Creamed corn is a New England favorite, and here we’ve served it with both haddock or a vegetarian tofu version. Both are delicious, especially with a little extra step – milking! We spent a few days at the shore last week, a little getaway timed for after the summer onslaught of tourists on the Maine…
Category: New England Classics
A ‘Stuffie’ you ask? In New England, that means clams!
Our family loves New England clams in any form. Deep fried of course while visiting the shore with lots of tangy tartar sauce. Or steamed with all the dunking and slurping rituals. We’ll find them in a silky chowder, tossed in a simple white wine and garlic sauce over spaghetti, and in clam dip, too,…
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Corn meal mush you ask? It sounds funny, but you can spell it ‘polenta’ if you like.
When it all catches up with you, a plate of comfort is just what the doctor ordered! Perhaps Pearl Onions and Mushrooms over Corn Meal Mush? Sometimes we had it for breakfast when I was growing up. Corn meal mush. It is really delightful, especially if drizzled with a bit of real maple syrup or…
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New England’s gems of the ocean are in season!
When they are in season, New England Bay Scallops are quite a treat, but cook them simply for the best flavor. We have a vegan alternative as well. One of the seafood delights in New England is the arrival of the season of our sweet little bay scallops. Nantucket Bay is the best of the…
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A week in the life of a dozen ear of corn!
Fresh corn on the cob is a ritual of summer and into fall in New England. From the first ear to the last, we are hooked whether eating it slathered in butter right off the cob, simmered in a chowder, creamed in a casserole, corn pudding, or soufflé, fried as a fritter, stuffed in a…
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Feast or Fish Bait?
It’s true, smelts look a lot more like bait than a main course. But they make up for it in flavor. Right now, they are in season in New England, so you’ll find them not only in the fish markets but in the fish counters of supermarkets as well. A New England classic, these fish…
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A Family Feast and Tradition: Tourtière, a French Canadian Meat Pie
This post is an encore holiday performance! The French Canadian Meat Pie, or “tourtière ” is a traditional dish passed down in my family, served on Christmas Eve and other special occasions, but never fear, we can even make it vegan! The story of my grandparents’ families is shared with…
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Creamy Corn, Cauliflower & Crab Chowder
A simple classic dish with just a little taste of the sea to liven it up Corn season cannot go by without some more chowder, and it is going fast. As corn season progresses, this native treasure gets sweeter, and the price gets lower, so this is the time of year we pull out those…
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How to throw a New England Clambake for 750, or maybe just for six!
It’s a summer ritual, large or small, with all the flavors of New England’s luscious seafood, and a little smoke. It’s quite a process. Feeding any type of meal to 750 people is a daunting task, but when we are talking delicate seafood, all served up piping hot and perfectly cooked, the technique has to…
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A Classic with a Twist: Mom’s Scalloped Potatoes with Truffle Butter and Parmesan
Is it possible to make scalloped potatoes taste better? Making a good pan of scalloped potatoes takes some patience, but not a lot of hands-on work. It takes a good hour and a half, plus maybe longer, to bake, and more time to rest and set up. But there’s lots to be done while playing…
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The taste of the Sea, with a little curry to flavor it up!
This curry can be made with whatever seafood you find locally! Here, we’ve used wild caught sustainable New England fish and shellfish from the cold northern waters of the Gulf of Maine. When I make a seafood curry, you know company is coming. Let’s get together! We’ll cook. Recently, we were delighted to have a…
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New England “Featherbeds,” an old fashioned Potato Roll with a New Attitude
Light and fluffy, full of flavor, and the secret is the potato boiling water! When I was a kid, my mom made bread most weekends. The rest of the week, we survived on the grocery store loaves. But her breads were always delightful, the stuff of memories, and the smell of loaves baking always takes…
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New England Stewed Yellow-Eyed Beans with Greens
This New England classic tastes like no other bean, and can be slow cooked all day on the stove, in the oven, or in a slow cooker. However, you can make them in a fraction of the time in a pressure cooker, or multi-cookers. My mother was known for her baked beans, a long-baked…
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How do you top a Finnan Haddie? With Potato Peelings of course!
This chowder is dairy-free, but you’d never guess! Many New Englanders and Canadians grew up with the classic Scottish Finnan Haddie, a delicately smoked haddock with a funny name. It was used in chowders and fish cakes when I was a kid, and was often served frequently during Lent. I loved the chowder the best….
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A few twists on (American) Chop Suey, or was that Hungarian Goulash? Your choice!
It was one of our standards growing up in New England, a hearty pasta meal that is cooked and served in one pot, great on a weeknight, and pretty much loved by all. But all that fat and carbs! We loved it as kids. A big dish of macaroni with browned ground beef and onions,…
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Traditional Boston Baked Beans? May I introduce you to their great-granddaughter?
A New England favorite with lots of twists! In years past, every New England cook had their own recipe for Boston Baked Beans. Inexpensive, filling, and nutritious, peasant food at its best. Baked beans were a Saturday night staple dating back to Colonial times when cooking on the Sabbath was forbidden and the beans could…
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Nantucket Bay Scallops with Shallots over Mashed Potatoes
A New England treasure, they are in season right now, at this shortest day of the year! There’s a beautiful island 30 miles off the Massachusetts coast, Nantucket, home of the world renowned wild seasonal delicacy, the bay scallop. Have you ever been there? The protected, clean waters off this island nurture the world’s oldest…
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Leek, Asparagus, and Fennel Soup
Served hot or chilled, this soup is the flavor of Asparagus Season! Asparagus season is fleeting here in the Northeast, but we celebrate it with great flair. There are even asparagus festivals to celebrate this vegetable with every possible cooking method! Raw, baked, roasted, boiled, braised, sautéed, steamed, stir-fried, and grilled, any way you cook…
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New England Steamer Clam Chowder with Fennel
We call it chowdah, a regional staple with the flavor of the sea. A friend of mine asked me for a clam chowder recipe recently, and I told her to check my blog. However, there wasn’t one there! I checked my family cookbook, and I didn’t include one there either, lots of other chowdahs, but…
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Baked Tofu with Mustard Cream Succotash and Fregula
Heavenly. Creamy. This dish made with veggies tucked in your freezer is good for you too! The garden is offering up a few chives right now, and this weekend I’ll tuck some lettuce in the cold-frame to at least give the illusion of gardening season starting. The squill is blooming, the daffodils are budding, and…
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(Today’s)Yankee Bean and Macaroni Soup
A New England classic that stands the test of time – inexpensive, quick, and really tasty. When I was growing up, Mom often put together a “Yankee Bean Soup” using leftover beans from another meal and a ham bone for flavor. It was a quick meal, tasty, filling, and usually served up with biscuits. There…
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Peekytoe Crab Stuffed Sole
New England seafood favorites, sole and a sweet Maine crab. We finally got out of town! A few days at the sea shore, and we are refreshed and ready for spring. It felt like winter when we left, a driving icy rain that turned to sleet now and then, lots of fog, and winter shoes….
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Cajun Seafood Pot Pie
Time to celebrate Spring, Mardi Gras, and perhaps a Birthday! I celebrate the seasons along with the meteorologists. Spring begins on March 1 in my book, and no one usually argues the point. Of course, in Vermont, March, and even April for that matter, often looks more like winter than spring, but some years we…
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Tomato Rice with Broccoli Rabe and Roasted Garlic
It’s tasty and economical, and with a few additions this humble dish can star at a dinner party! From Mexico to Malaysia, and just about everywhere else, there are recipes for simple rice and tomato dishes that offer a wide variety of flavors and options. A base for the simple or the complicated, they create…
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Omelet with Nantucket Bay Scallops and Peas
When they are in season, Nantucket Bay Scallops are a treasure from our New England waters. If you are lucky enough to travel to Nantucket Island, Mass., from November to March, plan to dine at one of the fabulous seafood restaurants and look for their bay scallop dishes. You won’t be disappointed. The best in…
