Author: PFM

Breakfast, Menu Creation, Vegan Cooking

| Posted in General News, Events, Cooking

Today’s Press Herald includes an article about the business of breakfast,

Breakfast’s flexible pricing is another thing that [Bintliff’s owner Joe] Catoggio thinks makes it successful and “recession-proof.” A full meal could cost only $7 or an extravagant lobster eggs Benedict with a mimosa could cost a lot more. The price range attracts everyone from college students to successful business professionals, he said.

insight into how chefs plan and change their menus,

Some menus change daily. Others change every few weeks or months, following the swell of the seasons or the whims of the kitchen.

Two Maine restaurants, the Salt Exchange in Portland and Natalie’s at the Camden Harbour Inn, recently offered a peek into the process of how they change their menus.

a Natural Foodie article on the upcoming visit to Portland by chef Mark Anthony, a proponent of lowering cholesterol through eating a plant-based diet,

He doesn’t hope you’ll buy the latest food prep gadget. He’s not trying to sign you up for a diet plan with meals shipped straight to your door. He won’t entice you with a shiny stack of cookbooks.

Instead, he’ll let you watch him cook, and then he’ll serve you a full-course meal. For free.

Food & Fundraising

| Posted in General News

Wines;Tasted! has reported on the success of 2 recent wine & food charitable events: Tastes of France for Share Our Strength and the 3rd 20/20 wine event for Ingraham’s Spiral Arts.

On Sunday the 18 I, along with Tabitha from Crush, Scot from Davine, and Steve from Wicked hosted the third 20/20 charity wine tasting on Caiola’s back patio.  It was gorgeous weather and holding the tasting outside shaded by a big old maple allowed us to really take advantage of it.  We showcased 20 unusual wines from southern France and also managed to raise over $1100 for Ingraham’s Spiral Arts program which focuses on engaging the elderly.

Food & Fundraising

| Posted in General News

Wines;Tasted! has reported on the success of 2 recent wine & food charitable events: Tastes of France for Share Our Strength and the 3rd 20/20 wine event for Ingraham’s Spiral Arts.

On Sunday the 18 I, along with Tabitha from Crush, Scot from Davine, and Steve from Wicked hosted the third 20/20 charity wine tasting on Caiola’s back patio.  It was gorgeous weather and holding the tasting outside shaded by a big old maple allowed us to really take advantage of it.  We showcased 20 unusual wines from southern France and also managed to raise over $1100 for Ingraham’s Spiral Arts program which focuses on engaging the elderly.

Iron Chef at the Whole Grocer

| Posted in People

Edible Obsessions has published memories of her days as the resident cook at the old Whole Grocer.

There were needs: vegan muffins, vegan cookies, two soups, two hot dishes, sandwiches and deli items. Mostly all vegan. Every day was playing a bit of (the original) Iron Chef, the mystery ingredients you’d have to create with wouldn’t be revealed until a box of produce or grocery items were culled and left. Dandelion Greens? Quinoa? Seitan? Huh? So, long before I was roasting pork bellies and failing miserably at pickling a cow’s tongue, I was a vegan and, sometimes, raw cook. And, honestly, it made me the cook I am now.

Fish Exchange, Open Farm Day, Packing Salmon

| Posted in Events, Fisheries

Today’s Press Herald includes a visit to Upper Farm Alpacas in Pownal on Sunday’s Open Farm Day,

Greg and Nicole Carter, owners of Upper Farm Alpacas, said they began their business in 2005 with the intention of getting only a few alpacas for the fiber they yield. She said the more research they did, the quicker they fell in love with alpacas.

a Maine at Work column on prepping and packing Salmon,

Behind Malia, a half-dozen or so people were on the salmon-cutting conveyor belt line. One man chopped off the head and tail, then a fillet machine cut open the fish. More men trimmed the fillets, another machine deboned the fish, then someone else plucked out the peskiest bones using tweezers. The fish was then inspected before being packed.

and an article about a call for aid from the Portland Fish Exchange,

The city last week mailed a letter to the owners of more than 60 groundfishing vessels. The future of the Portland Fish Exchange is now uncertain, the letter says, and it needs increased fish landings to ensure its continued operation.

Review of Nosh

| Posted in Reviews

pArts has published a review of Nosh.

You’re going to love or hate this place – I don’t see much of an in between. Me? I love it. Nosh may have what has become my favorite sandwich in Maine: The Pig Belly Reuben. The pork belly was slow cooked and had “Sunday afternoon comfort food” written all over it.

This Week's Events

| Posted in Events

Wednesday — a tasting of organic wines at Old Port Wine Merchants and a Wine Wise class at The Wine Bar.
Thursday — the 3rd Annual Sushi & Sake Tasting at Browne Trading and the monthly Latte Art Competition at Bard Coffee.
Saturday — the 8th Annual Festival of Nations in Deering Oaks Park. For more info read the recent articles in the Portland Daily Sun and the Portland Press Herald.
Farmer’s Markets — the traditional series of Farmer’s Markets are taking place Monday (Monument Square), Wednesday (Monument Square) and Saturday (Deering Oaks Park). Cultivating Community is running their new series of markets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at various locations around the city.
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.