Artichokes and Asparagus

Salmon with Tri-Pepper Salsa

As I was searching for any links to this recipe, checking to see if I'd already posted it somewhere else, I found more links than I thought.  This one to Mystic Seaport: Great Recipes, History and Seafaring Lore from Mystic Seaport was a surprise.  I'd forgotten that I'd given them this recipe.  It was on the menu it the other night for the catering event and I was reminded of how much I love the blend of perfectly salted and cooked salmon, with just a little dark pink in the center, opposite the bright color and flavor of the peppers and lime.

This may be a repeat for those of you have the cookbook or get the e-newsletter, but it's so good, I wanted to post it anyway.

Salmon with Tri-Pepper Salsa
Salsa:
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, cut in half lengthwise, and julienned
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded, cut in half lengthwise, and julienned
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cut in half lengthwise, and julienned
1 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 11/2 limes
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Salmon
4 to 6 salmon filets
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons white wine

Prepare the salsa:
Toss the veggies with the olive oil, lime juice, and dill.  Add salt and pepper to taste; let the salsa sit at room temperature for an hour (two at the most – you don't want it to get soggy).  Check the seasoning again just before you serve.

To prepare the salmon:
Preheat oven to 375°.  Put the salmon in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, preferably a non-reactive one – enamel or ceramic.  Drizzle the lemon juice, olive oil and white wine over the salmon and season with salt and pepper.  Let the salmon sit for 15 minutes, then bake, uncovered, for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Take the fish out when it is still somewhat darker pink in the center. It will continue to cook once you take it out of the oven so take it out before it's quite done.
Serve the salsa on top of the salmon.

Serves 4-6

Excerpted from At Home, At Sea: Recipes from a Maine Windjammer J. & E. Riggin

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Maine Vacation On A Budget

Maybe some vacations are out of reach this year - perhaps the guided safari trip to Africa or the high-end wine tour of Europe will have to wait (although, don't wait too long, life's too short.)  But that doesn't mean a vacation is completely out, because I'm guessing it's a sure thing that the need for a vacation hasn't diminished in the slightest.  This just means you need to look for a value-based, budget-conscious vacation. 

This could be you - hangin' out on the bowsprit while a 120 foot schooner is underway.

We just happen to have a suggestion.  This post actually comes from a conversation had last night with a repeat guest who opined that she always felt that a Maine windjammer vacation has always been a truly budget vacation.  We think so too, of course, but it got me wondering.  I'd never done the math before, but now was the time to sharpen the pencil on a budget-conscious trip for two. 

Consider a hotel at $140 per night, car rental at $500 per week, spending money of $50 per day and two tanks of gas at $40.  Plane fare is budget neutral as anyone not driving needs to fly to us no matter what.  I figured $100 per day for food, eating out for dinner with breakfast and lunch packed from the grocery store for the day.  The total comes to $2,280.  A Maine windjammer trip is $2,010, $270 less. 

Or maybe this is more your speed?

In addition, the view is incredible, the experience once-in-a-lifetime, the details completely taken care of, the people friends for life, the food outstanding and the value - priceless. 

Annie
Come play with us - you deserve it!

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Orzo with Shiitake Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions and Spinach

While there are several ingredients and maybe even a few more steps, this recipe, with the blend of crunchy sesame seeds, chewy shitakes, bright spinach and silky toasted sesame oil is a perfect blend of texture and taste.  It comes from Fine Cooking originally and then from a catering client who asked that I make this favored recipe.

In my typical fashion, I TRIED to follow the recipe start to finish and in the end decided that I'm still constitutionally incapable of doing so.  I HAVE to make it my own somehow.  And because it's such a deep force within me, I must respect that voice that tells me to add a little here, change a little there - taste and then adjust. 

I was laughing at myself when making this recipe.  I have an internal rule about tasting and adjusting.  If I taste a dish three times without making an adjustment, it's called eating, not tasting.  The first taste is clearly needed to judge any changes needed.  The second, okay, sometimes you need to really ponder a subject.  The third, no way, you're done testing and now you're eating.  Time to walk away from the bowl and declare it finished.  Definitely had to do that with this recipe.

Orzo with Shiitakes, Caramelized Onions and Spinach

Note: Orzo is a pasta easily found in the pasta section of the grocery store that looks, when cooked, like fat rice.

3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
pinch crushed red chile flakes
6 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 large yellow onion, finely sliced
2 tablespoons dry sherry
freshly ground black pepper
10 oz. baby spinach, washed and drained
1 pound dried orzo
2 tablespoons minced chives,  (or scallions)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
juice of 1/2 lime, other 1/2 cut into wedges

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the orzo until tender.  Drain and transfer to large bowl.  Toss with toasted sesame, soy and rice vinegar. 

Meanwhile heat a large wok over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil.  Add the garlic and ginger, stir for 30 seconds to 1 minute and add the shiitakes and lightly salt them.  Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes and add the spinach briefly to wilt.  Transfer to bowl with orzo.  Add another 2 tablespoons of peanut oil to the wok and add the onions.  Season with salt and pepper and stir fry until the onions are softly brown and caramelized, about 15 minutes.  Reduce heat if needed.  Add the sherry before removing from heat. 

Combine with rest of ingredients and add chives, sesame seeds and lime juice.  Serve with extra lime wedges.  Can be served hot, room temperature or chilled.

Serves 8 to 10

Annie

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Catering for 30 People

Catering a celebration, in this case a graduation, is an honor.  Especially when it's for someone known, loved and respected.  The gift of giving thoughtful, flavorful food and having that food appreciated by bright, laughter-filled conversation, blessed with live music and surrounded by stories and memories - that's why I like cooking.  If I had no one for whom to cook, I would still enjoy the process and final result, but its made so much better when shared with a group of one or thirty.

The menu is below and I'll be posting a few of the recipes as the week goes on.
White Bean and Green Olive Bruschetta with Parmesan
Crudite with both Ricotta, Fried Garlic and Basil Dip and Gorgonzola and Chive Dip
Herbed Goat Cheese
Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Poached Salmon with Tri-Pepper Salsa
Asparagus with Shallot Vinaigrette
Orzo with Shitake Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions and Spinach
Lentils with Toasted Cumin, Kale and Tomatoes
Sourdough Bread
Chocolate on Chocolate Cake made tasty by The Brown Bag
with Brown Butter and Vanilla OR Raspberry Ice Cream

This was the last catering job of the winter before heading to the usual summer gig of catering for 30 people everyday on the Riggin.  What a great way to cap off a good winter.

Annie
Thanks Iris and family! 

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Win A Free Cookbook!

If there are any of you who don't have one of my cookbooks, At Home, At Sea, yet, here's your chance to win a free one! Blogger of Delicious Musings is offering a free cookbook to the best comment made on a post of my recipe Dill, Lemon and Goat Cheese Pesto.

It ran in the Portland Press Herald for the first time last year with a few other pesto recipes.

Hope someone deserving wins!  I want to hear the first recipe the winner makes from their new cookbook.

Annie

© 2009 Anne Mahle

It's All Good

Move the boat over to our brand new dock : Mom and Dad here for a visit : Mother/daughter talk about puberty at school : Talk with the film crew about a new project : Test recipes for column : Cater a graduation party for a dear friend and fellow mom : Spring cleaning : Chase the errant hen out of the garden - again :  Certify for First Aide : Sit down to dinner together and give thanks for each other : Snuggle with the girls at bedtime encased by freshly cleaned sheets : Read in silence : Crawl into bed after another busy spring day : Look forward to tomorrow and a new adventure.

Annie
Sometime busy, but always good

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Bedtime Stories

Last night when I put the kids to bed, they snuggled into their cosy twin beds, pulled their mountains of quilts, blankets, stuffed animals and pillows all around them and both heaved big, satisfied sighs - part contentment, part secure, and part sleepy.  I remember that feeling of satiation after a hard day of play and fun.  And still get it for that matter when I'm fully pleased with my day. 

Grandma and Grandpa are visiting and the girls asked them to tell stories about when I was little and these became the bedtime stories for the evening before stumbling off to bed.  It had already been a good day of Salvation Army shopping; lobster, corn and baked potatoes; playing full-tilt outside and was then topped off by laughter and reminiscing as the girls heard stories they hadn't before about what I was like when I was little and growing up with two.

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Container Gardening Before Summer

While I love bright-faced pansies, it was still so cold the day I took the winter decoration of evergreens out of the container gardens and window boxes that I couldn't bring myself to plant them.  And then it got below freezing a few nights later and I was glad I didn't.  This idea was in a store front on Main St. and the restful, contemplative aura of these planters suited my mood perfectly.  The yard took on a new appreciation as verdant moss, smooth rocks, fungus covered bark and twisting twigs became treasures to use as decoration.

 

Annie
Loving the calm before the explosion of summer

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Seaweed Maze

And then after we dumped it on the lawn, the girls made a maze with it.

Annie
It doesn't look like as much as I thought, might have to go back for more.

© 2009 Anne Mahle

Portland Press Herald - latest column

Many of my grandma's baking recipes called for sour milk, the modern equivalent of which is buttermilk.  You can cause milk to sour by adding one tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk, but you need to use a little bit less of the created buttermilk because it's a little thinner than store bought. 

What I'm finding as I use raw milk is that while raw milk will sour faster than pasteurized, once the milk goes sour it has a fabulous consistency which is perfect for baking.  On the boat, I end up using half and half, cream or milk that has soured but has a second life making flavor in brownies, scones, biscuits and Irish soda bread.

This week's The Maine Ingredient column in the Portland Press Herald is about making your own cheese - ricotta, ricotta salata and Y(5) yogurt.  Y(5) yogurt is a cultured yogurt that is sweeter, a little less sour and thicker than others I've made at home and on the boat and I can't make it fast enough to satisfy the mouths in this family.  The only downside is it's not meant to be recultured, meaning you need to use a packet of culture from New England Cheese Supply Company every time. 

To make yogurt cheese, which is spreadable and somewhat like goat cheese, line a deep bowl with cheese cloth and pour the yogurt into the cloth.  Tie the ends and hang over the bowl by threading a wooden spoon through the knot and resting the spoon on the edge of the bowl. Allow the whey (the liquid) to separate from the solids overnight.  Remove the cheese cloth and enjoy on crackers, toast or drizzle with olive oil and herbs. 

To make cheese balls, roll into small equal sized balls and place in a jar of olive oil and a sprig of rosemary.  Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks. If the oil has congealed, simple let rest at room temperature for 15 minutes and then remove the yogurt.

Annie

© 2009 Anne Mahle