Hartstone Inn Blog » Recipe

Fresh Black Raspberry Mojito

Meghan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:10:07 +0000

I have always loved raspberries-all kinds. When we purchased the house on Free St, I mentioned to Mary Jo that I would finally have the space to plant some. One day, to my surprise, Mary Jo returned from the nursery with one small black raspberry plant. Three years later, the plant has spread and taken over much of the back yard!

I feature the berries in the restaurant during July and they appear in everything from salad dressings and sorbet to breakfast trifles and muffins. Perhaps the most popular recipe is our Black Raspberry Mojito, perfect on a hot summer evening and equally popular during our evening cocktail hour. I have included the recipe below. If you don’t have your own black raspberry bush growing in your back yard, you can substitute either red raspberries, boysenberries or blackberries.

Black Raspberry Mojito
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
4 teaspoons granulated sugar (or 2 packets Splenda)
2 limes
1/4 cup fresh black raspberries (or red )
3/4 cup light rum
1 cup club soda
2 sprigs of fresh mint for garnish

1.      Place the mint and sugar in a mortar and “muddle” it with the pestle. Squeeze in the lime juice and add half of the blackberries. Lightly crush the berries.
2.      Pour the mixture into a cocktail shaker and add the light rum and club soda. Shake to mix.
3.      Place 4 large cubes of ice in two rocks glasses and divide the drink equally between them.
4.      Garnish each glass with the remaining black raspberries and a sprig of fresh mint.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Hartstone Inn — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:39:15 +0000

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.

Orange-Spiced Rice Pudding Recipe

Hartstone Inn — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:51:33 +0000

I just received this request from Milt: …would like your recipe for rice pudding. It was in your news letter a while back. I misplaced it.

Orange-Spiced Rice Pudding yields 6 portions
1/2 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Arborio rice
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cups heavy cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup regular raisins
1/2 orange, zest and cubed pcs
1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice

If you have been to the Inn since this Spring, you may have had the opportunity to try my Orange-Spiced Rice Pudding. It has been one of our most requested recipes.

Boil water in a large pan.
Add salt and rice. Cover and simmer over low heat (stirring occasionally) for 15-20 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed.
Add milk, cream and sugar and increase heat to medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to maintain the simmer. Cook UNCOVERED, stirring frequently for 30 minutes.
Reduce heat to low (stirring every couple of minutes) and cook for 15 minutes more. Spoon should stand upright in the pan. Stir in the remaining ingredients and serve.

Chef Michael’s Spice Kits

Hartstone Inn — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:22:50 +0000

Filling Spice Kits

Today we are busy making spice kits for our last minute holiday shoppers. Gift certificates have been flying out the door and many items from our gift shop have been popular this year including Chef Michael’s cookbooks and his spice kits. The spice samplers include 15 small containers of Michael’s favorite spices, spice blends and salts that he uses at the Inn on a regular basis, including: cumin spice mix, fennel spice mix, herbes de Provence, Caribbean dry spice mix, Cajun spice mix, annatto seed, star anise, Chinese five spice powder, rosemary steak rub, apple pie spice mix, curry powder, crystallized ginger, Maine sea salt, Alaea Hawaiian sea salt, and Hiwa Kai black Hawaiian sea salt.

: Chef Michael’s Favorite Spices

The kit includes a description of each of the items, recipe suggestions and references to recipes in Chef Michael’s cookbooks in which he utilizes the spices.

The Fennel spice mix is one of the most popular spices at the Inn (we also sell them individually in 1 cup jars) and is used in everything from breakfast sausage to our Maine Lobster and Scallop Terrine.

Fennel Spice Mix Recipe – Place 2 Tablespoons of whole fennel seeds in a small saute pan and toast over medium-high heat until fragrant and lightly toasted. Finely grind in a spice grinder and mix with 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper, 1 Tablespoon granulated garlic and 2 1/2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt.

Wild Mushroom Crêpe Recipe

Hartstone Inn — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:39:03 +0000

serves 6

6 crêpes (recipe below)

1 whole duckling

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup chopped yellow onions

1 pound wild mushrooms (porcini, oyster, chanterelles, morels, etc.) or use portabella mushrooms, roughly cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 batch béchamel sauce (recipe below)

1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 teaspoon chopped Italian parsley

Make the crêpes and reserve.
Wash duck and pat dry inside and out. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Place on rack in roasting pan. Roast in a preheated 350° oven for 30 to 35 minutes per pound. Remove from the oven and cool enough to handle. Remove all the meat from the duck and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces. Reserve.
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 mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.
Remove the mushrooms from the pan (allow them to cool) and return the pan to high heat. Deglaze with the dry sherry and reduce till nearly dry. Add the heavy cream and reduce by half. Remove the pan from the stove and whisk in the soft butter. Season with salt and white pepper.
When the mushrooms are cool, stir in the shredded duck, béchamel sauce and Swiss cheese. Mix.
Spread the mixture between the crêpes and spread it out evenly. Fold the crêpes in quarters and place on a buttered baking sheet.
Bake the stuffed crêpes in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Serve with the warm dry-sherry cream and a sprinkling of parsley.

Crêpe Batter

2 large eggs

1/2 cup cold water

1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

canola oil for frying pan

In a blender, combine the eggs, water, milk and salt. Blend briefly at medium speed to combine. Add the flour and blend. After the flour has been thoroughly incorporated, with the blender still going at medium speed, add the melted butter in a slow stream, and blend until combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
To make the crepes, you can either use a crepe pan (follow the instructions that came with the pan) or a plain 10-inch nonstick skillet. Heat the pan on medium heat and add a small splash of oil. Ladle 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of batter into the pan and tip the pan to spread the batter evenly across the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Cook briefly on this side until it lightly browns and then flip it over (you can use a rubber spatula to assist with this) to cook the other side for 30 seconds.
Remove from pan and layer on a plate, repeating with the remaining batter and a little oil in the pan. Recipe makes about ten 8-inch crepes. Keep covered with plastic until needed.

Bechamel Sauce

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
Salt and white pepper

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes.
Add the milk and continue to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring the sauce to a boil and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Cocktail Mixology – Ginger-Pomegranate Martini

Hartstone Inn — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:00:37 +0000

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.

Smoking Salmon

Hartstone Inn — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:11:50 +0000

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.

Carrot Soup Recipe

Hartstone Inn — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:04:19 +0000

Carrot Soup

On December 11, 2008 I blogged about my final vegetable harvest of the season. I had just pulled my last carrots out of my raised beds the day before and went on to promise a recipe for my carrot soup. So here it is:

2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 medium-sized yellow onions, peeled and roughly cut
1 stalk celery, roughly cut
3 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves
kosher salt and white pepper to taste

1/4 cup whipping cream
1 dash freshly grated nutmeg
kosher salt and white pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chopped dill
1/4 cup crisp nutmeg croutons

8 dill sprigs for garnish

1.   Heat the oil in a large (4-quart) saucepan. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in carrots, celery, chicken stock, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes.
2.   Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Blend the soup with either a handheld immersion blender or in a regular household blender until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper.
3.   To serve, whip the cream to stiff peaks and season with nutmeg, salt, white pepper and chopped dill. Ladle soup into serving bowls and top with a spoon of whipped cream. Sprinkle with nutmeg croutons and top with a dill sprig. Serve immediately.

Atlantic Salmon Cake with a Mint and Sweet Pea Cream

Hartstone Inn — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:10:07 +0000

Atlantic Salmon Cake

2 Tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon canola oil

1 shallot, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup, plus 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and soft

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup shelled fresh peas (or frozen)

1 teaspoon minced fresh mint leaves

Kosher salt and ground white and black pepper

1 pound fresh salmon fillet, skinless and boneless

1 egg white

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

3 Tablespoons minced celery

1 Tablespoon minced scallions

1 teaspoon finely chopped dill

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup canola oil

1 European cucumber

Fresh dill and mint for garnish

1.      Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon canola oil and the minced shallot and stir for 30 seconds. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce until it is almost dry. Add the cream and reduce by half, until the sauce thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the 1/4 cup of soft butter. Add the lemon juice and season with a pinch of white pepper and salt to taste. Cover and reserve in a warm place.

2.      If you are using fresh peas, place them in a small saucepan with the remaining Tablespoon of butter and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for about 3 minutes. For frozen peas, simply heat them in a pan with the butter. Season with salt and white pepper.

3.      Place half of the warm peas in a blender with the minced mint and the sauce and blend until smooth. Cover and reserve in a warm place. Cover the remaining peas and reserve in a warm place as well.

4.      To make the salmon cakes, divide the salmon into 2 equal pieces. Finely dice half of the salmon into 1/4-inch cubes and reserve. Coarsely chop the remaining salmon into1/2-inch pieces and place in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 30 seconds to make a smooth puree. Add the egg white and heavy cream and blend for 20 seconds longer, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Remove the mixture to a medium-sized bowl and stir in the minced celery, scallions, dill and sour cream. Season with a few pinches of salt and a pinch pf white pepper.

5.      Form the salmon mixture into four even sized balls and then form into cakes. Place the panko bread crumbs in a bowl and add one salmon cake. Coat the cake with panko by pressing it quite firmly into the cake until the cakes are uniformly coated with the bread crumbs. Repeat with the remaining cakes.

6.      Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the canola oil. Pan-fry the cakes, cooking them for 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

7.      Thinly slice the cucumber with a mandoline and arrange them around the rim of each serving plate in a circular overlapping pattern. Sprinkle the cucumbers with kosher salt and black pepper.

8.      To serve, ladle the pea sauce inside the ring created by the cucumber slices. Place a salmon cake in the center of each serving plate. Sprinkle the exposed sauce with the remaining peas and garnish with the dill and mint sprigs.

Cranberry-Limoncello Martini Recipe

Hartstone Inn — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:56:00 +0000

I created this recipe about a month ago to replace our fabulously successful summer drink special the “Watermelon Mojito.” Happily, it has gone over very well and several people have already asked for the recipe.

Cranberry Syrup Base

1 package (12 oz) fresh or frozen whole cranberries

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups water

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup limoncello (Italian lemon liqueur)

2 dashes bitters

method - Combine the cranberries, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Cool. When cool, place mixture in a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove all of the seeds and skin pieces. Add the remaining ingredients and the cranberry base is complete.

Cranberry-Limoncello Martini Recipe yields 1 drink

2 1/2 ounces cranberry syrup base (recipe above)

1 1/2 ounces citrus flavored vodka

garnish: 3 cranberries floated on top and a wedge of lime on the rim

Hope you enjoy the recipe, and if you don’t feel like whipping it up yourself…come and enjoy one at the Hartstone Inn during our evening Cocktail and Hors d’oeuvres hour.