Phoebe's Kitchen

Find Taste and Tales of Coastal New England at R J Julia in Madison, CT

R J Julia at 768 Boston Post Road in Madison, CT now carries the Taste and Tales of Coastal New England, A Taste of Lobsters and some tales too... and the Taste and Tales of Cape Cod.  

Growing up our family spent many hours along the Connecticut shoreline.  I took my first boatride at the age of 6 months from Clinton, CT.  As teenagers my brother and I spent time at Hammonasett Beach.  It is so different than it is today.  Back in the 1960s, there was a wonderful boardwalk with concession stands and even music events on weekends. The My brother and his pals usually spent a week camping at the State Park.  The word Hammonasett means, "where we dig holes in the ground" and refers to the place where a settlement of eastern woodland Indians farmed along the Hammonasset River. The park has served many purposes since 1898 when it was used as a testing range for Wincester Repeating Arms Company; an army reservation during WW II and an aircraft firing range.  I best remember it as a beach. My brother and his pals usually spent a week camping at the State Park.  I remember going from our home in Old Lyme one evening and having sloppy joes sitting around a campfire.  

                                                                                                                                                                    
Sloppy Joes                    

1 pound lean ground beef  

1  medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 cup celery

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon ground mustard

freshly ground pepper to taste

6 hamburger buns, split

 

1. In 10-inch skillet, cook beef, onion, garlic and celery over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients except buns. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.
3. Fill buns with beef mixture.

Serves 6

 

 

Travels to Tucson

Over Labor Day weekend I headed west to visit family in Tucson, Arizona.  The landscape is so vastly different than that of the Northeast.  It is such a dramatic change to go from lush green to the stark brown of the dessert.  For those tired of mowing lawns and trimming trees, this is the place to live.  It takes a few days to adjust and then you really begin to enjoy the desert and the mountains that surround Tucson.

My first adventure was to travel to El Charro Cafe where the chimichangas was   invented.  I did try the El Charro Carne Seca, the original chimichangas that made the El Charro Cafe famous.  I thought it as a little greasy, but had a lot of flavor.  What we did have as an appetizer that was absolutely delicious was a Cheese Crisp.  It is basically a tortilla with cheese on top baked in the oven.  Consider it a pizza made with a tortilla. 

On Sunday, we headed up Mt. Lemmon in the Coronado National Forest.  It is a 9,167 feet above sea-level.  We drove up the Catalina Highway which starts on the eastern side of Tucson.  The views on the ride up are absolutely spectacular.  Near the top is the town of Summerhaven which was burned out in the Aspen Fire in 2003.  Many of the homes have been re-built.  We had lunch at the Iron Door Restaurant near the top with hummingbirds enjoying the sugar water near out table.  While there the temperature dropped 35 degrees and it rained.  However, go a few hundred feet down the mountain and there was no rain.  At 4,000 feet Saguaro cactus and other desert plants are once again visible.

Know as the "White Dove of the Desert," San Xavier Mission, the oldes European structure in Arizona, was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692.  The current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797.  The interior is filled with marvelous statuary and mural paintings.  In 1783, Franciscan missionary Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain was able to begin contruction on the present structure using money borrowed from a Sonoran rancher. He hired an architect, Ignacio Gaona, and a large workforce of O'odham, a group of aboriginal Americans who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona, to create the present church.

Cheese Crisp

1 (10-inch) tortilla                    

 

 1-1 1/2 cup grated cheese (Cheddar, Monterey, Queso Quesadilla  and Asadero) or your favorite

 

1. Place the tortilla on a large, dark cookie sheet. Spread butter all over the top of the tortilla, making sure to get the butter all the way out to the edges. (The butter is very important! Don't omit.)  Sprinkle top

2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and cook for 6 minutes, or until the tortilla begins to visibly brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle cheese over the top and return to oven for another 2-3 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the tortilla. 

 

 

Cadwell's Cheese House

Cadwell's Cheese House in Dewittville, NY was the first to carry our latest book the Taste and Tales of New York. 

 I have know the owner Jane Currie- since the 70s..  She is an outstanding photographer and the author of several books about western New York state around Chautauqua.  Cheese  had been in the Currie family since the last 1800s and the Cadwell Cheese House has been selling quality cheese and gifts since 1927. 

Check out their website at http://www.janeandpamela.com/cadwellmain58/cheese32/pid1cheese.html

Taste and Tales of New York

        Introducing our latest cookbook with over 200 recipes and nearly 200 interesting tales and tidbits. 

Once again Louise Minks of Leverett, MA painted an amazing image that we used for the cover.  The colors literally just jump off.

Kudos go to Lynee Rudie of Turners Falls who designed the book.  She did an absolutely fabulous job. 

The book is available through our website, www.basspondpress.com.  There are representative tales and a delicious recipe for the official muffin of New York, an Apple Muffin.

 

 

From Sun to Snow

Spring arrived 2 weeks ago according to the calendar, but  I guess someone forgot to tell Mother Nature.  Two  weeks ago I was sitting in the sun on Siesta Key beach  in Sarasota, yesterday I was preparing the snow blower to be used.  Is there something wrong with this picture? 

I must say the weather was marvelous for my annual trip.  It was raining as I left Bradley International, but miraculously ended as the plane landed in Tampa.  As I stepped out of the airport the warmth enveloped me.  I headed out in rental car with the windows open and headed to Publix, my favorite grocery store. 

Sarasota has one of the finest Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning.  Always best to get there early in order to get a good parking spot.  The flowers, vegetables, and fruits are straight from the growers.  After the   market we head to the Broken Egg at  Lakewood Ranch.  Their meals are very inventive and don’t besurprised to see Dick Vitale having breakfast or signing books. 

 

As usual a trip to Anna’s Deli on Siesta Key was in order.  Founded in 1971, it is now the oldest
restaurant on Siesta Key.  The reason for this success is the delicious sandwiches, especially the surfer.  It is a combination of ham, turkey, cucumbers (sliced on length very thin), cheese and their special dressing.  Friends kept testing and believe that the dressing is a combination of mustard and mayonnaise. 

One can not leave Florida with out having grouper.  I prefer mine grilled and the Phillippi Creek Village Restaurant and Oyster Bar.  The restaurants sits on the edge of the creek and dining is in the Old Florida tradition.  Phillippi Creek Oyster Bar is actually the converted winter home of the Phillippi family and has changed little since being built in 1604.  His ship the “Philly P” is said to have gone down off Island Park during Hurricane Maria in 1619 and supposedly on moonlit nights a ghostly vision of the ship can be seen sailing up the creek without a paddle.

For my entire trip, the days were warm and sunny and the skies were cloudless and there is nothing quite like the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico.      

 

                                                         Grilled Grouper

4 (6-ounce) grouper fillets                                                                                     2 teaspoons olive oil         1/2 teaspoon salt                                                                                                                                                                 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper                                                                  lime wedges                                                                                              cooking spray

1.  Rub fish with olive oil, psrinkle with salt and pepper.                                       2.  Heat a large nonstick grill pan over medium high heat; coat pan with cooking spray or heat grill at same temperature and spray grill with cooking oil.                  3.  Add fish, cook 5 minutes on each side or until flakes easily when tested with a     fork.                                                                                                                  4.  Serve with lime wedges.

Serves 4                                                                     Taste and Tales of Florida

Taste and Colors of Fall

I think we would all agree that this past year has been pretty strange weather wise.  Spring came weeks before it should and the trees and flowers were as confused as us.  So far fall has been predictable.  In New England we were figuring the colors would be dull due to the severe lack of rain.  However, in September we received a fair amount of rain and I believe that helped change the course.  I have a large Silver Maple Tree in my yard and prior to the 9 inches of rain we received in September was dropping leaves pretty consistently.  After the rain, the tree held it leaves and is still doing so.  All-in-all it has been a pretty terrific fall and for visitors the trees held forth their annual colorful extravaganza.  Also in my yard is a Gingko and right now it is an absolutely unbelievable color   of yellow gold.  Either tomorrow morning or the next one, I will get up and all the leaves will be off the tree.  The Ginkgo can live for nearly a millennium and it drops all its leaves at once.  So far it has only happened at night so I have never seen it happen.

 

Last weekend I went to Cooperstown to meet the lovely Miss Maggie – my friend's 8 month old baby.  Most of the leaves were past and many of the trees were bare, but the magnificent chrysanthemums trees at the Otesaga Hotel were sensational.  I had never seen anything like them before.  Matt is 6' 4"  (holding Maggie) and as you can see the trees were not that much taller.  There is always so much to see and do in Cooperstown.  As we only had a few hours, Matt’s wife Mary Margaret and I hit a few of the shops while Matt had bonding time with Maggie.

 The first shop visited was Savor NY on W. Main Street.  The emphasis of the store is products made in NY - both food products and specialty items such as children blocks.  The owner is the author of two Cooperstown cookbooks that are excellent.  We then went to one of my favorite places, Fly Creek Cider Mill.  The mill is a few miles outside of  Cooperstown and is a wonderful place to purchase great cheeses such as Palatine Bridge, delicious apples, and unique gifts.  

 

Within a few minutes of my home is a great market, Fresh Acres Market.    It has an open air produce section, outstanding meat department (all without hormones), take home food section and specialty items such as my friend’s cookies and cupcakes.  A few weeks ago they had a harvest food tasting event. Shoppers tasted delicious items such as stuffed scallops, crab cakes, a wonderful Turkey Vegetable Gumbo, and samples of the various entries into the apple cooking contests.  Their philosophy is to buy local as much as they can, corn  from Meadowbrook Farms, apple pies from Lyman Orchards and cookies from Sugar DLs (I highly recommend her Ginger Cookies).

This is the perfect time for soup, chowder. and stews. There is nothing quite like sitting down and having a nice hot bowl of Vegetable Beef Soup or my Belgian Beef Stew (see February 14th blog).  My mother and I made a pot of soup every week and it is one of the things I miss.  We would sit at the table and peel and cut our vegetables.  The ingredients changed based on what was in the house.  Last week I used rutabaga, parsnips, celery, onion, garlic and carrots.  There isn't a real recipe, but I will give you some guidelines.

Vegetable Beef Soup

 

1 center-cut beef shank                                                             

1 (14 ounce) beef stock

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ rutabaga, diced

4 parsnips, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

fresh thyme and oregano

 

1. Fill a stock pot with water and beef stock to within 2-inces of top.  Place beef shank in pot and bring to a boil on medium low.  Skim top of liquid before it gets to a full boil.  Once boiled, turn heat down to simmer.
2. Add vegetables and seasoning.  I use fresh thyme, lemon thyme and oregano all year round.
3. Let cook for 2-3 hours.  When beef is tender and falling off bone, remove and cut in pieces.  When vegetables are tender, serve with salad and hot bread.

 Serves 8

Cook’s Note:  I have a large pansy bowl filled with a variety of herbs.  In late October I bring them in and place them inside in an unheated porch.  I water them about every three weeks and once spring arrives, I put them back outside and simply repot them.  I have been doing this for several years and nothing has died including my rosemary.  I have tried to over winter rosemary inside, but it doesn’t like it, but it doesn’t seem to mind the porch.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Is Cranberry Harvest Time!

This past weekend I participated in CLASH – A Celebration of Land and Sea Harvest at the Cape.  On Friday, the Riverway Lobster House in S. Yarmouth hosted me at a booksigning.  It was very gracious of the Siscoe family.  The lobster and crab chowder make by Chef Tim McDonough was absolutely delicious.   

 

At the signing I met Craig Williams, a cranberry grower from the area.  He was quizzing me about my knowledge of cranberry since I had written a book about the ubiquitous little red berry.  Fortunately, I passed the test.  He invited me and my guests to visit his bogs after the signing.  When we finished we headed north and following the directions Craig gave us we were able to locate the bogs without any problem. 

 

The bogs had a bit of color in them and when asked what it was, I learned that poison ivy and cranberries have a symbiotic relationship.  He indicated that the workers grow an immunity to the poison and Craig indicated that one can apply a block to prevent the oil from touching the skin. 

 

Craig jumped into one of the bogs and picked a  ariety of cranberries to show us the different coloration in the berries.  I learned that 90% of the different was wet harvested and are used for juice, sauces, jams, etc.  That means that 10% are sold as fresh berries.

Growers have had a difficult time over the past few years financially due not only to the economy, but also due to increased imports of berries from other countries.  In 2009, $299 million dollars worth of berries entered the USA with $132 million coming from Chili, $115 million from Canada and $46 million from Argentina.  It is essential that the cranberry industry be preserved here in Massachusetts, so make sure you buy bags that say Massachusetts.  A law passed about a year ago says that fruit and vegetables imported must show where they are coming from. 

 

We thanked Craig for taking his valuable time to give us the tour.  I only wish I had the time to return for the actual harvest.  From we headed to Barnstable Harbor and the Mattakeese Wharf restaurant.  The meal was delicious and the view sensational.  If it had not been overcast, the sunset would have been spectacular.

 

On Saturday, we headed to Chatham for another signing at Where The Sidewalk Ends bookstore.  For a Saturday, it was a little quiet.  When we left we headed to the lighthouse and that is where we found everyone.  It was a beautiful day and everyone headed to the beach.  I showed my company the break through in Pleasant Bay and then did a tour of Orleans before we headed home.  Before leaving, we stopped at the Deli in Sandwich to pick up sandwiches and went out to the Canal to eat.  It was warm but a bit breezy.  This was my sister-in-laws first trip to the Cape and she is looking forward to exploring it some more.  She and my brother live in Dallas, so it was a nice change. 

 

Below is a delicious recipe for Cranberry-Apple Turkey Salad from my cookbook, a taste of cranberries and some tales too.

 

¼ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

2 tablespoons light mayonnaise

2½ cups boneless, skinless turkey breast, diced

½  cup dried cranberries

1 medium celery rib, chopped

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons pecans, chopped

2 medium apples, sliced

 

1. In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt and

mayonnaise.

2. Stir in turkey and remaining ingredients, except

apples.

3. Place lettuce on individual salad plates; using ice

cream scoop put one scoop of turkey on top of

lettuce.

4. Garnish with sliced apples.

 

Serves 4

 

 

Come To CLASH on Cape Cod this Weekend

 Come to the Cape this weekend and partake of the many events that are happening.  CLASH stands for the "Celebration of Land and Sea Harvest" and happens at the end of September.  For the past three years the weekend had been hampered by rain, but this weekend it is suppose to be beautiful. 

I have been invited to participate at a tasting event at the Riverway Lobster House in South Yarmouth on Route 28.  Our hosts will  be sampling Lobster & Crab Chowder along with some hot hors d'oeuvres.  I will be signing copies of "A taste of lobster and some tales too...".  The event takes place on Friday, September 24, 2010 from 2 - 4 p.m.   This event was organized by Marie McHugh, Manager of Books By the Sea in Osterville and South Yarmouth.  Rmember a portion of each book sold goes to breast cancer research.

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, I will be doing a booksigning at Where the Sidewalk Bookstore in Chatham at the end of Main  Street.  Met Joanie Goodrow whose delicious Divine Lobster Pie is on Page 74.  Stop in at Gustare Oils & Vinegars which is right
across the street from the bookstore and sample some of their marvelous extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegars. 

Check out all the events happening during CLASH.  Other bookstores having booksignings include Titcomb's in E. Sandwich and Books By the Sea will be at the Osterville Historical Society on West Bay Road at the Osterville Farmers' Market.

Drew from  "Nantucket Wild Gourmet & Smokehouse will join the fishermen on the Chatham Fish Pier on Saturday from noon until 6 p.m. with samplings of their smoked fish and pates.  After chatting with the retired fisherman and sampling some delicious bluefish pate stop in at the Chatham Pier Fish Market for some of their delicious chowder.

Take tours of some of the farms and get delicious produce and other products at their stands such as Crow Farm in E. Sandwich, Surrey Farm in Brewster, Tuckernuck Farm (Yarn) in Brewster, Coonamessett Farm in East Falmouth, or stand in at the Tihonet Market in Wareham and pick up some cranberries.

Hope to see you at either the Riverway Lobster House or Where the Sidewalk Ends!

 

 

Find Us in Essex, CT

Goods & Curiosities, a retail store of the Griswold Inn located at 47 Main Street in Essex, CT.  The shop  now carries the Taste and Tales of Coastal New

England, A Taste of Lobsters and some tales too... and A Taste of Cranberries and some tales too. 

The Griswold Inn is the oldest continuously operated Inn in the U.S.A.  It originally opened in 1776   Its Hunt Breakfast is served every Sunday at the Inn.  To learn more about it read the tales in the Taste and Tales of Coastal New England.

Farmers' Markets of Cape Cod

    For a few days in August I had been asked to do booksignings at some of the Farmers’ Markets at the Cape.  On Tuesday the 17^th, I arrived at the green on Rt. 6A in Sandwich early and had the opportunity to chat with a few vendors before the day began.  At the corner was a mobile pizza vendor called “Pizza Barbone.”  Jason O’Toole is the chef and produces a delicious variety of pizza. I was curious about the brick ovens and he told me that the internal temperature reaches 1000 degrees so he is able to cook the individual pizza in 2-3 minutes. There had been an article in the Sunday Cape Cod Times about Jason and his mobile pizza.  I can truly say people came from near and far to purchase his pizza.  Regretfully, by the time I got over to buy lunch, the Lobster Pizza was gone, actually everything was gone, but I managed to get half mozzarella and sopressata and the other half mozzarella and basil.  Jason does private parties, festivals, farmers’ markets, and even weddings and can be contacted through his website, www.pizzabarbone.com.

 

Also at the Sandwich market, I met the owner of Nantucket Wild Gourmet and Smokehouse in Chatham.  Drew catches all the fish, except the salmon, that he then smokes for nearly 20 hours.  I purchased some Smoked Bluefish to make the Bluefish Paté that J.W. Jackson in Phil Craig’s novel made famous.  This recipe was featured in a previous blog.

 

My friend, Lori Caron, of Salty Lou’s Lobster, hosted me at the Sandwich and Hyannis markets.  Her partner, Rob Martin harvests the lobster with over 500 traps in Cape Cod Bay and out to Stellwagen Bank, where this time of year the whales are on the move, along side his faithful four legged friend Salty Lou.  These products are guaranteed fresh, live and local.  Look forward to Lori's new restaurant, The Farmers Table on Sea Street in Hyannis.  As soon as it it officially open, I will let you all know.

 

LOBSTER WHIP

 

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 small onion minced

sea salt, pepper, celery salt

sprinkle of Worcestershire® sauce

1 pound cooked lobster meat, cut in bite-size pieces

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix together all of the above ingredients and place in a

1-pint baking dish.

3. Sprinkle with slivered almonds.

4. Spread with lobster.

5. Heat in oven for 15 minutes.

6. Serve on crackers directly from oven dish.

The Taste of Gloucester (1976)

 

 

I love going from table to table checking out the unusual fruits and vegetables that simply aren’t available at local grocery stores.  This year it was chocolate and husked cherry tomatoes and a zucchini/summer squash combination.  The husked cherry tomatoes have a tartness to them and are fun to squeeze from the husk and I thought 

the chocolate cherries from Crow Farms in E. Sandwich were a little sweet, but had no taste of chocolate.

 

 At Osterville, I was the guest of Books by the Sea for a booksigning along with three other authors.  It was here that I came across the husked cherry tomatoes from Allen Farms in Westport, MA.  Next to him was the Great Cape Baking Company.  They were also in Sandwich, but like the pizza man, they had nothing left by the time I got to them.  This time I was determined to try their apple cider donuts.  I almost lost out again.  This was   all they had left within a half hour of their arrival.  

 

On Saturday morning, I stopped by the Orleans Farmers’ Market to buy some of the soap by Summer House Soaps.  After much pondering, I decided on the Hydrangea, Beach Rose and Vineyard Lilac.  Their scents are marvelous and packaging quite lovely.  They would  

make terrific Christma gifts.

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my few days at the Cape this year and look forward to next year!