Recipe Week – Traveling Around the US
Monday, August 3rd, 2009Since some of our readers visit us from ww.recipes (a terrific site that I’ve been on for 10 years!) , I thought it was time to offer some regional recipes as we tell about our travels around the USA.
We’ll start on the East Coast and hit some major cuisines as we move around the country.
Today, we’ll revisit adventures in New England. Up and down New England, the food and the scenery are exceptional. The cuisine stems from resourceful use of the available fruits of the ocean and the stony earth. The cold winters and very hot and humid summers contribute to the Yankee character – a determination and clever use of what is available.
RECIPE
Boiled Lobster
One of the easiest recipes to prepare is fresh lobster. Purchase a live lobster from a market or – better yet – a lobster fisherman, take it home and cook it for six to 10 minutes in boiling water. Once it turns bright red, it is done.
Depending on your taste and how intrepid you are, you can find edible lobster meat in every part of the lobster. I have been in a fancy restaurant where they offered to pull out the meat for me. Since I had seen them remove only the tail meat, I refused their offer and had a lot more lobster for my dinner.
You can pull out or suck out the meat from the various parts. You might want to avoid the “somali” – some greenish innards, but some people eat that, too. Dipping the results of your efforts in warm lemon butter is a treat you never forget.
When I was a child, we visited friends in Massachusetts who covered their kitchen table with newspapers. Everyone was offered two lobsters to enjoy! That was one of the most informal and festive dinners I’ve ever shared. We were messy, but the camaraderie we shared was terrific!
Maine Lighthouse
If you’re visiting in Maine, some of the seaside restaurants have daily deliveries and let diners choose their dinner from a tank.
Portuguese heritage reflected in food
Cape Cod, the curved extension of Massachusetts, has Portuguese heritage that is reflected in some of the cuisine.
At the very tip of Cape Cod in Provincetown is a restaurant, the Lobster Pot, that served a Portuguese Kale soup/stew that I’ve never forgotten. I reconstructed the recipe so anyone can make it at home.
RECIPE
Portuguese Kale Soup
1 – 1 LB. sausage – whatever variety you prefer
1 bunch of kale – or cabbage – if kale isn’t available in your market, shredded in small pieces
1 onion or several scallion, chopped
6-8 cups of beef and or chicken bouillon
1 large potato – red-skinned preferred – cut in small cubes
1 cup of red beans, kidney beans preferred
salt and pepper to taste
1. Cut the sausage in thin rounds and brown it in a large pot on a medium flame, turning the rounds so both sides get browned.
2. Add the chopped onion, cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the potato cubes, bouillon and kale and reduce the flame to medium low. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cover the pot and let cook until the potatoes are tender – at least 20-30 minutes.
5. Serve in a bowl with some crusty bread on the side and ENJOY!
Serves 4-6 people, depending on how hungry they are.