Fresh Approach has been a fixture on Brackett Street in the West End for years. Basically a neighborhood superette, the rustic-looking shop makes hearty breakfast sandwiches, burgers hot off the grill made with their highly prized beef mix that’s ground fresh every day; then there are the prepared meals in take-out boxes in a cooler case filled with homespun meals made in the market’s kitchen behind the deli counter. Of course, they’re known for their Italians and other sandwiches, too, where locals pile in at lunchtime.
A fixture on Brackett St
But the main event has always been the butcher shop that’s housed in the back of the store. Their ground beef has been the source of great hamburgers that were made at Ruski’s and elsewhere pre-pandemic. And what a great convenience if you live in the neighborhood and can get everything you need for dinner without having to go to a supermarket. The vegetable case is filled with all the basics and the grocery items include all the essentials. They even have Aunt Jemima pancake mix.
It’s basically an old-fashioned neighborhood market with a strong local following
But what has intrigued me lately is that all the beef sold by Steven, the butcher, comes from Bisson’s Market in Topsham, where the cows graze on the fields across the road from the shop. The beef can be defined as grass fed/pastured and finished on grain. Bisson’s has always wholesaled their meets but the extent of which has grown since their daily operations with walk-in clientele is on hold due to the pandemic. You can still buy Bisson’s beef and the farm’s other products (great butter, milk and cream ), but you have to order ahead and wait outside to pick up your order. The shop is only open Thursday to Saturday. And it’s a 30-mile trek from Portland to Topsham, one that I used to make every Saturday when the shop was open for walk-ins.
That Fresh Approach has begun selling Bisson’s meats (and a few other products like their churned butter) is a great find for Portlanders since the Rosemont Markets no longer have an in-house butcher for their various neighborhood customers (meats now come packaged mostly from Pineland Farms). Steven orders whole sides of beef and practices nose-to-tail butchery, offering cuts that you’re more apt to see at the fancier butcher shops that boast of the provenance of farm-raised grass fed beef. The other day I picked up a beautiful skirt steak–a bit pricey at $16,99 per pound. But eyed for another time were culotte and tri-tip steaks that I used to get at Rosemont. But this weekend I got one of those old-fashioned rolled and tied top sirloin roasts ($6.99 per pound). I used to get this roast on a regular basis when I lived in New York at my neighborhood butcher shop, Ottomanelli’s, on Bleecker Street. They’d bard the roast in a layer of fat since it’s a fairly lean meat. I asked Steven to prepare it the same way.
A showcase of local meats from Bisson’s Farm butchered by Fresh Approach’s butcher; prepared food and cuts of beef; other choices include Canadian pork and all natural chicken
It doesn’t cut like a rib roast or tenderloin, but rather, sliced thin it’s very tender and flavorful. I used a spice blend that I make with 1/2 cup kosher salt and 1 tablespoon each of fresh-ground black pepper and garlic salt that I rubbed into the roast all over. You only use a tablespoon or two of the spice blend; store it in a jar to have on hand for all roasted or grilled meats.
Even though my partner and I have both been vaccinated (first shot), it’s generally just the two of us at dinner. This roast, about 3 pounds, will make for great sandwiches during the week and some leftovers for a simple supper.
The local sheet pan dinner: local top sirloin roast with local pinto potatoes and carrots with a garnish of cippolini onions
I roasted it at high heat for the first 20 minutes then turned it down to a moderate oven to roast for 15 minutes per pound or until it’s medium rare. I put vegetables like potatoes, carrots and cippolini onions that have been par-boiled for a few minutes then put around the roast. After par-boiling, score the potatoes with a fork. The vegetables are brushed with olive oil.
Recently, the New York Times Cooking site has gone gaga over sheet pan dinners, devoting an entire multi-page section in the Sunday paper. This sheet pan dinner devised here is simplicity and goodness personified.
The roast beef dinner with vegetables and side of horseradish sauce
Add to that a dessert of old-fashioned southern caramel cake that is housed in my domed cake stand, Sunday dinner was complete!
Luscious southern caramel cake
For a dinner of delicious leftovers I served slices of the beef cold, accompanied by a Russian composed salad: itsy-bitsy pieces of hard-boiled egg, potatoes, cornichons, carrots, peas and boiled ham wrapped up in a mayonnaise dressing thinned with the brine of the cornichons. It was topped with Olivia Garden’s watercress. This was an adaptation of a Gabrielle Hamilton’s (featured in the NYT Cooking) take on the classic Russian salad, which I remember my grandmother serving at meals. The chutney served on the side was a sauce called Henry Bain Sauce, from the Louisville Kentucky’s Pendennis Club. It’s still served there.
Cold leftover roast beef with Russian salad and Henry Bain Sauce
