November 2015

Whatever your reasons for Sunday brunch, one thing is for certain: it has to be good.  Portland has boundless opportunities for the weekend brunch, but it still strikes me that the most reliably fabulous one is found at Caiola’s.  Oh, yes, I’ve sung their praises often, but there’s something about their brunch specials that are truly amazing.

Pulled pork eggs Benedict

Pulled pork eggs Benedict

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Red sauce and mozzarella?  Is that how we riff on Italian-American cooking where Sunday iceberg salads and “parms” of every stripe are  part of the all-star lineup? Or is it more to do with our preoccupation of kvelling over the gestalt  of comfort food  and the lack thereof when pointing to Portland restaurants that cater to this class of Italian cuisine?

Well wouldn’t you know I finally found it at a long-time Portland favorite road house where traditional Italian-American fare is served in abundance and style.  Enter Bruno’s, owned by Bob Napolitano and aided by his son Dan.  Dad started it all in the back of Micucci’s in the early 80s, moved around the Old Port as the brand grew and by 1999 found his way to the colonial looking structure in the bowels of Allen Avenue.

Bruno's restaurant and tavern

Bruno’s restaurant and tavern

Certainly it’s a stretch for peninsula purists to venture out there for lunch crawling along the Forest Avenue log jam.  But come dinnertime, it’s easy sailing to Allen Avenue, about 2 1/2 miles from downtown Portland.

Bruno's main dining room, top and bar/tavern, below

Bruno’s main dining room, top and bar/tavern, below

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For something a little different for the Thanksgiving dessert table try this deep-dish apple pie.  It’s very easy to make and it’s packed with great flavor. Instead of relying on cinnamon as the apple spice, this version is seasoned with a generous amount of freshly grated nutmeg.

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These three heritage pumpkin pies are locally sourced from a Maine family of bakers who I met through the late Keith Boyle who passed this fall. I met him many years ago at the Portland farmers market when he was affiliated with Uncle’s Farm Stand owned by Mike Farwell.

The pies are from Keith’s mother, Patty Boyle, his grandmother Gladys Gilbert, who still lives in Rumford and his great granny, Oressa Kaulback.

Classic pumpkin pie

Classic pumpkin pie

Differences in pumpkin pie are often sublte.  Some variations include whipping the egg whites to a meringue to fold into the pumpkin puree or to use various additions like a touch of molasses or a few drops of sorghum as southern bakers use or in the list of spices.

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As the city of Portland grapples with the boom of new housing on the peninsula, one dividend is food and dining venues emerge as an outgrowth. The opening of Rosemont Market at West End Place, for example, serves the densely populated West End and its need to have food shops in the neighborhood.  As for dining, there’s only a few restaurants beyond Longfellow Square in the heart of the West End except for Caiola’s—still a long-time favorite for area locals—and Bonobo, the corner restaurant serving artisanal pizza.

In adjacent Bayside, that a place like Isa caught on so fast gives credence to an emergent neighborhood even though the grandness of Back Bay Grill a few doors away didn’t stem the tide when it entered this fringe environment decades ago. Plenty of vagrants and druggies still  roam the streets, but now they co-mingle with ever more Mercedes and Lexus SUVs looking to park and dine at Isa or Back Bay.

The charming dining room at Isa

The charming dining room at Isa

Isa and Back Bay are my neighborhood restaurants. Though I’ve yet  to venture  to Bubba’s Sulky Lounge or the notorious Ricky’s Tavern across the street.  Now there’s a true dive bar whose patrons were once labeled euphemistically by a city official “…as subjects seeking social service assets and resources in that area.”  Hipsters are not welcome.

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What would Julia (as in Child) do?  She’d just roast the bird, a little salt and pepper and call it a good turkey day.  But   modernist cooks like to keep things just a tad complicated and if you’re one, brining is for you.

turkey18JULIA2-blog427

For years I didn’t brine my bird.  I’d buy a good farm-raised local bird that had plenty of flavor all on its own.  My thought was it’s just a bit bigger than a large chicken so why go through such conniptions over this holiday-stoked bird?

Still, to brine or not to brine, that is the question that most of us ponder when it’s time to roast that darn turkey for a thoroughly American Thanksgiving dinner.  My simple answer is: Brine it! Read more…

Indeed it was a chilly 40 degrees with brisk winds making it feel even colder at Saturday’s Deering Oaks Portland Farmers Market-or as one farmer put it, “I’m freezing my gahoonies off.”

Still the frosty weather is part of the market shopping scene at this time of year—at least for the outdoorsy hipster crowd resplendent in winter garb ambling along the leafless byways of Deering Oaks.  After all, what’s a week without getting fully sourced up on local Maine food?

Saturday morning at the Deering Oaks farmers market

Saturday morning at the Deering Oaks farmers market

Most farmers markets around Maine—which number over 30–have moved to their indoor locations by now.  But Portland follows its own set of peripatetic rules.  The tradition is to stay outdoors until after Thanksgiving, and the move inside occurs on the first Saturday in December.  However, the winter market location is not set in stone yet.  One thing is for sure, it won’t be at the Urban Farm Fermentory where it’s been for several years.  Unofficially the new space is slated to open in a complex at 84 Cove St., just down from the Fermentory.    I rode by there over the weekend to check it out.  I didn’t see anything remotely being readied for a market space among the disparate tenants in the buildings there now.

Brunswick's Ft. Andross

Brunswick’s Ft. Andross

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Not every restaurant has to be cutting-edge to satisfy. But what makes a restaurant a “Stone Cold  Stunner” was my first thought when I read a recent Eater Maine post featuring the best restaurants of 2015 in various categories?  The way it works is that Eater selects the nominees and then asks readers to rate their picks.  Other categories include Hottest Restaurant, Best Chef, etcetera and etcetera.

In the category Stone Cold Stunner a very curious entry caught my attention. “Eating at the Treehouse really does feel like dining inside a giant, magical treehouse,” it said.

The bar room at The Treehouse

The bar room at The Treehouse

Huh?  What’s the Treehouse?  I must have missed this one in our great world of fine dining in Portland.  After looking at some of the posted photos I realized this was the former Pat’s Café, the local favorite and long-running eatery ( though intermittently closing and reopening numerous times) along the little food world of Steven’s Avenue (Siano’s Pizzeria and Pat’s Meat Market)  otherwise dominated by Deering High School and the Sisters of Mercy convent.

Still, there are so many new restaurants that are now part of our dining universe that could have—and should have–been nominated.  The rarefied rooms of Tempo Dulu come to mind as does the swath of urbane sizzle perfected by Union at The Press Hotel.  At least Evo—truly a stone cold stunner—is at this writing the front runner.

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The latest culinary tricks of the trade come from chefs who share their special spice blends in their cookbooks or recipes published in magazines and newspaper features. A few are nothing more than salt and pepper whereas others are more complex.  Ultimately it’s the proportions that count, a blending that promises to make your food sing with flavor.

I’ve found six noteworthy chef blends that I use fairly regularly to season roasts, chops and steaks to more specific needs such as a wonderful recipe for glazed pork ribs and another for an awfully good meatloaf.   Here’s the selection.

From top middle, clockwise: dried onion powder, pork rub, Savannah Rub, Perfect Roast Blend, Four Season Blend, Magic Dust

From top middle, clockwise: dried onion powder, pork rub, Savannah Rub, Perfect Roast Blend, Four Season Blend, Magic Dust

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Sometimes you just have to get out of Dodge as though counting violets was sheer drudgery.  That doesn’t mean to shun the Ten Commandments to covet an egg roll instead, but rather to take a winter walk on the beach followed by a great Sunday brunch.

And along the beach-front roads of Cape Elizabeth, Rudy’s is front and center.  Since opening earlier this year, it’s become the ultimate roadhouse serving family friendly fare as well as sophisticated dishes, making this new restaurant a coveted addition for Cape residents.

The beach at Kettle Cove, a few streets away from Rudy's; the dining room and bar; chalk board featuring what's on tap (beer and wine)

The beach at Kettle Cove, a few streets away from Rudy’s; the dining room and bar; chalk board featuring what’s on tap (beer and wine)

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