We are NOT ready for the Eat Local Challenge.

The month of October has come, and lots of food bloggers seem to be signing up for the Eat Local Challenge to eat entirely within your local foodshed for 1 month. I totally respect the 100-mile diet philosophy, even though I live in a climate where harsh winters make it a little different from the same diet on the west coast. The autumn bounties available in the Schoharie, Mohawk, and Hudson valleys are actually pretty impressive. It really easy to find local farms and dairies, and the cost is not nearly what you might pay in areas where the cost of living and land-owning is much higher (i.e. California). We recently moved out of the city to a rural area, and now we have neighbors who are farmers - it's such a peaceful pleasure to watch the herds of cattle grazing in the pasture in the morning when I walk my dog. I've been going out of my way to find the retailers for the family farms that seem so plentiful, and so far I've been pretty lucky. 

I love-love-love the milk from Meadowbrook Farms in Clarksville, which I've been buying in a reusable glass jug. It tastes fresher, cleaner, and sweeter than milk from the supermarket. Their heavy cream makes the richest, creamiest homemade ice cream that I've ever had. 

Schoharie Valley Farms is only a 6-minute drive from our home, although I never make it there before 6pm on the weekdays, so I calways end up mixing with the weekend crowds. Besides the  Carrot Barn carrots, I get lovely local fruit from SVF, not to mention fresh hot cider donuts (mmmm, donuts). King's Roaming Angus farm, in Cobleskill, sells great cage-free eggs, whose yolks stand right up in the frying pan, and their beef is tasty and not as expensive as you'd expect for pasture-raised Angus beef. We've also had bok choy, scallions and tomatoes from Wintergreen farm in Sharon Springs, whose owner is always super-friendly and cheerful at the Saturday farmer's market.

Why aren't we ready for the Eat Local Challenge? One big reason is that we just haven't done enough research to find good replacements for most of our staples. Just thinking about the Eat Local Challenge has made me realize how we take for granted so many trucked-in dry goods, like corn chips, raisins and pancake mix. So, instead of taking the a leap into the locavore pond, we've decided to dangle our toes. Our goal this month, rather than eating 100% locally, is simply to eat at least one local product per day. It's going to take some planning to make sure we don't forget to shop locally regularly, but who knows, it might be good for us, and it might just become a pleasurable habit. 

Cella Bistro Pig Roast/Wine Dinner

Since we have had only good experiences at Cella Bistro, we jumped at the chance for a wine-paired tasting dinner there a few weeks ago. What a great meal! The diners numbered only 35 or so, and many seemed to have some personal or professional connection to the Cella family, making for a convivial atmosphere. If I were Italian, I imagine this is what family gatherings would be like. At the table, my eyes got a little bit bigger when met with the shining array of wine glasses standing at attention in preparation for the meal to come.

Chef Michael Cella collaborated with Banfi Vintners to create a menu of dishes matched to each specific wine, which was introduced by Janine Stowell, the rep from Banfi. We were welcomed to the dining room with a festive, simple and surprisingly dry glass of Maschi Prosecco Brut, Non-Vintage .
The first course soon arrived: Gramma Cella’s Swiss Chard Torte: made with a hint of cream cheese, in a firm, somewhat rustic pastry crust.

I don't claim to be an expert on wine and food pairings, but I suppose the freshness of the chard, perhaps even a little sweetness, was more evident because of the dry wine. The careful plating of the dish, with its garnishes of green olives, shaved cheese, basil and oil, showed that the chef had really put a lot of care into what he had in store for us.
The second course was a seafood speidini of spice-rubbed grilled lobster and shrimp, on melted herb butter, garnished with cute little sprouts (green pea, I think?), accompanied by a 2007 Natura Organic Sauvignon Blanc from Chile’s Casablanca Valley. This wise was a nice, fresh citrusy match to the seafood, which was spiced in a warm garlicky way rather than a 3-alarm habanero way. I’ll take a quart of that melted herb butter, though, if you don’t mind.
The third course was handmade mushroom ravioli with parmagiano-reggiano and a porcini-truffle tomato sauce, served with a 2006 L’Ardi Dolcetto d’Acqui. I probably don’t need to tell you that the ravioli was awesomely earthy and fragrant. The chef really let the ingredients shine.

As for the wine, Nebbiolo and Barbera are perhaps the more well-known grapes from the Piedmont region, while Dolcetto was a varietal I'd never had. It was light bodied and fruity, with a little spice and earthiness, and good length to match nicely with the food.

The fourth course was a salad that would please even reluctant salad-eaters. Perched above slices of hearty bread, homemade mozzarella and summer tomato, the greens gazed enviously (get it, green with envy, ha) at several mouthwatering chunks of applewood-smoked bacon, which had been smoked on-site.

How about a close-up of that bacon?

Oh yeah, there was a wine too (2006 Cecchi Bonizio Sangiovese di Maremma.) Honestly, by the this time of the evening, I was having a pretty good time, and my wine-tasting acuity started to lag. The body of the wine was still somewhat light like the Dolcetto, which I suppose makes it appropriate to a green salad, but with more of a black cherry and earth flavor.
The pinnacle of the dinner was the fourth course. This was the one we had all been waiting for: Toasted Fennel Spice-Rubbed Pork Roasted Whole in a Caja China, with porchetta stuffing.

Accompanied by a 2004 Sartori Montegradella Valpolicella Classico Superiore, a significantly more robust and dry wine than those that preceded. Having been aged in oak for 24 months, it's dryness and smoky flavor really stood up to the richness of the pork . The roast pork was tender, moist, and flavorful, and garnished with tasty crisped skin and cooked red onions. The chef had to borrow a caja china, a specialized roasting box, and start roasting the pork low and slow in the morning in order to have it ready for tonight. The stuffing was delicious, but I can’t figure out what “porchetta stuffing” means. If porchetta is roast pork, then I guess we had roast pork stuffed with roast pork. Awesome.
Lastly came dessert. To ice cream, I never say no, but I was a bit stuffed like that pig and not a little tipsy from the generously poured "tastes" of wine. As I read the dish description again today, my mouth still waters: Butter-roasted peaches with almond-biscotti crumble, frozen vanilla bean custard, marsala caramel.


As an avid homemade-ice-creamist, I will dare to say that the frozen custard maybe needed a few more egg yolks to attain perfect creaminess. That didn't stop me from helping out my dining partner finish to his dessert. On the other hand, the non-vintage Florio Dolce Marsala Ambra was a little too much sweetness to drink straight up. I'm admittedly a very infrequent drinker of sweet wines, but I definitely recommend it as a dessert component, like Chef Cella’s marsala caramel sauce.
The chef reluctantly made an appearance with his kitchen staff in the dining room after this splendid meal, to a round of applause. He described how, on a trip to Italy, he was excited by a simple porchetta sandwich from a market, at 9 o’clock in the morning. I guess that was some good breakfast sandwich! This meal was the most Italian-inspired one that I’ve ever had a Cella’s, and ranks among some of my best dining experiences ever.
It does seem like the chef really put heart and soul into the cooking, not that it was just part of some marketing scheme sponsored by Banfi. Although we weren’t entranced by any of the wines, they all seemed decently well-made. According to their rep, you can find them at many wine stores in the area, and online prices were all in the $11-$18 range, which make them pretty accessible dinner wines.

Spring Break: Keuka Lake Wine Trail

We had perfect weather last weekend for our first ever visit to the Finger Lakes wineries. The ‘World Tour of Food and Wine’ event at Keuka Lake seemed like a good place to start, since it included the most well-respected Finger Lakes winery, Dr. Konstantin Frank. Besides the wine and food, the scenery made for a beautiful drive. Under gorgeous clear skies, every single winery had spectacular views of the lake and the vineyards shone bright white thanks to a recent snowfall.. There were plenty of people in the tasting rooms, but none of the tour buses or huge groups that can lead to long waits during the height of the tourism season. For dinner, and for beer drinkers, we recommend the Village Tavern in Hammondsport for its warm and convivial atmosphere, good food ranging from burgers all the way to seafood and steaks, and imported beers on tap (Chimay Tripel, Lindeman’s Framboise, Boddington’s, many more). If you're planning a trip, the event is being repeated April 19-20. Before you go, check out some tips on vineyard tours by Kathleen Lisson.

Each winery offered a small plate of food, a small glass of wine to accompany it, and your choice of 4 or 5 other wines to taste from their collections. The food was not, ahem, a fount of epicurean delight, but it's difficult to expect more when you know that the budget is limited and the food had to be held for as long as 5 hours each day. It was also, for the most part, a tour of Western Europe, with several continents left out. We were there for the wines anyway, and we spread our visit out over two days – one day on each side of the lake. There are other wineries and tasting rooms on Keuka lake which were not part of the wine trail event, but we didn’t make it to any of them.

East Shore Wineries:

Keuka Spring Vineyards
Poland: Pierogi, Kielbasa with dried fruit compote and Rye bread.
Wine Pairing: Off-dry Reisling.
The most satisfying wine we tasted here was the ‘Crooked Lake Red’, an off-dry blend based on the French-American hybrid Rougeon grape, but at the $20 price point, we couldn’t see ourselves choosing it over most $20 reds from the west coast.

Rooster Hill Vineyards
Italy: Involtini (Grilled Eggplant slice wrapped around goat cheese, with tomato sauce), Gnocchi with Vodka sauce, Chocolate Biscotti
Wine Pairing: Merlot
The Merlot was okay, but they raved about their Chardonnay which had garnered an 85-point rating from Wine Enthusiast. It’s fairly rich in flavor, has some oak, and is generally well-balanced, so we did buy a bottle for $13.99. The other interesting wine here was the Lemberger, a red varietal that smelled so pungently of a musty barn that we weren’t too sure we wanted to drink it! Yes, it’s earthy and fruity in flavor, but a bit too reminiscent of barnyard refuse for us.

Barrington Crest Cellars
Paraguay: Tallarin (spicy chicken with pasta – according to Wikipedia, ‘tallarin’ is Spanish for tagliatelle), Arroz con Leche (rice pudding)
Wine Pairing: Dry Riesling
The choice of Paraguay was a nice surprise – the owners have family connections there. Their Raptor’s Red, a blend of Pinot Noir and the hybrid Baco Noir, was good, and their fruit and ice wines are nice, if you like sweet wines. We preferred the Buzzard’s Blackberry with our Arroz con Leche.

Ravines Wine Cellars
Switzerland: Quiche with swiss cheese and bacon.
Paired with your choice of a Dry Riesling or the Cayuga Table White.
I was looking forward to the Cayuga White after reading a nice review of it at Lenndevours, but the wines were too cold and just came off as crisp and non-aromatic. Plus, there was an extra charge for tasting their other wines. Poor form! We declined.

McGregor Vineyard
Greece: Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), chickpea salad, pita chips with reamy parmesan pesto spread, baklava.
Wine Pairing: Cayuga White.
McGregor is quite some distance off the road that rings the lake, but it’s a really nice place for a tasting. The food was the best we had at any winery, and, for once, we got to sit down while we tasted the wine leisurely. Our overall impression here was that all their wines had a lot of finesse, but came with higher price tags than the other wineries. We bought a bottle of their 2006 Pinot Noir, for $27.99, which had more grip and flavor than any other wine we tasted. The $39.99 Meritage-style Rob Roy Red is decent, too, with strong cedar notes, and I even can see why the Black Russian Red, even at $59.99, is a popular bottle. The Black Russian is made from Ukrainian vinifera grapes, Saperavi and Sereksiya Charni, whose rootstocks were brought by Konstantin Frank in the 1950’s and given as a gift to the vineyard owner. These vines are so rare and prized that their location on the vineyard is a secret even to many of the employees. The goal of the winemaker in using these grapes is to make a wine that will age well, even up to 50 years. Although we tasted mostly fruit in the latest bottling, it would indeed be interesting to see what happens to this wine over the next ten years of cellaring.

Next week I'll wrap up with the Keuka Lake west side: Heron Hill, Dr. Konstantin Frank, Stever Hill, and Hunt Country.

Return to Blogging

This blog had to take a long hiatus from publishing, thanks to pesky job responsibilities, but we were still eating, and now we're back and hungrier than ever.

Recap of Maple Tour Dinner at JT Baker’s in Greenwich

Signs of spring:
All those dirty piles of snow at the curb have melted away.
Raking yard debris and uncovering tulip bulbs sending up green shoots!
The end of the winter term.
Birthday barbecue of
filet mignon and tender asparagus
Sap running from maple trees and, mmm, maple sugaring weekends


There’s nothing like plate of pancakes to serve as a vehicle for consuming unhealthy quantities of maple syrup, and we thought about diving into the usual plates of the pancakes and maple sausage, but, on second thought and a glance at a blog, we decided drove over to Greenwich. That’s where culinary experimentalist Jason Baker has created a special menu to celebrate maple sugaring weekends. The regular menu at JT Baker’s New Cuisine is still available, and while several of the special Maple Tour Menu items are available a la carte, we were enticed by the maple-themed 4-course tasting menu comes with a special price and optional wine pairings.


The menu starts out with a slice of hearty house-made bread, accompanied by whipped butter and flaked sea salt and pepper, served just ahead of the amuse-bouche: an espresso-sized cup of delicately flavored cauliflower and truffle consomme.




The first course is a parsnip, maple and parmesan bisque. These simple ingredients could easily be overwhelmed by the sweetness of the maple syrup, but the maple flavor was pleasantly well-integrated in the bisque, which was creamy and smooth but not too heavy or filling. The nutty saltiness of the parmesan was a welcome counterpoint to the sweetness. A dry unoaked Oregon Chardonnay was the wine pairing.




The second course was a mutton crepinette served over a maple emulsion, with a swoosh of smoked paprika sauce on the side. The mutton was from Elihu Farm, and the casing of the meatball was caul fat, which is the thin membrane that covers the organs of the animal's abdominal cavity. The caul fat casing is nearly imperceptible (no snap like a regular sausage), except for small streaks of fat. The plating was very attractive, although we had to admit we weren’t stunned by the quantity of food being served. What it lacked in quantity was more than compensated by the quality of ingredients and preparation. As with the bisque, the maple emulsion played a well-proportioned role in the overall flavor. The wine paired with the second course was a delicious California Cabernet Sauvignon from Two Tone Farms. The dry and robustly tannic characteristics we look for in Cabernet were very present, but the wine still had balanced fruit and acidity and good length.





Before the third course, we were served a palate cleanser of cold grape and lavender consomme, served in a tall shot glass. Our palates were refreshed, but neither of us is terribly enamored of lavender or rose-flavored food and drink. When the floral aroma and flavor plays a strong role, it just reminds us a little of Grandma’s perfumed bath salts.

The third course was a seared, maple-glazed, yellowfin tuna filet accompanied by edamame puree, beet pudding, and a bit of baby bok choy. Again, the maple flavor gracefully entered the picture on the back of the meaty tuna, without the overwhelming caramelization we expected based on our experiences of maple glazed salmon. The beet pudding was like soft and smooth puree, but firm enough to slice into several bites - delicious flavor and pleasant, interesting texture we weren't expecting from beets. The accompanying wine for this course was a 2003 Chateau Lagarosse Bordeaux. The strong meatiness of the tuna stood up well to the wine, which had hints of stoniness and must, with a pleasant finish.




Overall, we weren’t completely blown away by the extravagance of any of these dishes, but we were impressed by the perfect execution of every detail -- the artful and elegant hand of the chef in highlighting maple flavors without letting them steal the whole show.


Desserts at JT Baker’s are made by Suzanne Baker, and this night we were served maple cheesecake on a brownie crust, with garnishes of maple cream and candied peanuts, and sliced pear, as well as a broad streak of dark chocolate sauce on the plate, and a crumbly chocolate topping. At home, we’ve made cheesecake on top of a brownie before, by baking the brownie and letting it cool, then baking the cheesecake on top of that, but often the brownie becomes soggy from the moisture that seeps from the cheesecake. By incorporating a slightly more dry, crunchy brownie crust, the dessert we had at JT Baker’s maintained good textural contrast between the creamy cheesecake and the crust. The maple cream and candied nuts formed opposing sweet and salty points on the maple dessert that were rich and delicious. The dessert course was less elegant and restrained than the first three courses, but we didn’t mind at all. We loved this dessert (I mean, how can you go wrong with brownie and cheesecake?), and the accompanying wine, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc whose bouquet reminded one of us of litchi fruits and the other of us (who had never had fresh litchi) of a blend of pink grapefruit juice and fruit cocktail syrup. The wine itself was more dry than we expected from the nose – nicely refreshing during the dessert course.





JT Baker’s New American Cuisine doesn’t look impressive from the outside, or from the inside for that matter, but the food is the star here and what you get is pure, impeccably executed modern cuisine. We appreciated that the Maple Weekend-inspired menu was just that, inspired, rather than gimmicky and over-the-top. Maple syrup is as truly North American as flavors come, and this was true American food on the same level of many great chefs now reinterpreting the classic elements of European cuisine. JT Baker’s is a gem of a restaurant and we hope that it stays around for a long time, because we’d like to take advantage of their longer tasting menus and other regular dishes, as some of the other diners did that night at the restaurant. The Maple Tour menu is also available the last weekend in March, but there aren’t many tables, so reservations are advisable. Phone: (518)-531-2000

Yono's Tasting Menu

The cold weather has gotten us into a rut of staying in, making some simple food, and snuggling up to a movie on tv. That's not a bad thing, but doesn't do very much for holiday spirit or eating adventurously. Having survived a couple of tough weeks of work, and too many nights of humdrum pork chops and rice, we shook ourselves out of our pseudo-hibernation coma with a fantastic meal at Yono's in Albany.
Reviewers have only great things to say about the restaurant, and when the local Wine Enthusiast Meetup Group chose it for the December Meetup, we were in. Everything on the menu sounded great, and we almost chose the Indonesian feast (next time, for sure!)but settled instead on the four course tasting with paired wines. The service was graceful and composed, and the food was absolutely delicious. The wines were nicely chosen, as well, and served just before the course, so we could taste them before tasting the food, then again along with the food. We ate every delicious morsel of sea bass, duck breast, lamb chops and pork tenderloin. I'd have to say the most memorable were the lamb chops marinated and served with a Pernod-curry sauce that was quite a new and delicious combination of flavors for me. Dessert was saved for last, and although we didn't quite finish all four(!) selections, they were lovely, though not quite as finessed as the other parts of the meal.
Here's the roundup of our tasting menu:

Amuse Bouche: Roasted Tomato and Truffle soup

First Course: Sea Bass with Lemon and Basil Sabayon over Fontina Risotto
Wine Pairing: Domaine Wachau Gruner Veltliner (Austria)
Second Course: Muscovy Duck Breast with Pumpkin Pannacotta and Sweet Potato Mash
Wine Pairing: Vasse Felix Shiraz (Australia) (This was our favorite wine of the night)
Final Course: Pernod-Curry Lamb Chops and Jasmine Rice, Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Barbecue Sauce, Chili Sauce drizzle and Steamed Baby Bok Choi
Wine Pairing: Bordeaux (sorry I didn't catch the chateau.)





Dessert: New York Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Bourbon Pecan Pie and Chocolate Rendezvous
Pairing: St. Supery Moscato 2006 (California)




Now that I look at the last five items, it seems like there might be a little too much drizzling of sauce going on. I can only imagine the rows of the squirt bottles back in the kitchen. We got a nice sampling of the menu's highlights, and we're eager to go back and try more of the unusual items (among the daily specials were a calf's liver appetizer and an Indonesian Bouillabaise). As soon as we can refill our wallets, that is!

Wasabi-San

We’re new here, but one thing we are already sure about is that fresh fish and seafood are not among the local specialties of the New York Capital region. Apples: of course. Winter Squashes: certainly. Italian Pastries: Oh my, yes. Seafood: what’s that? We haven’t really been able to find a good fish purveyor, although decent wild salmon occasionally makes its way to our Price Chopper. Is this a sign of the days to come, as quality fish stocks dwindle due to unsustainable practices? Maybe one is better off staying away from fish, contaminated as they may be by PCB’s and heavy metals.

Sometimes, though, we get a hankering for a little raw fish, and ‘sushi restaurant’ goes right into our Google Maps search engine. Local favorites that we have tried include Mari’s on Van Vranken in Schenectady and Hiro’s on Central Avenue in Albany. But our current favorite is a relatively new place on Union St. in Schenectady: Mr. Wasabi. To be fair, one of our colleagues deserves credit for recommending the place to us (and to the rest of you).

The storefront is narrow but the restaurant has an elongated layout that allows for the 32 seats to be well spaced rather than cramped. Rather than the traditional paper screens and woodblock prints, the walls are decorated with abstract acrylic paintings, and the sushi bar looks right in on the open kitchen. The furnishings are all still shiny and new, which make sense for a restaurant that’s only four months old.

The menu goes far beyond sushi to include hibachi-grilled meats, tempura and noodle soups and stir fries. We were especially impressed with the variety of appetizers on the menu. We skipped the miso soup ($1.95) and went for Hamaguri (clam) Soup ($3.95, shown below) and Eggplant Yaki ($4.95). The clam soup had 3 clams in the shell in hot strained clam soup broth, and the eggplant was sliced, grilled in the skin and topped with a lightly sweetened miso sauce. Both are excellent appetizers, whose brininess whets ones appetite for the freshness of the raw fish to come.



The sushi menu includes all of the expected rolled (maki) and pressed (nigiri) sushi options, as well as some more creative Chef’s Specials, such as the Mango Special (tuna, avocado, and crab topped with mango) and the Tri-Color Roll (salmon, avocado, and ginger inside, topped with tuna, yellowtail, and sweet chili sauce), both $11.95.



We went with a ‘regular’ sushi platter ($14.95, above) and a rainbow roll ($9.95, below). The sushi was excellent, made from well-prepared, fresh-tasting, good quality fish. The avocado in the rainbow roll was ripe and firm, and the sushi rice was cooked and seasoned just right. We felt like we couldn’t really ask for more at this price level.



As for dessert, we were surprised by a green tea cheesecake which was really a layer cake with green-tea mousse($5.50), and a scoop of tempura-fried red-bean ice cream served flambe($5.00).



Although better than most sushi-restaurant desserts, they offered much more to look at than to enjoy eating. Our advice: skip dessert.

Rather than traditional Japanese ceramics, the orders are served in trendy square bowls and oblong platters, suggesting that this restaurant plans to take a youthful and fresh approach to sushi, unlike most places that try to evoke Old Japan through décor and atmosphere. This was confirmed to us by the peppy Japanese pop music that started to play over the sound system that had been silent until we received our desserts. As we paid, our server asked us to be sure to come back again to try items from the revised menu that will be appearing soon. I can confidently say that we’ll be taking that suggestion, and we’ll post an update when we do. For now, we’re especially attracted to the $8.95 lunch special.

Mr. Wasabi is located at 1671 Union St. in Schenectady, and is open 11:30 am- 2:30 pm for lunch/ 4:30 pm-10:30 pm for dinner Monday- Saturday, and noon to 10pm on Sunday.