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An enchanting bed and breakfast 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.
Archive for the ‘Chef Michael Salmon’ Category
Saturday, 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 | 1 Comment »
Sunday, 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 »
Wednesday, 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 »
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Mary Jo and I just returned from a three week trip to Thailand and we thought we would share some of the photographs, recipes and cuisine we experienced. Above are some photos I took on the trip. We will be featuring a menu from Thailand (see below) on Monday and Tuesday, April 20 and 21, 2009. On May 9th, I will be adding a Thai Cooking class to the regularly scheduled cooking classes at the Inn, featuring recipes from the below menu. It is sure to be a very good time and I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with our guests.
- Grilled Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Cucumbers
- Coconut Shrimp Soup with Curry
- Maine Blueberry Sorbet
- Red Curry of Roasted Duck with Pineapple and Mushrooms
- Coconut-Fried Bananas with Lychees and Papaya
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Cooking School, Dining at the Inn, Fun for Foodies | No Comments »
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
Join us on Easter, Sunday, April 12th for our Easter Brunch at 11:00 am or for our Easter Dinner at 5:00 pm. Chef Michael has created some holiday menus and will be displaying some of his antique Easter chocolate molds, complete with chocolate eggs and bunnies.
Easter Brunch Menu
Mango and Passion Fruit Smoothie
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Baked Bosc Pear with a Raspberry-Star Anise Sauce and Lemon-Almond Biscuit
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Hartstone Benedict with either House Smoked Salmon or Prosciutto
or
Shrimp and Mushroom Quiche with Gruyere Cheese and tossed Greens
or
Grilled Atlantic Salmon with wilted Spinach Walnut Dressing
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Assorted Tarts and Petite Fours
$23.95 per person
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Easter Dinner Menu
Maine Seafood Tartlet with a Chive Custard
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Sweet Potato, Rutabaga and Green Apple Soup with a Maple Cream
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Maine Blueberry Sorbet
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Braised Lamb Shanks “En Croute” with a Celeriac Puree and Grilled Vegetables
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White Chocolate Soufflé with a Pistachio-Crème Anglaise
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Easter Candies and Chocolates
$45.00 per person plus taxes and gratuity
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Chocolate, Dining at the Inn, Holidays | No Comments »
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
This past weekend I held a cooking class on “Haute” Chinese Cuisine. First, a quick definition of the French word Haute: adjective 1. high-class or high-toned; fancy. I use this term to describe the type of Chinese cooking I demonstrated in this cooking class, taking a standard “Chinese” dish and elevating it to a “higher” level by using premium ingredients in place of the regular “economical” ingredients. The four dishes on the menu were: Kung Pao Shrimp (using jumbo tiger shrimp), Cashew Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork (using pork tenderloin, strawberries, red grapes and fresh pineapple) and Crispy Whole Black Sea Bass with Spicy Vegetables and Salted Black Beans. The recipes are available in my second cookbook “In the Kitchen with Michael Salmon.”
Sharon, one of the class participants, forwarded me the following pictures that she took during Sunday’s class…thank you Sharon!
Tags: Events, Food, Hobbies, People
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Cooking School, Fun for Foodies | No Comments »
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
 After weeks of cold weather, snow and ice, the ground has thawed enough for me to get my final harvest of carrots out of my raised bed garden. If you recall from my May 12, 2008 blog article titled “New Herb & Vegetable Garden Beds” I planted the carrot seeds on April 15th, harvesting most of the vegetables throughout the summer, and left a few patches of carrots to mature in the ground until yesterday (December 10, 2008.) With numb fingers, I returned to the kitchen and washed the dirt from the carrots. They were sweet and delicious. I have a carrot soup on the menu this Sunday, December 14, 2008 and they will be the star attraction. Watch for the carrot soup recipe in an upcoming blog.
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Dining at the Inn, Fun for Foodies, Garden | No Comments »
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
This recipe is from my second cookbook “In the Kitchen with Michael Salmon” and serves 6.
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 pound portabella mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 small bay leaf
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste
Sherry Cream (recipe below)
Croutons and coarsely chopped Italian parsley as garnish
Heat the canola oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sweat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sliced portabella mushrooms and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, as the mushrooms begin to release their juice.
Stir in the flour and stir continually for 2 minutes. Add the dry sherry and white wine and cook for 2 minutes, using the spoon to release the flour mixture from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock and bay leaf and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the bay leaf from the soup and puree the soup with either an immersion blender or a regular household blender until smooth and return it to the pan. Season with salt and white pepper and serve in a bowl with a dollop of the sherry cream, some croutons and coarsely chopped Italian parsley.
Sherry Cream
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon dry sherry
Small pinch of white pepper
Large pinch of kosher salt
Place the heavy cream in a cold mixing bowl and whisk on high speed until stiff. Add the sherry, salt and white pepper and whisk to combine.
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Dining at the Inn, Recipe | No Comments »
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Chef (Marla) for a Day in Camden!
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Our “Chef for a Day” program continues to be a very popular way for guests to experience the Hartstone Inn kitchen firsthand. Recently, a couple from Pennsylvania came to visit us and they joined me for two days in the kitchen, assisting in the preparation of dinner. It was a true pleasure working with Marla and Doug and their passion for cooking was very apparent. Following is a brief story that Marla wrote on her experience:
“From the time I was young, I wanted to be a chef. My career path ultimately led me in a totally different direction, but I never lost the desire to work in a professional kitchen. A last minute opportunity for some vacation time arose, and I found the Hartstone Inn’s website. Not only did they offer group cooking classes at the Inn, but private “chef for a day” programs with award winning chef Michael Salmon. I immediately signed up for 2 days.
From the moment I called, the staff at the Inn couldn’t have been more accommodating. Lots of things to do and see in the area, friendly advice, lovely rooms, and the FOOD!!!! Chef Michael’s gourmet breakfasts were a delight each morning, but don’t even think about eating anywhere else for dinner. A delectable five course meal each night that shouldn’t be missed. And working side-by-side with Chef Michael to prepare the meals! For the home cook who still wants to be a chef when (if) she grows up, it was a dream come true. Fun for foodies doesn’t begin to describe it. I’m still hoping Michael will call me if he needs a sous chef (sorry, Zeph!)
Can’t wait to go back. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on my knife skills, and preparing the recipes from Chef Michael’s cookbooks. And dreaming of the Hartstone Inn.”
Tags: Chef for a Day
Posted in Chef Michael Salmon, Cooking School, Fun for Foodies, Guest News & Comments | No Comments »