news & events

Restaurant Phoebe In the News

Seven Days, Vermont's Independent Voice, July 2008 - Grilling the Chef

Times Argus, July 2008 - Chef's Corner: Aaron Millon

Burlington Free Press, May 2008 - The dining is fine at Phoebe's

Restaurant Phoebe At Events

New England Cooks, November 2007

Chef Aaron Millon was the featured chef on New England Cooks. New England Cooks produces live cooking demonstrations for an audience of 60 people at their studio in Barre, VT. Learn more about New England Cooks at www.NewEnglandCooks.com

Title: An Individual Thanksgiving Dinner - featuring some of the finest ingredients Vermont has to offer

Dish: Vermont Smoke & Cure sausage stuffed Cavendish Game Birds Quail, Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. Mascarpone whipped sweet potatoes, maple glazed Brussels sprouts and Vermont Cranberry Co. orange-cranberry relish

Recipes:
a. Vermont Smoke & Cure Sausage stuffing (yields stuffing for 8 quail)

Ingredients:
4ea ribs celery, small dice
1ea large carrot, small dice
1ea medium Spanish onion, small dice
1ea shallot, minced
1ea clove garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
1 package VT Smoke & Cure spicy or sweet Italian sausage, pushed out of casings
2 ea cups panko breadcrumbs
2 ea cups chicken stock
¼ cup chopped fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 Tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
3 ea Tablespoons unsalted butter
Juice from 1 lemon
S & P to taste

Method:
In a heavy-bottom sauce pan or Dutch oven, sauté celery, carrots, onions, shallot and garlic until translucent. A little caramelization is ok.
Add sausage and brown, chopping the sausage as you go.
Add wine and reduce by 2/3
Add chicken stock, reduce heat and simmer until stock is reduced by 2/3
Fold in panko bread crumbs and remove from heat
Add thyme and sage
Add Old Bay
Fold in butter
Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Allow stuffing to cool completely before stuffing your poultry

b. VT B & C Co. Mascarpone whipped sweet potatoes (yields 8 portions)

Ingredients:
6 ea large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
½ cup VT B & C Co. Mascarpone
¼ cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon five spice powder
¼ cup chives
S & P to taste

Method:
Cook sweet potatoes in plenty of salted boiling water until fork tender
Drain sweet potatoes and allow to dry for 2 minutes
Place sweet potatoes in bowl of kitchen aid mixer or large bowl, add mascarpone, and ½ of the cream.
Mix in Kitchen Aid with whisk or large bowl with potato masher
Reach desired consistency, adjusting with the remaining heavy cream
Add five spice powder, chives, and S & P,
Stir again, Serve immediately

c. Maple glazed Brussels sprouts with raisins

Ingredients:
50 ea Brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed, and cut in half lengthwise
4 ea Tablespoons butter
¼ cup of water
1ea cup maple syrup
1ea cup of raisins or dried currants
1ea star anise
5 ea juniper berries
5 ea berries of allspice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
S & P to taste

Method:
In a large sautoire, place water, star anise, juniper berry, and allspice
Bring to boil.
Add halved Brussel sprouts and reduce to a simmer
When water has almost evaporated, add butter, raisins and maple syrup
Reduce heat to low and cook until Brussel sprouts are glazed
Add lemon juice and S & P
Serve immediately

d. Orange-cranberry relish

Ingredients:
4 ea cups fresh cranberries
1ea shallot, minced
½ medium white onion
1 Tablespoon ginger, minced
Zest and juice of 3 oranges
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon fresh chopped mint
S & P to taste

Method:
In a large sauce pan, sweat shallot, onion and ginger
Add cranberries, sugar, orange juice, zest and vinegar to pan
Bring mixture to simmer and cook down until desired consistency is achieved
Add mint and coriander
Season with S & P
May be served warm or at room temperature

Vermont Fresh Network Annual Forum, August 2007

The theme of the Vermont Fresh Network’s Annual Forum at Shelburne Farms was Renewing America’s Farming Traditions (R.A.F.T.). When asked to participate, Chef Aaron Millon passionately began researching cooking techniques, ingredients, and recipes. He met with foragers and farmers. He kept a journal of his thoughts:

Chef Millon: “The fascinating thing about this event, besides the theme of the event itself, is how the chefs who are invited come up with their recipes and choose their ingredients. Here we are, trying to run fiscally sound, innovative, and consistent (nothing to mention of good tasting) kitchens in one of the toughest markets around, and suddenly we are blessed with the opportunity to create outside the established business parameters of our own kitchens/restaurants. ... Re-learning these traditional cooking methods give us something to look forward to. Instead of simply looking at the quality and seasonality of an individual ingredient, we are asked to consider the biological origin, and historical significance, of the ingredient. It is this type of forum that is helping to push the business of food service, the culinary arts, and sustainable farming into a pursuit of intellects and scholars. In between cooking lunch, dinner, brunch, special events, we are given the challenge of cooking in a way that makes no use of the technology we have invested in: our ten burner stoves, our flat tops, our kitchen-aids and Hobart’s, our blender sticks. Only our pans and hot fire are not rendered obsolete in this quest. ... So, back to how did we (John Hychko and I) come up with this recipe. We searched the internet for recipes, we looked at old cook books, we studied old recipes, but nothing quite fit the criteria. So we decided to start collecting our ingredients and looking at them...”

Following the event, a representative for R.A.F.T. and Gary Nabhan, the guest speaker, emailed Chef Millon and asked that he submit his recipes for publication in their upcoming book.

Dish: Abenaki Flint Corn Cakes, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Mascarpone, “Triple Brined” and Smoked Maple Wind Farm Pork Shoulder, Braised and Crisped Maple Wind Farm Pork Belly, Meech’s Quince Chutney, Blood Bull Beet Greens, Black Pepper -Apple Cider Vinaigrette, shot of heirloom tomato gazpacho.

Recipe:
Meech’s Quince Chutney
Great on pork, veal venison, turkey, etc.
Recipe is good for garnish on 6-8 servings of food.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
6 ea Quince, cored and diced small
1 oz fresh ginger, peeled, minced
1 ea garlic clove, sliced
2 ea shallots, minced
1/2 small white onion, minced
Juice and zest of 4 oranges
1 Tbsp mustard seed, toasted
1-2 ea star anise
1/2 Tbsp coriander, toasted and ground
1 tsp five-spice powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp red chili flake
2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:
Using a non-reactive saucepan, in butter, sweat the onion, shallot, garlic, ginger, red chili flake and orange zest until translucent (approx. 8 minutes).
Add diced quince and increase heat. Cook until quince is slightly caramelized and softening. Add mustard seed, star anise, coriander, five spice powder and sugar. Stir. Deglaze the pan with: 1. rice wine vinegar. 2. Apple cider vinegar. 3. Orange juice.
Reduce au sec. Add thyme and seasoning. Cool on sheet tray.

New England Cooks, February 2007

Title: New Kid on the Block

Dish: Roasted Leg of Lamb with Minted Goat Cheese Stuffing and Sweet Potato Gratin

Recipe:
a. Marinade for Leg of Lamb

Ingredients:
5 – 7 lb leg of lamb, If it comes in a net, remove lamb from netting.
1 spanish onion, rough chop
3 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup rosemary, chopped
½ cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
¼ cup of Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon chili flake

Method:
Place all ingredients except olive oil in blender or food processor and puree Slowly add oil to form an emulsion. In a baking dish, or other appropriate vessel, pour marinade over leg of lamb. Cover and allow to marinate for at least 24 hours.

b. Minted Goat Cheese stuffing

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon small dice of carrot
1 Tablespoon small dice of shallot
1 Tablespoon small dice of celery
1 whole egg
1lb Vermont Butter and Cheese Co. Chevre
1 C. panko (Japanese) style bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon chopped mint
1 Tablespoon ground coriander

Method:
Sauté carrots, shallot and celery in scant amount of olive oil until tender and translucent. Mix all ingredients, including sautéed carrot, shallot, and celery in large bowl. Incorporate all ingredients using your hands. Let stuffing rest for at least 1 hour before stuffing leg of lamb.

c. Putting it all together
Remove leg of lamb from marinade and place fat-side down on your work surface. Season inside of lamb with salt and pepper. Using a rubber spatula, place stuffing along the length of the leg of lamb. Roll lamb and tie with butcher’s twine to form a football shaped roast. Season the outside with salt and pepper. Allow roast to sit in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before roasting. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place roast on the rack of your favorite roasting pan and place in hot oven. Cook at 450 degrees for fifteen minutes or until the fat of the lamb starts to brown a little. Lower oven to 350 degrees and cook for approximately 1 hour and fifteen minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 140 (for medium-rare). Let the roast rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.

d. Sweet Potato Gratin

Ingredients:
4 sweet potatoes, peeled
2 Idaho or Russet potatoes, peeled
2 quarts heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups fresh grated parmesan cheese
Butter for the baking dish

Method:
Pour cream into a bowl. Add nutmeg, salt & pepper. Slice the sweet and the regular potatoes very thin and place directly into seasoned cream. After all potatoes are sliced, start neatly layering them into the greased 9” x 11” x 3” baking dish. Reserve the cream remaining in the bowl. Mix some of the regular potatoes into each layer, as the starch in these will help the gratin set after cooking. After you have the first layer built, sprinkle parmesan cheese and thyme on to the potatoes. Build another layer, and repeat with the cheese and thyme. Build the gratin right up to the edge of the baking dish. Pour reserved cream over gratin until it is just below the level of the potatoes. Cover gratin with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours or until a skewer passes through the gratin easily. Let gratin rest for 20 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and thyme and bake for an additional 6-8 minutes at 400 degrees or until cheese is melted.