September 3rd, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Seafood, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Seasonality is a wonderful thing. Along with all of the fantastically fresh local veggies this time of year, there are a few other things that are at their peak and lobster is one of them. Lobsters shed their shells in the spring and form newer, softer shells which are much easier to crack.
Fortunately for my family, summer is a big birthday season, which coincides perfectly with lobster season. It's a tradition in ...
view full post »
June 6th, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Seafood, Yankee Cook Recipes | 1 Comment »
We are members of a CSF - a wonderful program that offers shareholders fresh fish, caught locally the morning of pick-up. It's like a CSA, but with fish. This week's catch was flounder - 12 fillets. In case you were wondering, that's a
lot of fish. Fortunately, I was hosting a pot luck dinner the following evening.
There are plenty of lovely ways to make flounder, but I de...
view full post »
May 2nd, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Side Dishes and Vegetables, Vegetarian, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Fiddleheads, a type of fern harvested before the plant has a chance to unfurl, are as much a harbinger of spring in New England - and as fleeting - as a migratory bird passing through. They come up in the middle of spring, around the end of April and into May, when the soil has thawed and early vegetation makes its presence known.
The flavor is fresh and grassy, and offers a good contrast...
view full post »
March 31st, 2010 | Legumes and Nuts, Regional Cuisine, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
At one time Boston Baked Beans were popular throughout New England as a winter survival food - a nutrient and protein-rich pantry item that could be stored throughout the cold months. Refrigeration has obviously changed things a bit, and we're no longer living on beans all winter, but it's good to keep tradition alive.
It's also good to not constantly import produce and things from halfway around the wor...
view full post »
March 23rd, 2010 | Beef, Regional Cuisine, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
There's always all kinds of hubbub over corned beef and cabbage this time of year. My grandmother used to make New England Boiled Dinner, which is similar. Made with more winter vegetables, it's a whole meal in itself, including potatoes, parsnips and carrots.
The cabbage and potatoes take on the corned beef's brininess, which is complemented by the sweetness of the carrots and parsn...
view full post »
March 15th, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Seafood, Vegetarian, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
This was the final week of our fish share until the next season which starts in the spring. We got a lovely cod. Fresh cod is so delicate, it deserves to not have its flavor masked by other things. In this case, lemon adds a bit of zing and fresh rosemary lends its mellow flavor without taking over the dish.
While we're on the topic of fresh herbs vs. dried, I find fresh rosemary to be far le...
view full post »
February 20th, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Seafood, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Yesterday was fish share day. We picked up the last 5 lb bag of beautifully fresh native Northern Shrimp of the season from our Community Supported Fishery. Northern shrimp are the only shrimp native to New England and from what I understand, they're only around in the middle of winter. So this is the end of the line for us until next year. How exciting! What to do,...
view full post »
January 29th, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Seafood, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Madeira loves Crustaceans. Oh yes. They go way back. Madeira is what brings that aromatic sweetness to Lobster bisque and Lobster Newburg.
This dish is inspired by Lobster Newburg. We used 5 lbs of freshly caught Northern Shrimp from our fish share. Feel free to substitute the shrimp for lobster, but the little red guys work just as well and have a more tender textur...
view full post »
January 22nd, 2010 | Regional Cuisine, Seafood, Soup, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
This week's
Community Supported Fishery catch was cod. We currently have a freezer full of fish cakes and we've roasted quite a few fish whole since signing up for the CSF. So I decided to set Wayback Machine to 2006 and go over to my trusty recipe box for ideas. I had worked on this recipe for a while before settling on the right proportion of...
view full post »
December 4th, 2009 | Beef, Regional Cuisine, Soup, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
This type of meat stew washed up on the New England shores with the colonists. If the Puritans hadn't already been making it in England, they likely learned it from the Dutch (the Puritans, who eventually landed in New England, originally fled to the Netherlands before leaving for America).
On a trip t...
view full post »
November 17th, 2009 | Regional Cuisine, Soup, Vegetarian, Yankee Cook Recipes | 2 Comments »
This dish is inspired by the Three Sisters, a term referring to the farming practice of companion planting, which was employed by the Native Americans of the Northeastern United States to grow maize, beans and squash. The three plants were grown in a mound in order to allow for optimal nutrient distribution to the plants and soil - the bean plant produces nitrogen in the soil which th...
view full post »
November 9th, 2009 | Desserts, Regional Cuisine, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Who doesn't love apple pie? Especially this time of year when the apples are fresh and sweet. I got the apples for this pie at a local orchard. Normally I like to use McIntosh apples for pie, but I heard recently that Northern Spies are good for pie because they keep their shape well. This turned out to be true - the slices even stood up to a good toss with the other filling ingredients without breaking.
Another i...
view full post »
November 1st, 2009 | Regional Cuisine, Salad, Seafood, Yankee Cook Recipes | 3 Comments »
Thursday was
fish share night and we got a big, headless, gutted hake. There was a lot of meat on this one. My husband once again, kindly filleted it. The fish yielded six large servings. I cut the excess into fillets, oiled them, put them into zip-top bags and stored them in the freezer for later use. I also made a lovely fish stock from the bones, fins...
view full post »
Seasonality is a wonderful thing. Along with all of the fantastically fresh local veggies this time of year, there are a few other things that are at their peak and lobster is one of them. Lobsters shed their shells in the spring and form newer, softer shells which are much easier to crack.
Fortunately for my family, summer is a big birthday season, which coincides perfectly with lobster season. It's a tradition in ...
