
Stock Kate’s Buttermilk in your Maine-centric pantry and these supremely flaky biscuits are within reach. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
Editor’s note: Christine Burns Rudalevige’s column about local foods, farms and seafood and sustainable eating and cooking returns this week.
As TikTok trend dictates, hear me out.
It may be unconventional, but I considered an empty larder one of the best things about returning home after a year of traveling around the U.K. with my husband on sabbatical.
Of course my dear foodie friend Ann, knowing my body clock would be ticking toward 3 a.m. when I finally rolled back into Brunswick on that mid-August day last summer, had kindly left some basics in the fridge — a roast chicken, garden lettuce and tomatoes, bread, butter, milk, eggs and honey from our beehives, which she managed on her own in my absence. We had plenty of strong tea and good whisky in our suitcases to round out our meals for at least a day or two before we’d need to head to market.
The barren cupboards gave me cause for celebration because, as a food writer, recipe developer and recipe tester, I am accustomed to either navigating the path to dinner with ingredients I’ve purchased for one project or another or — months later — discovering said ingredients lurking, half-used, in the dark corners of the pantry, fridge or freezer. The vacant shelves represented freedom to me. I could stock them with exactly what I needed and wanted.
Though the expense of filling the empty “spence” (a Scottish synonym for pantry), gave me pause, that pause also gave me time to source my pantry staples slowly and with intention. Luckily, filling a larder with local products is much easier than it was in 2012, when we first moved to Maine.
In the intervening years, the number of Maine farmers markets has grown, to 115 seasonal markets and 35 winter ones, according to the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets. At the same time, the types of products these markets sell now reach well beyond fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and eggs. Maine farmers markets variously sell award-winning cheese, really great bread, fish and shellfish, wild and cultivated mushrooms, pickles and ferments, locally roasted coffee and blended teas, local vinegars and oils, seaweed products, herbs and spices packaged in Maine, tofu and miso made here, too, and farm products that range from lard and liver pâté to bone broth and bacon.
If you can’t make market day, most of these farmers have websites that offer on-farm pickup or mail-order delivery. And all sorts of grocery stores sell local foods these days, from higher-end specialty shops, such as Rosemont Markets; cooperatives, like the Portland Co-op and Rising Tide Co-op in Damariscotta; mainstream supermarkets like Hannaford and Shaw’s; and your local Renys, too!
I’m more practical than I am purist, so not everything in my pantry comes from Maine. There is still olive oil from Europe, sugar and citrus shipped in from warmer climes, and at least a dozen Asian cooking ingredients and condiments. Five months after landing back in real life post-sabbatical, my cupboards are still half empty. But that’s a good thing because what is there, to borrow from Marie Kondo, sparks joy.

Columnist Christine Burns Rudalevige’s pantry full of ingredients produced right here in Maine. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
If your New Year’s resolution was to buy more local food, I hope this list of my top 25 Maine-made pantry items comes in handy. I’ve tried to put the items in heavier rotation at the top of the list, but mostly, this list isn’t in any special order.
1. Local alliums. At this time of year, I buy garlic, shallots and onions at the Winter Market in Brunswick from several farmers with storage facilities on their farms. These are less bitter than the ones carted in from far away to your nearest grocery store.
2. Farm fresh eggs. I usually buy local eggs from Apple Creek Farm in Bowdoinham (applecreekfarm.me).
3. Kate’s Buttermilk and Butter, which I used to make the chicken and biscuits recipe with this column (katesbutter.com).

The biscuits are cut and await a trip to the oven to bake. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
4. Maine Milkhouse Plain Greek Yogurt. Eat it on its own or use in any recipe that calls for yogurt or sour cream (mainemilkhouse.com).
5. Maine-grown dried beans. Most Sundays, I cook a bag of beans from Fairwinds Farms, adding them to soups, salads and stews all week long (fairwindsfarmmaine.com).
6. Maine Maple syrup. I have Renys Grade A Organic in the fridge, but, honestly, most Maine maple syrup is great.
7. Raye’s Old World Gourmet Mustard. It’s made Eastport in the traditional French Dijon-style and is a staple in my vinaigrette (rayesmustard.com).
8. Cornmeal. Fairwinds Farm also supplies me with coarsely ground flint cornmeal and popcorn kernels.
9. Maine Grains Pearled Farro and Wheatberries. Depending how much time I have to meal prep on Sundays, I also cook a pot of grains to use all week. The farro requires no soaking and cooks faster than the wheatberries do (mainegrains.com)
10. Aurora Mills Rolled Oats. I’m not a fan of oatmeal for breakfast, but these oats make great chewy cookies and homemade crackers (auroramillsandfarm.com).
11. Seeded Red Raspberry Jam. If I can’t find rhubarb-raspberry, which several local producers make in small batches, I buy Pemberton’s straight raspberry as I simply need the seeds in play for my toast, peanut butter sandwiches, and apple cake filling.
12. Local honey. I use the honey my own bees produce, but you can find Maine honey at roadside stands, Hannaford and lots of other places.
13. Go-en Fermented Foods Miso is my go-to miso (goenfermentedfoods.com).
14. Atlantic Sea Farms Sea-Chi gives me my (almost) daily dose of fermented food. I make kimchi fried rice, interesting turkey sandwiches, and dumplings with it (atlanticseafarms.com).
15. Slack Tide Flaked Sea Salt, which I use as a finishing salt on hearty winter green salads (slacktidemaine.com).
16. Ocean’s Balance Spicy Furikake, a Japanese-inspired seaweed seasoning blend that I sprinkle on everything from baked fish and avocado toast to steaming bowls of rice and mugs of chicken broth (oceansbalance.com).
17. Bar Harbor Foods Smoked Whole Ocean Clams and Clam Juice. Need an easy weeknight meal? The smoky-tasting clams and the ready-to-use juice can make a respectable clam chowder in the time it takes for the diced potatoes to cook (barharborfoods.com).
18. Jarred Tomato Sauce. Don’t judge me. Some nights even a food writer feels uninspired. A local pomodoro sauce from Pemberton’s Gourmet Foods in Gray (pembertonsgourmetfoods.com) or a spicy, seaweed-laced Mariner’s Arrabbiatta sauce from Ocean’s Balance to the rescue when you don’t know what to make for dinner.
19. Amolitta Maccheroni Rigati. At more than $8 a pound, this bronze-cut pasta, which is made in Scarborough, is for special occasions. I use it when guests come to dinner (amolittapasta.com).
20. Maine Grains Spelt Flour. While King Arthur all-purpose is my everyday flour, I tap this local spelt flour to make fresh pasta.
21. Quincannon Organic Apple Cider Vinegar from Eden Acres Family Farm in Waterboro is clear, tart and organic. Onggi on Washington Street in Portland regularly carries it (edenacresfarm.com).
22. Black Bear Sunflower Seed Oil. This cold-pressed sunflower oil made by Yost Farms in Aroostook County can be used anywhere you would olive oil.
23. Farthest Field Farm Golden Hour Hot Sauce uses husk cherries! (farthestfieldfarm.com)
24. A good local pickle — Morse’s sours (morsessauerkraut.com) suit some days while Rock Coast Canning bread and butters suit others.
25. Gryffon Ridge’s Senor Pistole Mild Chili Seasoning. I reach for this spice almost every time I cook pork or sweet potatoes. I also like to mix it with either salt or sugar to make a spicy rim-condiment for palomas and margaritas.
SPICY BUTTERMILK CHICKEN AND BISCUITS
The hardest part of this recipe is remembering to start marinating the chicken 24 hours ahead. The marinade will flavor the meat after eight hours, but the acidic buttermilk needs the full day to tenderize it. Don’t go longer than 48 hours, or the chicken will start to get mushy. I pair the chicken with buttermilk biscuits — I adapted the recipe from one published on thekitchen.com — as that way I can use up an entire (16-ounce) bottle of Kate’s Buttermilk. I like to serve this with a crunchy red cabbage slaw.

Spicy Buttermilk Chicken and Biscuits. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
Serves 4
For the chicken:
4 large or 8 small bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Kosher salt
1 cup Kate’s buttermilk
3 whole garlic cloves, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon smoky chile powder
For the biscuits:
Scant 1½ cups (7 ounces) all-purpose flour, more for forming the biscuits
1/2 cup (3 ounces) Maine Grains spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) Kate’s unsalted butter, frozen
1 cup Kate’s buttermilk
The day before you want to cook the chicken, season the thighs with kosher salt and let sit for 30 minutes. In a large zip-lock bag, combine the buttermilk, garlic, olive oil, chile powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Add the chicken, push any air out of the bag and seal it. Use your hand to massage the marinade into the chicken. Place the bag in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning the bag over a couple of times.
About an hour before you want to serve the chicken, remove the bag from the fridge. Give each thigh a little shake as you pull it from the bag and place each, skin-side up, on a plate. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a cast iron skillet large enough to hold all the thighs with a bit of room to spare over high heat. When the pan is hot, place the thighs into the pan, skin-side down. Cook until the skin is caramelized enough so that you can easily turn the thighs over, 5-6 minutes. Once all the thighs have been turned to skin-side up, slide the pan into the oven. Bake the chicken until the internal temperature is 165 degrees, 16-24 minutes depending on the size of the thighs.
While the chicken is baking, make the biscuits by combining the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Grate the butter into the flour mixture and toss to coat all the butter. Pour in the buttermilk and stir, but don’t overstir, to make a shaggy dough. Turn the dough out onto a flour-dusted surface and pat it into an 8-inch square.
Use a bench scraper to fold the square in thirds, as though you are folding a letter to slip inside an envelope. Re-flour the surface and press the dough again into an 8-inch square and fold it again like a letter. Re-flour the surface once more. Press the dough into an 8-inch square and cut the square into 9 equal squares. Folding the biscuit dough will make for especially flaky biscuits. Place the cut biscuits on baking tray lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper.
Remove the chicken from the oven to rest. Slide the tray of unbaked biscuits into the oven and turn the heat up to 475 degrees F. Bake until the biscuits have risen to a lofty height, are golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Serve the biscuits hot with the rested chicken.
Local foods advocate Christine Burns Rudalevige is the former editor of Edible Maine magazine and the author of “Green Plate Special,” both a column about eating sustainably in the Portland Press Herald and the name of her 2017 cookbook. She can be contacted at: cburns1227@gmail.com.
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