johnnyd

Can't agree more. It's just so against so many trends right now - overeating, overspending... And then I find out this guy invaded my town and taped a show over July 4th, Article in Portland Press Herald 7-6-10 It seems such a waste because Nosh Kitchen Bar has a couple great chefs who I know personally that do amazing charcuterie, very creative sandwiches, all manner of in-house pickling, innovative flavor pairing, and choose excellent beverage menus. If you are in the area, don't rule them out because they appeared on this show next September. Richman then went out to the Lobster Shack at Two Lights for who knows how many lobster rolls.

That sushi place would be Miyake. Extraordinary. He's opening a noodle bar soon. Havana South has just opened on Wharf Street and looks promising, but I haven't seen it yet. I'll look around and round up the newcomers

So things began to wind down, food-wise, but heated up as more booze was consumed and the music got louder. New friends were made... ...and lost, but the best part is that we were together again, having a great time. It had been a year for chrissakes. Thanks for checking out another Deathmatch Crew extravaganza! See you long time! NOTES: A less PG-rated report of the evening can be found at the notorious Portland Food Coma www.portlandfoodcoma.blogspot.com Also, another report with audio from the dinner (including a kicking soundtrack), these, and more pictures will be featured, at Portland Cooks, in about a week. www.portlandcooks.posterous.com

Dim Sum Number Twelve Nolan's Deep Fried Shrimp Balls Served with a Spicy Salt and Mustard Sauce Freaking incredibly good! Dim Sum Number Thirteen Brad's Egg Custard Tarts A Lard Pastry with Condensed Milk, 5 Spice and Onion Seed. Very subtle little item here. He also has my favorite T shirt...

Dim Sum Number Ten Pieper's Pig Head Soup Dumplings Robert simmered a pig's head for about thirty hours, extracting an eventually gelatinous broth and a quantity of delicious meat. He added 5 Spice, Soy Sauce, Chinese Cooking Wine and Cabbage. Although the dough wrapping made the dumplings kind of stick together at the steaming stage, this was by far my favorite flavor of the day. Dim Sum Number Eleven Chinese Style Honey BBQ Pork Stuffed Puff Pastry These were extraordinary, as expected. Not just because anything with honey or BBQ involved is delicious by default, but because Joel decided on using a French Puff Pastry recipe by his co-worker, Atsuko Fujimoto, instead of a typical lard-based chinese dough. And anything with butter is, again, delicious by default

Dim Sum Numbah Nine Pan-Fried Daikon Rice Cakes (Melissa's Mom's Recipe) Shredded Daikon, Rice Flour, Minced Shitake, Dried mini shrimp Served with diluted thick Soy Sauce or chili sauce Melissa says this is a very traditional Dim Sum Recipe. I believe her.

Dim Sum Number Eight Dim Sum Amerikrana Cheez Whiz Dim Sum! Kate and Josh also made red hot dog and pimento and ham dumpling Take THAT Mr. Chairman!!

Dim Sum Number Seven Stephen's Sticky Rice, Lemongrass Sausage wrapped in Lotus Leaf This dim sum was a favorite of many. It was delicious.

Dim Sum Number Six Congee Three Ways Jon's ambitious effort was most rewarding, if challenging, to the posse on hand. I caught up with Jen, who was helping prep his condiments. There was a Soy, Black Vinegar dipping sauce, A Sambal that blew your head off, ...and some preserved egg Congee Number One, is a traditional congee with short-grain rice made in chicken stock and water, Number Two was a Green Mung Bean Congee, and Number Three was Black Rice with Red Dates and Pandan Leaf Condiments are ready (including some pickled mustard greens), Finally, Congee hour arrived Pretty good for a Congee rookie, I'd say, not that I've had it that often, but Melissa, who is from Taiwan thought it was just fine. [NOTE: The wonderful Jessica has more pictures which I will add later]

Dim Sum Number Five Karl's Chinese Spare Ribs These were brined for seven hours in smoked Lapsang Souchong tea, then coated and re-coated with a 5 spice, Hoisin, Vinegar, Soy sauce, Mae Ploy and Worcestershire sauce Outstanding! People were beginning to fill the kitchen as folks arrived at a steady pace all afternoon. Fortunately, samples of Dim Sum made so far were available to late-comers. ...and the assortment of beer and booze was growing

Dim Sum Number Four Leslie's Maine Shrimp Toast on Brioche Maine Shrimp with Cilantro, Garlic, Scallion, Sriracha, Fish sauce, and Lard, which makes these tasty morsels puff up. These were amazing.

Dim Sum Number, well, three Chinese Style Pigs In Blanket Otis and Marya whipped up some home-made Lap Cheong Little Smokies and wrapped 'em up in pork bun dough. They were served with two condiments, a special mustard, and a spicy ketchup

Dim Sum Number One and a half Bakuteh Chicken, Duck and Pork broth Very restorative, and delicious The Hosts had also come up with a killer collection of teas that were imbibed throughout the day, including this curious blossom... After a little while it looked like this,

Hosts Joe and Jon were able to find an iPhone app that programs Chinese Pop Music of questionable merit, but it set the mood perfectly. Things got underway at the crack of Noon when Courtney arrived and started making dumplings... Dim Sum Number One: Dumplings Duck, Shitake, Cabbage, Soy Sauce, Mirin, Garlic, Ginger, Coriander, Chili Flakes Seared, then steamed, which is really Japanese, so we are cheating right out of the gate here, but Deathmatch never follows the rules as regular readers already know. Suffice to say they were pretty damned good.

It had been over a year since The Deathmatch Crew - a group of talented Portland chefs got together for one of their legendary cook-offs, so on June 13th, 2010, after weeks of preparation, the Iron Curtain of Secrecy was at lasted lifted for... Deathmatch - The Reunion Word had quietly circulated that Dim Sum was to be the theme, as directed by... The Chairman... ...and The Panda As usual, top-notch decorations were mandatory (Thank-You, Lauren!), befitting so highly esteemed a collection of cuisine creativity, ...but actually, most of us were attempting things for the first time, and although a couple things didn't work out as, um... planned, everything was delicious and a fabulous time was had by all. There were twelve dishes...

Oil Spill Seafood Stew I was making one of my Iberian-style squid, cod and shrimp stews this week and decided to trap the ink and add it to the pot, inadvertently creating a homage to our brethren along the Gulf of Mexico. While simmering, pools of the stuff on the surface reminded me of an oil slick. As usual, the addition of squid ink made this batch particularly delicious.

I commuted eight hours from Vermont to Maine once a week to dive for sea urchins. I ended up moving here for the seafood.

There is no shortage of local opinion about this episode here in Portland. Most view the city's restaurant choices as half-baked, but I see Street & Co and J's Oyster as a nod to Portland's established Old Port restaurant scene rather than choosing among the flurry of newer, and arguably better, places that command most of the attention these days. The sailing crew was awkward - I know characters like these - but I felt the segment was edited in because it demonstrated a rugged determination that people up here have to do shit like go sailing in January, or trek up to their camp to chill out in the snow, and basically enjoy their vast backyard in a way people to the South and West can't come close to doing, or even imagining. Conte's Restaurant is a known love-it-or-hate-it dump, but the man himself is hard-core. Personally, I would treat those scallops differently. The episode spoke to me about the people in Maine, not the food. In that sense, I'm happy about it - especially the folks in pairs that bookend the segments. Sure, lots of worthy coverage was missed - stuff way beyond blueberries and lobster like hard-working organic farmers and innovative Portland cuisine, but I sense Tony was trying to get to what Maine was about, and for that I applaud him, and his team.

Next week's episode is set in Maine. Portland is bloated with average-quality food blogs. When Tony hit town in January, he was mobbed. I asked a fishmonger friend who had dinner with him how it went and he said there was a line of food-geeks at his table that went out the door. Apparently he had a much better time up in Milo (where a producer hails from) at a communal bean supper, and on the coast where he went for a little sail and met some more indigenous folks. Watch for a meal with Melissa Kelly, chef/owner of Rockland area Primo Restaurant.

Trader Joe's Moving Into Old Wild Oats Space - The Forecaster 3-10-10 Two Buck Chuck! Just what we need around here.

Happiness is shrimp so fresh they still snap after you tear their heads off. Fresh Maine Shrimp Ceviche Lime and orange juice, garlic, red onion and cilantro Fresh Maine Shrimp steamed over rice, chicken, bokchoy, carrot, celery, garlic and ginger, seasoned with mushroom soy, black vinegar and mirin, garnished with cilantro and scallion Local Shrimp Fishermen say it's been the best season in years - great demand and good prices. My job is done.

You probably need it today but if you don't, Mustapha's Moroccan Gourmet in Seattle are the tops. I found jars of his products in a Crate n' Barrel in Eastern Massachusetts.

Most inspiring, Baron, and this... ...couldn't be more true. I have to get back at it and conquer the terrine. My version 2 is on the menu for this weekend.

Tony Eats Portland Maine episode slated for April '10

Newly posted multi media version of this visit at Portland Cooks