New England Clam Chowder

Why did we wait so long to make this chowder? No idea, but we're glad we finally went through with it. This New England Clam Chowder was easy to make and absolutely delicious!

We researched many recipes online before settling on a version of this one for The Cliff House Clam Chowder from The Cliff House in Ogunquit, Maine. How could we go wrong with that one, right? It had all the elements we saw on the other recipes - smokey bacon and sweet onions, cubed potatoes, clam juice and cream, and chopped clams, of course!



We altered the recipe only slightly by adding a couple stalks of minced celery and increasing the recipe by half - so 1.5 of the measurements in that recipe - but not exactly 1.5 of each ingredient...

And yes, we made the full-on "Cliff House Spice Blend" with these measurements: 2 tsps oregano, 2 tsps dried parsley, 1 tsps marjoram (we didn't have marjoram, so we added some Turkish Oregano instead), 1 tsps dill, 2 tsps thyme, 2 tsps basil, 1/2 tsp sage, 2 tsps rosemary, 1 tsps tarragon, 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour, crushed in a makeshift mortar. Stored in a resealable plastic bag to refrigerate, there is WAY more than you'd need for the clam chowder, but this makes a nice spice blend for anything savory you're making...


Boil the potatoes before hand... We diced the potatoes to 1/2-inch cubes and added those and the minced celery to COLD water, covered, and brought it up to a boil, then uncovered and they're ready in 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

For the chowder, our updated ingredient list looked like this:

• 3 slice hickory-smoked bacon, minced
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 cups onion (one really nice-sized onion), minced
• 2 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1.5 teaspoon The Cliff House Spice Blend (see below)
• 1.5 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 can clams (6-1/2 ounces) - WITH the juice reserved!
• 1 cup bottled clam juice
• 2.5 cups Half and Half
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 3 medium potatoes AND two stalks of celery, peeled, diced, and boiled.

This candle did nothing to stop the tears caused by that onion...

Then, we just followed their directions, our comments in bold:

In a heavy-bottomed dutch oven sauté bacon, butter, onion, garlic and The Cliff House Spice Blend over low heat. Do not allow to brown - very important! Even if it does brown a little, don't scrape those brown bits up like you would in other deglazed sauces!.



Drain clams and set aside, reserving the juice. Slowly stir the flour and clam juices in the sauté mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Add Half and Half and simmer 20 minutes. Carefully watch the temp during this time - getting just the right simmer is tough with the 1/2-n-1/2. Add white pepper, potatoes and clams. Add the potatoes first, wait a couple minutes, then finally add the clams! Heat to serving temperature. Do not allow to boil, as this toughens the clams. Serve at once.

Absolutely delicious - the sweet, sweated onions and the salty clams with the smokey bacon is perfect. The creamy texture with the soft potatoes is great with a piece of crusty bread - or oyster crackers! Best part is that it's even better the next day... but what soup isn't?

Fluke Florentine

I had an opportunity to go offshore fishing from Newport, Rhode Island with some old high school friends. We caught a few bluefish and a bunch of fluke - aka Summer Flounder. This fish is delicious simply pan-fried with a little salt and pepper, which we had the night I returned from the trip. The next night, we decided to do something a little more elaborate with these sweet whitefish fillets...


The victim.

This Florentine is very simple - sautee one small diced onion, then add a can of petite diced tomatoes, a little white wine, and a little salt and pepper. Add that to a bowl of de-thawed frozen spinach and mix togther. Pour it over the fillets, cover with aluminum, and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. That's it!





This came out wonderfully, the fluke is a great, versatile ocean fish. We also made some bluefish cakes with those fillets... we'll post that later! Here's one of the Blues we caught!



Don't forget to check out Boston Twins!

Poached Brook Trout and Fiddleheads - Caribou, Maine

We headed North for our yearly Memorial Day trip to Caribou, Maine to visit with family, help around the house, and do some Aroostook River trout fishing.

After a cool and rainy Saturday of fishing, the weather cleared and was absolutely beautiful on Sunday. We spent the morning and again later in the evening on the riverside; walking around in our waders in the water, hunting fiddleheads for photos, seeing otters jump in the water beside us, and fishing for trout around the currents and inlets feeding the vast, swollen river.







All fish were safely released, save for this 16-inch, 1.75-pound, absolute beauty of a Brook Trout - which we kept for dinner.



We cleaned the trout by removing the head, making a slit up it's belly and removing the guts, scoring and scraping out the blood vessel on the underside of the spine, and rinsing inside and out really well.



After drying with a paper towel, we rubbed a thin layer of olive oil inside and out, followed by a Lemon Pepper seasoning mix. A few lemon slices and chopped chives in the cavity, and we folded it all up in an aluminum foil pouch, leaving one end open. Into that open end we poured about a 1/3-cup of white wine, then we sealed it up tightly.



That beautiful trout poached on a medium-high grill for what should have been 10-12 minutes (we went too long by accident, 10-12 minutes is the right time). Then, remove carefully and slide that fresh trout meat right off the little bones. So fresh and delicious - on the table just an hour after it was caught.



With our wonderful local Brook Trout, we had locally harvested, riverbed-grown Fiddleheads - par-boiled for 10 minutes and then sauteed with butter until soft and delicious. A very local meal, thanks to the Aroostook.



We had a great trip and can't wait to head up again in September for some end-of-the-season trout fishing.

Grilled Trout

Gearing up for another weekend of camping, hiking, and fishing, we thought an appeal to the Fishing Gods was in order in the form of grilled whole trout. Similar to last year's grilled trout, we bought some cleaned trout and some fresh herbs and a lemon, brought it all home, and warmed up the grill.

We rubbed a thin layer of olive oil inside the trout cavity - and on the outside of the fish - and sprinkled in and out with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Then we added thinly sliced lemon rounds and a stack each of fresh dill and chives. We wrapped our trout in a few pieces of bacon - which will add some smokey flavor and self-baste the fish throughout the grilling process... Grill hot, ready to go!





We added the fish to the grill that already contained some soaked corn on the cob (husks peeled back, silk removed, husks replaced, wrapped in string, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, onto the grill and turned for ~25 minutes) and let those trout go for 10 minutes before flipping and cooking for 10 more minutes. Corn off, fish off, grill off, let's eat!



Delicious fish with lots of flavor from the lemon, herbs, and bacon. Comes right off the bones - just pick it off. And grilling the corn is the only way to go - we'll never boil again! Hopefully this meal will bring us luck on the lakes and rivers of New Hampshire this weekend!

Mojitos... and Fish Tacos

Summertime is in full swing... how about a delicious, refreshing beverage and a light, coastal meal?

I really do love the concept of fresh herbs in drinks... whether you make lemonade with some lemon thyme in it, or perhaps a basil bloody mary martini. This time for me it was the mojito that was calling my name. I really didn’t want to use all that sugar in my drink though since I’m supposed to be following somewhat of a low-carb diet right now. So I just used Splenda instead, and I was quite happy with the results. 1 teaspoon of Splenda, 2 wedges of limes and several mint leaves (more than you think) into a glass which I quasi-muddled with a wooden spoon. I then added ice, some Bacardi and a few splashes of raspberry lime club soda (that’s all I had). It came out refreshing, light and truly summery!



After that, we went for an EASY fish taco salad. Last time we had fish tacos, we included tortillas and beans - this time we decided to go REALLY light and just go with fish and veggies. We marinated a fresh fillet of cod in white wine, lemon pepper seasoning (which includes lemon zest, pepper, salt), and chives for ~30 minutes... then added the fish to a hot grill pan. Maybe 3 minutes on side A, then flipped and after 2 more minutes on side B we were ready to go.

A bed of iceberg lettuce, chopped very ripe tomatoes, and sliced black olives... a couple of BIG chunks of that delicious cod... and top it with our fish taco sauce: 1/2 tartar sauce mixed with 1/2 medium taco sauce.

Delicious! Happy Summer!

Grilled Salmon with Spinach Alfredo Pasta

What do you get when you mix 2 cups of cooked spinach with 1 cup of alfredo, lots of garlic and a handful of whole wheat pasta? A super bed of yummy goodness on which to rest a nice piece of grilled salmon of course!

We simply marinated a couple of salmon filets in white wine, chopped chives, and some salt for about 30 minutes, and then grilled them to perfection on a hot grill for 4 minutes on each side. To plate, make a thick pool of your creamed spinach mixture, top with a bit of whole wheat angel hair pasta, and set the cooked salmon on top. Super easy dish to make (especially for a crowd!!)

We’re off to go fishing again this weekend, but this time up in New Hampshire. Hopefully we’ll catch something to put on our table!

Fiddleheads and Fishing

UPDATE to our last post...! We made a trek up to Northern Maine to visit the Boston Chef parents over Memorial Day Weekend, and we decided to do some fishing along the Aroostook River. Lo and behold, what was growing wild along the banks of the river, but... fiddleheads!



We didn't catch much more than some little guys, but we had fun out there!

Bluefish "Burgers", Grilled Corn on the Cob, and a Tomato Basil Salad

We've been eating alot of fish and shellfish lately - trout, steamers, haddock, and now bluefish! Inspired by our favorite food blog, Helen's Beyond Salmon, and her recipe for "the other burger", we decided to make our own bluefish burgers! Morse Fish Company had some very fresh bluefish for $6.99/lb so we picked up a pound and brought it home. Along with that, we got some fresh corn on the cob and a couple of big, red tomatoes.

Back at home, M pulled the bluefish off of its skin in little chunks until he had shredded the whole thing. Then we mixed in some mayo (maybe 1/4 cup), dijon mustard (couple dollops) and some onions we had previously sauteed and allowed to cool (a medium onion, diced tiny, cooked with a generous pinch of salt). We would have thrown in some cilantro, but alas, we had none...

This made for VERY loose consistancy - not like patties at all, it would go right through your fingers. Undaunted, we scooped up 1/2 the mixture and plopped it onto a sheet in a relatively patty-shaped fashion... then repeated with the other 1/2. This sheet went into the fridge for a couple of hours and it was during this time that it solidified enough to work with.

The corn on the grill we have down pat by now: Peel back - but don't remove - the outer husk and remove the silks. Then fold the husk back up over the corn and use kitchen string to secure. Submerge in a bowl of water for 30 minutes so the husks get wet and the corn plumps up a little and they are ready to go. Hot grill, but careful over direct heat (the husks will burn a little, no problem) for 25 minutes, turning frequently. A little butter and salt and you have perfect corn on the cob!

Back to the bluefish... The only disappointing thing about this recipe was that they were to be pan-fried and not grilled. But we wanted to cook outside! Not to worry, we simply took our little le creuset baking dish and placed it right on the grill - using it as a griddle!

We pulled out the now-somewhat-more-solidified bluefish patties and sprinkled the top side with breadcrumbs. Carefully flipping over, we finished lightly breading the other side and forming these into actual patties - they were perfect consitency by this point.. to our relief!

We put the baking dish-cum-griddle over a medium high heat, carefully added some olive oil, then dropped our bluefish in... cooking them for about 5 minutes per side.

We served them up on a bed of baby spinach with the grilled corn, and a tomato, EVOO and basil salad. Not really burgers - more like patties. They were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! Wonderful flavor and texture - we'll definitely be refining this recipe a little and making these again! Thanks, Helen!



Sorry about the pictures, we are trying to use a new old camera and may just have to go digi camera shopping...

Fish Tacos

Can we please take a break from the grill, she said? Just to mix it up a bit, you know? Well, sure, as long as we use our grill pan to cook the fish on...no one can escape the grill. With that being said, we reinvented our famous fish tacos, and now they are a hundred times better. We used to cut up cod/haddock in chunks, dredge them in flour and fry them up in some canola oil. Good, but not overly-flavorful...it relied heavily on the sauce we mix up to give it zing (taco sauce mixed with some tartar sauce and chopped fresh cilantro, chilled well.)

This time M got a nice piece of haddock which he marinated in white wine, lime juice, cilantro, sliced jarred jalapenos - plus a big splash of the jalapeno juice - for 30 minutes. M put the whole filet on a hot grill pan, only flipping once. While M was busy with the fish, S sauteed up some onion and garlic in some EVOO, then added some rinsed and mashed black beans to the pan with some salt. After about 5 minutes, beans done, fish done.

Using WHEAT tortillas (yes, S is still tormenting M with the no white flour dealie), we built our tacos with the fish, black beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato and sauce. The fish alone was an amazing standout....so flavorful and healthier than our fried version. This definitely gets a thumbs up and we would certainly serve it for guests.

Grilled Whole Trout

Please also see our 2008 Trout Post!
We like to go camping in New Hampshire later in the summer - set up the tent, blow up the air mattress (a necessity!), start the fire, and - surprise! - cook outside all weekend. When we go, we rent a canoe and go fishing for trout and perch... it's so peaceful to be out on the lake in the late afternoon's setting sun, just floating and pulling in a few fish.

On the shore of White Lake, New Hampshire:


Stacey throwing in from the shore - doesn't work too well in glacial lakes, but made for a nice picture!!


Here's a nice-sized perch that Stacey pulled in:


While we wait to go again in August and September, we've begun to crave those lake fish. They had a few fresh-looking trout, dressed, at Stop and Shop so we thought we'd give the whole fish a shot on our new grill.

The victims:


When I was a kid, my brother and father and I would catch trout while camping and memories of bacon-wrapped trout on the grill resound in my mind. I couldn't resist including bacon with the trout! So we rinsed and patted-dry the trout, then massaged a light layer of olive oil inside and out. We salt-and-peppered the inside, then placed garlic, lemon slices, and a big bunch of rosemary and thyme (fresh from the back deck) in the cavity. We then wrapped bacon slices around the fish and - holding the fish closed - toothpicked the bacon on to hold everything together.


These guys went on a very hot grill - covered and maintained at about 425-degrees - for 10 minutes per side.


The bacon fat acted as a self-baster and although it caused a few flare-ups, they were quick and harmless. The end result:


Delicious! Trout isn't exactly the MOST flavorful fish (edit: it's pretty darn delicious), but with the lemon and herbs and bacon, we coaxed the most out of it... doneness was perfect, the flesh slid right off those little, translucent bones. With the trout, we had a spinach salad with feta cheese, olives, and capers. We also threw some thick tomato slices on the grill for a few minutes.


Can't wait to go camping later this summer and get REAL fresh fish! If anyone knows of good camping and fishing spots in New Hampshire/Maine, let us know!!!

Braised Red Cabbage and Seared Asian-Crusted Tuna Steaks

We made Braised Red Cabbage two nights ago after seeing an old 2001 Alton Brown (Good Eats) show on cabbage. Did you know that over 50% of all vegetables sold in the US are technically cabbage? That includes cabbage, bok choy, even broccoli and cauliflower are really derivations of cabbage. Interesting - to food geeks like us!

The braised cabbage was easy - saute a peeled, chopped granny smith apple in some can-oil, add a cup or two of apple juice, salt, and caraway seed (actually a dried fruit - caraway is known to have medicinal purposes and hold special powers!). Then add a sliced-up-into-strips red cabbage, stir it up, and bring back to a boil. Then cover and lower heat and let that thing go for 20-25 mins.

Along with that, we saw some very nice looking tuna steaks for $6.99/lb. at S&S. Although previously frozen, the steaks looked great and we USED to pay up to $15/lb. for this quality, although not PF. Took them home (two 8oz steaks), rinsed them off and they looked and smelled great (as in, no smell at all). Combined a simple rub that included salt and pepper and added Chinese 5 Spice and cumin for an asian flair.

Did the tuna in the cast iron pan on medium-high heat just as the cabbage finished, perfect.

The cabbage was great, added lemon and butter at the end to fill out the flavor. I'd say it needed even MORE acidity in it, but even as leftovers the next night (with Braised Chicken pieces) it still held up. Tuna, although slightly over-cooked, was absolutly delicious and these two items went great together.

Scores:
* Braised Cabbage - 7 out of 10. Def make again, more acid!
* Seared Asian Tuna - 8 out of 10. No question make again if the price is right - take out of pan sooner for a perfect 10!!!