Of course it starts with my family. Both my parents are Jewish. Neither is very religious, but Judaism has always been important to us.

My father’s family immigrated to the US from Poland in between the World Wars and settled in the Bronx. My grandfather worked as a tailor, and they were dirt poor. (My father used to tell me stories of how he shared a room with his little brother and his grandmother as a kid.) My grandfather died when my dad was still a teenager, and because I grew up in Newton, MA, while the rest of that side of the family stayed in New York, I didn’t see them all that much.

This is why my Jewish traditions come mainly from my mother’s half of the family. I had a very special relationship with her parents, Charlie and Hannah—but when it came to food, it was especially Hannah, who I called Baba Hannah. (Her picture is hanging in the kitchen of Craigie on Main today.)

Charlie’s family had owned a well-known shoe store in downtown Boston while Baba Hannah was a southern Jew, born and bred in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (She certainly talked like it—spouting Yiddish at me with a southern accent.) She was five foot two, but a total terror. She completely ruled the house, and especially the kitchen. She loved her grandchildren like crazy.

Charlie and Hannah lived in Brookline, so we saw them all the time. I watched baseball with my grandfather and cooked with my grandmother. And Baba Hannah cooked. I don’t think she loved cooking for the sake of cooking, but she certainly got joy out of cooking for her family. And I loved to help. I was the kid who was always making his family breakfast. I used to call my parents at work when I was ten years old and say: “I have a chicken in the oven. You’re coming home for dinner in a half hour.”

In Baba Hannah’s kitchen I whipped egg whites for meringue frostings on her lemon sponge cake and helped shape the matzo balls for Passover Seder. I remember the taste of her split pea soup and the smell of her brisket. It was awesome and I still crave them. Nothing Baba Hannah cooked came out of left field. But she made it and it was good and it was a great excuse for our family to come together. It was the best time I had around food.

I was in college when my grandparents passed away. Afterward, there were a couple years when the holidays just didn’t get celebrated. My grandmother had always been in charge of the cooking and the planning and without her, my mom and her brother just didn’t know what to do. We made half-assed attempts for a few years, getting the family together with takeout from Baker’s Best, but the vibe was all wrong. We all felt it. Passover wasn’t what it was supposed to be and I desperately wanted to change this.

Years later, after I had opened the Craigie Street Bistrot and was missing all the Jewish holidays not because we didn’t know what to do but because I was always working, my mom had an idea:

“Tony, why don’t we cook Passover here?”

I laughed. “What the hell are you talking about? We cook pork, Mom. How could I cook Passover?”

“Make it your take on Passover,” she said.

So I started to read: about the holiday, the traditions, and the food that has so much symbolism and sentimentality attached. At its most basic, Passover is the celebration of the ancient Israelites’ freedom from slavery in Egypt. You can dive into the religious angle all you want, but for me the message is about remembering and acknowledging both the good and bad of humanity. It’s a celebration of peace and freedom. It’s about the plagues, sure—but Passover can be much more inclusive.

As I read, I realized the diversity in the food of Passover, too—if you start looking at the ways others cook for it around the world. It was liberating.

Passover didn’t have to be the Ashkenazi version of haroseth made from apples and walnuts. There didn’t have to be horseradish, beets, or asparagus. The meal didn’t need to hinge on brisket. I began to think about the Sephardic versions of haroseth, made with dried fruit, nuts, and wine. I read about communities in the Middle East that eat rice during Passover—spiked with tons of dates, almonds, spring garlic and saffron. All of a sudden Passover dinner read like a pretty interesting menu.

And so at Craigie on Main, during Passover, we pay homage to what I grew up with. We also make new interpretations inspired by flavors from places like Morocco, India, and Tunisia. There are matzo balls, of course. (One year I made them with bone marrow, which seemed like a very Craigie thing to do.) We’ve done interpretations of Baba Hannah’s split pea soup. There’ve been haroseth-braised lamb shanks, schmaltz-poached dayboat halibut, braised kobe beef brisket. We make matzo from scratch, using emmer wheat ground for us by Anson Mills.

And everyone is welcome. We have families that whip out their Haggadahs at the table, while others haven’t celebrated the holiday in years, finding it easier to come together at a restaurant than at home. We also have folks who don’t know what to make of the Seder plate we set on each table, and that’s okay. The main thing is that everyone is happy—especially me. Passover always makes for a dynamic night.

Of course it’s important to remember that we aren’t a kosher kitchen, and won’t pretend to be. We won’t serve pork for Passover—but various forms of pig will still be hanging out in the kitchen.

300g    squeezed potatoes( roughly 4 potatoes)

25g      Matzo meal powdered

25g      whole eggs

45g      Schmaltz onions

.75g% salt

Pepper to taste

Set plancha to 400F

Directions:

1 Do potatoes last. They will turn brown and oxidize.

2 Sweat julienne onions in Schmaltz, cool.

3 Grate peeled celery root through cheese grinder in robot coupe.

4 Buzz matzo crackers or meal in blender till powdered.

5 Mix eggs with whisk.

6 Peel potatoes and grate same as celery root.

7 Squeeze water out of potatoes.

8 Weigh potatoes after water weight is lost.

9 Weigh to find salt percentage.

10 Mix all ingredients together  by hand.

11 Portion to 70g balls.

12 Flatten and crisp latkes on plancha with schmaltz.

13 Lay out on a rack to dry and cool.

14 Do a tester to check for taste/cook and shape.

10 kg Pumpkin, Halved

Long Island Cheese Pumpkin

1650 g Onion, Diced

30g Ararat

2 Bouquet Garni Leek-sage-thyme-bay-Parsley stem

100 g Miso

15 g Untrimmed Ginger, grated

150g Dark Muscovado Sugar

8-10 qt Water, to fix texture

Butter

Salt

-Season pumpkin halves with salt, pepper and EVOO. Roast at 163°C for 30 to 45 minutes.

-Scoop the pumpkins, squeeze liquid from skins, and reserve roasting liquids. to a large pot add olive oil.

- Sweat the onion with salt and the Mousa spice, adding just a bit of water to stop from sticking. Continue this for about 15-20 minutes. Add the sugar, ginger, and miso. Stir to combine, then add the pumpkin and liquid. Adjust the thickness with water and cook for 15-20 minutes.

-Puree adding butter and seasoning.

•  2 dozen eggs, separated

•  1 bottle good quality Cognac or brandy

•  16 oz Jamaican rum

•  2 lbs powdered sugar

•  1 qt heavy cream

•  3 qt whole milk

•  1 tsp salt

•  ¾ tsp grated nutmeg

Directions:

1.       Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl until light yellow in color.

2.       Continue to beat the yolks while adding Cognac, rum, milk, cream, sugar, and salt.

3.       In another bowl, beat the egg whites and nutmeg to stiff peaks.

4.       Fold the whites into the yolk mixture.

5.       Chill well until ready to serve.

2 T molasses

2 T butter

2 T brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 tsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350F. Blanch walnuts for 1 min in boiling water; strain. Combine all ingredients over a double boiler until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Toss walnuts in sugar mixture until coated and spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes until nuts are evenly brown. Allow to cool. (If nuts are still sticky after being completely cool, you can put back in the oven for 2-3 minutes.)

Please note – this advice isn’t from any old Pastry Chef.  Jess was just named Best of Boston Pastry Chef by Boston Magazine. .  When she talks about choosing apples for pie, you’ll want to listen. Here goes:

“You want to make sure to choose an apple with not too high a water content or it will just turn to mush when it is cooked. Pippin, Braeburn, Fuji and good old Granny Smiths are all a good choice that are easy to track down, will hold up well, and give great flavor. A surefire bet is to ask at your local farmer’s market. They may have some more unusual local varieties or hybrids. I like to use a blend of a couple different apples to give variety in texture and flavor. Using the peel or not is a personal preference; I usually keep it on for a more rustic pie.”

Crust:

Ingredients:

Dough (for 8-9 inch pie):

12 ounces All Purpose flour

1/2 # butter (2 sticks)

4-6 ounces water

4 g salt

Method:

Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and freeze together with flour x at least 15 min.

Combine 6 oz water and salt and freeze x 15 min.

Using a bench scraper, cut frozen butter into flour until you have pea-sized chunks.

Gradually sprinkle in ice water, cutting it into flour/butter mixture completely before adding more.

*You may not need all the water. Once enough water is incorporated to form a ball of dough, wrap in plastic and rest at least 2 hrs. Roll out to desired thickness.

Filling:

Ingredients:

1000 g Apples, cut into medium pieces

40 g Butter

250 g Demerara Sugar (can substitute brown sugar)

100 g Lemon Juice

20 g Salt

100 g Calvados (optional)

Sachet:

Ingredients:

20 grams (1/2 inch) Fresh ginger, smashed

10 each Cloves

2 each Cinnamon stick

4 each Green Cardamom

1 tsp Fennel Seed

1 tsp Mace

4 each Allspice

2 each Star Anise

Method:

Melt butter in saucepan over high heat. Add sugar, whisking to emulsify.

Add apples and lemon juice, cooking over high heat until liquid is reduced by half.

Deglaze with Calvados, season with salt and continue to cook over med-high heat until syrupy and apples are translucent. Cool completely before filling pie.

Happy Pie Making!

TOPPING: 
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour 
1/2 cup light brown sugar 
1/2 cup Demerara sugar (natural, unrefined brown sugar available in most specialty shops)
1/4 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 lb butter, softened 
pinch of salt 
1 1/2 cups toasted chopped walnuts

FILLING:
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (such as apricots, rasins, pears, prunes and cranberries)
Port
1 pint fresh blackberries
3 ripe pears, diced
4 ripe apples, diced
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons calvados
4 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
The night before serving, cut the dried fruit into raisin-sized pieces and pour enough boiling port over the fruit to cover. The fruit will absorb the port, and any leftover fruit will only get better over time. 

To make the topping: Sift first four ingredients through a sifter. Work the butter into mix a little bit at a time. Gradually add the walnuts.

To make the filling: In a bowl, combine the dried fruit, blackberries, pears, apples, sugar, calvados, flour and salt.  Toss well to combine. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the filling in a buttered pan just large enough to hold all ingredients. With your hands, spread an even layer of crisp topping over the fruit, using enough so that no fruit shows through the topping. Bake, uncovered, until topping is an even golden-brown  throughout and the fruit is cooked – from one to two hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream

Notes: Serves 8-12. Any extra topping mix can be stored in fridge for up to a week and used on any type of crisp or brown betty.  Substitute any light brown sugar for Demerara if necessary.

Ingredients:
2 Cornish game hens, 2 to 3 pounds each
4 cups mixed root vegetables such as carrots, onions, parsnips, celery root, rutabaga, turnips – diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup Armagnac
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup dark raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried pears, diced
A bunch of fresh herbs, incluing parsley, thyme, bay leaaf, and sage tied in a cheesecloth sachet
1 cup roasted chicken stock or chicken broth
2 tablespoons duck fat or vegetable oil
Salt, pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Rinse hens under cold water and pat dry.  Season liberally with salt and pepper inside and out and let rest at room temperature for 1/2 hour. Soak the dried fruit in warm water to cover for 1/2 hour.

In large Dutch oven or enamelledd pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown the hens slowly on all sides, being careful not to burn the fat. Remove to a plate.  In the same fat, add all the diced vegetables and garlic and slowly brown to caramelize. Strain off all the fat.

Add dried fruit and herb sachet, pour in Armagnac, and cook until liquid is completely evaporated.  Add wine and reduce by half, then add the stock.  Place the hens on top of the vegetables and fruit, bring to a simmer on top of the stove.  Cover and place in the oven. Roast for approximately 1 hour, or until legs easily pull away from the rest of the bird. Let rest for 20 minutes and serve.

Time: 30 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients:
1/2 sprig fresh rosemary
2 leaves fresh sage
1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
1/2 Spanish onion, diced small
2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup apple cider
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup Demerara sugar, or as needed
Pinch of kosher salt
8 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh cranberries, rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
2 cups toasted, chopped walnuts.

Method:
1. Tie rosemary and sage together with kitchen twine, and set aside. Place a medium enameled or stainless steel saucepan over medium-low heat, and melt butter. Add onion. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Add rosemary and sage, dried cranberries, apple cider, orange juice, 1 cup sugar and the salt. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Add fresh cranberries and simmer, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until relish is thick and sticky, 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar as needed. Add walnuts and allow to cool.Allow relish to chill, preferably overnight, before serving.

Yield: 5 cups.

To make ahead: After preparing relish, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.

Total Time: 25 Minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

½ jalapeño, halved lengthwise
½ pound tomatillos (3 or 4)
2 small garlic cloves, peeled
5 tablespoons olive oil (or 3 tablespoons olive oil plus 2 tablespoons duck fat)
4½ cups 1-inch diced yellow and green squash (cut from about 1¼ pounds squash)
Salt to taste
3 sprigs cilantro plus 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, plus extra for garnish
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice, plus extra for garnish
4 eggs

What To Do:

1. Turn on broiler. Place jalapeño (cut side down), tomatillos and garlic in an ovenproof dish and broil until tomatillos are charred, about 7-10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, set a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl in 2 tablespoons olive oil or duck fat. Once hot, add squash in a single, even layer. (If necessary, cook in 2 batches.) Season with salt and cook 4-5 minutes, or until caramelized. Stir and cook 4-5 minutes more, or until tender. Remove from heat, stir in chopped cilantro and season to taste with salt.

3. Transfer tomatillo mixture to blender with cilantro sprigs. Blend on high until smooth, slowly adding 1½ tablespoons olive oil. Season to taste with lime juice and salt.

4.Crack eggs into small bowl. Wipe pan and set over medium heat. Once pan is hot, swirl in 1½ tablespoons oil, or enough to coat bottom. Tip eggs gently into pan. Season with salt and fry 3-4 minutes, or until whites are cooked and yolks just begin to set.

5. To serve, spoon 2 tablespoons warm tomatillo sauce into 4 shallow dishes. Mound roasted squash in center. Top with fried egg. Garnish with cilantro sprig and lime wedge

Coconut Sorbet:
1 15oz can of coconut milk
100 g sorbet syrup (you can substitute corn syrup and it should come out fine)
10 g dark rum
5 g fresh squeezed lime juice
Pinch salt
Whisk together and process in an ice cream machine.

Chocolate Sauce:
20 g cocoa powder
20 g sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
60 g coconut milk
Whisk all dry ingredients together. Whisk in half of the liquids until it comes to a smooth paste. Whisk in remaining liquids. Serve warm.

Coconut Crumbs
100 g flaked coconut
100 g AP flour
200 g butter
100 g sugar
5 g salt
Combine all ingredients in mixer and mix with paddle until comes together. Bake off at 325F for 7-8 min until crumbs are golden brown.
We also serve it with spray-dried coconut milk powder, which is available through Terra Spices. It goes without saying that it will still be quite delicious if you can’t track this down! We pour espresso over it tableside at Craigie. You can certainly try that too. Enjoy!

As seen in “Food and Wine” – quick, easy, different, delicious. “Like the rest of Tony Maws‘ dishes, these mussels can’t be defined by a single style of cuisine. Seemingly disparate French, Spanish and Japanese flavors blend in this ingenious take on a French bar-food classic.” Serves 4.

Ingredients:
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  2 tablespoons yellow miso paste

  1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
  4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 
  1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 
  Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled 
  2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
  2 tablespoons sake
  1 tablespoon pastis or Pernod 
  1/4 cup water 
  1 tablespoon chopped tarragon
  1 tablespoon chopped parsley 
  Crusty bread, for serving

In a small bowl, blend the butter with the miso. In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderately high heat until golden, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a plate. Add the crushed red pepper and saffron to the pot. Add the mussels and cook, stirring, until the shells begin to open, about 2 minutes. Stir in the sake and pastis. Add the water and miso butter and cook, stirring, until the mussels have opened and are coated with sauce. Discard any mussels that don’t open. Stir in the herbs and garlic and serve in bowls with crusty bread.

2# smoked local bluefish, picked and skin and blood line removed.
2 tblsp Extra virgin olive oil

½ Bulb fennel, diced small
1 stalk  celery, diced small
2 shallots, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/8 tsp high quality saffron
1 bouquet garni of bay leaf, parsley, thyme, tarragon
2 tblsp sour cream
juice from 1 lemon
fine sea salt
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.
Add all the vegetables, spices and bouquet garni.
Season with fine sea salt and cover, sweating out the vegetables until tender, approximately 5-8 minutes.
Remove bouquet garni and transfer the remaining ingredients to a blender.
Blend on high speed until smooth.
Let cool and mix in the sour cream.
Add as desired to the picked smoked bluefish.  Finish with some lemon juice.
Serve with baguette or crackers.

Recipe:
1 oz Cocchi Americano
3/4 oz Junipero Gin
1/2 oz. Coteaux du Vendomois Rose (our house rose at Craigie)
1/2 oz. Carpano Antica formula
1/4 oz. Cynar
Dash of Regan’s Orange Bitters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha

4 ea loup de mer kama (collarbone)
1/2 tsp New Mexican Chile Flake
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1/4 tsp cumin seed
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
2 coins ginger, grushed and chopped
1 tblsp chopped parsley
1 tblsp chopped cilantro
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fresh lemon and/or lime juice
Sea salt
Black pepper

Toast and rough grind the spices.
Mix with the remaining ingredients except the lemona nd lime juice and marinate the kamas for 1 hour or overnight.
Season liberally with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Cook over medium low heat, skin side down, on the grill until the skin is well charred and crispy.
Flip over and continue cooking until the collar is cooked all the way through.
Season with remaining lemon juice.

De Guello
“DeGuello” is a Spanish(ish) trumpet call that has a long history of military use.  Most notably, it was used in the battle of the Alamo. 1836. Just like the story, the cocktail is dark, brooding and tilted in the favor of the Spanish/Mexican players

Recipe:
3/4 oz. Scorpion Mezcal
3/4 oz. Oloroso Sherry
3/4 oz. Punt e Mes
1/2 oz. Old Monk Rum
1/4 oz. Demerara Simple Syrup
5 drops Angostura Orange Bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled lowball glass. Garnish with a flamed orange twist.

Winter Equivalent
A warm and warming libation to combat the snow

Recipe:
3/4 oz. Appleton Reserve Rum
3/4 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey3/4 oz. Applewood-Smoked Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz. Galliano
3 dashes Bittermen’s Xocolatl Mole Bitters
Combine ingredients in a warm teacup and add hot vanilla Rooibos tea

Serve the drink with a toothpick on the side holding two Smoked Mexican Salt Marshmallows.

Serves 8

3 confit chicken or duck legs and thighs, meat and skin picked off the bone, skin reserved.

2 ea large white onions

¾ cup rendered schmaltz

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups coarse kasha

1 egg, lightly beaten

8 oz fresh pasta (egg or mustard noodles) or store-bought bow tie pasta

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped.

·         Cut the onions into a small dice

·         Sweat the diced onion in ½ cup schmaltz in a covered pot.

·         Add kasha and toast in the fat for a minute, until the grain smells nutty.

·         Add beaten egg and continue toasting for one minute.

·         Add 4 cups of chicken stock

·         Season with salt and pepper.

·         Cover the pot and simmer on low heat until the kasha is cooked – approximately 25 minutes.  Fluff when ready.

·         Meanwhile, render the skin on a baking pan in a 300 degree oven until browned and crispy, approximately ½ hour.

·         Fold the picked confit meat into the kasha and begin cooking the pasta.

For the pasta:

·         In a separate pot, bring 2 gallons of water to a boil.

·         Season with fine sea salt.

·         Cook pasta until tender.

·         Add to the cooked kasha and confit, along with one cup of the pasta cooking water.

·         Return to the stove top and heat the kasha, stirring to incorporate all the ingredients.

·          Serve immediately with chopped parsley, crisped confit skin, and a drizzle of additional confit fat.

Let me explain what has happened and also clear up what seems to be a misunderstanding about our bar menu and motivation. In the past several weeks the burger has appeared prominently in two national and 3 local publications. The result is that we have been swamped with orders to the point that we can’t operate the way we need to offer the variety of Tasting Menus and other menu selections that most people expect at Craigie on Main. Space, supply, and staffing have all been affected. Basically, the spike in demand was so great that I was forced to begin ordering meat from other sources which did not meat our standards and philosophy.  If I was truly concerned about money, or if I was a cold and ruthless businessman, then I would have had NO PROBLEM with this compromise just to capitalize on the burger’s popularity.  I’d just keep pumping out an inferior product.  But seriously, this is not what I am about at all.  So we’re going back to the meat that made our burger so great in the first place, which I can only get in limited quantity – real meat from two small farms, not mass produced, industrialized, commercial beef.  In order to offer the menu variety that people are expecting, not compromise the quality of the burger, and not run out entirely before a weekend, we felt we should order and prepare for as many burgers as we did before our recent publicity. Because that publicity hasn’t worn off yet, it can happen that we run out early, and we apologize for that.

In terms of changing our Bar Menu, it is really only the format that is different; we were responding to many guest comments that our multiple menus were confusing. Also people in the dining room were often anxious to try our “bar” offerings. Our solution was to combine the menus into one. The bar favorites  are now in the appetizer section and their prices are unchanged. The burger is offered verbally to every table in the bar. This same menu is used in the Dining Room and the Bar.  Our objective was certainly not to make more money.  Of course, it would be easy just to raise burger prices, but that seems cynical and not the foundation of the kind of relationship we want to maintain with our diners. A few suggestions to be sure you can have a burger at Craigie: trying coming a little earlier, consider Sunday Brunch, and/or waiting a just few weeks.  We bet things will return to normal soon. Thanks for reading. We hope this clears up any misunderstanding.  Happy Holidays!!

Best,

Tony Maws

Chef and Owner

Craigie on Main

Cook starching potatoes (more like russets than red skin) in their skins.  Pass through a tamis or potato ricer.  Add  butter, milk and a little garlic to taste. For super smoothness, pass through ricer or tamis a second time. 
Fold in fresh cheese curds (actually from mozzarella) and grated Laguiole cheese, stirring constantly until well incorporated and emulsified.

Brine:
2L water
60g kosher salt
11 g kombu
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 ea allspice berries
2 ea juniper berries
1 tsp chile flakes
2 ea cloves
1 ea 4# chicken, trussed.
2 tblsp chicken or duck fat
1 sprig thyme

1. Add all brine ingredients together  and bring to a simmer.
2. Remove from heat and chill.
3. Place whole chicken in brine for 3 hrs.
4. take chicken off brine and wipe dry
5. Season the chicken with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. 
6.  Place chicken, fat and thyme in a sous vide bag and seal on medium so as not to distort the shape of the bird but still removes all air.
7. Place chicken into an 70c bath until the internal temp is 64c.  approx. 2.5 hours
8. let the chicken rest for 20 min at room temperature.
9. put chicken into ice water for 3 hrs until thoroughly chilled.

 Preheat combi-oven to 425 with “browning” mode on.

1 hour before serving remove chicken from bag and wipe off as much of the gelled juice as possible and season lightly with additional salt and pepper.

Place on a roasting rack in the combi oven for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until the thigh joint is barely warm. Remove and let rest 10 minutes. Carve and serve.

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs cream cheese

1 vanilla bean

3 lbs sheep’s milk yogurt

 600 grams of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

13 eggs

Place tempered cream cheese into a kitchenaid bowl with the seeds of one vanilla bean.

paddle until smooth.

Add the yogurt and paddle until smooth.

Add the sugar and mix until smooth

Add the yolks one at a time, mixing well.

Pass through a chinoise

.

Bake at steam 93C for 25 minutes, covered.  then convection 110C for 25 minutes, uncovered.

The cheesecakes will puff slightly during the convection portion of the baking process.

be sure to the batter is tempered before baking as it tends to curdle slightly otherwise.

be sure to temper all ingredients to keep the mixing time to a minimum as you do not want to work too much air into the batter.

If using ring molds, filled 3/4 full, will yield approx. 16-18 ea.

You might find you need to tweak the proportions and cooking method to work in your kitchen since we use a combi-steam oven.  As a substitution I recommend you cook in a bain mairie, or water bath, to provide the moisture.

Craigie On Main’s Chef Tony Maws—Together with Ideas in Food’s Chefs Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot—To Host

Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner Benefiting the James Beard Foundation

(CAMBRIDGE, MA; May 24, 2010)—The Celebrity Chef Tour benefiting the James Beard Foundation is coming to Cambridge on Thursday, July 29, 2010, for a night of culinary celebration. Two-time James Beard Nominee for Best Chef Northeast (2009, 2010) Tony Maws of Craigie On Main will cook an eight-course meal with IdeasInFood.com husband-and-wife dynamos Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot.

Chef Maws’ signature “refined rusticity” will be paired with the modern culinary prowess of Chefs Kamozawa and Talbot in a fun and spectacular dining event. The full menu is currently being developed, but you can be sure of courses by the Craigie On Main team and the Ideas In Food team individually, as well as special courses concocted by Tony, Alex and Aki together. The night’s dinner will be paired with a variety of libations from Maws’ hand-selected wines to Craigie’s infamous cocktails and local brews.

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will go to the James Beard Foundation educational programs, which include continuing education classes, guided tastings, readings, conferences, children’s programs, scholarship opportunities for aspiring culinary students, and volunteer opportunities for current culinary students. To date the celebrity chef tour has raised of 850k for the James Beard Foundation.

Craigie On Main is located at 853 Main St., in Cambridge, MA. The Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Tickets are $150 per person, (inclusive of wine pairings, tax, and gratuity) and can be reserved by calling Jeff Black at 720.201.1853 or by visiting http://www.celebritycheftour.com.

About Tony Maws
Tony Maws is the award-winning chef and owner behind the Northeast’s culinary gem: Craigie On Main. James Beard nominee for Best Chef Northeast (2009, 2010), and a Food & Wine Best New Chef (2005), Maws is celebrated equally for his innovative and traditional work in the kitchen, and is known for his immense talent, creativity, and rugged standards and expectations for himself and his staff, as well as the farmers and suppliers who visit him daily. “Commitment” is a key term for Maws and the entire Craigie on Main team. This commitment to the traditions of old-school farming methods— of “nose to tail, root to stem, and fins to gills” cooking—are implemented daily, combining to create a style of cuisine that can only be described as “refined rusticity.” All of Craigie on Main’s ingredients arrive each morning, and all are farmed or raised sustainably and with purpose and conscience. “It’s been part of my philosophy long before the terms ‘locavore’ or ‘farm-to-plate’ were coined,” Maws says. Maws has earned widespread attention, including being honored as “Boston’s Best Chef” by Boston magazine (while at his first restaurant Craigie Street Bistrot). He has also been featured in The Martha Stewart Show, Travel + Leisure, Gourmet, The Boston Globe, and on MSN.com, as well as NBC’s “Today” show and Fox News.

About Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot
Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot are the owners of Ideas in Food, LLC, a consulting business based in Levittown, PA. They met in the kitchen at Clio in Boston in 1997 and have been cooking together ever since. Kamozawa and Talbot specialize in sharing techniques for creativity with restaurants, food-service companies, and home kitchens using modern ingredients, equipment, and innovative approaches to food. The business grew out of their blog, Ideas in Food (www.ideasinfood.com). In addition to their one on one work with individual chefs, they have consulted with companies such as the No. 9 Group in Boston, Fourth Wall Restaurants in New York City, Frito Lay, and Unilever. The pair also writes for Popular Science online. Their column, titled “Kitchen Alchemy,” focuses on scientific explorations in the kitchen. Kamozawa and Talbot published an article about garlic in Santé magazine in March 2009. They contributed an essay to the anthology Food and Philosophy, which was published in November 2007. In addition to this they have been featured in articles for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Food & Wine, Saveur, and many others. Their newest book, “Ideas In Food – Great Recipes and Why They Work” (Clarkson Potter) will be released in December 2010.

About the Celebrity Chef Tour benefiting the James Beard Foundation:
Since its inception in 2004, the Celebrity Chef Tour benefiting the James Beard Foundation has become a favorite event for both the chefs to participate in and guests to attend, and has raised more than $825,000 for the James Beard Foundation. The Celebrity Chef Tour brings James Beard Foundation Award winners and other celebrity chefs to private clubs, resorts, and other exclusive venues around the country for spectacular dining events. The tour was created to benefit the James Beard Foundation and to promote the culinary arts across America.

Proud sponsors of the Celebrity Chef Tour benefiting the James Beard Foundation include, Mercedes Benz, Stella Artois, and VisaSignature®. Partners include Wine & Spirits magazine, Certified Angus Beef, Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Fiji Water, and Forever Cheese.

About the James Beard House and the James Beard Foundation:
James Beard is widely recognized as the father of American culinary arts. Throughout his life, he pursued and advocated the highest standards, and served as a mentor to emerging talents. The James Beard House is where Beard lived, taught, and welcomed friends and colleagues who shared his love for food. Shortly after he passed away, a group of friends sparked a drive to save his home and create a living memorial and a center for the culinary community. It has become what Founding President Peter Kump envisioned it could be: “a culinary place to see and taste the work of this country’s most talented chefs, winemakers, cookbook authors, and teachers.” The James Beard House’s sister nonprofit organization, the James Beard Foundation, the mission of which is to “celebrate, preserve, and nurture America’s culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence,” furthers Mr. Kump’s vision by providing scholarships and volunteer opportunities for aspiring culinary professionals, educating today’s youth on the importance of good food and essential nutrition.

For more information, please see www.celebritycheftour.com.

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For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Jessica Rodriguez
at Wagstaff Worldwide: 212.227.7575 or jessica@wagstaffworldwide.com

Dads are hard to buy for, and they don’t really need more grilling tools, business ties, or sleeves of golf balls. This year, whisk your father away to Craigie On Main where veteran dad of two-year-old Charlie Maws, and acclaimed chef Tony Maws is determined to make this holiday anything but ho-hum.

Craigie On Main has several dining options available:

Dinner will feature a dad-centric, four-course meal designed by Craigie’s cooking crew of gourmet dads. On the night’s menu will be big pieces of meat and “Flintstone”-type bones, as well as a lardo-wrapped Vermont beef tenderloin, and dessert for $75.

For brunch, a special “Papa Panino” will make its debut. The panino is comprised of pork heart sausage, garden pickle relish, provolone, and fried farm-fresh egg on ciabatta. Other brunch options include corned beef hash, steak and eggs, pancakes, grits, and the infamous Craigie brunch burgers, as well as a grilled spice-rubbed Berkshire pork chop, with a fried farm-fresh egg.

Craigie On Main also has one of the finest whiskey selections in the city from the highly sought after Buffalo Trace Antique Collection to a variety of scotch and scotch cocktails. There’s also the newly expanded beer list that includes Baird Shizuoka Natsumikan Ale (Numazu, Japan); Brasserie St. Germain, Page 24 Printemps (France), and Narragansett (Providence, RI) to name a few. 

No matter what your dad craves, Craigie On Main will make sure he’s well fed—because as we all know, the way to any daddy’s heart is through his stomach.

To make your Father’s Day brunch or dinner reservations, please call 617.497.5511 or visit www.craigieonmain.com.

Q. “We enjoyed a wonderful meal at your restaurant this past Thursday, particularly enjoying the salmon. One member of my party had the Halibut, as you ran out of the salmon….. The waiter mentioned that the Halibut came from the Atlantic (from Maine I believe). I have since read that the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch suggests that wild caught Atlantic Halibut be “Avoided” due to over-fishing. Is Craigie aware of this suggestion? 

A. We’re definitely aware of the suggestion and the Monterey Seafood Watch. Unfortunately acting on  these advisories is not always so black and white.  The timing of this question is ironic as I just participated in a meeting with the Chef’s Collaborative on this very subject and I’ll be sitting on  a panel at their conference in Boston this fall that will touch on this and related topics (and I’ll be doing a few demos as well!).  Unfortunately there is no perfect scale we can use for fish in the local vs. sustainable argument to help us decide what to do. Just consider these options:  Small Day-boat, line-caught fish from Maine vs. Day-boat dragger fish from Gloucester vs. organically farm-raised hiramasa from Australia that flies around the world..You can see that the tradeoff isn’t obvious or easy..

Certainly the halibut population is a worthy consideration, but so is the sustainability of the local fisheries and the fishermen whose livelihood rely on a catch that is exponentially restricted now compared to just a few short years ago.  We avoid gill-netted and dragger fish, and focus on local and sustainable.  I think Monterey’s advisory can be a great guide, especially for consumers who often rely on supermarkets that might be buying from larger, long trip boats with greater by-catch issues.  

All in all it’s more than challenging, but to sum up Craigie’s bottom line – we’re proud to serve the halibut we cook at the restaurant. 

Tony Maws

Method:

·        3# cleaned and soaked marrow bones (have your butcher cut the bones 3” long and in half lengthwise.  Soak  the bones in multiple changes of salted, cold water over the course of 2-3 days until the bones are removed of all blood).

·        Kosher salt and pepper

·        1 grill, such as a Webber

·        hardwood charcoal (NOT charcoal briquettes)

·        1 ea 12” aluminum pan

·        coarse sea salt (like fleur de sel)

·        grilled country toast

Light the fire 20 minutes in advance, piling all the charcoal in one corner of the grill.

Place aluminum pan next to coals on opposite side of the grill.

Season marrow bones with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Place bone-side down on the opposite side of the grill, above the aluminum pan.

Cover the grill with all vents open.

Roast bones until cooked all the way through (a cake tester or knife will enter the marrow with no resistence and is hot in the center).

Serve with crusty toast and/or place a little on top of a beef entree

(Oxtails have their own distinctively delicious flavor but in a pinch you could substitute another braising cut such as beef shanks, cheeks, or short ribs.)

Ingredients:
4# cut, grass-fed oxtails
1 navel orange, sliced into 1/2″ rounds
1/2″ ginger, smashed
6 ea peeled shallots
1/3# maitake mushrooms
2 cup full bodied red wine
2T Worcestershire sauce
1 bunch scallion, sliced thin
flour for dusting
salt and pepper
canola oil for browning

Dust and season the cut oxtails all around with flour, salt and pepper.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Le Creuset or other enameled braising pot.
Color oxtails on all sides and remove from pot.
Discard oil and wipe clean.
Add 2T oil and roast oranges on both sides, remove when well caramelized on both sides.
Roast maitake, ginger and whole shallots in the same pot until they color slightly and begin to soften.
Deglaze with red wine and Worcestershire sauce, reduce by 1/2.
Add the oxtails and oranges back to the pot.
Add enough water to cover half the oxtails
Cover and cook in a 300 degree oven until falling of the bone.
Strain off the sauce and reduce by half or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Fold the braised ingredients and scallions together and serve.

• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1 Tblsp toasted cumin seeds
• 1 tsp toasted coriander seeds
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tblsp chopped parsley
• 1 Tblsp tarragon
• 1 tsp chopped rosemary
• 1 cup plus 2 Tblsp extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• 1 8-bone rack of lamb — preferably local (you can also use individual lamb chops)
• 1 black steel or cast iron pan