Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The initial batch of boxes, filled with regional dairy, precooked chicken and fresh produce, will be distributed in Barre on May 15 by the Vermont National Guard along with MREs (meals, ready to eat), a separate federal program. From then through at least June 30, boxes will be distributed weekdays in different locations around the state.
Tags: food insecurity , COVID-19 , USDA , the Abbey Group , Farmers to Families , dairy farmers , Web Only , Image
Monday, May 11, 2020
“We are here to let you know that the Vermont Restaurant Industry is in crisis and we need your support,” the petition reads. “Without easily accessible direct aid many restaurants will close permanently.”
Tags: Vermont Restaurant Coalition , Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce , restaurant petition , COVID-19 , local business , Web Only , Image
Too often, it disappoints with soggy chicken smothered under layers of tomato sauce and cheese. I owe this crispier, lighter version to a combination of suggestions from an old standby in my (ridiculously huge) cookbook collection, Italian Classics from the editors of Cook's Illustrated (Boston Common Press, 2002) and a recipe from the website Food52.
The key is mostly to broil the cheese onto pan-fried cutlets and to wait until serving to spoon over some hot marinara. Other than that, it's pretty simple, though a bit messy.
I can assure you that it does not require great culinary expertise, because my dear brother-in-law, Conor, earned his first fully fledged A for this dinner when he made it with my long-distance coaching a couple weeks ago. (This says more about the forgiving nature of the recipe than Conor's newly developed cooking skills. We've had both ups and downs in our recent cooking sessions, though the teacher might need to take some responsibility.)
Chicken Parmesan is somewhat less flexible than some of the other recipes I've shared in this column. You could obviously make it with veal cutlets, or thin boneless pork cutlets (which tend to taste like chicken). It would also work with sliced eggplant, of course, making it eggplant Parm. I have a feeling it could even work well with thick "steaks" of cauliflower (cut 1-inch slices crown to stem from the widest center part of the cauliflower; keep the stem on to hold them intact) briefly steamed and patted dry, but have not yet tried that.
Conor actually made it with boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts, because that's what he had on hand. As proven by his grade, it was obviously delicious, if a little more raggedy looking.
You could make the tomato sauce from scratch if you want, but good store-bought sauce works perfectly well. Any pasta shape is fine, and mozzarella can be fresh or the pre-shredded kind.
As some readers might recall, Conor has embarked upon this effort to build cooking skills because he and my sister will be welcoming their first child next month. They recently completed a five-plus-hour online birthing preparation class, which left them exhausted and only somewhat less anxious than before.
How Conor will fulfill his assigned roles as breathing coach and chief hydration officer remains to be seen. I have full faith, however, that he will be able to feed the new mother a fine chicken Parmesan.
Crispy Chicken Parm
Makes 4 servingsIngredients
- 4 (about 1½ pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (sub: boneless, skinless thighs or other suggestions per above)
- 1½ teaspoons plus a pinch coarse salt, divided
- ⅓-½ cup all-purpose flour
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 large egg (maybe one more if needed)
- 1 cup panko Japanese-style breadcrumbs (sub: dry or fresh breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs)
- 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
- 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce
- Pasta, your choice
- 4-5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- About 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (sub: 1 cup shredded mozzarella)
- If you don't have a large broiler-proof skillet, line a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan with foil and set aside.
- Trim any extra fat from chicken breasts. If they have smaller tenders attached, pull those off. Place your palm flat on the top of each breast and very carefully slice through horizontally in half (with the knife blade parallel to your palm) to make two relatively even, thinner pieces of breast. Sprinkle one teaspoon of salt evenly over chicken and set aside on cutting board.
- Arrange three wide, shallow soup bowls in a row. In the first, whisk together the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup flour and several grinds of fresh pepper. In the second, beat egg with a drizzle of water and pinch of salt. In the third, stir together panko and Parmesan.
- Set water to boil for pasta.
- Using tongs or your hand (this gets messy), dip each piece of chicken (including any tenders), first in flour to coat lightly on both sides and then egg, before pressing each side into the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a clean cutting board or large platter as they are coated. (If you find you need more of any coating layer, just add a little more to the bowl; much better than wasting excess raw-chicken-contaminated ingredients.)
- Start cooking pasta per package directions and pour marinara sauce into a saucepan set over medium to heat up.
- Set a large (ideally broiler-proof) skillet over medium-high heat and heat 3 tablespoons of the oil until it shimmers. Add chicken pieces in batches to avoid crowding. Cook until dark golden brown and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes each side. As chicken is done, remove pieces to a clean plate or foil-lined rimmed baking sheet if using. Add remaining oil to skillet as needed to finish cooking chicken. If using broiler-proof skillet, wipe out any extra oil and put chicken back in skillet to go under broiler.
- While frying chicken, turn on oven broiler with a rack in the highest spot. When pasta is cooked and drained and marinara is hot, sprinkle mozzarella evenly over fried chicken pieces and broil for 2 minutes until cheese is bubbly.
- Serve chicken over pasta with marinara spooned over top.
Got cooking questions? Feel free to email them to [email protected].
Tags: cooking , easy recipes , chicken Parmesan , Web Only , Image
Friday, May 8, 2020
Two problems in Vermont — food insecurity and dairy surplus — converged Friday afternoon in a St. Albans parking lot, where Franklin County farmers gave away 2,500 gallons of milk to a steady stream of Vermonters.
“We come from a lot of generations of dairy farmers up here in Franklin County, and we love our community so much,” said Meghan St. Pierre, 26, of Pleasant Valley Farms. “A lot of folks are struggling right now.”
Tags: Vermont dairy farms , COVID-19 , St. Albans Cooperative Creamery , food insecurity , food giveaway , agriculture , community , Pleasant Valley Farms , Dairy Farmers of America , Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance , Web Only , Image
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Kat Donahue, the owner of the beloved, now-closed Queen City corner store, will be dishing out her famous breakfast sandwiches from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 9, at Momo’s Market on North Willard Street in Burlington's Old North End.
Donahue came up with the idea for a pop-up event after spotting a homemade sign that said “Things will get better, we’re in this together,” in front of a house near her old shop, which closed in December 2018.
“I just wanted to do something that might make people feel a little more hopeful, inspired and comforted,” Donahue said.
Now working as an autism interventionist in the Howard Center’s Autism Spectrum Program, Donahue contacted Momo’s owner Erin Malone last month to float the idea about a pop-up event. The two women opened their stores within months of each other (Donahue in 2014, Malone in 2015), quickly connected and instantly clicked.
Tags: King's Corner Deli , breakfast , Burlington , food , Web Only , Image
Molly Stevens, the award-winning, Williston-based cooking instructor, food writer and cookbook author, just earned a prestigious James Beard Foundation finalist nomination for her most recent book, All About Dinner: Simple Meals, Expert Advice (W.W. Norton, 2019).
Stevens is one of three finalists in the general cookbook category alongside part-time Vermonter Christopher Kimball and his book Milk Street: The New Rules: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook (Voracious, 2019).
Previously announced semifinalists in James Beard Foundation's annual Restaurant and Chef Awards — Cara Chigazola Tobin, chef and co-owner of Honey Road in Burlington, and winemaker Deirdre Heekin of La Garagista Farm + Winery in Barnard — did not advance to the finalist round.
Winners will be announced May 27.
Tags: cookbook , Molly Stevens , beans , recipes , awards , James Beard Foundation , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
"Many people didn't replant a garden the second year, because they failed in the first year," Gordon Clark told Seven Days. Clark is a University of Vermont Extension master gardener, and he's learning from history to ensure that the coronavirus-era gardening boom sticks around.
Clark is spearheading the statewide Vermont Victory Gardens program, which uses the expertise of master gardeners to help Vermonters impacted by food insecurity grow more of their own food.
Tags: gardening , Vermont Victory Gardens , master gardener , victory garden , food insecurity , COVID-19 , Web Only , Image
The idea for this morning-meal innovation had been percolating for several months. My husband — a real ideas guy, especially when it comes to breakfast foods — first thought to put a breakfast sausage in a French-toasted bun back when we could go out for brunch and "Doomsday Preppers" was something we watched for fun (now it's way too real).
In the confines of quarantine, we considered all the important questions: Is a breakfast hot dog sweet, savory, or a little bit of both? What kind of bun would work best? Will it be structurally sound?
Have we totally lost our minds?
The breakfast hot dog was either going to be the best thing we've ever made, or a soggy, disappointing conclusion to our number one topic of brunch conversation.
I'm happy to report that it is definitely the former.
Here's the thing: The breakfast hot dog is very adaptable. We started with a baseline — for the sake of science — of Vermont Salumi maple breakfast sausage and a French-toasted Koffee Kup Bakery potato bun, topped with a hefty maple syrup drizzle. After the fact, we realized that all of the ingredients except the sugar, salt and cinnamon were local. Win!
The style of bun is important. To achieve maximum French-toasting, go for top-sliced, rather than a hot dog bun that's sliced on the side. As far as the French toast recipe, feel free to use whichever you like best. My go-to is adapted from the classic McCormick recipe.
From there, though, we're still scheming up topping ideas — caramelized onions, fruit compote, eggs, heck, even kale — and planning to test other types of sausage. I'm voting for a Does' Leap Farm chorizo for the next round.
As for my husband, he's thrilled that his experiment turned out well enough that I wanted to write about it. Over our brunch of breakfast hot dogs, homefries and Campari-orange juice cocktails, he said, "I'm glad I took the Snowden approach and filtered this through the press." A real whistleblower, indeed.
Breakfast Hot Dogs
Makes 4 servingsIngredients
- 4 sausage links (sub: maple pork sausage is a great baseline, but feel free to experiment with different flavors and types of meat or meat-alternatives. All that really matters is that the shape and size of the link will fit in a standard hot dog bun.)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk (sub: milk alternatives such as oat milk)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 dash ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 top-sliced hot dog buns
- maple syrup to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spreading out sausage links on top so that they don't touch. Cook sausage in the oven for 20-30 minutes (depending on size), or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Grilling the sausages or cooking on the stovetop will also work, but baking them is hands-free and allows you to prep the buns while they're in the oven.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add milk, sugar, cinnamon and salt; whisk together.
- Dip each bun in the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides. Do not separate the slice on top of the bun — only the outside should be coated in the mixture, and keeping the bun closed prevents the mixture from sneaking inside.
- Cook buns on a lightly greased cast-iron skillet (or other nonstick griddle or pan) over medium heat until gently browned on both sides.
- Open the bun, place the sausage inside, and top with a drizzle (or several drizzles) of maple syrup. Brunch is served!
Have topping ideas for breakfast hot dogs, or suggestions for future breakfast innovations? Free to email them to [email protected].
Tags: Recipes , Home on the Range , breakfast , hot dog , French toast , home cooking , maple syrup , Web Only , Image
Sunday, May 3, 2020
"This crisis is such a tidal wave for restaurants," Bette said. "It has the potential to sink all-size boats."
The grassroots organization is working with local chambers of commerce and area associations, as well as national industry groups, to advocate for the specific needs of restaurants and other food and beverage destinations that have been forced to shutter their doors or radically change their business model during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Tags: COVID-19 , restaurants , business , Paycheck Protection Program , Vermont Hospitality Coalition , Web Only , Image
Thursday, April 30, 2020
You could even make it without the yogurt and the breadcrumbs if you had to, though they do add a satisfying creamy tartness and crunch, respectively. Other than the pasta, the only nonnegotiable item in this recipe (if you can even call it that) is the humble onion.
We're talking regular yellow onions, thinly sliced into circles and cooked low and slow in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Keep going until they are deeply caramelized, teetering on the edge of char, a dark golden-brown tangle of sweetness. The color brings with it that compelling fifth taste called umami, described as meatiness or savoriness.
Caramelized onions have a million uses: layered into sandwiches or on burgers, stirred into a pot of white beans and greens, scattered over flatbreads or folded into eggs. It's a great thing to do with onions that you might have stockpiled (who, me?) until they are starting to sprout or soften. They even freeze well, should you have any leftovers, though I never have.
Caramelized Onion Pantry Pasta
Makes 3 to 4 servingsIngredients
- 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ¾ cup coarse, chunky bread crumbs pulsed in a food processor or bashed with the back of a heavy pot from dry or toasted bread (sub: ½ cup fine breadcrumbs)
- 1½ teaspoons coarse salt, divided, plus more to taste
- 2 large onions, thinly sliced into rounds
- 12 ounces pasta, pretty much any shape except tiny like orzo
- ½ to ¾ cup plain yogurt
- Good pinch crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- Several handfuls of chopped leafy greens such as spinach or arugula, or herbs such as flat-leaf parsley (sub: 2 cups frozen peas, thawed by putting in colander and draining pasta over peas; or small broccoli florets, lightly steamed), optional
- Freshly grated Parmesan, optional
- In a large skillet or sauté pan set over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and add breadcrumbs with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, 2 to 5 minutes (depending on size of breadcrumbs) until golden brown. Scrape out of pan onto a plate and set aside.
- Wipe out skillet (no need to clean) and set back over medium heat with the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add onion with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are deeply golden brown and caramelized. This can take 30 to 35 minutes. Remove pan with onions from heat when done.
- While onions are cooking, set a large pot of well-salted water on to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Important: Before draining, make sure to scoop out and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.
- Add hot, drained pasta to the skillet of caramelized onions along with ½ cup of the yogurt, red pepper flakes if using and remaining teaspoon salt. Add ½ cup of pasta cooking liquid and use tongs to toss everything together. Add more yogurt and pasta water as needed to enable yogurt to spread around and coat pasta evenly.
- Toss in green stuff, if using, and taste, adding more salt, crushed red pepper flakes or a little olive oil if needed to balance yogurt acidity.
- Serve topped with fried breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan if using.
Got cooking questions? Feel free to email them to [email protected].
Tags: pantry cooking , caramelized onions , pasta , Web Only , Image