Dinner
Living in New Hampshire, one of the things we all look forward to is when all of the waterfront seafood restaurants open for the summer season. BG’s Boathouse is one of our favorite places and this year they are opening for their 41st. season! You know you are going to a great place when it’s family run and owned, and into their 41st season!
BG’s Boathouse is located at 191 Wentworth Road in Portsmouth, NH. BG’s is open 7 day’s a week for lunch and dinner. They have a parking lot in front of the restaurant as well as a parking lot directly across the street. If you don’t want to get there by land, you can get there by water! They have a dock where you can pull right up or a sandy area for kayaks or paddle boats. That’s the way to go for lunch!
We arrived shortly after they opened and the outside deck areas were already filling up. You have the choice to eat inside or on two decks with one of them being covered from the sun. We were seated outside in the covered area right next to the water, that was a great start! Our waiter Jimmy came over, dropped off the menus, and took our drink order of a coke and water for us. They do have a full bar service with many specials. Both Jim and I knew pretty quickly what we wanted and I’m sure you can guess. Seafood of course! Jim started with the seafood chowder with oyster crackers. This was an excellent seafood chowder with a thick creamy broth and seafood in every bite. I swiped a few bites and let me say that rich creamy base was delicious, without even mentioning the abundance of seafood!
For the main course, Jim had the fish and chips, a lightly battered dipped haddock that is goldenly fried served with homemade coleslaw and French fries. The fish was cooked beautifully with a light crisp coating from the batter with the fish being cooked through but still flaky and light. The homemade coleslaw adds a fresh crisp bite with the dressing being just right and not too heavy. The fries are just what you would expect, crispy crunchy outside and soft tender inside. Needless to say, this was an excellent dish and Jim cleaned his plate!
I ordered the baby fried shrimp basket. Boring I know, but this has been one of my favorite dishes since I was a child growing up. I remember my parents dragging us to seafood restaurants, as a young child and even a teenager. I did not have the appreciation for seafood the way I do now. A few times each summer a friend of my parents would drop off some lobsters and steamer clams direct from the water that my mom would cook at home. Although I have never gotten behind the steamer clams, I always appreciated the lobster and the drawn butter, but when it came to going out it was always about the baby fried shrimp basket!
Let me tell you, I have had many, many baby fried shrimp baskets. I really have eaten much more than my fair share and this basket was, the best I have had…it’s one of the very tops! The shrimp were properly cleaned before being battered (that does not always happen as I have had some gritty or not cleaned shrimp and it’s just not good!) The batter is light and super crisp, it’s fried just right and the shrimp holds it’s flavor in the light batter. I had a tarter sauce with mine but they also make their own cocktail sauce that you can have. No matter the sauce, you will enjoy this dish! Oh! It comes with fries too, those are also good but the star is most definitely the sweet tender shrimp!
BG’s Boathouse has a fairly large menu with many items you would expect at a waterfront restaurant. They also have some nice surprises…French fried green beans with ranch dipping sauce, peel and eat shrimp with their house-made cocktail sauce on the appetizer menu. For the main course you again have all the usual suspects but they have the menu broken down in a creative easy way to choose what you like. You can order from the salad section or the light fare too. If you have kids with you they have a menu for the little ones. If you know you want lobster, that too has its own section. I was very pleased to see they also have a great gluten-free menu that includes more than just salads. You can also have many seafood choices, hamburger, and hotdog with gluten-free buns. BG’s boathouse also has a number of house specials so be sure to look for those. They have a website that includes their full menu, as well as a Facebook page they update with their specials. https://bgsboathouse.com/
Although we did not have dessert at BG’s, I have to tell you about one of our favorite ice cream places just down the road from the boathouse. The Ice House is located at 112 Wentworth Road, really just down the street! Although the ice house is not on the water and does not have the views, it does have some terrific ice creams!
The Ice House is open for lunch and dinner and is also a family owned and run business. You can eat inside but if you’re like us grabbing an ice cream from the window and going to the picnic seating area is perfect on a summer night. The Ice House has a large menu not only for lunch and dinner but also for ice creams, sundae’s and shakes to name a few of those cold summer delights!
Jim had a cherry ice cream with real cherries in the ice cream and of course, chocolate jimmies, or chocolate sprinkles for those of you reading from outside the New England area.
I had the black raspberry ice cream with cookie crunch swirl, this was delicious. I would order this anytime! Cool, refreshing black raspberry flavor with a cookie crunch in every bite!
The Ice House is closed on Mondays and only accept cash or Traveler’s checks but they do have an ATM onsite.
I highly recommend checking them out online or on facebook for more information, specials and featured Ice cream creations!
https://www.theicehouserestaurant.com/
Enjoy!
This is hands down my favorite hot dog recipe! Although I am giving you the air fryer directions, these can easily be put on the grill and cooked as well! The slaw can be made in advance and this can easily be made for a crowd. We shared these and EVERYONE that tried them absolutely loved them saying they were the best hot dogs they have ever had. I know that says a lot. Maybe you have read recipes claiming it’s the best this or that, but I don’t eat hotdogs and don’t like them but I love this recipe. I will be making it many times through the summer!
8 servings
INGREDIENTS
8 hot dogs
8 slices of bacon
8 hot dog buns
1 package coleslaw mix
1 container of Marie’s coleslaw dressing
1 Granny Smith Apple, diced
1 cup Craisins
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
Fresh cracked pepper
Pickled jalapeño peppers-optional
DIRECTIONS
Wrap each slice of bacon around each hot dog. Place 4 of the wrapped hotdogs in the air fryer. Fry at 400 degrees for 9 minutes turn the hotdogs over and fry again for another 9 minutes or until bacon is cooked to your desired crispness. If you want the buns toasted take the hot dogs out a couple minutes early, place the hotdogs in the buns, place them back in the fryer and continue to cook for two more minutes or until desired toast is achieved.
Meanwhile make the slaw by putting the slaw mix in a large bowl, adding the slaw dressing, Craisins, diced apple, maple syrup and cracked pepper. Mix well coating all of the slaw with the dressing.
Top the hot dogs with the slaw and add pickled jalapeños. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
I recently purchased a Philips XXL Air Fryer and have loved it! This was one of the first recipes I tried. This makes enough for 2 people and It could not have been any easier or more delicious! Most air fryer recipes can be done in the oven as well and this recipe could easily be adapted to baking it. If I were to bake it I would put the corn and the potatoes on a sheet pan and bake for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees, stir veggies and add the sliced kielbasa and continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.
INGREDIENTS
2 frozen half ears of corn (can use fresh but this is what I had on hand. If using fresh, cooking time will be same as kielbasa and potatoes )
1 fully cooked kielbasa-sliced into rounds
3 cups small diced potatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Butter to spread on corn when done
DIRECTIONS
Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the corn and add the corn into your air fryer. Cook at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Open the air fryer and add the kielbasa and diced potatoes that you have also drizzled with olive oil. Add salt and pepper over all of the kielbasa, sausage, potatoes, and stir. Continue cooking for an additional ten minutes. Mine were done at this point but depending on the model and size cooking time may vary.
Remove from fryer, add butter to your corn and serve.
Enjoy!
I made this dish specifically for my Dad as he saw a picture of the recipe I gave you on Tuesday and said he wanted that, but without the pasta. Well, when Dad wants a dish, I make it! This dish is cooked similar to Tuesday’s dish as the seafood is all cooked separately then put together at the end. When I was looking at recipes similar to this all of the recipes put raw seafood together and cook it all together. I really, really did not like that idea as all of the seafood are different sized and have a different cook time and if I cooked them separately, I could season each layer as I cook, because of that this dish does take extra effort and time. I can promise you it’s well worth it. No one at my Easter table was disappointed with this dish. In fact, there was almost none left and I served it as a side dish!
NOTE – this dish is easily made gluten-free by using crushed gluten-free crackers (I used gluten-free Cheese Itz type cracker for Robby) for the topping. I made Robby a smaller dish just for him!
This dish was made in a large round casserole dish for the rest of us.
This picture is just my dads first helping of the buttery seafood casserole. Note the cute bunny plate!
INGREDIENTS
1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails off
4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
12 large scallops
1 Tablespoon butter for scallops
4 lobster tails, steamed, shell removed and chopped into large pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
3 Tablespoons white wine
Salt
Pepper
1 to 1 1/2 sleeves of Ritz crackers, crushed
1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted for topping
DIRECTIONS
For shrimp – place the shrimp on a baking sheet, drizzle with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Place the shrimp in the oven with the oven set to broil keeping the oven door open slightly. Roast the shrimp just until the shrimp turn pink. Remove from oven and set aside with your already prepared lobster meat.
For the scallops- heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil to the pan along with 1 tablespoon of butter. Dry the scallops with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot add the scallops to the pan seasoned side down. Season the top side of scallops with salt and pepper. When the scallops have seared on one side, turn them over and sear the second side.
When the scallops have cooked, add the lobster and shrimp to the pan to warm through.
Meanwhile in a bowl, add the melted butter, garlic, wine, lemon juice and the zest of half a lemon, mixing well. Place all of the seafood into a greased baking dish. Add the desired amount of crushed crackers. We used the full sleeve and a half of the crackers. Drizzle the melted butter mixture over the crackers and place in a 400 degree oven to brown the top of the crackers. This just takes a few minutes, so watch closely! Remove from oven and serve warm.
Enjoy!
If you don’t cook a lot of seafood this is a great dish to start with. I made this dish with gluten-free pasta so Robby could enjoy it as well. If you are local and are looking for a really good gluten-free pasta, we love the packages they sell at Tuscan Market in Portsmouth NH. We were shocked at how good this pasta was as it tastes just as good as the regular pasta we are used to. This is an easy dish that you can make even on the busiest of days.
INGREDIENTS
8 ounces penne pasta- can be gluten-free
1 Tablespoon garlic infused olive oil
4 Tablespoons butter (or ghee, a clarified butter, skimming the fat off of the top. Can be purchased at your local grocery store) divided
1 1/2 pounds uncooked large, deveined, peeled and tail off shrimp
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 – 4 cups spinach- use as much as your family enjoys
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 Tablespoons parsley, minced for garnish if desired
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. In a large skillet heat olive oil and one tablespoon of butter. Add the shrimp to the hot pan and cook until the shrimp start to turn pink, flipping the shrimp once. Once the shrimp are almost cooked through add the Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Add the cooked pasta to the shrimp and spinach mixture. Add the remaining butter and stir until melted and well combined. Top with lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper and stir. Serve warm.
Enjoy!
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