eG Foodblog: johnnyd - Dining Downeast

[Pan]

I enjoyed the blog very much!

Johnny, do you typically eat this much seafood and fish, or is it mainly because it's in season now?

[johnnyd]

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

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[johnnyd]

How are the winters?

Good if you like winter. Bad if you don't. This is a Golf Course on Cape Elizabeth last January.

Edited September 3, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[Abra]

Thanks for blogging during such a hard week! It was a wonderful little peek into a corner of the world I never get to see.

[johnnyd]

Johnny, do you typically eat this much seafood and fish, or is it mainly because it's in season now?

Hi, Pan. Loved your blog too.

I do eat a great deal of seafood and get cranky if I don't have it after three or so days. In general, I usually don't plan meals until I go to the markets. If some pork tenderloin is on sale, I start building around that, apps, starch, veg, wine or beer inclusive. I try to shift focus everyday because I don't think it's healthy to have the same dish more than two days in a row. After pork, I'll go fowl, to fish, to red meat, not necessarily in that order, but just so a variety is maintained.

This week I got a mess of fresh mussels so they were in two dishes, one of which incorporated a peculiar cooking device, the cataplana, a perfect choice for my fellow food enthusiasts. Had I not blogged, the second day might have been a pork-based menu with mussels as a starter, steamed the same way but with a different mix of herbs and such. Or I might have gone the tapas route, cooked off in advance and marinaded in EVOO, capers, roasted red pepper, shallots and herbs.

There isn't any lull in seasonal seafood here. Scallops, shrimp and sea urchin seasons are in winter. Soft shell lobster are a summer thing, but hardshells are available from pounds all year.

I actually had sushi (with incredible toro sashimi) for lunch yesterday, and more tuna and the remaining oysters in a home-made ponzu for dinner. So for me, there is no such thing as too much seafood... well, we are having a beef stir-fry this evening, but my freezer is packed with a quart of chowder, a quart of mussels/squid/cod cataplana, a quart of lobster stock, a quart of maine shrimp-shell stock, not to mention four quarts each of chicken stock and feijoada!

Coming up here anytime soon?

Edited September 3, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[HungryChris]

jhonnyd,

A compelling chronicle, sir. Thanks so much for those great photos, varitey of subjects and dishes. It is all I can do to keep to my resolution to not burn a single drop of gasoline over this long weekend. In other times I would have headed off toward the ocean in search of some seafood to cook, so inspired am I with this blog.

Thanks Again,

HC

[Carrot Top]

Yeah. Ridiculous how good you have made the food look. And Maine, too.

You may have accomplished the near-impossible. You have made the idea of visiting my relatives look appealing.

Beautiful blog.

[johnnyd]

Nice food and everything, but your lovely caipirinha photo is the best! It has me running off to make my own tonight...

Thanks viva! Coming from you, a frequent visitor to Brasil, that means a lot.

Abraços!

[johnnyd]

You may have accomplished the near-impossible. You have made the idea of visiting my relatives look appealing. wink.gif biggrin.gif

Oh.

My.

Gawd!

When my mom stayed at the camp in mid-august, we kept the stress to a minimum by, constantly talking about, shopping for or preparing food! I recommend it!

[johnnyd]

jhonnyd,

A compelling chronicle, sir. Thanks so much for those great photos, varitey of subjects and dishes. It is all I can do to keep to my resolution to not burn a single drop of gasoline over this long weekend. In other times I would have headed off toward the ocean in search of some seafood to cook, so inspired am I with this blog.

Thanks Again,

HC

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It's my pleasure HC. Come up when the gas frenzy subsides. We'll do a chowder crawl. That goes for the lot of you, by the way!

[lancastermike]

Wonderful blog, thanks very much for all the hard work to let us see Maine

[Holly Moore]

How are the winters?

Good if you like winter. Bad if you don't. This is a Golf Course on Cape Elizabeth last January.

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I remember a cup of hot cocoa tasting particularly good in Maine one December a few years ago.

Thanks, JohnnyD. For some reason I'm thinking that maybe there's still time for a trip to Maine before everything closes for the season.

[Chris Amirault]

Obrigado, johnnyd! Here's to you, kid:

[Pan]

So for me, there is no such thing as too much seafood... well, we are having a beef stir-fry this evening, but my freezer is packed with a quart of chowder, a quart of mussels/squid/cod cataplana, a quart of lobster stock, a quart of maine shrimp-shell stock, not to mention four quarts each of chicken stock and feijoada! 

Coming up here anytime soon?

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I wish I could!

I haven't spent time in Maine for some 34 years (though I drove -- or, rather, rode -- through a corner of it in the summer of 1996)! It's been too long for sure.