Monday, July 25, 2011

David's Folly Farm

This week at the inn, we're offering White Bean Escarole Soup with Four Season Farm tomatoes, Carding Brook Farm patty pan squash and rosemary crostini; Summer Salad, with Carding Brook Farm greens, toasted pecans, Great Blue Hill cheese, David’s Folly Farm roasted beets, and lemon vinaigrette; Peeky Toe Crab Cakes, with Carding Brook Farms greens and lemon parsley aioli; Butter-Poached Lobster Ravioli, house-made pasta, Stonington lobster, lemon gremolata, and citrus salad; Seared Frenchman’s Bay Halibut, with summer succotash, organic spinach, lemon beurre blanc drizzle, and David’s Folly Farm roasted potatoes; Long Island Duck Breast, organic strawberry and port compote, David’s Folly Farm carrots, and turnip puree; and a Grilled New York Center Cut Steak, with a garden chimichurri, Four Season Farm carrots, Carding Brook Farm snow peas, and garlic mashed potato.

Lobsterman Luke came to dinner last week, said he had to try the lobster ravioli. He is now raving about the ravioli, and said the mussels were the best he'd ever had!

This week, Chef Devin is offering potatoes and carrots from David's Folly Farm. I had dinner at the farm itself Saturday night! The photo above is one of the spectacular views. Megan and Greg, the farmers, create a farm supper each Saturday night for a small group of very lucky diners.
This area has an amazing array of farmers markets, farm stands, and farmers innovating as to what they can offer those of us hungry for farm fresh and local. The photo to the right is the farmer/cooks and their friend/cooks receiving accolades from the stuffed and happy diners. If this idea delights you, you must call them now to get a spot. These supper clubs are very popular--in the winter, El El Frijoles offers them during the quiet season and they sell out mighty quick.

Did you see Chef Devin's picture in the Ellsworth American last week? The local press, both Penobscot Bay Press and the Ellsworth American, have been great support of our new venture. Have you heard our ad on WBACH? Recorded by yours truly... We've had so many dinner guests who have never set foot in the Blue Hill Inn, although they've been in the area for decades, and we've been here since 1830!

Look what Rackliffe Pottery is making now! We have loved their mugs, and the sweet cream pitchers, but these serving trays are wonderful. This line is so new, it's not pictured on their website yet. We're using them all the time--I'll try to get a better picture to show you. What a perfect housewarming, wedding, or hostess gift. Rackliffe Pottery is open 6 days a week but you can also call them up and say you saw it at the Blue Hill Inn and Margaret or David will take care of you. (If it's the lobster spring roll you're admiring, you'll have to come see Chef Devin.)

From a review on TripAdvisor: "the inn was charming..." If you haven't let the world know how you feel about Blue Hill Inn, Chef Devin's cooking, and the Blue Hill area, maybe now's the time!

Here's to a sun filled August!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

...one of the highlights of our trip...

What a heavenly summer we're having!

New on the dinner menu this week are lamb tacos in chive tortillas with a mint sauce from our garden. We have lobster cakes with Stonington lobster and a baked haddock with a crabmeat crown and the most delicious lemon beurre blanc. The chilled borscht with Four Season Farm beets has been a perfect option for these warm summer nights but I'm still hooked on the Bagaduce River oysters.

Josh Dunbar, our oysterer, took me out to show me the farm. I was amazed how much like farming it felt like--I do claim to be a farm girl from Wisconsin after all. As it turns out, our oysters come from the river at the foot of Sunset Acres Farm, where we get the delicious chevre we adore. The Working Waterfront, a newspaper about the water published each month by the Island Institute, explored their farming relationship in a 2009 article that makes great reading. (For more fun reading on the seafood in this area, try this NYT article which also talks about Bagaduce River oysters.)

Guests and neighbors alike have raved about dinners here. From a TripAdvisor review: We highly recommend dining at the inn if you can. The meal was one of the highlights of our trip over two weeks... Breakfast is terrific too. This [area] is a great alternative to the more commercial Bar Harbor area, yet close enough to access Acadia National Park and other attractions of the area.

Although the New York Times just spent "36 Hours in Bar Harbor", we find that most of our guests prefer to stay a bit further out and take day trips to Acadia National Park, into the fray of Bar Harbor, and out to explore the beauty of Stonington and Castine. Although this area has something for everyone, a guest summed it up perfectly for me when he said he loved it here because there were no people but great food.

If you head to dinner on Deer Isle, as we did the other night, to the Whale's Rib, you have to leave plenty of time for sightseeing on the way. Stopping at Caterpillar Hill is a must and a stroll along the main street of Deer Isle at sunset yielded this view. Tony, the owner of Pilgrim's Inn, recently installed a boules court. You'll have to try really hard to not fill up on the bread basket--delicious! Guests have enjoyed scallops at the Surry Inn, vegetarian sandwiches at 66, burritos from El El Frijoles, lobster at the Boat Yard Grill... No one is going hungry! And at breakfast this morning--cinnamon pecan scones, amaretto french toast, Four Season Farm eggs with dill from our garden... If you aren't eating this well, come see us!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Freedom!

That was the rebel yell during 4th of July festivities last night. Guests made it to the Deer Isle parade, thoroughly enjoying the small town charm and humor. One guest got a late start and said she missed the first pass of the parade but caught them as they went by the second time after they turned around! Others headed off to Harborside, even taking part in the pie eating contest (a third place winner!). Here in town the steel drum band's street dance had old and young alike boogying. You can catch them in the area every Monday night so don't think you've missed it all.

If you do suffer from FMS (fear of missing something), which I do, terribly, then you must come to dinner frequently because the menu changes often--these were the offerings last night.

Chilled Summer Gazpacho, with farm tomatoes, garden herbs, local cucumbers and bell peppers
Spring Salad of Carding Brook Farm greens, spiced pecans, Four Season Farm roasted beets, Great Blue Hill bleu cheese, with a lemon vinaigrette
Bagaduce River Oysters Two Ways, three on the half shell with Four Season Farm cucumber mignonette and three grilled with Smith’s Smokehouse peppered bacon, cayenne pepper, and Carding Brook Farm garlic scapes
Fresh Stonington Lobster Spring Rolls, with an herb salad and a spicy dipping sauce
Barbeque Pork Ribs with Braised Pork Belly, caramelized onions, bourbon barbeque sauce and potato puree
Seared Frenchman's Bay Halibut, salsa of tomato, leek, and Four Season Farm basil with Four Season Farm roasted new potatoes
Summer Ratatouille, Four Season Farm squash, Carding Brook Farm herbs, tomato, and corn over creamy parmesan risotto
Long Island Duck Breast, native strawberry and port compote, Old Ackley Farm beet greens, and mashed turnip

We are certainly celebrating strawberry season this week! Pillow chocolates, generally organic Lake Champlain chocolates, were fresh strawberries, dipped in dark Callebaut, and rolled in toasted almonds and sea salt. And for dessert, luscious strawberry crème brûlée, with native strawberries, mint from our garden, and a dark chocolate drizzle. Let's hear it for summer fruit! You can pick your own at Homewood Farm--and you might meet Maple, the springer spaniel!