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sausage

chefs & restaurants farms

Gracie’s Outstanding in the Field dinner in Portsmouth, R.I.

by David Dadekian September 22, 2012

written by David Dadekian

Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga plating rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices

On Wednesday, September 12, the Gracie’s team moved from Providence to Portsmouth for a spectacular evening with the Outstanding in the Field tour. This year’s dinner was held at Aquidneck Farms on what could only be described as a picture-perfect setting with the table for 150 guests extending down to the western bank of the Sakonnet River. Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga’s menu managed to far surpass the wonders of the location in it’s perfection, and Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark’s fruit tart may have been one of the best desserts I’ve had all year (I was invited to sit for dinner as a guest of Gracie’s).

Farms represented by Varga’s menu included Blackbird Farm, Pat’s Pastured, Matunuck Oysters, Schartner Farms, Saltwater Farms, Aquidneck Farms and Shy Brothers Farm. The menu was paired with Napa Valley wines from Jonathan Edwards Winery, based in North Stonington, Connecticut, and included the debut of Gracie’s two private label wines, one based around Jonathan Edwards Connecticut Cabernet Franc and the other on Connecticut Pinot Gris.

Here are twenty-eight select photos from the evening. You can also view photos from the 2010 and 2011 Outstanding in the Field dinners. For the full set of 181 photos from this year’s event, please see this Eat Drink RI Facebook album.

Chef Matthew Varga with the Outstanding in the Field table overlooking the Sakonnet River

musk melon, Blackbird Farm prosciutto

Matunuck oysters on the half shell, cucumber mignonette

Pt. Judith lobster profiteroles, tarragon aioli, pickled ramps

Chef Matthew Varga

Danielle Lowe and Melissa Denmark preparing salads

Danielle Lowe plating the heirloom tomato, mozzarella cheese, garden flavors & verjus

Peter Kachmarsky and Matthew Varga grilling chicken

Cucumbers and radishes in verjus for the salad course

Matthew Varga plating the salad course

Aquidneck Farms chickens on the grill

The finished heirloom tomato, mozzarella cheese, garden flavors & verjus

The Outstanding in the Field table

The Outstanding in the Field table with guests

Saltwater Farms mussels on the grill

Matthew Varga in a haze of mussel steam

Saltwater Farms mussels, Aquidneck sausage, grilled onions, sweet basil

Plating the rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices

Rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices

Melissa Denmark plating her dessert

Matthew Varga photographing Danielle Lowe plating dessert

Late summer fruit tart, honeyed Cloumage, lavender caramel (to come)

Matthew Varga preparing watermelon

Late summer fruit tart, honeyed Cloumage, lavender caramel

Gracie’s owner Ellen Gracyalny

The Gracie’s and Outstanding in the Field group enjoying the spoils of victory. Thank you to everyone involved in the wonderful evening.

September 22, 2012 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news

Have you visited Chez Pascal’s Wurst Window for lunch yet?

by David Dadekian August 13, 2012

written by David Dadekian

Interior bar seating at the Wurst Window Kitchen, Aaron Peirolo at work

Sure it’s a cliche, but talk about turning lemons into lemonade. When a car crashed into the side of Chez Pascal over a year ago owners Kristin and Matt Gennuso decided to use the damage to their advantage and put in a take-out window. They already served fast fare that was take-out friendly from the Hewtin’s Dogs Mobile truck and a Hot Dog cart, so why not add some outdoor seating and serve it out of the restaurant as well? The Wurst Window, as it’s called, is now open and has already become a hit with those who’ve eaten there.

We spoke with Chef Matt Gennuso who described the menu as follows, “The Wurst Window will be focusing on the sausages. We’ll always have the hot dogs. There will be a sandwich of the day, and as we grow into it, the menu will grow. Start small, we do it right, build into it.” Don’t let Gennuso kid you though, Chez Pascal’s starting small is great. The window is open for lunch Tuesdays through Saturday, with outdoor seating, though that will grow to include indoor seating as well. Bar service includes beer and wine or a full bar when seated inside. As Gennuso said, it’s evolving but bottom line is: best sausage in town and beers available now at the Wurst Window.

Below are a few photos from the opening week of the Wurst Window. That week’s menu can be seen below, but as noted, it will change. Chez Pascal is at 960 Hope Street in Providence.

Knackwurst with Beer Onions and Feta & House Mustard. The wooden serving boards were made by Matt Gennuso’s father and the small ceramic condiment bowls were made by his mother.

Sign hanging above the Wurst Window outside Chez Pascal

Outdoor seating area by the Wurst Window

Inside the new Wurst Window kitchen, Aaron Peirolo doing prep

A couple of sausages and a pastrami sandwich on the flattop

Condiments for each order

Detail in the tile work in the new interior Wurst Window bar

The famous Hewtin’s Dogs with either chili (above) or kraut (below)

The Wurst Window menu (subject to change)

August 13, 2012 0 comment

chefs & restaurants farms news wine & drinks

Chef Jamie Bissonnette Wins Cochon 555 Boston 2012

by David Dadekian March 26, 2012

written by David Dadekian

Chef Jamie Bissonnette's Bánh Mì of Coppa, Kidney Spread, Head Cheese and Ham

Chef Jamie Bissonnette of Coppa and Toro in Boston was the winner of the fourth annual Cochon 555 Boston competition. The event, held this year at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Boston was even more over-the-top than years past with a packed ballroom of people eating outstanding pork dishes from Bissonnette along with the four other competitors, Chefs Barbara Lynch and Colin Lynch of Menton, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, Tim Cushman of O Ya and Steve Postal of Fenway Park.

To underscore how Cochon 555 brings out the best competitors, last week Chefs Bissonette and Cushman were named James Beard Foundation award finalists for Best Chef: Northeast. One of Chef Lynch’s other restaurants in her Barbara Lynch Gruppo, No. 9 Park, is a finalist for the Beard Foundation Awards’ Outstanding Wine Program. Also at the Cochon 555 Boston event was a third Beard Foundation Award Best Chef: Northeast nominee, Chef Matt Jennings of Farmstead & La Laiterie. This was the first year that Providence, Rhode Island favorite Jennings did not compete in the Cochon 555, having won all three of the previous Boston events. Jennings was on hand as part of the Le Creuset challenge.

Cochon is the brainchild of Brady Lowe who now hosts fourteen culinary events around the United States each year with the goal of supporting sustainable agriculture. The journey begins every January when Cochon 555 embarks on a 10-city culinary competition and tasting tour. Fifty chefs are selected to prepare a “snout -to-tail” menu created from heritage breed pigs. The ten local winners are flown to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen for the final competition, Grand Cochon. Three other national events—Cochon All-Star, Cochon Heritage Fire and a BBQ competition—bring even bigger voices to the cause of whole animal utilization.

As the winner, Bissonnette will now compete in Aspen, Colorado at the Grand Cochon U.S. Tour Finale during the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Congratulations to Chef Bissonnette and his entire team. Good luck in Aspen. Below is a selection of fifteen photographs highlighting tonight’s event. You can view posts and photos from previous years here.

Chef Jamie Bissonnette with his trophy (Chef Tim Cushman to left)

Chef Bissonnette's plate, clockwise from upper left: La Lot Vietnamese Sausage, Bánh Mì, Pig Foot Rillette, Pork Belly Pho

Chicken Fried Head Cheese with bacon waffle and maple syrup from Chef Colin Lynch of Barbara Lynch Gruppo

Chef Colin Lynch of Menton slicing ham

The Hungry Mother team, Chef Barry Maiden in center, preparing their platter of six dishes

O Ya's ingenious menu presentation, "printed" on pig skin

Chef Steve Postal brought a large display of Red Sox items with him from Fenway Park, including . . .

. . . yes, that's a World Series trophy! Chef Postal brought both the 2004 & 2007 Red Sox World Series Champion trophies for display. That's Postal serving his Pork Blood Ice Cream over a "Pork Crispy Treat"

The crowd watching the Lemay & Sons Beef butchery demo of a whole Berkshire from Brambly Farms

All that beautifully butchered Brambly Farms Berkshire pig

Daniel Hyatt from The Alembic in San Francisco prepared the perfect Manhattans with an assortment of small batch bourbons

Hyatt's beautifully presented Manhattan in a Mason jar

Chef Bissonnette with a magic ingredient Blis Small Batch Bourbon Barrel Aged Fish Sauce

from left to right: Chef Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, Chef Colin Lynch of Menton, Chef Steve Postal of Fenway Park, Cochon 555 founder Brady Lowe, Chef Barbara Lynch of Barbara Lynch Gruppo, Chef Tim Cushman of O Ya and Chef Jamie Bissonnette of Coppa and Toro

Chef Jamie Bissonnette and Cochon 555 founder Brady Lowe embrace after Lowe announces Bissonnette as the Boston winner. Chef Matt Jennings cheers in the background

March 26, 2012 0 comment

cooking

Charcutepalooza December: Thank You

by David Dadekian December 6, 2011

written by David Dadekian

Charcuterie Board (see lower photo for descriptions)

And so it goes. Our year of meat has come to a close. For the final Charcutepalooza challenge we were told to show what we learned all year. In Cathy’s own words, do some “showing off” with a celebration. Personally, I think a lot of the Charcutepalooza participants have been showing off all year long—and I mean that in a very positive way. I’ve had an immense amount of fun, a little frustration and a minor failure, but mostly huge fun.

The final challenge for me involved my family and the weekend after Thanksgiving, a leisurely weekend of chopping down a Christmas tree and putting up lights and decorations, all while enjoying the meats and cheeses you see on the big board above. The bresaola I had made for the previous challenge, all the rest of the charcuterie I slowly assembled over the month of November in preparation for the bittersweet end.

As I said, it was the weekend after Thanksgiving. My parents were visiting us from their home in Florida. My wife had four days off from work. My daughters were constantly excited from all the grandparent attention and all these Christmas decorations coming out—there’s a tree in the house! I knew I wasn’t going to want to cook too much after the multi-day extravaganza that is Thanksgiving, but I knew we’d want to eat something else besides leftovers so thought, what’s better than a spread of charcuterie that we can pick at as we work and play?

I made all these photographs and then we proceeded to clear the board over the weekend, cooking up the sausage and some of the lamb bacon, steaming the pastrami until it was moist and tender. My mother loved the pâté, something she doesn’t get that often, and I avoided mentioning to her that using Jacques Pépin’s very classical recipe calls for half a pound of livers with 3/8 of a pound of butter as the base. As much as I would love to see my girls eat everything on the board, they’re not there yet, though Brigid did sample all the Farmstead cheeses at the Wintertime Farmers’ Market and helped pick out two of them.

When I was making the pâté the day before I had taken out a bottle of Armenian “cognac.” I use quotes because it’s obviously not made in the French region of Cognac, but that’s what Armenian brandies have been called for many years. Supposedly Armenian cognac was Winston Churchill’s drink of choice. My dad hadn’t seen a bottle in years and wanted to try it so my wife, in perhaps a bit of whimsy, took out a couple of shot glasses with shamrocks on them for us to have a drink. The bottle from Armenia alongside the Irish shot glass kind of summed up our whole family so I made a photo, but this being a Charcutepalooza feast I had to stick the pâté in the photo too.

So with that memory and image of all my now eaten charcuterie (there’s a little lamb bacon left, but won’t be for long) I close my year of meat. But I certainly can’t end without a huge thank you to Cathy Barrow and Kim Foster for coming up with all this fun. I’ve been making charcuterie for years, but never as regularly or as focused as I did for the last year. Also, for me, the best part was expanding how I would photograph these things. I started with some different ways with the duck prosciutto, became really happy with my style as I got to the pancetta and the last three months of meat pie, galantine and bresaola have been very satisfying for me. I appreciate all the kind comments and Kim’s choosing a few of my photos for her monthly wrap-ups. I can’t thank her and especially Cathy’s inspiring challenges and tweets enough.

Special thanks also to Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, authors of our manual for the year Charcuterie. I eagerly await their salumi book. Finally, I can’t possibly think of a way to say thank you enough to all the wonderful Charcutepalooza participants. I can’t say enough about the joy of “conversing” with all of you on Twitter. If I begin to try and list everyone’s Twitter name I know I’ll miss someone, so check out this great archive of every tweet with the #charcutepalooza tag and follow them all.

Thank you again, Cathy @MrsWheelbarrow and Kim @KimFosterNYC!