Scratch Cupcake Review

| Posted in Reviews

Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Cupcakes! has posted a review of the banana cream cupcake at Scratch Baking.

This cupcake was definitely amazing and in contention for the best cupcake in the Portland area. The frosting wasn’t so much frosting as it was a whipped cream cloud placed on top of the cupcake. It tasted exactly like homemade whipped cream that my mom makes every year at Christmas. In the middle of the cupcake there was pudding, which made the cake portion even more moist than it already was and added another delicious dimension to the cupcake. There were also little pieces of banana within the pudding and on top of the frosting.

Otto TV

| Posted in General News

The Press Herald is reporting that a film crew from The Cooking Chanel will be in town tomorrow to record a segment of Pizza Out of the Box at Otto’s.

A film crew will be shooting a segment for a show called “Pizza Out of the Box” that will air in August. Shooting starts at 7:30 a.m. and is expected to last until 1 p.m. The segment will feature Otto’s signature mashed potato, bacon and scallion pizza, which has become a customer favorite.

This Week’s Events: JBF Awards, Rabelais Book Sale, Daddy Daughter Tea Day

| Posted in Events

Monday — The James Beard Awards ceremony is taking place at Lincoln Center. Krista Kern Desjarlais is a nominee for Best Chef: Northeast.

Tuesday — Bar Lola is holding a Loire Wine Dinner.

Wednesday — Both Old Port Wine Merchants and RSVP are holding wine tastings, Black Tie Bistro is teaching a cooking class, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.

Thursday — LerRoux will host a Banana Split Trifle baking demonstration, there will be a wine and cheese tasting at the Public Market House, and The Great Lost Bear is featuring beer from Harpoon Brewery.

Saturday — the first day of the Rabelais book sale ($1, $3, $5 or 40% off, exclusive of their rare book inventory), Dobra Tea is participating in the National Daddy Daughter Tea Day, Wine Wise is teaching a class on Cabernets from Napa, the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.

Sunday — the book sale at Rabelais continues.

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.

4½ Stars for Bar Lola

| Posted in Reviews

Bar Lola received 4½ stars from the review in today’s Maine Sunday Telegram.

Outstanding food prepared in different- size portions and courses to mix and match according to the diner’s whim. Top quality ingredients, well-conceived combinations and meticulous preparation make every dish a delight. Opened five years ago by Guy and Stella Hernandez (Guy is chef), Bar Lola is an intimate space with skilled service in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood outside of the city center.

Food Freedom

| Posted in Farming

The cover story in this week’s Portland Phoenix reports on the struggle of local Maine farmers to break free from federal and state food rules that were written for industrial agriculture.

“From farm to table” isn’t just a meaningless foodie slogan anymore. It’s the rallying cry for the smallest of small-scale farming operations in Maine, which are fighting against what they consider to be burdensome state and federal regulations. In the process, they’re laying the groundwork for a nationwide “food sovereignty” movement, aimed at restoring the direct relationship between food producers and consumers, while reducing government interference in local food systems.

Another Review of Deux Cochon

| Posted in Reviews

The Golden Dish has published a review of Deux Cochon.

Perhaps this is all practice for Chef Adam’s aim to open up a real barbecue joint one day with all the proper accoutrements on site. Maybe then we can celebrate.
For now you can have a nice smoky tasting, saucy spiked sandwich, or a side of  eggs pickled in beet juice or some hip-hugging rib-sticking biscuit and sausage gravy served in an accidental multi-purpose eatery not for the faint of heart.

Review of Deux Cochon

| Posted in Reviews

Deux Cochon received 4½ stars from the Eat & Run review in today’s Press Herald.

The pork in the pulled pork sandwich ($6) was smoky and very flavorful, as close as you’ll find in the Portland area to what you can get down South. My friend and I, however, immediately and independently had the same reaction when we bit into our sandwiches: the meat, while delicious, was too dry. A vinegary, Carolina-style sauce from the Deux Cochon counter solved the problem, although it was a little overpowering…Despite that minor issue, I would highly recommend this pulled pork sandwich.

Immigrant Kitchens: Ghanian Peanut Soup

| Posted in Cooking

In the latest entry on Immigrant Kitchens Lindsay Sterling learns how to make Ghanian Peanut Soup from Ebenezer Akakpo (read the recipe and see the photos).

Ebenezer, born in Ghana, and I, born in Wisconsin, met one day in Roxbury, Massachusetts, at Tropical Foods Supermarket. I’d heard this was the place to go for a foufou stick (a stirring tool) and discovered that this is also the place where all the animal parts go that have gone missing from other supermarkets! Here were some of the labels in the meat section: “Chicken feet, beef neck, beef tongue, pork stomach, pig tails, pig snout, and beef feet.” Ebenezer must have seen me, the only white person in the crowded store, trying to guess my way through what looked like 100 different, boxed foufou mixes. He offered to show me how his family did made it in Ada.