Mike's Cove View Shrimp

Mike's Cove View Shrimp

Strong northerly winds grounded the kayak fleet for a third straight day. We held out hope that the winds would die down for a late afternoon trip, but learned around 4pm that we were out of luck. I was heartbroken. Still, the day treated us well with warm sunshine and a few last breathtaking views of the sea and its majestic creatures from various vantage points.

We are sad to pack up our things and leave this lovely, peaceful spot. We're planning an early morning hike to the Flocks of Sheep (two groups of glacial rocks resembling - you guessed it - flocks of sheep) before the ferry leaves at 11:30am.

We marked our last night on the island with a wonderful meal of fresh shrimp, locally made bread to soak up the garlicky sauce, and good white wine. A simple combination of fresh, mostly local ingredients resulted in a fabulous, flavourful and memorable dinner.

We've had fun experimenting with gourmet salts during our time here. My brother, Mike, brought along a few varieties he purchased at Farm Boy in Ottawa, made by a company called Just a Pinch. They come in small (45 g) plastic, oval shaped containers, a perfect size to bring to the cottage. We really liked the Fleur de Sel (a crunchy, pebbly variety) and the Cyprus Flake Sea Salt (a light, flaky, triangular shape). The Cyprus Flake was particularly nice as a finishing salt on dishes like roasted vegetables and the Pan Fried Haddock, because of its larger flakes and salty bite.

My brother created this delicious recipe. You can play with the amounts, depending on how much shrimp you use. We left the shells on ours, but it would probably be easier to eat this dish with shelled shrimp. However, the shells seemed to hold in the marinade during cooking, so the shrimps were juicy and full of gentle, garlickly flavour.

Mike's Cove View Shrimp:

1.5 pounds fresh shrimp

Marinade:
1/2 -3/4 c. white wine
5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
Juice from 1/4 large lemon
1 tsp. fleur de sel
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. each of dried fennel, coriander and lemongrass
Pinch of dried chili flakes

Plus:
1/2 tomato, finely diced
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. white wine
fleur de sel & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together, except the wine and lemon juice. Pour mixture over shrimp and allow to marinade in the fridge for 1 hour. Add the wine and lemon juice for the last 10-15 minutes.

Heat a nonstick skillet on high. Drain the shrimp, reserving the marinade. Add half the shrimp to the hot pan along with a few tablespoons of the marinade, and saute 4-5 minutes. Remove from pan and add the second batch of shrimp, sauteing about 4-5 minutes with more marinade. Remove from pan. Add remaining marinade to the pan and cook a few minutes with diced tomato, butter and additional white wine, until the sauce is slightly reduced. Pour sauce over cooked shrimp.

Serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges and slices of good French or Italian bread.

We paired this dish with a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, which was very nice, but agreed a good French table wine would have been lovely also.

Pan Fried Haddock

Pan Fried Haddock

Water, water everywhere yet not a drop to drink...that is how we have felt this week on an island in the middle of the Atlantic, surrounded by ocean and almost no fresh fish or seafood available. We learned today that fishing season ended Labour Day, so the only fresh fish to be found seems to arrive now and then from Nova Scotia. Today, the only thing we could find was fresh haddock, which we fried up just as my grandfather did in a pan with a bit of butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Simple perfection.

Pan Fried Haddock

4 Fresh haddock fillets
1/3 c. All purpose flour
1 tsp. sea salt (approximately)
Freshly ground pepper
3-4 tbsp. butter
One lemon, cut in quarters

On a plate, mix together with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat a non-stick pan and add butter until sizzling. Dredge fish in flour mixture, dust off extra flour and lay in pan. Turn carefully after about 4-5 minutes, once fish has turned golden brown. Cook about the same length of time on the other side. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of fish fillets, add extra sea salt if desired, and transfer to a serving dish. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Maple Glazed Salmon

Hole-in-the-Wall, Grand Manan, NB

An amazing cliff-side trail took us to this great view of Hole-in-the-Wall, incredible evidence of the effects of the last Ice Age. We were treated to a bald eagle taking flight and great views of a seal diving for his lunch. The trail wound along to Fish Head, one of the northern points of the island, where a nice bench - perfect for a little rest stop after a challenging hike - had been built into the side of the cliff.

We picked up a gorgeous piece of fresh salmon for last night's dinner. My brother roasted a pan of vegetables with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, cumin and sea salt. He cooked them on a low heat over 2 hours, then broiled them at the end for a few minutes so they turned a beautiful caramel colour and tasted so fresh and delicious with the salmon. An Australian cabernet sauvignon paired nicely with this gorgeous meal.

Maple Glazed Salmon

1/4 c. maple syrup
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tsp. grainy Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. finely chopped ginger root, if desired
1 1/4-pound salmon fillet
2 tbsp. thinly sliced scallions

Mix all ingredients except salmon and scallions.

Cut salmon fillet into 4 serving pieces. Place fish in shallow glass or plastic dish. Drizzle marinade over fish, reserving ¼ cup to serve over cooked fish. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Remove fish from marinade; set aside marinade. Place fish in baking dish. Bake 15-20 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade, until fish flakes easily with fork.

To Serve:

Drizzle reserved ¼ c marinade over fish and top with scallions.