Archive for June 2011
Chives Canadian Bistro in Historic Halifax, Nova Scotia
With temperatures moderated by the ocean, Nova Scotia “is the warmest of the provinces in Canada,” and it comes as some surprise that with its population of nearly 1,000,000, “it is Canada’s second-most densely populated province” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Scotia]. Historic Halifax, the site of the first permanent European settlement in 1604 in Canada and the capital of the province, has long been an artistic and cultural center. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia [www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca] this summer is presenting a major retrospective of the hard-edged abstract, geometric and vivid paintings of Quebec painter, Jacques Hurtubise [www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/en/AGNS_Halifax/exhibitions/hurtubise/default.aspx], who currently lives and works on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
Halifax is also home to Chives Canadian Bistro, a first-rate farm to table restaurant with delicious food served beautifully in pleasant surroundings. In the heart of Halifax, this intimate, local-sourced eatery is just minutes from the harbour and the historic British fort and national historic site known as the Citadel. The tastefulness of the bistro’s décor and the well-chosen display of contemporary art complemented the artistic presentation of delicious entrées and the restaurant’s hospitable service. We had decided long before our vacation in beautiful Nova Scotia to dine at Chives, and we were not disappointed.
On a field visit two days prior to our dining engagement, we were briefed by Craig Flinn, the friendly maitre d’, who is also the owner/chef as well as a successful cookbook writer, on how Chives sources its food. The restaurant relies primarily on Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley producers, including naturally fed farm fish. Only when necessary does the restaurant draw on neighboring New Brunswick and Ontario provinces for its produce. The emphasis is on 100-mile-radius suppliers.
After being offered window seating in the more private second-level dining area, we perused the ample menu while enjoying the late workday bustle on Barrington Street, with views of the historic St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica. Choosing to order from the menu rather than from the several specials offered for the evening, and skipping over the appealing appetizers, we had the chicken gnocchi a la king (C$24) and squash, lentil and chickpea strudel (C$23). Before and during our meals, we enjoyed a house chardonnay (9 oz, C$15.50) and a “Blu” carbonated spring water (750Ml, C$5.50). [The exchange rate reported in the Halifax daily newspaper, The Chronicle Herald, for June 21, 2011, reflecting a strong Canadian dollar, was US$0.9785 per C$1.00.)
The main courses were preceded by two buttermilk biscuits (served in a Chives souvenir paper bag) with molasses (from St. Johns, NB) and whipped butter. According to Andrew, our efficient and attentive server, the biscuits were from the recipe collection of the chef’s grandmother- we both wished for more!
My dining companion, a longstanding and committed vegetarian, thoroughly enjoyed the strudel entrée, which made an attractive presentation with a flaky pastry, stuffed with squash, broccoli, and almonds and topped with apricot chutney garnish. Adding color to the plate, it was surrounded by small pickled beet wedges, lemon grass curry sauce, and a cucumber raita salad. The flavorful chicken a la king featured chicken from Cold Spring Farms (a small family farm located in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, which is committed to organic practices and raises chickens which are free-range), homemade potato gnocchi, roasted carrots, sweet peas, and pea shoots in a very light Alfredo-style white wine sauce. Our meal was memorable farm to table dining and a highpoint of a wonderful vacation to beautiful Nova Scotia. A copy of owner/chef Criag Flinn’s Fresh and Frugal [www.chives.ca/shop], his third and most recent cookbook, which offers suggestions on “how to cook with market fresh local ingredients that you can easily put together without breaking the bank” will make for a pleasant reminder of a very special summer vacation and flavorful meal (Linda Worden, 6/30/11).
[Chives Canadian Bistro, 1537 Barrington Street, 902.420.9626, Dinner: Nightly 5:00PM-9:30PM, http://www.chives.ca/ ]
Broccoli Rabe & Garlic Scapes with Wehani Rice, Topped with Fresh Goat Cheese
As part of a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share in the biodynamic bounty of Roxbury Farm [www.roxburyfarm.com/] in historic Kinderhook (Columbia County), New York, I was pleased to receive a bunch of broccoli rabe with the second delivery of produce for this 2011 growing season. The Joy of Cooking [http://catalog.simonandschuster.com/] by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (New York, NY: Scribner, 1997), a handy and reliable resource for the kitchen, includes an excellent general discussion on “Greens” and notes that “turnip greens and broccoli rabe (rapini, broccoli rape, broccoli raab, broccoli di rape)” are “forms of turnip leaves (rapa means turnip in Italian) and, when young, can be used like arugula.” But with their “mustardy bite, sometimes with a touch of sweetness” (at page 203, Joy of Cooking), I decided not to use the broccoli rabe, like arugula, in a tossed salad, especially since my dinner guest is favoring a fairly bland diet of late.
When I picked up our CSA share at a neighbor’s home, which serves as a distribution point for Roxbury Farm CSA in Albany in upstate New York, the knowledgeable overseer of the distribution to the 81 shareholders at this particular location, advised that before sautéeing broccoli rabe, I should first quickly parboil the rabe to remove its “bitterness,” which likely is another way to refer to “a mustardy bite.” I decided that after removing the broccoli rabe’s bitterness by parboiling, I would prepare the fresh broccoli rabe in a way similar to how the wonderful Lombardo’s Restaurant [www.lombardosofalbany.com] in downtown Albany, a popular Italian restaurant for many decades (since 1933 as it says on its menu), prepares sautéed spinach. But instead of using garlic like Lombardo’s Restaurant does for its sautéed spinach, I decided to substitute garlic scapes, which are bountiful this time of year in my home garden.
My love of garlic, “one of the oldest-known cultivated crops,” has resulted in an ever-expanding portion of my backyard garden being planted up with that easy-to-grow “flavoring agent for virtually all cuisines,” which has “been associated with mythology and magic, along with a host of different superstitions” (page 144, Edible, An Illustrated Guide to the World’s Food Plants, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2008, www.nationalgeographic.com/books). But it was too early in the growing season to have the “magic” of garlic from my backyard garden to flavor the broccoli rabe tonight. Instead, it made sense to find a way to use up some of my supply of garlic scapes. I had earlier in the day clipped another dozen of these curly tipped, green shoots that grow from heads of garlic to keep them from going to flower (which would limit the growth of the garlic bulbs).
In addition, to make the rabe more of an entrée, I decided to prepare organic Wehani rice, a special variety developed by California’s Lundberg Farm from seed that came originally from India. Wehani rice’s long amber-red grains are similar to wild rice in texture and to brown rice in flavor. Although the Wehani rice was priced at $4.19 per pound, substantially more than the organic Long Pine long grain brown rice on sale for $1.49 (usually $1.89), or the organic Lundberg long grain brown rice ($2.09 per pound) in the bulk foods section of my local food co-op, the Honest Weight Food Coop [www.hwfc.com] in Albany, N.Y., the fluffy, long-grain texture, nutty flavor and reddish color of cooked Wehani rice is a perfect grain to complement the broccoli rabe, some of nature’s earliest green bounty from the 2011 growing season in upstate New York.
Sauteed broccoli rabe topped with goat cheese:
1 bunch of broccoli rabe
2 garlic scapes
¼ cup olive oil
4 ounces Vermont Creamery [www.vermontcreamery.com/] fresh goat cheese (priced at a reasonable $7.25 for 10.5 ounces at the Honest Weight Food Co-op)
Wehani Rice:
1 cup of organic wehani rice
2 to 2½ cups of water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
(Four generous servings)
Slice the broccoli rabe into pieces, removing any tough stems. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, and boil the broccoli rabe for a few seconds and drain. Saute chopped-up scapes in ¼ cup of olive oil for 2-3 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. (I use Napa Valley Naturals organic olive oil, www.napavalleytrading.com. According to the bottle, this extra virgin and organic, first cold pressing, olive oil was “from California’s Sacramento Valley and Argentina’s Cordoba Valley.” [I had purchased the olive oil on sale at the local food co-op for $9.99. The 25.4 ounce bottle, which is regularly priced at $15.99 at the co-op, was a nice bargain at the sale price.] ) Add broccoli rabe to the scapes and cook over low heat for an additional 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Prepare Wehani rice by bringing 2 to 2 ½ cups of water with two tablespoons of olive oil to boil. Rinse 1 cup of Wehani rice in cold water and drain and add to boiling water. Turn down to very low heat and cook until all the water is absorbed, 40 minutes or so. Do not lift cover before the end of cooking. Let stand for 5 additional minutes to ensure absorption of liquid.
Serve the sautéed broccoli rabe and scapes on the Wehani rice, and top with cubed fresh Vermont Creamery goat cheese (FW Barrie, 6/27/11).
Circa in postcard-pretty Cazenovia, near Syracuse, NY
Cazenovia, a picturesque village in upstate New York with a well-preserved downtown district, has a long-standing tradition of being a hotbed of reform movements going back to the mid-nineteenth century when it played a key role in the abolition movement, including hosting the famous 1850 abolitionist meeting known as the Fugitive Slave Law Convention. Today, several upscale restaurants and inns call the village home along with a well-attended farmers market on Saturdays on the village green. With this local culture, it is fitting that Chef Alicyn Hart blends Cazenovia’s famous activism, now channeled into the local foods movement, and a longstanding tradition of fine dining in the village, once a popular resort town with its four mile long Cazenovia Lake.
Chef Hart and her husband Eric Woodworth opened Circa in 2006, and as the name suggests, the restaurant strives to offer the freshest local ingredients from the region “round about.” The seasonal menu changes weekly and highlights the best products available from local farmers, including the chef’s husband and co-owner Eric Woodworth, who contributes directly to the dishes served at Circa by raising chickens and pigs and managing a half-acre garden of vegetables. Circa’s guiding philosophy of fresh, local, and artfully prepared cuisine makes full use of the regional bounty of produce, meats and local cheeses and dairy, with most of the local purveyors within a twenty-mile radius of the restaurant, including elk raised by the Back-Forty Elk Farm in nearby Deruyter, NY.
Situated in a corner storefront in a historic building on Albany Street (also known as Route 20 which cuts across upstate New York from Buffalo to Albany), Circa offers a warm and inviting atmosphere with relaxed, but finely detailed surroundings. Pressed tin panels line the walls and recall the building’s nineteenth century roots while the tables and bar are made from reclaimed wood from a local barn. Several cozy window tables offer diners a view onto the bustling downtown while local artwork on the walls and a cozy bar nestled in the corner provide warmth and a refuge for regular customers. True to its mission, Circa even has a small market with many local products from cheeses and cured meats to house-baked breads, meatloaf, and roasted chicken available for those who want a quick take-out meal. The small, but reasonably priced wine and beer list offers a nice complement to the food although no New York wines currently make an appearance, which was surprising since there are many fine vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York not too distant from Cazenovia. The Ommegang (Belgian-style) and Cooperstown (English-style Ales) breweries feature prominently on the beer list and with good reason as these local favorites are brewed in Cooperstown, the home of the Baseball Home of Fame, which is only an hour’s drive east of Cazenovia.
A recent visit to Circa on a Wednesday evening was an agreeable outing. We arrived in town a few minutes early for our reservation and took the opportunity to window shop the several galleries and shops along Albany Street. Upon our arrival at the restaurant, our cheerful waiter greeted us and offered us our choice of seats as the dining room was only about a third full. Prompt and efficient service informed us that the fresh local asparagus was not available, and a further inquiry revealed that the elk was also unavailable which was a disappointment to this diner, who was intrigued by the inclusion of the largest living deer on Circa’s menu. A bottle of Cooperstown Backyard IPA ($5), served at the more traditional room temperature was an excellent way to start as the aroma of hops and flavors of the beer weren’t suppressed by chilling. A large basket for bread proved to be misleading however as three small, cold pieces accompanied by a small, but delicious pat of butter, were all it contained. The sight of fresh, large loaves in the kitchen made this even more disappointing. While delicious, a little more warm bread would have been a nice way to start the meal, especially since the organic butter was the richest and creamiest I’ve ever had. Efficient service regularly refilled our water and cleared our plates.
Several dishes passed by while we were waiting, including what looked to be very delicious and popular beef short ribs. We started with the French lentil samosas served over pea sprouts with a curried lemon yogurt ($6). Two samosas offered an intriguing palate teaser. The yogurt offered strong notes of cumin and a subtle, but distinct tang that went well with the more subdued taste of the lentils. The samosas themselves sounded promising, but the very thin wonton dough was overcooked making them very tough to cut and slightly burnt at the edges. A thicker dough or less cooking time would have greatly improved a dish that sounded delicious. Our main courses were much better. I ordered the grilled chicken quarter, which was billed as the first of the season free-range after a snowy winter, and of course local, with a side of Moroccan couscous, kalamata olives, mint, and feta ($16). My companion decided on the red Thai curry shrimp which featured six wild caught large shrimp in a coconut milk, red curry, jasmine, cilantro, basil sauce with finely sliced red peppers and shallots over rice ($17).
The chicken breast was beautifully de-boned and perfectly roasted with a nice golden color. Hints of mint and rosemary added nice flavor to a moist and tender bird. The couscous side was light and flavorful and matched the chicken nicely. While the chicken was delicious, the curry shrimp was the star dish of the meal. Each shrimp was perfectly cooked and remained tender. The added flavor of wild caught shrimp provided just enough natural saltiness to remind us of their ocean origins. Razor thin slices of shallots and red peppers provided a nice crunchiness to balance the tenderness of the shrimp. The steamed rice was similarly revelatory of the kitchen’s technical skill as it was soft with an almost creamy texture at the peak of being cooked without being overdone. Each flavor of the herbs, shrimp, and spices was discernible without being overpowering. It was the single best curry dish I’ve sampled in quite some time.
With tax and tip, the total for our very pleasant meal that included two drinks, appetizer, and two mains was $64. Chef Hart and her staff demonstrated that there is a strong core of talent at Circa that can blend the philosophy of local food with the abilities of skilled culinary technicians (Ethan Bennett, 6/3/11). [Circa Restaurant, 76 Albany Street (Rt 20), 315.655.8768, Lunch and Dinner: Tues-Sun 11:00AM-10:00PM, www.circarestaurant.net ]
