Girls' Day in Portsmouth, NH

If you are a long-time reader of this blog, you know that I am a huge fan of Portland, Maine.  I try to go up there several times a year because there are so many great little restaurants and shops.  Whenever I mention my trips to Portland, people always ask me if I've ever checked out Portsmouth, New Hampshire before.  I'm sure that I've been there when I was younger but I've sadly never taken the day trip there....until this past weekend.

A group of us (Bianca, Bridget, Elina, Elizabeth, Emily, Jen, Kristen, Megan, and Meghan) took a day trip up to the Portsmouth area on Saturday.  We started out at Redhook Brewery, where we indulged in beers and appetizers for lunch at Cataqua Public House.

Redhook Brewery Beer Sampler

Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Grilled Chicken Tenders

Fried Artichoke Hearts

Hummus Platter

Basket of Sweet Potato Fries

After lunch, we took the Redhook Brewery tour.  Our tour guide was hysterical and this short tour was a lot of fun.

After purchasing some six-packs to take home, we then headed into downtown Portsmouth where we wandered around downtown.

I sipped on a Gingerbread Chai Latte at Breaking New Grounds

I picked up a bottle of Cheddar Ale Mustard at Stonewall Kitchen

Bianca snapped some photos...

...as did Kristen!

Group photo!

We browsed in shops, took lots of photos, and had a relaxing time catching up with each other.  It was a perfect way to work up an appetite for our dinner at Black Trumpet Bistro (blog post to come)!

I can't believe that I've never visited Portsmouth before but I'm definitely going to make a return trip during the spring to check out some more shops and restaurants.

How did you spend your weekend?

Lemon Pepper Tuna Burgers

I've seen a few different versions of tuna burgers on various food blogs lately.  When I was searching for inspiration for a healthy but flavorful lunch, I decided to try to create my own version and ended up making Lemon Pepper Tuna Burgers.

I only used three simple ingredients:

• 1 can of tuna
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup lemon pepper panko

I drained the water from the tuna and mixed the tuna, lemon pepper panko and egg in a bowl with a fork.

I warmed up a frying pan on the stove with a tablespoon of vegetable oil.  I shaped the tuna mixture into two patties and gently placed them on the pan. 

I cooked the tuna burgers on medium heat for about four minutes on each side until there was a nice golden-brown color to the burgers.  Although I did have some hamburger buns in the freezer, I decided to eat this tuna burger bunless with some leftover romaine salad. 

The tuna burger was incredibly moist.  The lemon pepper panko provided a lot of flavor, which is good because I didn't add any additional seasoning.  I topped the burger with Stonewall Kitchen Champagne Shallot Mustard and this lunch definitely hit the spot!

Tell me, what is your favorite type of burger to make at home?

Old-Fashioned Meatloaf and a Giveaway Winner!

There are some tried and true dishes that will never go out of style for me.  I love a good traditional meat lasagna, chicken pot pie or shepherd's pie.  It is obvious to me that the reason I love these dishes are because they remind me of my childhood.  My mom made classic versions of these dishes and one bite brings me back to our family's kitchen table.

Recently, I discovered that meatloaf can be added to this list.  My mom made an incredible meatloaf with the traditional ketchup glaze.  While meatloaf has been pretty popular on a lot of "comfort food" menus in restaurants, I haven't had a meatloaf dish that really reminds me of my mom's version.  When Bret made a request last week for a classic ketchup-glazed meatloaf, I decided to give it a try on my own.  The first thing I did was to call my mom and ask for her recipe.  Because my mom rarely cooks with exact measurements, she didn't really have a recipe for me.  I did a quick search online and found a Paula Deen recipe for Old-Fashioned Meat Loaf a/k/a "Basic" Meat Loaf.  I figured that if there was anyone who could do my mom's meatloaf justice, it would be Paula Deen.

First, I gathered my ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (I used an 80% cut)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (This was about half a small yellow onion)
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (I used half a green bell pepper)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice (This is one cup of canned diced tomatoes with juice)
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon prepare mustard (I used Stonewall Kitchen's Bourbon Molasses Mustard)

I pre-heated the oven to 375 degrees and got to work chopping up my onion and green pepper.  I put the chopped vegetables in a large bowl.

I then added the rest of the meatloaf ingredients to the large bowl - the ground beef, salt, ground black pepper, lightly-beaten egg, diced tomatoes with juice and quick-cooking oats.

I mixed everything together by hand.  I wasn't worried about over-working the meat since the tomato juice and egg added a nice moisture to the meat mixture.

I then greased a loaf pan and tightly packed the meat mixture into the loaf pan.  Earlier this year, I made mini turkey meatloaf using mini loaf pans to shape the meatloaf.  I set the loaf pan aside and let the meat mixture take shape into a loaf.

Meanwhile, I got my ketchup topping ingredients together.

I mixed together the ketchup, brown sugar and bourbon molasses mustard in a small bowl.

I lined a baking tray with aluminum foil and gave it a quick spray with baking spray.  I flipped the loaf pan over onto the baking tray and there was a beautiful meatloaf shape!

I generously brushed the ketchup glaze onto the top and all four side of the meatloaf.

I then put the baking tray into the oven to bake for about forty-five minutes.  The original recipe says to bake for an hour but my oven runs a little hot and I always cut down the baking time.  When the meatloaf was done, it had a beautiful glaze to it.  I let the meatloaf cool down and then carefully sliced it for serving.

The meatloaf was incredibly moist.  I actually think that the meatloaf could have used a little less moisture and I would drain the juice from the tomatoes the next time I make this dish.  The vegetables added a lot of flavor to the meatloaf and the ketchup glaze added the perfect sweet crust.  I cut the richness of the meatloaf by serving it with a side of Green Beans with Coriander and Garlic.

This recipe was a close version to my mom's classic meatloaf.  I'll have to disagree with Paula Deen though and say that there is nothing "basic" about this meatloaf!

Tell me, what is your favorite classic, traditional or old-fashioned dish?

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway for a free Eversave voucher to Sibling Rivalry!  Using Random.org, the winner is...

 ...Melissa from Melissa Nibbles!  Congratulations Melissa!  I'll email you the Eversave "save"!

Birthday Celebration at Fore Street

Before I get into this blog post, I wanted thank you all for the kind birthday wishes!  I felt so loved on Friday with all of the supportive and sweet comments on my 30 by 30 list.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

For my birthday, Bret took me up to Portland for a wonderful birthday weekend.  We stayed at the Chadwick Bed and Breakfast.  Bret's sister got us a gift certificate for this place for an engagement gift and we thought this weekend was the perfect weekend to use it.  When we arrived, I was happy to discover that Bret had a beautiful present waiting for me in our room!

After relaxing for a bit, we headed downtown to do some shopping at a few of our favorite Portland spots - Dean's Sweets, Shipyard Brewing Company, Stonewall Kitchen and LeRoux Kitchen.  We got lots of goodies at each place and some of these ingredients will be making an appearance in our kitchen soon!  After dropping off our purchases in the car, we still had an hour and a half to kill before our dinner reservation at Fore Street.  We decided to see if we could grab a spot in Fore Street's bar and lounge area before dinner and we were surprisingly able to score some comfortable seats in the lounge with no trouble at all!

Since it was a celebration, I decided to start with a cold glass of Prosecco while Bret opted for a warmer Cotes du Rhone.

Since we had some time to kill and were hungry, we decided to order an appetizer to go with our wine.  I've heard multiple rave reviews for their mussels and I really wanted to order them.  Since Bret isn't the biggest fan of shellfish, I hesitated but he ordered the wood-roasted mussels and actually ate his share of them!  The mussels were so plump and juicy and the white wine and shallot sauce added so much flavor.

Even though we've been low-carb this month, we couldn't resist and split a piece of bread from the bread basket to sop up the white wine sauce.  The bread comes straight from Standard Baking Co. downstairs and it was light and soft in the middle with a nice thick chewy crust on the outside.

By the time we finished up our mussels and ordered a second glass of wine (malbec for me and merlot for Bret), our table was ready and we were directed to our table.  I absolutely loved the exposed brick and open warehouse aesthetic of Fore Street and the huge open kitchen was full of activity.

Since we already ordered our appetizer, we went straight for our entrees.  I ordered the half Peking duck, which had a wonderfully crispy skin and tender meat.  This came with a side of glazed carrots and wilted greens.  The portions were huge and I couldn't do more than eat a quarter of it (although Bret eagerly helped me by digging into the drumstick).

Bret ordered a rabbit dish, which also had a huge serving of rabbit meat, along with the most delicious raviolis filled with foie gras, sage and porcinis.  These raviolis were so decadent and I was lucky that Bret was generous enough to share!

We also ordered a side dish of cider-braised turnips.  Bret and I are both big fans of turnips and I loved this preparation.  I know that I will totally attempt to recreate this side dish in my kitchen this winter!

Although I barely made a dent in my duck, I did make room for dessert.  There were a lot of great options to choose from and Bret let me choose.  I went with the tangy goat cheese cheesecake topped with spiced cranberries and candied orange peel with a not-too-sweet burnt orange sauce.  This dessert was so decadent and so rich.  I couldn't help but groan with pleasure at my first bite.

We had such a lovely warm meal at Fore Street and the restaurant lived well up to its reputation as one of the best dining destinations in Portland.  This hearty meal kept us warm as the temperatures quickly dropped outside.  Since we go to Portland several times a year, I hope to visit Fore Street again in warmer temperatures to check out their seasonal menus.

Fore Street is located at 288 Fore Street, Portland, Maine.

Raspberry Chipotle Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

Before I start this blog post, I'm going to be completely honest with you.  This recipe involves packaged brownie mix.  There, I said it.  For some food bloggers, this is a serious crime.  While I've made brownies from scratch before, I find brownie mixes to be a quick shortcut for someone like me who doesn't bake regularly.  I originally whipped these brownies up on Saturday for a holiday party that I was supposed to attend that evening.  But life can get complicated and I ended up dealing with some personal family matters that evening instead of going to the party.  But I still wanted to share these brownies on my blog.

I found this recipe in a handy little cookbook that I received in May at a dinner sponsored and hosted by Eggland's Best.

I've been trying to make a point of actually using my cookbooks instead of just relying on finding recipes online and this sounded interesting to me.  First, I gathered up my ingredients:

• 1 box of Pillsbury brownie mix
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Eggland's Best eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (I used chipotle rub)
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1/2 cup red raspberry jam
• 1 bag Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate baking chips
• 1 cup whipping cream

I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees and sprayed a 13 x 9 baking dish with baking spray.

I put together the brownie mix in a bowl.  If you've made brownies from a box before, then it is pretty straightforward - brownie mix, eggs, vegetable oil and water.  But this recipe called for two additional ingredients - chipotle powder and espresso powder - which would make these brownies really stand out!

I mixed the ingredients together by hand until the batter was smooth.

I poured the batter into the pan.  I then measured out 1/2 cup of raspberry jam.  I decided to use the Stonewall Kitchen's red raspberry jam that I had leftover from the baked brie recipe on Friday night.

I added spoonfuls to the top of the brownie batter and used a knife to try to make it into S-shapes.  "Tried" is the operative word.

I baked the brownies in the oven for thirty minutes and did the toothpick taste to make sure it had cooked through.  I cooled the brownies for about an hour.  When the brownies had cooled, I whipped together a chocolate ganache by melting the bag of semi-sweet chocolate baking chips and a cup of whipping cream in the microwave at thirty second intervals.  This took about five intervals and I thoroughly stirred the chips and cream in between each interval.  I poured the chocolate ganache on top of the cooled brownies and put the pan in the refrigerator for about half an hour to chill.

I didn't actually try the brownie until Sunday but they were still incredibly delicious.  The brownie itself was really rich and had a nice slow heat to it.  I didn't think that 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle rub would make such a difference but it really did.  The raspberry jam and the chocolate ganache added sweetness to help balance the spicy chocolate brownie.  The chocolate ganache was definitely rich and added a gooey chocolate element to the brownies.  Despite using a boxed brownie mix, I think these raspberry chipotle brownies turned out pretty fabulous!

Tell me, have you ever made any creative desserts using packaged or boxed mixes?