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Sunday, August 14, 2017: Maine Vacation Feasts
August 14th, 2017 by Kate

Hi, we just spent a week in Maine hiking and biking, and enjoyed some delicious food at a bunch of different restaurants.  Also, since we stayed in a great hotel with a full kitchen, we had time to cook a little.  We are each going to describe our favorite meal out and also what we made to eat ourselves over the week.

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Max:

My favorite meal was our first one we had in Bar Harbor, ME at the Side Street Cafe. I had quesadillas, filled with beans, cheese, avocado and chicken with salsa on the side. The dish was amazing. Everything came together to produce wonderful flavors, and Dad and Mom couldn’t stop themselves from having some!  Dad had a lobster roll which looked pretty good as well.

quesadilla   quesadilla1

My favorite meal that I made in Maine was Mac and Cheese. Missing New York food, I decided to make my own, recreating Max Brenner’s tasty mac and cheese dish.

macncheese1

Here are the directions:

  • First,  preheat the oven to 400 degrees and heat water for pasta (macaroni noodles).
  • Cut a cup of cherry tomatoes into quarters and sautee 6 pieces of bacon. Then cut the bacon into small bits. Set aside.
  • Add pasta when water is boiling and remove at an al dente (don’t forget to salt the water).
  • Meanwhile, with the heat on low, melt 1/4 cup butter hot and then stir in 1/4 cup flour, careful to avoid clumping.
  • After the butter and flour are mixed, add 2 cups of warm milk, and stir until the mixture is thickened.
  • Then gradually add 8 oz of combined grated cheddar and parmesean cheese while stirring constantly to avoid clumping. When combined, add another 8 0z of parmesan and cheddar and stir in. You have just made a cheesy béchamel sauce
  • Combine your béchamel sauce and al dente pasta in a baking dish.  Add the tomato and the chopped bacon and stir until sufficiently distributed.
  • Finally sprinkle bread crumbs and more shredded cheese on top of the dish and place in oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees (till golden brown).

Remove from oven, let cool and enjoy!

cheesesauce   macncheesefinaldish

Alex:

My favorite two meals (that we ate at restaurants) were the burger that I had at Black Cap Grille in North Conway, New Hampshire, and the popovers that we had at Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park, Maine.  What was also nice about both of these restaurants was that we could bring our dog Koko (so we could hike with her and then share a meal with her).

The Burgers at  Black Cap Grille:

alexburger

Not only was the burger perfectly cooked, the fries were as well. I had to fend off Dad and Mom who tried to eat them.

The Popovers at Jordon Pond House:

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The Jordan Pond House popovers were huge and delicious. They were crispy on the outside but light and  airy on the inside.  We ate them with butter and strawberry jam (just watch out for the bees–they like the jam too).

*********

My favorite meal that I made in Maine was pasta with bolgnese with an arugula salad and brownies (for dessert).

20170808_191625   20170808_192902   20170808_192638   20170808_115436

Bolgnese is a pretty simple dish that is supper yummy, all you really need to do is:

  • Chop onions and saute them till transulucent
  • Get ground meat (veal, lamb, pork) and put it in a sauce pan with olive oil and soft onions. Brown.
  • Once the meat is all brown (not the least bit pink), add diced tomatoes that can be from a can or fresh.
  • Mix and let simmer for 15ish minutes; be sure to add salt and pepper
  • Pour the sauce on cooked pasta, mix a bit, grate some parmesan cheese and voila it is ready to be served!

For the salad, I made a simple arugula, tomato and parmesan cheese salad but then added some chopped almonds for some texture.  Dressing was just olive oil and fresh lemon juice. The brownies are our family recipe that I have already shared so I won’t tell again.

 

 


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