email: [email protected] website: www.museumhill.com

Museum Hill Bed and Breakfast Newsletter

07/20/2006

Volume 1, Number 1

Welcome to the Museum Hill Bed and Breakfast Newsletter. In this letter and future ones to follow, I will be promoting St. Joseph, talk about past events, and make this an exciting, fun, informative and simple thing to read. Saint Joseph is a world of wonderful old houses and distinct architecture, beginning at a time when the west was still new territory for people to pursue their dreams. I truly believe this city is one of the last best kept secrets in the country and with the many dedicated new people buying the old homes and restoring them, the place will become a true historical gem showing off the beauty and elegance of a past time.

I created the Museum Hill Bed and Breakfast, Activities, Travel, and Vacation site. The link is: www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/

There are plenty of things to check out on this site. On the self guided excursions link, http://www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/selfguidedexcursions.htm I developed this as a guide to give people ideas on what to explore, not only in St. Joseph, but also in some of the outlying areas. This one I will continually be building upon as we continue to explore the area and we are always looking for different and fun things to do and to share with our guests. Several weeks ago for example we went to a little town called Troy, Kansas, and they had an historic homes tour that was exceptional. This little town takes great pride in its heritage and every house was immaculate. The trip I suggested about Troy and White Cloud makes would make an excellent day ride for motorcycles. Weston and the winery, going wine tasting there was just awesome. The museums here are just a world of history, and all of them are within walking distance from the Bed and Breakfast.

On the left column, I have listed some major events coming up in the area. More information is available on links at the activity site. The following link will take you to some extra amenities and package specials I have going on now.

http://www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/packagespecials.htm

http://www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/extratouch.htm

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The following recipes are ones I used just about every weekend when I was stationed on a little island in the Indian Ocean called Diego Garcia. We would run out in the ocean on the Welfare/Recreation yachts and go after Yellowfin tuna, Mahi Mahi, and wahoo fish. The yellow fins were being hauled in at 65lbs on the average and were the most common. Wahoo coming in at 10 to 15 lbs., Mahi Mahi, at about 8 lbs. At the end of the day, we would have enough to feed the entire base, so we would have sort of a block party with the military and foreign nationals around the barracks area. There was a group that would filet the fish and my job was the cooking part. I would get the charcoal grilles ready and than I would start preparing the fish.

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Preparing the fish: Place fish fillets on foil allowing enough to wrap over fish after preparation. Pour melted butter over fish than sprinkle seasonings. Place lemon slices on top of fish. Finish wrapping foil around fish. Poke little holes with a toothpick around the upper sides of the foil towards top. About 6 will do.

Prepare grille. (The briquettes with mesquite chips work best, allowing just enough mesquite flavor without over powering the fish. The little pinholes in the foil allow the smoke from the briquettes to get into the fish for the flavor. The grill does not need to be super hot. Just use enough briquettes to get it hot for about an hour and a half. If you are doing a lot of cooking for 3 to 4 hundred like I was, than max that puppy out!!)

After grille is hot, than place fish on the grille rack. No need to turn it or anything, just let it cook for about 20 to 25 minutes or until fish is flaky. (Be careful if using tuna, this fish has a little more oil than others, so if any of the juice hits the briquettes, it could flare up, have a bottle of spray water just in case). After fish is done, let cool a bit for about 2 to 3 minutes than serve right of foil to keep in the juices.

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This I would make as a compliment to the fish. The foreign nationals were very big on rice and they gave me this simple and flavorable recipe that can be cooked over top of a grille. Of course I broke the recipe down from feeding 3 to 4 hundred to a small portion of about 4 to 6. Using the heat from the grille, as long as it is over 300 degrees it will work.

Spread garlic spread on a good heavy sauté or sauce pan. (Good stainless steel or iron) (McCormick’s makes a real good spread, usually found in the seasoning section). Preheat pan on grille until spread melts. Add rice, grille it just enough until it starts to turn brown. (The diced onion is an added option, if you use that, sauté onion first than rice. Than add minced garlic as another option for stronger flavor). Than add water and cover pan with lid or foil. When water comes to boil, stir about every 90-sec. Rice should be done in about 15 to 20 minutes. Keep a little extra water handy just in case the cooking water evaporates a little fast. Perfect rice is just tender, not sticky. A good long grain rice works best for this.

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The fruit salad balances out the meal nice. It can be made as a fruit salad (cut fruit in ½ in cubes) or more of a fruit salsa, (diced fruit). Real easy to make, just cut and mix all fruit together and chill. Some of the fruits can be hard to find, papaya, mango and pineapple are the easiest. The salad is just as good with these 3 items. As an added touch, pick up some fresh cilantro, chop it finely and add to the salad, this gives it a very distinct flavor.

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Salad for this meal is very simple and basic. Just chopped romaine leaves chilled and Italian dressing on the side. The whole combination of fish, garlic rice, fruit salad, and romaine salad is an excellent outdoor meal, feeding a ton of people I learned to keep it easy and good.

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On the island, everyone would in some way contribute, either individually or in a group form. The tradition and it rotated from group to group was to be in charge of the drinks. And to enhance this meal to its finest a small glass of good amaretto, brandy, or whiskey on the rocks.

Enjoy!!!!! Let me know how this comes out for those who try it!!!

Feel free to ask me anything on cooking related issues. Many more recipes are to follow in the future. My guest library is full of cookbooks from all over the world, and anyone who is looking for something in particular or has a question regarding cooking, contact me. Take care everyone, and when you need to "Get Away!!!" come stay at Museum Hill Bed and Breakfast, a National Historic District Home. "Lewis and Clark wish they slept here!!"

Sincerely,

John Courter

Innkeeper/Owner