September 2015

Apple Brown Betty is a thoroughly   American dessert that belongs to a group of cobbler-style preparations that include grunts, crisps, crumbles, pandowdies, buckles, slumps, flummeries and the sonker, a dessert found in North Carolina cookery.

Apple brown Betty in all its glory. Serve it with good vanilla ice cream, preferably homemade

Apple brown Betty in all its glory. Serve it with good vanilla ice cream, preferably homemade

In many ways the Betty most resembles a kind of bread pudding or crisp. But instead of using bread cubes, crumbs are the preferred topping and thickener for the filling.

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In the quest for interesting weekend brunch menus, Tiqa’s unique lineup of dishes is worth exploring.  At other times, the vast rooms fill up in the evening hours with sundry assemblages of partygoers, from wedding soirees to large-scale groups dining out. Even the outdoor patio is outfitted for winter dining with towering heat lamps ready to ward off the chill.  Management plans to keep it open through the holidays.  Though I think they’d have to supply more than heat and fire pits; chinchilla throws and muffs might be more like it especially as winter winds whoosh off the harbor.

Eggs on focaccia with spiced potatoes; chocolate babka and walnut spinach fatayeh

Eggs on focaccia with spiced potatoes; chocolate babka and walnut spinach fatayeh

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While the Portland restaurant scene verges on being a dead ringer for Brooklyn’s finest, Cape Betty across the bridge has few contenders unless you consider the new and very popular Rudy’s.  But then go a little west of the ocean, to the verdant farm fields in this tony Cape Elizabeth neighborhood and you’ll be smack dab at Jordan’s Farm, with its most revered tenant, like the star sharecropper, Chef Jason Williams and The Well.

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The Portland branch of South Portland’s beloved Taco Trio is newly located along the spine of one of the most unforgiving roadways in the city.  Other than in the middle of the night or weekends, trolling the labyrinth of lights and desultory turning lanes of Forest Avenue, aka Route 302, is the proverbial nightmare.

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A Real Southern Cook in Her Savannah Kitchen by Dora Charles is a wonderful compendium of recipes from a cook who whose family history and professional background contribute to the quality of her recipes.   Her claim to fame is that she worked with Paula Dean, the TV cooking personality and author, at her original restaurant, The Lady and Sons, in Savannah for 22 years before going out on her own.

dora book

In fact, she helped Dean launch the restaurant and ultimately her career from the very beginning.  Lines formed out the door with diners  there for Charles’s cooking and such hallmark dishes as sweet potato pie, fried ribs, smothered pork chops, collards, corn bread and more done in her inimitable way.

My version of Dora Charles's berry cobbler with blueberries and strawberries

My version of Dora Charles’s berry cobbler with blueberries and strawberries

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French toast made with corn bread?  A new twist on eggs Benedict as though an old faithful really needs twisting and shaking? Sometimes it’s the tried and true that is the most satisfying.  Then, again, when you experience a dish that’s truly novel  that’s cause for culinary celebration, too.

I made the happy error of mixing up my brunch dates thinking that yesterday—Sunday—was the date for a brunch I was invited to.  I looked up the email invitation and saw that it was for next Sunday.

Piccolo's charmingly rustic dining room

Piccolo’s  dining bar and  wine rack

But I was all psyched for brunch without a destination.  Though my favorite spots like Caiola’s or Sur-Lie beckoned  I decided to go to someplace I’d not been to in a while.

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When Empire Chinese joined the ranks of Portland’s established hierarchy of Asian restaurants—Thai, Japanese and fusion–it had this distinction: it was serving authentic Cantonese fare in contrast to a wasteland of Americanized  Chinese cooking typically found in strip mall and take out joints everywhere  in Maine.  Granted, some were better than others, but lackluster was the key component coming out of these lesser kitchens.

The dining crush last winter

The dining crush last winter

It’s been two years since Empire opened, and in that time they’ve succeeded in setting the standard for some of the best Chinese food north of Boston.  It didn’t try to be a fusion powerhouse like Mission Chinese in New York or Meyers and Chang in Boston.  But the chefs, under the direction of co-owner Theresa Chan, take on nontraditional dishes as well.  Consider their brioche char siu bao (baked pork buns) or spicy cucumber with jelly fish salad as examples–two must-have dishes.

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Corn is at its peak now, and one of the great uses for it is to turn it into an elegant soup puree.  The process is so simple.   You take the kernels off the cob and put it into a large saucepot of sautéed onions.  Add chicken stock and simmer for about 30 minutes.  For extra flavor you can put the stripped cobs in with the soup while it simmers.  It’s then pureed in a blender and heavy cream is stirred in.  It’s served hot or chilled with snippets of chives and swirls of good extra-virgin olive oil.

Puree of local corn soup with chives and extra-virgin olive oil to garnish

Puree of local corn soup with chives and extra-virgin olive oil to garnish

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From the divine dining annals of  Middle Street (Eventide, Duckfat, East Ender,  et al) to the proprietors on the four corners of Longfellow Square,  the legion of brunch buckaroos waiting on line to get into Portland’s trendiest eateries has spiraled to new highs.  All that craving rush for variations on eggs Benedict or the latest take on tater tots define this culinary madness.

The hot spots, Local 188, Eventide, East Ender and Duckfat

The hot spots, Local 188, Eventide, East Ender and Duckfat

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Full disclosure: I don’t like burritos, especially those being slung at the newly opened OCHO at its miniature outpost on Congress Street. As for ramen dishes, well, here again, I’m not nuts over ramen of any kind (too many carbs), but there’s a great story of potential at Suzukiya that’s worth keeping an eye on beyond the inchoate muss and fuss. Should Pai Men Miyake take notice?  Will Kei Suzuki’s homemade organic noodles topple Masa Miyake’s domain?  I don’t think so.  They’re worlds apart and it’s nice to have a choice.

The dining room at Suzukiya and inside OCHO

The dining room at Suzukiya and inside OCHO

Here’s the snapshot wrap on OCHO.   Basically this is full-blown Americanized Mexican wrap that’s as common as a tuna melt, except the latter is more appealing.  But then I admit I’ve never had a real burrito, the kind that you’d find in a Tex-Mex or Cali-Mex kitchen or in various regions of Mexico.  What I dislike about the thoroughly American version as we know it in its ubiquitous Northeast guise is its doughy unctuousness, further assaulted when it’s stuffed to the gills with gook.  Yuck.  It’s like having a bubble gum sandwich on Wonder Bread.

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