CUISINE
Fall Flavors from Farm to Table
By Lisa C. Belcastro
Brisk mornings, warm days, cool crisp evenings and the twice daily sightings of yellow school buses transition Islanders and Island lovers from lazy summer beach days to the more practical side of life. All, however, is not lost. Early fall has arrived on the Vineyard, and with the change in weather comes another delectable season of crops from local farms and gardens. Winter squashes, apples, kale, lettuces, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, herbs, cider, and more are being harvested daily.
With such an abundance of organic delicacies at our fingertips, how could one resist gathering up the bounty and rushing into the kitchen? I, for one, cannot. My garden is overflowing and I’m constantly scanning magazines and newspapers for tasty and simple recipes to highlight the season’s crops.
Having enjoyed many a meal at Chesca’s, and being an avid fan of their Thai Chili Glaze, I was eager to see what David Joyce and Jo Maxwell, the husband and wife owners and chefs of the fabulous Edgartown restaurant, would design for a farm to table menu that celebrates the robust flavors of fall and can be grown and purchased on Island.
“We’re thinking a roasted chicken. With cider and sage pan gravy?” said Jo. My day was made! I couldn’t agree fast enough.
While some people are intimidated roasting a chicken, often comparing the friendly fowl to the Thanksgiving turkey and hours of basting involved with the larger bird, few entrees are as simple or as delicious. “There’s nothing better than roasted chicken. You season it right. Cook it right and there’s nothing like it,” said Chef David. “If you just let the chicken flavor stand on it’s own, it’s the best thing. I love that.”
David and Jo purchase their organic chickens at Morning Glory Farm (Jefferson Munroe of The Good Farm is also a great option). Farm to table is a way of life for David and Jo. They buy as much of their produce, meats and fish on Island as they can. “I go to the farms and see what they’re harvesting,” said David. “There are so many options on Island – Allen’s, The Farm Institute. I’m a regular at Morning Glory. We buy fish from Net Result. Depending on what is available, we buy local whenever possible. We shop at the Farmer’s Market for our house. One of us will say, ‘I’ll stay in the booth, you go shop for dinner.’”
David is a master chef. He graduated from the Culinary Institute in 1979 and then spent years working in Boston’s finer restaurants before moving to the Island. Jo grew up in the restaurant business. At eight she was frying clams and flipping burgers at her family’s Cedar Hill Dairy Joy in Weston, MA. By twenty-one Jo owned her first restaurant. She relocated to the Vineyard in 1984, owning a number of restaurants until she opened Chesca’s in 1994.
David entered the Vineyard restaurant scene as a sous chef at Chesca’s in the summer of ’97. He returned the following summer as Chesca’s executive chef. “I came at thirty-nine and thought, ‘this is how I want to live.’ I fell in love with the Island.” David smiled and finished his thought, “I fell in love with Jo.”
David and Jo’s love of the Island resonates in their cooking at Chesca’s and at home. “We both love food, all facets of it equally. We make a nice dinner every night. This time of year I love the local apples and I go nuts for the squashes. Herbs become more robust. And cider, which is great to cook with, too,” said Jo.
Jo wasn’t kidding. The recipes she and David invented for Vineyard Style are totally fresh, totally local and absolutely to die for! When she added a balsamic and maple-glazed pear salad, corn and prosciutto soup, a butternut squash, kale, hazelnut and smoked mozzarella bread pudding and a brown butter apple cobbler for dessert, the world became sublime.
Butternut squash, my absolute favorite of all squashes, is ripening on the vine in my garden as I type. David shared his secret to make the best-tasting butternut squash when boiling on the stovetop. “The key to squash is to cook it in a small amount of liquid, reduce the liquid and then put the liquid back into the squash. The squash then tastes like itself. You add a little butter and salt and it’s perfect.”
As soon as the first squash is ready to be picked, I’ll be making David’s delicious vegetable bread pudding side dish. “It has to eat well,” said Jo. “David’s theory is that not only should the food taste great, but it should be appealing when it’s served and as you dine. The layering in the bread pudding keeps the dish appetizing in flavor and presentation while you eat.”
My mouth was watering as David described his cake-like cobbler dessert. “The cobbler is a fun recipe. You brown the butter in a hot pan and then pour it into a baking dish. Then you pour the batter over the brown butter, and then add the fruit. It bakes and the brown butter comes up and covers the cobbler. It’s great served warm with vanilla bean ice cream. The perfect fall dessert.”
Compile your shopping list and head out to the farms. Morning Glory, North Tabor, Bayes-Norton, The Grey Barn, The Farm Institute, Allen Sheep Farm, and The Good Farm are all open and ready to meet your shopping needs. And don’t forget, the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market is open in the Ag Hall on Saturdays through December.
Chesca’s is open for dinner seven nights a week from April through Columbus Day. You’ve got a few more weeks this season to enjoy a delicious night out. Stop in one Thursday, Friday or Saturday night before October 28 when you’re not trying one, or all, of these fabulous recipes. And if you haven’t yet stocked up on their Thai Chili Glaze, their decadent chocolate sauce and their house vinaigrette, buy some while you’re there. The Chili Glaze, also available at Cronig’s and the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market, is beyond versatile (chicken, fish, pork tenderloin – I’ve tried it on all), and you can finish off any meal with fruit and pound cake dipped in the chocolate sauce.
The Best Roasted Chicken With Cider-Sage Pan Gravy
Ingredients
4 to 5 pound fresh chicken, insides removed
1 baking apple cut in quarters
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
Nice sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme
and sage. Some for chopping
Course salt and freshly ground pepper
4 Tbs of melted butter, with
1 Tbs of chopped herbs.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400° degrees.
1. Rinse the inside of the chicken with cold water, drain and pat dry. Salt and pepper the inside.
2. Place the chicken in a cast iron skillet or a roasting pan.
3. Stuff the apples, onion halves and the sprigs of herbs inside the chicken
4. Brush the melted herb butter all over and then salt and pepper liberally.
5. Roast for 1 and 1/2 hours, basting twice after the first half of an hour by spooning the liquid in the pan over all of the chicken.If not enough the first time, brush on more of the butter and herb mixture
6. The chicken will be done when the juices run clear when you use a sharp knife to deeply pierce the leg where it attaches to the body.
7. Remove the chicken to a platter and loosely cover with foil for 10 minutes while you make gravy recipe (right).
Cider-Sage Pan Gravy
Begin gravy after the chicken is in the oven
Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup cider
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 Tbs of chopped sage
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions
1. Put all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and reduce to half on medium heat.
2. Make a slurry with one cup of water and 1/3 cup of flour. Stir until blended and set aside.
3. When the chicken has been removed from the pan, drain away any obvious fat from the pan while keeping the liquid. Set the pan on a burner to make the gravy.
4. Add the cider mixture to the roasting pan and bring to a boil.
5. When boiling, slowly add the slurry, stirring constantly with a whisk so there are no lumps. You can adjust the thickness of the gravy by using less or more of the slurry.
6. Add any juices from the chicken platter back into the gravy pan and adjust thickness with slurry if desired.
With such an abundance of organic delicacies at our fingertips, how could one resist gathering up the bounty and rushing into the kitchen? I, for one, cannot. My garden is overflowing and I’m constantly scanning magazines and newspapers for tasty and simple recipes to highlight the season’s crops.
Having enjoyed many a meal at Chesca’s, and being an avid fan of their Thai Chili Glaze, I was eager to see what David Joyce and Jo Maxwell, the husband and wife owners and chefs of the fabulous Edgartown restaurant, would design for a farm to table menu that celebrates the robust flavors of fall and can be grown and purchased on Island.
“We’re thinking a roasted chicken. With cider and sage pan gravy?” said Jo. My day was made! I couldn’t agree fast enough.
While some people are intimidated roasting a chicken, often comparing the friendly fowl to the Thanksgiving turkey and hours of basting involved with the larger bird, few entrees are as simple or as delicious. “There’s nothing better than roasted chicken. You season it right. Cook it right and there’s nothing like it,” said Chef David. “If you just let the chicken flavor stand on it’s own, it’s the best thing. I love that.”
David and Jo purchase their organic chickens at Morning Glory Farm (Jefferson Munroe of The Good Farm is also a great option). Farm to table is a way of life for David and Jo. They buy as much of their produce, meats and fish on Island as they can. “I go to the farms and see what they’re harvesting,” said David. “There are so many options on Island – Allen’s, The Farm Institute. I’m a regular at Morning Glory. We buy fish from Net Result. Depending on what is available, we buy local whenever possible. We shop at the Farmer’s Market for our house. One of us will say, ‘I’ll stay in the booth, you go shop for dinner.’”
David is a master chef. He graduated from the Culinary Institute in 1979 and then spent years working in Boston’s finer restaurants before moving to the Island. Jo grew up in the restaurant business. At eight she was frying clams and flipping burgers at her family’s Cedar Hill Dairy Joy in Weston, MA. By twenty-one Jo owned her first restaurant. She relocated to the Vineyard in 1984, owning a number of restaurants until she opened Chesca’s in 1994.
David entered the Vineyard restaurant scene as a sous chef at Chesca’s in the summer of ’97. He returned the following summer as Chesca’s executive chef. “I came at thirty-nine and thought, ‘this is how I want to live.’ I fell in love with the Island.” David smiled and finished his thought, “I fell in love with Jo.”
David and Jo’s love of the Island resonates in their cooking at Chesca’s and at home. “We both love food, all facets of it equally. We make a nice dinner every night. This time of year I love the local apples and I go nuts for the squashes. Herbs become more robust. And cider, which is great to cook with, too,” said Jo.
Jo wasn’t kidding. The recipes she and David invented for Vineyard Style are totally fresh, totally local and absolutely to die for! When she added a balsamic and maple-glazed pear salad, corn and prosciutto soup, a butternut squash, kale, hazelnut and smoked mozzarella bread pudding and a brown butter apple cobbler for dessert, the world became sublime.
Butternut squash, my absolute favorite of all squashes, is ripening on the vine in my garden as I type. David shared his secret to make the best-tasting butternut squash when boiling on the stovetop. “The key to squash is to cook it in a small amount of liquid, reduce the liquid and then put the liquid back into the squash. The squash then tastes like itself. You add a little butter and salt and it’s perfect.”
As soon as the first squash is ready to be picked, I’ll be making David’s delicious vegetable bread pudding side dish. “It has to eat well,” said Jo. “David’s theory is that not only should the food taste great, but it should be appealing when it’s served and as you dine. The layering in the bread pudding keeps the dish appetizing in flavor and presentation while you eat.”
My mouth was watering as David described his cake-like cobbler dessert. “The cobbler is a fun recipe. You brown the butter in a hot pan and then pour it into a baking dish. Then you pour the batter over the brown butter, and then add the fruit. It bakes and the brown butter comes up and covers the cobbler. It’s great served warm with vanilla bean ice cream. The perfect fall dessert.”
Compile your shopping list and head out to the farms. Morning Glory, North Tabor, Bayes-Norton, The Grey Barn, The Farm Institute, Allen Sheep Farm, and The Good Farm are all open and ready to meet your shopping needs. And don’t forget, the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market is open in the Ag Hall on Saturdays through December.
Chesca’s is open for dinner seven nights a week from April through Columbus Day. You’ve got a few more weeks this season to enjoy a delicious night out. Stop in one Thursday, Friday or Saturday night before October 28 when you’re not trying one, or all, of these fabulous recipes. And if you haven’t yet stocked up on their Thai Chili Glaze, their decadent chocolate sauce and their house vinaigrette, buy some while you’re there. The Chili Glaze, also available at Cronig’s and the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market, is beyond versatile (chicken, fish, pork tenderloin – I’ve tried it on all), and you can finish off any meal with fruit and pound cake dipped in the chocolate sauce.
The Best Roasted Chicken With Cider-Sage Pan Gravy
Ingredients
4 to 5 pound fresh chicken, insides removed
1 baking apple cut in quarters
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half
Nice sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme
and sage. Some for chopping
Course salt and freshly ground pepper
4 Tbs of melted butter, with
1 Tbs of chopped herbs.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400° degrees.
1. Rinse the inside of the chicken with cold water, drain and pat dry. Salt and pepper the inside.
2. Place the chicken in a cast iron skillet or a roasting pan.
3. Stuff the apples, onion halves and the sprigs of herbs inside the chicken
4. Brush the melted herb butter all over and then salt and pepper liberally.
5. Roast for 1 and 1/2 hours, basting twice after the first half of an hour by spooning the liquid in the pan over all of the chicken.If not enough the first time, brush on more of the butter and herb mixture
6. The chicken will be done when the juices run clear when you use a sharp knife to deeply pierce the leg where it attaches to the body.
7. Remove the chicken to a platter and loosely cover with foil for 10 minutes while you make gravy recipe (right).
Cider-Sage Pan Gravy
Begin gravy after the chicken is in the oven
Ingredients
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup cider
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 Tbs of chopped sage
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions
1. Put all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and reduce to half on medium heat.
2. Make a slurry with one cup of water and 1/3 cup of flour. Stir until blended and set aside.
3. When the chicken has been removed from the pan, drain away any obvious fat from the pan while keeping the liquid. Set the pan on a burner to make the gravy.
4. Add the cider mixture to the roasting pan and bring to a boil.
5. When boiling, slowly add the slurry, stirring constantly with a whisk so there are no lumps. You can adjust the thickness of the gravy by using less or more of the slurry.
6. Add any juices from the chicken platter back into the gravy pan and adjust thickness with slurry if desired.