Specials

Breakfast Sausage

Buying whole pork loins allows us to be creative with the ends of the meat that won’t be used as a center roast or cut up into pork chops. You can marinate the large ends whole for use in Oriental dishes, trim the chunks into bite-size pieces for stir-fries, or take the chunks and grind them to make sausage. Our breakfast sausage is made daily and is mildly spiced. You can add more spices like garlic, fennel, or crushed red pepper for more zest.

1 pound ground pork loin

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried sage or 5 fresh leaves, chopped

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

dash cayenne

Mix together well and form into patties. You should be able to make 10 to 12, depending on size. Fry about five minutes per side.

SERVES 4 TO 6

Homefries

The secret to tasty homefries is to bake the potatoes, rather than to boil them ~ that way the flavor stays within the potatoes. At The Black Dog we bake trays of potatoes until they are just getting soft and let them cool. Our homefries are cooked in salted butter because we serve a lot of vegetarians, but in your own kitchen you can use some bacon fat for more flavor if you prefer. Want homefries in the morning? Just bake your potatoes the night before and refrigerate them.

3 baked potatoes

3 tablespoons of butter (or bacon fat)

1 small white onion, diced

salt and pepper

1. Chop the baked potatoes, skins and all, into 1-inch cubes. Reserve.
2. Melt the butter (or bacon fat) and add the diced onions. Sauté for about 2 minutes, then toss in the cut up potatoes.
3. Add salt and pepper and stir the mixture over medium heat for about ten minutes.
4. Serve hot and crispy.

SERVES 4

Black Dog Fishcakes

Fishcakes are popular daily breakfast fare at The Black Dog. A delicious alternative to bacon or sausage, fishcakes follow the old Yankee tradition of wasting nothing ~ add a little cod, and last night’s potato becomes today’s breakfast. These fishcakes are far from frugal and very tasty.

2 cups cooked potatoes, mashed

1 pound skinless and boneless codfish

1 cup diced yellow onion

1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons salt

1 egg, beaten

½ cup cream

2 tablespoons butter

1. If you don’t have cooked potatoes on hand, cut up two large potatoes, unpeeled, and boil them in salted water for about 20 minutes until soft. Mash and reserve.
2. Place the fish in a steamer and top with the diced onion and seasonings. Cover and steam for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the onion is cooked.
3. In a medium-size bowl, combine the cooked fish and seasoned onions with the mashed potatoes. Mix in the egg and cream and form into 4 patties.
4. Sauté the fishcakes in butter until browned.

SERVES 4

Fishcakes Deluxe

In the summer, one of our favorite ways to serve fishcakes at the The Black Dog is to top them with really ripe beefsteak tomatoes and cheese. Great for brunch with Gin Bloody Marys!

4 Black Dog Fishcakes, see above

4 slices beefsteak tomatoes

4 slices Muenster cheese

Prepare the fishcakes and top each with a large slice of ripe tomato and cheese. Place under a broiler to melt the cheese slightly and serve.

SERVES 4

Thank George’s Bank

For hundreds of years, fishermen have headed to George’s Bank for cod, haddock, flounder, scallops, swordfish, tuna, and more. This large shallow bank on the outer continental shelf of North America, separating the Gulf of Maine from the open Atlantic, is now strictly controlled in the hope that the fish stocks can recover to their once fertile levels. Here in the land of the “bean and the cod,” it’s only fitting to honor this fishing ground. This recipe is not for the faint of heart.

4 Black Dog Fishcakes (See recipe on opposite page)

2 teaspoons white vinegar

4 eggs for poaching

½ cup Easy Hollandaise (See recipe on page 26) your favorite toast

1. Prepare the fishcakes and keep warm.
2. Make hollandaise sauce.
3. To poach your eggs, fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add white vinegar and reduce heat to a simmer. Crack and gently drop in your eggs. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove when the whites are firm and the yolks are done to your taste.
4. For each serving, place a poached egg on a fishcake, cover with hollandaise sauce, and serve with toast on the side.

SERVES 2

“M” go Blue

BANANA ~ BLUEBERRY PANCAKES

With the summer season, The Black Dog’s crew nearly doubles, adding students from across the U.S.A. and even across the pond. Some come to work just one season ~ others return for several summers. Each leaves memories behind with us. The name of our delicious Banana-Blues recalls a University of Michigan yell.

DRY INGREDIENTS

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup buckwheat flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons cornmeal (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

WET INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 to 1½ cups of whole milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 thinly sliced banana

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium size bowl.
2. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with one cup of milk and the melted butter.
3. Add this wet mixture to your dry ingredients until you have a basic pancake batter. Add the additional ½ cup of milk if the mixture is too thick, but don’t stir too much or pancakes will be tough.
4. When the batter is ready gently fold in the blueberries.
5. Heat a griddle, adding a little clarified butter or oil. Ladle a five inch circle of batter onto the griddle. Drop a few slices of banana into each circle. Cook pancakes until the tops are covered with tiny bubbles, then flip them over and finish cooking.
6. Serve hot, with butter and pure maple syrup.

SERVES 4

favorite variation:

Rasputin’s Revenge

(Named after one of The Black Dog’s best dishwashers)

To the basic batter add:

½ cup sliced strawberries and ¼ cup chocolate chips