we are (almost) all going green

i was in hannaford today and as i was checking out, i happened to look around and notice that EVERYONE who was checking out had reusable bags with them. it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to think how far we have all come. as i have mentioned previously, i remember buying a cloth bag at stop and shop in dennis, massachusetts and being told i was the first person to ever buy one.
but of course i'm not totally naive. i'm pretty sure that it's not like this every where. it definitely wasn't like this in new haven, connecticut one short year ago when we were living there. and i did see a kid (yeah he made me feel old because he had tattoos so i knew he was at least 18 but he for sure looked 13) bag his cantaloupe. really? i get that people want to bag their tomatoes or nectarine cuz you eat the peel. but a cantaloupe does not need its own plastic bag to make it home to your kitchen. it basically has its own container.
and yesterday i was at a medical conference and they were serving juices and sodas and waters in plastic bottles and there was no where to recycle them. the garbage was almost completely full of plastic bottles with just a few pieces of real garbage mixed in. i put my cranberry juice cocktail bottle in my purse and brought it home to recycle.

corn and tomitillos

here are a couple of recipes i made this weekend. both new. one for tomitillo salsa and one for corn bread. (okay so i actually wrote this post a few weeks ago but i was drunk when i wrote it so i wanted to read it over when sober before posting it and then i forgot all about it)

tomitillos were from the hampton farmers market across the street from my work. at that farmers market i was reminded of how lucky i am to live in portland and have such a rich farmers market two times a week. into the tomitillo salsa i added cilantro and jalapeno from saturday's farmers market and i added one ear of fresh corn to the corn bread, also from saturday's market.

i thought the corn bread could have used more fresh corn but the others eating it said the ratio was good with just one ear and had i added more it may have upset the balance. this is great moist corn bread. i have been looking for a go-to recipe for corn bread for a while and i think i found it.

the recipe for tomitillo salsa calls for roasting the tomitillos under the broiler for 5-7 minutes and then blanching them. they were quite soft and well cooked after broiling them, so i skipped the blanch. i also somehow decided that it was really spicy with half a jalapeno when making it. but then when i went to eat it, there was no spice at all.

creating food memories

this past labor day weekend my friend brian and his fiancee lane visited us. brian and i spent 10 months together in ghana when we were 20 years old and juniors in college. we lived on the campus of the university of ghana, in legon, a town just outside the capital city of accra. we shared a lot together in those ten months and in remembering it, there are a lot of food memories. brian loves food. in ways that are different and similar to me, but he loves food. this vague memory came back to me of taking a long taxi ride to some unfamiliar corner of accra for pancakes. brian was in heaven and i think i remember him making some very homer simpson-like noises as he devoured his pancakes. as anyone who has spent an extended time in a land with very foreign food knows, the simple pleasure of a familiar food can be so very comforting.
he also frequently came to my dorm room for dinner of pasta with red sauce. living in the dorms in ghana was both similar and different to living in dorms in the us. there are cafeterias but they only serve lunch, so students set up make-shift kitchens on our porches to cook. on my wobbly table i would chop tiny onions and garlic cloves. i owned one pot and an electric hot plate that had only one setting -- very hot. once the onions and garlic were sizzling in the oil i threw in tomato paste, imperfect little fresh tomatoes, and lots of salt. when the sauce was done i transferred it to one of my few bowl and boiled water in that same pot for the pasta. i can't remember what i would do if the water wasn't running. take it from my bucket stored full of water for my bath? once the pasta was cooked and drained, i poured the sauce over it and heated everything up. brian loved it. and truly its really the basis for the marinara sauce i make today. i even considered making brian my much improved spaghetti and meatballs while he was here.
instead brian and lane wanted to treat us to dinner as a wedding gift. we chose fore street. i have been wanting to try this restaurant for some time but it just hasn't been in the budget. so when brian emailed me a list of restaurants to consider, i told him i was dying to try fore street.

our reservations were late: 9:30 on a sunday night. we decided to head over there a little early to have a drink and see if they could seat us early. we were in awe the moment we walked in. the decor with the exposed brick and open duct work and all the wood is just beautiful. the hostess said she thought a table would be available early and so we headed into the beautiful bar to get a drink to start. before our drinks even arrived our table was ready and the hostess let us know that our drinks would be brought to our table for us. we were seated at this amazing table right by the window with a view of commercial street and the harbor.
brian, lane, and seth all got special cocktails and i had a glass of shiraz. the wines by the glass were really reasonably priced and there were quite a few choices. brian picked out a great bottle of wine to go with dinner and he said that there were a lot of price points to choose from on the list of bottles.
for appetizers seth and i shared a beautiful salad of rocket and fresh tomatoes as well as a charcuterie plate with fois gras, duck sausage, and sweet breads. both were amazing. seth made an observation that the serving sizes on the charcuterie plate were perfect, because if you eat too much fois gras you are asking for a stomach ache. lane thought she really wanted to try some maine oysters but didn't want to miss something spectacular on the appetizer menu. so she asked the server for his favorite and he said he could eat the oysters any time of day. lane loved the beautiful briny and slightly sweet damariscotta oysters.
i actually ordered the pork chop for my main dish at first because i was so interested in the idea of a pig from berwick, maine. but then before the server could leave i changed my order to the pan seared duck breast. this was definitely the right choice for me. while i know my own pork chops probably don't compare to chef hayward's pork chop, it is something i can and do make a home. duck on the other hand is a protein that still scares me a little as a home cook. i love the dark rich meat and order it out when ever i can but i'm still a little shy about making it myself. this duck breast had a thick layer of fat that was seared crispy and was served with transcendent white beans that were firm to the bite and just kissed with the taste of sage (sorry to use such a word but the beans really did bring me to another level).
the meal was wonderful; the company was wonderful; and in the end this was one of our most memorable wedding gifts.

there really is something in the bread

i knew we had great bakeries in this town and i have spent time extolling their virtues in a previous post. but its always nice to see portland's bakeries getting some real recognition in the form of a great review in bon appetit magazine.
there are also little blurbs about the great breweries, seafood, and just great food we have here in portland.
credit to portland food map for posting these links.

guarenteed good meal

there are two places that seth and i go to on a regular basis and we know we will always get a good meal. and i have never written about either of them! in the portland food blog-o-sphere, both restaurants have gotten their fair shares of reviews, but let me tell you why i love caiola's and the port hole.
the port hole was the first restaurant i ever ate at in portland. one very raining march day, seth and i rolled in to portland to check the city out for the first time, and marya and otis took us here for lunch. i was immediately charmed by the rustic ambiance. i'm sure i got the haddock sandwich, which is served with a home made tarter sauce on fresh baked foccica bread and fresh cut french fries on the side. i'm sure i got this because it is something i order fairly regularly. they also have the most amazing fish chowder i have ever had. last night when seth and i shared a bowl it had huge chunks of haddock and was flavored with fresh herbs. for my main course last night i went with the angus burger and it did me right, though it was a little over done for my ordered temp of medium rare. i also love and adore their grilled salmon wrap served with greens that get deliciously wilted by the heat of the salmon. the atmosphere can vary widely depending on when you show up. in the middle of winter, there is nothing better than brunch with the fire going (is the fire still there after the remodel?). during the summer the deck is where its at, and you can usually find a table out there if your are in for breakfast or brunch or dinner on a week night. then there is the madness of friday nights and weekend late afternoons and evenings.
caiola's is a west end gem and my favorite restaurant in portland. we were also introduced to this place by otis and marya (they inspire us to be better foodies!). i have been here countless times for brunch and just a couple of times for dinner. i have never put anything in my mouth at this place that i didn't love. the last time we went in for brunch i ordered the lobster benedict from the specials menu. it was your typical bene with lemony creamy holindase and topped with sweet morsels of lobster meat and chantrel mushrooms. the meatyness of the mushrooms was an amazing combination with the lobster, fooling the mouth into thinking there was more lobster than there really was. seth and i frequently order the eggs tostada studded with little nuggets of chorizo. if you go for dinner it is an absolute must that you order the antipasto plate as this is likely the most awesome antipasto you will ever have, with roasted and marinated veggies, bean salads, and cured meats, usually including some breakfast sausage. it may sound strange but it is so right. the decor is simple but gorgeous, in what i think you would call french country. there is a wonderful patio out back that is so enjoyable on a summer morning with a bloody mary.
so there they are. my perspective on two of portland's great restaurants. since i just ate at the port hole last night maybe i will head to caiola's this weekend.

street and co.

well i am a married woman now and i am hoping to have some extra time to get back into this blogging thing now that i'm not planning a huge party. once i have a little space from it i plan on writing about tips for an 'affordable' dyi wedding. but for now i will return to a topic i'm quite passionate about -- eating food!
we didn't take a honey moon and spent a little too much time with family and friends after the wedding for my taste. don't get me wrong, i love these people and under any other circumstance i would have been thrilled to spend this time with them. but all i really wanted to do was be alone with seth. so once we got back to portland we decided to use some of our wedding cash on a nice meal out. mostly at marya and otis's recommendation, and because seth cannot get enough seafood, i choose street and co.
we had reservation at 7:15 last sunday night and i was a little surprise to arrive to a very full restaurant. we were seated immediately in the middle dining room where the open kitchen is located. as seth likes to always face the entrance, he also got the view of the kitchen. the room was wonderful and warm with exposed beams and brick walls. the atmosphere is casual with the wait staff in white shirts and khaki shorts. its the kind of place you can go dressed up or dressed down and enjoy really great food.
seth doesn't really drink wine these days so he ordered a plisner urkel and i asked the server to bring me a glass of her favorite white of the by-the-glass menu. i don't remember what it was but it tasted great and went well with all our varied food choices.
we started with two 'tastes': bresaola in olive oil and lemon and maine crab stuffed egg. these tastes were perfect for the two of us to have just a bite of each. the bresaola's saltiness was contrasted perfectly with the bright tartness of the lemon juice. it surprised me that seth wanted to order the stuffed egg, because it was really just a fancy deviled egg, something he is not a fan of. but we both enjoyed it as an exceptionally delicious deviled egg.
unfortunately the appetizers came a little too quickly and i didn't feel like i got to savor my 'tastes' quite enough. but they were so delicious it didn't really matter. we ordered the local squid cooked with chorizo and a red oak lettuce salad with home cured bacon, fried shallots, and a cherry vinaigrette. the squid was mind-blowingly tender. i really didn't know it was possible to get squid to be so tender. the salad, ordered mostly because of the home cured bacon, was also phenomenal with generous amounts of bacon and those amazing fried shallots.
maybe because our appetizers came so quickly, there was kind of a long lag before our entrees came. seth ordered one of the specials. this seemed a little funny to me because they change their menu daily, so isn't everything really a special? but in any event he devoured his seafood stew in no time. really i don't think i had a chance to even try it, he ate so fast. i ordered the grilled whole lobster served over linguine with butter and garlic. when it came i was sort of disappointed that it was really just lobster, pasta, butter, and garlic. but once i dug in i realized that there was really nothing else this dish needed. the soft shelled lobster was split right down the middle which allows for removing all of the tender morsels of meat with ease. the juices of the lobster mingled into the garlicky butter to elevate each bite of pasta to so much more than just noodles and butter.
by the end of this feast we had no room for dessert. we sat and digested a bit while i had a cup of excellent coffee. the meal was amazing and special as a post wedding meal should be.

another bakery to love

my friend jen just introduced me to a new bakery in portland. its called katie made bakery and katie has actually been in business for nine years but just opened up a retail space. its super cute with just a few window seats to sit and sip your coffee, eat your amazing baked good, and watch the traffic go by on cuberland avenue. they are serving pre-made sandwiches for lunch and katie can bake you a cake to order for you next special event.
its worth a trip to the east end just to check it out and eat a decadent brownie or out of this world peanut butter cookie.