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• Molasses-Baked Beans

  

  The public supper is a more than 200-year-old New England tradition that not only refuses to fade away, but is more popular than ever. On any given weekend in any given corner of the region, you are apt to find at least a couple of … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• Aroostook County Potato and Sausage Skillet Dinner

  

  In Maine’s Aroostook County, often affectionately called “the county,” mineral-rich soil and a cool climate combine to create ideal potato-growing conditions.“The county” is huge, occupying more land than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. In the mid-nineteenth century, when rail lines extended north into Aroostook, Maine … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• French Grated Carrot and Celery Root Salad

  

  For many years, we threw a huge party in December, with a guest list of fifty people or more. Sometimes it happened before Christmas, sometimes as a New Year’s Day open house, but the … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• Bittersweet Chocolate-Pecan Tart

  

  I find it fascinating that Thanksgiving traditions differ just a bit from one household to another. In our family, with its mostly English roots, the fare is pretty straight-forward. For starters, we have a rather austere relish tray, spiced nuts, and some years, raw oysters … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• Portuguese Seafood Stew with Chouriço

  

  In pockets along the East Coast, Portuguese America hides in plain sight — and has for two hundred years or more. In fact, some historians contend that Miguel Corte Real, a Portuguese explorer, came ashore and lived among the Native Americans in the vicinity of … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• End of Summer Blues

  

  Maine has had a prolonged run of warmer-than-usual weather this month (helping to make up for the cold, wet spring) but it can’t possibly last much longer. Here in “vacationland” (one of the state mottos), there are signs everywhere that the season is drawing down: … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• Sour Lemon Tart in a Graham Cracker Crust

  

  One of North America’s few native fruits (cranberries and wild grapes are two others), low bush blueberries grow thickly on treeless sandy barrens in coastal Maine, particularly way Down East in Washington County. During a recent trip to my CSA here in Maine, local baker … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• Spring’s First Chowder with Fresh Herbs and Peas

  

  Chowder began as a fish soup, but, as with many things culinary, the dish has evolved and broadened over the years. Since I needed to come up with some sort of definition of chowder for the book, here’s the one I offer in the opening … Read More

  Recipes

  by Brooke Dojny

• Shaker Chicken Stew with Scallion Dumplings

  

  “Nothing seems to bring people closer together than the act of sharing food,” says Sister Frances Carr of Maine’s Sabbathday Lake Shaker community. In her 1985 book, Shaker Your Plate, Sister Carr, now in her late eighties and still vigorous, puts forward the … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Dark and Sticky Gingerbread with Maple Whipped Cream

  

  Right about now in northern New England, sugar maples along the byways begin to sprout clear plastic piping that feeds into buckets at the base of every tree, or, in large operations, runs down slopes to large collection tanks. The clear sap, which looks like … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Consider the Oyster

  

  Thomas Fuller famously wrote, “He was a very valiant man who first adventured on eating oysters.” True, it’s not easy for some to get over the looks of the raw object, but upon first slurp, most people are instantly in love with oysters. They taste … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Marvelous Mussels and a Recipe for Chowder

  

  Mussels really are a most marvelous bivalve. Not only are they delicious to eat, but mussels are also plentiful, inexpensive, and, with their gorgeous shiny blue-black shells, beautiful to look at. Farm-raised mussels need only a simple rinse before cooking, but if you happen to … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Lobster Pasta for Christmas Eve Supper

  

  My husband’s Polish-American history runs along the same lines as that of many immigrant families. When all four of his grandparents arrived from “the Old Country” to work in mills and factories in New England, they spoke no English and had no knowledge of American … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Two Thanks-Worthy Twists on Cranberry Sauce

  

  Is there a fruit prettier than cranberries? It’s hard to imagine the fall and winter months without them. Not only do they contribute their delicious tart grace note to our menus, both savory and sweet, but the gorgeous scarlet berries also add natural beauty to … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Pickled Pumpkin

  

  Gorgeous pumpkins and winter squash in their fantastic array of colors, shapes, and sizes are displayed in such profusion this time of year that it’s hard not to buy too many – either for cooking or for decorating. It used to be that edible pumpkins … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Apples for Your Pie

  

  My standard apple pie recipe calls for a combination of two commonly available supermarket apples – sweet, juicy McIntoshes and tart, firm Granny Smiths. However, if you know the apples from your local farm stand or orchard, you can use fresh-from-the-tree (and usually much more … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• True or False? A Pop Quiz and Sandwich Recipe for Lobster Lovers

  

  Female lobsters are sweeter and less tough than male lobsters. False. Gender has nothing to do with sweetness or tenderness. Lobsters are high in cholesterol and fat. False. Lobster has less of both than skinless chicken. Maine sells the biggest lobsters. False. In order to … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Beet Salad on Arugula with Ricotta Salata

  

  Red Ace. Bull’s Blood. Touchstone Gold. Early Wonder. Candy. Seed companies must have such fun naming vegetable and fruit seeds, and the adjectives and nouns for the many varieties of beets seem particularly descriptive. On a visit a few days ago to my CSA farm … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Pea Shoot Salads for Summer Days

  

  The summer solstice is upon us, and the long, long hours of daylight are beginning to produce welcome results in the garden and at the farmers’ market. Pea shoots — the tender leaves and tendrils, and sometimes even flowers — of pea plants, are showing up … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler: The Taste of Spring

  

  If you live in the northeastern part of the United States, you’re likely familiar with that most glorious and reliable harbinger of spring: rhubarb. Sometimes called “pie plant” for its frequent use in baking, this old-fashioned vegetable, with its elephant-ear leaves and ruby red stalks, … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• One-Dish Breakfast Cheese Strata

  

  “Love and eggs are best when they are fresh,” or so the old Spanish proverb goes. Actually, I’m not altogether sure about the love part, but eggs — yes! In my lifetime, eggs have undergone an evolution similar to that of many other farm products: … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• A Recipe for St. Patrick’s Chowder

  

  Isn’t corned beef wonderful? Its slightly sweet saltiness, intense flavor, tender chew, and even its pretty color make it one of the most versatile meats. Made with beef brisket or round and cured in a seasoned brine (the term “corned” comes from the English use … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• How I Write a Cookbook

  

  “Where do you get your recipes?” This is the question most often asked of any food writer, and it’s a good one, because it gets at the fundamental rules that all professional cookbook authors live by. First off, all book contracts stipulate that every recipe … Read More

  Author News

  by Brooke Dojny

• A Recipe for Polar Vortex Soup

  

  One of the very best things about living in New England is the gift of eating with the seasons. During this frigid January, it’s almost impossible to conjure up summer. Just imagine: we stroll out of the house wearing only one layer! I snip bunches … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Lobster Cocktails: A Coastal New England Holiday Tradition

  

  The weather on the coast of Maine can be daunting in the winter, but fortunately there are numerous compensations—most of them, in my world, having to do with food, cooking, social life and family traditions. For our annual holiday party, which I think of as … Read More

  Food

  by Brooke Dojny

• Bourbon Pumpkin Pie: A Twist on Tradition Thanksgiving Menu

  

  Photograph © Scott Dorrance, excerpted from Dishing Up® Maine Pumpkin pie is simply a custard pie made with pumpkin purée and seasoned with traditional sweet spices. After trying a couple of times to make pies with “from scratch” pumpkin … Read More

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  by Brooke Dojny