A good scoff, cod tongues, toutons and tea on The Rock aka Newfoundland

[Smithy]

No picture of the cod tongues? Or is that the bottom photo?

 

The miniature fishing village is amazing!

[rotuts]

I can't get over how delicious In Da Loop looks to me

 

S. of Your Border , in MA there are various ' Clam Shacks ' in the Ipswich area.

 

Ive been going up there from time to time for maybe a Zillion  years.

 

I won't be sleeping well tonight, as Ill be dreaming   ( more or less ) about IDL.

 

Ill try to remember, they probably don't have  ' Fresh Dug ' bay clams, 

 

carefully deep fried  w the bellies of course.

 

on those squishy Hot Dog Rolls.

 

 

[gfron1]

20 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

 

Timely, since just the other day I watched THIS video of Gordon Ramsay hunting and eating puffins!

[rotuts]

@gfron1  

 

nice.  if there is blow-back , its all yours.

 

Ive seem several vids  cooking and such   where puffins are caught with nets etc

 

and of course survey on the place.  Scotland ? Ireland  ?  no matter

 

the Puffs probably have decent P.R. if not outstanding :  Children Books no less :

 

http://www.penguin.com/meet/publishers/puffin/

 

 

On the menu ?

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/puffin-breast-with-berry-sauce-a-newfoundlander-s-experience-eating-our-provincial-bird-1.3023173

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

so wonderful !

 

I love scallops.  they re pricey in my area and most other peoples.   I can afford them from time to time

 

but they are never fresh enough.

 

what the last pic ?  scallops II ?

 

Ive never had cod tongues,   just the cheeks.

 

they have those up there ?

 

I wish I were up there enjoying the views from 

 

in da loop.

 

yum

 

ps   were the scallops  baked ?  pan sauté ?

 

The last picture is of the cod tongues, which are deep fried.  The scallops were sautéed in a pan.  I will be having cod cheeks before the week is out.  They are tasty.  At home you would never get 8 sea scallops for that price.  You might get three, which is about what I was expecting.  

[ElsieD]

On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Ashen said:

If you get a chance for a feed of halibut cheeks , get in on it.   Even better than cod in my opinion, although my wife is crazy for the cod tongues and says I don't know what  I am talking about. lol 

 

I have never seen halibut cheeks on any menu here, but if I see them, i'll try them.

[ElsieD]

On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 11:30 PM, catdaddy said:

Looking forward to this blog. I'm wondering what the coffee scene is like there?

 

I don't know what the coffee scene is like as it isn't something I go looking for.  We have had some excellent coffee in two places - Rocket and Coffee Matters.  Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[rotuts]

Nice

 

very nice.

 

i do have a bit of a suggestion :

 

from some one who loves fresh food from the Sea 

 

from someone a bit S of the border

 

but not that much :

 

Gobble Up !

 

Big Time !

 

no worries 

 

when you get back to your home :

 

well  you will remember    every bite .

[ElsieD]

Someone asked about the price of onions here and I can't seem to find the post.  We were in a grocery store today so I had a look.  A 2 pound bag of cooking onions cost $2.99.  Red and Spanish were just a bit shy of $3 a pound.  Red, orange and yellow peppers were $5.89 a pound.  

[ElsieD]

6 hours ago, Smithy said:

No picture of the cod tongues? Or is that the bottom photo?

 

The miniature fishing village is amazing!

 

Yes, that bottom picture shows the cod tongues.  I couldn't stop oohing and aahing over those miniature boats and village.  Some things are so strange here compared to what I am used to, and in a good way.  That miniature setting and the folk art being two such examples.

Edited August 28, 2016 by ElsieD (log)

[ElsieD]

So on to dinner.  The soup course is set and tonight it was cream of carrot.  It was as smooth as silk, they obviously had put it through a sieve.   It was served with a piping hot tea biscuit, and regular and roasted red pepper butter.  This was followed by cod with homemade tartar sauce for me, while John had pork tenderloin with a balsamic glaze and a roasted granny smith apple stuffed with partridge berry.   We had noted that a crab claw was available for an extra cost and we had asked for one but they are out of season.  Both dishes were served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a sweet pepper/zucchini medley.  We had some Pinot Grigio with this.  They were generous with their pours as they were 8 oz. each.  By the time we were finished with all that, and lunch having been not that much earlier, we were stuffed and decided to take dessert back to our room.  We don't normally eat dessert but we do like something sweet before we go to bed.  So, we each got a piece of apple pie.  Since it has to sit around for a couple hours we just asked for it plain so doesn't look all that great.  But I can say, that I am sitting on the bed typing this and that pie is about 15 feet away and I can smell the filling way over here, and it smells gooood!

 

 

[suzilightning]

 

love this trip but if I EVER have to eat scallops again I will have a reverse peristaltic reaction.  After opening them day after day during the season and eating them 3 to 5 times a week..............not interested.

 

why didn't you ask for some cheddar cheese?  after all   "Apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze"

 

 

 

 

[chromedome]

That's not a "thing" up here...at least not in any part of Canada where I've lived. 

 

My late (American) wife asked for it once in a restaurant in New Brunswick, and got a reaction of astonishment and revulsion from both the server and me.

[suzilightning]

10 minutes ago, chromedome said:

That's not a "thing" up here...at least not in any part of Canada where I've lived. 

 

My late (American) wife asked for it once in a restaurant in New Brunswick, and got a reaction of astonishment and revulsion from both the server and me.

you mean the cheddar?   very common from my mom's side of the family who came from Rhode Island via England.....it is sweet and sharp

my husband, on the other hand from the Hudson Valley feels only a la mode or with heavy cream are acceptable

[chromedome]

Yeah, the cheddar. I think there was a thread about this once upon a time, or perhaps I'm thinking of another group I frequent. 

 

I have no objection to a good cheddar alongside (or after) pretty much any home-baked dessert. Didn't care for cheddar -- or, God forbid, a slice of processed cheese -- melted right onto the pie. Though I prefer my apple pie at room temp, another area where I differed from my wife, so having it heated to melt the cheese was a double-whammy.

Edited August 28, 2016 by chromedome
Edited for clarity (log)

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

That's not a "thing" up here...at least not in any part of Canada where I've lived. 

 

My late (American) wife asked for it once in a restaurant in New Brunswick, and got a reaction of astonishment and revulsion from both the server and me.

My dad's people were from PEI - he also said that 'apple pie with out cheese was like a hug with out a squeeze'!

[ElsieD]

A lot of today was spent driving back roads and Internet reception was spotty to non-existent.   So this is  quick post to tell you what we had for lunch.  We had an appetizer of bam bam shrimp.  They were delicious.  We couldn't get an answer to our question and we have never eaten shrimp with the shell on, but these were deep fried and whatever was on the outside was shatteringly crisp, and didn't remind me of any batter coated shrimp.  Can anyone tell me what shrimp deep fried with the shell on are like?  This was followed by cod au gratin for me and fish and chips for John.  The fries were bad, but the rest of the food was fairly good.   

 

 

[ElsieD]

An example of the scenery we are going through.  (Still have Internet! )  On the highway picture, there is a Penninsula across the water which we will be travelling on tomorrow.  It is the Burin Peninsula.  The road picture also shows what shape the roads are in.  One piece of highway was downright terrible. 

[huiray]

54 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

we have never eaten shrimp with the shell on

 

Actually, that raises a more generalized question with me - do Chinese restaurants in Canada serve shell-on shrimp in places outside of those such as in Vancouver-Richmond or Markham/Richmond Hill (GTA) (for example, to largely Chinese customers) ?

 

54 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Can anyone tell me what shrimp deep fried with the shell on are like?

 

Um, they're good. OK, properly done ones would have a crispy shell that you eat, but you need to do it while it is still hot/pretty warm. The shells also help in "keeping in" the taste and sweetness of the flesh. They are often coated in some sort of seasoned flour mixture but are also simply tossed with some seasonings (sans flour) and deep-fried. However, those you show appear to have been dressed with some sort of sauce - so whatever was done to make them (still) "shatteringly crisp" under all that sauce is unclear.

 

What about shrimp with shells AND HEADS all on? have you had those? Ot "Salt & Pepper Shrimp", with heads and shells on? Perhaps you might try those one day?

Edited August 28, 2016 by huiray (log)

[demiglace]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

An example of the scenery we are going through.  (Still have Internet! )  On the highway picture, there is a Penninsula across the water which we will be travelling on tomorrow.  It is the Burin Peninsula.  The road picture also shows what shape the roads are in.  One piece of highway was downright terrible. 

 

Beautiful ElsieD NL is on my list of places to visit. Thanks for bringing us along for the ride. 

[demiglace]

4 hours ago, chromedome said:

That's not a "thing" up here...at least not in any part of Canada where I've lived. 

 

My late (American) wife asked for it once in a restaurant in New Brunswick, and got a reaction of astonishment and revulsion from both the server and me.

 

In my years of cooking for a living I was only asked once for cheddar with the apple pie. I was also the only one who had heard of it. The younger cooks all looked scared at the thought, lol. Very English as far as I know.

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, huiray said:

 

Actually, that raises a more generalized question with me - do Chinese restaurants in Canada serve shell-on shrimp in places outside of those such as in Vancouver-Richmond or Markham/Richmond Hill (GTA) (for example, to largely Chinese customers) ?

 

 

Um, they're good. OK, properly done ones would have a crispy shell that you eat, but you need to do it while it is still hot/pretty warm. The shells also help in "keeping in" the taste and sweetness of the flesh. They are often coated in some sort of seasoned flour mixture but are also simply tossed with some seasonings (sans flour) and deep-fried. However, those you show appear to have been dressed with some sort of sauce - so whatever was done to make them (still) "shatteringly crisp" under all that sauce is unclear.

 

What about shrimp with shells AND HEADS all on? have you had those? Ot "Salt & Pepper Shrimp", with heads and shells on? Perhaps you might try those one day?

 

 

Huiray, thanks for your post.  The shrimp were hot when we got them and stayed hot because it took us just 18 seconds to eat them.  Just kidding, but only about the 18 second part.  I think I will assume that they were shell on.  I don't know if they were seasoned with anything or not because of the sauce which reminded me somewhat of a sweet Thai chili sauce.  Maybe I will try the shrimp head and tail on one day but I have never heard of them being served in a restaurant in my city.

 

 

 

 

[ElsieD]

7 hours ago, suzilightning said:

 

love this trip but if I EVER have to eat scallops again I will have a reverse peristaltic reaction.  After opening them day after day during the season and eating them 3 to 5 times a week..............not interested.

 

why didn't you ask for some cheddar cheese?  after all   "Apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze"

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps I should have because I love aged cheddar cheese with apple pie.  But I was so stuffed I wasn't sure i'd be able to eat the pie let alone with cheese.  Reading chromedome's comment I may not have gotten it if I had asked.  About the pie - it was the sad part of the meal.  The crust was very thick and unpastry like and the apples were only very slightly cooked.  I didn't touch the crust, and only had a bit of the apple.  My husband had one bite of his and that was it for him.

the rest of the meal was  sure good, though.

 

By the way, I also like cheddar on apple crumble.  Actually, cheddar with apple anything, as long as it is an old cheddar.

[ElsieD]

On Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 5:04 PM, gfron1 said:

Timely, since just the other day I watched THIS video of Gordon Ramsay hunting and eating puffins!

 

I watched this and I felt kind of sorry for them, but i'm sure that's because of the cuteness factor.

[ElsieD]

A couple of random notes.  Yesterday we tried to go to Mistaken Point Ecological reserve to look at fossils of the oldest  complex life forms found anywhere on earth.  Some of these are as old as 575 million years.  We got there only to find out that they were taking reservations from Sept. 6th onwards, so there was no tour for us.  My husband was particularly disappointed.

 

Today we walked the boardwalk which takes you through the Salmonier Nature Park.  It is here that wildlife that are injured to such an extent that they would not survive are brought here to live out their final days.  We saw a number of different species, but a lot of them weren't exactly posing for pictures.  I'm looking at you Mr. Red Fox, Mr. Moose, Madame Lynx, Mr. Peregrine Falcon and the Miss Snowshoe Hare.  We did get some shots of some of the others and I've included a picture of a Snowy Owl and a couple of caribou.  That was a really interesting place and it took us 1 1/2 hours to go around it.  We got to talking to one of the biologists who told us a bunch of interesting stuff about the moose and caribou.  The moose were introduced to Newfoundland in 1904.  All 4 of them.  Those 4 are responsible for the 110,000 that are on the island today.

 

I know what you are all interested in first and foremost is the food.   Places to eat here are not always easy to find.  For lunch today 2 places were recommended,  and one of the two not really.  They were the only two places around where we were.  Which is why we ended up eating lunch at the golf course.  As I have mentioned before, in some places Newfoundland is very sparsely populated.  Today we drove for half an hour down the only road going down the side of one peninsula and didn't see as much as one house let alone a restaurant.   Then we went through a small community and for the next 15 or so minutes, didn't see a thing other than some VERY big potholes.  So I can see that  sometimes you feel pretty happy just to find a place to eat because the alternative ain't pretty.

 

I just decided that I will also include a picture of a bakeapple (cloudberry) patch that we came across in the Nature Park.  They were all over the place.  But, they are still red which means they aren't ripe.  They ripen to a yellow/gold colour.  No bakeapples for me.