Author: PFM

2011 Meal Deals

| Posted in General News

The discount pricing of Maine Restaurant Week is still a couple months away but there are some pricing specials out there now for anyone who blew their restaurant budget over the holidays:

  • Bar Lola – a 5-course prix-fixe menu, Wednesday-Saturday, $39.
  • Boda – late night menus items are half off on Sundays from 9:30 – 1 am
  • Browne Trading has declared January Cheese Month and is offering a 10% discount off all cheese in their store.
  • El Rayo – $1 oysters, Monday nights.
  • Five Fifty-Five – $1.55 oysters & drink specials, Thursdays nights at the bar.
  • Grace – happy hour from 5-6:30 Tuesday through Saturday, featuring bar food and drink specials including $15 bottles of wine
  • Hugo’s – the 6-course blind tasting menu, normally $85 per person, is $42.50 on Tuesday through Thursday from now until March 31.
  • Pom’s Thai Taste – $1 sushi, Monday & Tuesday.
  • Ri-Ra – half priced burgers on Wednesday nights.
  • The Great Lost Bear – Monday and Tuesday nights are Short Beer Nights when you can get a 23 ounce draft for $4.25. You can find a full list of happy hour specials on Portland Taps.
  • The Salt Exchange – 3-course prix fixe for $30.
  • There have been a number of discount offers for Portland area restaurants in the past few weeks on Dealitious and Groupon (but not this morning). Living Social has an offer today for Local 188 a $50 certificate half off for $25. Another local coupon site, The Maine Deal now is offering $10 gift certificates to Gorgeous Gelato for $5.

What’s missing from the list? Post a comment and share what you know.

Farmland and Organic Acres

| Posted in Farming

MPBN has reported on two announcements made at this year’s Maine Agricultural Trades Convention. MOFGA set a goal to double the number of organic farms in Maine over the next 5 years and bring the percentage of organic acreage up to 10%,

MOFGA commissioned a study based on statistics from the 2007 Census of Agriculture, and among other things, it found that Maine has one of the largest collections of organic farms in the nation. Still, admits Libby, they’re a small part of the agricultural landscape in Maine. Organic farms account for roughly seven percent, respectively, of the state’s overall farming acreage, assets and gross revenue.

and the Maine Farmland Trust has…

launched a campaign to preserve 100,000 acres of farmland throughout the state by 2014. The initiative, announced this morning at the annual state farm show in Augusta, was prompted by concerns that much of Maine’s farmland will be in transition in the next 10 to 15 years as aging farmers sell off their farms or die.

For additional reporting on these announcements read this Press Herald article.

Immigrant Kitchen: African Fou Fou

| Posted in Cooking

Immigrant Kitchens author Lindsay Sterling has published a recipe and video instructions for making African Fou Fou as well as the back story behind how she learned to make the dish.

She plugged in a little portable stove and showed me right there how to make fou fou, a dish that’s as popular in parts of Africa as hamburgers and fries are here. She put cassava flour and corn flour into a pot of water, heated and stirred vigorously for some time.

Sterling will be teaching cooking class this Friday in Freeport with Swedish Cured Salmon, Potatoes Au Gratin, and Mustard Vinaigrette on the menu.

Gorgeous Gelato, Angela Landsbury and Going Vegan

| Posted in People, Cooking

Read the Soup to Nuts article in today’s Press Herald and learn about the connection between the TV show Murder, She Wrote and the opening of Gorgeous Gelato here in Portland.

Opening a gelato shop in Maine in December seems a little like opening a hot chocolate stand in Phoenix in July, when the average high is 105 degrees.

You really want to ask: “What were you thinking?”

Donato Giovine and Mariagrazia Zanardi, owners of the new Gorgeous Gelato shop at 434 Fore St., are happy to explain.

Today’s Food & Dining section also includes an article on an online service that helps people convert to a vegan diet.

Student Food Writing Competition

| Posted in General News

Slow Food Portland have announced the First Annual Young Food Writer’s Contest. The competition is open to “any student enrolled in public or private school, or being home schooled, in Cumberland County.”

To enter the competition students need to “write a short essay about food, which can be fiction or non-fiction, and written on the chosen theme.” For 2011 Slow Food has chosen “The Taste of Maine” for the theme. The winners will receive share in the CSA of their choice.

Deadline for entry is February 11, 2011. For all the details on the competition visit the Slow Food Portland website.

Sandwich Review of Brea Lu

| Posted in Reviews, Cooking

From Away has published another in their series of sandwich reviews, this time around they visited Brea Lu Cafe for a grilled cheese,

This was, overall, a solid diner-style grilled cheese sandwich, with a few flavorful extras, and somewhat higher-quality ingredients than you would expect from a typical diner. While I can’t see going out of my way to return for takeout, it seems like a perfectly pleasant place to kill an hour for a quick lunch out…particularly if we have other errands that take us to Forrest Avenue.

While they’re on the site, fans of Pai Men’s might want to check out From Away’s post on reverse engineering the famous Pai Men pork buns.

Tony’s Donuts & Lobster Certification Controversy

| Posted in People, Profiles, Fisheries

For this week’s Maine at Work article reporter Ray Routhier makes donuts at Tony’s.

My first question was: When do I flip them? I was hoping for a specific answer, such as “in three minutes.” But I soon learned that Proulx, a 10-year veteran doughnut maker at Tony’s Donuts in Portland, didn’t have a lot of specific answers.

“When they’re done on one side,” was Proulx’s reply to my flipping question.

…and for a good laugh watch this 3-Minute Maine video produced by Down East about making donuts at Tony’s.

Also in today’s Press Herald is a report on the controversy surrounding efforts to get Maine’s lobster fishery certified as a sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.

“To have somebody in England evaluating our product and our conservation and how we do things doesn’t really cut it,” said Sheila Dassatt, executive director of the Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, which represents about 300 lobstermen along the Maine coast.

This Week’s Events: Ag Trade Show, Bray’s, Ice Cream Theory

| Posted in Events

Tuesday — opening day of the 70th Annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta.

Wednesday — Black Tie Provisions is teaching a cooking class.

Thursday — The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing beer from Bray’s Brew Pub in Naples and a mead and cheese tasting is taking place at the Public Market House.

Friday — Rosemont Market is holding a wine tasting at their Brighton Ave location.

Saturday — the Winter Farmers Market in the morning, Black Cherry Provisions is holding a wine tasting starting at noon and Steff Deschenes, author of The Ice Cream Theory will be at Bull Moose in Scarborough for a book signing.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.