Fundy Bay Cafe in Hillsborough, NB

Have you been to the Fundy Bay Café in Hillsborough yet?

If you’re from this area, you’ll remember this site, at 2814 Main St. Hillsborough, NB (Route114), as the original Bluebird Restaurant.

The Fundy Bay Café is newly renovated, yet retains the look of beam and pressed tin ceilings, the welcome of dark wood wainscoting and the intimacy of four booths, one table and two stools at a counter, mixed with the freshness of ceramic tile table tops and tile trim on the walls.

The dessert display case is full of home made baking which varies daily.  My favourites are Raspberry Mousse Cheesecake, Apple Crumble Pie, Cranberry White Chocolate Squares and German Chocolate Cupcakes.  Though if none of these is available when I am there, I willingly eat whatever is!  Everything is delightful. I’ve heard that the doughnuts are amazing.  (I suppose I give away my food preferences by talking about desserts first.)

The service is efficient and friendly.  You’ll see Terry Evans, chef and owner, working in the spotless open kitchen.  Often, you’ll meet the general managers, Patricia Wallace and Peggy Zimmermann, as well.

The main menu evolves weekly.  There are now 11 different Panini sandwiches, in addition to traditional sandwiches, lobster rolls and lobster club.  Beef chili is a recent addition and homemade soups change each day.   I’ve tried every soup so far and have been pleased with each one.  Thick, hearty and so tasty.

One of my favourite meals is the special:  A small bowl of soup, ½ Panini sandwich (I love the Tomato Chicken Pesto), coffee, tea or a soft drink, all for $5.99; throw in a cupcake for $1.50 - $2.00, and you have a delicious meal.  Two can eat for under $20.   And everything is fresh.

The food is simple and satisfying, the atmosphere, cozy and comforting; it is time well spent!



Note:  The Cafe is CLOSED ON MONDAYS

Located at:

2814 Main Street

in Hillsborough, the Fundy Bay Café is open daily from 11 am to 9 pm, closed on Mondays.  Note: the Café is cash only.

Really, try it.  You’ll be pleased.

Fundy Bay Café has a Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pages/Fundy-Bay-Cafe/144785075592559

If you check it out on Facebook, you’ll see photos of the interior and the scrumptious food.  I’m not a food or restaurant critic, I just know what I like and I like the Fundy Bay Café…very much indeed.

(I received no remuneration for this blog entry.  It is simply my own opinion; an opinion shared by everyone I have talked into trying the Fundy Bay Café!)

All photos are mine.  Words in red will link you to another site with additional information, if you click on them.

NOTE:  As at July 2012, the Fundy Bay Cafe is closed for renovations.  Hopefully, it will re-open soon.  I miss going there for lunch.

Carol's Oatmeal Cookies

Carol’s Oatmeal Cookies

I’ll share with you one of my best cookie recipes and trust that you will enjoy it as much as it deserves!  The cookies are divine…

Medium bowl:

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Medium bowl:

1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

1 ¼ cups combination of bittersweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips or chunks, chopped

½ cup golden raisins

Large bowl:

12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) of butter

1 ½ cups of dark brown sugar

Small bowl:

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions.  Heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit in convection bake or to 350 degrees Fahrenheit in regular bake.  Line 2 large (12” x 18’’) baking sheets with parchment paper.  Recipe makes 36-40 cookies.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

In another medium bowl, stir together oats, chips, dried cranberries, nuts and raisins.

Beat softened butter and brown sugar together until no sugar lumps remain.  Add egg and vanilla, beat until fluffy and incorporated.  All of this can be done easily in a stand mixer.  If, like me, you don’t have one, arm muscles and a heavy wooden spoon work just as well.

Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Gradually add nuts, fruits, oats and chips mixture until just incorporated.

Give dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

Using a #30 or #40 spring loaded ice-cream-type scoop, carve out dough and drop these (generous 1 tablespoon size) globs onto the cookie sheets.  Gently press the globs down to about 1 inch thickness.

If baking at 325 degrees convection bake, time is 11 to 12 minutes.  No need to rotate pans.  If baking at 350 degrees regular bake, time is approximately 14 to 15 minutes.  Pans must be rotated half way through baking time.  Note:  these times will depend on the vagaries of each oven.

Cookies are done when they are medium brown, the edges have begun to set but the centers are still soft.  The cookies will seem underdone and will look raw, wet and shiny in the cracks.  DO NOT OVERBAKE!  Cookies that are properly baked will bend, not snap and will cool to be moist, chewy and flavourful.

Apparently, these cookies will keep up to 5 days in an airtight cookie tin or a zipper-locked bag.  Frankly, I wouldn’t know as mine never make it beyond 48 hours.

Time well spent in the kitchen…

                           

Happy munching!

The beginnings of this recipe came from Cooks Illustrated Magazine, All-Time Best Recipes 2009.  http://www.cooksillustrated.com/

From that helpful start, many batches of cookies and some experimenting, my recipe has evolved into “Carol’s Oatmeal Cookies.”

Easter Cookies Batch Three

Easter Cookies Batch Three

Continuing from my blog yesterday, I am reporting on roll-out sugar cookie progress.

After warming the cookie dough rounds stored in the fridge all night, rolling and cutting the dough with proper Easter Cookie Cutters and stamping them with designs…we bake them. 

“WE”, because Mum came for a visit, now we are both working on this project.

Everything is fine so far.  Remove cookies from the oven, do another round of dough. Completely cool all cookies on the racks.  When they are cool, we begin to decorate.

All ready…the bags of dyed icing, prepared with frosting tips.  First lesson: Don’t use the disposable plastic bags.  One promptly has a blow-out, causing delays while repairs are carried out with duct tape...careful not to allow purple frosting and duct tape to come into contact with one another.  (No Easter-coloured duct tape, gray suffices.)

Much discussion and anxiety about how to decorate, what tips to use, which colours, what designs, where, etc.  We plunge in using an assembly-line method.  Discovery: Heat from our hands melts butter cream frosting inside the decorating bag.  Some tips do not function properly. Or is it the operators?  More discussion.  A tiny glass of wine to facilitate and promote decorating ideas.

Husband wanders in from garage. Unwisely makes dangerous comments about shaky hands and squiggly lines drawn on cookies. “What are you two doing anyway?”  Discussion.  Husband invited to help.  Husband declines invitation to help.  Husband invited to return to garage. Much muttering all round.

Decorating is efficient for a while, assembly line is working.  Again, start to run out of ideas.  Slightly larger portion of wine is poured.  Ideas discussed.  Decision made: Squiggly lines, wonky looking dots deemed to be quite acceptable.  Some discussion about responses one could offer if cookies get too much criticism on Easter Sunday.

Running out of different colours of frosting; using what is left.  Some cookies must now be eaten as some decorating is objectionable.  Imperfect cookies dispatched promptly.

Counting number of people coming to dinner on Easter Sunday.  Counting number of cookies.  Numbers don’t match.  More cookies must be made tomorrow!

Husband strolls through kitchen again, this time wisely declaring that cookies look wonderful and wanting a sample.

What the heck!  More cookies must be made; everyone has cookies and a bit of wine.

All in all, a good afternoon. 

Mum says she had fun!  Might be back tomorrow…

Easter Cookies

Easter Cookies

My niece invited us for dinner on Easter Sunday at her new house.  It is pot luck—everyone brings their speciality.  My husband is making mashed potatoes and dressing to go with the turkey and the ham.  I’m making sugar cookies, not my speciality, not yet anyway!

Why am I making cookies that aren’t my speciality?  I just received these new cookie cutters as a late birthday gift.  They are from Williams-Sonoma called Message in a Cookie, Cookie Cutters and Stamp & Style Easter Cookie Cutters.  They look interesting and creative so I’m trying them.

The basic cookie dough is a Sugar Cookie Recipe included with the cutters.

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• Sprinkles or other sugar decorations (optional)

Preparation

Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and salt and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in vanilla. Add flour and beat on low speed just to blend. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to 1/8-inch thickness for smaller (2-inch) cookies and 1/4-inch thickness for larger (3- to 4-inch) cookies. Using decorative cookie cutters cut out cookies and transfer to prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.

 If cookies become too soft to transfer to baking sheets, place in freezer on waxed paper for 5 minutes before continuing. Gather scraps, roll out dough, and cut more cookies, repeating until all dough is used. If not icing cookies, decorate with sprinkles or other sugar toppings, if desired.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are firm on top and golden around edges, about 7 -10 minutes for smaller cookies and up to 12 - 14 minutes for larger cookies. Cool completely on rack. Decorate with icing, then sprinkles or other sugar toppings, if desired. Let stand until icing sets. DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 days ahead.

The icing is a Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting.  The recipe is in http://www.epicurious.com/  click here to see it.

I haven’t made roll-out sugar cookies in a long time so I am practising.  I made a batch two days ago; weren’t great. The cookies were edible but I needed to chill the dough longer as they squished out on the parchment paper.

I made another batch yesterday.  They turned out well but the decorating didn’t.  I am rusty.  The vanilla butter cream frosting tasted yummy however my artistic abilities were just this side of horrific. 

So…I’ll be at it again today.  I’ll let you know about the results in the next blog.

Easter cookies ready for the oven

Decadent Dinner

We ate a decadent dinner.  She had taken a day and a half to prepare the meal; loves to do that sort of thing as it relaxes her and provides a complete change from her work responsibilities.  The potato gnocchi and sauces, she made ahead and refrigerated or froze.

The delightful meal began with a bright and delicious salad:  balsamic strawberries, orange maple vinaigrette with goat cheese and candied pecans on a bed of baby spinach and arugula.  So scrumptious!

The main dish was potato gnocchi with roasted red pepper and oven dried tomato sauce, garnished with basil and Parmesan cheese.   A perfect match for the grilled asparagus with lemon vinaigrette and toasted pine nuts, and the succulent prosciutto wrapped halibut.

Molten Chocolate Cake with Bumble Berry Sauce and Whipped Cream, ah... dessert made in heaven.  All the other dishes came from the mind of our capable hostess.  This dessert was her version of a recipe  from Chef Craig Flynn's cookbook Fresh and Local.  Chef Flynn is the owner of Chives Canadian Bistro in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Learn more about the restaurant and the cookbook at  http://withbite.blogspot.com/2008/10/fresh-local-at-chives-canadian-bistro.html

Not only did our hosts provide a wonderful meal and great company, they wowed us with an eclectic array of music.

Thank you for the decadent and delicious meal, the laughter shared, the delightful musical variety and the generous spirit of the evening.  You two make a meal and a visit so extra special.  Thank you!

Captain Burgess Rum Cake

Captain Burgess Rum Cake

Baking Time:  55-60 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Yields 12-14 servings

·                       3/4 cup softened butter

·                       1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

·                       4 large eggs

·                       3 cups all purpose flour

·                       1/4 teaspoon salt

·                       4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

·                       1/2 cup dark rum 

·                       1 cup milk

·                       1 cup raisins

·                       1 cup chopped pecans

·                       1/4 cup pecan halves

Rum Glaze

·                       1/4 cup melted butter

·                       1/4 cup water

·                       1/4 cup dark rum  (I used more)

·                       1 cup granulated sugar

 Grease 10-inch tube pan.

 Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

 In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder.  Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternately with rum and milk, being careful to mix only until batter is smooth.  Fold in raisins and chopped pecans.

 Place pecan halves on the bottom of the tube pan.  Spread the cake batter evenly over the nuts.   

Bake in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Turn the cake onto a cake rack to cool, before glazing.

 In a small saucepan, combine butter, water, sugar and rum and place over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Prick the cake with a small skewer and drizzle the syrup over the cake until it is all absorbed. 

Store in a tightly sealed container at a cool temperature, to mellow for a day or two, before serving.

I stored the remaining glaze in a covered container.  When we ate the cake, I warmed the glaze and served it with French Vanilla Ice-Cream on the side.  Another time, I would cook the leftover glaze a bit more to thicken it.

This recipe is probably the Blomidon Inn’s best known dessert.  The recipe is taken from the 6^th Edition of Maritime Flavours by Elaine Elliott and Virginia Lee.  The book has interesting back stories about the Maritime provinces’ finest inns and restaurants with beautiful photographs by Keith Vaughan.

The Blomidon Inn, Main Street in Wolfville, Nova Scotia was built in 1882 by Captain Rufus Burgess.  This imposing inn features exotic woods, plaster cornices, dados and marble fireplaces that were fashioned by Italian craftsmen.   The inn has 26 beautifully appointed guest rooms and two dining rooms.  

Open year round: breakfast and afternoon tea for guests, lunch and dinner for guests and the general public.  Web site:  www.blomidon.ns.ca

Apricot Chicken Tagine with Toasted Pine Nuts

Apricot Chicken Tagine with Toasted Pine Nuts 

Feeds 4 or 6 depending upon appetites, plus provides “left-overs”

We experimented with our new tagine using this chicken recipe.  The word tagine refers both to the cooking pot and the stew cooked in it.  A tagine consists of two parts, a round pot (often clay) and a conical cover with a small hole to allow steam to escape.

This tagine is from  lataginerie.com  in Morocco.  We purchased ours at the Blue Olive International Market located in Dieppe, NB.  What to look for when purchasing a tagine, click here.

To learn more about how to prepare a tagine for use the first time, click here.

Start with about a cup of chopped onions sprinkled with oil and a bit of salt; pile the onions in the middle of the bottom of the tagine. Add some butter.  Next add about 3 pounds (or whatever amount is needed) of cut up skinless, boneless chicken which has been flavoured with: 2-4 minced garlic cloves, 1 full teaspoon of ginger (or 1 tablespoon of grated and peeled fresh ginger), ¼ teaspoon turmeric,  ¼ teaspoon paprika and a pinch of saffron threads.  Spices can be adjusted to taste, of course. 

Pile the chicken like a pyramid on top of the onions.  Add enough water or chicken stock to keep the tagine moist, perhaps a cup or more.  Place tagine with cover in an oven heated to 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 to 40 minutes, until chicken starts to become barely tender. Stir it occasionally. 

Be careful removing the tagine from the oven, as it is slightly unwieldy when full of meat and sloshing liquids.  This recipe can be done on the stove top if one has a heat diffuser.  I don’t, so cooked this in the oven.

Return covered tagine to oven after adding more liquid if needed.   Simmer gently until chicken is tenderer, maybe another 30 minutes…depends upon the amount of chicken.

Turn chicken again and add 2 tablespoons of bitter-orange marmalade, 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick), 1 teaspoon thyme (or a sprig of thyme), 2 cilantro sprigs and 12-18 chopped apricots.  Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes more uncovered, until chicken is very tender.  Mine took double this time as I had lots of chicken in the tagine.

While the tagine is in this last cooking phase, heat one tablespoon grape seed oil in a small heavy frying pan.  When the oil shimmers, add ½ cup(or more) pine nuts mixed with ¼  teaspoon turmeric and ¼ teaspoon paprika, also a little cayenne, if you want extra heat.  Put pine nuts aside for later.

Remove tagine dish from oven, whenever the chicken is tender to your liking.  Discard herb sprigs and cinnamon stick.

Stir in chopped cilantro (about 1 tablespoon) and the toasted pine nuts.  Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

Serve with couscous or brown rice or quinoa.  Any of these can be cooked with the chicken if you add enough liquid or cooked separately…whichever you prefer.

Lug the whole dish to the table and place it on cork pads.  With the cover on, the tagine will keep the food handy and hot as long as you are enjoying your supper. 

Wines with the Grenache grape go well with this tagine dish, and with the cooking process.  I’ve tried these with success:  Oomoo Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2006 from McLaren Vale Australia, Wolf Blass Red Label Shiraz Grenache 2009 from Australia.

Freshen your wine and enjoy.  It is delicious!

There are varied tagine recipes on line if you want to try others. 

Spring Arrives With Soup

Last Sunday, the time changed; clocks moved ahead an hour.  Today, the season changes; spring arrives.

While the weather too is shifting appreciably; mostly it remains cold, windy, and bitter with temperatures hovering in the vicinity of the freezing point in South East New Brunswick.  The enormous snow banks are shrinking, metamorphosing into rivulets of water slipping and gurgling down the storm drains, as the spirited sun now warms the mid-day hours.

Each day still brings sporadic snow flurries and each night produces temperatures that sink below freezing.  It would be unwise to put away the boots and the winter coats just yet.

However, despite the crisp air, there are longer days and promising blue skies, harbingers of warmer times.  We’ve decided that it is a marvellous day for a walk.  The roads are bare, at last.  Walking, in winter wear but with the luxury of sneakers, is possible.  We’ll come home after our brisk stroll around the neighbourhood, to warm ourselves with hearty homemade leek and potato soup, steaming fluffy biscuits and a welcome fire.

The leek and potato soup recipe is from Bon Appétit, May 1996.  I added green onions to the soup and also used them as a garnish, instead of the recommended chives.  I chose Yukon Gold (yellow) potatoes instead of the russets and added a few more of them than the recipe suggests.  The soup is beautiful, a buttery gold colour under mini circles of chopped green onion; thickly substantial with subtle, delicate flavours.  The biscuits come from an old recipe of my grandmother’s - - whole wheat flour, shortening, egg and milk with a bit of baking powder, salt and sugar.  Here is a comparable recipe. Our warm-up brunch will include a mixed salad of organic greens tossed with orange-ginger dressing.

An immensely enjoyable brunch in front of our fireplace; tummies and toes warmed. 

Though it is still cold, the weather is rapidly changing, drawing closer to exhilarating spring.  From inside, it looks warmer than it really is.  Petite hopeful bits of fresh green peek from under the melting crystalline snow.  The gaining sun warms the damp earth and coaxes fresh life… births another spring.

Sour Dough Bread Starter

Prospectors, explorers and early travellers of all kinds were wise in the ways of sour dough.  Their starter or yeast base was a precious commodity carried in a jug or jar from one camp site to another.  When this strong-smelling mixture reached a highly fermented stage, it was made into hot cakes, bread and indeed any food item that could be made from flour and other crushed cereals.  A portion of the indispensable starter was always reserved for the next batch.  Collett, Elaine. The Chatelaine Cookbook. Toronto. Maclean-Hunter Limited, 1965.

Creating starter traditionally involves dissolving yeast in warm water, stirring in flour and sugar or honey.  Using wooden utensils and non-metal containers, stirring every day, the mixture is allowed to sit for 5 – 10 days until it has a fermented aroma and the vigorous bubbling stops.

In 2011, starter gets passed from person to person in neatly labelled re-sealable bags, such as the one I received from my daughter-in-law ten days ago.  Daily stirring has been replaced with “mashing” the contents in the bag and burping the bag to allow escape of built up fermented gas.  Along with the baggie of starter, my thoughtful daughter-in-law gave me a recipe for making Cinnamon Bread and /or Cinnamon Muffins.

Today, we ate delicious Cinnamon Muffins with our steaming morning coffee.  With fruit, cheese and yogurt, it was a balanced breakfast, and oh, so yummy!

There is fragrant bubbly starter left over, too.  Now it’s my turn to fill tidy, efficient starter baggies; one for me and three to give away.  I’ll label them, and date them for Day 6…when you’ll need to add a few ingredients and for Day 10…when the recipe can be made.  Anyone want a bag of starter to grow into the base for Cinnamon Bread or Muffins?  I’ll photocopy my daughter-in-law’s recipe sheet for you, too.  Anyone?  Anyone?