eG Foodblog: Peter the eater (2011) - More Maritimes

[Kim Shook]

Peter – thrilled to see you blogging!! I have cousins who retired to New Horton NB and was an Anne of Green Gables girl, so I am dying to visit your part of the world. I loved the cake topper (we are BIG Wallace & Gromit fans here, too).

[Peter the eater]

I have to ask what that is on top of the tower of ham - it looks like egg to me?! Those are some incredible meat platters. Was it all hoovered up?

It's pineapple, not local. What didn't get hovered up that night got polished off the next day.

[heidih]

Good grief! I can't believe I did not think of that. Good idea.

[FauxPas]

Island-made potato vodka?

There are bootleggers around. If I find some at the liquor store then yes, FauxPas. Oysters for sure.

Prince Edward Distillery (near Souris?) makes potato vodka, I wanted to visit them but didn't make it!

http://www.princeedwarddistillery.com/home.php?page=home

[Peter the eater]

The day after the wedding, according to family tradition, we had a sunset bonfire on the beach. Hot dogs were roasted then out came the port, blue cheese and cigars. This fortified wine is from Newfoundland and it's a good value ruby. The cheese is Nova Scotian Dragon's Breath Blue from That Dutchman's Farm. It's a personal fave.

[Peter the eater]

Island-made potato vodka?

There are bootleggers around. If I find some at the liquor store then yes, FauxPas. Oysters for sure.

Prince Edward Distillery (near Souris?) makes potato vodka, I wanted to visit them but didn't make it!

http://www.princeedwarddistillery.com/home.php?page=home

Thanks for the link. How did I miss that place?

[Peter the eater]

And no Cape Breton wedding is complete without 300 cookies and a canoe of beer.

[kayb]

Love it already. Perhaps reading about someplace cooler than my 102 in Hot Springs will cool me off -- can't wait to see the extreme cheese and all the seafood (and of course, good whiskey!).

[Peter the eater]

Here are a few more veggie dishes -- fresh cukes and tomatoes with my homegrown basil. The bristol board planning poster stuck to the wall gives some idea what was going on the day before the big day. We also had a temperamental chocolate fountain.

[Peter the eater]

Can't forget the obligatory eG Foodblog fridge shot. For the wedding we had four of them plus a few chest freezers and a system of coolers. I believe a few neighbors helped keep things cool as well.

[annabelle]

Nice work, Peter! I feel cooled off looking at the water. It's been 104 here for, well forever, it seems. That canoe of beer is fun. I'll have to recommend that to the Finger Lakes in-laws.

[Peter the eater]

Nice work, Peter! I feel cooled off looking at the water. It's been 104 here for, well forever, it seems. That canoe of beer is fun. I'll have to recommend that to the Finger Lakes in-laws.

It's a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Be aware that a 16' canoe can hold a lot of beer.

[Peter the eater]

Before taking the ferry to PEI we had a lovely lunch stop in central Cape Breton. The Herring Choker Deli, like many places here, is not open year round. I went with a smoked beef sandwich on uberfresh white bread with a cup of curry pea soup.

[rarerollingobject]

Fantastic food..those meat platters!!

[Shelby]

The day after the wedding, according to family tradition, we had a sunset bonfire on the beach. Hot dogs were roasted then out came the port, blue cheese and cigars. This fortified wine is from Newfoundland and it's a good value ruby. The cheese is Nova Scotian Dragon's Breath Blue from That Dutchman's Farm. It's a personal fave.

Niiiiiiiiiiiice.

I feel instantly relaxed just looking at that picture.

[Peter the eater]

Fantastic food..those meat platters!!

Hard to ignore those monsters. I considered several more shallow plates but it wasn't practical at the time. At some point any super-sized mound of meat winds up looking grotesque. Maybe not this time.

Last wedding we poached 5 or 6 big Atlantic salmons to go alongside the ham and beef. It made for an unexpected continuum of pinks and reds. And the poaching liquor from the fish was exquisite.

[Peter the eater]

There are three ways to get to Prince Edward Island.

Fly in from wherever, drive across the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick as seen here, or take the boat from Nova Scotia as seen below.

[Peter the eater]

As I mentioned before this Foodblog is on the road. Here's what I'm working with this week:

[Peter the eater]

Family members have rented the adjacent cabin and they graciously stocked our kitchen with all kinds of goodies before we got here. We brought quite a few leftover items from the wedding and of course we have some of our own gear such as the pink KitchenAid stand mixer, a big honkin` cake decorating toolbox, and my knife roll.

I rarely travel with knives. When I go somewhere the fancy ones usually stay home. Those knives below with the non-riveted resin handles are supercheap so I wouldn`t really care if I lost one. They are stamped steel from China and are real easy to keep sharp. The twelve inch chef`s knife was around ten bucks at The Real Canadian Wholesale Club.

[Peter the eater]

We hit the fish market down the road. Picked up a few fresh cod filets and some Malpeque oysters along with some Tourism PEI info:

Long recognized as one of the world's finest oysters, Malpeques from Prince Edward Island have an unequalled taste, superior appearance and excellent keeping quality. Oysters are a versatile seafood. In the shell they can be baked, steamed, grilled or used in specialty dishes such as Oysters Pommary or Florentine. Shucked oysters are excellent deep-fried, sauteed, grilled, in chowders, soups, stews, pies, casseroles, stuffings, dressings, or as an appetizer or main course. The Malpeque is excellent on the half shell, served with nothing but its own liquor. Its clarity and purity of flavour make it the connoisseur's choice.

[Peter the eater]

I found a small roasting pan in the drawer which looked just about right for poaching the cod. I put some sliced lemon and onion on the bottom, fish on top and oishi water for extra liquid. Some butter and black pepper then 5 +/- minutes on the electric stove top.

Meanwhile, there were some big scallops wrapped in bacon in my crisper so they went into a non-stick skillet with a bit of butter for browning. I wouldn't have bought them this way because it's so difficult to get the bacon crisp without over-cooking the scallop. But I'm not complaining.

[Anna N]

I found a small roasting pan in the drawer which looked just about right for poaching the cod. I put some sliced lemon and onion on the bottom, fish on top and oishi water for extra liquid. Some butter and black pepper then 5 +/- minutes on the electric stove top.

...

Do tell us more about oishi water! Please.

[Peter the eater]

I found a small roasting pan in the drawer which looked just about right for poaching the cod. I put some sliced lemon and onion on the bottom, fish on top and oishi water for extra liquid. Some butter and black pepper then 5 +/- minutes on the electric stove top.

...

Do tell us more about oishi water! Please.

It's a teriyaki sauce relative as far as I can tell. It's made here in PEI based on a century old Japanese recipe. Here's the link.

The Oishi makers promote it for marinating and flavoring just about any kind of meat. PEI gets a lot of Japanese tourists which I suspect helps with sales.

[Genkinaonna]

I love the idea of something called "delicious" water...that's brilliant. I'd totally buy it if I had it available to me. How could it NOT make everything delicious, it's right there on the label...

[Peter the eater]

It's a month early for local blueberries. I'm not sure where the ones below came from but they taste as good as they look. Right now we're seeing lots of local strawberries and saskatoons.