It's a good casserole

It's a double header at Crumb Brulee this day.  Trying as I am to catch up on the culinary delights in my life I just can't seem to pay homage to every moment.  Today  is no exception as I meant whole heartedly to document my forray into the Camden culinary scene... instead I cooked.
I did however start with an amuse bouche of Warres porto and Italian Gorgonzola:

Today was inspired by Cooks Illustrated December issue.  If you don't have a subscription, run out and get one now for god sakes!
Tonight we dinned on Vegetable tart and smoked sausages from Edwards of Surry, Virginia a gift from James manager for Christmas. We got a small ham and sausages, but I decided tonight to tap into the sausages and feather in my vegetable tart as an accompaniment.

Smoked Virginia Sausage Links

Also delivered in today's mail was a documentary about Julia Child and I decided to watch the DVD while I cooked, paying homage to the woman who made French Cooking available to mere mortals. Cooking I was to discover wasn't such a hard thing to do after all, a knife and pot are all you need to kick it in the kitchen.
The vegetable tart was of course the more involved menu item.  I was interested to learn that the recipe called for both white and  whole wheat flour in addition to sugar and white vinegar along with, count em, 10 tablespoons of delightful-decadent butter.
I started it all off with the shitake mushrooms, Cook's called for shitake but I added bella and oyster a choice I would later question.
Began by microwaving the shrooms for 5 minutes and then drianing them. The leeks, honorary vegetable of winter, were cut into 1/2 inch slices and sauted with fresh minced thyme. This made the vegetable portion of the tart. I mixed in some heavy cream, buttermilk and Dijon mustard as a binder to the solstice concoction.

Leek & Mushrooms

Next came the part I dreaded, the tart.  I am not known for my baking, in fact I tend to dread recipes that call for pie crusts. This was no exception. Only, I was happily surprised to find that I could not screw this up as long as I followed the god blessed recipe laid out in Cooks Illustrated.
Duh, why hadn't I thought of this sooner?
The dough began with simple steps:
White & whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, butter-butter-butter,  ice water and white vinegar.

That's right Julia Child's is in the background!

After combining all ingredients I let it rest in the fridge for 45 minutes.  After taking it out and letting it rest for another 10 minutes I rolled it out and piled the veggies on high along with the Gorgonzola cheese.

Mount Veggie

Then I pinched up the sides and brushed with egg and sprinkled with sea salt.

Can you see the butter?

In the oven it went and when done it was paired with grilled sausages thanks to my dear husband.
After taking his first bite he proclaimed, "Great Casserole!"
I wasn't crushed since he has such simple tastes, what he really meant to say was, "Can you say heaven?!"
Me: "Yes, its HEAVEN!!!"
Dish accompanied with Dijon mustard, olives and cornichons.
This evening didn't suck.

Winter Wonder on a plate

Maine, the way life should be.

Monday's Blue Plate Special - Spice Bowl

I obviously have some catching up to do after our Christmas in Camden Maine which was  free from the irreverent stampeding hoards rushing to get that last pair of Air Jordans. But before I try to do justice to our submersion into the decadent fare of the Camden local inns, this post is a nod to what I hope becomes a regular on Crumb Brulee, Monday's Blue Plate Special.
I call yesterdays dinner "Spice Bowl" since both were my muse.

The two and only wonderful gifts I got for Christmas this year were from my Mother and Sister Jacqueline. I am not a consistent gift buyer or card giver so I take no offense when I am not on the receiving end. It's usually mood or inspiration that strikes me into action. So to say my Christmas giving this year was not stellar is a colossal understatement.
Then there are the gracious people in my life who never forget a birthday, holiday, anniversary or recognition for your dog passing her good canine test.  My Mother and Sister Jacqueline are two of these special  people and last night I used their gifts in my dinner. 

Spice

Penzeys Spices, AKA my new best friends.
Really now I swear this is the first time I've ever had Penzeys Love to Cook - Cook to Love spices in my hot little hands. The package arrived  on Saturday about 10 minutes before we were headed out the door to Camden. I decided they needed to come celebrate with us so I stowed them in the back seat to await Christmas Morning.


With Christmas over we returned from our trip and I realized there wasn't a ton of fresh food in the house.  I'd have to make due with the bone in chicken breasts, butternut squash, leeks and whatever else I could find since going back  out to the store was out of the question. Dressing the chicken up for dinner was going to be a breeze and I fancied myself the culinary equivalent of Rachel Zoe who knew just the thing to style those perky breasts in:
33rd & Galena and Forward spices mixed with softened butter and sea salt would do the trick.  Cooking tip, dry your breasts after they are rinsed in the shower sink. The butter will stick to the skin and not slide off or stay on your hands. Paper towels work well as depicted here:

Towel Time: Dry your breasts...

because butter sticks better  to them when you do!

Time for the butternut squash, leeks, baby bella mushrooms dusted with....yes you guessed it more spices. This time Ceylon Cinnamon and Mural of Flavor would make this already eye-catching dish even more appealing.

One

Two

Three

The Bowl
My mother has been adding to my china set for the last 20 years.  (Yes Mom it's been 20 years)  Back in the 90's I fell in love with Botanical Garden by Portmeirion. The china stood the test of time and grew into familiar and comfortable companions at my dinner table.  For my new bowl I chose a tomato & cucumber, dressed with lemon juice, sea salt-n-pepper. Simple ingredients which happened to be the only fresh food I had left.

Portmeirion Rose Bowl

My computer kept me company as I plowed through three more episodes of The Tudors. Finally dinner was ready and I lifted a silent thank you to my Mother and Sister for their generous gifts which I was happy to put to good use.

Monday's Blue Plate Special

Yum!

Pop Quiz Question: What's the Worst Part of Visiting Your Doctor?

Answer: Getting your weight checked!  (If you had to think about this you haven't been to the Dr's in a while)

Seriously, if you've followed my journal for the last five days you'll notice all I've done is stuff my fat face on Holiday Cheer.
So today when I realized I had a physical you could imagine my horror...

Me: OMG, I will be getting weighed today.

Forget the worry about  high blood pressure, skyrocketing cholesterol, gout, leigion aires disease, avian flu or worse a really bad hang nail.

A silent prayer went up to St. Lucy to help see me though this trial. Then not 5 minutes later a wonderful Co-worker who under normal circumstances I would have been glad to see showed up with a bag of Tony's Doughnuts direct from the fair city of Portland.
Fire shot out of my eyes as she opened the bag and offered me a piece of fried molasses heaven. God help me I ate it , I loved every morsel. Two hours later I left for the doctors office and the dreaded scale.
I will spare everyone the details of my physical, this is a food journal not an episod of Oprah. EXCEPT to say I am happy to report I LOST ONE POUND FROM THE LAST VISIT!!!  Now I wasnt about to argue with the nurse practitioner, no siree, I hopped off that scale and gave her a huge hug and proclaimed, "It's a Christmas Miracle suckers!"

On my way home I stopped at my local Hannafords and picked up the ingredients for a Burrito nosh. 

The following speaks for itself:

Roasted Red, Yellow and Orange Peppers

+ Plus Chicken Tenderloins Braised in Chile, Cayanne, Mushrooms,  Onions & Green Salsa

+ Plus Guacamole & Tomatoes

+ Plus the Ever Important Condiments

After all that why bother showing you what my burrito looked like?  
That's like  taking a beautiful woman,  putting her in a Moo-Moo and snapping a picture of her.
How could anyone possibly see the luscious beauty hidden under the robe or in this case a whole wheat tortilla?

Sublime

Throwing It Down Old School Style

Back in the late 70's the height of being treated to a nice meal as a 9 year old was all about going to the Colony Diner in Waterbury Connecticut.  Yes folks this foodie cut her teeth on  such culinary delights as fried clam strips, tapioca pudding and parker-house rolls.  As a kid I thought I had died and gone to heaven because we got to sit in a booth lined with mirrors that had  an actual mini  juke box bolted to the table and for a quarter I could play Donna Summer or John Denver depending on my mood of course. What a luxury for a young girl to peruse the trifold menu and ponder the many choices available to me as I tapped my foot to "On the Radio" basking in the glow of neon lights.
The good old days indeed.

This evening my sweet husband and I celebrated my birthday. All day we sent text messages back and forth throwing ideas as to where we should go.  Immediately the tone was set when I got this text message:

James: " Honey we should definitely go to Olive Garden...All you can eat soup and bread sticks?!" 

Me:  "ARE you SH&^ing me?"

Then I got off my high horse and remembered our cross country trip several years ago to Oregon by car and the fun times we had stuffing our faces with bread sticks and soup in Colorado.




My reply: "sure that would be fun"

Of course as soon as I wrote that I thought about the nightmare holiday shopping traffic around the mall and suggested an alternative:

Me: "What about that seafood place on rt 25 in Gorham...I forgot the name but it has the cheesy lobsters on the side..?"

James:  " I am in!"

For the remainder of my busy day I kept getting texts with links to the restaurant's website: Ocean Garden Photo Gallery

Then a few hours later this gem:4 Star Reviews!!

I was in hook line and sinker...no pun intended.

Got home at 5:40 and quickly changed into suitable attire for my big birthday pig-out fest.  I chose wisely, my size LARGER jeans in case my belly became so distended I needed the room.
I would thank myself later for the wise decision.

The restaurant was everything I hoped for, it hearkened back to my Colony diner days minus the 70's mirrors and table side juke boxes.

Ocean House Seafood Pie and Fries

The food was plentiful in a way I wish was available to me on long backpacking trips in the middle of no where.  James decided to go with the evening theme of being an absolute pig and ordered an appetizer of buffalo wings. 

Me: Really honey...did you notice the all you can eat soup and salad bar over yonder? No?
...Can I have one of your wings when they come?

Real Men Don't Use Wet Naps

James: I'll think about it, its your birthday after all.

After bellying up to a fresh no frills salad bar complete with... Dad you'll love this, cold baked beans, we got serious and ordered our meals.
 I chose the seafood pie and when it arrived went into a meditative state as I gorged on my favorite food groups: French Fries, Lemon, Butter, Cracker crumb topping and Lobster/Shrimp/Scallops OH MY!

James landed on the "Meat It's Whats for Dinner" special, Prime rib au jus... again Dad you would have loved this.
Plate came complete with the wet nap which  warmed my heart as another home school throw back to my Colony Diner days




Our waitress was an absolute DOLL. Drinks were never empty and she was incredibly down to earth as you would expect from a place like this.
For those of you who doubt the gluttony we are capable of or just wanted a photo finish proof here you go:

Keep Your Hands and Feet Away From the Birthday Girl

For our dessert she insisted we take it to go, "For Later",  she said..."Sure for later I thought...after I change into my sweat pants!"  Five minutes later we had a to go bag the size of Mooshead Lake and a check that made us think WTF why haven't we come here before, WHAT A BARGAIN!

When we got home we realized that she gave us a free slice of Cheesecake and AN ENTIRE BOTTLE OF WHIP CREAM because she didn't want it to melt on the car ride home:

Ginny Jockeys for Cheesecake Glory

Even though I turned 42 today, I was taken back to my 9th year and I felt like a little girl again. The fat pants definitely helped.

Home Cooking for Friends

Last week it felt like Festivus given that every night brought a new activity; dining out in Portland, entertaining at home, drinking exotic things like Sake and Evan Williams, bowling on the Bay side, and feats of strength in the form of getting my arse up and being made presentable for work each day. I  did manage to pull through and persevere with enough Advil to sedate a pregnant rhino . No Mom I'm not becoming a professional bowler or a booze hound ;) just celebrating the season and my entry into the 42nd year of my life which will happen in about 3 hours and counting.
So winter seems to be tis-the-season of comfort food. Rich, hearty meals you can sink your teeth into and drown your seasonal depression in. Last week was no exception and of note our Wednesday evening at home entertaining our friend Brett who came down from the fair hamlet of Winterport Maine.

Setting The Table

Brett is like the big brother I never always wanted, the person who taught me to drink bourbon, embrace my crass-side and whittle wooden idols like in that episode of the Brady Bunch, yeah you know... the one with the tarantula.

Carved Roasted Chicken, Squash & Onions

For Brett I prepared roasted chicken with acorn squash & roasted sweet onions, jasmine rice dusted with cayane  pepper and salad greens with hot house tomatoes & cucumbers.










We enjoyed a nice bottle of Cabernet Savignon and ate a ton of chocolate for dessert.
Have I mentioned the thing about feeling guilt over the sheer volume of food one eats over the holidays? No? 
I may need to check into the Betty Crocker clinic after New Years and I'll ask Mario Batali to be my sponsor.  He'd definitly smuggle in some good charcuterie and baguettes.

Monday Blue Plate Special

Today with little time to prepare dinner because of a long work day I landed on one of my favorite blue plate specials at Le Maison de Grieves. Started with 7 ingredients and began prep at 7:14PM:

Salmon with Teriyaki & Sesame Glaze
Jasmine rice infused wth chicken broth
Sauteed Vidalia Onion and Baby Bella mushrooms

Of course I had the obligatory glass of white wine during the prep. Ok I had at least two...





From cutting board, into oven and on the plate by 7:39PM. 

Monday's Blue Plate Special Teriyaki Salmon

The fetching bottle of Villa Maria New Zealand Savignon Blanc that caught my eye paired well with this dish.
Time for my next episode of The Tudors and a food coma.

Leaving Nothing to the Imagination

With brilliant marketing ideas like this I could have made it big in the wine business.

Screw cap or Cork, which one do you prefer?

Me, as long as it opens easily and the label doesn't end in Chuck, Riunite, or Merlot...I am in!

70 Years is a Good Start

In my experience the holiday season is always filled with a lot of:

• Food
• Eating
• Drinking
• Guilt about how much food you ate and booze you drank

For me it's also a time of Birthdays, not only mine, but my Mom and Mother-in-Law's are in December and about 4 other friends and relatives.  So the older I get the less inclined I am to buy store bought gifts; instead opting for the ever popular homemade variety. 

In my case gifts sometimes come in the form of homemade food or a poem.

See, the beauty of giving someone food you made for them is they can't return it and keep the cash, just kidding.  No, the real beauty is enjoying food with the person you made it for. In the most recent case this took the form of pasta and cake for my Mother-in-Law's 70th Birthday.

This time last year my MIL was fighting a battle to recover from a debilitating stroke that robbed her of her memory and ability to live her life fully. I was lucky enough to have the means to leave a soul sucking job and help take care of her. 

What a difference a year makes. Mom is back to pre-stroke health and vitality and we celebrated her 70th birthday last weekend with the following menu:

• Boiled Maine Lobsters
• Asparagus Casserole
• Stuffed Shells
• Spice Cake

Two of the items I want to highlight here because I took pictures of them at various stages of the cooking process and because they were damn good.

Italian Heaven In a Pan

Stuffed Shells with whole milk ricotta, roasted garlic, fresh basil, Asiago cheese, marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese.



Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting laced with orange zest & cinnamon, topped with roasted sliced almonds


The hard part was not digging into the steaming pan of shells that lay at my feet on the car ride over to my in laws.




Happy Birthday Mom, 70 Years is a good start.
Love
Tracy

Before that deadline goes "Whooshing" by...

Before 2011 takes it's swan song into 2012 and my life over the last twelve months melts into a distant memory, I thought it would be a good idea to squeak in that New Year's resolution I made at an overnight stay in the Camden Ski Hut with the Millers.  

Muffin & Brett Miller Jan 1, 2011

After several spirited sled rides down a narrow trail in the dark dodging dogs, branches and my husband in his salmon pants; I remember rewarding myself with "several" stiff sips of Brett's home brew and a huge chicken burrito with a Rice-a-Roni slider, a true San Fransisco treat.

The Famous Salmon Pants Circa 2011

 

Resolutions are a way of saying to yourself, "get up off your lazy ass and do something different!" The upshot here is the lack of repercussions if you fail to either start or finish that new-found purpose in your life. Another year can blithely pass by with your resolution quietly dissolving into a vault of good intentions that never materialized. Ah-ha, but not this year friends. So let me preface the details of my resolution by saying, it was a pretty pedestrian choice given my state of mind at the time which was happily unemployed. Back on January 1, 2011 I safely decided to take up:

A HOBBY

Now THAT is living on the wild side! But here's the deal or should I say, the path that led me to my hobby. After a year filled with a great deal of changes and well... life, I realized the hobby was something I was already knee deep in for quite some time, years in fact. The hobby is a mouth full, no pun intended > Keep a journal on my love of home cooking, beautiful food, eating out at restaurants, reading about food, looking at food porn, watching movies about food and having food moments so intense it makes my husband roll his eyes in mock disgust. It's hard to make a one word title for a hobby like that. Crumb Brulee will have to suffice.

So why now? Why call out food journaling as a hobby?

Well folks, because I needed a creative outlet, a self absorbed place all my own, and yes Blogs are monuments to self-absorption. Let’s get this straight Blogs are all about Me - Me -Me 100% of the time. This particular Blog is a 40 something Mainer's food journal. If that sounds interesting to you then welcome aboard.

If you don’t like it, go suck it [ sorry Mom :) ]