{"id":11949,"date":"2016-09-29T17:04:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T21:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11949"},"modified":"2016-09-29T17:04:13","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T21:04:13","slug":"veggie-visionaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/veggie-visionaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Veggie Visionaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2016 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCall any vegetable and the chances are, <\/span>a vegetable will respond to you.\u201d <\/span>\u2013Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"hungry-eye-oct16\"You know it\u2019s autumn by the chill in the air and the heartbreakingly clear daylight. Maine\u2019s beautiful potatoes are everywhere. But thanks to savvy farmers, eager chefs, and consumer demand, the local harvest brings new surprises every year.<\/span><\/p>\n

SERIOUSLY LOCAL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still moping about the end of the summer tomatoes and corn, you need only talk to David Levi<\/strong> to forget all about them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love fall produce, and there are a few crops I\u2019m pretty much dying for,\u201d says Levi, chef-owner of the strictly-local Vinland <\/strong>in Congress Square<\/strong>. \u201cOne of my favorites is radicchio.\u201d Clearly, this is radicchio\u2019s year. Vinland serves it \u201croasted with potato, rosemary, garlic, potato, and extra-sharp Buggy Whip cheddar from Sonnenthal Farm. It\u2019s total comfort food. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a brief window in the fall when we get our full yearly supply of ginger, turmeric, and coriander, all of which are incredibly powerful and surprising flavors. Coriander is just the seed from cilantro, so a farmer friend of mine lets his cilantro go to seed and delivers us bags of green coriander seeds, which are even more delicious than the best dried seeds I\u2019ve had. Coriander is the key seasoning for our mussels. It occasionally shows up on our raw beef, and it\u2019s in our bar program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe put cranberries to use all year, but it\u2019s very exciting to get fresh ones, and I hear it\u2019s a big year for them. We make a cranberry and ginger compote for our cheese plate that people rave about.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we start getting some real frost in the ground, the parsnips turn very sweet and all the root crops reach their peak, including beets, carrots, and celeriac. Those sweet parsnips, along with the turmeric and ginger, combine to make my favorite dessert, our parsnip custard. I sneak a bite after service pretty much every night we have it available. We serve sunchokes with monkfish. Cold weather also brings out the best in cabbage. We\u2019re brewing up some really good sauerkraut.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen there are the wild mushrooms. Hen of the woods, chicken mushrooms, hedgehog mushrooms, matsutake. Fall is the best season for wild mushrooms, which are by far my favorite targets for foraging. It\u2019s hard to find time to get into the woods, but you can bet I\u2019ll be out there when the hens start popping out. We use some cultivated, but there\u2019s nothing like the wild stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Levi\u2019s enthusiasm is catching. \u201cI hardly know where to begin with squash, I love it so much. I\u2019ll just say this. Somebody in Maine should really do what Stony Brook does in New York and make delicious, Austrian-style squash seed oil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

ITALIAN TRADITION<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, Northern Italian food is suited for the fall and winter months,\u201d says Scott London<\/strong>, chef at the new wine bar Rossobianco<\/strong> tucked into the West End\u2019s Bramhall Square. \u201cMuch of the cuisine is based on rich dishes with butter and cheese\u2013very comforting in the cooler months.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rossobianco, cozy with cappuccino-colored walls and a hand-built wooden bar and wine racks, is co-owned by David Levi<\/strong> and Colleen Callahan<\/strong>. Local produce, meat, and seafood are used to fashion Northern Italian dishes, but the wine list is international. <\/span><\/p>\n

London quit a job at Bath Iron Works to attend the Auguste Escoffier Culinary School in Boulder, Colorado. He later staged (apprenticed) at two restaurants in the Friuli region in northeastern Italy, where he learned the tenets of the cuisine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe colder the water gets here, the better the shellfish get. A nice steaming bowl of cozze <\/em>(mussels) and perhaps seared capesante<\/em> (scallops) are definite. Squash and mushroom soups are fantastic in the fall. We love mushrooms, and we use the arancini <\/em>(fried balls of risotto) to really showcase that flavor profile. Hearty grains also go great with mushrooms and with savory herbs such as rosemary and thyme.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure enough, on a recent visit, the featured arancini<\/em> were con funghi<\/em>\u2013rich and earthy with oyster mushrooms and Grana Padano cheese, and just the thing with a glass of Costieres de Nimes chardonnay. Crostini topped with hake rillettes were another seamless fusion of sustainable local fish with continental preparation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn herb that screams fall is sage. Sage, winter squash, and brown butter is simplicity at its best.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FEAST FOR THE SENSES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCooking with the seasons is a real adventure,\u201d says chef Ben Jackson<\/strong> at Drifter\u2019s Wife<\/strong> wine bar on Washington Avenue. He sums it up: \u201cThe pure pleasure of tasting something for the first time in a year is real.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI find inspiration in the moment. It\u2019s about place and time for me, making new dishes and calling on the past to guide me. I love alliums and [exploring] the nuances of garlic. Roasted garlic on everything, please.\u201d The North Carolina native came to Portland via Brooklyn, where he worked with Drifter\u2019s owners, Peter and Orenda Hale. His one-person minimalist \u201ckitchen\u201d is in plain sight next to the bar\u2013a nook with just two burners and a small convection oven. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love bitter greens, especially radicchio and chicory. I love bright, crisp, lightly blanched collard greens and winter squash. I love making chicken liver mousse and seeing people enjoy it. Put it in a ravioli with rosemary and brown butter\u2026 It\u2019s a no-brainer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Serious about his sources, Jackson buys his seafood from Harbor Fish Market and Browne Trading and his chicken livers from Serendipity Acres in North Yarmouth, known for spectacularly tasty organic poultry.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we catch up with Serendipity\u2019s owner Jules Fecteau at the Saturday farmers market to see what\u2019s new in October, she smiles and her eyes twinkle. \u201cWe\u2019re finalizing our Thanksgiving orders\u2013we\u2019ve raised a lot more turkeys this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FARMERS\u2019 KNACK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe start pulling out our tomato vines right after Labor Day,\u201d says Austin Chadd<\/strong>, who owns Green Spark Farm<\/strong> in Cape Elizabeth with his wife, Mary Ellen<\/strong>. Their stunning organic summer produce can be found at Portland\u2019s Wednesday farmer\u2019s market in Monument Square<\/strong>, and on Saturdays in Deering Oaks Park<\/strong>. They also wholesale to such restaurants as Hugo\u2019s<\/strong>, the Honey Paw<\/strong>, and East Ender<\/strong>. \u201cWe turn our summer tunnels over into fall greens\u2013spinach, kale, lettuce.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need to resort to frozen vegetables in the winter. The Chadds, like many Maine farmers, grow year-round in greenhouse \u201ctunnels,\u201d or hoop houses, which protect produce from harsh weather. \u201cWe sell at the winter market [once the outdoor markets move indoors to Cove Street on Saturdays around December 1<\/strong>]. \u201cWe made it to 51 of 52 Saturday markets last year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meg Mitchell<\/strong> has eight hoop houses at her South Paw Farm<\/strong> in Freedom. \u201cWe\u2019re into winter storage crops\u2013carrots, cabbage, beets, potatoes. Squash is a lower yield this year because of the drought, but we have some sweet mini-buttercups, delicatas, and sugar dumplings. We\u2019ve got orange, yellow, and white pumpkins. What I\u2019m really excited about for autumn is radicchio\u2013I\u2019ve got four kinds this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her suggestion for this leafy red chicory that she grows in both oblong and round, lettuce-shaped heads? \u201cI like to cut it in wedges and toss it with olive oil, honey, and a little balsamic vinegar and roast it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, not all growers want to extend their season. \u201cI don\u2019t have any greenhouses,\u201d says Bruce Hinck<\/strong> of Meadowood Farm<\/strong> in Yarmouth. \u201cIn the winter, I read. Our fall crops are one last set of lettuce and plenty of onions, squashes, and pumpkins.\u201d His assortment of onions is dazzling. Hinck\u2019s other specialty is garlic. He sets out bushel baskets of a dozen types labeled with the name and playful description of each.<\/span><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t forget about local mushrooms. North Spore<\/strong> sells baskets of the shiitake, hen-of-the-woods, and oyster mushrooms they cultivate in the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook, plus a few shaggy Chagas and orange lobster mushrooms they forage. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re timid about handling fancy mushrooms, the North Spore guys are there for you. \u201cDon\u2019t be shy about how much butter you throw in the pan,\u201d says grower Kevin Bassett<\/strong>. Brown them up, maybe deglaze with a little wine, throw in some cream, maybe some fresh herb like thyme. Simmer it up, turn off the heat, and let the mushrooms steep for a few minutes. Toss it with pasta, and it\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh autumn, how we love you. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 2016
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