Lavender fields in Maine

Last summer, I found a lavendar farm in Maine, Glendarragh. We had a late spring and rainy summer so far, but soon the lavendar should bloom again. Worth a visit. 

When Maine started looking like Bavaria

Over recent years, Maine has developed a buzzing micro beer industry. It all came to my attention with the Allagash brewing company, which is large compared to many of the others. There was always the Bear Brew Pub, and then came Orono Brewing Company, which really got my attention.

Great article in The Maine Magazine.

Vegan meatballs

Vegan lentil ‘meat balls’ with marinara
Preparation of lentils:

• 1/2 cup beluga/French lentils  (they are small and green/black)
• 1/4 cup red lentils
• 1/4 cup chickpeas
• 1 1/2 quarts water
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 2 garlic cloves

Wash and rinse the lentils and chickpeas, and place in a pot with the water, the bay leaf and garlic. Bring to a boll, and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours  on low (simmer only for 30 min if you soaked the lentils and chickpeas for 12h), or for 25 min in an Instant Pot. There is likely little water left, but if there is then drain it. It should make about 2 1/2 cups of cooked lentils.

Lentil walnut porcini meatballs:

• 2 cups cooked beluga and red lentils and chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2  medium sweet onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, microplaned
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (or dried)
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 2 TB tomato paste
• 1 TB red pepper spread I used Trader Joes red pepper eggplant spread) – if you don’t have any, use a pinch of paprika and 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1 oz dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted in hot water, drained and chopped
• 1 oz dried porcini mushroom, reconstituted in hot water, drained and chopped
• 2 TB BBQ sauce
• 4 TB ground flax seed, 1/4 cup of water (mix to make 2 flax eggs)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4  cup bread crumbs
• 3 TB finely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a  large baking sheet with some olive oil so that the meatballs won’t stick. Set aside. 
2. Prepare the flax eggs by combining the ground flax seeds with hot water, and set aside. The mix will gel.
3. Add the olive oil to a frying pan and sauté the onions, chopped carrots, minced garlic, thyme and reconstituted mushrooms over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for about 5-7 min.
4. Add the tomato paste and red pepper paste and continue to cook for about 2 minutes, until all the ingredients are mixed well and the liquid is absorbed.
5. Transfer the mixture to a food processor, and let cool in the food processor for about 5 min.
6. Add about 75% of the cooked, and slightly cooled lentils/chickpeas to the vegetables in the food processor, and chop coarsely until all the ingredients are well combined. (It will be quite mushy, that makes the lentil balls even more sticky and hold together).
7. Add the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
8. Add the flax egg, regular bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, chopped walnuts, BBQ sauce and the salt to the pureed mix as well as the non-pureed cooked lentil mix. Mix with a spatula until thoroughly incorporated.
9. Let sit for about 10 min (for the bread crumbs to soak up the liquid and bind the meatballs).
10. Use a small ice cream scoop and scoop out ping pong ball sized meatballs. Place the lentil balls in the prepared baking sheet, allowing 1/4 inch of space between the balls and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid.
11. Bake the meatballs at 400F for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving.

Serve with spaghetti and marinara sauce.

Instant Chicken Broth with the Instant Pot

Sautee some chicken wings with onions and olive oil in the Instant pot on the sautee function. Once they are browned, add carrots, celery and a bay leaf. Fill the instant pot to the max line with cold water, and set it to soup/stew, closed the lid and it is doing the rest of the magic on its own.

Let naturally release the steam. Chicken stock!

Marzipan Apple Cake

A lovely cake! Apples and marzipan.


The marzipan apple cake from the new cookbook “Classic German Baking”.  The dough includes grated sweetened almond paste (marzipan), which brings the cake into a different level.


Apple Marzipan Cake:
I made several changes to the original recipe, so I’ll write it up with my changes. I reduced the amount of marzipan, and it was still very sweet and ‘marzipan-y’'’. I also divided the batter into 2 spring cake pans, a 8 inch diameter and a 5 inch diameter spring pan, and omitted the apricot jam.

• 4 medium apples, (1 3/4 pounds, 800g)
• 1 organic untreated lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 TB butter
• 1 TB sugar
• 100g  almond paste
• 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 14 tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup, 3 tablespoons (150g) flour
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

1. Butter a 8 inch and a 5 inch springform pan (or a single 10 inch pan) .
2. Peel and core the apples. Divide the lemon juice into two separate bowls. Slice two of the peeled and cored apples into 1/2-inch slices (3 slices per quartered apple), and toss the apple slices in one bowl of lemon juice. Dice the other two apples into 1/3-inch (1cm) cubes. Toss in the other bowl of lemon juice.
3. On the stove top, heat a larger pan with 1TB butter, and 1 TB sugar, and once melted add in the diced apples and saute for 5 minutes. Let cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
5. Using a grater with large holes, grate the almond paste into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar and salt and mix until the almond paste is finely broken up.
6. Add the melted butter, almond extract, and lemon zest, and continue mixing until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
7. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder in a small bowl. Turn the standmixer to slow, and spoon in the dry ingredients into the almond batter mixture. Once done, stop the standmixer, and fold in the warm, diced apples by hand.
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Place the sliced apples in concentric circles on top of the batter, pressing them in very lightly.
9. Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour for the large spring pan, and 45-50 min for the smaller one.
9. Remove the cake from the oven. Let cool, and then run a knife around the inside of the cake pan to release the cake, and remove the sides of the cake pan.  Serve with cognac whipped cream or vanilla icecream.

It is an important election this year --- please, go and vote!

Caterpillar Hill

On the way to Stonington, I stopped on Caterpillar Hill. It has the most breath-taking view of all of Maine.

The beautiful landscape of the many small inhabited and uninhabited islands of Penobscot Bay, sitting next to each other, to they can be reached by sail boat or kajaks. Such beauty.


On my way to Stonington, I stopped by the 44 North Cafe Deer Isle store and roastery, in the old Deer isle high school building. Unfortunately they were closed.



Swinging on ‘my’ swing.

House on a Ledge

There is no denying it: summer is over. Here are some photos from my last summer trip. Since it was so serene in Stonington, I went a second time.




Penobscot Bay.

“One’s art goes as far and as deep as one’s love goes.”

The heat has finally broken and there is a bit of rain here and there. This was an unusually long, hot and dry period for Maine, and for once I am relieved there is some rain.
The other day I headed down the coast, for a day of art. Rockland with the Farnsworth Museum and the Wyeth Center are my favorite museums in Maine, mostly because of Andrew Wyeth’s paintings that capture the essence of Maine so timelessly. The day was rounded out with another piece of art: Sushi at Suzuki in Rockland.