by Sam Tackeff | Jul 26, 2011 | Asian, Japanese, Restaurants
We all have one type of food we crave no matter what our mood is, and for me, that’s Japanese food. New England isn’t exactly the hotbed of Japanese cuisine, but when I was growing up, we happened to have a good little Japanese restaurant in town called Sakura. I regularly would beg for dinner out so I could eat miso soup and California rolls.
Over time I learned there were more exciting options than California rolls, and soon I moved onto Nabeyaki Udon (a rich broth filled with thick, chewy noodles and seafood and vegetables served in a cast iron soup bowl) and Beef Negima, (thinly sliced beef wrapped around scallions). I finally moved onto the Omakase chefs’ favorite sushi – and “please, hold the cooked shrimp”, because I wasn’t interested, thank you.
Sakura closed after I moved to San Francisco. I was sad to hear the news, certainly, but more out of nostalgia than any real loss. It wasn’t the best Japanese food, yet it was the place that opened my heart to an entire regional cuisine. However, I found out another Japanese restaurant opened in its absence when my mother started texting me photos of elaborate sushi rolls. It was called Shio.
Fast forward to my big return to the Seacoast. I’ve been going on the gastronomic tour these past few weeks, eating at all the old haunts, and making a list of the new ones.
The first time we tried to visit Shio – on a Tuesday – they were closed and I had what we call affectionately in Yiddish, a “kanipshin”, which roughly translates to a big ole’ hissy fit. Two weeks in my hometown away from the big city and I really needed my Japanese food!! When triple digit temperatures actually made the idea of raw fish in a blissfully air conditioned environment a necessity, we came back two days later.
Shio is located in a half empty strip mall in Portsmouth, right on Route 1. This isn’t the type of place you’d be casually charmed to stop in after strolling by, you kind of have to know about it. If you aren’t the type of person immediately put off by neon sushi signs and a “Big Lots” next door, you’ll get rewarded by a pleasant looking restaurant interior. Shio has nice big tables, a sushi bar, and traditional tatami rooms, where you can take off your shoes and sit on cushions. The evening crowd is mainly families, although we saw a few dates, and it can get quite busy.
Let’s face it, it’s not Nobu, but the food is a notch above your New England neighborhood sushi joint. It filled my sushi cravings, used relatively high quality fish that wasn’t bland, and took greater care in plating. They took pride in their food.
Being a tee-totaler of late, we didn’t order any drinks (I know, shame on me), but I did observe a fairly well stocked bar, and some excellently kitschy cocktail umbrellas.
Seafood Yaki Soba with Shrimp and Scallops ($14.00)
In addition to sushi, there is a good selection of cooked food made in the kitchen. Having grown up with a sibling that wouldn’t have touched raw fish with a ten foot pole, the relative variety of non-sushi options makes this more family friendly for those who haven’t yet hopped on the bandwagon. Even my grandmother eats sushi, then again, she also has a Mac and goes to Zumba classes.
At dinner, my father ordered the Yaki Soba which was unctuous, not too salty, and generously topped with seafood. The Dumpling Soup was a warming bowl of rich mushroom broth with little meat dumplings, scallions, mushrooms and vegetables (and was much better than the miso soup). Devon’s Chicken Katsu was lightly breaded with a great crunch, and avoided the typical katsu pitfall of being too greasy. It also tasted superb when I ate the leftovers at 11:45 pm, and was awarded my extra stamp of approval.
Chicken Katsu ($13) lightly breaded and fried chicken cutlets
Although I’m not a “roll person”, the selections at Shio are creative and slightly more exciting than your average selection, using more traditional Japanese condiments such as plum paste, spicy kampyo (squash), or non-traditional additions such as cilantro, mango and fresh chile. My mother had the Rob Roll, which I’m fairly sure was named after someone named Rob, but immediately brought to mind the Urban Dictionary connotation of being very good at something unexpectedly after drinking a lot of booze.
Rob Roll (11.95) Spicy crunchy yellow tail and avocado, topped with salmon roe, caviar, and fresh chili pepper. Side of Saba (Mackerel) sashimi ($4.50).
I ordered my favorite fish preparation, Chirashi, which is assorted sashimi scattered over a bed of sushi rice. This rendition was quite satisfying, and I found myself enjoying everything except for the imitation crab, which I could generally do without. I particularly enjoyed the variety of tsukemono (pickles), there were three beyond the standard pickled ginger.
Shio’s Style Chirashi ($20) Assorted raw fish, eel, ikura, caviar and Japanese pickles on seasoned rice.
In the name of impartial research, Devon and I actually decided to go back to Shio for lunch, as the specials were quite reasonably priced. Interestingly, while the typical Seacoast lunch crowd is made up of women, we were surprised to see a crowd of mostly business men in button downs and slacks – clearly Shio is the place to be for a work lunch. Unfortunately, one of said businessmen spent twenty five minutes prodding his sushi with a chopstick, and left abruptly, but not before rudely telling the staff he was in a hurry, and wasting his entire meal. In his defense, the asshat convention was probably about to start without him.
Lunch specials were served with miso soup and salad, both of which I could have done without. While I generally like carrot ginger dressing, serving it ontop of iceberg lettuce pains me. Devon ordered the sushi platter, which came with five pieces of sushi and a California roll, and I ordered the Sushi and Sashimi combo.
Sushi Platter ($9.50) Five assorted sushi, and a California roll.
Sushi Sashimi Combo ($12.50) Four sushi, six sashimi, and a California roll.
Although admittedly not as good as my Chirashi at the previous meal, the sushi was flavorful and lunch was a pretty good deal all around. Overall, two solid meals, a decent price, a lucky cat statue, and we will be back.
Shio Japanese Restaurant
2454 Lafayette Road
Portsmouth, NH
www.shiorestaurant.com
by Sam Tackeff | Jul 17, 2011 | Farmers Market, Vegetables
One of the best ways to orient yourself in a new place (or in my case, a familiar place that I’ve been away from for a long time) is to visit the local markets and farmers’ markets. I instantly feel calmer once I know what is growing and in season. Just walking around, taking everything in and breathing, I immediately start dreaming of the possibilities in the kitchen, and spend less time worrying about being in a foreign place.
After a long week on the road driving from San Francisco to New Hampshire, we were a bit zombie-esque but jumped at a chance to get out into the sunshine and find some good produce. The Portsmouth Farmers’ Market is held in the parking lot of the city municipal complex and Connors Cottage Senior Housing building.
Despite pleasant pea-loving patrons, this was the location of scandal last year as some residents of Connors Cottage began complaining of early morning rooster crowing during market set-up. I always assumed the elderly loved early birds, or at least their specials. As a side note, that building used to be the old hospital and I was actually born there.
For the next couple of weeks we will be staying with my parents in their home on the Seacoast and then we plan on moving to the Boston area. Somerville? Cambridge? Newton? I’m not quite sure yet. We don’t have a firm timeline – but the concept of moving into your parents house with your significant other in tow feels a little crazy, so I’m just treating this like an extended vacation and plan on getting my act together quickly.
My mom and I are like two slightly deranged excited people when we reunite. We like to get things done – walking on the beach, taking on big house projects, cooking any number of delicacies, and especially shopping together.
We hopped in the car and headed over Saturday morning farmers’ market with Devon in tow, who seemed slightly concerned at our level of general excitement. The first thing I noticed was that finding a parking spot was remarkably easier than doing the same in San Francisco. Win!
We have a method to our madness. Usually, we circle around the entire market a few times to survey everything, chat with friends, and plan our meals. Then we do the shopping. While my mom and I did the rounds, Devon went off to find food. The food options at the Portsmouth market are mostly bakeries, a few tea companies, a maple syrup company which has maple cotton candy, Applecrest serving up apple cider donuts (see below), a few pastured meat farms with breakfast sandwiches and sausages, and an Indian food stall. Devon ended up with a little blueberry muffin, and a home made hot dog. Of which I got none of… because, apparently I was too busy shopping.
[These donuts are very, very good. I generally hold back at the market though, because I prefer them hot (which you can get at the farm). And also, because it is particularly difficult to eat only one and not crave them for the rest of the week.]
One of the things that I’m going to have to get used to is the fact that I don’t have as easy access to nicely labeled organic, local produce all in one place. We certainly don’t have a Rainbow Grocery, and you simply don’t have access to the same options at the local supermarkets here. Fortunately, the majority of the farms at the farmers’ market are small, family run, and environmentally conscious. They use low-impact farming practices, even if they don’t pay for Organic Certification, so I can still feel confident in what I’m eating.
The Bounty: We didn’t over do it this week (sometimes we do), but came out with a good selection of mostly green vegetables. After a week of road food, I’ve been craving all the green I can possibly get!
Zucchini, Onions, Garlic, Green Peppers, Turnips, Beets, Fennel (Wake Robin Farm)
Garlic Scapes (Stone Wall Farm)
Green Beans (Applecrest Farm)
The Plan: I’m thinking of making zucchini fritters, Turkish stuffed green peppers with rice and currants, and a green bean and potato salad with anchovy dressing which I’ve been eying from the Leon Vol.2 Cookbook
With the fennel I’ll make my shaved fennel salad. I haven’t decided about the beets yet, because although I prefer them roasted, the idea of cranking up the oven in 90 degree heat seems a little silly. They’ll probably be shaved into salad as well.
You can also get all manner of other fun things at the market, including flowers, leather products, lambskins, home made soaps and candles, Kit Cornell Pottery which Kit herself sells out of the back of her van, and these extraordinarily happy yarn balls. I feel like if you got a few of these and strung them up at a party, everyone would have a wildly good time.
To the Kitchen: Once I got home, the first thing I made was Garlic Scape Pesto. Garlic Scapes are the shoots and bud of hard-necked garlic, and are delightfully zippy. Garlic scapes are not to be found anywhere in California markets because hard-necked garlic is primarily found in colder climates. Even though San Franciscans complain of the cold summers, this apparently does not qualify. Although maybe they do exist, and I was just forced to suffer for four years in ignorance.
Garlic Scapes are fairly versatile, and some of my favorite preparations are grilled, whirred into pesto, or chopped and used to impart a garlicky taste to stir-fries with some actual body and crunch. When they are plentiful, I like to buy them and chop them into inch-long pieces to freeze as well.
Garlic Scape Pesto
This recipe is for garlic obsessed, and preferably not to be served if you are aiming for romance later in the evening. I first tried Garlic Scape Pesto at Stearns Farm which was pretty straightforward but added some basil. But, I like this recipe because it keeps the flavor cleaner and yet adds both oil and butter, which seems a little bit fancy, but nicely complements the strong garlic taste of the scapes.
adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Food Processor Pesto Recipe
For the processor:
10 garlic scapes (cut into 1/4 inch pieces)
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts (or walnuts or slivered almonds)
Sea salt
To mix in by hand:
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese
3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
Put the garlic scapes, olive oil, pine nuts and salt in the food processor and process until fairly smooth – about 4 to 5 minutes, pausing every minute or two to scrape down the sides. You don’t want to skimp on this step, because if the pieces of scape are too big, they may taste too strong.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and stir in the cheeses and mix well. Finally, stir in the softened butter. Then go ahead and taste it – it might need a little bit more salt, and if you’d like you can go ahead and brighten it up with a little bit of lemon, but I usually think it is fine just as is.
Things to do with Garlic Scape Pesto: you can eat this stirred into pasta (just loosen it a little bit with some pasta water), or serve it with fresh pita or little crackers. Or you can rub it on chicken, and put it on the grill. You can add some to brighten up a summer minestrone, or on top of some fried eggs.
by Sam Tackeff | Jun 19, 2011 | Baking
Monday was my last day at work… It happened a little suddenly (and secretively), because my office didn’t have a two-week notice policy; the day you choose to leave is your last. So I went to work, had a fabulous last hurrah and finished up some loose ends, spent the day with people that I really really like and am going to miss terribly, and then sent out my final email which included a picture of puppies.
Wait… why might you ask would I quit my awesome start-up job in San Francisco right when things are getting exciting? Well, to move back to New England! Essentially, we thought to ourselves – is this where we want to be in five years? Ten years? And the answer is, not really. Mostly because I want to be close to my family and friends, and also, a teeny tiny dwelling roughly the size of your mom’s garage (technical term there) will cost about 1.3 million dollars in our neighborhood. That wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
In about two weeks, we are selling most of our things, packing up the car and going on a road trip! The journey will take us to Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Omaha, Chicago, lunch stop in Ann Arbor for some Zingermans, Cleveland, Syracuse, and then finally the ‘Shire, until we can get our act together and move to Boston. I’m going to need plenty of good recommendations for road food in these cities.
Among the master list of things to do before an outrageous move, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks making a concerted effort to clean out my freezer. First, I took everything out and created a long list of the contents. Aside from the usual freezer items, I had some very special items I’ve been saving up (aka hoarding) and now I get to actually eat! The Skillet Bacon Jam that Seattle Tall Poppy brought me was particularly exciting, as was the chocolate babka made by Michael Kalanty (author of How to Bake Bread), and perhaps best of all – a bag of tart and sweet wild huckleberries that was foraged by the legendary Connie Green (author of The Wild Table). Who for the record looks exactly like Meryl Streep.
I decided to do something special with these huckleberries – a huckleberry buckle! (Okay, mostly because it is fun to say). While searching yesterday for suitable/off-beat information about huckleberries on the internet I found this: apparently Stone Temple Pilots have a song on their new album called “Huckleberry Crumble”. The song has nothing to do with baking, and as far as I can tell may be about a bad relationship and has some offhand references to Alice in Wonderland.
I had saved this particular recipe from Saveur a few issues back that I had been meaning to try with blueberries (until I remembered that I had a whole bag of huckleberries in my freezer). The cake is moist, crumbly and sweet – suitable for afternoon tea, dessert, or even breakfast.
Huckleberry Buckle
(Adapted from Saveur Issue #122)
This could be easily made with fresh or frozen blueberries, but huckleberries are a particular treat if you can find them. Also, this actually great as it sits, so you could definitely make this a few days in advance of a barbecue or picnic, and you’d be the party pleaser.
8 tbsp. unsalted butter,
softened, plus more for pan
6 tbsp. plus 1 3/4 cups flour,
plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 lb. huckleberries or blueberries
1. Set the oven to 350˚. Butter and flour a 9″ (or in my case, 10″) springform cake pan and set aside. For the topping, put 4 tbsp. butter, 6 tbsp. flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together, and squidge with your fingers until the mixture comes together into small clumps. This is possibly the most satisfying step of the recipe, so have fun here.
2. In the bowl of a KitchenAid mixer, beat the remaining butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add vanilla and egg and beat until smooth. Add the flour, salt, baking powder and stir to mix. Add the milk and mix for 1 minute. Add the huckleberries and, using a rubber spatula, fold them gently into the batter. If you do this aggressively you batter will turn bright purple, so gently is the key!
3. Spoon the batter into prepared pan, gently spreading to an even layer, and sprinkle with crumbly topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool before serving. Spoon into bowls and top with softly whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream (or, if you feel like being slightly uncouth – just pour on some half and half) .
Seafood Yaki Soba with Shrimp and Scallops ($14.00)
Chicken Katsu ($13) lightly breaded and fried chicken cutlets
Rob Roll (11.95) Spicy crunchy yellow tail and avocado, topped with salmon roe, caviar, and fresh chili pepper. Side of Saba (Mackerel) sashimi ($4.50).
Shio’s Style Chirashi ($20) Assorted raw fish, eel, ikura, caviar and Japanese pickles on seasoned rice.
Sushi Platter ($9.50) Five assorted sushi, and a California roll.
Sushi Sashimi Combo ($12.50) Four sushi, six sashimi, and a California roll.
