December 2015

Local carrots are perfect in an elegant, creamy soup

December 30, 2015 / / Recipes, Starters

All those local winter carrots that you see piled up at farmers markets are still packed with flavor.  They are part of the group that farmers call storage crops, such as potatoes and onions, and those five pound bags are a pretty good deal.  I tend to buy them loose from the box so I can mix up the colors of orange, red and various shades of yellow.

Carrots at the farmers market (Brunswick Winter Market and Portland Winter Market)

Carrots at the farmers market (Brunswick Winter Market and Portland Winter Market)

One of my favorite dishes using carrots is what I call winter carrot soup.  It can be served as an elegant first course or at any kind of dinner menu.     It only requires onions, carrots and a good stock.  It’s further enriched with heavy cream and has an unusual spice component of star anise, which gives it an exotic flavor.

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The Brunch Report: Try Roustabout for something delicious and different

December 28, 2015 / / Uncategorized

You won’t find the typical weekend brunch menu at Roustabout, the new Italian-American bistro that opened on Washington Avenue recently. (See dine-out dinner review.)

And that’s just fine with me because as much as we love our eggs Benedicts and variations thereof, the dish is everywhere.

Bar dining at Roustabout

Bar dining at Roustabout

What you will get is a carefully thought out menu.  Don’t look, then, for other typical dishes like sausage gravy over biscuits or cracklings of bacon rashers with eggs over easy. This is, after all, brunch, the combination of morning and noontime leisurely dining where a little bit of this and that suffice.

I had the house-cured char, their take on cured salmon.  It’s served with a spicy mascarpone to spread on wonderful housemade rye crackers upon which you put slivers of cured char and a delicious side garnish of roasted tomato, mint leaves, red onion and capers in a light vinaigrette.

Cured char with rye crackers, mascarpone and capers; perfect bloody Mary

Cured char with rye crackers, mascarpone and capers; perfect bloody Mary

Along with a well-made, well-garnished bloody Mary it’s a great way to begin. The char is more of a substantial dish that you would think. Followed by a small dish of scrambled eggs is just right.

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Portland Dining 2015: The Top Ten Newcomers who are continuing to make the city a destination for innovative dining

December 25, 2015 / / Restaurants

It’s been another banner year in 2015 for Portland area restaurants, with the best and brightest showing remarkable menus and innovative cooking, giving the birth of cool cuisine vitality.

Lobster tartine at The Honey Paw

Lobster tartine at The Honey Paw

While last year was all about small plates, 2015 mixed it up with both small and large plate menus in the mix. Of the 20 or so new establishments in our region, only 10 really made the grade as being special.  Union, Isa, East Ender, Tiqa, Roustabout, Evo, Tempo Dulu, Terlingua, The Honey Paw and even Cape Elizabeth chimed in with Rudy’s in the heart of that coastal suburb.

The spectacular space at Evo serves divine Mediterranean/Middle Eastern fare with chef Matt Ginn at the helm

The spectacular space at Evo serves divine Mediterranean/Middle Eastern fare with chef Matt Ginn at the helm

What was distinctive about these newcomers was the Big Money spent on décor, creating unique, often luxurious interiors beyond the traditional post and beam and brick confines that Maine restaurants favor.

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The ultimate pecan pie: learn the secrets of getting the best pie ever!

December 23, 2015 / / Baking & Desserts, Recipes

How did we manage before the invention of Google and its search engines? I go to it often in researching or searching for recipes.  And the latest was my discovery of ChefSteps, a site that focuses on cooking technique, recipes, and various how-to features.  Most of their recipes have videos showing how to prepare the recipe.  The Seattle-based group is led by some 50 contributors of writers, photographers, chefs, etc., who are experts in their field.

I’ve been trying to make a decent pecan pie, following recipes from various cookbooks, but I was not pleased with any of them.  I looked at ChefSteps  and found one of the most unusual methods of preparation, which ultimately offered the best pecan pie.  My judge was a friend of mine who’s a self-proclaimed pecan-pie maven.

Deep dish pecan pie

Deep dish pecan pie

Several steps, however, gave me pause.  It’s their theory that to make a perfect shortcrust or pâte brisée it’s accomplished by using bread flour instead of all-purpose or pastry flour. Their premises is based on this explanation:

Its protein content [of standard all-purpose flour] affects the way the dough absorbs water, can vary from season to season and brand to brand. Bread flour is engineered to have around 12 percent protein content, allowing us to get a better and more consistent result.

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Brunch in the rough: back to the basics at Ruski’s, Portland

December 21, 2015 / / Uncategorized

Think more top dog than top chef from the kitchen’s at Ruski’s.  At its most basic this is the parochial neighborhood restaurant and pub.  At brunch, or better described as breakfast, which happened to be this past Sunday, it was filled with a cozy cast of benign characters, otherwise known as ordinary people, wolfing down eggs, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and plenty of morning booze.   No trendy scene here or sustainable practices de rigueur.  The only thing local on the menu might be beers from Portland brew houses.

Breakfast/brunch at the bar

Breakfast/brunch at the bar

The bloody Mary, however,  is  a 16-ounce glass filled with the usual stuff, kind of spicy, no salted pepper on the rim but inside the firmest spear of ultra clean and crisp celery and olives on a pick.  I ordered one and it occurred to me that I should specify the vodka otherwise it might have been made from the well– OMG Poland Spring vodka!

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Fore Street: What more can one say other than it’s as good as ever!

December 18, 2015 / / Restaurants

After a recent dinner at Fore Street, what struck me most is how iconic this Portland restaurant remains.  That it manages to keep its reputation intact night after night, and its space packed at all times, is truly a revelation in a city teeming with great restaurants.

fore street 2015 front

After all, it’s the grande dame of farm-to-table dining in Maine whose newcomers are merely following suit rather than blazing new trails.  Consider, for instance, that Fore Street employed foragers way back while some of our city’s newest chefs were still in their knickers.

As soon as you walk in you see the whole scene--from the open kitchen into the dining room and the views of Portland Harbor beyond

As soon as you walk in you see the whole scene–from the open kitchen, the dining room and the views of Portland Harbor beyond

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Pork Cheeks, bourbon, ham and veal stock: navigating the territory of new cuts of meat made into a glorious dish

December 16, 2015 / / Baking & Desserts, Mains, Recipes

Pork cheeks are one of those cuts of meats gaining popularity with the growth of nose-to-tail butchery.  We have some excellent sources locally at such butcher shops as Rosemont, The Farm Stand, Maine MEat and Bleecker and Flam who get in whole animals that are carved onsite.

You’ll find recipes for these novel cuts in the new crop of cookbooks being written mostly by innovative restaurant chefs who either slaughter the animals for use in their kitchens or rely on local farms and producers who offer these esoteric finds.

For a Saturday night dinner party at home last weekend I labored through a fairly complicated menu that revolved around my stash of pork cheeks based on recipes from John Currence in his book “Pickles, Pigs and Whisky.”  He’s a James Beard award winner and has a group of restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi (see review).

Braised pork cheeks in bourbon veal and ham stock reduction over Anson Mills grits bourbon

Braised pork cheeks in bourbon, veal and ham stock reduction over Anson Mills grits

I say “stash” because they’re not in plentiful supply at the shops because a pig, after all, has only two cheeks.  And unless the butcher is cutting up several animals in the same week you need to order in advance.  For 6 people I needed 12 checks (about two pounds), which meant that the butcher needed to work on 6 carcasses.

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Where to shop now in Portland: What’s new at Hannaford, Shaw’s, Whole Foods, Portland Food Co-op, etcetera?

December 14, 2015 / / Discoveries

I wouldn’t give up your holiday dinner reservations at Fore Street, Back Bay Grill or any of our other great Portland restaurants.  Nor should you cancel your holiday catering orders from Aurora Provisions.  But for perfectly good basic prepared food,  take a look at the new Hannaford Kitchen at the Forest Avenue store where everything from full dinners, sandwiches, pizzas, pastries, sushi, stir fry and more are cooked onsite.

The various food stations at Forest Avenue Hannaford

The various food stations at Forest Avenue Hannaford

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Tempo Dulu Celebrates the Centennial of the Singapore Sling with unabashed style and elegance–and a fabulous dinner prepared by a visiting chef from Singapore

December 11, 2015 / / Restaurants

Portland’s   formidable charms don’t otherwise   compel restaurateurs to bring luxe into our dining world. Instead we have some of the most well-designed but down-to-earth restaurants in the country, the kind that earn James Beard awards and accolades in the national media regularly. They are the kind that highlight our prowess as practitioners of the much vaunted vanities of  farm-to-table.

That all changes, however,  when you enter the überstylish digs of the Danforth Inn and have reserved to dine at its restaurant, Tempo Dulu.  And of all the times I’ve been to this marvelous retreat to relish the haute cuisine of Southeast Asia that’s prepared by executive chef Lawrence Klang, his team pulled out all the stops for the special Singapore Sling dinner that occurred last Friday and Saturday nights.

Clockwise: guest convene in the main salon; advertising honcho, Brenda Garrand; at the bar; the gracious gallery and part of the trio in charge (l. to r.) Trevin Hutchins, Raymond Brunyanszki and Alfie Mossadeg

Clockwise: guest convene in the main salon; advertising honcho, Brenda Garrand; diners at the bar; the gracious gallery and part of the trio in charge (r.to l.) Alfie Mossadeg, Raymond Brunyanszki and Trevin Hutchins

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The infinite pleasures of classic meatloaf, a comfort-food favorite

December 9, 2015 / / Recipes

In the great wide world of comfort food, classic meatloaf is most everyone’s favorite dish.  Of course one’s idea of what constitutes the perfect recipe is open to interpretation.  I’m always on the lookout for tasty if not different takes on the dish. My mother, who was rarely inspired in the kitchen, was determined to make great meatloaf.  She dried every kind that came along.  One misguided attempt was made with bread soaked in milk and added to the beef mixture; the loaf was baked in an early version of a tabletop rotisserie.  It was awful! As a family we went out to eat often.

Classic meatloaf in tomato glaze

Classic meatloaf in tomato glaze

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