A Taste of Bermuda

Whenever we travel, we make a point of eating as the locals do, trying local dishes and ingredients, and generally celebrating the local culinary culture. So, although we were in Bermuda for only a couple of days, we made sure to try both the dish and the drink that have made Bermuda famous.  

First, the national dish of Bermuda: Bermuda Fish Chowder. We enjoyed this peppery chowder at The Pickled Onion, a chic restaurant and bar on Front Street in Hamilton. Drinking quotations adorned the walls and Outerbridge's Sherry Peppers Sauce festooned the tables. The waitress offered us free WiFi, a treat since we had been at sea on a cruise for the past four days. Although Amy took a huge digger in the bathroom (sober and all!) that resulted in a ginormous bruise, the afternoon was more memorable for the chowder. Vastly different from our New England version, this chowder had a dark, rich color with flavor to match. The addition of black rum and sherry peppers gave it a robust kick. We will be giving this recipe by Gosling's Rum a try very soon, having purchased the requisite Outerbridge's to take home with us. We'll let you know if we get at all close to the original.

Secondly, the national drink of Bermuda: The Rum Swizzle. We partook in this legendary punch-like cocktail at The Swizzle Inn, known as the home of the Rum Swizzle, but also Bermuda's oldest pub. The drink is a combination of rums including Gosling's Black Seal, fruit juices (specifically orange, lemon and pineapple), and other "secret" ingredients. The gift shop at The Swizzle Inn sells a powdered drink mix for those who wish to try some at home, but we were happy enough to enjoy them in their native setting. Neither too sweet nor too strong, this drink made us happy to "Swizzle Inn...Swagger Out." Delightful!

Creamery Brook Bison Farm, Brooklyn, CT

Amy: "What do you want to do today?"

Chris: "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Amy: "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Chris: "I don't know..."

Amy: "Okay, enough. Let's just go for a drive and see what happens."

Chris: "What direction?"

Amy: "I don't know..."

Chris: "I think it's time for the magic nickel of indecision."

It was a sunny fall day, just a few weeks ago, and we had nowhere to be but couldn't seem to decide what we wanted to do. So we flipped a coin (the aforementioned magic nickel) and when it turned up heads (heads = east, tails = west), we turned up the radio and headed east on CT Route 6. We thought for a minute that we might end up in Providence, perhaps hit up the ole' Federal Hill neighborhood for some Italian chow, but that was not meant to be. For when we saw the sign announcing that we were entering the little haven of Brooklyn, Connecticut, a glimmer of recognition went through Amy's head.

Amy: "I think there's a bison farm around here. How big can Brooklyn, Connecticut be? Let's find it and buy some bison meat!" 

We stopped at Brooklyn Beef and Fish, thinking that if they didn't sell bison, they would know where the farm was. In fact, they did. And so it was we ended up at the Creamery Brook Bison Farm. Following the butcher's directions and then, the signs to the farm, we passed a long gated pasture where we stopped and watched the buffalo roam.

Yes, bison is buffalo. They are one and the same, and it's thanks to farms like Creamery Brook that the bison population continues to be on the rise. Here, they feed them corn and grass, no hormones or antibiotics, and the result is a flavorful, slightly sweet, not-at-all-gamey, tender meat with fewer calories and less cholesterol than beef, chicken or turkey. The healthier red meat!

We made our bison purchases and stepped out to enjoy the sunshine and visit the animals. One of the younger bison had stealthily entered the emus' home. The emus, therefore, were chillin' by the fence, far from young Mr. Bison, curiously checking us out as we did them.

A rooster crowed, a peacock ambled by. It was quiet and peaceful and perfectly New England. That magic nickel sure comes in handy.

Wondering what we did with our bison purchase? Come back tomorrow and find out.

Looking Back, Longingly (Maine Foodie Tours)

Stormy weather indeed. Two weekends ago, we shopped for supplies in the morning, then attended a costume party while Hurricane Sandy threatened, looming large into the week up through Halloween. Our area was unscathed, and we spent a couple of grateful days checking in with friends and family and watching news reports of people not quite as fortunate. With leftover candy still in a bowl on our table, we did our best to avoid the flurry of phone polls and campaign ads, voted with our hearts and minds, and watched as the nation re-elected its President. That political storm had barely passed when in blew Winter Storm Athena, dumping five inches of slushy snow onto our leaf piles, mums and jack-o-lanterns. It sure made us miss Maine.

Lobster Salad Pate a Choux and Wine Spritzers at the Cape Arundel Inn,

just across from the Bush Compound

The Cape Arundel Inn Wine Spritzer:

In an ice-filled wine glass, mix 1 part Italian dry white wine with 2 parts lemon-lime soda, and garnish with a lemon slice.

Yes, a mere eleven weeks ago, we were sunning ourselves on the shores of Goose Rocks Beach, just north of Kennebunkport. We ate pounds of lobster and steamer clams, rode around (Roman Holiday-style, natch) on a scooter, went out for ice cream, watched fire works, stargazed, got tipsy in the afternoon, met new friends from Montreal, and enjoyed the relative silence that a beach vacation with Amy's family offers. All that, and we went on a Maine Foodie Tour.

Blueberry Scallop Crostini and St. Germain Cocktails at The Colony Hotel

St. Germain Cocktail:

Mix two ounces Freizenet Brut with 1 1/2 ounces St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and 2 ounces club soda. Serve with a twist.

How could we be in Maine for a week and not go on a Maine Foodie Tour? The Savor Kennebunkport Culinary Trolley Tour promised all we could ever want in a trolley tour - four glorious gourmet stops, all with tastings of food and liquor in some of K-port's finest historic restaurants and resorts. Sign. Us. Up.

Cheese and Fruit Platter with the Ocean Avenue Spritzer at The Nonantum Resort

Ocean Avenue Spritzer:

Fill a large glass with ice, then add 1 1/2 ounces Don Q Limon Rum and 2 ounces Honeymaker Blueberry Mead (made in Maine). Top with Green Bee Honey Soda. Garnish with a lemon twist, fresh blueberries and a sprig of rosemary.

We met our trolley at the agreed-upon location, were greeted by our gracious hosts and embarked on the tour. The ride was filled with fun foodie facts, historical information about the Kennebunk area, and Maine trivia. With gorgeous old mansions shaded by tall spruce pines on one side and bright blue sky with seaside vistas on the other, we were already enjoying ourselves and we hadn't yet had a single bite. As for the food and drink, the pictures here tell the story better than we can. We nibbled and sipped, chatted and listened, wondered and learned, strolled and relaxed. The drink recipes were emailed to us after the tour by the kind folks at Maine Foodie Tours. Next time you're in the area, we highly recommend taking one.

Raspberry Bars and Choco Noir Wine at The Captain Lord Mansion



CT Wine Trail: The Southeast Corner

A crisp and sunny fall Saturday just begged for a drive around Connecticut's wineries. So we grabbed our passports and headed to the southeast corner of the state to enjoy the scenery, sample a glass or two, and discover a place to grab a bite somewhere on the way home.

Our first stop was Holmberg Orchards and Winery. We made it the first stop so we could do some apple picking as well. The tasting room at Holmberg is quite small and it was crowded since everyone seemed to be copying our idea!!! They produce a few fruity wines, as well as some hard ciders, and for $5 (with a souvenir glass!) we got to taste three of each. Our favorite from the wines was the sweet-tart Apple Cranberry which had a beautfully dry cranberry finish. We also loved the zippy sparkling Cortland hard cider and took home a bottle of it to enjoy on our porch swing while we watch the leaves fall.

Next up was a stop at Dalice Elizabeth Winery, a small winery that imports grapes but do all the pressing, fermenting and aging here in CT. A tasting here costs $10 for 4 - the three wines they had available then a second tasting of your favorite. A glass is usually included, but unfortunately for us they had run out. Still, it was here that we enjoyed what may perhaps be the most unusual (in a good way!) wine we've ever had - a chardonnay with quite noticeable and long-lasting hints of almond flavor. Truly unique and delicious. They have cheese platters and other goodies for purchase, with cute little tables under a trellis and a pretty pond to view.

The third stop we made was to Stonington Vineyards. We had gotten a late start, so it was almost 4:30 when we arrived. They were having some live entertainment starting at 5 and had stopped their tastings, but offered us a glass of our choice of their wines and an invitation to stay for some music for $8 each. Amy went for the cabernet franc while Chris had the rose. Both were good enough but nothing we liked quite enough to buy more.

We had time for one more stop, only because one of the vineyards wisely stays open until 6, and that was our favorite of the day, Maugle Sierra Vineyards. The tasting room was warm and spacious, the server was gracious and welcoming, and the wines ($10 for a tasting of 6 wines - 3 whites, 3 reds - with souvenir glass) were fantastic. Several are made with the St. Croix grape, and the reds (particularly the Ledyard Sunset Red) went wonderfully with chocolate (yes, truffles are available for purchase).

Hungry now, we asked if there was an interesting restaurant nearby, and the fine folks at Maugle Sierra handed us a cork and pointed us in the direction of Valentino's, a casual Italian place that offered us a discount in exchange for the winery's cork - a nice little bonus, we thought! They seemed to specialize in pizza and grinders, but we went all out with a couple of pasta dishes. Satisfied and growing tired, we headed back home, having enjoyed a perfect fall outing.

 

Domenica, New Orleans

As we are about to leave for one last huzzah (a week on the beach in Maine sans computer!!!) before we teachers have to go back to The Place That Must Not Be Named, we'll leave you with a few tidbits from our recent trip to New Orleans. We had eaten dinner the previous night at Restaurant R'evolution and should have still been full from that, but when we're in the Big Easy, we seem to have hollow legs, so the next afternoon, we went to Domenica, a John Besh restaurant at the gorgeous Roosevelt Hotel. 

The hotel is one block off Canal Street and is an impressive sight to behold. The Art Deco style permeates the building that opened as the luxurious Grunewald Hotel in 1893 and stretches an entire city block still. An ambitious renovation project post-Katrina has restored it gloriously, and the addition of a top chef's restaurant adds to its allure.

But Domenica (which means "Sunday" in Italian) is casually elegant rather than snobbishly so. Sparkling chandeliers hover over espresso-colored wooden tables where each placemat also serves as the menu. The menu highlights homey Italian specialties (pizze, salumi, antipasti, pasta, panini, dolci) with a contemporary chic touch, all the while focusing on the bounty and traditions of the American South. In other words, it's John Besh doing Italian and doing it well.

The chef's selection of salumi, cheese, olives and vegetables featured meats that were sliced so thinly you could see through them. We adored those pillowy fried doughs that came with it!

The roasted cauliflower, served with a whipped goat feta cheese dip, was exquisite in its simplicity. We are totally going to attempt to duplicate this one at our next dinner party!

The contrasting colors and flavors of the squid ink tagliolini (black ink pasta tossed with opaque white crabmeat) made for a dish that was both beautiful to look at and to taste. The local crabmeat was so very fresh!

Pizzas were thin and crispy and topped with the freshest of ingredients - of the sort that would be well at home in a Roman pizzeria, except for the local Abita brew that J washed it down with, of course.

One bite of the tagliatelle with rabbit and porcini mushrooms took us back a decade to our trip to Tuscany. The rabbit was moist, the mushrooms earthy, and the dish well-composed. Delicioso!

The desserts were also quite inspiring, particularly the oven-roasted peach cake, with Nebbiolo-poached figs and fiore di latte gelato. The crema cotta and pistachio crostata, with its many layers of differing tastes and textures, formed individually delightful bites. And the gelati were creamy, cold, refreshing and flavorful. Very traditionally Italian!

It was quite the lunch (yes, lunch!) and we very much enjoyed the incredible food, the beautiful setting, and being treated to it all by the best of friends. Thank you again, J and K! Love and miss you!

The Best Fried Chicken We Ever Had (Willie Mae's)

The best we ever had. It sounds hyperbolic, but in this case, it is 100% true. Willie Mae's Scotch House makes the best fried chicken we ever had.

Willie Mae's (the place and its namesake) is a New Orleans institution. It was originally a bar (hence the "Scotch House" in the name) opened by Willie Mae Seaton in the 1950's on Treme Street, in the famed Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. A year later, it moved to its current location at 2401 St. Ann Street in the same neighborhood. All the while, Willie Mae herself cooked her acclaimed Southern-soul cuisine - the now-famous fried chicken, red beans and rice, butter beans, smothered veal, pork chops and more. By 2005, the food was so noteworthy that the place was honored as an American classic by the James Beard Foundation. Then came Katrina.

The restaurant, as well as Willie Mae's adjoining home, was destroyed. A couple of years, plenty of private donations, and lots of help from the Southern Foodways Alliance and its volunteers, and the small corner lunch joint reopened in April 2007. Willie Mae, now in her mid-90's, no longer helms the fryer, but her great-granddaughter Kerry is carrying on her culinary traditions (at least on Mondays through Saturdays for lunch).

We grabbed a cab from the French Quarter and headed to Treme. When we gave the cabbie our destination, his smile widened and he said in his N'awlins drawl, "Now ya'll know what you're doin'!" He continued his praises of Willie Mae's fried chicken for almost the whole ride out, telling us he picks up some for almost every family gathering, and advising us as to which sides we should order. Ten minutes later, he dropped us at an unassuming white-washed cottage on a corner in a residential neighborhood filled with pastel-colored shotgun houses and said, "Ya'll enjoy!"

Our mouths were watering as we entered and smelled the food. There was no wait (a rare occurrence, we've heard) and we were seated in the small front dining room. We each ordered the three-piece fried chicken meal ($10) along with sides of red beans, butter beans and green beans, and a couple of cornbread muffins.

The fried chicken blew our hair back. It was out of this world! An amber-colored crusty coating enveloped each piece. It was perfectly seasoned and so wonderfully crispy that it shattered into brittle pieces as we ate it. The chicken inside was succulent and juicy and just soooo good. It's the perfect dichotomy of textures. We ate every crumb and licked our fingers clean. The sides were also delicious, but our favorites were the creamy butter beans in their velvety garlic gravy and the moist cornbread.

There is a lot of debate about fried chicken, but one bite in, and we are now staunch supporters of Willie Mae's as being absolutely the best we ever had. The juiciest. The crispiest. The flakiest. The Best. It deserves all of the praise it has gotten over the years, and we surely hope we can make it back there sooner rather than later.

To find out more about Willie Mae, her famous restaurant, and the inspiration she has been to the chefs of New Orleans, see this great YouTube video.