Day sail and picnic

The heat wave has broken, and the days have been gloriously clear and warm with cool breezes and the nighttime temps dipping into the upper 40s.

We collared my stepfather and made him come sailing with us today.

Guy Talk

Actually we didn't have to twist his arm too hard.

Wilson the Agoraphobic Goldendoodle was happy for the extra company.













Through the Muscle Ridge Channel, past Owl's Head...

Owl's Head

...is the cluster of Dix, High and Birch islands - this spot is perfect (IMHO).  Birch Island is small, edged with smooth granite and sandy beaches, low and treeless, mounded with scrub and rugosa roses.  High Island, just a stone's throw away, is an abandoned quarry, covered in spruce, pocked with old foundations and jutting granite piers.

Honestly, we enjoy High and Birch so much we've never gotten around to visiting Dix, which is supposed to be nice, too, though it's inhabited.

This day we opted for Birch's sand beach for our picnic lunch.

Wilson likes the sand too... easier to get in and out of the water.  He spent most of the day playing Stick.

In the background of that shot above is High Island, with one of the granite piers toward the left.

From among the tiny periwinkle, ladyslipper and clam shells Thing Two found the makings of a Mussel Manicure.

Perfect sailing, too; steady breezes and following seas.

One wonders why anyone would want to live anywhere else.

Recipe: Monkfish with Red Onion and Garlic Scapes

One has to wonder about the first human who looked at a monkfish and thought, "Hey, could be tasty!"  Thank heavens the CSF delivers fillets and not whole fish; I can deal with the fillets.

The texture is almost scallop-like and it's easy to overcook and toughen, so a quick high-heat sear is the preferred method of cooking, and then you have the makings for some sort of yummy pan sauce.  Garlic scapes and fresh dill from this week's CSA went into the mix, with some pearl couscous on the side to soak up the juices.  

Monkfish with Red Onion and Garlic Scapes

2 lbs monkfish fillets, cut into 1" sections

Juice of one lemon

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

10 garlic scapes, trimmed and cut in 1” sections

1 small red onion, sliced

6 tablespoons butter

Fresh snipped dill, for garnish

Combine the lemon juice with an equal amount of olive oil and the salt; stir to dissolve the salt.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Working in batches, dip the monkfish pieces in the lemon juice mixture, then sear until barely done, turning just once (about two minutes per side).  Remove to a platter and keep warm. 

Deglaze the pan with the remaining lemon juice mixture and any accumulated juices from the resting fish, scraping up the brown bits, then add the butter.  When the butter is hot, sauté the garlic scapes until crisp-tender, then add the red onion and continue cooking until the scapes and onion are tender.  Correct seasonings.

To serve, place the fish on a bed of scapes and onion, then drizzle the pan juices over and garnish with fresh dill.

Serves 4.

Bastille Day! (and a recipe for French Silk Pie)

We used to throw a little dinner party every July 14, with boeuf bourguignon and red wine and friends.  That was back when we had a life.  And friends.  
 
Nowadays we happen to catch a snippet of the Marseillaise on the radio on a Thursday morning and we smack our foreheads and say, "Golly!  Today is Bastille Day!  Next year we must to remember to throw a little dinner party on July 14, with boeuf bourguignon and red wine and friends!" and then we forget about it again.
 
Thus, no dinner party tonight; but these two things in honor of the occassion.  
 
First:  Not a snippet, but the full-blown Berlioz choral and orchestra with superstar tenor rendition of the Marseillaise.  This'll make your bosom swell with patriotic fervor even if, like me, you're not even a little bit French.  
 
Second:  A recipe for French Silk Pie.  I printed this out from an e-mail listserv (remember those?) back 1994.  I think you can still find versions of it if you poke around the web, but they're all uncredited, which is too bad because whoever came up with this should be on the short list for the Legion of Honor.  
 
Raw egg alert:  the filling is not baked.  I think it's totally worth the risk but I live on the edge, you know.

French Silk Chocolate Pie with Meringue Crust

Meringue crust:

2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 300.  Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until foamy.  Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until very stiff peaks hold.

Fold in pecans and vanilla.  Spread in 9" greased pie pan.  Bake 50-55 minutes.  Cool.

Filling:

1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 ounces (squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
2 eggs

While crust cools, cream margarine and add sugar gradually.  Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla.  Add 2 egg yolks and 2 eggs, one at a time, beating 5 minutes after each addition.

Pour filling into meringue shell and refrigerate at least three hours, preferably overnight.

Serve topped with whipped cream, finely chopped pecans and grated bittersweet chocolate.

Serves 8.

Repurposing Leftovers: Pasta with Chicken, Artichokes, Spinach and Garlic Scapes

It’s been hot here. 

The temperature is nudging 90, it’s stiflingly humid, and the nights don’t cool down enough to get any relief. 

This happens a handful of days every summer.  Just often enough to remind us why we don’t live someplace where it’s like this more of the time.

Given the temperature, a light pasta sauce seemed to be in order last night.  Spinach, scallions and garlic scapes (I live for garlic scapes) in the CSA share this week combined with artichokes and some leftovers from a roasted chicken went together quickly and hit the spot.

Next time I think I’ll throw in a few red pepper flakes and some feta…

Pasta with Chicken, Artichokes, Spinach and Garlic Scapes

2 tablespoons olive oil

10 garlic scapes, trimmed and chopped in 1” segments

4 scallions, trimmed and sliced

¼ cup vermouth

½ cup (approximately) drippings from roasted chicken (or chicken stock)

1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

2 cups cooked chopped chicken

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or to taste)

8 cups fresh spinach

Salt & pepper to taste

1 lb. pasta, cooked & drained

Parmesan and chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic scapes until bright green and crisp-tender; add the scallions and cook a few seconds longer.  Add the vermouth, chicken stock, artichokes, chicken, and lemon juice.   Bring to a boil and add the spinach; cover and cook until the spinach is wilted but still bright green.  Season to taste.

Serve over hot pasta, garnished with parmesan and parsley.

Serves 6.

Schooner Cruise

Midcoast Maine is home to a fleet of windjammers which run excursions up and down and around Penobscot Bay for which passengers (mostly from away) pay quite a bit of money.

As we were casting about for something - anything - with which to occupy The Heir this summer, he hit upon the idea of apprenticing aboard one of these vessels and became ridiculously excited at the prospect.

Now, crewing is hard, constant work.   And an apprentice is at the very bottom of the food chain.

We are talking about a boy who is so disinclined to physical exertion that he moans for hours when it's his turn to mow the lawn, and we have a riding lawnmower.

So I was skeptical.

But he's doing it and loving it.  And he's getting some great pics.

The sequence that follows was taken while they were approaching and passing under the Deer Isle Bridge, in the Eggemoggin Reach:

Here's another one of the schooners passing under the same bridge.

Feeding a crowd is always an event, but cranking out three gourmet meals a day for six days for thirty people on a wood-burning stove in a tiny galley is pretty much a round-the-clock activity, and virtually all the proof we need that miracle-wielding saints walk - or float - among us. 

The galley slaves do get a break one evening of each cruise for the customary island lobsterbake. 

It's nice to know the boy ate almost as well as he would have at home.

He's home now for a couple of weeks before he ships out again.

He went off to bed after a long hot shower, six tacos, two chocolate chip cookies and half a gallon of milk.

I'm pretty sure he grew while he was gone. Not just physically.

I'm proud of him.

 

Recipe: Chicken Salad

Now that fresh vegetables from our CSA are back on our table...  here is one of our favorite ways to use up a bunch of things at once.

Chicken Salad 

Preheat the oven and thrown in some frozen french fries.

While the fries cook, on each plate, arrange a bed of lettuce.

Distribute a boiled egg, pepperoncini, and other stuff around the edges of the plate - sliced tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper, whatever vegetables have shown up in the share (scallions, radishes, and pea shoots, this week).

Top with the hot french fries, then immediately top the fries with shredded cheddar and a sliced grilled chicken breast.  Dress and serve.

Marvelous. 

Quick.

Doesn't heat up the kitchen. 

Try it with steak instead of chicken sometime too.

2011 Shakedown Cruise

The S/V L'Heretique went in the water on Friday and on Saturday morning we pointed her nose east-ish (doncha love my nautical parlance?) and cast off. 

First things first.  After this trip, to Wilson's list of phobias we can add:

Heights
Divers
Air horns
Dead seagulls

And then there's abandonment. 

"Will they ever come back for me?"

Never mind that only half the family left in the dinghy and the other half is still standing on the dock.

But this is not a new phobia.  It just gets worse as he gets older.

We left Rockland on Saturday morning and made for Hurricane Sound. 

Here's the Owl's Head Lighthouse.  Still one of the prettiest on the coast, say I.

Here you see The Heir has cleverly devised a way to steer with his feet, thereby allowing him to sit down.

Most of us stand up and steer with our hands, but most of us are not 14-year-old boys, thank God.

We took a picnic lunch up to the very tippy top of Hurricane Island.   This is a view from the top of the cliffs, over the granite quarry.



And here is Wilson catching a little shade while we have our sandwiches. 

Apparently spruce trees do not rank in the hierarchy of phobias.

 Hurricane Island has a pretty remarkable and fascinating history which is a story for another time. Himself is an Outward Bound instructor in his spare time, so he has strong ties to the island as well. We love going there.   

The kids jumped into the quarry and into the ocean a couple of times, pronounced the water too frigid for words, and retired to the boat for some mackerel fishing.

Wimps.

A week in Puerto Rico has ruined them.

The next morning we wound our way over to North Haven to drop Thing One off at the ferry terminal so he could get to his schooner on Sunday evening, then headed to Perry Creek to ride out thunderstorms which never materialized. 

Perry Creek is home to some of the finest, bar none, mussels on the East Coast.  Four pounds of them gave their all so that we could enjoy this Thai recipe with rice noodles on Sunday night.

This morning we felt our way home in a pea-souper.  I do not want to discuss it.  Especially the part about getting up close and personal with not one, but two state ferries.  It is the stuff of nightmares. 

Back on dry land now and staring down six loads of laundry - another class of nightmare entirely. 

Over and out.