Chapter Eight

THE ROOT CELLAR

For our forbearers, preserving food was an essential part of life. They didn’t have refrigeration, freezers, or Tupperware. With all of our conveniences it’s hard for us to connect to what their lives were like. Today we have a high-speed infrastructure that brings food from around the globe. The ice man and the milk man were necessities for our grandparents, but now they’re just fodder for quaint stories. Reconnecting with some of these old traditions is one of the great pleasures of cooking. Like gardening, foraging, and making your own cheese, preserving is one of those things that reminds us of what’s really important in life. It’s spiritually fulfilling, and once you get in the swing of things, it’s a lot of fun. It’s also a great help in your everyday cooking.

If you’re going to start canning, you don’t have to make it a big deal. As a weekend retreat, we’d go pick fruits and then make jams, a refreshing change from the expensive trappings of modern life. And you don’t need a garden or an orchard to do it, just go to the farmers’ market and get cucumbers for your sweet and sour pickles, berries for your preserves, ripe red apples for apple sauce, and fresh from the garden tomatoes for marinara. Your grandmother didn’t have a master’s degree in chemistry to learn how to can, and with a little bit of research you can start simply and advance quickly. Rely on your local college or university extension adult classes, they’ll often have a course on canning and there is usually a demo going on at the local farmers’ market a few times a week. Once you get started with canning, you’ll find there’s really nothing as satisfying as thinking, “I have those blueberries put aside to have for dessert and I don’t have to go to the supermarket to make a nice hot cobbler.” As you delve further in the garden, you’ll get used to preserving even more vegetables and fruits, and on some dreary February afternoon when there’s no green to be seen, you’ll just go to your basement and pick out that tomatillo salsa you made in August. You have your vibrant garden throughout the year.

ROOT CELLAR GRATIN

YAM AND POTATO GRATIN IS DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE TO MAKE, AND THE RESULTS are both delicious and impressive to look at. This particular gratin is always a favorite at Arrows because of the rich and mellow flavors that work well with both meat and fish. It can also be the centerpiece for a vegetarian dinner and it’s great for pot lucks.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

6 yams, peeled and sliced very thinly (no more than ⅛-inch thick)

6 white potatoes peeled and sliced very thinly (no more than ⅛-inch thick)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 x 8-inch, 2-quart casserole. Place a layer of yams slightly overlapping each other in the bottom of the casserole. Follow with a layer of potato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat the process, finishing with the yams. Pour the heavy cream over the yams and potatoes. Cover the casserole with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil from the casserole and bake until the yams are golden brown, about 20 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut the gratin into squares and remove the squares from the casserole with a metal spatula. Serve immediately.

ROASTED TURNIP PURÉE

EVERYONE LOVES MASHED POTATOES, BUT OCCASIONALLY IT’S FUN TO GO CRAZY and stray with these two purées. Carrots and parsnips are great together, but turnips can be a little bitter. By roasting a turnip, you bring out the sweet flavor. It’s one of the nicest ways to cook turnips and very easy. Serve these at your Thanksgiving dinner and more traditional fall dinners or with our ham dishes. It’s also nice to make several of these purées as a part of a vegetarian dinner.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

6 turnips (about 2 pounds), peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the turnips with the olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat. Cover and bake in a baking dish for 1 hour. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and cook until lightly brown. Add the turnips and the butter to a food processor and purée until smooth. Serve at once.

CARROT AND PARSNIP PURÉE

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced

1 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the carrots and parsnips in the olive oil and bake, covered, in a baking dish until soft, about 45 minutes. In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Place the carrots and parsnips into a food processor and add the cream and butter. Purée until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

SETTINGUP YOUR ROOT CELLAR

THERE’S NOTHING AT ALL MYSTERIOUS ABOUT A ROOT CELLAR, IT’S really just a cool dry place that the animals can’t get to. Your garage can be a root cellar or your basement can hold those potatoes, carrots, and onions you want to keep all year long. It simply has to be a place where vegetables can’t freeze. A few shelves or hanging metal baskets are perfect places to store onions, shallots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes or you can get more elaborate and build shelves with wire mesh over them to keep away the critters.

The two things you need to control in the root cellar are temperature and humidity. It’s best if you have at least one underground wall in your basement and invest in a thermometer and a hygrometer to make sure the humidity is above 80 percent to prevent withering and wrinkling of your vegetables.

Don’t wash the root vegetables before storing and for vegetables such as beets, leave the stems. Cut the tops of other vegetables close to the vegetable itself. You’ll need to cover the vegetables with about one-half inch of insulation, such as sawdust, and in about 34 degrees Fahrenheit or above with that high humidity. Keep them raised off of the floor and you can use a simple cardboard box for storage. Place a layer of sawdust in the box and add a layer of root vegetables. Keep layering the saw dust and vegetables finishing with about two inches of sawdust on top.

Even a lined trash can will work for storage. Keep checking your root vegetables for blemishes. One bad “apple” will rot the rest. Every time you go downstairs to get a few parsnips for your stew, you’ll be glad you went to all the trouble.

VINEGAR and HERB-BRAISED ONIONS

WE LOVE TO BRAISE ONIONS BECAUSE IT BRINGS OUT THE RICH FLAVOR OF THE onion. It’s also fun to experiment cooking with different wines, herbs, and vinegars. Once you’ve tried these out, try some other wine vinegar or even wine like ports and sherries, or liquors like bourbon and scotch—the technique remains the same. Make this dish ahead of time and simply slowly reheat when you’re ready to serve. This is another terrific addition to any vegetarian dinner and lovely with grilled steaks, roasts, and hams. You don’t have to cook them in the oven either; cook them wrapped in foil nestled among the coals of a barbecue the old-fashioned way to give them a smoky flavor.

YIELD: 8 SERVINGS

4 cups pearl onions, peeled

1 sprig rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup sugar

¾ cup red wine vinegar

Simmer all of the ingredients on low heat in a nonreactive saucepan until the onions are fully cooked, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve.

CHIVE MASHED POTATOES

WE LOVE MASHED POTATOES THE WAY MOM USED TO MAKE THEM, CLEAN AND uncluttered. Chefs often make forays into messing with Mom’s perfection—wasabi mashed, anyone? Yuck. But just adding chive brings a clean, bright flavor to mashed potatoes that we find pleasant. Try them with the Salmon Grilled with Green Beans and Corn (page 123) or any of the grilled scallop recipes (pages 92–96).

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

3 pounds large Maine potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons kosher salt

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup milk

¼ cup finely chopped chives

In a large pot, cover the potatoes with cold water. Add the salt and cook until very soft. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a mixing bowl. Using a mixer with a whip attachment or a simple hand masher, whip or mash the potatoes, gradually adding the butter, milk, and then the chives. Season to taste. Mashed potatoes can be kept warm in a pan for about 1 hour.

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES

ONE OF THE FEW REALLY GREAT STANDBYS OF THE RESTAURANT SCENE IN AMERICA in the 50s and 60s and then stumbling into the 70s was the twice-baked potato. When done well it’s worth rescuing from the disco era and with just a little more work, it takes the plain baked potato to a new level. Friends and family will love you. We’ve even served them as a centerpiece in a vegetarian dinner. Match it with some of our other vegetable selections and you’ll have a sumptuous feast. For the carnivores in the crowd, it’s terrific with steamed lobster, the Striped Sea Bass Sautéed with Bacon and Onions (page 131), or the Double Lamb Chops with Mint Relish (page 189).

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

1 tablespoon canola oil

6 large Maine baking potatoes

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs, separated and yolks beaten

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped chives

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the potatoes with canola oil and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of salt. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 1½ hours. Remove from the oven and let cool until the potatoes are warm to the touch. Slice in half. Scoop out the inside of the potato, leaving the skin intact. Mash the potato by hand with a ricer or masher in a bowl. Mix in the cheese, sour cream, and beaten egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the potato skins with the mixture. Place the filled skins on a cookie sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Garnish with chives.

YES, YOU CAN, CAN

CANNING BRINGS THE SUMMER BACK THROUGHOUT OUR LONG winters. It’s another one of those practices born out of necessity. We need to eat all year-round, but when there’s no refrigeration, preserving is key. Now, those old ways are coming back and we’re glad they are. Canning not only saves money, it gives us fresh tasting foods all year long.

In late summer we have a plethora of vegetables even we just can’t use up, so out come the Ball jars, lids, racks, and canning pots and it’s a party. We pickle tomatoes in Maine when the frost is coming so fast we need to get them off the vine. We have a passion for pickles. We both grew up in families that canned, and Clark remembers going to Gizditch Farm in Castroville, California, on Sundays for olallieberries, a mix of blackberries and raspberries. He and his family would pick the berries, can, and talk and either keep them for themselves or give them away as gifts.

There are a few important things to remember about canning to keep yourself and anyone eating your great canned goods safe. Canning is basically heating foods in jars until they’re at a temperature that destroys the micro-organisms that spoil food. Air is removed from the jar and a vacuum is created in the jar as it cools so no air or contamination will enter.

The two methods of canning are water bath and pressure canning and each has its own uses. Use the boiling water bath for tomatoes, fruits, jams, jellies, pickles, and other preserves. The submerged filled jars are heated to boiling and cooked for a set amount of time. Use pressure canning for vegetables, seafood, and meats, basically low acidic foods. In this method the jars are placed in water in a pressure cooker heated to 240°F or above.

We’ve gone over the basic principles but to learn proper canning methods, get a book, such as The Joy of Cooking: All About Canning and Preserving, or take a lesson at a local University Extension program. They’ll be able to give you the ins and outs of canning, and after that, your pantry will be filled for the entire year.

SAVING THE SUMMER (ROOT CELLAR PRESERVES)

Cranberry-Orange Compote

CRANBERRY AND ORANGE IS ACLASSIC New England combination. You just can’t go wrong with this easy and fun-to-make compote. It’s not just for turkey anymore. Serve with roast chicken or lamb or just eat it with a spoon.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

1 (12-ounce) bag cranberries, rinsed

Zest from 3 oranges

1 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped ginger

½ cup maple syrup

Pinch of kosher salt

Place the cranberries and orange zest into a heavy nonreactive saucepan. Add the orange juice, ginger, maple syrup, and salt. Cook at medium low heat until the cranberries pop, about 10 minutes. Let cool and serve.

Blueberry Sauce with Cinnamon

THIS IS ANOTHER CLASSIC COMBINATION, like apple pie and vanilla ice cream, but it’s important that the cinnamon doesn’t overwhelm the blueberry, similar to the fact that more than a dash of anchovy in your Caesar dressing can ruin it all. Keep this sauce canned or in the fridge and use it whenever you have a craving for a scoop of vanilla ice cream but also as a savory sauce with duck.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

2 cups blueberries, cleaned

1 tablespoon peeled and chopped ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup Chianti or other light spicy red wine

¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Place the blueberries, ginger, cinnamon, wine, and sugar in a nonreactive heavy saucepan. Cook on medium heat until the berries are soft, about 5 minutes. Let cool to warm and purée in a blender.

Sweet Pickles

WE HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. AT least one shelf in our pantry is filled to the brink with pickles. When Clark used to visit Mark’s family, Mark’s mom would run to the store to get the largest jar she could find. Clark’s mother said she couldn’t afford his pickle habit and showed him the more economic way to do it—going to the farmers’ market to get the ingredients and making his own. It’s easy and satisfying. The ones you make at home are always better than those you get in the jar so put them out at your next dinner party and impress your friends.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

6 large cucumbers (about 3 pounds), washed

1 large Spanish onion

¼ cup coriander seeds

½ cup chopped cilantro

1 cup sugar

4 cups rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Cut the cucumbers into ¼-inch slices. Peel and slice the onion. Toast the coriander seeds in a dry sauté pan until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Combine the coriander, cilantro, sugar, vinegar, and salt in a large nonreactive saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and then add the cucumbers and onions and turn off the heat. Let steep until cool. Serve when cool or chill further.

Sour Pickles

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

6 large cucumbers (about 3 pounds)

4 cups cider vinegar

½ cup water

2 teaspoons kosher salt

⅛ cup sugar

⅛ cup mustard seed

Wash the cucumbers and slice into ¼inch-thick slices. Mix the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and mustard seed in a heavy nonreactive saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil; then add the cucumbers and turn off the heat. Let steep until cool. Serve when cool or chill further.

PRESERVING AND SMOKING FISH

FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS, MAINERS HAVE ALWAYS PRESERVED FISH, such as cod, a staple of New England life. Cod and haddock were salted and then literally “hung out to dry” on barn doors all over the state. Many of us are intimidated by the concept of preserving fish and even more freaked out by the concept of smoking, but it’s easy. All you need is sugar and salt to activate the process, the rest is merely flavoring and patience. The simplest thing to do is to buy a fillet of fish, sprinkle it with sugar, and then cover the fish with salt, like a bed of snow. Press it for three days under a weight or a bunch of large cans of tomatoes and you’ve got a preserved fish that’s far better than anything you can get in your local deli. Add dill or other herbs and experiment with different sugars.

One of our favorite projects during our first year at Arrows and now is to make smoked fish. Clark’s father Vance made his smoked fish in his simple Weber barbecue grill, and the results were the finest we’ve had. All you need is a hot plate with soaked hickory or other hardwood chips and a kettle grill. Marinate the fish in salt and sugar the night before and smoke the next day. It can be a fun family activity, and the fun is in making it again and again, becoming a better artisanal home cook the more you do it.

PICKLED ONION with STAR ANISE

STA R ANISE MAY SEEM LIKE A RATHER EXOTIC SPICE, BUT AS YOU GET TO KNOW it, you’ll find many uses for it’s mellow flavor. It’s actually easy to find and has a great burnt orange and honey flavor that gives many things a completely different and unexpected taste, one that’s bold enough to infuse even something as strong as an onion. We like to serve it with some of our Asian dishes, like the Pan-Fried Trout (page 128), Bok Choy with Shiitake (page 203), and the Cider-Poached Salm on with Apples (page 124).

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

¾ pound pearl onions, peeled

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 star anise pods

1 tablespoon pink peppercorns

½ teaspoon peeled and finely chopped ginger

1½ cup cider or malt vinegar

Place all of the ingredients into a large nonreactive saucepan on low heat. Cook until the onions are just tender, about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the onions steep. Serve when cool or chill in the refrigerator.

SPICY CABBAGE

WHEN CLARK WAS A YOUNG STUDENT IN BEIJING, HE ENCOUNTERED A STRANGE happening in the fall. Everywhere he went, cabbages started piling up in balconies, doorways, halls—the entire city looked like one big mound of cabbage. He was soon to learn the reason why. For the entire winter, all there was for vegetables was cabbage. He learned to love it because the Chinese are miracle workers with cabbage and turning the simplest ingredients into something delicious is easy for them. They even serve cabbage for breakfast. We prefer to serve it as a condiment with sandwiches or with our Crab Fritters (page 51) and as a side dish for any of our fish dishes.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

2½ pounds green cabbage, cored and finely sliced

5 tablespoons sugar, divided

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped ginger

2 tablespooons sambal oelek chili paste

1 cup sherry vinegar

Place the cabbage in a colander and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the salt. Place a plate over the cabbage and place a weight on top (a large can of tomatoes will do). Then place the colander in a bowl for at least 1 hour or overnight. Drain the cabbage and toss with the ginger, sambal oelek, vinegar, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. This cabbage can be kept in a sealed container refrigerated for a week.

BLUEBERRY JAM

MAINE MEANS BLUEBERRIES AND ANYONE WHO’S SPENT ANY TIME IN MAINE has grown to appreciate the beauty of the blueberry. We’ve never known a kid who doesn’t love walking through our high bush blueberries and sneaking a few before dinner at Arrows. Blueberry jam is probably one of the biggest sellers of any small food producer in Maine, and jars are tucked into corners of suitcases going across the world. There’s no need to risk the explosion in the suitcase, just make ours and the results are satisfying and delicious.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

4½ cups blueberries, cleaned

1 lemon

1 cup sugar

Crush the berries with a fork in a bowl. Juice the lemon and save the rind. Slice the rind. Add the lemon juice, rind, and sugar to the blueberries. Place in a heavy non–reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until thick, 30 to 45 minutes. Skim any froth and stir for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. The jam can be kept in a nonreactive container.

APPLESAUCE

AT ARROWS WE HAVE MANY APPLE TREES AROUND OUR GARDEN AND WE’RE FREQUENTLY asked what kind of apples they are. We have to admit that we just don’t know, but we do know they are delicious. Use a variety of apples, mixing tart with sweet. Old-fashioned apples might shock you a bit because the flavors are so different and they also vary wildly from what you usually get at the store. This sauce is perfect with our ham dishes and the Grilled Venison with Huckleberry Sauce (page 146).

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

3 pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup sugar

½ cup water

1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)

Place the apples, lemon juice, sugar, and water in a nonreactive saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the apples are completely soft and falling apart. Remove from the heat and cool until just warm to the touch. Add the rum if using. Place the apple mixture in a food processor or food mill and process until smooth. The applesauce can be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for three days.

PEAR CHUTNEY

EVEN THE NAME “CHUTNEY” SOUNDS EXOTIC AND DIFFICULT TO MAKE BUT IN reality chutneys are quite easy. Many of the famous Indian chutneys are cooked for a very long period of time until they reach a marmalade consistency, but we like to cook ours for shorter periods, which results in a lighter, fresher tasting chutney. Although it may have originated in India and Indonesian cooking, chutney found its way to Maine. No doubt many a ship’s captain became hooked on these delicious creations.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons peeled and chopped ginger

2 cups peeled and diced pears

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

1 serrano chili, whole

1 tablespoon finely chopped mint

Melt the butter in a heavy nonreactive saucepan and sauté the ginger until soft, about 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pears are tender, about 20 minutes. Let the chutney cool to room temperature and remove the chili. The chutney can be kept in a sealed container for three days.

GREEN BELL PEPPER RELISH

AT ARROWS NONE OF US USED TO LIKE GREEN PEPPERS, AND WHEN FACED WITH the oncoming early frost, which would rob us of the more mature peppers, eventually red and yellow ones, we gathered the still-green peppers and made a relish. It cured us of our green bell pepper aversion. We serve it with our Grilled Oysters (page 26) and at cooking demos and competitions it’s a huge hit. We bring back very few dishes on the Arrows menu, but this one frequently returns. Just put it on crackers or grilled bread if you don’t like oysters.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

4 large green bell peppers

1 cup sherry vinegar

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup peeled and finely chopped shallots

¼ teaspoon red pepper chili flakes

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Grill the peppers over a stove burner or on your outdoor grill until lightly charred on the outside. Place them in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap to steam for about 10 minutes. Uncover the bowl and remove the pepper stems and skins, reserving the pepper juice. In a large nonreactive saucepan, heat the sherry vinegar and brown sugar. Reduce the liquid until it forms a heavy syrup, about 10 minutes. Add the shallot, chili flakes, thyme, and salt into the syrup and combine. Add the reserved juice to the syrup. Chop the peppers and add them to the liquid. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and chill. The relish can be kept in a sealed container for up to three days.

GREEN TOMATO PICKLES

ANY GARDENER—PROFESSIONAL OR AMATEUR ALIKE—KNOWS THERE’S ALWAYS a crop that has produced more than you can use. That’s when canning and preserving comes in handy. In Maine, tomatoes come in at the end of the warm season, and they might not get a chance to mature before the first frost. When nature gives you tomatoes, pickling is one thing you can do to keep the summer “crisp” throughout the winter. Serve with anything you usually enjoy with your cucumber pickles.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

¾ cup Champagne vinegar

4 bay leaves

5 whole cloves

⅛ cup peeled and sliced horseradish root

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup sugar

¼ cup water

3 green tomatoes, sliced

Heat all of the ingredients except for the tomatoes in a nonreactive saucepan. Boil the mixture and then pour over the tomatoes in a shallow pan. Let cool to room temperature. The pickles can be kept in a sealed container for up to three days.

DILLY BEANS

FORGET CHIPS, THIS IS MAINE’S FAVORITE SNACK AND IT’S MUCH HEALTHIER FOR you. Munch on them the same way you would potato chips, even with onion dip. In this case, we’re not reinventing the wheel, just adding some improvements to a true Maine classic.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

1 cup white vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 pound green beans, trimmed

3 tablespoons fresh dill

Boil the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a nonreactive heavy saucepan. Add the green beans and dill and cook until the beans are just tender, about 4 minutes. The beans can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

HARVARD BEETS

ALTHOUGH EVERYONE KNOWS THE BEST COLLEGES—COLBY AND BOWDOIN— are in Maine, a short drive south is one of New England’s better colleges, Harvard, where these beets allegedly originated.

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

12 beets, washed

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cornstarch

½ cup white vinegar

Cook the beets in boiling salted water in a saucepan until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the skins and cut into thin slices. Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a nonreactive saucepan. Add the vinegar and boil slowly for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the beets and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. The beets can be stored in a sealed container for up to three days.