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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Where Am I Eating? No. 3

Posted By on Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 4:07 PM

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UPDATE, Wednesday, October 29, 8:45 p.m.: Marc Stein was the first to correctly identify the Reservoir Restaurant & Tap Room's Misty Knoll Farm fried chicken. Thanks to everyone who chimed in!

Do you like free food? If not, you're probably dead, which is sad. 

If you are alive, you can win a gift certificate from one of dozens of Vermont restaurants simply by identifying the provenance of the photo above. Post the name of the restaurant where I ate this dish in the comment section below. If you're the first to correctly identify it, you win.

Ready? Go!

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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Farmers Market Kitchen: Fall Frittata

Posted By on Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 2:38 PM

PHOTOS: HANNAH PALMER EGAN
  • Photos: Hannah Palmer Egan
With the summer farmers markets finished for the season, we're now in that autumn lull before the winter markets begin, and if you want farm-fresh produce, you'll have to hit up a farmstand — or your local co-op.

But with all the rain we've been having, late fall mushrooms are in full bloom. At the end of my Burlington block is an old maple tree that recently started fruiting with pounds and pounds of meaty oyster mushrooms — more than I could ever use. While summer oysters are usually milky white, as the weather cools, they start sprouting in shades of dusty brown, and these beauties were massive, some as big as my hand. 

I picked a couple pounds* (many more remain on the tree) and, feeling rich, started dreaming up a fall frittata with foraged apples from my pantry and a bit of McKenzie sausage from my fridge. A quick trip to City Market brought fresh sage, courtesy of Digger's Mirth Collective Farm, and Tarentaise, a mild, Alpine-style cheese from Pomfret's Thistle Hill Farm. And that, quite quickly, was that.

*For nonforagers, MoTown Mushrooms supplies great oysters in many colors, or you can usually find them at the co-op or other grocers. Also, any mushrooms you prefer will work well with this recipe.

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Alice Eats: The Blue Stone

Posted By on Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 2:11 PM

15 Stowe Street, Waterbury, 882-8185
The blue stone itself - ALICE LEVITT
  • Alice Levitt
  • The blue stone itself
Here's the thing about working at a paper with two food critics: We don't always agree. When my former colleague Corin Hirsch reviewed the Blue Stone in Waterbury back in January 2013, she wasn't a huge fan. Though I hadn't tried it, I just had a feeling I would like it more than she did. Frequent recommendations from friends I trust only bolstered that instinct.

It wasn't easy to add something to my rotation of Waterbury favorites Prohibition Pig and the Reservoir Restaurant & Tap Room. But I finally made the trip specifically for pizza on Sunday. 

The Blue Stone space, with its embossed ceilings, brick archway and moose skull, is endearingly manly. The main attraction, though, is the "blue stone" itself, a chunky well stone that once resided in an 18th-century farmhouse in Pittsford. With only a few other customers at Sunday lunch, I felt like I was dining in a private gentlemen's club, part restaurant, part museum.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Alice Eats: Authentic Ethiopian Night at ArtsRiot

Posted By on Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 12:18 PM

400 Pine St., Burlington, 540-0406
Dining room at ArtsRiot - ALICE LEVITT
  • Alice Levitt
  • Dining room at ArtsRiot
ArtsRiot's kitchen is in the middle of a shake-up. The first week of this month was the last for the Kitchen Collective, a model that allowed fledgling businesses to get their feet wet before opening a full-scale restaurant. George Lambertson is now ArtsRiot's full-time chef, serving dinner from Tuesday through Saturday (look for more info from Seven Days soon), but he'll continue to cede the kitchen to other cooks for special events.

Since February, monthly Authentic Ethiopian Nights have been gaining a particularly devoted following. On Saturday night, I finally had the opportunity to taste the fare for myself and learn why the dinners require reservations, even though the dining room expands into the gallery for the event.

I first heard the name Mulu Tewelde several years ago, when the Eritrean native began catering private parties. She and fellow Abyssinian Alganesh Michael may be from the country right next door to Ethiopia, but the food is nearly identical. I've never been satisfied with ¡Duino! (Duende)'s Ethiopian nights and recently lost my African food destination, African Safari Store, when it closed on North Street.

I was due for great grub from the African continent. And I got it.

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Farmers Market Kitchen: Mystery Apple Cheddar Galette

Posted By on Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 10:29 AM

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A galette is basically a nice French word loosely describing a loose little combination of pastry and something else. I tend to think of it as an informal pie — rather than confining your pastry to a pan, you place the fruit on a piece of dough and fold the dough around it to form a quaint little nest filled with fruit.

Two weeks ago, on a warm afternoon at my cousins', we wandered the land, tasting the apples ripe on trees left unkempt for years, probably decades. One particular tree — a knotted old thing with bright yellow orbs speckled a deep, bloody red — hung heavy with fruit prime for pie, I thought. Firm and tart, these were perfect apples for baking. I've looked them up in a couple apple books and can't figure out if they're a named variety or cultivar or what. (If you know what variety they are, pictured above, please let me know in the comments!) 

Maybe they're left over from an extinct orchard; maybe they grew from a seed dropped by a hungry bird or deer or raccoon; the mysteries abound. But I only cared for their flavor and texture, which I liked, so we picked a bagful. Soon they'd been patiently waiting in the pantry for a day, and I had a few hours to spare and guests for the feeding. 

Using an extra double-crust pie I'd made the previous weekend (these will keep in the fridge for a week or more, and frozen for up to a month), I made two little galettes — one with Cabot cheddar, one without. I served them for dessert at a Sunday supper and for an afternoon snack the next day. The great thing about an apple-cheese pie is that it's dessert, breakfast, lunch or a snack. 

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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Alice Eats: Pho K&K

Posted By on Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 12:23 PM

121 Connor Way, Williston, 288-1017 
Cha gio with avocado smoothie and lemonade - ALICE LEVITT
  • Alice Levitt
  • Cha gio with avocado smoothie and lemonade
Apparently, it can be risky attempting to open an authentic ethnic restaurant in Maple Tree Place. While I dined anonymously at 2-month-old Pho K&K last night, co-owner Khanh Le told me that early customers complained about the taste of his food. Specifically, they thought there was too much of it. Unfortunately for those of us who like big flavor, he's been listening.

So what's a critic to do? I'm stuck reviewing what I tried, not what I believe Le and his wife, Khanh Pham, are capable of. There were hints of skill throughout my meal, but it was stymied by the utter lack of salt. Still, given the value offered and the excellent location, I'm willing to give this family business another try. Here's why:

1. The beverages need no tweaking. Fresh-squeezed lemonade ($2.50) is pulpy and as blindingly sweet as the Vietnamese refresher should be. In an uncommon touch, the sugar crystals are incorporated seamlessly, making this version easier on my teeth.

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Farmers Market Kitchen: Wild Grape Pie

Posted By on Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 12:00 PM

PHOTOS: HANNAH PALMER EGAN
  • Photos: Hannah Palmer Egan

There is so much to say about grape pie.

But rather than carry on for hours (I could, but it wouldn't be pretty), I'll offer just this: It's not easy to make.

It's best to set aside most of a day to prepare it — or do the crust one evening and the filling the next day, for a total of four to six hours, including cooking time.

It's an epic task. But few days are spent on a better single endeavor than producing this stunningly beautiful, absolutely delicious, one-of-a-kind, showstopper pie. 

Last year, I made it with Concord grapes, which I found at the Greenmarket in New York City's Union Square. This year, I searched high and low, but the one person I knew growing the deep-blue-purple fruit said his crop was spoken for.

Serendipitously, my cousin just moved to a new piece of property, which I'm provisionally calling "WildFarm," since it already abounds in edible flora and he intends to farm there. When I visited last week, we pulled down pounds of wild grapes growing up a large maple at the edge of the woods. (Here's an action shot on Instagram!)

The grapes are super-tart, which makes them great for baking, since most fruit pies call for lemon juice to perk up the pucker. With these, that's not necessary, and their character, color and texture are much like the Concord's. They're smaller and seedier, so you'll need a lot more of them to fill a pie, but I enjoy their sour, feral flavor. And you won't have to pay $6 or more per pound for the cultivars, because these grapes are free for the taking, growing on a roadside near you.

As with all wild forage, KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PICKING. If you're not absolutely certain what the wild grape looks like, do your homework first! If you don't have time to go pulling wild grapes from trees, use Concords — I saw some from Massachusetts at City Market last week, and some of those may be left.

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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Alice Eats: Wicked Wings

Posted By on Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 1:32 PM

119 Pearl Street, Essex Junction, 879-7111
Wicked WIngs
  • Wicked WIngs
It's hard to miss the devilish bird with one yellow eye. Though the other eye is red, apparently the victim of a computer's auto-fill setting, you get the idea: This steroidal rooster — or whatever that horned avian is supposed to be — certainly gets his point across: There are wings here, they are hot and you should eat them. Sold, Wicked Wings. I think we have an understanding.

The space at 119 Pearl Street has been a revolving door in recent years, with incarnations including a Southeast Asian spot I really liked and a pizza place I didn't quite so much. In buildings such as this one, I always hope for a restaurant that will find its "forever home," breaking the "curse." But it's harder when the modest surroundings retain vestiges of previous tenants. 

On a Sunday evening, the space was about half full, but locals ducked in for take-out. Those who stuck around seemed to be there for the game, shown on several flatscreen TVs. All had giant platters of wings, which I soon learned was really the point.

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Farmers Market Kitchen: Chorizo-Stuffed Poblanos

Posted By on Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 9:15 AM

PHOTOS: HANNAH PALMER EGAN
  • Photos: Hannah Palmer Egan
With farmers markets in the final throes of the summer season, this week's recipe pulls from a laundry list of local farms.

At the Burlington Farmers Market on Saturday, I found gorgeous, waxy, dark green poblano peppers and cherry tomatoes from Monkton's Bella Farm, fresh chorizo and shallots from Huntington's Maple Wind Farm and cheese curds from West Glover's Sweet Rowen Farmstead. All of these came together in some fantastic chile rellenos for a Saturday night feast with our neighbors, who are headed to the Virgin Islands for the winter.

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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Alice's Latest Obsession: Every Burger At Last!

Posted By on Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 2:16 PM

ALICE LEVITT
  • Alice Levitt
Just before noon today, I got a text from Chris Russo, co-owner of Bento in Burlington. It was just four words: "We've got Every Burger!"

I ran right to College Street, knowing my life was about to change. For the first time ever, I am now able to buy my favorite candy in Vermont. From Indian rose barfi to bone-shaped, cardamom-flavored Maltese ghadam tal-mejtin, I've eaten my way through the world's sweets with unbecoming gusto. But in the end, nothing can compete with a childhood favorite. 

When I was a kid, my family drove to a Japanese supermarket called Meiji-ya for groceries a couple of times a month. I had lots of musts on my list: eat a melon-flavored shaved ice from the counter; bring home Botan Rice candy, wrapped in edible rice paper, to wow my friends. Panko, at the time not something you could just buy at the grocery store, also seemed to go quickly in my house. 

But my favorite candy was always the Every Burger. Or maybe it's more of a cookie. The bite-sized burgers are made of mini patties of chocolate topped in yellow white chocolate, which stands in for cheese. The buns are skinny, shortbread-style cookies topped in chopped sesame seeds. Every Burgers used to be sold with two mini compartments in each package, but in the last year or two, they've been packed as a single serving. This makes portion control extremely difficult for me. 

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