Happy Independence Day Everyone, and X-mas in July too!
Well if it isn't one thing it's another. We have been at a standstill in building The Distillery, again. We've been back ordered for six weeks on delivery of a large, low pressure, multi-ring propane burner to heat the still. The large size we need limits us, and seems to be unavailable in the US, except from one company who imports them from overseas. I have been looking to order a smaller, temporary version that I hope to use for when we build the stills heating unit, called the firebox. It is going to be basically a brick oven that heats the still from below with a direct propane flame. Since we are a commercial space with an indoor set-up we want safety to be the #1 priority. So our firebox has to be well ventilated with an outside air intake and a flue to exhaust the unit up through the roof like a chimney on a fireplace.
I have also been searching like crazy on the Internet for stainless steel fermenting tanks and other pieces of equipment that I hope to get cheap. They're hard to find and expensive, and we need them so we can finish building the rest of the distillery, and maybe get a small bit of brewing done as well. Our brewery permit should come through in the next few weeks and we want to make a small batch of beer for the fun of it. We don't really plan on being a full scale brewery at this time because the equipment is so expensive. So we hope to pick up odds and ends, here and there, over the next few years. I'd love to have a full scale brewery as well as the distillery, but just don't see it happening any time soon.
Last week I was warned by my partners, Mike and Jody, that on Monday I had to have my camera and be ready for a road trip. They wouldn't say where or why, but that I could only make one phone call, if I even had cell phone service. Then they clammed up and wouldn't say more, letting me stew on it all weekend.
Today for lunch I'm having a local, Maine made dog, W. A. Bean & Sons Red Hot, that I'm cooking up myself for a change. Beans meats have been made in Maine since 1860. Red dyed, natural casing dogs are big up here, but this was the first time I have seen Red Hot's. Meaty pork franks, very mildly spicy at first, then with a bit of back of the mouth heat later. I wouldn't call them very spicy, but they're pretty tasty, especially with some of my spicy onion sauce. So far they are some of the best dogs I've ever had.
Here is the recipe from Pairings Food & Wine Education Center, and Chef Robert Waldron, of Pairings Coconut Ice Cream with Warm Rum Glazed Pineapple, mentioned in Chapter Five of "Diary of a Distiller."
Coconut Ice Cream Chef Robert M Waldron
Ingredients
1 pint heavy whipping cream 1 quart Half & Half 2 cans coconut cream 1/2 Tbs vanilla extract 1 (15 oz avg) bag coconut flakes, 3 oz. reserved for toasting.
tools ice cream maker measuring cups and spoons plastic containers large whisk or slotted spoon cookie sheet candy or instant read thermometer parchment paper lg sauce pot
In a heavy bottom sauce pan combine the cream, Half & Half, and canned coconut cream and heat to 170'F over med/ med-high heat. Stir more frequently as you approach the 170'f mark. Do not Boil At 170'F you may see a bubble or two, remove from heat and add vanilla extract and 12 ozs. of the coconut flakes. Let mixture cool enough to work with and transfer to a large plastic container and refrigerate overnight. The next day the coconut flake will have risen to the top and be "locked" into the coconut fat, break the fat and flakes into large pieces and pulse in a food processor a few times, this will give a creamer texture. Depending on the size of your work bowl you may want to do this in 2 or 3 small batches. This can be messy so use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl. Combine the processed coconut cream and flake back into the rest of the chilled batter. Follow the manufacturers instructions for your ice cream machine, making sure you don't overload it.Patience is key, will be rewarded. the ice cream should make a soft serve consistency initially, store in the freezer for a couple hours to firm up.
Pre-heat your oven to 350'F and place a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil down on a cookie sheet. Spread the 3 ozs. of reserved coconut flakes over the foil, thinly. Place in hot oven, watching carefully, and brown to a light gold, rotate pan once every 3-4 minutes. Do not over cook. It is better to pull it out a little early since it will continue to brown for a minute or two after being removed from the oven. Just keep an eye on it and you'll be rewarded with golden coconut flake to top your delicious ice cream.
The recipe for the Rum Glazed Pineapple is after the jump.
I always thought that a muscle car was a hot rod from the late 60's- early 70's until I was driving around my old haunts of Rockland, Maine yesterday researching and shooting an article and saw this impressive Mussel Car.
That looks like it was the remains of a tasty lobster, clam, and mussel bake. Or maybe it washed up on the beach after a Nor'easter. Either way that's one heck of a vehicle. I wonder how many shellfish power it is? Does it get dive bombed by hungry gulls? Does it belongs to the offspring of Neptune's many affairs with mortals? If I follow, will it lead to a huge vat of steaming Mussel's Provence? Inquiring minds want to know.
Wine a bit, you'll feel better! We do! As junior man on the Winterport totem pole I am constantly having to be reminded to wine a bit and enjoy myself. Sometimes I have 17 different things going on and setting apart some time for fun falls to the wayside. I'm constantly worrying about back ordered equipment, monetary deadlines, and so much more; and that's just for the distillery. Then there are my writing and consulting gigs, traveling to events, and staying connected with all the big things and new trends coming out of NYC and the rest of the world. It's completely overwhelming at times, so every now and then I have to remember to pick up a glass of wine and say "Skoal!"
Last week I mentioned that I had been on several radio spots. The past week I was down in NYC, and ended up back on Mike Colamecco's Food Talk show on WOR radio taping several shows about artisanal spirits and basic introductions to rum, gin, and cocktails. Mike had recently been turned on to the world of cocktails, so that was a good topic to chat about since I was in New York for several cocktail events, including Jonathan Pogash's Summer Cocktail workshop at the Astor Center; which was excellent. So we had a nice talk about cocktails and he invited me to come back later this summer to do a few shows on the Cocktail Revolution, the New Golden Age of Cocktails that started around 6-7 years ago, an area I have been focusing on the past few years. You can check out the archives at WOR to hear many interviews with top food and beverage experts, and hopefully several interviews that I did, that will be playing over the next few weeks.
When I got back to the winery / distillery everything was quiet since we are waiting on back orders of equipment, and so construction is delayed, again, like usual. Last Saturday morning I wandered around taking photos of the outside of the facility and our retail store. It's Spring in Maine, what is usually called early summer elsewhere in the US, and the trees are starting to get lush and flowers are blooming. The Penobscot River's stately flow down to the bay ebbs and flows quite radically with the tides. We are ten miles up from the ocean, but still get tides of around 12.5 feet. Winterport got its name because it was exactly that; a winter port to keep ships safe from the violence of Nor'easters, those intense storms that come in from the North East off of the Atlantic. They're like a winter version of a hurricane at times, although they can form at any time of year. Here's a glimpse of our building, the view of the Penobscot River across the street, our retail store, and the art gallery. The building doesn't look like much right now after a hard winter, but we'll spruce it up a bit when we get the chance. You'll be surprised by the inside and we're mighty proud of our place.
Gallery: Diary of a Distiller: Chapter Five- Winterport Winery Outside & Store
As the week progressed we started focusing on the monthly food & wine dinner at Pairings Food & Wine Education Center. The June dinner had an Asian theme and Chef Robert Waldron planned a tasty menu for the sold out event. Let's see if it makes your mouth water as much as mine. Continued after the jump...
So, last week I showed you a gallery of photos of us framing out walls, putting up drywall, prepping them, and priming the paint. This week I will show you how we painted the future Penobscot Bay Distillery & Brewery at Winterport Winery. Because we have windows on the second floor of Pairings Food and Wine Culinary & Education Center looking down into the distillery, we decided to splash a little color around. The main outside wall we left a nice crisp white. This wall is where we will have all the equipment stationed and a plain and simple background will be best to showcase all the copper, stainless steel, and brick nicely.
The interior as a whole was mind-numbingly bright and white. I felt like an Oompa Loompa in Willy Wonka's factory working in the TV Room. (Especially the Gene Wilder version, which I feel caught the original book better than the Depp version.) It was scary how white and bright the room was, so we decided to splash some color around. We looked at color chips for a week or so, and then went with ones that we felt portrayed the image of various of the "Brown" spirits. Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, Cognac, Rum, etc. Then we threw a pair of accent lamps on the wall with aim-able lights to leave on at night for a soft glow of the equipment.
Yes, I know this is a commercial /industrial facility. But I'm the one who is going to have to be in there for hours and hours each day. So much so, that I am setting up a office in the distillery so I can write and do other business while the still chugs along. With distilling slow is good, but since a run can take twelve hours I need some way to keep my sanity. So an interesting and calming paint job, plus the ability to kick back and write for you guys, seems to be a working solution. Of course there was another reason we wanted to have a nice paint job for the facility... Continued after the jump. ;-)>
In the past few weeks I have complained about how we have been held up for months waiting for the gas lines to be installed. Well they finally were. A simple job that took them three hours, but a several month wait for them to show up. Now at last we can finish ordering equipment and building the facility.
The distillery didn't look like much when we first started construction back at the beginning of February 2008. It had been a storage room for holding bottles and equipment for Winterport Winery and was just a big, barely used space with half finished walls, some painted and others just framed out.
As you see above in the rough blueprint of the floor plan, the facility is a decent size, but not too large. It's apx. 13x44 feet with a few extra areas at the front end under some stairs for storage and at the rear for sinks and a refrigerator for yeast and other supplies that need to be kept cool. We were in no rush with the construction, because, although I had ordered the still in mid-December, it wouldn't be built and delivered until the end of March. But I was still in a hurry to try and get things done, although so many things were out of my control that I was totally stressed out all the time. To find out more, read on after the jump.
Below is a photo gallery of the start of the project. It shows framing and painting walls, and installing a special, explosion proof fan for evacuating volatile fumes. Installing the fan are my partners, Mike Anderson at the top of the ladder, and Jody Connor holding it for him. A friend, Fred, is priming a wall in one photo.
In the beginning of this journal, Diary of a Distiller, I told you a little about my early life, and how I entered the world of food, wine, and fine spirits. As I mentioned, I became disillusioned with my life and plunged into the world of food and beverages. I started a journey and as I walk down this road I hope that the bricks become yellow, then golden; and don't just crumble away.
I'm still working hard on my still as I told you last week, buffing it to a mirror shine. I put some fancy and expensive protective finish on the Georgia Ridge Rocket still head and the top of the kettle to see how it looks. It's not perfect. You don't have the same intensity of a mirror shine or that silky, sexy smooth, almost oily texture, as you run your hand along it, as there is without the protective coat; but it still looks darn good.
I put the whiskey head on the kettle to hold it steady and started buffing that as well. About an hour later, when I was halfway through I decided to clean it off with some denatured alcohol to see how much of a shine I have. It was looking very nice when I noticed that some of the alcohol had dripped down onto the part of the kettle that I had already sealed and the finish was starting to turn white. I grabbed a cloth to wipe the alcohol off and realized that the alcohol had dissolved the sealant completely. Aaaargh!
Diary- di•a•ry Function: noun A record of events, transactions, or observations kept daily or at frequent intervals: journal; especially : a daily record of personal activities, reflections, or feelings
Distiller- dis•till•er Function: noun One that distills, especially alcoholic liquors
This is my journal as I enter into the spirit-ual realm, whereby I become a distiller of fine libations. As I write this I am sitting at my desk in what is rapidly becoming my very own distillery and brewery. The Penobscot Bay Distillery & Brewery to be precise. Named such because it is located on the Penobscot River in Winterport, Maine; near where it spills into the rugged but lush, island studded Penobscot Bay. The beauty of which has charmed me from when I was a child and visited the Coast of Maine every summer, through my adulthood as I dreamed of one day living here.
Over the next few months I invite you read my Diary of a Distiller as I go through the journey of building an artisanal micro-distillery and brewery, creating fine spirits and ales for like minded folks to enjoy. I don't guarantee every bit of it will be about food, wine, or spirits; but this journal as a whole is focused on my travels in those directions. A new chapter will be posted every Friday, plus an occasional mid-week one as well.
This past weekend the Maine Fare was held here in Mid-Coast Maine. A celebration of the bounty of all things food in Maine. It was three days packed full of tasting events, cooking demos and classes, fine food, interesting new food products, the good company of other food aficionados, and fascinating panel discussions on everything food related in Maine. Add in the top 30 chefs in the state and it was most definitely the food event of New England this weekend.
Last night I was invited to a special Maine Fare Chefs' Table Dinner at The Edge, the cutting edge restaurant at the luxurious Inn at Ocean's Edge in Lincolnville, ME. It was a special tasting dinner put together by six of the best chef's in Maine, each creating an outstanding dish that would both complement and contrast with the others. Along with the dinner was the option of a matching flight of truly excellent Bell wines from Bell Wine Cellar in Yountville, Napa Valley, CA. As you can see from the menu it was an intriguing , fun, and delicious meal.
As you folks may have figured out by now, I love food festivals, and even non-food ones as well. I get a thrill from wandering the grounds watching everyone and taking shots of all the food, people, and weird and wacky events. Well it looks like another one is coming along. The Wild Blueberry Festival and Union Fair will be from Sunday August 19 through Saturday August 25, 2007 in Union, Maine.
The Wild Blueberry Festival is a yearly event here in mid-coast Maine and is part of the Union Fair. Amazingly, out of all the summers I have spent in Union, Maine; I have never made it to the Fair and Festival. When I just summered here, my main goal was to relax in a rustic cottage right on a lake and do nothing for several weeks. I might go out to pick up some lobsters, take a half day sightseeing trip, or go pick a few handfuls of wild blueberries; but then I would scurry back to the lake and sit on the waters edge, enjoying the antics of the ducks begging for food and the cry of the loons.
Well it's the last day of the 60th Annual Maine Lobster Festival and it's cooler and less humid than the past few days. They were real hot and muggy scorchers.
The biggest, best, and most popular event is saved for 2 pm on the last day. The Great International William Atwood Lobster Crate Race! Invented 31 years ago by Bill Atwood, it became a part of the Spruce Head Island festivals for it's first tens or so years and then became part of the Maine Lobster festival in Rockland. Well it's time to stroll on down to the harbor.
Today kicks off the start of the 60th Annual Maine Lobster Festival. The festival, based in Rockland Maine takes place for five day in the beginning of every August. This year it runs from August 1st - 5th, 2007. It's been shown on the Good Morning America, the Food Network and other channels many times and is a celebration of all things lobster and Maine. people come from all over for the festival, and I do mean all over. In the parking lots you will see license plates from states as far away as Washington and Alaska, as well as all parts of Canada. In the past I have even run into people visiting from England, Sweden, Japan, and more.
During the time between now and Sunday evening I will cover as much as I can of all the weird, whacky, and food related events that take place, including the children's lobster eating contest, the children's codfish carry, the "Great International William Atwood Lobster Crate Race", the Sea Goddess contest, the "Real Maine Man" cooking contest, the Maine Seafood Cooking contest (which my friend Risa Small has won twice), the blindfold rowboat race, the little lobster diaper derby (lobsters and diapers together sounds downright strange), and all the festival food.
Bob brought to our attention that it's National French Fry Day today so I figured that it would be fun to look at some of the fries available locally here in Mid-Coast Maine. Fellow blogger Joe Distefano just got in town for a week of vacation and of course it has already turned into a food and drink extravaganza. Two nights ago we went to my favorite restaurant in the area, Francine Bistro in Camden, ME. This is a small, 28 seat place run by chef Brian Hill which has a menu that changes daily. There are only four apps, a salad, and four entrees on the menu. each day one entree is based on pork, one fish, one poultry, and the specialty of the house being Steak Frites which is always on the menu. This is a magnificent dish consisting of a marinated steak in gravy and super crispy fries.
Now these aren't just any old fries, they're Belgian styles frites. Brian starts off with olive oil to fry in and adds a twist. He first fries an enormous amount of fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme in the oil at the start of the day to give the olive oil an unbelievably great flavor. Then the frites are cooked twice in the Belgian Frite fashion. The first time at a low temperature to partially cook them, then they are removed from the aromatic oil and allowed to cool. This makes the inside of the fry start to get tender and soft. Then right before being served the semi-cooked frites are fried again at a much higher temperature. This makes them get super crispy on the outside and all fluffy and delicate inside. They become the prefect fry. All crispy, fluffy, aromatic from the herbs and olive oil. A real treat to munch on. Just look at this photo that Joe took. The fries are golden and brown. Speckled with bits of herbs and sea salt, laid on top of a bed of rich gravy with the steak on the side; and with a garnish of deep fried sage, rosemary, and thyme laid on top. We took the garnish of crispy herbs and crumbled it on top of the frites to add even more zip to the bonanza. Ummm...
I'm spending my Fourth of July doing what much of the country is doing. Going to the local small town parade, hooting and hollering a bit, and then a huge chicken BBQ. Finally when the day is done and it's getting dark, then it's time to watch the fireworks and go Ooooh and Aaaah as they light up the sky and make you jump from the sound of the explosions.
For me it's the Thomaston, ME celebration; a parade where thousands come with chairs and coolers to line the streets six deep for half a mile. After the parade many of the folks are off for home to tackle either the grill or lobster pot. The others wander over to the celebration food stalls for hot dogs, burgers, French fries, enormous onion rings or blooming onions, flavored shaved ices, and since this is Maine, the obligatory lobster or crab rolls.
I started with a nice "Lobtsa Roll" and my first blooming onion. The first was excellent, the latter was a nightmare. Well I learned my lesson. No more blooming onions for me. I would love to hear what everyone else is eating on this day of the celebration of our Independence and of summer time.
After the jump a pictorial essay of food and people on the Fourth of July.
As you folks may have figured out by now, I love food festivals, and even non-food ones as well. I get a thrill from wandering the grounds watching everyone and taking shots of all the food, people, and weird and wacky events. Well it looks like another one is coming along. 
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