This is about the easiest of easy recipes!
Steamers are steamed soft-shell clams, traditionally served with some dipping liquid (to remove any residual sand) and melted butter, and a refreshing summery beer.
New England
This easy crowd-pleaser is known variously across New England as Blueberry Buckle, Blueberry Cobbler, Blueberry Slump, and Blueberry Grunt. The basic idea is simple: a bed of berries topped with sweet biscuit dough and baked until the berries burst into a delicious sauce for the tender biscuits.
This is great hot with ice cream, or cool with whipped cream. Make it with wild Maine blueberries if you can, especially while they are in season in August.
Blueberry slump is very easy to make; this one was made at work in the Actifio Food Truck by my friends Debbie Goswami and Chandrika Venkatraman.
Don't boil the fish!
This is an old Colonial recipe, from the days before hifalutin' words for technique like "poach" and "simmer" had entered the lexicon of everyday cooks.
When you see a mention of boiled fish in an old Yankee letter or book, it refers to salmon, cod, or other large fish poached in water or in a mildly-seasoned court-bouillon. Boiling a delicate piece of fish is a sure way to make a mess of it.
The best tool is a fish poacher: an oblong stainless pot that covers two burners and is long enough to fit about a 2.5 pound fillet. The pot has an insert that you set the fillet on, so you can easily lift it out when it's finished.
Egg Sauce is not the same thing as an egg-yolk-thickened sauce. Egg Sauce is an old Yankee favorite made by adding a couple of chopped hard-cooked eggs to a simple white sauce.
This homey simple sauce can be whipped up in just a few minutes if you have a hard-boiled egg in the fridge. A hard-boiled egg in its shell will keep for a week in the refrigerator, so this recipe works as a go-to recipe on a busy night.
Egg Sauce is traditionally served with "boiled" salmon or a big piece of cod (in which case the preparation is known as Cape Cod Turkey). It is shown here starring in our Yankee Fish Dinner for June.
We love fresh haddock, simply baked with no crumbs or other distractions from its own exquisite flavor. Very fresh haddock is obviously essential to this dish!
I might have a bit of tartar sauce, and I like a Martini with Naked Haddock better than any wine.
Now that brings up something to think about. We are programmed by our culture to think about pairing wines and foods, and to think what's the right wine for a certain food. But sometimes the besst libation isn't a wine at all! So try a floral gin with haddock. You may find some old preconceptions crumbling.
This New England favorite is a classic accompaniment to Baked Beans. It's easy to make, and the uncooked mixture stores well for a few days, so you can easily make multiple meals from one recipe.
I searched through many recipes to find one that would have satisfied my mother-in-law, who was old Yankee on both sides back to the 17th century. This recipe is simple, so it relies on ingredients and technique. I used white boiling potatoes (not Russets), and frozen salt cod from my local fishmarket (not the kind that comes in a box).
This excellent recipe always gets raves. The original is from Jasper White; my modifications are minimal.
This responds well to high-quality cheese. I always use the best sharp Vermont cheddar that I can get without going broke!