“My middle name is Bonart,” Adam said when asked where the title of his recipe originated. “This is a New Orleans inspired recipe. I am originally from New Orleans, and this meal reflects that region. I wanted to create a dish that honored lobster in its shrine of Rockland,” he adds. Adam said his recipe is the perfect brunch item.

“You don’t want to mask the quality of Maine lobster. I sautéed Owl’s Head lobsters in chives and capers and created a platform. On the plate, I placed a warmed artichoke heart, poached egg, lobster, and a slightly spicy yet light Hollandaise sauce. I use the lobster meat to help create the platform.” Adam featured local, farm fresh products in his recipe.

A repeat contestant in the cooking contest, Adam’s recipe for Owl’s Head Lobster Étouffée took last year’s 2nd place honors.

His table featured a red lobster buoy centerpiece and lobster plates and napkins. Adam provided a welcoming table setting for judges to sample his dish. Glasses that said, “The Bloody Merrier” served up complementary Bloody Marys with lobster claws as stirrers.

Adam is currently building a house in Owl’s Head, with plans to become an alpaca farmer. We hope he also spends some time in the kitchen and comes back with an entry for next year’s contest. Here is his 2014 prize-winning entry!

Lobster Bonart
Adam Marcus, Owl’s Head, ME

The cooked meat of 4  1¼-1½ pound lobsters, chopped
4 artichoke hearts, cooked and cleaned
4 eggs+4 yolks
1 Tablespoon lemon
½ cup butter
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ Tablespoon capers, chopped
2 Tablespoons chives, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Pinch of cayenne

Start a pot of water to boil for poaching eggs. At the same time, sauté the crushed garlic in olive oil. Just before the garlic turns brown, remove from the pan and discard.

Put the chopped lobster, artichoke hearts and chopped capers in the pan of olive oil on low heat and sauté.

Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and a Tablespoon of water together. Place mixture over the pot of boiling water and whisk in the melted butter. Stir constantly until Hollandaise just starts to thicken. When it reaches a sauce consistency, place the bowl in a cold, liquid bath. A separate double boiler is better for this procedure if you own one.

Poach the eggs for two minutes in the boiling water.

To assemble Lobster Bonart:

Place the artichoke heart in the middle of a warm plate. Surround the heart with the sautéed lobster meat.

Place the poached egg on the artichoke heart. Pour the sauce over the egg and sprinkle with the chopped chives over the lobster meat and place two whole capers on the egg. Place two uncut chive stems on the side of the plate and serve.

Serves 4.

Melanie Hyatt is the editor of Maine Food & Lifestyle and the Plating Up blog.

The post Lobster Bonart: LobsterFest 2014 Winner first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Mussel Chowder with Colorful Vegetables
Brooke Dojny, Dishing Up Maine

2 cups water
1 cup bottled clam juice
4 pounds Maine mussels, scrubbed and debearded
6 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups peeled, diced all-purpose potatoes (about 1½ pounds)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
2 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 large shallot, chopped
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups heavy cream

Bring the water and clam juice to a boil in a large pot. Add the mussels, return to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until the shells open, about 4-6 minutes depending on size. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mussels to a bowl, discarding any that do not open. Set aside 16 mussels in their shells and shuck the rest. Pour the mussel broth into a large glass measure and set aside to allow any sediment to settle.

Heat the butter and oil in a large soup pot. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, leeks, bell pepper, and shallot, and cook, covered, over low heat until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add the wine, raise the heat to high, and cook briskly until reduced by about one-third, about 3 minutes.

Add the reserved mussel broth, leaving any sediment behind, and add the cream and the shucked mussels. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes to blend flavors.

Add the reserved mussels in their shells. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. (The chowder is best when allowed to age for at least 4 hours, or overnight.)

Reheat gently. Ladle into bowls, making sure that each serving contains at least 2 mussels intheir shells, and serve.

Yields about 2 quarts (6 main-course servings).

Brooke Dojny is the author of several cookbooks including Dishing Up Maine.

The post Maine Mussel Chowder with Colorful Vegetables first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Not many local farmers seem to grow cauliflower, maybe it is not cost effective, the finished product being quite a bit smaller than the super market variety. But I found several heads of it recently at School House Farm, a little gem of a farm stand in Warren on Rt 1. I took them home and made the most phenomenal pasta dish, and here it is! If you’ve never had roasted cauliflower, you will be amazed at the depth of flavor roasting it achieves!

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Cherry Tomato
Laura Cabot, Laura Cabot Catering, Waldoboro

1 large or two smaller heads of cauliflower
2 cups of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 pound bucatini pasta or a whole wheat substitution
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Parsley chiffonade and toasted bread crumbs for garnish; Parmesan is optional

Toss the two veggies in oil and season with salt. Roast the cauliflower and tomatoes together in the oven until nutty and somewhat soft.

Cook the pasta al dente and drain, reserving a bit of pasta water.

Sauté the garlic in a large skillet, add the roasted veggies and cooked pasta, tossing and seasoning with salt and pepper. Add a little pasta water and toss all until nicely glazed.

Top with garnishes as you choose and enjoy this dish with a healthy side salad.

Serves 4.

Laura Cabot is an MF&L columnist and blogger, a French trained chef with a long career as a chef/restaurant owner, and president of Laura Cabot Catering in Waldoboro.

The post Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Cherry Tomato first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Click on the image below to get Katerina’s recipe from diethood.com

Recipe and image by Katerina Petrovska of diethood.com

MF&L Staff at Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.

The post Avocado Feta Salad first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Click on the image below to get this recipe!

MF&L Staff at Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.

The post Spiced Chickpea Smothered Sweet Potato first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Owned by Ashley’s parents, but the love-child of Ashley Seelig and Josh Cardoso, FOG seems destined to be the new “best place to meet” on the Main Street. The lofty atmosphere and big spaces offer the perfect foil for the old black and white movies or anime digitally projected on the back wall. Especially fun at Christmas time! Christmas in CT, anyone? Ashley is clearly in charge, here there and everywhere making sure all is running smoothly and, indeed, the staff seems very well schooled. Josh is a beer genius with 8 interesting beers on tap, both from Maine and imported. Friendly and knowledgeable, everyone on staff appears to be having fun.

Chef Nick Krunkkala, who we’ve seen before at Rock City, is turning out inspired food, although not every dish is fully evolved. They are well on their way with French and Southern inspired comfort food offerings that speak to solid kitchen technique and modern interpretations. I noticed a perfect potato carre (large square dice) on their vegetable plate along with beautifully ribboned vegetables. The cheesy grits were creamy. The shaved salad was generous and fresh, and the duck wings were nicely sticky and flavored with an interesting tamarind sauce. Fried green tomatoes with candied bacon could have benefited from more lacquering on the bacon for more flavor and crunch. The rabbit rolls, the most anticipated, yet my least favorite item, needed a more appropriate, sharper sauce. Maybe mustard? I do like that they are bringing in unusual items and exalting the flavors of simple ingredients.

I can tell that time will be kind to this endeavor. There is so much enthusiasm and talent on tap, they can only get better and better. And we are lucky to have such an interesting and delicious new place to go in Rockland. Cheers!

Laura Cabot is an MF&L columnist and blogger, a French trained chef with a long career as a chef/restaurant owner, and president of Laura Cabot Catering in Waldoboro.

The post Fog Bar & Cafe first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

For the recipe for this holiday salad, click on the image below.

MF&L Staff at Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.

The post Cranberry-Strawberry-Jicama Salad first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Sheila Veronessa of Brooklyn, NY, made her first trip to Maine a memorable one with a visit to the Maine Lobster Festival. Her recipe entry for Lobster Yorkshire Puddings with Corn Butter Sauce made her a finalist in this year’s Seafood Cooking Contest.

“This is my take on the traditional Maine Lobster Roll, but with an English twist. My boyfriend David Krell lived in England for a time, and this was an idea we thought would work well,” Sheila says of her recipe.

“We were scouting the web, looking for random fun things to do this summer when we came upon the Maine Lobster Festival website and learned about the seafood cooking contest. I’m just an amateur who loves to cook,” she says. “We thought this would be a fun thing to do, and I’m so happy to be a part of it.”

Sheila totally immersed herself in local lobster culture on her first visit to the state. She actually went hauling for her own lobsters to use in this year’s contest with Rockland’s own Captain Jack’s Lobster Boat Adventure. “What a memorable experience that was! We had an amazing time and it was all so beautiful out on the Maine waters,” Sheila gushes.

This Lobster Yorkshire Pudding recipe with its Corn Butter Sauce requires a bit of prep work with a few different steps, but the very tasty outcome makes it so worth it, Sheila says. And timing, she adds, is everything.

“Sweet corn makes this a sunny sauce, and really complements the sweet taste of the succulent Maine lobster tails. Fried capers add a tangy taste and delightful crunch to the sauce.” For her sweet corn butter sauce, Sheila even used the corn cobs for flavoring. Her pudding is made from an old family recipe from Yorkshire, England: simple, sweet, and spongy.

At Sheila’s table, judges were treated to her refreshing homemade watermelon-lime cooler. Her tables were adorned with roses, shells, and cherries. Place settings of straw placemats over red included contrasting white plates. As judges were seated to enjoy her dish, she told them to feel at home.

For a modern English twist on a Maine classic, give Sheila’s recipe a try!

Lobster Yorkshire Puddings With Corn Butter Sauce
Sheila Veronessa, Brooklyn, NY

1 1/2 pounds – Maine lobster tail meat
3 ears sweet corn
1 1/2 sticks salted butter
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup 2{86bb4f287b1f01457d6d7a84a0bee7373b973f1be050a9bc5b01216b839a35a7} milk
1/3 cup flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 ounces capers
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Corn Butter Sauce
3 ears sweet corn
6 Tablespoons salted butter
2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

Clean corn and remove the kernels. Cut cobs in small pieces to be used for flavoring.

Heat half the butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add corn kernels and cobs to sizzling butter. Cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the 1 1/2 cups of milk and the heavy cream. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes until corn is tender.

Discard the corn cob and remove corn from heat. Purée the corn mixture in a blender until smooth. Drain the corn sauce for a smoother texture.

Return the sauce to the pan and stir remaining milk, butter, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes until bubbly.

*The sauce may be made and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead.

Yorkshire Puddings
1/3 cup 2{86bb4f287b1f01457d6d7a84a0bee7373b973f1be050a9bc5b01216b839a35a7} milk
1/3 cup All-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 pinch sea salt
2 Tablespoons butter for melting in pan

Beat eggs in a small bowl (*take out 2 Tablespoons of egg whites to make less eggy). Add the milk to eggs and beat together.

Sift together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Form a well in the center. Add the milk and egg mixture and beat until the batter is completely smooth (no lumps), light, and foamy. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 35-40 minutes.

Heat oven to 400°. Use a 6 cup muffin pan, putting at least a teaspoon of butter in the bottom of each well, and place in oven for just a couple minutes until sizzling hot.

Take the refrigerated batter out and allow to sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Carefully pour the batter into the pan (or the wells of muffin pan, filling just 1/3 full), once the pan is hot. Cook for 20 minutes at 400° until puffy and golden brown. And don’t open the oven door!

Take the pan out of the oven and arrange the puddings for plating immediately.

Maine Lobster Filling
1 1/2 pounds fresh Maine lobster tail- thawed if frozen
1 Tablespoon good quality salted butter
Pinch of sea salt for taste

Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut through the bottom shell of the lobster tails lengthwise. Gently remove whole piece of meat out of the shell by using your finger or the handle of a spoon. (Meat can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 hours ahead.)

Melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over medium to high heat. Add lobster meat and cook for 2 minutes at high heat. Let it steep over medium to low heat for another 3 minutes. Serve on Yorkshire puddings.

Fried Capers Topping
2 Tablespoons butter
4 1/2 ounces good quality capers

Drain 1/2 cup capers and pat dry with paper towels. Heat 2 Tablespoons of butter in a small, heavy-duty skillet over medium-high heat.

Add capers to sizzling butter in skillet. Fry until capers are crisp and open like flowers, stirring often, 45 to 60 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer capers to paper towels to drain.

*Capers can be fried two hours ahead before being used in a recipe. Just let them stand at room temperature until you’re ready to add them.

Plating
Place Yorkshire Puddings on plate. Fill with lobster meat filling. Drizzle corn butter sauce on lobster and Yorkshire Puddings. Top with fried capers and toasted sesame seeds.

Melanie Hyatt is the editor of Maine Food & Lifestyle and the Plating Up blog.

The post Lobster Yorkshire Puddings with Corn Butter Sauce: LobFest 2012 Finalist first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

This year’s 1st Place Winner of the Maine Lobster Festival Seafood Cooking Contest is Tyrrell Hunter of Brunswick, ME. Tyrrell, a finalist in the 2011 cooking competition, calls this year’s win , “A lovely surprise. Really, I thought my dish might have been too simple,” she humbly says of her unusual recipe: “Seafood Hash with Lobster Hollandaise.”

Tyrrell’s seafood dish combines Maine lobster, scallops, sweet and red potatoes. The “secret” to her recipe? A melding of her delicious lobster sauce and blend of herbs parsley, tarragon, thyme, and oregano.

“I received great feedback from my entry last year, which helped me make some different decisions regarding my entry this year. I featured salmon with a lobster “moose” last year, and this year I said, ‘Lobster all the way!’ This year’s recipe is so succulent with lots of lobster meat,” says Tyrrell. “Every ingredient is somehow bathed in the flavor of lobster.” Tyrrell’s husband, daughter, and granddaughters were all in attendance for her big win this year. They helped her tweak her recipe and balance her flavors with all their taste-testing in the weeks prior to the big event.

Tyrrell’s Seafood Hash with Lobster Hollandaise was inspired by her corned beef hash she loves to make at home. The lobster sauce, she says, is a great way to use up every bit of that wonderful Maine lobster, including the lobster bodies and swimmer legs. Just par-cook the lobsters, she recommends, for ease of use in recipes. Shucking the lobsters, she says, is really the only challenging part. During the contest, Tyrrell graciously offered shucking lessons to demonstrate to audience members how to do the job right.

Red flowers and red and white checked placemats completed Tyrrell’s table setting. At her table, judges received generous portions of her Seafood Hash, which she served with complementary spicy Bloody Marys and a salad of radish and spicy greens. She said a pop of spicy flavors balances the texture and richness of her dish.

Here’s Tyrrell’s prize-winning recipe for you to try at your next brunch!

Seafood Hash with Lobster Hollandaise
Tyrrell Hunter, Brunswick, ME

Lobster Hash
4 Maine lobsters, cold water cooked method (see below), shucked, including all legs and body meat,
and after removing the tail vein, cut the tail and claws into one-inch chunks.
3 cups red potatoes, washed and cut into 1” pieces
2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
8 cups lobster stock (see below)
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, washed, dried and chopped
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, washed, dried and chopped
½ teaspoon fresh thyme, washed, dried and chopped
½ teaspoon fresh oregano, washed dried and chopped
1 cup onion, rough chopped in ½” pieces
10 large sea scallops, cut in half horizontally, making 20 discs
Salt and pepper (preferably Kosher salt)

Lobster Hollandaise Sauce
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
5 each extra-large egg yolks, or 6 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup Lobster meat, finely chopped (use small legs and body meat from 4 lobsters, or leftover fully cooked lobster meat from the boiled lobster dinner)

Early preparation:

Lobsters – Next time you cook lobsters, try starting them in cold, heavily salted water. Turn on heat to high (we use a gas turkey fryer outside) and bring to a rolling boil; this should take about 20-30 minutes, depending on how many lobsters are in the pot. For this recipe, you want to take 4 lobsters out as soon as they come to a boil and plunge them into cold water to stop their cooking. We cook other lobsters to eat that evening by boiling those lobsters just two more minutes for a traditional boiled lobster dinner. We use the partially cooked lobster in a variety of recipes, such as this Hash recipe, over the next few days. The beauty of the cold water method is that all the lobsters cook at the same temperature and the meat is very tender because the lobsters weren’t shocked entering hot water.

Stock – Make a stock from the lobster carcasses and shells by adding 3 ribs celery, two quartered onions, 10 peppercorns to a stock pot and add 12 cups or enough water to cover; cook for 1½ hours. Strain when cooled; reserve 8 cups and refrigerate. Freeze the rest for another recipe.

Potatoes – Add all the red and sweet potatoes to 8 cups cold lobster stock with 2 teaspoons Kosher salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook until barely fork tender (15-20 minutes total cooking time). Drain and rinse with cold water, pat dry and reserve; I do this early in the day and refrigerate.

One half hour before serving:

To a large frying pan, melt 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter with 1 Tablespoon canola oil. Add cooked potatoes and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste; cook over medium heat until lightly browned and crispy on most sides, about 15-20 minutes total. In the meantime, chop herbs, slice scallops, and make the Lobster Hollandaise Sauce but don’t forget to stir the potatoes once in a while.

Lobster Hollandaise Sauce – Add egg yolks, lemon juice, cayenne, and salt in a blender; pulse three or four times to combine. Melt and heat butter to slight boil (I use the microwave for this) and slowing pour the butter into the feed tube of the blender with the blender on medium speed. The sauce should thicken within 10-20 seconds. Stop and sample the sauce for taste and thickness. Blend a few more seconds if it needs more thickening. Add the chopped lobster meat, pulse once to combine and pour into a warm pitcher (a gravy boat works well). Cover to keep warm.

Take the potatoes out of the pan. Add the remaining butter and canola oil to the frying pan and sauté the chopped onions over medium heat until translucent. Add the scallops and sauté very quickly (about 30 seconds on each side); add the lobster meat chunks, all the herbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste and cook for 2-3 minutes to heat the lobster. Add the potatoes and sauté for another 2-3 minutes to heat and combine the flavors. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve the Seafood Hash with the Lobster Hollandaise Sauce on the side. I suggest serving a salad of spicy greens with radishes to balance the richness and texture of the main dish.

Serves 4 for entrée or 6 for brunch.

Melanie Hyatt is the editor of Maine Food & Lifestyle and the Plating Up blog.

The post Seafood Hash with Lobster Hollandaise: LobsterFest 2012 Winner first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.

Cool Cantaloupe Soup with Basil Cream
1 cantaloupe, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoons mint leaves, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons fine sugar
1/2 cup packed basil leaves
3/4 cup sparkling white grape juice

Place the cantaloupe, lemon juice, and zest in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the mint and salt and pulse to combine. Transfer to a large bowl, cover, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Basil Cream: Place the cream and sugar in the bowl of food processor and process until slightly thickened. Add the basil and process until thick-about 20 seconds-and set aside.

Add the grape juice to the soup right before serving.

Divide evenly among four bowls and top with the cream. Enjoy!

Note: You may use purple sparkling grape juice, but this will change the color of the soup. Serves 4.

MF&L Staff at Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.

The post Cool Cantaloupe Soup with Basil Cream first appeared on Maine Food & Lifestyle.