I Want Candy

I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting my HOH Part II post, but that'll have to wait, because it's Halloween. I love candy, don't you? Butterfingers, Junior Mints, Tootsie Rolls, Raisinets - all favorites. I hope my daughter gets lots of them to share with me. I wish it was ok for adults to ring doorbells and ask for candy. It seems alright to knock on your neighbors door and ask for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Next time ask for what you really want - a Reeses peanut butter cup.

I hosted a small Halloween party last night, at the urging of my youngest child. It's really the most fun holiday for a party because you have a theme and can do so many things with it. Spooky, silly, sinister, scary, sexy - choose one. The best part of a party like this is the decorating. Here's how my table looked:

 One large glass dish in the middle filled with Hershey's kisses, surrounded by a variety of glass containers with black and orange jelly beans, candy corn, and chocolate "eyeballs". Two black metal  tree-shaped candelabras, a couple of mini pumpkins and some glittery Halloween garland, topped off with one skeleton. The black tablecloth was actually a king-sized sheet, purchased just for the occasion.

There are so many great Halloween recipes out there, but I went mostly with kid favorites - mummy wrapped mini hot dogs, chicken tenders and sloppy joe meatballs. The mummy dogs were definitely the favorite. Adults were served more interesting dishes. Frankenstein (Green Goddess) dip with red and yellow peppers and baby carrots. Baked shells with squash. And a green salad (thanks, Cheryl). But the hit of the party was the Ghoul Punch. Delicious on its own for the kids, the adult version was punched up with raspberry-flavored vodka. Mmmm.
As my guests said good night, they were given a container of caramel corn I made using a recipe from Elle's New England Kitchen, another fun food blog. I usually don't do anything with caramel. Too many things can go wrong and then all you're left with is sticky pans. But this caramel corn is made in the microwave. It's brilliant and addictive. Give it a try! ( I added salted almonds.)

Frankenstein (aka Green Goddess) Dip

1 cup low fat plain Greek yogurt

1 cup low fat sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 c. snippped fresh chives

2 tsps. anchovy paste

1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

1/4 c. fresh tarragon or thyme, coarsely chopped

2 Tbsps. water

Fresh vegetables for serving (whatever you like)

Puree yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, chives, anchovy paste, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Add parsley, tarragon or thyme and water, blending until mixture is pale green and smaooth. Scrape down sides as necessary.
Transfer to a serving dish and serve with vegetables. Or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
This is also delicious over salmon!

If you eat this healthy dip and all your vegetables, you certainly deserve a candy bar afterwards. I'll bet your next door neighbor has one waiting for you.

Harvest on the Harbor Part I

Before I begin with all the deliciousness let me say this: I was not paid or otherwise compensated by any of the establishments or vendors mentioned below. I was not given free tickets to the event.  I was there as anyone else would be - as an observer (with a camera and notepad) and food enthusiast. I am happy to pass on the information here just because I love local food and I think we are lucky to have so many wonderful choices.
It was a spectacular late fall evening when the crowd was ushered into Ocean Gateway Terminal on Portland Harbor. In exchange for our tickets, we were each handed a wine glass with the Harvest on the Harbor logo and a small program listing the restaurants and wine vendors present. So much beautiful food! So much wine to taste!
Where to begin?

I headed first to a set up by Sea Glass at Inn by the Sea, because the display was so appealing. Tiny wafer cones filled with Maine Peekytoe (what a funny name!) crab and topped with a bit of red caviar. Two quick bites and it was gone. Very mignardise-like. Our next stop was at the table of another hotel restaurant, Eve's at the Garden, which is located in The Portland Harbor Hotel. Chef Jeff Landry had created a chilled Maine lobster parfait with fall corn and chive mousse in a little shot glass.  Hard to say for sure, but this may have been my favorite bite of the night, with its mix of textures and tastes.

But I also loved The White Barn Inn's beet-cured salmon with wasabi caviar and a spicy-sweet sauce, served up on a tiny black spoon. The spicy wasabi, then the hit of sweetness at the end of the bite made it really special.

Time for something to drink. I will be the first to tell you that I don't know much about wine. I tend to find one I like and stick with it for a while, until I find another one I like. I was happy to see one of my current favorites, Menage a Trois, a white table wine from Trinchero Family Estates.  A few sips and I was off in search of more food. I didn't have to go too far to find Back Bay Grill's squash soup with duck confit, Marcona almonds and truffle cream. Yum - rich and creamy, a little salty (in a good way) from the duck and almonds. On a cold night, this would be warm and soothing.

Last summer, we ate at Robinhood Free Meetinghouse, a wonderful restaurant in an old meetinghouse in the town of Georgetown. It's off the beaten path for sure, but definitely worth a visit if you are anywhere near there. They offer some interesting wines by the glass, matched to each dish. The food and service were incredible and they treated our eight year old daughter like a queen. So I was glad to see chef Michael Gagne serving miniature ham Meetinghouse biscuits with mascarpone pepper jelly.They are known for their biscuits, which you can actually buy frozen at some supermarkets. I plan to serve them at Thanksgiving.

It was great to see so many restaurants using local produce and meats. I know some have been doing this for a while, and those are the places I like to eat at when I can. If you are trying to buy more local foods, you'll appreciate the wines from Cellardoor Vineyard, in Lincolnville, Maine. I tasted their Vino diVine and Casa Blanca. Could be my new favorites. Owner John Tynan tells the story of how he and his wife came to be winemakers in Maine on his blog, with some lovely pictures of the place.

There wasn't much in the way of desserts at Harvest on the Harbor. The Cliff House did bring these pretty candied Lady apples, with coconut. And  Sweet Marguerite's, a local candy maker, were offering a rich, dark chocolate flavored with espresso. I hope next year the organizers will add more dessert samplings, or maybe do a separate event during the festival with just sweets.  

Check back soon for more about HOH, including Saturday's marketplace and cookbook authors the Brass Sisters.   'Til then, try to stay out of the Halloween candy.                                                                                      

Book Club Soup

Here is a short post about two of my favorite things - soup and books.
This month our book group read Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley by Ann Rinaldi .The book, a fictionalized history, tells the story of a seven year old African girl. She arrived in Boston in 1761, where she was sold as a slave to the Wheatley family, and renamed Phillis. Her intelligence is nurtured, she is taught to read and write, and she becomes a well-known poet. Books of her poems were published in England, but in colonial Boston, her writing's authenticity is questioned. How could a young black slave compose such moving and thoughtful works? Phillis is forced to defend her work to the governor and others, which she does successfully. It's a really good read, and different than our typical picks from popular literature. I'd recommend it to anyone, and it might be especially appealing to middle-schoolers.

The book was a great excuse for a night out with a terrific group of women. When we get together, the host cooks dinner. There's no pressure to produce an extravagant meal - whatever the host is comfortable doing is fine. We've even had members host in a restaurant if they didn't feel like cooking. Last night was cold and windy. Laura, our lovely host, provided the perfect meal for a chilly October night. Spiced and roasted pumpkin seeds to have with wine, a big Greek salad and this delicious soup. The recipe was originally from Gourmet magazine, but many tweaks have made it Laura's own.

Red Lentil Soup

1 large onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. olive oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp. ground cumin (or more of you really like cumin)

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme

2 cups red lentils, picked over and rinsed

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
(to make this a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth instead)

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 cup frozen peas

2 Tbsps. fresh lemon juice

Cook onion in oil with 1/2 tsp. salt in a medium-sized heavy sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add garlic, cumin, bay leaf and thyme, and cook stirring, one more minute. Add lentils, broth, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper. Simmer, partially covered, until lentils are very soft and falling apart, about 35-45 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Discard bay leaf and thyme sprig. Puree 3 cups of the soup in blender or food processor (be careful when blending hot liquids!), then return to pan. Stir in parsley, peas and lemon juice. Serve when peas are heated through.

I can't wait to make this at my house. When I do, I think I'll try adding a little curry powder and maybe some chopped carrots, cooked along with the onion. Thanks Laura - it's a keeper!

I'm off to the Grand Tasting at Harvest on the Harbor tonight. I hope to take lots of pictures to show you. Check back over the weekend.

About

I'm all about the food. Eating it, writing about it, reading about it, talking about it, thinking about it.  And cooking it. I have no formal training whatsoever, and I don't claim to be an expert. But I feel comfortable and happy in the kitchen, either experimenting or cooking up an old favorite.

What I do know has come from many  sources - friends, a huge collection of cookbooks, an addiction to cooking magazines, the Food Network (hello Tyler Florence!) and other food bloggers. 

There's so much out there to taste! 

  I love anything hot and spicy, loaded with garlic and ginger and lime and chilies. I love all things Italian, from ribollita to granita. Je t'aime the art of French pastry (such as a mignardise) and the cafe life of Paris. I love a cold glass of Torrontes from Argentina and a prickly pear margarita from Arizona. And I love the flavors of my little corner of America - maple, fresh seafood, tomatoes from the September farmer's market.

And chocolate. Anything chocolate. You'll find me coming back to all kinds of chocolate recipes over and over. I just can't quit it. Nor do I want to.

Thanks for visiting me at  Mignardise.  I hope you'll enjoy what you see here, make comments and ask questions. I hope you'll visit often, or better yet subscribe (it's free!).

 And thanks for humoring me. It's not often I get to say whatever I want and no one interrupts.

Heartburn: Red Sox or Spicy Feta Dip?

You could hear the hearts breaking all over New England last night as my hometown team, the Boston Red Sox, failed in their bid to defend their World Champions title. How could they have lost? We all sat in the same seats we did for Thursday's miraculous comeback. We wore our lucky hats. We played Dropkick Murphys songs. I guess some things just aren't meant to be. Thanks Dustin, Josh, Dice-K, Papi, Youk and all the rest. There's always next year.

Last night, before the game, we had a neighborhood get-together. It's a friendly neighborhood and I enjoy my neighbors, but we don't often socialize because of schedules, jobs, kids. So this was a nice opportunity to catch up with some of those who don't have kids in the same schools or dogs that need walking. Our hosts asked us to bring our "specialty of the house". My children would tell you that our specialty is peanut butter on a Triscuit topped with chocolate chips. This may be true for them, but I think the Spicy Feta dip is a much better choice with a glass of wine. You can make this as spicy or mild as you like, varying the amounts and types of peppers you use. In the summer, it's fun to try some of the many different peppers you find at the farmer's market - Hungarian wax, poblano, jalapeno, chilipeno (I think the farmer made that one up). But stick with ones that are some shade of green so your dip will be a pale, pretty color. Green bell peppers, however, don't bring much to the party.

Spicy Feta Dip

6-8 mixed green peppers (see above)
cored, seeded and halved lengthwise

3/4 cup olive oil

1 lb. imported Greek feta cheese

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

kalamata olives, fresh mint leaves for garnish

crusty bread or fresh vegetables, for serving

1. Turn on your broiler. Set the peppers on a baking sheet, skin side up. Brush with some of the oil. Broil for about 3 minutes or until they're charred all over. Watch carefully so they don't burn to a crisp!
2. Remove from the oven and place immediately in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool. When they're cool enough to handle, remove the skins from the peppers.
3. In a food processor, combine the peppers, feta and black pepper. Blend until the mixture begins to break up. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, until it is all well-blended and smooth.
4. Scrape into a small serving dish and garnish with olives and mint.

This is unlikely to give you heartburn, unless you watch the Red Sox right after eating it.

This is going to be a busy and exciting week for foodies here in Maine. I'm looking forward to attending Harvest on the Harbor in Portland, a culinary festival that runs Thursday through Saturday. Loads of tastings, foodie talks and a culinary marketplace. It's a new event this year and hopefully it will help visitors see that we are more than lobsters and fried clams (I'm not complaining about either). Check it out if you can. If you can't, then check back here and I'll tell you all about it.

The Way Life Should Be - not just a marketing slogan

Yesterday was Bob's birthday, a little north of 50. For once, I did not obsess for days about what to make. There's a recipe I cut out of the New York Times magazine years ago, and this was the perfect opportunity to finally try it. It's actually called "The Way Life Should Be" which, as most of you know, is code for Maine and all that it entails. So of course it contains lobster. Lucky for me, Day's is still open for the season. Yes, a pound of lobster meat is an enormous splurge. Yes, I could have cooked the lobsters myself, then shelled them. But I am lazy when it comes to things like that. I can rationalize just about anything, so here's how I figure it: this is Bob's birthday present and it's more delicious than a flannel shirt. Plus, we get to share it.

A pound of picked lobster meat with pasta will feed 4-6 people, including one who just got home from 2 hours of football practice. Making this dish with the prepared lobster meat was ridiculously easy. It goes like this:
In a large bowl, mix together the juice of 2 lemons, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 cloves chopped garlic, some crushed red pepper, a big handful of chopped herbs (I used parsley, mint, basil). About an hour before serving, add the lobster meat and do not refrigerate. Cook, then drain a pound of pasta (linguine is good).
At this point, if you have non-seafood eaters in your family, remove enough pasta for them to have with sauce from a jar. Don't tell them what they're missing.
Pour the lobster mixture over the rest of the pasta and mix well. Some snipped chives make a nice garnish. That's it!
I served it with a Caesar salad, with homemade garlic croutons.
Elegant, simple and so easy - the way life should be.



For dessert we indulged in peanut butter sundaes, one of Bob's favorites. My sister-in-law, who is an excellent cook, had given us some homemade fudge sauce. I made a peanut butter sauce with Skippy, corn syrup (that's right corn syrup - you just can't make some things without it), a little butter and vanilla. We put both sauces on top of vanilla ice cream (light ice cream of course) and finished the creation with chopped Reese cups and whipped cream.

I can't recommend eating this way every night, but for a birthday, it's just the thing to make you feel like a kid again.

What is Mignardise anyway?

Mignardise is something, charming, graceful and pretty, often referring to a sweet with your coffee after dinner. It feels good in your mouth when you say it out loud.
Mignardise may be a fancy French word, but it is also a new blog about food - all the food I love to eat, make, bake, read about, talk about and serve. Some of the things I love: chocolate, all baked goods, coffee, almonds, lemons, sweet potato fries, lobster rolls and onion rings. Most of these things are not mignardise at all, but I plan to write about them anyway. Food does not have to be precious, just delicious. A homely no-bake cookie is as worthy as a French macaroon from Laduree.

I'm told that as a child I was a picky eater. Maybe I wasn't offered anything worth eating. In my suburban home, a vegetable was chosen out of the freezer before dinner, an icy rectangle of green served with the t-bone steak or baked chicken. Dessert was the highlight, a square Pepperidge Farm cake also fresh from the freezer. My mother did not know how to cook any other way, nor did she have any desire to learn. But I did. When I was in college, a dear friend gave me The New McCall's Cookbook for my birthday, and I started to cook in the tiny kitchen of our off-campus apartment. Nothing extravagant or unusual, but I found the process to be truly enjoyable. And I became more adventurous and interested in all things food. This was the early '80's when the term "foodie" was not yet in use. Martha Stewart was catering bar mitzvahs in Connecticut and the only chef that most people could name was Boyardee.

Twenty-something years later, I am married and the mother to three great kids and the world's best dog, living life the way it should be. Martha rules the world. My cookbook collection has grown exponentially. I love to cook for my family, but not every night. When I don't, we eat burritos or bibimbap from local restaurants. I love to bake - for the lacrosse team, the football team, the birthdays and classroom celebrations, for myself. I hang out with my neighbor drinking wine and snacking on lemon-artichoke pesto and baguettes from Rosemont Market. I am constantly thinking about what I'm going to make for the next book group meeting, the Halloween party, the cookie exchange, for dinner tonight. I bike, walk and work out with a guy named Big Joe so I can continue to eat as I like.

Mignardise is definitely a work in progress. I'll be posting a couple of times a week. I hope you'll join me for stories, recipes, photos and more. I hope you'll comment on what you like. I hope you'll ask questions. Most of all, I hope you'll enjoy what I have to offer. Say "mean-yar-deez", and tell your friends.