The Golden Dish

Old-fashioned diner strawberry pie

John Golden — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:31:21 GMT

Strawberries need no introduction, even to the kitchen naif who may appreciate their taste, texture and sweetness but knows nothing whatsoever about how to use unless it’s something ready made.

At the height of the season (now through most of July), strawberries are everywhere in the markets followed by raspberries, blackberries and ever-bearing strawberries

Pies are the usual suspect into which they get heaved about, usually mixed with rhubarb or a cornucopia of other berries as they appear in the markets. Maine’s farmers’ markets offer lots of berry varieties from raspberries to blackberries; but their availability is fleeting.

But we’re lucky to have what’s known as the ever-bearing variety, a strawberry strain that’s cultivated well into the summer and early fall. While most growers cultivate the short-season variety, we have enough other growers who consider it worthwhile to cultivate the long-season berry.

If you forage, now is the time to be on the lookout for wild strawberries; their flavor is intensely sweet

How to use strawberries is ultimately the real goal. Of course there are pies, ice cream, cobblers, fools, crisps, shortcakes, jams and the like. And as the summer progresses I’ll share some of my favorite recipes.

For starters, though, here is a strawberry pie, as homespun as a patriotic Sousa march, and often found in old-fashioned diners or in old regional cookbooks. What I like about this pie is that there’s no baking but rather a bit of stove-top preparation and choosing what kind of crust it goes into.

I’m of two minds about the crust. Traditional pastry dough is fine, but since the pie has to chill for an hour or two before serving, I find that cold pastry is less appealing. That’s why I’ll often make this with a cookie crust, which actually benefits from chilling. Either way it’s a great pie.

Diner Strawberry Pie
Servings: 6 to 8

Single 9-inch pastry crust, prebaked or
Cookie crust (recipe follows)

Crust
8- to 9-ounce box store- bought vanilla wafers (see Note) to yield 2 cups crumbs
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put enough wafers (just about the entire box), in two batches, into a food processor and process until thoroughly crushed to fine crumbs. (Alternatively put the cookies into a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.) Transfer to a medium size bowl. Stir in the melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined. (Note: Whole Foods store brand of vanilla wafers is a very decent cookie.)

Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate (preferably glass) and pat the crumbs into place, covering the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before filling.

Strawberry filling
1 quart strawberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Salt, to taste
1 cup water
Heavy whipping cream
Vanilla extract
Sugar

Cut off the bottom of the strawberries so that they can be placed upright into the prepared pie shell. Arrange them in concentric circles in the shell; if there are any bruised berries save them for the sauce. You’ll need about half of the quart of strawberries to fill the shell. Use about 1 ¼ cups of the remaining strawberries for the sauce.

In a heavy saucepan mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt with a whisk until well combined.
Put the remaining berries into a blender or food processor and puree. Add this to the sugar mixture. Add 1 cup water into the blender or processor to rinse out what remains on the sides of the blender or work bowl and add this to the berry-sugar mixture. Stir to combine.

Over medium-high heat, stir the mixture until it just starts to bubble on the surface and thicken, stirring constantly; this will take about 5 minutes. Once it’s bubbling, cook for 20 seconds and remove from the heat. The berry mixture will have darkened in color to a deep strawberry red.

Here is the unchilled pie just after the fresh berries have been covered in the hot strawberry sauce

After chilling and ready to serve the color of the pie grows more intense and lustrous

Pour the hot sauce over the berries in the shell, covering all the berry tops so none show through. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably longer. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream sweetened with sugar and a drop of vanilla extract. To store, cover the pie with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated. It will stay for about two days.

,The pie slices easily and stays firm and is the perfect summer dessert

The week that was a diner's dish

John Golden — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:18:31 GMT

From New York to Portland, Maine, and points in between, this was a good week for dining diversity. I discovered a charming but authentic Chinese outpost for Sichuan cooking in Midtown Manhattan and finally made it to the Waverly Inn, the uber bold-face hangout in the West Village.

Even my trip back to Maine on Amtrak with a meal at my seat wasn't half bad. But I returned to some very good eats right here: from bagels to Thai delectables to incredible cupcakes. Here's a look.

No one really expects to eat well at any of Vanity Fair honcho Graydon Carter's various eateries in New York (the Monkey Bar, the Beatrice Inn, el al), but the food at the celebrity-packed Waverly Inn isn't half bad, and this organic Amish chicken with a sweet mustardy glaze set over a squash puree was delicious.

Carter's banquette is the one on the right and if you're at the next one over then you're a de facto insider.

Cafe China pops up on a nondescript, somewhat seedy 37th Street between Fifth and Madison. Yet once inside it's vaguely Shanghai Circa 1930s, serving high-style refined Sichuan dishes like tea-smoked duck, baby lamb with cumin and don don noodles from the able hand of Chef Lu Ziqiang, a Sichuan native whose gentle touch tempers the hot stuff and allows the flavors of the ingredients to shine.

The crispy whole tilapia in a sweet sour sauce was our favorite dish but so too was the baby black lamb with fermented tofu and sweet red peppers. The dim sum selection was an interesting mix of dishes like the scallion pancakes and crystal shrimp dumplings.

On the 10:03 Amtrak Acela from Penn Station to Boston's South Station, lunch is served to first class passengers somewhere between New Haven and Providence. Here the shrimp over polenta cakes was pretty decent, but the pudding served for dessert was a concoction of great mystery.

Back in Portland, the bar hops at Boda, attracting a great diversity of diners who clamor for the terrific Thai food ; in fact, for me Boda is all I need for my Thai food fix.

Kanom Krok quail eggs with scallion and soy sauce is a brilliant dish and one of my favorite starters at Boda.

Another compelling small plate is Ma-Hor, fresh pineapple topped with ground pork, shrimp, onion and peanut.

Eating light at Caiola's is not always possible from Chef Abby Harmon's big-dish menu. So I often order two appetizers instead. Here was a great starter of sesame beef that was beautifully done in the Oriental style.

My lunch at Eventide was a lobster roll and a perfect cup of clam chowder; together it's a pricey repast at $30, but everything is so good, even the biscuit.

A perfectly made vodka gimlet at Outliers Eatery, followed by dinner at the bar, is a great way to start at this newly popular hipster haunt where good food meets and greets great energy.

For my main course I ordered the house-made pappardelle. It was a bit toothy but uiltimately very satisfying adorned by a velvety tomato and lobster sauce and a grilled lobster claw.

Outliers' panna cotta is one of the creamiest and richest of the genre, and the black raspberries served with it here were a great touch.

If you haven't been to Union Bagel yet, go because their traditional New York style bagels are the real deal. In the morning I picked up a toasted everything bagel with chive cream cheese. It had the correct Brooklyn-bake-oven texture of crispy on the outside and soft within.

The newest place in Portland is the Urban Farmstand at Aurora, the highly regarded gourmet hangout in the West End. At the farmstand ( created by Scarborough's Broadturn Farm ) tucked into a corner of the store there are fresh cut flowers, organic berries and vegetables.

And for the most dazzling and delicious vanilla cupcakes these are a must-have at Aurora , topped with a swirl of blackberry cream and decorative fondant.

Faring well at the Royal River Grillhouse

John Golden — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:49:20 GMT

On one of those dreary rain-splattered evenings last week, walking into the Royal River Grillhouse put us immediately at ease. The post and beam double-height room that overlooks the river and boat yard is a dramatic setting in which to have very well prepared grilled fare.

Beyond its attractive shingle-style exterior, a very pleasant waterfront setting awaits

Even though it's still covered with protective plastic sheets, the outdoor dining deck is an attractive space for waterfront dining

I’ve been there twice for dinner in the last two weeks, coincidentally on rainy nights. But what was remarkable for such weather-battered evenings is that the restaurant was filled to near capacity both times. We bumped into several groups of friends who had come from Portland, a fact that gives further credence to the popularity of this place, even for diners to travel 10 miles to enjoy very pleasant ambiance, food and service. Otherwise it’s certainly a go-to for Yarmouth and Foreside regulars.

The post-and-beam room is a dramatic country-style room in which to enjoy waterside dining

The tables by the windows are choice, though anywhere in the room affords good river views

I used to go here often many years ago when I lived on the Foreside. It was one of two restaurants in the area that were worthwhile. It changed ownership about 12 years ago from the lackluster Cannery to the present day Grillhouse.

At the time the new management had brought several veteran chefs from Fore Street to their midst, including Robert Magda, who’s still the chef there along with executive chef, Tony Merrill, who offer a very straightforward menu of wood-grilled dishes.

The open kitchen at the Royal River Grillhouse

It was also reassuring to see that much of the wait staff is still there, an excellent crew who know what they’re doing. If I have any gripes about the staff it’s the front of the house greeters, a crew of hostesses who always seem to be in a state of flummox when you walk up to their podium.

There are several dining spaces at Royal River. The bar room is a very popular, cozy-clubby room. Otherwise the coveted tables are in the main dining room, which overlooks the water; and beyond that is the large outdoor dining deck, which is a very pleasant spot at lunch or on balmy summer evenings. At this writing the covered space is still enclosed with protective clear plastic pull downs until our weather finally acts like summer.

On our first visit we enjoyed a good rendition of fried calamari that was served with a tasty coating of sea salt and vinegar and a dusting of Parmesan, all of which was set over greens. I also enjoyed an excellent entrée of panko crusted haddock placed over kohlrabi slaw and garlic mashed potatoes.

Fried calamari salad

At our most recent dinner we shared the evening’s special starter of fried soft shell crabs enlivened with lardoons of bacon and a mild chipotle mayonnaise. I prefer sautéed or grilled soft shells because I think the distinctive flavor of the crab remains intact; but it was an excellent way to begin our meal.

Fried soft-shell crabs

My dinner mate chose the seared tuna as an entrée. It’s prepared sashimi style with a dome of micro greens and wasabi aioli, pickled ginger and fried wontons. The excellent sushi-grade tuna was perfectly rendered and my friend loved it.

Seared sashimi style tuna

And I was very pleased with my dish of double-thick grilled pork chop because it was incredibly tender. All too often double chops tend to be tough if not correctly cooked. These were as tender as tenderloin. What gave it such succulence was the brine of birch beer and spices like cumin and coriander that gave it not only flavor distinction but incredible texture and tenderness. It was cooked on the wood grill fast over high heat—overcooking pork will render it tough—and served with a frizzle of fried sweet potatoes and accompanied by a grilled hash comprised of limas, zucchini and corn.

Double brined pork chop

We finished off with a duo of ice creams. One was an espresso chocolate-chip gelato made in- house and another dish of vanilla ice cream from Shaine’s, the locally made Maine ice cream purveyor.

Double dish of ice creams, vanilla from Shaine's of Maine and housemade espresso chocolate-chip gelato

At one point I asked our waiter about the bread because it was really good. It is in fact house-baked but in the brick ovens of their new restaurant, the Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro, which recently opened a few miles up the road in Freeport and commandeered by executive chef Tony Merrill, offering a menu of brick-oven pizzas and entrees based on locally sourced ingredients.

If the new place is as good as the long-running Grillhouse, then it’s certainly worth investigating. For now, it’s reassuring that this Foreside waterfront establishment is very much a reliable haunt for excellent fare at lunch, weekend brunch and dinner served in such a good-looking waterfront setting.

Adam Perry Lang's impossibly good barbecued chicken

John Golden — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:35:02 GMT

Adam Perry Lang,, chef and cookbook author, made a name for himself as a pit master with his first restaurant, Daisy Mae’s BBQ USA in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.

His first cookbook, Serious Barbecue, was an ambitious tome on the art of BBQ. His methods were somewhat different from his mentors down south—BBQ masters who were born into the genre rather than aspiring to it.

I’ve followed many of his recipes in the first book as well as a simpler version called BBQ 25, referring to the 25 most frequently, easily prepared recipes that most cooks attempt on the grill.

His new book, Charred & Scruffed, goes to the next dimension. Here is a work that has turned the art of backyard barbecuing upside down and inside out. The recipes and methods are so complicated that it takes multiple readings to understand it fully.

I’ve made a few of them but found that I altered the methods to suit my own capabilities and temperament to make barbecuing fun, not a chore. I would recommend that you get this book if only to glean some of the very sophisticated tastes that he outlines in his recipes, but take the methods with a grain of salt indeed.

I’ve included here an adaptation of his barbecued chicken called "Smoked Crack-Back Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Herbs de Provence Baste." It’s still very complicated, but I’ve streamlined it a bit. Neverrtheless, it is a wonderful dish.

The two main differences in this method are that you crack the backbone of the chicken, crushing it, and make holes in the back bone with a sharp knife. He feels all the smoke and flavors will permeate the chicken. I didn’t find anything appreciably different. I’ve omitted it here and you can too. But try it. It’s an experience.

Herewith is the somewhat shortened method for this dish.

Smoked Crack-Back Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Herbs de Provence Baste
Servings: 2 to 4

Very Basic Brine
¼ cup kosher salt
2 cups apple juice
10 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1 tablespoons ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before using, chilling it in the refrigerator and adding ice cubes, if you like, to chill it down quickly. Do this a day in advance of needing the chicken because the chicken will need 24 hours of brining.

Chicken preparation
One 3 ½ pound organic chicken
Freshly ground sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Garlic Salt, to taste (see Note)
Pinch cayenne pepper

The chcken has been brined and basted and ready for the grill

Lemon-garlic herbs de Provence baste
1 ½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
10 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons grated garlic (use a microplane)
2 tablespoons grated onion (use a microplane)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried lavender
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mirepoix
½ cup finely chopped shallots
¼ cup finely chopped carrots
¼ cup finely chopped celery
6 bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Mirepoix base: carrots, celery and shallots

Put the chicken into the chilled brine and refrigerate for 24 hours, making sure the chicken is completely submerged in the brine. Use either a large heavy plastic bag or large covered container.

Baste. Combine all the ingredients, except the white wine vinegar and lemon juice, in a saucepan and bring to the simmer. Remove from the heat. Allow to rest for 1 hour at least. This can be made a day in advance, but don’t add the white wine vinegar and lemon juice until needed (see recipe).

Chicken preparation. Remove the chicken from the brine when it’s done, cleaning off the residue but leave it wet. Sprinkle the chicken very generously all over with the salt, garlic salt, black pepper and cayenne, rubbing it in.

Note: Lang uses his 4 Seasons Blend as the seasoning salt. This is made by mixing together 1 cup kosher salt, 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons garlic salt and 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Put this mixture into a spice grinder and grind until the consistency of sand. The easier method is nearly as good.

Meanwhile prepare a charcoal or gas grill that’s been preheated to 400 degrees. Add the smoking wood (soaked for 30 minutes) for either fire. Apple wood or maple works best; hickory is too intense.

Placed into the preheated skillet over a smoky bed of coals, the chicken is basted, covered and "smoked" for about 10 minutes

Put a cast iron skillet directly over the grates and let the pan heat, covered, for 10 minutes as the smoke builds up in the chamber.

Brush the chicken all over with the baste and put the chicken, breast side up, into the hot cast-iron pan. Now add the white wine vinegar and lemon juice for future basting.

Cook the chicken in the covered grill for 10 minutes. (Lang doesn’t specify to cover the grill but I did thinking that you want the smoke from the wood.)

This process of turning from side to side in the skillet produces a wonderful crispy skinned exterior

Baste with the acid-enriched basting sauce and turn the chicken on its side and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. If your grill is getting too slow, remove the cover to regenerate the coals if the heat goes below 350 to 400 degrees. No need to do this with a gas grill.

The aromatic vegetables produce a great base for the enriched wine and chicken stock sauce

Baste again and turn on its other side. Cover the grill and cook for 10 minutes. Turn breast side up, baste again and scatter the vegetables and herbs around it. Cook for another 20 minutes, covered, checking the temperature with an instant read thermometer; you want the meat to reach 160 degrees eventually.

When done remove from the skillet to a carving board and let it rest while you make the sauce

Sauce
½ cup white wine
1/1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsely
Lemon pepper, to taste

Add the white wine to the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or more, covered, or until the 160 degree- internal temperature is reached.

Remove the chicken to a carving board to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the wine and pan juices to a medium saucepan and boil over medium heat on the stove until reduced to a glaze. Add the chicken stock and boil until reduced by half. Swirl in the butter, bit by bit, until the sauce thickens slightly. Pass the sauce through a fine strainer into a sauceboat. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Carve the chicken, sprinkle with some lemon pepper and serve the sauce over or on the side.

The chicken turned out very well; I served it with macaroni and cheese, the first growth of local baby brocoli at the farmer's market, grilled rosemary bread and a crisp white Savoie wine

Waterfront dining (a series)

John Golden — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:57:04 GMT

The Saltwater Grille is everything a dockside eatery should be. Its perch on the South Portland side of Portland Harbor overlooking an active marina off Front Street offers some pretty dazzling views of the Portland skyline.

The main dining room flanked by the open kitchen and active lounge offers a dramatic waterfront setting

When the weather cooperates, the waterside dining deck is a very popular spot at lunch or dinner. With comfortable chairs, sturdy umbrellas and tables spaced nicely apart, it’s one of the few waterfront establishments that offer comfort with a view to match.

Even on a nasty, rainy night at dusk, the views are still a thrill

I’ve been to the Saltwater Grille many times over the years, but last week’s visit was the first in a long time. The high-ceilinged large dining room is very 1980s modern, and one could argue that it’s time for a redo.

The menu, however, offers the perfect balance of seafood and grill fare, with meats and pasta well represented in addition to simply prepared fish dishes. Compared to its neighbor, Joe’s Boat House, down the road, this is like the Pavillon of the inner harbor.

The night we were there, it was raining heavily. Still, sitting inside at a window table, the sights were clear overlooking the large boat anchorage and the city views.

We started off with a lobster quesadilla that was quite good. The quesadilla was nicely grilled and crispy, holding big chunks of tasty lobster. The accompanying salsa and dish of sour cream were all that was needed.

There's nothing new or novel about quesadillas per se, but this was a good example of one, with plenty of lobster

For an entrée, my dinner mate chose the evening’s special, Seafood Puttanesca, with lobster, shrimp, mussels and scallops over linguini. It was served in a heavy olive-caper- tomato-based sauce. For the most part the shellfish components were excellent except for a few of the mussels that were off. In fact, some hadn’t even opened, which the kitchen shouldn’t have served.

This was an old-fashioned dish of haddock that was nicely done, enriched with a Parmesan crust and set over the creamiest Yukon gold potatoes

I opted for the Maine haddock, a delicious piece of fish with a Parmesan crust and served over a creamy mash of Yukon gold potatoes. The accompanying string beans were cooked al dente, though the kitchen might have opted for local, seasonal asparagus, which would have been more appropriate. (The Saltwater Grille doesn’t particularly emphasize locally sourced foods on the menu.)

All desserts are come from the bakery, Katie Made, which are certainly good but not outstanding. Our espresso cheesecake was unexciting.

What surprised me were the price points on the menu. Entrées are in the $25 to $30 range. This is the norm at such places as Five Fifty-Five, Back Bay Grille or Fore Street—and not the domain of a casual waterside bistro.

For something completely different, the oceanfront dining deck at the Sea Glass Restaurant at Inn by the Sea offers a luxurious setting for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We chose to go for Sunday brunch this past weekend, on the one nice day that we had.

The Inn by the Sea is certainly one of Maine's premier waterfront hotels

On a gorgeous Sunday late morning the dining deck is a splendid place for brunch overlooking the gardens and the ocean beyond

Overlooking the ocean, the setting and views are incomparable. The chairs are very comfortable and the place-settings and other touches are stylish. The menu offers the usual suspects for brunch fare, from blueberry pancakes to variations on eggs Benedict.

The view from the Sea Glass dining deck

The outdoor dining room at the Sea Glass is a coveted spot to dine on a stellar day

My friend had the braised corned beef hash and I chose an eggs Benedict dish that had a base of crab cakes set over an avocado puree and topped by two perfectly poached eggs. It was very good.

Rather than the usual crusty croned beef hash, this version is more delicately done--a braise of meat, potatoes and aromatics

This was a very good variation ono eggs Benedict in which crab cakes are the base instead of bread and it's placed over a delicious avocado mousse

This is definitely a place to consider as summer progresses with warmer weather because the setting is so beautiful.. At breakfast, lunch or dinner, sitting on the deck overlooking the ocean, the inn’s gardens and pool are a respite from urban scenery indeed.

The restaurant has received a lot of attention recently because of its chef, Michael Kaldrovich, whose culinary persona is on the rise. I’ll definitely go there for dinner this summer and will report back soon.

All's well at The Well

John Golden — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:47:07 GMT

Chef Jason Williams is very much the maverick. This year alone he followed an intrepid path to Alaska where he cooked for hunting parties and skiers under less than ideal conditions. Other years he’s trekked on trawlers through Southeast Asia or gone mountain climbing in exotic locales.

It’s as though all this is prelude to his great passion, The Well, his seasonal restaurant anchored on the grounds of Jordan's Farm in Cape Elizabeth.

The main building of The Well houses the kitchen with a small screened dining porch on the side; diners bring their own wine and beer

This might also explain how he manages so brilliantly each season at his peripatetic dining perch, which opened June 1 and will run through the fall.

Assisted by his loyal waitstaff to serve diners, this allows Williams to focus intently on producing his stellar meals

Here in the cook-house with its attached dining bar he prepares without assistance up to 60 meals a night with enough space to accommodate four diners inside as well as two dining gazebos that can hold larger parties followed by those who opt to have their meals en plein air at picnic-style tables scattered in the farm fields.

Bordered by strawberry fields and wild flowers, the dining pavilions form a nucleus in which to experience real farm-to-table dining

For many years he cooked in Portland’s famed Back Bay Grill, a stomping ground that has made him something of a perfectionist. Everything he prepares is made in his kitchen, right down to artisanal loaves of bread served warm with farm butter. Everything else is sourced locally. Browne Trading supplies the fish, Serendipity Farms (North Yarmouth) for chicken and Breezy Hill Farm (South Berwick) for pork. With a menu that changes weekly, it's the essence of simplicity, a transmutation of style well crafted.

The Well has also become a neighborhood sanctuary-- a meeting place for neighbors up and down Wells Road and other Cape Elizabeth environs. Some call ahead to take food out for home dining while friends and families gather at the tables in the fields with children and the family dog --an event of bonhomie to savor Williams' special culinary largesse.

Even Rover wants to be part of the evening food festivities

The night that we were there earlier this week, a tall, lanky bearded man came in to place his order and started taking pictures of us sitting in the cook-house dining room.

“What’s up with the camera?” we asked.

“Oh, I’m from Manhattan, and we have nothing like this in the city.”

“Why not?” we asked dumbly.

“Not many farms in Manhattan,” he chuckled.

We all laughed and it’s all part of the unexpected when you go to the Well.

The show begins and Williams preps each dish with precision

With attention to detail, Williams warms each dish with his handy blow torch before putting the food on the plate

Most of the food is seared on the wood grill (fueled by apple wood) and then finished off in the oven

On the menu that night was a salad of local mixed greens, house-cured bacon, hothouse tomatoes, fiddlehead ferns and red onion coated with balsamic vinaigrette. Entrée choices included a wood grilled chicken breast, confit of leg, mashed potatoes and fiddleheads or asparagus. The fish offering was North Atlantic cod set over basmati rice, grilled ramps or asparagus and charred cherry tomatoes.

The evening salad could be mixed local greens, lardoons, roasted onions and buttermilk dressing

There’s always a meat dish, like pork or lamb and tonight was a special preparation of 12-hour smoked pork shoulder, pulled and shaped into a cake, finished off on the wood grill and served over soldier beans with whole grain mustard and roasted onions.

A brilliant dish of smoked pork, pulled and formed into a cake, seared on the grill and served over soldier beans

A perfect piece of local cod seared on the grill and finished in the oven is served over rice, with grilled local asparagus and charred cherry tomatoes

The pasta choice that evening was potato gnocchi made with Norland potatoes (Jason’s favorite) and served with spinach, roasted parsnips, carrots, braised radishes and tomato puree. It was a beautiful looking dish.

House-made gnocchi paired with a perfect melange of spring vegetables

As the season progresses Williams prepares desserts based on what’s available in the markets. Tonight it was his homemade donut—the lightest and airiest you’ll ever have—placed on rhubarb compote, honey and a vanilla cream.

New this year is a family-style prix fixe menu ($35 and $45) offered to larger groups of six or more, that includes chicken, vegetables, breads, pasta, or a lobster or shellfish boil.

The evening dessert, house-made donut over rhubarb compote

What’s amazing is that Williams does all this himself, working with the speed of an agile athlete manipulating the foods from prep to stove top to plate flawlessly, with every dish being a marvel of looks and taste.

On a summer’s eve, with the balmy, gentle breeze coming off the ocean, picking up the scents of the farm fields along the way, this is summer dining at its best.

The final seal of approval

Strawberries have arrived

John Golden — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:34:41 GMT

Local strawberries are just starting to trickle in at farmers’ markets and should be widely available in the coming weeks.

The strawberry harvest last year at Fairwinds Farm in Bowdoinham, a prolific grower of berries

I was lucky to find some grown by Six River Farm last week at their stand at the Crystal Spring Farmer’s Market in Brunswick. They only had a few dozen pints, and they went fast.

The fields at Six River Farm on the banks of Merrymeeting Bay in Bowdoinham

Now we can start to enjoy the classic pairing of strawberries and rhubarb while they’re available in the markets at the same time; strawberries stay around longer with the ever-bearing variety through early fall, but rhubarb will be gone soon.

In some ways I like strawberries on their own, without competing, contrasting ingredients. After all what’s better than creamy strawberry ice cream, tarts, cobblers and pies?

This is not to say that the classic strawberry-rhubarb pie isn’t a great dessert. And I made a wonderful version of it this week, keeping it simple with just sugar and nutmeg and the right combination of strawberries to rhubarb.

Use your favorite pastry recipe for the double crust or refer back to my May 29th posting for rhubarb cream pie and the dough recipe that’s offered there.

When you remove the pie from the oven let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving

Strawberry-rhubarb pie
One 9-inch pie

1 double-crust pie dough recipe
1 ½ cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
Pinch salt
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg, or to taste
3 cups diced rhubarb (about 4 stalks)
1 pint strawberries, sliced in half
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
Egg wash with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon heavy cream, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar, for dusting
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the over to 425 degrees
Put the dry ingredients and spices into a large mixing bowl, combining with a whisk until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

Prepare the rhubarb and strawberries and add to the flour mixing; using your hands, gently mix everything together until well blended. Let this mixture macerate for about 15 minutes.

Put into the prepared pie shell, cover with the top crust, make four slits in the top of the crust for air vents and brush the crust with the egg wash; sprinkle the top with sugar.
Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top has browned nicely and the filling is bubbly. Remove from oven and brush the top with melted butter. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

On the waterfront (a summer series)

John Golden — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 10:52:18 GMT

For waterfront dining two restaurants, one established and one brand new, stand out in the region, offering diners waterfront settings along with good food.

The newly opened KPT in Kennebunkport’s Boathouse Inn (part of hotelier Tim Harrington’s Resort Collection) on the river is already off to a smashing start since it opened last week. It’s the brainchild of veteran Portland chef, David Turin (David’s, 388 and Opus 10), who has also installed within another iteration of his Opus 10 for the Kennebunkport crowd.

The main dining room at KPT is a vast room with a wall of windows overlooking a wrap-around dining deck that fronts on the harbor where all the yachts are anchored

I went to KPT for luinch recently and marvelled at the stunning high-luxre room that so well reflects the lily white affluence of this Bush-centric resort' town.

The room is classic, rich sea-blue, with mahogany trim, deeply tufted banquettes and, of course, a panoramic view of the river and boat tyraffic.

The menu, however, is not that much different from Turin’s other restaurants—a bit of this and that finding its way to KPT. The difference, though, is the food is served in a setting of ultra-high style.

For lunch I chose to start with the lobster bisque, a classic version that was beautifully done without the weird additions that many chefs feel they have to add to make it different. Followed by a pizza and salad entrée (as in David’s at Monument Square), it was very well prepared.

This was a superb lobster bisque, classic, rich and creamy

This was a very nice lunch entree of pizza with a Caesar salad

The bar-room at KPT

My guest had house-made ravioli filled with exotic mushrooms perched in an elegant Madeira sauce with truffle oil and ricotta. This was a great pasta dish and a perfect –sized lunch serving.

These ravioli were beautifully done, filled with mushrooms set in a Madeira truffle sauce

Other waterfront restaurants to consider in Greater Kennebunkport include the newly opened Ocean, at the Cape Arundel Inn and the Tides Beach Club along Goose Rocks Beach, both connected to Harrington’s inn empire. I haven’t been to these yet but will visit them this summer.

A more established waterfront dining aerie known by Portland residents is the Falmouth Sea Grill on the grounds of Handy Boat After a complete renovation several years ago, the Falmouth Sea Grill offers a stylish setting on Casco Bay.

At the Sea Grill, the option of seating inside or out really doesn't matter since the indoor room opens to the outdoors

The indoor bar at the Sea Grill is a great meeting place

When the heat wave hit last week I thought it was time to pay a visit to the Sea Grill where the waterfront perch is as good as the food.

The downstairs dining room (upstairs is open for private events in the summer and for lunch and dinner service in the winter) is beautifully designed in a cool, modern style. It’s one of those inside-out rooms where the doors open wide to let in the view and sea air no matter where you’re sitting. There are two bars inside and on the deck that feel a little bit like Malibu on the Foreside. The night we were there the place was teeming with neighborhood swells, but we were lucky to get the last two seats at the bar for dinner.

The coconut shrimp, with a mango salsa, is a firm favorite at the Sea Grill

The Sea Grill has a well rounded menu with a focus on seafood. One great starter is the coconut shrimp served with a mango salsa or sometimes with an orange marmalade. These are big, gutsy fried shrimp with an armor of coconut that makes it so delicious. My friend ordered this followed by steak tartare as a main course and was totally satisfied with both dishes.

You wouldn't expect to find such a good version of steak tartare at a restaurant that focuses on seafood

I started with bacon and cheddar fritters, which were great to pair with a well made vodka negroni cocktail.

The Sea Grill bar serves a perfect negroni

Very good bacon and cheese fritters

For a main course I chose cornmeal crusted Pollock prepared over a hash of Brussel sprouts and potatoes. It was packed with flavor but came off as an overly hearty dish to serve in the summer.

The cornmeal-crusted pollock over a brussel sprout hash--loaded with flavor--was a hearty dish for summer dining

Still, the Falmouth Sea Grill is one of the best waterfront dining spots in the area, offering excellent fare that matches it stunning setting on Casco Bay.

Isn’t that they way life should be?

Dusk fast approaching, overlooking the anchorage at Handy Boat

No further to fall at Joe's Boathouse

John Golden — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:54:12 GMT

Joe’s Boathouse is everything a restaurant shouldn’t be. There it sits on the docks of Spring Point Marina in South Portland, where it deserves to throw down big dishes of salty seaside fare but instead resorts to cliché after cliché from a menu that probably hasn’t changed in years.

Spring Point Marina in South Portland is a very pretty spot

Considering that Portland is a peninsula, and South Portland and its environs front on various marinas and the ocean, one would imagine that we’d have all sorts of waterfront dining options.

But we don’t. The fact is Portland’s waterfront sits mired in decay when it should be the crown jewel of the region. But that’s another story.

Back to Joe’s, I haven’t been there in years, but recall it being more of a waterfront roadhouse serving gutsy dishes like shrimp fra diavolo, spaghetti with clam sauce or grilled swordfish in the Mediterranean style. I must have been dreaming.

Sign of the times at Joe's Boathouse

The dockside setting at Joe's is very appealing

The best part about Joe’s, of course, is the view. The outdoor dining terrace looks out over a pretty marina and Casco Bay beyond. Inside, the dining room has three choice tables directly in front of the windows overlooking the scenery. The interior tables enjoy a good vantage point, too. Otherwise I don’t think the décor has changed in years. Even that deadly back dining area attached to the main dining room remains a gloomy chamber — like a 3-season addition affixed to the rear end of a double-wide.

The central dining room at Joe's offers nice harborside views

The open kitchen lauds over the dining room

Our waitress, cute as a button, was nearly impossible to understand because she muttered so. But she tried her best, even if I did ask her to repeat herself — perhaps once too often.

We ordered some cocktails, which took forever to come from the bar, and studied the menu. This was an easy, dull read with the usual suspects gussied up with so much menu-speak it was like reading the chronicles of a jabberwocky.

For appetizers choices included Caesar salad, the wedge, clam chowder, fried calamari and so forth. My friend chose shrimp cocktail, figuring how bad can it be? And I had — big mistake — Cajun chicken and corn egg rolls, which our waitress said was a house specialty.

Joe's jumbo shrimp cocktail, 3 for $10.95

Those egg rolls were as dense at corn dogs, served with a viscous dipping sauce that could have passed for Elmer’s glue. But the shrimp cocktail was a bright, ceremonious eyeful that was decent even though they were most likely previously frozen. (I don’t know why we can’t get large fresh shrimp in Maine?). The accompanying cocktail sauce was straight out of a jar.

A serving of Joe's chicken and corn egg rolls go a long way

Joe’s is very popular with locals and certainly sets the scene for casual dining. Perhaps that's why the kitchen falls short, not itself seriously. With our entrees now before us, the result was, for the most part, lackluster.

My friend ordered fish and chips, which I’ll admit were classic and quite nicely prepared. They were described as Mere Point haddock and chips, though I’d wager they were not precisely from Harpswell fishing waters.

A respectable fish and chips--good fries and slaw, too

I chose the tuna. It’s described on the menu as being seared and topped with a sesame drizzle. At least the word “artisanal” did not appear anywhere on the menu (no surprise), but this drizzle was so asphyxiating and heavy it could have felled Sinatra singing "Angel Eyes."

The seared tuna was not a successful dish

The tuna, if you can imagine it, had the texture of gummy chalk. It was cooked to that nether-land of doneness, meaning half-raw-half-cooked or basically a pinkish mess that was neither fish nor fowl. I dipped my fork into the accompanying mango salsa and nibbled on some rice and pickled ginger.

The dessert was the best dish of the meal because it wasn’t made on the premises. It came, according to our waitress, “from away” and it was a delicious slice of vanilla lemon cake that was rich and tasty in all the right places.

The final touch was a very good vanilla-lemon cake a la mode

More on rhubarb

John Golden — Wed, 29 May 2013 10:15:25 GMT

Rhubarb is still the star choicee of spring foods at farmers' markets. And until its popular pairing of strawberries are in the markets rhubarb does very well on its own.

In fact I’ve never been an ardent fan of rhubarb, but I’ve rediscovered this herbaceous plant so I'm always on the lookout for different recipes, and now I can't get enough of it.

In preparing rhubarb for pie and most other uses, cut off the top and bottom stems, cut down the middle lengthwise and then cut into half-inch or larger pieces

One that I came across recently was for a rhubarb custard pie. Food historian Sandy Oliver has one in her excellent book, Maine Food, and I stumbled on another one that was nearly identical to Sandy’s in Ronald Johnson’s tome, American Table. By the way, look for this book because it’s loaded with incredible recipes of regional American cooking--from Southwestern tacos to Georgia peach barbecue sauce.

The cut rhubarb can be done in advance, put in a covered bowl and refrigerated until needed

The recipe that I offer here is a tweaked version from both sources. For the pastry, I've included an excellent method for short crust that uses mostly butter and a small amount of fresh lard, which lightens up the pastry enormously, giving it incredible flakiness and buttery flavor. You can buy freshly prepared lard (not hydrogenated as you would find on supermarket shelves) at Rosemont Market at its Brighton Ave. location and occasionally from Maine-ly Chicken’s stand at the Portland Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

Rhubarb Cream Pie
Servings: 8

Filling
3 cups rhubarb sliced in ½ inch pieces
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
Big pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch ground cardamom
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon additional butter cut into pats
Confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Cut each stalk in half lengthwise (about 4 stalks) and then slice on the diagonal into ½-inch or slightly thicker slices and put in a small mixing bowl.

Meanwhile mix together in a large mixing bowl the sugar, flour, spices, melted butter and beaten eggs until mixture is mostly creamy. Stir in the milk until thoroughly smooth. Fold in the rhubarb. Set aside while you make the pastry.

Give the filling a good stir before adding it to the prepared pastry shell

Pastry
Enough for a double crust pie

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
8 ounces (two sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes, put in the freezer for 5 minutes
1 ounce leaf lard (2 tablespoons), cut into cubes, put in the freezer with the butter for 5 minutes
About ½ cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar and salt into the work bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

Scatter the butter and lard over the flour mixture and pulse 8 to 10 times until the mixture forms into pieces the size of small peas. Add the water gradually, pulsing after each addition and then give it a final processing for a few seconds until the mixture just barely holds together; it should be very moderately moist. If not add a few drops more water.

Empty the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and form the dough into two equal halves about 11 ounces each in weight) and shape into disks; wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour. Roll out one of the pastry rounds on a well-floured work surface to fit into an 8- to 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edges and fold the remaining overhang underneath. Give the filling a few stirs and then and add to the pie dish. Cut the 1 tabelspoon butter into pats and scatter over the filling. Set aside.

For the other dough, roll it out to a rectangle about 8 by 14 inches and cut into 1-inch wide strips to make a lattice top. Place these in an alternating pattern over and under each other to form the lattice grid. Pinch the ends of the dough to make a decorative border. Lightly brush the top with an egg wash of 1 egg and 1 tablespoon milk or cream beaten well.

Place the dish on a baking sheet and put in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is nicely brown and the mixture is bubbly.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle on some confectioner’s sugar shaken through a sieve. Let the pie cool to room temperature before serving. The pie can be stored for several days in the refrigerator.

This has become one of my favorite pies and the method lends itself to using cherries, peaches, apples and other fruits in the cream filling

SOS on MD Weekend and other food forays

John Golden — Tue, 28 May 2013 14:50:49 GMT

For the first time ever I encountered a Wikipedia entry that was most shockingly blunt. It went on to cite “. . . chipped beef” so described as shit on a shingle, being military slang for S.O.S. in mess hall kitchens.

I bring this up because it happened to be the start of our Memorial Day weekend breakfast when we stopped at the Brunswick Diner on Saturday—the beinning of a holiday journey through a minor monsoon to get there. But I was determined to take this food spree despite the horrific weather.

The Brunswick Diner: the essential greasy spoon serving delicious homestyle fare

The chipped beef was an outstanding example of creamed beef on toast that my travel mate ordered. My choice of sausage and gravy over biscuits and eggs was no less delicious. This was a great home-style breakfast at a diner that maintains its stalwart greasy-spoon rough-and-tumble personna.

The Brunswick Diner's delicious chipped beef served over two slices of Texas toast and a side of home fries--soft and creamy within and crisp on the outside

The diner's very good sausage gravy over grilled biscuits with a side of eggs perfectly "over easy"

From there we trundled over to the Crystal Springs outdoor farmer’s market on Pleasant Hill Rd. Cold, wet and muddy, the grounds were a challenge, and only half the vendors were there, many of whom were wearing gloves and winter outerwear.

We didn’t stay long and resumed our journey towards Camden where I had a few stops planned. The first was Curtis Meats—the country butcher shop on a hill in Warren off Route 90. It’s an amazing place to buy real local beef, which is raised on their own grazing grounds on a very scenic stretch of Route 220 across from the peerless Morse’s.

The butcher case at Curtis Meats is filled with pastured beef from their own cows; they also sell local lamb, Canadian pork, local chickens and all kinds of house-made and cured meat products

Everything is big at Curtis. I loaded up on double-cut pork chops that were nearly 4 inches thick as were the whopping 32-ounce Porterhouse steaks and lesser cuts like shaved beef, skirt steak and humungous roasts of all kinds—all beautifully butchered. I also always pick up a pack of “yellow” cheese, their house-made hot dogs and gleaming slices of olive loaf. Packed into the cooler, which I always travel with, we were on our way to Camden.

We stopped first at the Camden Farmer’s Market, but it closed down early because the weather was so fierce, especially the gale-force winds that developed.

Normally vibrant and bustling with shoppers and vendors, the Camden Farmer's Market was a sorry sight as heavy rains and wind pummelled the area

From there we intended to go to the much talked about Comida Latin Kitchen for lunch. But we were too early and it wasn’t open yet. Instead we took the back roads to Rockport because I keenly wanted to see the newly opened Salt Water Farm.

Rockport's Union Hall, which houses Salt Water Farm; Brian Hill's Shepherd's Pie is just a few doors away

This is the brainchild of Chef Annemarie Ahearn whose impressive background includes stints with super-star chefs in New York and Paris.

Lining up to order at the SWF counter

Talk about precious high-style, Salt Water Farm embodies it to the hilt. Housed in the restored Union Hall in Rockport, on a dramatic promontory overlooking Penobscot Bay, the setting looks like a glittering Martha Stewart stage set--an asylum of essential pleasures for the culinary cognoscenti who don’t flinch at $30 tidbits for breakfast or lunch.

The dining scene at SWF has communal and private tables, bar seating and a beutiful outdoor deck overlooking Rockport Harbor

Of course the menu follows the obligatory locavore format exquisitely presented. There are pastries, cookies, biscuits, cakes and savories galore.

For lunch we settled on locally cured ham nestled into a mile-high salted biscuit; spring-dug parsnip soup and what was simply described as an egg sandwich with anchovies.

The order-and-dine procedure, however, is cumbersome: One waits on line to tell the processor what you want, then it’s scrupulously tallied into a miniature high-tech computer station and your name is written on a slip of paper. None of this happens quickly. Then you find a table (communal or private) and wait for your name to be announced as a waiter enters the dining space searching for you.

The open kitchen is a bustling scene of cooks and crew meticulously tending to their exquisite preparations

This is food for the gods--nothing resembling SOS here. But rather it’s the epitome of divine taste and style. The cream of parsnip soup is about the best you’ll have anywhere. Silky and rich, it embodies the flavor of freshly dug spring parsnips—and the bits of poached parsnip within and the dollop of house-made crème fraiche are brilliant touches.

The purity of flavor in the parsnip soup was extraordinary

The ham biscuit was perfect even with its twit of a few pickles on the side. The egg sandwich, however, was sublime understatement. Served on grilled focaccia, it had a based of wilted kale, and half of a hardboiled egg on top; a few freshly cured flecks of anchovies scattered about delivered walloping flavor.

SWF makes a great biscuit, and the ham was delicious; those with larger appetities might need a side course or salad for a complete lunch

When I first saw the sandwich I thought, where's the other half? But the kale is very fresh, the bread beautifully grilled and the egg half and a few freshly cured anchovies whet my appetite ineed

Had we not still felt the earlier effects of chipped beef and sausage and gravy sticking to our ribs we would have left very hungry, but not displeased

Saturday's dinner menu at SWF

On our return to Portland we made two more pit stops as the heavens broke loose again in downpour. First was the Market Basket, that glorious food shop of breads, cakes, pastries and prepared food. But what I always crave there is a tub of their port-wine cheddar, New England’s version of the south’s pimiento cheese.

You could feel like the kid in the candy shop with so much to be tempted by at Rockport's inimitable Market Basket

Last stop was Beth’s, the terrific farm market nestled in the Warren farming hills off Western Road. By now Beth’s should have had the first of the season’s strawberries which are delayed by our cold spring. As it was we settled on some greens, a pint of her 35 percent butterfat heavy cream, tender spinach and trellis-grown hothouse cukes.

Having started out as a road-side vegetable stand years ago Beth's has grown into a farming behemoth without sacrificing quality; everything there is grown at the farm

For the rest of the trip back, the rain had stopped, and I was very pleased with our great spree of food finds and dining. Still to come, though, was a late dinner at Back Bay Grill where the last of the soft shell crabs were brilliantly devised.

Back Bay's sous chef filling in for owner/chef Larry Matthews

Back Bay's stunning presentation of batter-dipped soft shell crabs with an incredible pesto and tomatoes followed by their beautifully done sage-marinated roast chicken breast

This incredible rhubarb tart with lemon sorbet was the crowning touch to a superb dinner at Back Bay Grill

Artemisia Cafe: a reprieve on Pleasant Street

John Golden — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:13:05 GMT

Artemisia lives up to the meaning of its name and the name of its location—artful, aromatic food located on charming Pleasant Street—a hideaway location indeed.. The restaurant has been in Portland longer than I have and until recently lunch and brunch were its métier.

Artemisia's location on Pleasant St. is part of a charming urban mix of early 19th century houses and offices for Portland's creative crew of architects and artists

I went there years ago for lunch in the days when the city was hardly the culinary whiz bang that it is today. Creative salads and sandwiches, creaky tables and a lot of cozy ladies with neatly coiffed hair favored this outpost café. With owner/chef Celia Bruns at the helm, she made the place famous (for some) with her invention of a sweet potato sandwich, which was a lot better than it sounds (it’s still on the menu). Slices of sweets are grilled, put on whole grain bread with avocado, sprouts, red onion and tomatoes set in a lemon poppy-seed mayonnaise—a painstaking reminder of 1970s California cuisine, which perhaps should remain in the nostalgic past rather than front and center.

Artemisia's interior space is bare-bones charming

There will soon be a full bar; for now there's wine and beer

Artemisia may have been on the brink of the city’s food revolution then, but as a dining destination it never went beyond the prosaic. You wouldn’t rush over there for a fix of culinary hijinks.

But with its newly installed dinner service under the direction of Guy Frenette, a local chef with cooking experience here and in California, Artemisia might finally enter its second wave. It still serves lunch with Bruns in the kitchen during the day. After night fall it tries to let loose.

The dining space is very much the way I remembered; in fact, nothing has really changed. The room is set up in a series of booths--front, back and side, with a bar at one end serving beer and wine, and a liquor license is on its way.

On a dreary night the other evening--cold and very off-putting on the eve of Memorial Day weekend--it was a nice, quiet place to have dinner. The restaurant was not crowded, but as we settled in a friend of mine came in to have dinner and said, “Oh, you’ve discovered this place--lucky us.”

The kitchen sent out a tasty offering of brandade fritters topped with a chipotle mayonnaise. These were very well done and a nice beginning but hardly seismic.

An offering from the kitchen, the Maine halibut brandade fritters are served with a chipolte mayo

On the back side of the menu were various drink offerings, which included a blast from aperitif past: Lillet on the rocks. What a dignified-old-fashioned libation, nearly prehistoric like soda pop.

As for the menu, it’s an odd juxtaposition of cuisines, vaguely fusion Mediterranean, meaning a little bit of this and that.

We were three at table and two of us ordered the diced beet salad served in a melange of shaved fennel, olives, avocado and parsley and sat in an orange-pistachio dressing that was delicious, even if the color was oddly green. The third starter was a classically prepared dish of mussels. These were well conceived in coconut milk, serrano peppers, garlic, basil and lime.

A zesty helping of Maine mussels

A first course salad of fennel, beets and avocado

Of the next three entrees mine was the most successful. It was a ballotine of chicken that was delicately rolled around an herbed chicken mousse and served with quinoa, broccoli and olives atop sauce pevra, a Mediterranean preparation that’s basically a balsamic-based bread sauce. It's an elegant dish.

Ballotine of chicken was beautifully prepared

Gnocchi with asparagus and Parmesan

Lamb meatballs

The other two entrees that my friends had were gnocchi with asparagus and mint and a dish of Mediterranean lamb meatballs. The gnocchi dressed with asparagus and herbs were properly smooth and light but ultimately uninteresting. The lamb meatballs would have been better presented as an appetizer instead of a main course. They were tangy and robust in all the right places accompanied by a rich raita and an assertively proper dipping sauce called muhammara, a kind of tangy pepper sauce. All of this was meant to be wrapped up in grilled flatbreads.

Desserts were chocolate ice cream affogato, a berry trifle and a very standard American vanilla cake that was moist and rich. We had no trouble with any of these.

Chocolate affogato

Berry trifle

Vanilla-lemon cake

Ultimately Artemisia offers a reprieve from the surge of Portland’s trendy eateries commandeered by hipster chefs out to make a splash.

The perfect barbecue-roasted chicken

John Golden — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:45:16 GMT

Roasting a whole chicken on the barbecue grill is more of an art than you’d think. Type of charcoal, “roasting” temperature and preparation of the chicken are all important factors to consider.

I like to use a mixture of hardwood briquettes and real hardwood charcoal. Trader Joe’s sells excellent long-burning high-heat briquettes for $7.99 for 18 pounds and Whole Foods has a relatively inexpensive brand of natural hardwood charcoal, 8 pounds for 6.99. I mix up the two charcoal styles in equal batches.

This 4 1/2 pound bird is a heritage Freedom Ranger raised by Frith Farm in Scarborough; let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before barbecuing

For the chicken, get the best you can whether organic; free range, or a good all-natural chicken. A good size is anywhere from 3 ½ to 5 pounds. The chicken I used the other day was from Frith Farm, a grower from Scarborough raising of heritage Freedom Ranger, which is available at his stand at the Wednesday Monument Square farmer’s market.

To prepare, clean out the chicken, season generously with salt and pepper and stuff the cavity with a whole lemon pricked all over with a fork. Under the skin covering the breast meat insert slivers of garlic and a bunch of tarragon leaves for each breast. Season the inside and out very generously with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper. Tie up the legs with string to cover the opening of the cavity as much as you can and stuff it with some aluminum foil so the juices don’t run out.

Rub the chicken all over with olive or canola oil.

The chicken is studded with cloves and tarragon, stuffed with a lemon, trussed witth string, seasoned and rubbed with oil, ready for barbecue-roasting

If using a charcoal grill prepare the fire by letting the coals burn until glowing and white ash forms. You want high heat. Put your hand over the heat and if it’s hot enough to keep over the heat for only a second or two you’re at the right temperature. If using a gas grill preheat to high, then lower the temperature on one side so you have two roasting temperatures at your disposal.

This combination of charcoal is a perfect mix: the natural hardwood from Whole Foods burns very hot and fast while the hardwood briquettes from Trader Joe's burns more slowly--together they work well

At this point you can add some smoking wood like hickory, apple or sugar maple. Put the chicken over the direct heat. Some grill cooks like to use an indirect heat method where you put the chicken away from the heat. I like to start it off hot and move it to the side if the flames flare up. You don’t have to worry about the bottom of the chicken scorching because you’re not serving meat from the back. And there’s no need to turn the chicken, just cover the grill and let it roast at about 400 to 450 degrees for at least an hour, checking the chicken periodically, especially in the beginning to make sure there are no flare ups and moving it around to cooler parts of the grill if necessary. An instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees for breast meat.

Ready for roasting over charcoal and hickory; covered, the temperature will remain steady between 400 and 450 degrees; it will take about an hour to roast

Remove to a carving board and let rest, under a dome of foil for about 5 minutes before carving. The meat will be moist and have that inimitable smoked flavor

Straight off the grill, the chicken has deepenened to a beautiful mahogany, glistening and rich

The chicken carved easily having been roasted under very high heat for a short period--and it still remained very juicy

The perfect spring dinner: barbecue-roasted chicken (breast) flavored with lemon, garlic and tarragon; grilled asparagus, finished off with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice; and parboiled fingerling potatoes, finished off on the grill until crispy then put into a hot saute pan with olive oil, smashed and mixed with snipped rosemary leaves, cooked until the potato flesh becomes somewhat crispy.

Spring tasting notes

John Golden — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:40:45 GMT

I had two of the best preparations made with locally sourced ingredients available now at farmers’ markets. These were freshly foraged ramps and fiddleheads beautifully prepared by Chef Abby Harmon at her wonderful restaurant, Caiola’s.

The ramps were put into a savory pudding that Harmon makes quite often with various other ingredients like lobster, crab or whatever her whimsy. They’re folded into a luscious bread pudding, giving ramps center stage as the main ingredient, so sweet and creamy in its devise.

As for the fiddleheads, generally not my favorite spring green, they were sautéed in white wine and butter with Yukon gold potatoes and crispy bacon. This was a great dish and has made me reconsider fiddleheads because these were a wonderful rendition.

The other springtime favorite, asparagus, is still in very short supply as our cool weather continues; and it has not become a widely available restaurant dish yet. A few of the farmers, though, have some at the Wednesday and Saturday markets. If you don’t get to either market by early morning, you’ll miss these spears because whatever is there sells out fast.

Rosemont Market, however, seems to have a secret stash in abundance from an unnamed source, which only says “from Maine” as its provenance.

Asparagus are best prepared simply--roasted, grilled, sauteed or steamed. But the other day I followed a Bobby Flay recipe in his new book, Barbecue Addiction. It calls for grilling them very quickly over hot goals or a gas fire then rolling them in olive oil, Sherry vinegar, figs and Roquefort. Figs are not available now (soon, though) and the dish was great without them.

See the dishes mentioned below:

At Caiola's, a luxurious preparation of ramps in a rich bread pudding

Fiddleheads paired with Yukon gold potatoes and crispy bacon in a white-wine sauce

Here are a few scenes at the Saturday Portland Farmer's Market:

Radishes are plentiful at the farmer's market in Portland

Locally grown tulips are in great supply at the markets

Rhubarb at Uncle's Farm Stand at the Portland Saturday Farmer's Market

After the markets, a trip to Scratch Baking for their spring-inspired party cupcakes

No nibbles at Nosh Kitchen Bar

John Golden — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:40:53 GMT

An uninterrupted diet gleaned from the menu at Nosh Kitchen Bar could spell an early demise for those following a healthy lifestyle. Yet an occasional wisp of the fat and fries, the outrageous burgers and beers might, for some, keep the demons of culinary ennui at bay.

Prepped and ready to go from the open kitchen at Nosh

Still, there’s nothing incidental at Nosh, that Yiddish word meaning “snack” –a particular kind of repast taken like a sly quick-fix schmear.

But this is where Nosh excels because its kitchen is everything but inconsequential, sending out big, bold and highly caloric fare.

As I looked around the room the other evening, still early on, before 7 and before the hipster crowd descends, just about everyone there sported plus sizes--men, women or otherwise. The only thin couple to enter was a grim-looking young pair fit as fiddles who ordered one of those Nosh Burgers to share.

The dining area and bar at Nosh is more subdued at early evening; by nightfall the crowds descend

The well-stocked bar is well tended by a veteran bartender

This part of the dining room overlooks one of Portland's most food-centric streets populated by such stellar places as 555, Emilitsa and Taco Escobarr

I’ve been to Nosh countless times for lunch. I usually don’t order a burger but opt for something less involved--not easy to do there. The dinner menu is not much different from lunchtime. At dinner first courses are as thick as main courses. I’ve yet to see soup on the menu, though there’s a cheese platter and tuna lettuce cups filled with cold seared tuna, a Chinese barbecue sauce, peanuts and loads of other flavors.

The essential fried cheese curds to accompany drinks

Otherwise this is chef and proprietor Jason Loring’s inimitable domain, a big, creative man who has carved out a dining niche uniquely his own.in Portland. The combinations of ingredients are playful and luxurious like a pile of fine wool blankets.

One memorable sandwich that I had at lunch a while ago was something called Maine Shrimp Bah-Mi: fried shrimp on a house-made hoagie with foie gras pate, pickled cucumber, hot sauce and cilantro. Only a culinary maverick could dream up this combination to stuff into a hoagie, the aftermath being you adjust your belt notch one less.

The quality of the ingredients is a big issue in the Nosh kitchen. Of course most is locally sourced: meats are butchered, brined and roasted in house; the breads are made there too and a big array of cheeses and charcuterie come on a giant platter to share and nibble on before moving onto heartier fare.

Indeed it’s deli-style food that’s distinctively twisted into different flavors and combinations that go way beyond the typical New York style deli grub.

For most Nosh devotees, however, burgers are the main draw and here is where Loring really lets loose. The patties, which are beef and pork based, are from pastured animals brought up on organic food and grain, and then layered sky high with all sorts of stuff.

The Nosh burger in all its glory

Consider the burger special I ordered at my most recent dinner. It’s called the Big Kahuna, which on its own is a furry word with many meanings. Derived from Hawaiian for big man, it’s also Australian slang, if you must know, to describe a large man’s private parts.

In burger land at Nosh it’s simply a big mound of ingredients sandwiched between a delicious brioche burger bun. Here was the patty topped with a crispy slice of spam, melted cheddar and pineapple soaked in a bright red Chinese inspired barbecue sauce.

An inside view of the Big Kahuna

Did I enjoy it? You bet. Would I have preferred the traditional all beef burger with a slab of bacon and cheese, some ketchup and a slice of tomato and onion? That would work too. My friend had the more traditional Nosh patty, which on its own is not so casual with cheese, lettuce and tomato and sauce of some kind.

We started off this meal with a snack on the lighter side: big cheese curds dipped in a coating and deep fried. There’s nothing incidental about this.

We shared an order of fries. Now, these, I’ve decided, are the best in Portland. What makes them so is that they are thoroughly crisp on the outside, sturdy enough to use as building blocks, but soft and creamy within. They’re served with plain ketchup, or dusted with bacon powder, salt and vinegar and all manner of mayonnaise blends with chipotle, chili sauce or a house-made sweet and sour ranch dressing.

The perfect fries

For purely prurient interest, we ordered one dessert to share. Called the Betty Ford Brownie (as in clinic?), it was a layered wedge of chocolate cake with more chocolate sauce and a pile of whipped cream as white as pure snow. It was a big, sweet ending to a complex dinner of inventive burgers and fries, no more, no less and none better.

The sweet Betty Ford Brownie

Bring on the rhubarb

John Golden — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:29:36 GMT

Rhubarb is commonly mistaken as a fruit when it’s actually an herbaceous plant that is customarily used in fruit-based preparations like rhubarb-strawberry pie, crisps and compotes.

It’s just now appearing in farmers’ markets, and their arrival along with fiddleheads, asparagus, ramps and green garlic are sure signs of spring.

Rhubarb likes rich soil and sun to partial shade to grow well

When I bought some last week I prepared a rhubarb crisp, a dessert that’s certainly pleasant enough, though less so than the more complex pies with all kinds of berries and fruits mixed in.

Fresh picked ripe rhubarb is bright red or has touches of green; it's ready to go into all kinds of desserts

For the bunch that I bought this week, I thought I’d try something different and came up with this old-fashioned recipe for rhubarb cake. It’s very simple to prepare and if you need a really large dessert you can easily double the recipe and bake it in a 9 by 13-inch pan instead of the 8-inch vessel.

To prepare it for the cake, cut the stalks down the middle lengthwise and then into 1/2-inch pieces

Rhubarb cake with sugar-nut topping
Servings 6 to 8

¾ cup light-brown sugar, packed
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
¾ cup rhubarb, cut in half lengthwise and cut into ½ inch lengths

Topping
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch ground cardamom

1/4 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

Cream the sugar and butter together using the whisk attachment until flakey and well mixed. Add the egg and continue to beat until well incorporated. By the 1/2 cup, add the flour (and baking soda all at once), stirring or mixing gently until well combine. Add 1/3 of the buttermilk and stir to combine. Continue to add the flour and buttermilk, ending with flour. Stir in the vanilla and rhubarb until well combined. Pour the mixture into the dish.

Prepare the topping by mixing all the ingredients together and sprinkle over the cake batter. Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving. Accompany with vanilla ice cream, pastry cream, whipped cream or serve it unadorned.

Fresh out of the oven, the cake should rest for about 20 minutes before slicing; the texture is incredibly fluffy and moist

Served plain, it's a delicious breakfast cake, too

The skinny on ice cream

John Golden — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:48:06 GMT

When The Gelato Fiasco (I’ve never understood the intent of the name) opened in Portland on Fore Street across from the newly established Gorgeous Gelato I thought it was a dastardly move to compete. Why position your business in the face of another brand so close at hand?

I suppose it’s done all the time. Just look at our restaurant rows throughout the city, on Middle Street, Wharf Street, Congress, Monument Square and Longfellow. But the difference is, each one is wholly different from the other.

I’m not sure if the Fiasco-Gorgeous triangle created an outright war between the two gelato makers, but they certainly set themselves up for the fisticuffs of battle.

That said, we have plenty of other local small-batch gelato/ ice-cream purveyors, all of whom profess to use the freshest, most natural local ingredients possible. Some do to a degree.

From left to right, ice creams from Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream, Catbird Creamery, Palazzollo's, Gorgeous Gelato, The Gelato Fiasco and Maple's Organics

I thought it was time to take a look at the players, and in my evaluations, I’ve only included Portland area ice cream makers, not the national or regional brands.

Herewith are the local small-batch frozen desserts that I’ve sampled, with rants and raves accordingly. They’re listed in descending order of best to worst.

A note on tasting criteria: I started out choosing only vanilla ice cream from the various producers because if you make a great vanilla ice cream the rest of the flavors generally follow suit.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t easy to get vanilla. They all make it but some didn’t have any on hand. So I had to expand my flavor categories somewhat. Ultimately I was looking for texture and creaminess beyond the embellishment of flavor flourishes.

1. Catbird Creamery: This Westbrook storefront makes the best ice cream of them all. The texture is the creamiest and richest with such unique flavors as salted chocolate, brown-sugar vanilla, strawberry balsamic and basil green tea. They serve the ice cream at the shop in handmade cones, in sundaes or by the dish, and they also have a terrific ice-cream sandwich—mounds of ice cream of your choice wedged between two homemade chocolate chip or sugar cookies. The ice-cream maven is Andrew Warren who for many years was the pastry chef at Five-Fifty Five. His is definitely world class ice cream. It’s available at Aurora Provisions, at various restaurants and at his ice cream shop at 846 Main Street, in Westbrook.

Catbird Creamery on Main Street in Westbrook is tricky to find (if you go past the BOA bank building you've gone too far)

These scrumptious scoops at Catbird Creamery are terrific

Ice-cream maker Andrew Warren at Catbird Creamery holding his balsamic strawberry ice-cream sandwich in a sugar cookie

2. Captain Sam’s: In the heart of the tourist brigade on Commercial St., this family run shop looks like any other scoop-to-go emporium. Appearances, however, are deceiving. Their ice cream is made on the premises in small batches using sugar, heavy local cream and flavorings. Their vanilla is terrific, and the butter-pecan is one of the best I’ve had. The ice cream varieties are many — perhaps less esoteric than Catbird Creamery’s but it’s just as creamy and fine. Don’t pass this off as just a place for the Commercial Street throng. It’s the real ice cream deal.

At Captain Sam's it's a serious ice cream shop, with many flavors of rich-tasting frozen desserts

An itsy-bitsy cone of butter pecan at Captain Sam's; there are larger sizes, too

3. Gorgeous Gel ato: The big difference between gelato and ice cream is in the process. Gelato minimizes the amount of air churned into the ice cream, resulting in its ultra creamy texture. And Gorgeous Gelato is the creamiest of the gelatos in Portland. Made in small batches at their Fore Street shop, proprietors and gelato savants Donato Giovine and Mariagrazia Zinardi moved here from Milan to open up their business. I’ve had many of their gelatos and have always been impressed by the luscious texture and fine flavors. I recently sampled the panna cotta, a rich but subtle gelato dessert. And their vanilla and chocolate is first rate, too. Their ingredients list shows that they use cream, milk, cane sugar and some harmless stabilizing agents.

4. Mt. Desert Island Ice Cream: From their shop on tourist-heavy Exchange Street, this brand sells the original Mt. Desert ice cream. In years past I began to notice them at various farmers’ markets along the mid-coast. They now have shops in Bar Harbor and Portland. This is very nice ice cream, not extraordinary, but the vanilla had very good flavor and creamy texture.

5. The Gelato Fiasco: I tried their House Chocolate (made with semi-sweet) and the texture was creamy, soft, with intense chocolate flavor. However, besides the usual natural and/or local ingredients, their ice cream has such stabilizers and emulsifiers as mono- and diglycerides, which are questionable additives but not uncommon in processed foods to stabilize and extend shelf life. Why not use the real thing if you’re going to go to some much trouble to toot your horn? I like Gorgeous Gelato more because of the richness of their gelato's texture and terrific creaminess.

6. Maple’s: When they first opened their small shop off Forest Avenue, they caused quite a sensation: organic ice cream made by hand in a small shop in Portland. Years later they’ve hit the big time and you can buy the ice cream everywhere. It’s the only one made from a custard base, though a careful read of the ingredients list shows things like organic locust and guar gums in addition to local milk, cream and eggs. The vanilla I tried was unpleasant, almost sour tasting. Other flavors like salted caramel are equally unctuous. Overhyped.

7. Gusto’s Italian Food Truck. More of a pizza wagon than ice-cream vendor, they tout their gelato nonetheless. It's one of the few food trucks operating under Portland’s new if not arcane food-truck ordinance (basically one that allows limited operation, if at all). Upon inspection it turns out their gelato is made in Michigan by a highly touted artisanal producer called Palazzollo’s. While it has a multitude of natural ingredients it also has plenty of additives and stabilizers. The ice cream itself was not very good, and served in these dixie cups--unlike the photo on their website that shows big vats of creamy gelato.

Daring-duo at David's 388

John Golden — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:49:53 GMT

Is South Portland’s beloved David’s 388 mere hoodoo compared to the hocus-pocus of strivers across the bridge? It’s a straight shot over the span that connects these two disparate cities, but once you arrive at this funny little outpost, you wonder why you’re not here more often. After two visits I’m totally hooked.

The expanded David's 388

Proprietor/chef David Turin is becoming quite the entrepeneur—to wit, his eponymous David’s on Monument Square, which also houses his hiccup of Opus 10 within, and the aforementioned South Portland place. This is followed by two venues coming soon to Kennebunkport’s Boathouse Hotel and Marina where a second version of Opus 10 will open this summer and a 200-seat waterside extravaganza as well.

Back to 388: Years ago this literal hole in the wall dining room was Barbara’s Kitchen, a popular boite with about 10 tables cherished by locals in the days when Greater Portland loved its little funky dining establishments.

The comfortable main dining room with its bar (right) and table seating

The new spacious dining room addition

When David’s took over it remained in these tight quarters until recently when it was able to break through next door. Now serving about 40 diners with space to spare, it’s an entirely different operation.

What I didn’t expect to find was such incredible food managed by a service staff that makes you feel like you’re part of its larger family. That and the daring duo of chefs in the kitchen makes this place formidable.

That it’s somewhat off the beaten path is also part of its charm. If I had to criticize anything, the décor of Turin’s various establishments is not great eye candy. Who, for instance, selected 388’s fabric that covers the banquettes and booths? At best it’s a mottled inkblot of colors.

There are two cozy booth at the front facing the street (notice the fabric)

The daring duo: Chef Carlos Tirado (background) and Sous Chef Dylan Leddy (front)

The rest is pure revelation. My first nibble there started with the duck canapés—a small plate at $5 that packs $100 worth of flavor and finesse. Croutons are made on the spot, layered with a powerfully rich dollop of foie gras butter to hold the pan-seared bits of duck breast topped with a riotous touch of apricot conserve.

This is a great small plate offering--duck canapes

Chef Tirado manning this small but very efficient kitchen

Send me to the mission, I thought, to rest up for the next course. I’ve tried the crispy goat cheese fritters—two fathomless balls of fried cheese touched with truffles. They’re nice, but what I loved the second time around were the pot stickers. These are different from those at the Portland eatery. They’re crispy little devils filled with minced vegetables and grilled Asian-style beef fillet in Peking sauce. The portion is large and I could have made it a meal in itself. But there’s no stopping now.

A delicious version of vegetable pot stickers with beef

Earlier in the week my main course was crispy skinned duck breast, so buttery soft and delicious stationed on a bed of olive oil potato puree and an enduring sauce of Sauterne laced with rosemary. That in itself was a dish worth bolting behind locked doors.

Beautifully prepared and presented beef carpaccio

This time I opted for a special of the evening--a fillet of beef, quickly pan seared, also set over potato puree and topped with a blue cheese sour cream sauce. It was too fussy for my liking, with its double rich cheese sauce making me feel unduly stuffed. It didn’t have the finesse of the other tenderloin offering on the menu: herb-crusted beef fillet topped by a vegetable bundle and a simple glaze of rosemary jus.

A special that evening of beef tenderloin, overwhelmed by the rich blue-cheese sauce

My partner in culinary crime had no less of an outstanding meal. He proclaimed his starter of beef tenderloin carpaccio with crispy capers the best he’s had.

Opting for a simple main course he chose the one pasta dish on the menu. Here was house-made pappardelle with porcini mushrooms, sautéed arugula, oven-dried tomatoes, goat cheese and Parmesan skimmed by just enough truffle oil that didn’t overwhelm.

The house-made pasta is hand done by the sous chef each day, which worked well in this very pleasing dish of parpardelle

That night we sat at what’s called the chef’s counter because the restaurant was totally booked. This is bar seating with 4 chairs (there’s another counter in front of the actual bar with about 8 stools) that front right on the open kitchen.

It was fascinating to watch the two young chefs, barely out of training toques, whip up one magical moment after the other. Carlos Tirado, 27, is the chef de cuisine and Dylan Leddy, 23, his sous chef--two local guys who’ve been with David and his executive chef Bo Byrne (who now oversees Opus 10) for quite a few years. They’ve manned this kitchen for about six months.

They work like agile jugglers at the stove top, maneuvering dish after dish seamlessly with beautiful results.

The brownie Napolean in caramel and candied bananas was divinely sweet

A luscious strawberry ice-cream dessert with an almond tuile

And it didn’t stop when we ordered dessert. The brownie Napoleon was no sweet cliché by any means but rather two wafer-like wedges of brownies sandwiching silky house-made ice cream sitting in a wildly sweet caramel sauce. My friend’s house-made strawberry ice cream with the most delicate tuile was no minion either in the dessert lineup. With our last bites down the hatch, I thought I can’t wait to come back.

Grilled Tuna Two Ways

John Golden — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:58:31 GMT

I’m already in high gear for summer grilling even with our recent morning temperatures hovering in the mid 30s. By afternoon through dinnertime the weather warms up enough for perfect grilling weather.

Tuna, swordfish and salmon are great choices for grilling. The fillets or steaks are sturdy, without worrying about fish crumbling irretrievably down to the bottom of the grill.

Last evening I prepared tuna. And I offer here Tuna Two Ways. The most basic is to season the tuna with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Preheat your grill (gas or charcoal) to high and cook several minutes per side, covered, until desired doneness.

Tuna prepared for grilling; here it's cut only 1/2 inch thick to serve with the sweet and sour relish

Serve it with a grilled eggplant, pepper and chickpea salad. You can add some grilled fingerling potatoes on the side, but otherwise the salad is plenty.

If you want potatoes, parboil fingerlings for about 5 minutes until nearly soft. Drain, season with salt and pepper and moisten with plenty of olive oil. Cut in half and put on a hot grill for several minutes, turning from side to side.

This eggplant and chickpea salad is a wonderful dish for grilled fare; it would also go well with grilled lamb or chicken

The other recipe is for basic grilled tuna served with a sweet and sour pepper relish comprised of raisins and a touch of sugar steeped in red wine vinegar and reduced. Grill the peppers and combine everything with capers and herbs and serve as a sauce for the fish.

The tuna steaks served with the sweet and sour pepper relish

Basic grilled tuna

Have the fishmonger cut the steaks ½ inch thick to serve with the sweet-sour sauce or cut 1-inch thick to serve with the eggplant salad. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and moisten withi olive oil. On a hot grill, cook, covered, 2 to 4 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

Eggplant and chickpea salad
Serves 4

2 small eggplants, cut in half lengthwise
1 small red onion
2 peppers of different colors
Canola oil
Salt and pepper
15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained and rinsed and drained again
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
About ¼ cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful of chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

If the eggplants are large cut each half twice so you have slices that are about 1 inch thick. Brush with canola oil and brush the peppers too. Put onto a hot grill. The eggplant will only take about 3 minutes per side. Turn the peppers from side to side until totally charred, about 10 minutes. Remove from the grill.

Cut the eggplant into half-inch pieces and put into a bowl. Put the peppers into another bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove, peeling off skin and removing the seeds and core. Cut into thin slices.

Combine the eggplant, peppers, garbanzo beans, olive oil, chopped olives lemon, mint and cilantro, mixing well. Serve with the tuna.

Sweet and sour pepper relish for tuna
Serves 2, double for more servings

½ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 large pepper, color of your choice grilled, peeled, seeded and sliced thin
Or 2 small peppers of different colors, prepared in the same way
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Chopped parsley,
Salt and pepper

Put the vinegar, sugar and raisins into a small saucepan over high heat and reduce by half. Set aside.

Prepare the peppers as described in the eggplant recipe. Cut into strips.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium size bowl and let sit about 30 minutes. Serve over the grilled tuna.

BBQ Baedeker

John Golden — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:30:03 GMT

In a great huff, I sent my two barbecue grills to the dump last winter since they were literally on their last legs. One was my beloved barrel style charcoal grill that had a missing wheel, stabilized by putting a large brick under one of its hind legs. And after five years of service it was getting rusty and worn out.

And the other, though still standing straight, was an infra-red gas grill, which I did not like at all. It’s supposed to give the highest heat possible for great char, but I found it only performed on calm days without wind.

I loved my barrel-style grill for several reasons. It was both a smoker and grill horse where I could cook foods fast at high heat or take it slow and use it as a smoker for long, slow, low-heat cooking.

The one I had was made by Masterbuilt, which is available from $129 to $199, the lower price being at sellouts or sales. It’s a very sturdy, heavy cast-iron grill with a large, wide grilling area that can handle a lot of food, easily holding 3 or more racks of ribs. It has a hand-crank to adjust the height of the coal bed, giving great flexibility in the smoking and grilling temperature.

The other advantage is that it was big enough to set up different heat zones for direct and indirect grilling, the latter necessary for smoking. I would use wood chips or chunks and sometimes whole wood logs put into the bottom chamber under the coal bed.

The other good brand is from Master Forge, also made from heavy cast iron. Lowe’s carries the Master Forge and used to carry Masterbuilt but no longer.

This is the Master Forge that Lowe's carries; it's very similar to the Masterbuilt

Essential for these grills is to use smoking woods, the best local source being Maine Grilling Woods, available online. They have all the different woods from cherry, maple, ash, oak, hickory and more. They come in chips, large chunks and small camp-log sizes. I prefer the large chunks over the chips, producing the most wood-flavored smoke.

The double grill, both gas and charcoal, this Kenmore model is from Sears but is made from a thin-gauge metal

In choosing my grill this year I had to consider my space limitations. I have a large high- floor apartment terrace but most of it is taken up with planters and outdoor furniture so my space is relatively limited.

At my BBQ station last summer on the terrace, there isn't much space left for grills, so I put them at the other end where it's less windy

Still I wanted gas and charcoal. There is a combo grill that features both in a structure where they’re literally joined at the hip, one side gas, the other charcoal.

The Weber Performance Platinum grill with electronic starter for gas to light the coals replaced my barrel-style grill this year

For my streamlined needs, I discovered that Weber has a compact two-grate wide gas grill that’s attractive and sturdy. After several uses I’m very impressed with it. One of its features is the “flavorizer” bars set over the gas flame. The fat from the meat drips down onto these, producing smoke without flame flare ups. I’ve tried it and it really works. The heat easily reached 500 degrees and the grill is very well made. It also has a contraption that weighs what’s left in the gas tank. This works well but attaching it takes some doing, wedging the gas-heavy full tank onto the holding latch.

This is the compact Weber Spirit series from Maine Hardware, which I just put on the terrace last week and so far I'm very happy with it

For a charcoal grill I chose the Weber Performance series, the Platinum model that features an electronic-ignited gas starter that gets the coals going in about 5 minutes. You then turn off the gas and let the coals burn until they’re white hot.

I will miss my barrel style but this is so much easier than having to use chimney starters. Finding this grill locally, however, was not easy. It’s largely available at the online sites of our local big box stores. Buying it is an ordeal, though. It first has to be delivered to the store for pickup, assembled and delivery is$65 extra.

Instead I went to my local Maine Hardware store. They only had the Gold model, without the starter, but ordered the Platinum model that arrived in two days. Assembly and delivery was free. It goes to show, even in grill shopping it pays to go local.

We''ve come a long way since leaving steaks on the table at this all-American indoor barbecue party