Author: PFM

Trail Gourmet Recipe Contest

| Posted in Events

Portland Trails is holding a recipe contest to “explore the variety of food that can be enjoyed out on the trail”. The deadline for submission is February 22. The first place prize is “a meal for two at one of Portland’s fine restaurants and a guest appearance on CTN5’s ‘Community Kitchens’ television show.”

People are encouraged to submit healthy, delicious recipes for on-the-go food inspired by Portland’s trails and Southern Maine’s farms and gardens.  The recipe should be for a meal-worthy snack that can be carried in a backpack and eaten on a trail. Submissions should include:

  • Recipe
  • Recipe Name (must be named for a trail within the Portland Trail’s network)
  • A brief (1-2 sentence) explanation about why the name was chosen
  • Photograph of the finished dish
  • Category in which the entrant chooses to be judged (professional or amateur)
  • Details about how to store and pack the meal are encouraged

For more information call (207) 775-2411 and ask for Rachael Weyand or email info@trails.org.

Review of District

| Posted in Reviews

District has received 3½ stars from the Taste & Tell review in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

More intriguing than either of the above, baked halloumi ($8) was a fried or broiled rectangle of mild, Middle Eastern cheese (not breaded) set in a shallow earthenware dish with cream mixed with Ouzo and roasted garlic, and topped with fried potatoes that were skinny and crunchy. Slices of chewy bread made the base for a piece of hot cheese and perhaps one of the sour little gherkins.

Profile of Haven’s Candy

| Posted in People, Profiles

The Maine Sunday Telegram has published profiles of Haven’s Candy,

“What I love about Haven’s is that we are 96 years old, and although we have expanded our size and scope, and adopted some technology, we still make candy by hand,” Charles said. “We are sticking to our roots. That’s the soul of the company.”

and its owner Andy Charles,

“I was in my early 40s and thought, if I don’t get busy with this, I’ll wake up in my 70s with regrets,” he said of his decision to purchase the company in 2001. “I had an ‘Aha!’ moment.”

Charles, now 53, said he bought Haven’s because he was impressed with the company’s rich legacy in Portland and reputation for high-quality products.

Review of the Rooms

| Posted in Reviews

Down East’s blog The Golden Dish has posted a combined review of The Corner/Grill/Front Room restaurants.

Harding Smith’s restaurant kingdom is an empire built in fits and starts. Each one comes out of the gate magnificently, spirals to a declivitous edge momentarily — like catching one’s breath — only to return to glorious heights, which is where, more or less, his three establishments have remained.

Reviews of East Ender and Port Bean Cafe

| Posted in Reviews

Wines; Tasted! has published a review of the East Ender,

Anyway, you should go check it out.  They’re obviously new and are still putting art on the walls, and the bar stools are a bit hard to get up to the bar; but those are the only nits I can find to pick.  The wings alone are totaly worth the trip, in my humble opinion.  The beer/wine prices are also a huge draw in their own right.  And the prices are good.  The bill for my friend and I, including multiple courses, beer and wine; came to only about $60.  I’ll be back to eat again soon!

Port Bean Cafe received 3½ stars from the Eat & Run column in today’s Press Herald,

The Turkey Bacon Rave was huge, made with thick slices of bread and piled high with turkey, applewood smoked bacon, jack cheese, tomato, lettuce and bakehouse sauce. This sandwich was so large, I’m not sure I could have eaten a whole one. Luckily, Port Bean has specials where you can order half a sandwich or a small salad with some soup for $7.95.

Super Bowl Wings & Subs

| Posted in General News

The Portland Phoenix offers advice on the menu for your Super Bowl party,

But keep in mind, when it comes to hosting such an event, there are some culinary standards to abide by. First of all, healthy means nothing. It’s not that there isn’t some nutritional value to be found on Super Bowl Sunday, it’s just that it doesn’t matter. Health is a non-issue, so disregard it immediately before contributing to such a party. And, frankly, the messier the dish is to eat, the better.

and recommendations on where to source your Super Bowl eats from.

Pamola Xtra, Double Throttle IPA, etc

| Posted in Beer

Today’s What Ales You column in the Press Herald reports on some newly released beers including the Pamola Xtra from Baxter Brewing,

The beer — which is 4.9 percent alcohol — has a lot of body, especially for a pale ale. It just felt substantial in the mouth, and had some malt sweetness followed by a slight hop bite at the back end. All three people who tasted this liked it a lot.

Super Bowl Eats

| Posted in Cooking

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald interviewed chefs Mitchell Gerow from East Ender and Peter Sueltenfuss from District to get their suggestions for your Sunday Super Bowl party.

“The best way to have a fun and enjoyable Super Bowl party is to keep it simple, and you can’t get more simple than the classics – clams casino, chicken wings, a pulled pork sandwich,” said Mitchell Gerow, chef/co-owner at the East Ender.

Pete Sueltenfuss, chef/partner at District, offered a simple but delicious recipe for pork meatballs served with a local cider gravy.

The Natural Foodie article proposes some plant-based eating alternatives to the “[t]raditional Super Bowl food laden with meat and dairy”.

Whoopie Pies, the State Dessert (Updated)

| Posted in General News

The Maine Committee on State and Local Government met this morning to consider HP 59, An Act To Designate the Whoopie Pie as the State Dessert. The bill defines a whoopie pie as “a baked good made of 2 chocolate cakes with a creamy frosting between them”.

MPBN aired a report on the Whoopie Pie initiative this evening,

And at least once a year, connoisseurs of the whoopie pie from all over the country travel to Davis’s Piscataquis County to attend the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. Davis says there nothing frivolous about the economic impact it has on the region.

As it turns out, demand for whoopie pies is up. “Whoopie pies have been on the rise for several years and no one can pinpoint exactly the reason,” said Amos Orcutt, of the Maine Whoopie Pie Association. Yes, there is such a thing.

MPBN also has posted a recording of the official Whoopie Pie song on their site.

The Portland Daily Sun published a whoopie pie article on Tuesday which delved into the competing claims between Maine and Pennsylvania,

“Clearly Maine has fired the first salvo in what future generations will refer to as the Whoopie Pie War of 2011. The question is, will we pie-lovin’
Pennsylvanians defend our whoopies,” said one commenter on a PennLive.com article about the Maine bill.

Tuesday’s Press Herald article on the whoopie pie legislation has more detail on the proposal to make blueberry pie the state dessert,

On Monday, at a hearing before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee, Rep. Donald Pilon dismissed whoopies as “frosting delivery vehicles” and suggested that wild-blueberry pie deserves to be the state’s official dessert.

Down East magazine conducted an informal poll of their Facebook fans on the question of whoopie pies vs blueberry pie. Blueberry pie won out, 28 to 13.