Island Time, Part 2

If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.
Not too far from Blue Hill, a big bridge that reminds me of the Golden Gate bridge leads to Little Deer Isle.


From there, a short causeway got me onto Big Deer Isle.

The winding roads lead through a secluded, private world of lobster fisher families in a beautiful landscape. With Sunday afternoon there was a sleepy feeling in the air with empty streets, and people hidden in houses.

Stonington is a small village with a short stretch of main street. In recent years, it has added a new coffee shop, 44 North Coffee, and a handful of restaurants, Aragosta.

Island Time, Part 1

Stonington on Deer Isle, ME, is the quintessential Maine village: scenic, cozy, sleepy, beautiful, authentic and far removed from the realities of the real world. The true island feeling. 

For me, a must-stop the Blue Hill Coop, for its eclectic selection of organic foods, home-made salads and sandwiches to pick up some picnic lunch.









An old store, converted into a mix of espresso bar, chocolatier, and flower store.


The art box --- a converted old cigarette dispenser.

Endless summer

It’s August. Another month of summer ahead. Everyone enjoying the magical summer days of Maine. Here are some impressions from Camden, where the harbor is full, the tourists plenty, Shakespeare’s Tempest is performed outdoors this summer.

Summer in Maine

On the way to North East Harbor, Acadia.




Local pottery.







Teahouse, Bar Harbor.


And more of the same.

Persian Chickpea Lentil Soup with Dill

I ordered this wonderful soup a few weeks ago at Chase’s in Belfast,  a “Persian chickpea soup with spiced and dill.”  The dill made all the difference in the soup. This recreation comes close, but the original is tough to beat.

Persian Chickpea Soup with Dill

• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2/3 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), sorted and rinsed
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 4 cups water, divided
• 1/3 cup green lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon garam massala
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• dash of honey or agave
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped dill
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon dried mint

1. Heat the oil in a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, or until it is soft. Add the garlic and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 1 minute.
2. Add the chickpeas, the broth and 2 cups water to the saucepan. Stir well to blend in the onion mixture and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 1½ hours.
3. Add the lentils, spices, salt, pepper and 2 cups water. Return to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until the chickpeas and lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, mix the dill, and cilantro.
5. Add the dill and cilantro to the soup. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for 2-5 minutes.
6. Ladle the soup into a bowls and garnish each serving with a fresh dill. Serve hot.

Summer Quinoa Salad

Quinoa has a wonderful nutty flavor  and cooked with a bit of white wine and onion and garlic and broth, it is even more flavorful.  Adding some fresh vegetables like radishes, apples or cucumber for color and crunch, and some nuts.




Quinoa Summer Salad
Cooking Quinoa

• 1/2 cup dry quinoa
• 1/2 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1/2 TB olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled, minced
• 1/2 cup of crisp white wine like pinot grigio
• 1 cup of vegetable broth or chicken broth

In a heavy bottom pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 min (don’t burn it). Add the quinoa and stir around dry in the onion and garlic for a bit to toast it and give it an even more nutty flavor.
Now, add the white wine and stir well, scrap off the brown parts from the bottom and less the wine mostly cook off. Then, add the broth, stir, and turn down the heat to medium-low. Cover with a lid, and cook for about 20 min, until the quinoa is fluffy.
Take off stove and cool.
Salad

• cooled quinoa
• 3-4 radishes, sliced
• 1/3 of an English cucumber, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1/2 apple, diced
• optional: pomegranate seeds, celery
• chopped mint, dill and cilantro
• some sliced almonds or toasted walnuts

Mix all the salad ingredients and serve.

Lemony ricotta bundt cake

Lemony Ricotta Bundt cake

• 1  stick unsalted butter At room temperature
• 8 oz part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• dash of orange extract
• dash of vanilla extract
• zest of 1 large, organic, untreated meyer lemon (save rest for glaze)
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 Teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

For The Lemon Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• juice of half lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the bundt pan.
2. In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the ricotta cheese and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each. Add the extracts and lemon zest and mix until fully combined.
3. Add the sliced almonds and gently mix in.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and soda.
5. Add the dry ingredients in several smaller parts, mixing just until incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spoon as needed.
7. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until the cake tester comes out clean.
8. Let cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
   Cool completely.
9. Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and thick.
10. Drizzle the lemon glaze over the top of the cake.
11. Let the glaze set for 30 minutes and then cut into wedges and serve.

I poured the cake batter into a regular 10 cup bundt form (the amounts are for a 6 cup bundt cake pan), and it came out like a large ring with smaller slices, just right for the afternoon coffee.

BabyCat approves.

Palak without the Paneer

This is a creamed version of spinach, done the Indian way: the palak part of the Indian dish palak (spinach) paneer (soft cheese).  

Palak witout the Paneer

• 2 bags of frozen spinach, thawed, not squeezed
• 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 Thai chile diced (optional)
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 5 to 6 black peppercorns
• 1 cardamom pod
• 2 cloves 
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek leaves
• pinch of cinnamon 
• 2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 cup diced tomatoes, about 1-inch pieces 
• 1/2 teaspoon agave syrup (or sugar)
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup ricotta (optional) 

1. Put the thawed spinach, the ginger and the thai chili in a blender with 1 cup of water, and puree into a smooth puree. Set aside.
2. Roughly crush peppercorns, cardamom and cloves in a mortar and pestle and throw out the cardamom skin. If using a spice grinder, remove the cardamom skin and use only the seeds (save the cardamom skin for chai). Add the turmeric, fenugreek leaves, and cinnamon and stir.
3. Heat a thick-bottomed pan with the heat at medium. Add the spice powder and roast for 1/2 minute to make them fragrant. Add the ghee and wait until it is melted.  Add the chopped onion, and garlic and saute for 3 minutes until translucent. Add the tomatoes and agave, and sauteed for 1-2 minutes.
4. Pour the spinach into the pan. Add salt and 1/2 cup water to adjust consistency. You can add a little bit more if you find the sauce is getting pasty.
5. Once the spinach mixture boils, reduce the heat, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
6. Add garam masala. After 4 to 5 minutes, pour ricotta.
7. Eat with naan or over rice with a curry, or just as palak.

Curried hummus

Curried hummus

• 2 cups of chickpeas (ca. 1 cup of dried chickpeas cooked in the slow cooker with a bay leaf for 4-5h)
• 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled (or less)
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 TB maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 TB curry powder
• salt to taste
• Optional: 1/2 tea spoon garam massala, 1/2 ts roasted sesame oil

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water if mixture is too thick. Serve.

Stamping tropical tea towels

The tricky question was: how to transfer the design on the linoleum block? I glued the leaves to a piece of paper, and with a tracing pencil traced the leaves’ outline. Then, turned the paper around and traced the outline again, so that some of the original tracing would rub off on the linoleum block.

Hand-stamped tea towels

Turns out it is fairly easy to hand-stamp tea towels (this is a good tutorial, this one, too). I bought some inexpensive flour sack towels on Amazon for $8  and a liquid (Liquitex Professional Fabric Medium) that I mixed with my acrylic colors to create fabric dyes.

It worked best using an inexpensive foam roller that I soaked with paint and then rolled over the stamp.  The towels dried for 48h, and then I ironed them to make the color permanent.