Kitchen Kat

Tell people that you’re headed to Maine and more than likely you’ll hear “Oh, you going up there for the lobster? ” Repeated trips to the easternmost state have taught me that there is more to Maine than cold water crustaceans. Spend a few days in Portland, the largest city in the state, and you’ll soon see what I mean.

With a population of 64,000 Portland’s size pales in comparison to most urban centers. What it lacks in numbers, it compensates in character, history, charm and cuisine.  Such is the case at Becky’s Diner.  Located at the end of Hobson’s Wharf, Becky’s has been sustaining local fishermen, townspeople and tourists for close to 20 years.  Its wholesome food and friendly service pack the red vinyl booths and counter stools “362 1/2 days.”  Don’t miss the perfectly cooked home fries, generous amounts of fresh fruit and scrumptious grilled muffins at breakfast, my favorite meal there.

Nestled in a low brick building one block from the water in the Old Port District, Fore Street and its culinary feats have been recognized by the James Beard Foundation as well as Gourmet magazine.  No wonder.  Featuring fresh, local ingredients in such satisfying dishes as wood roasted red hake filet with wild mushrooms, butter poached lobster BLT, organic green beans in a sherry almond vinaigrette and blueberry cobbler topped with blueberry ice cream, Fore’s fare has dazzled the crowds since 1996.  And crowds there are.  Just try snagging a last-minute reservation on a weekend or, during the warmer months, weeknight.  Not a chance!

On the corner of Middle Street and Franklin Arterial, Hugo’s tells a slightly different tale.  Like Fore Street, Hugo’s has been praised for its innovative, seasonal food.  However, unlike at Fore Street, both the crowds, portions and pleasures were miniscule on the night that my husband and I dined there.

 

As serving sizes were small, our menus and server suggested ordering three items. Nonetheless, I requested two dishes:  organic tomato salad with olive oil panna cotta and aged asiago cheese; pan-seared arctic char with organic new potatoes on a bed of seaweed slaw.  In turn I received 5, skinned, yellow cherry tomatoes tumbled onto a paper-thin layer of panna cotta with several centimeter-sized cubes of cheese, a small square of arctic char, one thumb-sized potato and two forkfuls of slaw.  Good thing that I hadn’t been famished. 

Also good that I brought along my debit card.  The portions may have been petite but the price wasn’t.  My lackluster meal — sans drinks — cost $30.  My husband’s, which consisted of the recommended three but also without drinks, ran $50. 

A far better value and meal came, surprisingly, at the Portland Museum of Art’s Museum Cafe.  There we split a flavorful lentil salad studded with slivers of red peppers, diced carrots, onion and feta, a bowl of creamy yet light corn chowder and crisp, homemade ginger snaps.  The cafe likewise offered several other salads, soups, sandwiches, dinner and vegetarian entrees as well as an assortment of baked goods, all served in a spacious, art-filled dining area.     

Three and a half days in Portland.  Loads of good food but only one lobster-based dish.

Maine Lobster Roll
Serves 4
Note: Either buy cooked lobster meat or steam two 1 1/2-pound lobsters and remove the meat.

2 cups cooked lobster meat, cut into small chunks
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 scallions, minced
¼ cup celery, minced
½ – ¾ cup mayonnaise
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 hot dog rolls
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Toss the lobster with the lemon juice in a bowl.  Add ½ cup of mayonnaise, scallions and celery and stir to combine, adding the remaining mayonnaise if necessary.  The salad should be moist but the flavor should not be overwhelmed by mayo.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Spread the softened butter on the rolls and place the rolls, butter-side down, in the pan.  Cook, turning once, until the rolls are golden brown.  Remove from the pan, open the rolls and spoon in the lobster salad.  Serve immediately.

 

Primanti Bros. and Pamela’s.  Multiple Pittsburgh locations.  Loads of good, uncomplicated food. 

Hot, hungry and thirsty, my childhood friends Nickie, Marilee, Jen, Ann and I wound up seated at the counter of the original Primanti Bros.  Located on 18th Street in the Strip District, Primanti’s has been serving its famous french fry and coleslaw-stuffed sandwiches here for 75 years.  This locale operates 24-7, perfect for the bar crowd or for anyone craving a kolbassi and cheese or sardine and cheese sandwich at 3 in the morning.

On a late Saturday afternoon our needs were a bit more mainstream.  Along with chilled bottles of Iron City Beer, the drink of derision for much of my 20s but not for my nostalgia-fueled 30s, we chowed down such “and cheese” sandwiches as jumbo fish, spicy capicola ham and ragin’ cajun chicken breast.  Not one of us could finish these huge sandwiches.  The beer, however, was a different tale.

 

Along with the good friends and food, the best part of eating at Primanti Bros. was the free show.  By sitting at the counter, we could watch the cook grill mounds of cheese-topped bologna, roast beef, ham, chicken, and fish and assemble our meals.  Meat, chicken or fish placed on a hunk of Italian bread followed by fries, coleslaw, tomatoes and another piece of bread.  Slice it in half and serve it on a sheet of waxed paper.  Perfection!

  

At Pamela’s on Walnut Street in Shadyside breakfast was on our menus.  Since the restaurant is famed for its pancakes, Ann and I both ordered short stacks.  Often I gripe about restaurant pancakes, complaining that what lands on my plate is too thick, floury, flaccid and/or flavorless.   Pamela’s, however, were light and airy and tasted delicious.     

In keeping with the duplicate orders trend, Nickie and Marilee got vegetarian omelets with savory home fries and toast.  Jen courageously ordered breakfast her way — two eggs with the requisite home fries and toast.  A wholesome and delectable beginning to our Saturday.                            

Moving to suburban Philly after college, I got a lot of flack about being from Western Pa.  “Pittsburgh?  That’s not a city!”  And then I moved to New York for graduate school.  You can just imagine what I heard.  Yet, when getting together with my childhood friends, I can think of no more fitting gathering spot than the city of our youth.  With a wealth of museums, parks, shopping districts, restaurants and bars Pittsburgh offers both the casual visitor and hardcore tourist countless things to do. 

This summer my friends and I revisited the Andy Warhol Museum, the largest American museum devoted to a single artist.  Want to see Elvis, the Last Supper, Silver Clouds or Brillo Boxes writ large?  The Warhol’s got them as well as 4,000 other works of his art.  

Along with a love of New York, the Velvet Underground, eccentricity, art and cats, the late pop artist and I share a birthday.  I found it quite fitting to be there, admiring the best of Andy and his Wild Raspberries cookbook, less than two weeks before our special day.   

A short ride up the Duquesne Incline brought us to observation platform on Mount Washington.  From there we looked out onto the three rivers, ball parks, Carnegie Science Center, the Point and skyline.  A few feet away on Grandview Avenue we had a wealth of fine-dining-with-a-view options, including such standbys as the Tin Angel and the Le Mont.

Back on river level we wandered around the Strip District.  Once home to factories, mills and produce and meat wholesalers, the Strip now houses bars and restaurants as well as cookware, coffee and antique shops. It also has outdoor vendors selling food, tchotchkes, stacks of Myron Cope’s gold-and-black “Terrible Towel” as well as Steelers, Pirates and Penguins paraphernalia.   

  

In Shadyside, our home base for the weekend, we shopped and dined along Walnut Street.  The tree-lined street offered a mix of independent boutiques such as Tennis Village, The Picket Fence and Shadyside Variety Store and upscale chains including Apple and Williams-Sonoma.  We walked away with lighter wallets and larger credit card bills but also with some great finds. The best part of visiting Pittsburgh? The opportunity to spend time with dear friends whom I could never see often enough.

 

If you have ever lived anywhere near Pittsburgh, you will undoubtedly recognize these magical words:  Jeet jet?  No, j’ou? 

I did eat, and quite well, at this year’s annual gathering of childhood friends in Pittsburgh.  From ice cream at Dave and Andy’s in Oakland to french fry-stuffed sandwiches at Primanti Bros. in the Strip District, Ann, Jen, Marilee, Nickie and I gorged ourselves on some of the Steel City’s finest classic foods.      

Our culinary tour de force began at Girasole in Shadyside.  Located in a basement level, former coffee house on Copeland Street, this cozy bistro featured Northern Italian cuisine dished out in an intimate, exposed stone-walled dining room.     

On this particular Friday evening Girasole was a blur of activity.  A packed house didn’t prevent us from receiving attentive service and delightful meals, though.  Each entree came with a house salad, two words that invariably make me cringe.  At most restaurants “complimentary house salad” translates into limp iceberg lettuce topped with slivers of pink tomatoes and a scattering of carrot confetti.  At Girasole it meant plates brimming with mixed greens, whole cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, crumbles of gorganzola cheese and sunflower vinaigrette.  Such a treat!

Pasta lovers, we ordered such entrees as penne marinara with chicken, spinach and ricotta ravioli in a tomato cream sauce, gnocchi and spinach spaghetti with nubs of fresh corn, sliced cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella.  Talk about a night of pleasant surprises.  My meal, the room temperature spinach spaghetti, provided an intriguing mix of textures — melt-in-your-mouth cheese, crunchy corn, al dente pasta  — and flavors.  Yet another hit. 

For dessert we indulged Ann’s love of cheesecake and split a slice of chocolate cheesecake five ways.  From the dark chocolate crust to the cocoa whipped cream and the chocolate-infused cake, fresh blueberries and strawberries in between, this was a to-stop-your-diet-for dream.

The sweet delicacies didn’t end here.  At Dave and Andy’s Ice Cream Shop on Atwood Street it was love at first lick.  Homemade mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream or cookie dough spooned into crisp waffle cones or a generous bowl of birthday cake ice cream pleased our overheated palates on this sultry summer night.  Likewise, the delicate peanut butter-iced chocolate cupcake from the Warhol Cafe provided the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.  Served on rose Fiestaware, it looked as pretty as a Wayne Thiebaud painting and was just as tasty as it appeared.           

      

Before visiting Sweden last year, I didn’t devote much time to the country’s cuisine. Sure, I had thumbed through chef Marcus Samuelsson’s “Aquavit” cookbook and watched his and Andreas Viestad’s food shows on PBS. Yet, I still only had vague notions about Swedish cooking. At best I envisioned smoked salmon, pickled herring, and brilliant red lingonberries. At worst I thought of small meatballs drowned in thick, brown gravy.

While Swedes do consume these classics, I learned that they also dine on a plethora of enticing and unique dishes. Featuring ingredients from the forest and the sea, their fare showcases some of the best culinary aspects of the country.

Thanks to rugged coastlines and a wealth of seafood, folks here know how to prepare crustaceans and fish. One of the most beloved, crayfish, even has its own seasonal feast. In August outdoor crayfish parties — with colorful paper lanterns, tablecloths, plates, bibs and hats — are all the rage.

While crayfish has been a national delicacy since the 16th century, these celebrations didn’t begin until the 1800s. Over the years, though, the preparations have remained much the same. Boiled in mixture of salt, beer, and crown dill and then chilled, the crayfish are served alongside crisp bread, a strong cheese such as Vasterbotten and alcohol such as beer, schnapps or aquavit.

Whether boiling crayfish, smoking the ubiquitous salmon, or poaching perch and char, Swedish cooks have conjured up a slew of creative seafood recipes. Take, for instance, toast skagen. Invented after World War II by a Swedish restaurateur, it reminds me of a creamy, open-faced lobster roll, sans lobster or roll. An open-face sandwich, toast skagen features heaps of steamed shrimp piled onto crustless toast. It works perfectly as an appetizer or a light main course.

Along with creative recipes, the country has some unusual culinary customs. Thursday in Sweden is “pea soup and pancake day.” Followed by a dessert of thin pancakes and preserves, pea soup is consumed in homes and served to military conscripts and office workers across the land. Skip this practice from the Middle Ages and you’ll miss out on the highlight of the 21st century work week.

A holiday that I wholly embrace is”Kanelbullens Dag” or Cinnamon Roll Day. Held on October 4, Cinnamon Roll Day toasts the soft, slightly sweet, cardomom-scented cinnamon bun. In Sweden pretty much every day is Kanelbullens Dag for me. Have them for breakfast, lunch, or as a light snack, or with strong, black coffee, a glass of red wine . . .. I stocked up on pearl sugar and kanelbullar recipes so that back at home each day can continue to be cinnamon roll day.

Kanelbullar – from Carl Jan Granqvist’s and Lena Katarina Swanberg’s “Swedish Culinary Classics: Recipes with History and Originality” (Swedish Institute, 2005)

Makes 25 buns

For the dough:
1 ¼ ounces yeast
3 ½ ounces sugar
1 ½ cups milk
1 egg
4 ounces butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
26 ounces wheat flour

For the filling:
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
2 ounces sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

For the glaze:
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
pearl sugar

Crumble the yeast into a large bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of milk. Melt the butter and pour it over the yeast-milk mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients for the dough and, using an electric mixer, mix with a dough hook for 10 to 15 minutes. Cover and let the dough rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough so that it is about 1/8-inch thick and 12 inches wide. Spread the room temperature butter on top of the dough. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it over the buttered dough.

Fold the dough over, roll it out lengthwise and cut into about 25 slices or circles. Place the slices with the cut edge facing upwards on a baking sheet. Cover with a towel and allow them to rise for about an hour or until the buns have doubled in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat together the egg and water. Brush the mixture on the top of the buns and sprinkle pearl sugar on top of each. Bake in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes. Allow the buns to cool on a rack and serve with coffee, tea, milk or even wine.

For someone who loves to travel and cook, the prospect of helping my friend Christina, fellow alum of Columbia University’s graduate journalism school and resident of Stockholm, prepare for her 40th birthday party could not have been more tantalizing.  So, while my husband Sean bounced around Europe, attending business meetings, I recently hung out in Stockholm for 9 days, shopping, cooking, and sampling the fruits of our kitchen labors.

Because I am accustomed to cheap American food prices, I found grocery shopping in Stockholm shocking.  A quart of milk ran about $4.  A pint of raspberries went for anywhere from $7 to $15.  A single bottle of 3.5% ABV beer, the only kind sold at markets, cost at least $3.  Wine?  I paid twice the amount that I do in NY for a bottle of Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet.  No wonder everyone asks out-of-country guests to pack a healthy stash of alcohol in their suitcases.  Forget that extra sweater. Bring more rum!

  

Vibrant outdoor markets, such as the one held behind the Hotorgshallen food hall, did offer bargains.  There I stocked up on bundles of fragrant fresh mint for Friday night’s mojitos.  At less than $1 apiece they were a deal that couldn’t be beat.  Hmmm….  Maybe I should have eaten mint for the duration of the trip. 

 

Inside Hotorgshallen, as well as at the upscale Saluhall on Ostermalmstorg, I browsed through more exotic fare.  Hankering reindeer hearts, fermented Baltic herring, lingonberries or imported mangosteens?  I could snap them up at either food hall. 

 

Back in the kitchen Christina and I prepared dishes that reflected both Swedish heritage and modern cuisine.  No, no reindeer or herring.  Instead smoked salmon served on baguettes and brown Danish bread, salads of orzo, spinach and pine nuts, lentils and red onions and tomatoes and cucumbers starred in the main course.  For dessert cheesecakes came au naturel or dressed in blueberries. 

As usual, all this searching for and preparing food left me ravenous.  Most days I just ate a cheese sandwich that I had slapped together at Christina’s and then consumed on the go.  A few times, though, I splashed out for lunch.  At the Moderna Museet on Skeppsholmen I sprung for a bowl of spring vegetable soup, a kanelbullar and glass of red wine.  The pleasure of good, traditional food, along with the gorgeous views of Lake Malaren and the Nordiska Museet and Vasamuseet, made the $27 pricetag worthwhile.

Some of the least expensive meals came from a food kiosk in Mariatorget Square on Sodermalm or at – gasp! – McDonald’s.  The grand total of a shared lunch of a McChicken sandwich, McFish sandwich, medium French fry and small Coke was $20.  All things considered, a great deal.