My Summer at Skylands 2020, Part Three
I just love my summers in Maine.
Every year, I try to spend a wonderful week or two - give or take - at my beautiful refuge in Seal Harbor, Maine. I always have a spectacular time with my daughter, Alexis, my grandchildren, Jude and Truman, and all my dear friends who visit. This summer, for the second half of my stay, Chef Molly Wenk, who has worked with me on many television and video food productions, came up to help me plan more fun and delicious meals - be sure to follow her Instagram page @moll_doll23.
Enjoy these last photos of my time in Maine - taken by me, Molly, and Cheryl Dulong, who works at Skylands.
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- My dining room at Skylands is used often during my visits to Maine – the long table can accommodate all my family and friends. There is this long table, and a smaller one at one end for any extra “mouths to feed.” And the table is always set – a little differently each time.
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- All the eggs we eat at Skylands are brought up from my farm in Bedford. There’s nothing like farm fresh eggs for breakfast. These are simply made using butter, salt and pepper with a garnish of dill and parsley.
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- My gardens at Skylands continued to give and give. Here is another bounty – beans, tomatoes, and parsley.
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- In the evenings, I made Martha-Ritas and caipirinhas for cocktails served in glasses from Baccarat. For my Martha-Rita recipe, go to my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 for “Homeschool with Martha” – just click on the highlighted link.
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- With all the wonderful artichokes from the garden, we enjoyed another batch of vegetarian stuffed artichokes.
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- This dinner also included eggplant Parmesan – using eggplants from my garden.
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- And a flavorful Caprese salad with mozzarella, and tomatoes and basil grown right here at Skylands.
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- These are Maine sea scallops – every single one devoured.
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- And this is a three-garlic pasta.
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- On another night, we enjoyed these delicious Gruyere cheese souffles, perfectly fluffy, browned and fresh from the oven. Gruyère is a hard yellow Swiss cheese that originated in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Berne in Switzerland. It is sweet but slightly salty, with a flavor that varies widely with age.
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- To accompany the souffles, Chef Molly prepared stewed okra from my garden with sauteed onions, roasted garlic, lots of chopped fresh tomatoes, also from my garden, and topped with creamy polenta and black pepper.
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- I made this ricotta gnocchi. The recipe is from San Francisco’s Zuni Cafe. It’s made using ricotta, sage, parmesan cheese, eggs, and salt. It is so light, and delicious. It was served with more butter and sage.
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- On this night – pizza! Here are some of the toppings we used – mushrooms, corn, olives, peppers, cheese, and onions.
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- The pizzas were made to order and cooked on pizza stones in very hot ovens. Here is one pie ready to be cooked.
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- And here it is ready to eat – the children love pizza night at Skylands.
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- I love this brioche recipe from “Baking at Republique.” I have made this brioche many times for special gatherings at my farm. These were made by Chef Molly. We enjoyed them for one of our breakfasts.
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- Here they are in the dining room ready to be devoured – but first, a casual photo shoot of these beautiful loaves.
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- Each slice was perfect. The brioche was served with poached eggs with hollandaise, bacon, Donn’s waffles with maple syrup, fresh fruit, warm croissants, and a variety of fruit jams I made using fruits from my garden.
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- On another evening, we enjoyed chili. Chef Molly made a three-bean chili with black beans, white beans, and garbanzo beans, onions, garlic and lots of spices including silk chili. Toppings included avocado, corn, jalepenos, crushed tortilla chips, scallions, sour cream and cheddar cheese – it was another big hit.
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- To go with the chili – homemade cornbread. The recipe is from Chef Molly’s mom.
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- The leftover brioche made for some delicious French toast! This topped with blueberries and raspberries.
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- On another day, this tomato tart made with pâte brisée, roasted garlic, garden tomatoes, thyme and Gruyère cheese.
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- Chef Molly also baked pita bread, with help from our wonderful young sous chef, Federico.
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- The pita bread was served with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, sun-gold tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, a classic hummus tehina, and a twice cooked eggplant dip.
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- One never tires of the sunsets over Mount Desert Island. Here’s a photo as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.
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- And here’s a sunset photo taken by Cheryl – from my terrace overlooking Seal Harbor. If you haven’t been to Maine, I encourage you to drive up and visit – you won’t be disappointed.
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