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An enchanting hideaway in the heart of Camden village that Fodor’s considers “An elegant and sophisticated retreat and culinary destination,” this Mansard style Victorian built in 1835 offers a unique experience in pampered luxury.
June 21st, 2009
The first annual Festival of Independence is happening in the greater Camden area over the July 4th weekend: Music- Fireworks- Family Fun-Cool Cars- and a Traditional Parade!
From July 2nd to the 5th, the midcoast Maine region has geared up to help you celebrate the Fourth of July weekend in fine style. Join us for concerts covering everything from classical to Johnny Cash; spend a weekend with cars from the golden age of Detroit; watch a traditional small town parade; ride the ski lifts to the top of the Snow Bowl and enjoy family fun and games; and watch two nights of fireworks: Friday in Camden and Saturday in Thomaston!
For more details email our local chamber of commerce at: chamber@camdenme.org
* Information courtesy of the Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce.
Posted in Holidays, Things to do in Camden | No Comments »
June 20th, 2009
 We are very proud to have been awarded an Achievement of Excellence Award by the American Culinary Federation. The fine dining category includes nine prestigious restaurants from across the country including: Charlie Trotter’s (Chicago), The French Laundry (Yountville, Calif.) and The Inn at Little Washington (Washington, Va.). Following is a portion of the press release:
ACF Announces 2009 Achievement of Excellence Award Winners
St. Augustine, Fla., June 18, 2009—The American Culinary Federation (ACF) will honor 16 establishments nationwide with Achievement of Excellence Awards at the 2009 ACF National Convention held at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Fla., July 11–14.
Achievement of Excellence Awards recognize foodservice establishments that exemplify a commitment to excellence in their area. Criteria for the award include being in operation for at least five consecutive years, nomination by an ACF chapter, member or individual in the foodservice profession, and being a recognized industry leader.
To read more, click on this link: 2009 ACF Achievement of Excellence Award
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Dining at the Inn, Fun for Foodies, Press | No Comments »
May 26th, 2009
Learn how to make Fresh Mozzarella cheese on your next trip to Camden. The State of Maine Cheese Factory (in Rockport, 5 minutes from the Hartstone and Hideaway Inns) offers tours and ”hands on” classes with owner Cathi Morrill. Cathi is, as a previous guest/student put it, ”enthusiastic about cheese making, warm and welcoming.” This is a great introduction to the process of making cheese, then you can return for a more advanced class in one of our “Fun for Foodies” packages.
Posted in Cooking School, Fun for Foodies, Things to do in Camden | No Comments »
May 8th, 2009
Mary Jo and I just picked up our new dahlia bulbs from Phil Clark at Endless Summer Flower Farm which is located right here in the coastal community of Camden, Maine (Zone5), two and a half miles inland from the Hartstone Inn and Hideaway (village center). The flower farm specializes in dahlias and they currently grow over 225 varieties of these breathtaking flowers, with names like: Santa Claus, Spartacus, Seduction, Flashy Lady and I’m a Hotty. All of the tubers listed in their on-line catalog produce excellent cut flowers. Mary Jo displays them throughout the Inn all summer-long.
They are open by chance or by appointment and we highly recommend a visit when the Dahlias are in blossom, August 1st through till the first frost. For their online catalog, dahlia planting tips or directions visit the Endless Summer Flower Farm Website.
Tags: dahlia, flowers
Posted in Garden, Mary Jo, Things to do in Camden | No Comments »
May 4th, 2009
 Every couple of months we feature a seasonal cocktail here at the Hartstone Inn and in the restaurant. This winter, I was experimenting with a ginger syrup and combined it with some pomegranate juice to create this recipe, which yields 3 martinis (2 if you drink out of large martini glasses as I do!).
Ginger-Pomegranate Martini
4 oz ginger syrup (recipe below)
5 oz vodka
1 oz pomegranate syrup (Monin is a good brand)
1 oz lime juice
2 oz club soda, cold
1. Place all of the ingredients except for the club soda in a cocktail shaker with 6 large ice cubes, cover and shake 10 times.
2. Strain into a martini glass and divide the club soda between the glasses. Garnish with a few fresh pomegranate seeds, a slice of fresh ginger root and/or a wedge of lime on the rim.
Ginger Syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger root
1. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add the grated ginger and allow the mixture to steep for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, placing it in the refrigerator when it has cooled.
3. When cool, strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer to remove all of grated ginger.
Tags: cocktail, drink
Posted in Cocktails, Recipe | No Comments »
April 27th, 2009
 Heard of Molecular Cuisine? Zeph, my Sous Chef travelled to the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in Napa Valley, CA to learn about Sous Vide cooking. He has written a very informative article about the process on his blog if you are curious about this new phenomenon hitting kitchens everywhere. Yes, we are experimenting!
Zeph’s Blog “Plat du Jour”
Tags: Plat du Jour
Posted in Zeph | No Comments »
April 26th, 2009
 I often joke that with a last name of “Salmon” I had two choices as a young man for a career path: 1) to become a fisherman or 2) to become a chef. There’s not a lot of commercial fishing in my hometown of Rochester, Minnesota, so here I am. At the Inn we smoke a lot of salmon. Generally when I refer to smoked salmon, I am referring to cold smoked salmon which is a cured side of salmon that is gently smoked at low temperatures. With cold smoking, the salmon is “cooked” by the curing process and exposed to smoke for flavor. The distinctive texture of cold smoked salmon comes from curing, and makes the flesh firm, but not crumbly like salmon exposed to heat. Hot smoked salmon, on the other hand is seasoned fresh salmon that is smoked at high temperatures (350 degrees) and the fish actually cooks through while smoking. Below is a recipe for a cure mix that I use at the Inn and a brief description on how to cold and hot smoke salmon.
Dry Cure Mix
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup kosher salt
1 Tablespoon dried dill
Mix all of the ingredients together.
Cold Smoked Salmon
Coat both sides of a one pound salmon fillet (skin on, pin bones removed) with 1/4 cup of the dry cure mix. Place the salmon in a small container with a lid and refrigerate for 24 hours. This process is known as curing. The salt will draw out a great deal of liquid from the salmon and preserve it, actually “cooking” the flesh. After 24 hours, gently rinse both sides of the salmon under cold water and place skin side down on the smoking rack. Cold smoke the salmon (at a maximum of 90 degrees) for 2 hours with cherry chips. This is a delicate process in the stovetop smoker. The best technique is to get the smoker going, add the salmon, close the cover and remove from the heat. Allow the smoke to be exposed to the salmon for 10 minutes off the heat then remove it from the pan and continue the process over and over for a full 2 hours. Add new cherry chips as necessary. Cold smoked salmon is best if allowed to rest for 24 hours and sliced very thinly.
Hot Smoked Salmon (or other firm fleshed fish)
Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over 6 ounce salmon fillets (skin off, pin bones removed) and lightly coat with seasoning rub of your choice (see rubs and sauces section below). Place them on the lightly oiled smoking rack and smoke for 15 minutes with 2 Tablespoons apple, cherry or alder chips. Serve with a fruit salsa, herbed sour cream, mustard or chimi churri sauce.
Looking for a smoked salmon recipe. See my Smoked Salmon Dip with Parmesan Roasted Asparagus recipe I posted on the Maine Food & Lifestyle Blog “Plating Up” on April 20th.
Tags: Salmon, Smoking
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Recipe | No Comments »
April 22nd, 2009
We are very excited about our new upcoming gardening series here at the Hartstone Inn and Hideaway featuring our vegetable garden guru, Shelley Johnson. Shelley tends all of the culinary gardens at the Inn and also grows produce on her farm for the Hartstone kitchen. She has a great wealth of knowledge when it comes to vegetable gardening and loves to teach, so this series is perfect for her. Each class includes 1 1/2 hours in the gardens with Shelley and 30 minutes in the kitchen with Chef Michael to cook and taste some of the bounty from the gardens.
Hartstone’s Vegetable Garden Guru - Shelley Johnson
Some of my earliest memories are of the rich smell of soil in my Grandfather’s greenhouse and of helping my Dad transplant the hundreds of azaleas that dotted the landscape around our house. While I always dabbled in vegetable and container gardening, it was the move to Maine in 1985 that allowed me to begin pursuing my gardening interests in a more expansive way. After completing the Master Gardener course of study and becoming active in Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), my interest in intensive and organic vegetable gardening blossomed. I now tend my own vegetable gardens here at Breatheasy Farm as well as those of others. I am also a commercial grower for Fedco Trees, a growers’ co-op based in Waterville, Maine.
Planting a Spring Garden
May 23-24, 2009 1-3 pm - cost: $50/person
We’ll discuss how to ready your garden for spring planting and make the best use of whatever space you have available. Since it all starts with the soil you’ll learn how to create and keep soil fertile (hint: it doesn’t come from a bag) in the vegetable and herb garden and techniques for creating raised beds that are simple and low maintenance. We’ll discuss how to choose the proper plants, plan the garden layout, and get a jump on the season with row covers and mulches. We’ll harvest a variety of greens, lettuces, and herbs from the Hartstone Inn gardens before heading into the kitchen to cook and taste with Chef Michael for 30 minutes. Recipes will highlight the early Spring harvest and include Michael’s fruit salad dressings and various tossed salads.
Intensive Plantings in the Vegetable and Herb Garden
June 13-14, 2009 1-3 pm - cost: $50/person
The highly productive garden beds at the Hartstone Inn will serve as a hands-on classroom for tips and advice on how to intensively plant and maintain a vegetable and herb garden. We’ll discuss succession sowing, companion planting and choosing the right plants for a given site. Low maintenance raised beds are capable of producing copious amounts of vegetables and herbs if you know how to make the best use of your location and how to give your plants what they need for robust growth. We’ll be able to view the results of our spring sowings and the new growth on our early summer seedlings like tomato, basil, and pumpkin. We’ll harvest a variety of herbs, greens and young root vegetables and join Chef Michael in the kitchen for a 30 minute cooking class and tasting.
The Late Summer Harvest
September 19-20, 2009 1-3 pm - cost: $50/person
After a full season of growing, the gardens at the Hartstone Inn will offer up a great variety of herbs and vegetables and lessons learned from another season of growing. This is the perfect time to review what went right and what went wrong and begin planning for the next year. We’ll learn proper harvesting techniques to maximize the garden’s yield, look at the many heirloom vegetable varieties available for the best in taste and beauty, and discuss how to extend the season through the first frosts of autumn. After harvesting and gleaning the garden’s bounty, we’ll head to the kitchen at the Hartstone Inn to spend 30 minutes with Chef Michael as he uses the summer harvest in some of his favorite recipes.
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Cooking School, Fun for Foodies, Garden, Things to do in Camden | No Comments »
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Guest Letter and Photo
June 14th, 2009We received this email and photo from some recent guests:
Hi Mary Jo and Michael,
Two days after our return to Newfoundland we were at our ocean side old fisherman’s home, where a local lobsterman (a friend) sets his pots around our dock, as a result, of course, we had our first meal of the year, fresh from the ocean.
I have already used one recipe and looking forward to completing the whole book.
Our stay was wonderful, and be assured we will return.
Regards, Albert and Karen
Posted in Guest News & Comments | No Comments »