Fried Clams To Die For

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Clams

There are fried clams and then there are fried clams!!  This past week I attended a conference in Freeport, ME.  I asked at the Harraseeket Inn where we were staying who had the best fried clams in the area where the locals ate.  I was told it was the Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster on Casco Bay. The weather was quite lovely on the evening we went. The lobster shack was like so many other lobster and clam shacks along the coast of New England. Visitors had the choice of dining in or out, but since there was quite a breeze we decided to eat in the dining room which was simple and immaculate.

Harraseeket_home2_r1_c3

At the window we ordered fried clams and learned you could have them with a choice of batters, crumbs or batter. My friend and I went with the crumbs and it was an excellent choice. The clams with the batter option would have been more batter than clams in my humble opinion. The fried clams with the crumbs were light with just the right amount of batter. One could actually enjoy the taste of the clams. It didn’t hurt that these were most likely the freshest clams I have ever eaten. Literally right off the boat! The order came with fries which were hot and crispy and the order was large enough for the two of us to share one order.

Batter choice

Crab Cakes

As an appetizer, we tried the crab cakes.  Again they were made with Maine crabs and were light and absolutely delicious. If you are heading to Maine this summer, it is a mere 3 miles from L L Bean on Main Street. Just head down Bow St (right across from the main entrance), take a right on South and continue until you see the sign for Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster right on Casco Bay.

Clam Cakes

Fried Clams at Janine’s in Ware, MA

Believe or not, Janine’s in Ware, MA serves delicious fried clams and an excellent lobster roll.  Whenever I have had their fried clams I have requested a light dusting of flour which make them similar to those at Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster.

Fried Clam Recipe from Woodman’s in Essex, MA

For the recipe from the inventor of the fried clam, check out our blog at http://tasteandtales.com/books/chubby-and-the-clam/.

 

Tropical Monkey Bread

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Tropical Monkey Bread is absolutely the most delicious bread and it will be a big hit at any brunch or gathering. I served this at our Easter brunch and it was the hit of the day with my Key Lime Pie following close behind.  The guava, banana and macadamia nuts adds a delicious favor to the bread. The Tropical Monkey Bread recipe comes from the famous Checca Lodge in Islamorada, Florida.

Tropical Monkey Bread¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (30 biscuits)
¼ cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 small banana, sliced – not too ripe
½ cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup guava paste
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon lemon juice

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8- to 9-inch tube pan with non-stick baking spray.
  2. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a medium-size plastic bag. Open the biscuit tubes and remove the biscuits. Cut the biscuits in halves. Place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar-cinnamon mix in the bag and shake well. Arrange the pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Coat the remaining biscuit pieces with sugar and cinnamon in the same manner. Continue layering the biscuit pieces, sprinkling the macadamia nuts and banana slices among the pieces as you layer them. The pan should be ¾ filled. Do not overfill the pan.
  3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.
  4. Bake for 40 minutes and remove from the oven. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes; then turn out onto a plate. Let cool for about 10 minutes more before adding the icing.
  5. Allow the cream cheese and butter to come to room temperature. Spray a small saucepan with vegetable oil spray. Place over low heat and add the guava paste.
  6. Cook until the paste is soft and can be blended into the butter and cream cheese. Beat the butter, cream cheese and heated guava paste together in an electric mixer. Slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar. After the sugar is added, mix for 12 minutes (do not shorten the time). When almost done, add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Spread over the warm bread.

Serves 10

Cook’s Note:  Make sure you spray the tube pan with non-stick baking spray.

Flavors of Key West (2010)

Christmas Cookie Recipe

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Christmas Cookie Recipe

Christmas Cookie Recipe

Dreamy Island Cookies

If you love coconut and chocolate, you will absolutely love this Christmas cookie recipe.  This is a new cookie and I must say I love the combination of coconut, chocolate and pecans.  I made a slight change to the original recipe because the dough was not binding so I added a little orange juice and voila it came together perfectly.  The OJ added a nice flavor.

1⅔ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed brown sugar
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1-2 tablespoons orange juice
1¾ cups milk chocolate chips
¾ cup flaked sweetened coconut
¾ cup chopped pecans

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in small bowl.

  3. Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Beat in egg.

  4. Gradually stir in flour mixture until well combined; add a little orange juice to bind dough.

  5. Stir in chocolate, coconut and pecans. Drop by large tablespoons onto baking sheets.

  6. Bake 10 minutes for a chewy cookie.

Yields 4 dozen cookie

Adapted from Meet Me In My Cape Cod Kitchen (2014)

Muffin Recipe

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Muffin Recipe

Oh, what to do with those overripe bananas?? Usually we bake banana bread, but instead let’s look at a delicious muffin recipe from the “Taste of Home” from University of Massachusetts Dining. UMASS dining is listed as number 1 in the nation for excellence.  I adapted this recipe a bit.  As bananas ripen their sugar content increases, so they are very sweet.  I reduced the amount of sugar from 2 cups to 1/2 cup and I believe that the next time I would reduce it even further to 1/3 cup.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch of cinnamon, or to taste
1 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 medium over-riped bananas, mashed
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract                                                                                                                                             1 cup blueberries
1 cup ground walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 18 muffins cups with baking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, sea salt, baking soda and cinnamon.  In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and bananas.  Whisk in eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.  Stir in the flour mixture, blueberries and walnuts.
3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.  Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry, about 25 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins

Adapted from UMASS Dining “Taste of Home” 2014

Yummy Blueberry Plum Crisp

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A friend gave me 4 pounds of Damson Plums from her tree.   They are also known as blue plums. I couldn’t imagine what I would do with all of them.  They are small but full of flavor. After reviewing a few recipes, I decided to go with an original creation.  I always have blueberries in the fridge and I thought the combination would be tasty.  I had wanted to add peaches, but the ones I had bought at a local orchard were not ripe enough.  It took about an hour to quarter and remove the pit of all the plums.

Plum-Blueberry Crisp

Blueberry Plum Crisp

4 pounds Damson or Blue Plums, pitted and quartered
1 pint blueberry, washed and drained
1 package of Phoebe’s Kitchen Crisp mixture
1 stick butter, softened

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Place plums and blueberries in oven proof casserole.  I used an Dansk casserole dish.
3.  Place butter in medium bowl and add the crisp mix.  Mix and sprinkle on top of the plum-blueberry mixture.
4.  Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 6-8

 

 

 

Lightest most Delicious Blueberry Coffee Cake – Blueberry Boy Bait

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My childhood friend Irene and I starting making this recipe when we were in our early teens.  I can’t imagine how many of these I have made. It came from a Pillsbury Booklet. The story goes that in 1954 a 15-year-old Chicago girl named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake recipe to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (precursor to the Pillsbury Bake-Off). She came in second place in the youth division for her creation. She gave it the special name, Boy Bait, in honor of its powers with the opposite sex.  This past weekend I brought out the recipe and it taste just as good today as my memories of times past. There are several adaptation of this on the internet, but none could possibly be as delicious as this. The secret to its lightness is the whipped egg white that must be gently folded into the batter.  Do not over mix the batter!

Once the batter is spread in a 9 x 13-inch pan, I drop as many blueberries as possible on top.  The picture below shows how it should look.  Once you put the blueberries on top, sprinkle the reserved topping over the batter.

Blueberries on topBlueberries on top of batter

With topping

Topping sprinkled on top of berries

Finished Product

Finished Coffeecake

Blueberry Boy Bait

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
11⁄2 cups granulated sugar
2⁄3 cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 cups blueberries

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Sift together flour, sugar; cut in 2/3 cup butter until particles are small. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture for topping.

  3. To remainder, add sea salt, baking powder, vanilla, milk, & egg yolks; blend well.

  4. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry; fold gently into batter. Spread in a well-greased and lightly floured 9″ X 13″ baking pan.

  5. Arrange drained blueberries over batter. Sprinkle reserved ¾ cup crumb mixture over top.

  6. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until tester come out clean.

On Serving Tray

Bar Harbor Inn Lobster Mac & Cheese

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From A Taste of lobster and some tales too – this is delicious!!  

Bar Harbor Inn Lobster Mac and CheeseLobster Mac and Cheese

2 cups uncoooked elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons floor
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups milk or half-and-half
8 ounces Cabot’s grated Sharp Cheddar cheese
12 ounces cooked cleaned lobster meat cut into bite size pieces
4 ounces cracker meal
1 teaspoon paprika

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add macaroni and cook until al dente, about 10-12 minutes.
  3. While macaroni is cooking, make white sauce by melting butter in saucepan and stir in flour to make a roux. Cook the roux for a few minutes, stirring continuously.  Gradually add the milk; add 6 ounces grated Cheddar cheese, stirring constantly until melted.  Add lobster to sauce.  Add sauce to cooked macaroni.
  4. In a separate bowl mix cracker meal and paprika. Place macaroni mix in glass or ceramic casserole dish and top with cracker meal mix and remaining cheddar cheese.
  5. Bake for 1 hour or until top is golden and bubbly.
  6. Serve with fresh field green salad and crisp white wine.

Serves 4

Best View of Nauset Beach

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Ocean from Nauset KnollImagine waking up in the morning and looking out and seeing this view of the Atlantic Ocean from all 12 rooms at the Nauset Knoll Motor Lodge in Orleans, MA.  In June I make my annual tour around Cape Cod with the cookbooks and since I changed my usual route I needed to stay further out the Cape and since I wanted to see water, I located this motor lodge built in the 50s. Fortunately, someone had cancelled and I was lucky enough to get room.

I had heard about the “Best Onion Rings” in the world were at Liam’s at Nauset Beach which was on the other side of the shrubs so I made sure I would get there by 4 p.m. However, the wind was blowing as you can see by the flag and the weather was headed downhill.  I had to literally hold on to my hat when I signed in.  Instead of walking down I drove and the young man at the booth let me through as there was literally no cars in the parking lot and Liam’s was closed.  The only vehicle in the parking lot was a satellite truck from a TV station in Boston who I guess thought that the shark (named Freckles) lurking off-shore was going to come in for an interview.nausetknoll windmill

Since Liam’s wasn’t open and I wanted my annual meal of whole belly clams, I headed to Sir Cricket in Orleans.  They have been voted best on the Cape several times. Dinner was quite tasty, but I regret not being able to have those from Liam’s.

Below is a recipe telling how you can steam a lobster at home.  Recipe is courtesy of Sir Crickets.

How to Steam the Perfect Lobster

Fill a large pan with 1-2 inches of water, and bring it to a boil.
Place the lobster(s) in the pan*, and cover.
Keep the flame on high, and when it begins to steam, start your timer!
– 12-15 minutes for 1¼-1½ pounders
– 20 minutes for 1½-2 pounders
– 25 minutes for 2-3 pounders

*If this makes you squeamish, place the lobsters in the freezer for a minute to stun them before steaming!

America’s Castles at Newport

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Breakers

 

England has Buckingham Palace, France has Versailles, Germany has Neuschwanstein Castle, Russia has Mikhailovsky Castle and America has the Breakers, Rosecliff, Rough Point and the other “Summer Cottages” of the Industrial Barons of the 1800s.

The Breakers, home of Cornelius Vanderbilt, was begun in 1893 and is a 70-room Italian Renaissance-style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin.  Rosecliff was modeled after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. The home of Doris Duke, Rough Point, with 115 rooms, was designed in an English manorial style, built with the intent of evoking the feel of an English country house.  Besides the mansion the property consists of Prescott Farm, which allows visitors to see how early settlers on Aquidneck Island lived in the late 1700 and early 1800s. Homes like these were able to be built since there wasn’t any income tax in the USA.  I also doubt if you would be able to find the craftsmen to do the intricate work that is so amazing.

Rosecliff has the most amazing sweetheart staircase that was featured in the “Great Gadsby.”  I have visited both the Breakers and Sweetheart Staircase RosecliffRosecliff and was in awe of the beautiful woodwork, staircases and crystal chandeliers.  However, my thoughts turned to , “could you imagine sneaking down to the kitchen in the middle of the night or seating in the living room in jeans and sneakers.”  This just one of the tales from the Taste and Tales of Coastal New England.

The Taste and Tales of Coastal New England and A Taste of Lobster and some tales too can be found at the Newport Mansions Stores, located at The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms, Rosecliff, and on Bannister’s Wharf in downtown Newport.

Taste and Tales of CNE

Hidden Gem in Hardwick, MA

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Rose32 logo1

Population of Hardwick, MA is under 3,000, but it has a bakery and cafe that draws in customers from many miles away, Rose32.  The owners began baking breads in the 1970s in San Francisco.  After 4 decades of growing a 1 shop bakery into 4 retail stores, a distribution network both retail and wholesale, they sold the big business and moved to the hamlet of Gilbertville, a part of Hardwick.

Renovated gas station

After a year or so, they decided to become bakers once again and a lot of people are so glad they did.  Next they needed to locate an outlet for the bakery so the search began.  Finally they determined that the former service station that had served the community and travelers on Rt. 32 for many decades would make a grand bakery.  It took nearly 1 1/2 years to renovate the service station into the beautiful bakery and cafe.

This past Saturday a friend and I went to Janine’s Frostee for their lobster roll and as we left, I decided that it would be a good time to try and locate Rose32.  It is about a mile from where Rt. 9 and 32 intersect.  The cafe has many outside table and inside there are a few large tables along with the bakery.  They are open Wednesday through Sunday from early morning through mid-afternoon.

Begin with breakfast either scrambled eggs, an egg sandwich or a hash scramble with diced ham, potatoes and green onions topped with Cabot cheddar. Breakfast is served until 11 a.m., while lunch is served all day.  You will need to get their early as the lines are long on weekends.

All breads and bakery items are made on the premises.  The breads are made in small batches with only flour, water and salt.  They have a bread called the Hardwick Loaf with wheat grown in Hardwick that is milled fresh at the bakery each day. They say it is amazing and the next time I am out that way I will definitely buy a loaf.

Plugra-Foodservice-Stacked

They also carry European-style butter or what is known as cultured butter.  It is definitely more expensive than store bought butter, but true bakers use it when making pie crust and other layered baked goods such as scones and croissants.  European butter is made more slowly which allows for a stronger flavor. The main difference between the butters is the fat content.  European butter has a 83-86% fat content while non-cultured butter is about 81%. Butter with more fat has less water thereby creating a lighter pastry.  It is not important when making cookies, bars or even brownies, but if you are making scones or kouign anam which have what is called a laminated dough you will want to use a European butter.

Sweet Roll Rose32

To the left is their pecan sweet roll and the kouign anam is to the right.  I had never had or heard of the latter so a little research was necessary.  Kouign anam ( (pronounced [,kwiɲˈamɑ̃nː]), is a little cake from the town of Douarnenez in Finistère, Brittany, where it originated  around 1860.   It is light and flaky due to the layers of butter and noted cookbook author David Lebovitz has a delicious recipe with great instructional pictures as to how to make this caramelized treat.

So go to Rose32 in Hardwick and enjoy the many delicious baked goods.  It is a little gem in a small town in Central Mass.