Dana Bullen. His email is [email protected] and his phone number (he gave me his work number) is 824-5345.

He likes to fish, ski, golf – and grill

CARRABASSETT – “I love to eat. It became something to do as a family. We all sit down together for dinner,” said Dana Bullen, who learned to cook mostly by trial and error. “I worked in a couple of restaurants when I was younger and picked up some of their tricks,” he said, but he learned even more from friends who own restaurants.

These days, Bullen especially likes to grill and is teaching the craft to his 11-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter. He also likes to entertain in his home. “I especially like to have friends over and serve big family-style dinners where everyone passes around the food.”

Bullen would like “to learn how to bake some of the fancy types of bread to serve with dinner.” At the moment, his favorite cookbook is Paula Dean’s “Kitchen Classics,” a book his wife gave to him.

When he’s not cooking, Bullen likes to fish and hunt, as well as ski and play golf. “That’s the interesting part of living in this state. By being in Maine, we are afforded a chance to visit world-class golf and ski resorts.”

A resident of Carrabassett, Bullen is president of Sunday River Ski Resort. “I am lucky that I have a job that allows me to ski 85 days a year, golf 40 days and spend 60 days in the beautiful Maine woods hunting and fishing. I cannot imagine doing anything I would enjoy more.”

Grilled porterhouse steak

Ingredients:

Porterhouse steak, cut to 2¼ inches, one steak per two adults

Sea salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Method:

Sprinkle sea salt and ground pepper on both sides of steak right before placing on a very hot grill. If using gas, run all three burners on high. If using coal, separate the coal to one side of the grill and wait until the coals are at the peak of redness before putting the steak on. Cook two minutes on each side. Remove steak from hot half of the grill and cook indirectly until cooked to personal taste. Recommended doneness: leaving the outside grilled very nicely while the inside remains rare and tender. (See grilled asparagus recipe below.)

Grilled asparagus

Ingredients:

1 pound asparagus

3 cloves fresh chopped garlic

¼ cup olive oil

Method:

Cut bottom quarter off fresh asparagus stalks. Bring a pot of water to a boil and scald the asparagus for about a minute. Remove and coat with a mixture of the fresh chopped garlic and olive oil. About 5 minutes before the steak is complete, roll the asparagus around on the hot part of the grill to lightly grill.

Vidalia onions with red potatoes

Ingredients:

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced

8 red potatoes, quartered

6 cloves chopped garlic

Olive oil, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Method:

Place onions and red potatoes in a large mixing bowl with olive oil, chopped garlic, sea salt and ground pepper. Make sure to roll potatoes and onion until coated. Cook in a grill wok. (A grill wok is shaped like a traditional wok, but is made of cast iron and has holes large enough for the flame to grill the vegetables without them falling through.) Roll vegetables around in the wok until done to your liking. Serve with a Honig cabernet sauvignon – and enjoy.