Cafe Maplethorpe Blog :: PEI Restaurant

Welcome to Bedeque

Been a busy week in Bedeque.

With Jim gone for a bit visiting his father (turning 90 next week, the father not Jim) I have to do Jim’s chores plus mine. An early casualty of his absence were his plant plugs. He had a couple of flats of assorted greens destined for the garden up in his office—probably some cabbages, maybe broccoli, who knows? Well, no one will never know because 2 short days of no water and they are all gone. My bad. Too bad we don’t have a greenhouse for these plants…oh, wait. We DO have a greenhouse…hmmmm. I am going to sneak out to Kool Breeze and pick up 2 new flats of plugs and replace them. I am betting Jim won’t notice the difference. Thank God he doesn’t read my blog.

Chores Never End

I need to mow the grass because it is getting long and rain is expected for the rest of the week, but I really have no interest. I have a book to finish and with the cooler, rainy weather moving in, this is perfect sleeping weather. So tired. I also give the chickens short shrift this week. They are fed and watered, the eggs collected of course, but the interactions are as fast as possible and often occur in the middle of the night by flashlight when I am awakened from a deep sleep by my naggy little conscience, “Shit! I forgot to feed the chickens!” So Jim is being missed, although it is unlikely I will tell him so. The state of the place upon his return will assure him that he is needed here.

Summer is ON, baby!

Exquisitely brutal week at the Inn with gatherings every day, lots of food flying out of here. I love cooking for people but hate always feeling behind…running out of this or that, need to run to the grocery or liquor store, need to send e-mails or pay bills. Always wish I was spending more time with my friends. We had some lovely supper guests from Georgia, touring Prince Edward Island and loving it (of course), and we are thrilled to see the area cottagers back. An SUV pulled in the lot for supper and it was so huge I thought Mitt Romney was coming here for supper, maybe looking for expat votes. But there was no dog kennel strapped to the roof, so I realized it was John and Jeri, back again to their lovely cottage. They were asking about efforts to save the Sea Cow Head Lighthouse from the Federal government’s giant yard sale of historic properties.

Finding Local Products is Easy-ish

Spent Saturday morning managing the Summerside Market, one of Jim’s many jobs that has to be done in his absence. Everyone was having a happy day, so that makes it easy. Bought some parsley plants from Jen Campbell and she threw in a bag of arugula and another of bok choy. Some of the arugula went into a Greek salad for my supper—delish. I would have taken a photo of the dish but I sort-of hate people who do that and post them on the Internet. Also picked up a small wheel of “Sentinnel” cheese from Arthur Davies’ cheese stand. It is one of the few left from his last trip through Quebec’s Eastern Townships from the Le Detour Fromagerie. I can’t say enough about their cheeses, so outstanding. The Sentinnel is a soft goat’s milk, washed-rind cheese, at its peak right now. Made two mad dashes out to North Tryon this week to Tim Dixon’s farm to pick up fresh asparagus. I am running a tab that will be the size of a mortgage payment by the end of the asparagus season. We have fresh asparagus soup and asparagus tarts right now, plus we are serving it as a fresh vegetable on the supper plates. Tomorrow I am going to wrap some individual spears in puff pastry and bake them as a plate garnish.

Onward

Going out to mow the grass. Naggy conscience wins again. Hoping to hit the City Cinema tomorrow night for a movie.

It is early November and it has been raining for days here on Prince Edward Island. Unseasonably warm as well. Despite the weather, the Christmas craft fairs are starting to pop up all over and the stores couldn’t get rid of the Halloween junk fast enough to make way for the Christmas decorations. Here at the restaurant we are regularly booking Christmas parties and so, ready or not, we begin our holiday baking.

One of the most popular desserts at Maplethorpe is our Sticky Date Pudding.

We serve it year ’round, but it seems like a great Christmas stand-in for fruit cake or the fabled “Christmas Pudding” Mrs. Bob Cratchit so fussed over in Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.  Our Sticky Date Pudding is glorious and also gluten-free, but yours can be made with plain white or whole wheat flour if you prefer.

Ingredients:

500 g dates (or 2 cups packed)

2 cups water

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

3 eggs

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup flour (gluten-free blend, white, whole wheat, etc.)

Method:

The dates and water go into a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the dates have absorbed all the water. Be careful not to scorch or burn it. I usually get a good boil going for a few minutes then turn off the heat and let the dates absorb the water. This takes a bit longer than boiling and stirring until the water is completely absorbed, but there is less chance of burning and I don’t have to stand at the stove for 20 minutes.

Whichever method you choose, let the mixture cool completely before proceeding.

I really like the Golden Boy dates from Costco. They come in a two-pack of 1-kg blocks and a half block is perfect for 1 recipe–just cut the block in half and break it up before putting it in the sauce pan.

Once the plumped dates are cool, put them in the bowl of a mixer and add all the other ingredients. Just dump everything in. Easy, eh? (Don’t tell anyone!) Mix with the paddle attachment for not more than 2 minutes-it will be well mixed by then. The batter will be very wet and maybe a bit lumpy from a few large chunks of dates.

Now you have to decide how you want to bake them.

silicon mold for baking

We use a silicon mold (affectionately called ‘the C Cup’) and this recipe makes exactly 12. You could use 6-ounce ramekins and the recipe will yield about 6. Or you can put it in a 2-quart casserole dish-or a pudding mold, if you have one-and cut slices or wedges out of the pan. Whatever you choose, grease it or spray with cooking spray before transferring the batter.

Bake at 325* (F), 25 minutes for the 12-serving mold, 35 minutes for 6 oz. ramekins and slightly longer for a larger pan. The pudding is ready when it is is firm to the touch but you are still able to make a dent with a finger poke. Cool completely before removing from the pan.

Serve Like a Pastry Chef

We serve our Sticky Date Pudding warmed slightly (40 seconds in the microwave) atop a disc of vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and a bit of whipped cream on top. You’ll get rave reviews! But of course if you don’t want to bother, just come down to Cafe Maplethorpe and let us serve you a warm pudding and a cup of tea. Or call and order a 6-pack of already cooked individual Sticky Date Puddings to reheat and serve in your home. Happy Holidays!

Cafe Maplethorpe's Sticky Date Pudding

It is Tuesday morning and I am both behind in my chores and exhausted. I was already up when the dog started barking at 4: a.m.

Not a great way to start my week.

In my world-the land of hungry and weary travelers-we push hard from Tuesday through Saturday. Every day there are tourists spending the night and having breakfast before exploring Prince Edward Island. At noon  the lunch crowd, local residents and tourists, in search of some friendly conversation and a plate of something healthy and interesting. And yummy–they all like yummy. By the end of the week we are serving supper as well. Some Fridays days I don’t  leave the kitchen except to go to the bathroom.

Sundays are different.

On Sundays, we serve a lovely breakfast to guests at the B&B, and that is the last and only meal I cook. Once the breakfast dishes are cleared, cook’s holiday begins. I can go back to sleep, catch up on reading, take a bike ride or go to the movies–whatever I want. I might choose to work around the house, but I do not cook. The family can forage, go out to dinner or starve. (No evidence of starvation around here, so they are coping.)

As the years pass I have been increasingly protective of my Sunday hiatus. I need the break to recharge and restore some balance in my own life. When I have a great Sunday I am ready on Monday to get back to work, making the breads, desserts and cafe staples that will carry us through the beginning of the week.

I gave up my Sunday this week to prepare supper for 6 of our overnight guests who were all heading home on Monday morning. For me it wasn’t a hard decision. These travelers had been lured from Alberta, Florida and Maine to PEI by the promise of culinary delights available at the International Shellfish Festival and Fall Flavours Festival. These were exactly the kind of tourists the provincial tourism establishment target in annual marketing efforts–older adults with no kids at home, dual income and a wide range of interests, planning a multiple night stay on Prince Edward Island.

As we chatted over breakfast about their PEI holiday that was about to end, they expressed great disappointment with their PEI food and dining experience. Among their culinary complaints:

“Seafood Chowder” they described as “potato soup served with a view of the ocean.” Poetic but pathetic.

Mussels that were overcooked to the point of being “pencil erasers,” then served cold. Now, really…how can you screw up mussels?

Steamed lobster that was “nothing special.” Fresh caught PEI lobster, nothing special?

This was in the midst of the International Shellfish Festival and during the month-long ‘Fall Flavours’ Culinary event!

This is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy. Two million dollars worth of marketing spent to get these people here wasted! They were ready to go home and tell their friends not to waste their money on PEI.

So I invited the group to have a private supper at Maplethorpe and give PEI one more chance to WOW them. I visited my friends at Captain Cook’s Seafood as well as Confederation Cove Mussels. I made chowder and homemade bread, followed by mussels, then lobsters and baby PEI potatoes. Pastry One contributed a fabulous Italian Espresso Torte. We hauled out the starched tablecloths and antique china and opened our best wine.

Supper at Maplethorpe

It was a wonderful night. The conversation was lively and went on long after the dishes were cleared away. (While the Albertans and Americans debated politics, immigration and healthcare, Jim and I did the dishes. Safest plac for us was in the kitchen.)

Several of the guests reported that we ‘saved their vacation.’ It is always nice to hear a compliment like that and worth the sacrifice of my day off to know that they will go back home now and recommend PEI to their friends.

Sugar Cookies With Sprinkles

Nothing like a real grandchild-made sugar cookies with sprinkles.

First Maplethorpe Garden Tomato 2010

Yes, we were lazy last spring.

When we should have been planting the tiny seeds in flats perched on card tables under sunny living room windows, we were sleeping in. As our gardening friends described their organic, heirloom varieties and the merits of the sunny window vs. grow lights or the heated greenhouse, we just nodded sympathetically.

We eventually got around to starting our future tomato crop, far past Easter.

We could have purchased bigger transplants at Kool Breeze Farms when they opened their greenhouses at the first hint of spring, but we drove past. We stuck with our tiny, spindly home-grown tomatoes, still in the living room but transplanted into bigger pots.

Finally on August 27, we picked our first ripe tomato. We have admired it on the counter for a few days and are now ready to eat it tonight for supper. Behind our firstborn there are hundreds more. Some will make it to sublime redness and other are destined for green tomato relish.

Like an only child born to elderly parents, there is nothing like the wonder of your first-of-the-season homegrown tomato.