Michael and I have created a foodie adventure… we’ll be exploring the scenic Farms & Villages of Southern Tuscany this fall. If you have the desire to learn something new, would like to explore several beautiful villages in Tuscany and like to cook – or just eat, then this may be the adventure you’ve been looking for. We planned a single trip for this fall and it filled up in three days…so we added a second week and it filled in two more days. We are very excited by our guests interest in the trip. If this sounds like fun to you, we are planning to add two weeks to the same region in Italy in the spring of 2011. Once we have the dates for the spring trips established, we will include the information in our next newsletter. Please sign up for our newsletter at the top of our home page where it says email signup, and click on the Foodie Adventures and Travel checkbox. Arrivederchi.
Archive for the ‘Cooking School’ Category
A Trip to Italy
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010Happy Valentine’s Day
Monday, February 15th, 2010
We hope you had as much fun on Valentine’s Day as we did here at the Inn. The weekend was bustling with activity from private “Chef for a Day” cooking classes on Friday and Sunday to a chocolate cooking class for 14 people on Saturday with Kate Shaffer from Black Dinah Chocolates. We made chocolate truffles: white chocolate filled with a Key lime ganache and dark chocolate filled with a raspberry ganache. There were heart shaped sugar cookies with tea in the afternoon and a full dining room for dinner each evening. It was great welcoming back returning guests and meeting new guests.
Last night we served our Roasted Sweet Potato, Rutabaga and Green Apple Soup and one of the guests requested the recipe (which is in my second cookbook), so here it is. s recipe serves six.
Roasted Sweet Potato, Rutabaga and Green Apple Soup with a Maple Cream
1 large sweet potato
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 cup peeled, diced rutabaga
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 Tablespoons Maine maple syrup
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste
Maple Cream (recipe below)
1/4 cup croutons
1 Tablespoon sliced scallions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel the sweet potato, slice into 1/2-inch-thick slices and lay on a foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with kosher salt and white pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- Place the butter in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. When the butter melts, add the onions and sweat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rutabaga and Granny Smith apple and continue to cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and the roasted sweet potatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and blend the soup with either a handheld immersion blender or in a regular household blender until smooth. Add the cream, maple syrup and season with salt and white pepper. Bring back to a simmer and serve with a dollop of whipped maple cream, croutons and finely sliced scallions.
Maple Cream
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon pure Maine maple syrup
Small pinch of white pepper
Large pinch of kosher salt
1. Place the heavy cream in a cold mixing bowl and whisk on high speed until stiff. Add the maple syrup, salt and white pepper and whisk to combine.
Foodie Travel Makes A Fun Gift
Monday, November 30th, 2009Do you know someone who loves to cook? Someone whose ideal vacation includes hands-on private cooking classes? If so, you have just found the perfect gift for this holiday season.
Perhaps you'll prepare a meal like this...
Send your cooks to this Maine Bed and Breakfast, where they’ll breathe in plenty of fresh sea air and work up an appetite exploring the historic seaport of Camden. Then they’ll join Chef Michael in his kitchen, where they’ll roll up their sleeves and get to the real fun.
There are several options of Private Cooking Classes available at Hartstone Inn between November and May. Gather together a group of six to twelve friends and spend a few hours in the kitchen learning and having fun with Chef Michael. Or join him one day for a private class in the Hartstone kitchen, where individual attention is sure to give a great boost to your cooking skills. Another good option is to participate in one of several scheduled classes at our Maine Bed and Breakfast.
Your cook will be thrilled with a gift of Foodie Travel. Think of it: a stay in a Maine bed and breakfast that includes cooking in a state of the art kitchen with a professional chef. For some folks, life just doesn’t get any better.
Pasta Cooking Class
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Another fun filled pasta cooking class at the Inn. This past weekend our guests learned how to make pasta in their own kitchens. Techniques included making the dough, coloring and flavoring different pastas (green from spinach, red from beets and yellow from eggs), rolling out and cutting various shapes of pasta, filling pastas such as raviolis and tortellini and cooking pasta. The dishes we made were: Spaghetti with a Creamy Prosciutto and Roasted Pepper Sauce, Pappardelle with Grilled Tiger Shrimp, Pesto and Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Sweet Potato Ravioli with a Pine Nut and Sage Butter Sauce, and Three-Cheese Tortellini with Chicken and Pesto. Thank you to all of you who participated, hopefully you went home and dusted off your pasta machines.
Maine Outdoor Recreation and Culinary Getaways
Friday, August 14th, 2009
photo by Hal Hagy - Lucky Dog Gallery
A short drive from our Camden Maine bed and breakfast is scenic Lake Megunticook. Think cold, crystal clear waters and numerous boulder islands rising up from the depths. Roll up your pants and dip in your feet – that will be enough to cool you on a hot Maine day. Then hop in a canoe or kayak and head out for a day of exploration and discovery. Be sure to bring a picnic, fishing poles, warm clothes, and your camera. If you are not experienced handling a canoe or kayak, please hug the shore as winds can rise suddenly out in Lake Megunticook, and that water is cold. Swimmers should paddle to adjacent Norton pond, which is usually quite warm in the summer months.
Camden Hills, Maiden Cliffs, and Mount Megunticook encircle Lake Megunticook. If you prefer to look at water from a distance rather than float upon it, nearby Camden State Park offers lovely views of Megunticook Lake and the surrounding area.
A day of hiking or kayaking is a perfect accompaniment to a culinary getaway at our Camden inn. Stimulate the appetite with a day of fresh air and activity and then spend the following afternoon in the kitchen with Chef Michael in private cooking classes. You will work side by side with the chef and help prepare dishes for dinner that evening in our Camden Maine restaurant. Although you are not obliged, we hope you will join us for dinner that evening, to taste the creations you help prepare.
State of Maine Cheese Tour
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
2009 Garden Series at the Hartstone Inn
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.
Artisan Chocolate Making II
Monday, April 20th, 2009
I am happy to announce that Kate Shaffer of Black Dinah Chocolatiers will be teaching another cooking class here at the Hartstone Inn this coming weekend, April 25th & 26th. Class openings are still available on both Saturday and Sunday and the course runs from 1-3 p.m. Cost is $45 per person. Kate recently blogged about the class on her website’s blog and I have included an excerpt here:
“I plan to cover various hand-tempering techniques, “shell” and figurine moulding, and the making of chocolate decorations, including the use of colored cocoa butter and transfer sheets. This is a hands-on course, and though some of the techniques are quite advanced, all that’s required of participants is a willingness to have fun and get your hands a little chocolate-y. We’ll taste our creations at the end of class and you will be able to take a box of your handmade chocolates home with you.”
Call for reservations: 207.236.4259. Hope to see you in the class.
Thai Specialties Dinner
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
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 »