft out in Casco Bay.



1/4 inch slab of proshute, choriço, paprika, bay and hot pepper which I will hand-grind.



Proshute and choriço saute in olive oil



Remove w/slotted spoon and saute 2 x chopped medium onion, 2 x bay leaf, 3 x clove garlic coarsely minced, and one chopped green pepper. Saute 'til glassy.



Add 2tsp paprika, 1/4tsp hot pepper, and a few grinds of black pepper.



Add 2 x cans diced tomato (one MUST be drained) and simmer for 40 minutes...

Edited by johnnyd, 01 September 2005 - 09:05 PM.

[johnnyd]

While the tomato mixture is simmering, it's time for another snack...



This is a small frond of rockweed found everywhere on the Maine coast.

Upon which we place a few oysters from a Damarriscotta river oyster farm.

[johnnyd]

When the tomato mixture is cooked through, I add the proscuitto and choriço, a few squid tentacles and sliced tubes, then a bit of cod. A half cup of white wine is a good idea at this point.





After a return to simmer, the mussels are added with a spoonful or two of tomato mixture on top and a liberal scattering of flat-leaf parsley.





The cataplana is closed tightly for fifteen minutes on low heat.



The aroma is exquisite!

[johnnyd]

We serve this with a Casal Garcia - Vinho Verde, a "green" wine which is slightly effervescent. As such, it is a quandry to wine aficionados but it is just one of those peculiar Portuguese creations. It just so happens that it is really good with those pork/shellfish dishes so good for them! I always look for it when I have a cataplana on the brain and I invariably find it for about $7.

[ghostrider]

A photographic piece de resistance! Beautiful!

[kanljung]

That cataplana looks absolutely delicious!

One of the most memorable dishes I had when we were in the Algarve this summer was mussels, chorico and pork cooked in a cataplana. I agree that Vinho verde is excellent with this kind of dish.

Thansk for sharing your version with us and for reminding me that I'll have to cook this myself sometime soon. I even have a bottle of Vinho Verde lying around.

[bleudauvergne]

I have got to get a cataplana! First I will cook this in a regular pot while I figure out how I'm going to get one.

[IrishCream]

Very evocative. Your blog makes me nostalgic for New England where I spent my first 7 years and then another 7 as a young adult. Thank you.

[johnnyd]

A bikeride was in order this morning. So much has happened this week. Who knew such a calamity would befall our friends to the south? That gas prices are sixty cents more a gallon since I started this foodblog?



Other happier coincidences include a tip of the hat to seafood chowders in Wednesday's New York Times, and The New Yorker's Food Issue, two of my regular reads seemingly in-step with what is now an institution at eGullet.org.

So I pedaled over to the little bakery on Willard square called One Fifty Eight which is owned and operated by eGullet member KeysToVt and her partner, Bob.



We chatted about Vermont, the recent devastation in Louisiana and Mississippi, and how it seems we all have absolutely no time for anything these days.



Sonya, Bob and the crew produce an impressive array of goodies each morning. Bob has a discriminating taste in cheese. I bought a terrific chimay (I'm sure I left a trail of it's scent as I biked home), and a Tomme from the French Alps. Their wine selection is comprehensive. Here are more of the season's first heirloom tomatos.

Edited by johnnyd, 02 September 2005 - 03:46 PM.

[johnnyd]

The last day of foodblog: johnnyd - Dining Downeast sees fewer flowers at the fort, the grass is starting to look a little like autumn, and the New England summertime humidity is retreating to the south.



Today we are going downtown for lunch and maybe poke around the Old Port of Portland. We haven't been in town all week, nor have we visited any of our restaurants. But that leaves something to look forward to.

I also came up empty in the underwater blogging segment of our program. I tried in vain to line up a trip and some equipment I needed, but I think my friends understandably took advantage of the great weather and made a little money instead.



Damn...

I actually put on what gear I had and snorkled off Whaleback Rock at the Cape in an attempt to snag a mutant sea urchin or wrestle a giant lobster into submission, but no such luck. I got a couple murky pix of a crab and some plantlife, which didn't make the cut.... next time!

Edited by johnnyd, 02 September 2005 - 05:31 AM.

[Chufi]

That really is an amzing difference between those two pictures of the fort. I was thinking the same thing when I was taking my walk in the park this morning.. these are the weeks when everything suddenly changes so fast, and you have to say goodbye to summer.
How beautiful the way your 2 pics evoke that slightly melancholy feeling.

Like you I am a firm believer in fresh ingredients and "deciding what to do with what's around.." Allthough in my case, unfortunately, "what's around" never seems to stretch to such lovely mussles, corn, lobster or heirloom tomatoes.

Thanks for sharing!

[Adam Balic]

Lovely foodblog, thank you. I have never been to your neck of the woods, but I feel a little like I have now.

[Corinna Dunne]

Thanks for the wonderful blog Johnnyd, and thanks for trying to get that urchin for us.

[johnnyd]

Thanks for the wonderful blog Johnnyd, and thanks for trying to get that urchin for us.

Oh, my pleasure! I suppose had I come upon the much-feared mutant sea urchin, it would have quite a score to settle since I and my colleagues were responsible for removing more than 50 million pounds of it's relatives from Maine waters...

I have decided that stories about sea urchin diving is better told in a different area of eGullet. After all, I didn't do any urchin diving this week and I am no longer licensed to do so. But the story of doing it is compelling. Stay tuned.

I think a look at lobsters, lobstering and lobstermen would also deserve a thread of it's own. I'm sure as the weather get's worse, my boat-owning pals will reinstate their offer for a day out pulling traps or at least go check on them and since most of us love lobsters, and I live here, I will happily take one for the team and dutifully report on the state of that fishery, and others in the Gulf of Maine.

Edited by johnnyd, 03 September 2005 - 04:31 AM.

[ghostrider]

So long, and thanks for all the fish!!!

[AzianBrewer]

One of the highlights of being Director of Development at a non-profit radio station is the opportunity to visit our underwriters.  Today I visited David L. Geary, the owner operator of the oldest microbrewery in New England.



David chucked his sales job a while back and followed his passion to England and Scotland where he was invited to study with some traditionalists for a time.  The result is a very popular pale ale brewed right here in Portland.



He also has the coolest label...



David gave me a tour.  This is his classic Pale Ale.  It has Two row English malt (pale, crystal and chocolate); Cascade, Mt Hood, Tettnang and Fuggle Hops.  Alcohol by volume: 4.5%. 

His loyal bottling crew is, he says, right out of the bar scene on Star Wars.  This is ANT.





Bottling apparatus hums merrily along, assuring the town of some very fine beer.

Every summer, David calls for designs from the Maine College of Art to put on his summer-only brew.



David insists beer came before mankind as yeast in the air inevitably settled in a sweet, protein-rich puddle somewhere in the primordial stew...



...my kind of guy... 

It seems like they used a nice blend of hops for there pale ale. I am not a big fan of cascade. I like to substitute jasmin tea leaves for my "finishing hops". Great with Thai curried mussels.

[slschnur]

One of the highlights of being Director of Development at a non-profit radio station is the opportunity to visit our underwriters.  Today I visited David L. Geary, the owner operator of the oldest microbrewery in New England.



David chucked his sales job a while back and followed his passion to England and Scotland where he was invited to study with some traditionalists for a time.  The result is a very popular pale ale brewed right here in Portland.



He also has the coolest label...



David gave me a tour.  This is his classic Pale Ale.  It has Two row English malt (pale, crystal and chocolate); Cascade, Mt Hood, Tettnang and Fuggle Hops.  Alcohol by volume: 4.5%. 

His loyal bottling crew is, he says, right out of the bar scene on Star Wars.  This is ANT.





Bottling apparatus hums merrily along, assuring the town of some very fine beer.

Every summer, David calls for designs from the Maine College of Art to put on his summer-only brew.



David insists beer came before mankind as yeast in the air inevitably settled in a sweet, protein-rich puddle somewhere in the primordial stew...



...my kind of guy...  

It seems like they used a nice blend of hops for there pale ale. I am not a big fan of cascade. I like to substitute jasmin tea leaves for my "finishing hops". Great with Thai curried mussels.

[slschnur]

I've really enjoyed yr blog. We've toyed around with the idea of retiring to Maine - friends of ours just did so in Blue Hill - but after reading May Sarton's diaries of the winters, we've decided to stay put in VA, at least for the moment. How are the winters?

[Daniel]

Awesome stuff Johnny.. Thanks for the blog.. Gorgeous pictures and cooking.. Thanks for a locals look into Maine..

[TPO]

Thanks for the great blog! It's always nice to be reminded of all the reasons why I moved back to Maine.