Seafood Chowder for a Cold, Cold Day

Seafood Chowder. 

A quick trip to New Bern provided a chance to enjoy some good seafood and to bring fresh seafood home.  We stopped at the Tryon Palace Seafood on the way home and bought some fresh flouder, oysters and scallops.  We had the flounder for breakfast this morning---a special Valentine's treat for Dan.  This afternoon I made a big pot of seafood chowder using the oysters, scallops and a can of clams,  This is going to be so good on Sunday when the temperature plummets with the wind chill in the teens or below.    Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1/2 cup celery sliced thin
1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms (I just happened to have these so added them.)
2 cups fish stock (I had some frozen from poaching a salmon a few weeks ago.)
4 cups diced potatoes
1 pint oysters
1 pint scallops
1 can chopped clams
1 pint half and half
1 1/2 pints whole milk
pepper to taste
a dash of fresh grated nutmeg

Directions:
Dice onions and potatoes, slice celery.

Melt butter and olive oil in large Dutch oven.

Melt butter and olive oil.

Saute onions and celery and mushrooms.

Saute onions and celery.

Add mushrooms and continue to saute until mushrooms are soft.

Add fish stock and potatoes and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are done.

Add fish stock and potatoes.  Cook over medium heat until potatoes are done.

Add oysters, scallops and clams and heat until done. (Do NOT boil.)

Add half and half and whole milk.  Heat, but do not boil.

Add cream and milk and cook over medium heat until oysters and scallops are done.  Do not overcook.

Add pepper to taste and a dash of nutmeg.  You can add salt to taste, but we don't. We add salt at the table.

Ready to enjoy.

This is going to be soooo good tomorrow on a cold, cold, Sunday. I think I will make some homemade pimento cheese for toasted sandwiches.  They will go well with the chowder.

Good Eats in Cape Breton Summer 2014

Baked haddock over spinach, rice, French lentils and mushrooms.  (Photo by Anthony Benson)

One of the nicest things about vacationing in Cape Breton is the good food that we have there.  I'm listing a few of our favorites for this summer.

We usually head over to Whycogomagh for a bowl of seafood chowder at Chalene's Bay View Restaurant.  This is said to be the best seafood chowder in all of Nova Scotia.  We certainly would agree with that.  It is always chocked full of seafood and not dominated by potatoes as many chowders are. 

Charlene's famous seafood chowder.

Although the Ela Restaurant in Halifax isn't in Cape Breton, we usually have a meal there if we are in Halifax.  Alice tried the grilled octopus at my recommendation and she liked it as much as I do.

Alice enjoying grilled octopus. 

While we were over in St. Peter's we discovered a new little bistro, and the corn chowder and toasted pimento cheese sandwich were special.

Corn chowder with a pimento cheese sandwich on homemade bread.

The fresh Arctic Char that we bought at Masstown Market was a hit with the three of us.  We poached it just enough so that it separated from the bone nicely.  Dan is very discriminating when it comes to fish, and he declared it fresh and delicious.

We're always happy to see Laura and Anthony arrive.  Laura is an exceptional cook and the haddock dish she prepared was one of the best things we had during the three weeks.  She prepared a bed of rice, French lentils, and mushrooms, with steamed spinach and topped with baked haddock.  So scrumptious.

Laura's baked haddock. (Photo by Anthony Benson).

Laura made blueberry pancakes for breakfast several mornings.  Her pancakes are the best I have ever had.  They are made with a multigrain batter and loaded with fresh wild blueberries.  We ate lots with maple syrup and with grape jam.

Dan ready to devour Laura's blueberry pancakes. 

We did not have as many desserts as usual because Alice doesn't like desserts, and she was a good influence on me.  I did make a delicious Manitoba blueberry pie with fresh and cooked blueberries topped with whipped cream flavored with almond. 

Manitoba blueberry pie.

One of the best food at the birthday party for Michealette was the fruit kabobs.

Beautiful and tasty fruit kabobs at Michealette's birthday party.

We celebrated a belated birthday party for me at the Dundee Resort noted for its great restaurant.  Several of us enjoyed a half rack of lamb that was cooked to perfection and the spinach salad starter was good too.  

Spinach salad with strawberries, eggs, citrus and red onions. 

Half rack of lamb.

The last evening we were there Laura made steamed mussels.  She steamed the mussels in a broth of chicken stock, onions, chives, tomatoes and yellow squash.

Steamed mussels.

   Yes, we always enjoy eating when we are in Cape Breton, and this summer was no exception.

The Best Seafood Chowder Ever

Seafood Chowder

It's not hyperbole for me to say that the other day I had the best seafood chowder I've ever had, even better than Dan's and his is hard to beat. Not only that but we discovered a wonderful new (to us) restaurant over in Whycocomagh, Cape Breton. Actually I learned that Charlene's Bayside Restaurant and Cafe has been there five years, and we are just now discovering it. Hey, better late than never.

Last Friday Dan and I took his cousin Mary over to Bayside for lunch.  We had been told that they are known for their seafood chowder, and now we are believers.

We had passed by this place many times during the last five years and never really noticed it.  The exterior is rather nondescript, but inside it's sunny and inviting.


The staff is friendly and one can see baking preparations going on in the kitchen.  Our friendly waiter is featured below as well as Michelle, Charlene's sister, who was using the biggest batter paddle I ever saw to whip up some baked goods.

Their desserts are well-known as well.  I rarely pass up a chance to have strawberry-rhubarb pie (see below), but Dan chose the butterscotch and I was able to have a taste of it after all.

We may have missed this place in the past five years, but we will be sure to make it a regular place to eat in the future when we are in Cape Breton.

Saganaki ela!

We were in Halifax recently and had dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant, Ela, out in Bayer's Lake Shopping Center.  I usually have the delicious grilled octopus as an appetizer, but this time I decided to try something different.  I ordered the Saganaki ela!, pan fried Kefalograviera, Greek cheese.  The cheese was flambéed  table side and dressed with fresh lemon juice.  It was crusty on the outside with warm cheese oozing from the inside and quite delicious.

Menu description.

Flambeed.

Crusty on the outside

Melted cheese on the inside.

Dan had the grilled chops from a rack of lamb that were marinated in garlic before grilling.

Lamb chops grilled.

Following the appetizers, Dan had a creamy seafood chowder and I had braised lamb with spices & tomato sauce blended with cavatelli pasta.

Creamy seafood chowder.

Pasta lamb dish.

We wanted to try dessert, but we were so full we decided to get one to takeout and have the next day.  We tried the Kataifi Ekme, shredded filo pastry, baked and covered with a vanilla custard.  This is topped with whipped cream, roasted pistachios and almonds.

Kataifi Ekme

A bite of dessert.

The wait staff is very attentive at Ela.  Our waitress took time to describe the dishes we were thinking of ordering and was very patient as I was trying to get pictures of the various dishes including her setting fire to the brandy on the cheese appetizer.

Dan and our lovely waitress.

Yes we enjoyed yet another delicious meal at Ela.

Lunch at Michealette's

For years Michealette, one of my best friends, was our nearest neighbor here in Marble Mountain.  Two years ago she sold her cottage and moved into town–Port Hastings–about 30 miles away, but we see her often when we are here in Cape Breton.  This past Sunday, Dan and I had  lunch at her place.  Frances and Norman, her daughter and son-in-law, were there too.  Always good food and stimulating conversation at Michealette’s.

Flowers from Michealette's garden or that of  her next door neighbor are beautifully arranged throughout the house.

A cool refreshing cranberry drink garnished with lemons was served from this lovely wine decanter.  I like the unusual shape of this decanter, a gift to Michealette from Kit and Maggie.

The first course of creamy seafood chowder was ladled from this pretty tureen.

Finger sandwiches of turkey salad, deviled eggs and homemade bread rounded out the menu.

 Dessert?  Of course.  A raspberry, apple, rhubarb cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream provided the pièce de ré·sis·tance  for this delicious lunch.