An Amazing Lobster Newburg Recipe

I wanted to give you readers a wonderful recipe for Lobster Newburg, but I realized even though I've made Newburg through the years, that I was ignorant of it's origins.  So I did some digging and made a few discoveries that you may find interesting.

Delmonico's Restaurant

56 Beaver Street

New York, New York

"Lobster Newberg. Also "lobster a la Newburg"...The dish was made famous at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York in 1876 when the recipe was brought to chef Charles Ranhofer by a West Indies sea captain named Ben Wenberg. It was an immediate hit, especially for after-theater suppers, and owner Charles Delmonico honored the capatain by naming the dish "lobster a la Wenberg." But later Wenberg and Delmonico had a falling-out, and the restauranteur took the dish off the menu, restoring it only by popular demand by renaming it "lobster a la Newberg," reversing the first three letters of the captain's name. Chef Ranhofer also called it "lobster a la Delmonico," but the appelation "Newberg" (by 1897 it was better known under the spelling "Newburg") stuck, and the dish became a standard in hotel dining rooms in the United States. It is still quite popular and is found in French cookbooks, where it is sometimes referred to as "Homard saute a la creme."...The first printed recipe appeared in 1895."

---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 187-8)

         Famous patrons of Delmonico's restaurant were Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray and Abraham Lincoln. On a historic note, Samuel F.B. Morse sent the first transatlantic cable from a dining room at Delmonicos. 

Delmonico's is also known for serving and creating BAKED ALASKA and EGGS BENEDICT.

The recipe I use is an old one by Maine Sunday Telegram food columnist Marjorie Standish. Her cookbooks are some of the first in my 100 or so cookbook collection.

She calls this

AN AMAZING LOBSTER NEWBURG

1 pound lobster meat (Okay so this is part lobster and part crab, it's hard to get this fresh in Germany!)

Pretend it's all lobster.

1/2 cup Sherry or Madeira

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2-hard cooked egg yolks

1 and 1/2 cups cream, plus 1/4 cup milk

generous dash nutmeg

dash of cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons Velveeta mexican (that's my addition, you know I can't leave a recipe alone! You don't have to add this, but we like it)

Soak cooked lobster meat cut in bite-size pieces in sherry for 1-2 hours in refrigerator.

Make a paste of the soft butter, flour and the hard-cooked egg yolks .

I rub mine through a sieve.

Now combine this paste with cream, milk, nutmeg and cayenne pepper.

When the sauce begins to thicken add the Velveeta. On a low heat continue stirring constantly until thick.

Drain the sherry from the lobster meat. If you love the taste of Sherry than add a shot of Sherry, if not, don't add it.

Now add your lobster meat to the sauce and stir until meat is hot.

Serve on Toast cups.

To make these, use fresh bread and cut off the crusts.

Press the bread into muffin tins so that the 4 points stand up. Bake at 400 F degrees until brown.

In Germany I baked them on 200 C degrees.

Garnish with fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Here you have it, Marjorie and Mimi's collaboration to make

AN AMAZING LOBSTER NEWBURG!

Enjoy.

Mac gives the Newburg a thumb's up, but he would have preferred

Madeira in it instead of Sherry.  Sorry Mac..... I have to work with what I have!

What WERE you doing in Maine, Mimi?

My e-mail box is full of questions from my blogs fans. Most of you want to know why I was in Maine with details. 

So, here goes. My daughter got a job in Maine (speaking German)

She and her husband were in Georgia and had two weeks to pack up and get to her new job.

Her husband is a school teacher and we know he'll get a job soon.

I went to help their little family move to our little cottage,

as well as stain our rather large deck.

I got the screen house up with my brother's help!  It is a bit buggy sometimes in Maine.

 I got to see a few of my RED HAT girls.  We had a last-minute get-together. Sadly, I wasn't feeling well.

(Val, Mimi, Dianne and Julie. Sue D. we couldn't get hold of you!)

I went to a special service at the Belfast United Methodist which, we consider to be one of the finast "faith communities" in Belfast. We are honored to be members of this church.

I was so happy to be here to help celebrate Pastor Dave's last Sunday and hear his last sermon.

The most touching moment was when Pastor Dave and his wife Lisa served us communion. This last act of service to the congregation had us all in tears.

Many of you know that I am a minister's daugher and I found myself swept back in time when my Father had his last sermon in Morrill, Maine as I listened to Dave speak.

I really know what a difficult day this was for the family.

Dave, Lisa and the boys (Matt and Chris) came to BUMC 14 years ago. They will be greatly missed in Belfast. Chris's fiancee Courtney will be missed as well. We all looked forward to her singing when she was with us in Belfast.

Good-bye to this amazing family. We send you out with our love and prayers.

God Bless your new adventures!

I had the nicest surprise when I got home to Maine.  Amid the cleaning and staining, my Dad and Mom showed up to take me out to another place I love.

JUST BARB'S in Stockton Springs.

24 Main Street

Stockton Springs, Me 04981

Telephone (207) 567-3886

 

This is kind of a local secret. It's a diner that serves the best fried seafood around.

Most tourists give it a miss because they don't know what treats await them here.

I am sure they are thinking, "Who wants to go to a diner when we can stop at a nicer looking restaurant?"

That's fine by us locals because we would love to keep it all to ourselves.

Here you can get the BEST blueberry soda.

I highly recommend it.

You can also get the one thing you can't get at Young's Lobster Pound.

It's a dish a Maine girl can't do without.

Fried whole belly clams!  NO clam strips for me!

JUST BARB'S has the best around and believe me, I have tried them in EVERY restaurant in the area. If you want steamers and lobster go to Young's but if you want fried seafood, head out to JUST BARB'S.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for the great surprise and blog fans, I promise I will now get back to blogging about Europe as soon as I post you a wonderful Maine seafood recipe.

Young's Lobster Pound, Belfast, Maine

I know what you are thinking...."Mimi, this blog is NOT about Europe."

My only excuse is that when you come from such a beautiful part of the world, you want to share it with your friends. On my recent visit home to help my daughter move into our cottage and say good-bye to our minister Dave Abbott and his family, I popped into one of my all time favorite places,

Young's Lobster Pound.

 This place is special not only for it's food but because one of my friends from high school owns and operates this place with her brother Raymond.

When I arrived Dianne was mixing up a batch of her wonderful potato salad.

She'd just finished making lobster stew and fish chowder. She is a busy lady in the summer with sometimes 16 hour days!

Dianne's great-grandfather had a clam business here orginally. Her grandfather Bud continued to build the business as a lobsterman.  Young's Lobster Pound has been in business for some 80 years now.

At Young's you are greeted by "Captain Seaweed"  and

Raymond's dog, Lacey.

She's the Young's version of a Walmart greeter and really cute to boot.

What makes Young's such a unique place is the fact it is informal and rustic.

No worries here if the kiddies make a mess or the adults either for that matter.

There are lots of options.  Perhaps you are traveling with folks who don't like seafood or are allergic.

Young's allows you to bring in food from other establishments for those people in your party.

They don't serve alcohol, but you may BYOB.

The lobster boats come in during the day but there is no set time. The off load right at the dock. It's always a delightful experience to watch them.

You can pick your own lobster from the 30,000 lb. capacity aquarium.

It's so much fun for children to see the tanks full of the fresh lobster.

Young's employs 20- 25 people and I have always been pleased with their friendliness.

 Many celebrities have eaten here such as John Travolta, Kelley Preston, Jonathon Frakes, Genie Francis and many others.

Genie of the iconic LUKE AND LAURA relationship from General Hospital owns a shop on Route 1 called The Cherished Home.  

No, I don't know Genie personally but I love her shop.

I also recommend Perry's Nut House.  Did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt once shopped there?  Eleanor and I both love the fudge which, is still made on the premises.

 After you visit these shops,  Young's Lobster Pound is a perfect place to enjoy a Lobster Feast or Shore Dinner. Sit back and watch the boats and schooners bobbing up and down on Penobscot Bay as you eat your lunch.

 To end your perfect day in East Belfast, why not top it off with an ice cream from The Barn.  (That was my first summer job, working for Pat Mullen and he's re-opened this yummy place.)

 I recommend the blueberry ice cream!

If it's rainy you can opt to eat upstairs in Young's.

I recommend eating outside by the bay on a summer day!

They also have a picnic area at the top of the hill.

Don't forget the option to buy your lobster and take it home to cook.

The first day I got home from Germany, my brother and I went straight out to Young's to get lobster to take home and cook ourselves. My brother had a "GIANT" of a lobster.

Boy oh boy, were these good!

See how happy my brother was!

Today I ordered a Young's Lobster Roll.

Did you know that Martha Stewart proclaimed on her television program that Young's Lobster Rolls, "Are the best I've ever tasted."

I sat out by the bay to enjoy my delicious roll and NO, dear readers, I did not get a free roll, I only blog on food I pay for myself!

Mac couldn't come with me to give the thumbs up so it's just me and Dianne saying

"Get yourself down to Young's and have a wicked good time with wicked good food!"

Young's Lobster Pound

2 Fairview Street

East Belfast, Maine 04915

Phone 207 338 1160

Join Young's Lobster Pound on Facebook

Remember  you can get your lobsters shipped 7 days a week and Young's also caters to clubs, groups and tours.  If you wish, you may even drive your boat up and dock at the pound. I really quite fancy doing that.....maybe next time!

 Dianne can you loan me a dinghy?

The art of the WANDERUNG! / Hiking in Germany

Germans are people that love to walk. Old Germans, young Germans.....you name the age....they love to go on hikes.  Mac and I decided to go off on a picnic wanderung last Saturday.

Germans plan walking trails into their landscape. 

We started in the farming meadows near our house.

Trails are usually very well marked.

We met friendly horseback riders who cheerfully asked us what village they were in.

We headed past the farms and into the forest,

past the hunters huts.

Mac you remind me of a song. The Happy Wanderer.

You know the song.  We've all sung it.  Did you know that it was an orginal composition by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller written after World War II?  It was orginally titled in German

 Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann.  (My Father was a Wanderer) This is the version we sing with our German friends when we hike.

Val-deri, Val-dera!

We hiked through more fragrant, shady woods,

and back into the meadows to find this perfect picnic spot. 

 It was in an orchard which, had a lovely carpet of wildflowers.

Jaxson took a look around and agreed it was the perfect place to picnic.

We set out our picnic.  Yes, that is a candle......Mac and I have grown accustomed to being decadent on our picnics. Our Jaxson is polite, he never takes food unless it's offered.

We settled back and watched the airplanes.  Check on this picture to enlarge it if you can't see the planes.

We packed up to go home through the forest by the wild columbine.

I think this is Aquilegia vulgaris, but someone correct me if I am wrong, please.

As we headed back home we past the Grundstücks.  This is just a bit different than what the British call allotments.  In Britain, you can rent an allotment from your town to grow vegetables and flowers.

They are usually found on the outskirts of the village.

This differs in Germany as you can often buy a piece of land and do what you will with it.

These people have turned theirs into a lovely area to sit, relax and enjoy nature.

This family has a playground for the kids as well as a vegetable patch.

This family has a firepit where they can sit under the stars and have fun with their friends.

Whatever they choose to do with these plots, they are well maintained and dearly loved by their owners.

We enjoyed our German wunderung and highly recommend trying one yourself!

Mac always gives exercise a thumbs up.

It pays to be healthy!

If you want to learn more about it

go to

www.wandern.de - www.bergwandern.com - http://www.individualwanderungen.de/

I won't be blogging on a regular basis in the next two weeks as I am off to my home state of Maine.

Be safe and happy and I'll blog to you when I get back.