Year: 2024

Album Reviews 24/10/24

Sara Serpa, Encounters & Collisions (Biophilia Records)

I’m sorry, I can deal with a lot of things — improv jazz, noise-jazz, lots of things — but this just isn’t my cup of tea. That may be because I gravitate to a rather conventional Earl Grey, and sure, I appreciate that a lot of critics would tell me that this Portuguese singer is an acquired taste that’s beyond my ken, but I’m not a fan of self-indulgent sounds of any sort. This LP starts out with a spoken-word soliloquy about how her name is pronounced “SAH-rah,” not “SAIR-ah,” and some other gobbledygook I didn’t bother with, and then it’s on to an exercise in off-Broadway performance art, riding bumpily along on a purposely rickety float comprising cello, sax and piano. I’ll admit that a lot of (never-released) tension does emanate from Serpa’s constant edging toward dissonance, stuff that most normies would diagnose as being off-key. But I don’t need it, really. Your mileage may vary, of course, and if you want intimacy in your acoustic, academic-sounding chamber-jazz, this’d be it. C

Various Artists, Pulp Fiction: 30th Anniversary Soundtrack (Interscope Records)

I don’t know how anyone reading this could say they’ve never seen this 1994 movie, but then again, I’ve never watched The Shawshank Redemption or Deliverance all the way through, so there’ll be no charge for your hall pass. The soundtrack gave (more or less) rise to a surf-rock resurgence in pop culture; the film’s opening tune, Dick Dale’s “Miserlou,” starts things off here, leading into some dialog between John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson (yes, the bit about how the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder is called a “Royale with cheese” in France). Next is Kool & The Gang’s stomp-funky “Jungle Boogie,” which was a pleasant surprise for me to hear on the original soundtrack; I’d listened to it quite a bit in the 1980s while writing an album and doggedly attempting to expand my spectrum of musical influence (back then, I honestly believed no one else had ever even heard the dumb thing before). Director Quentin Tarantino (nowadays #MeToo-canceled, last I checked) had a pretty bizarre range of influences himself; I never understood the appeal of Urge Overkill’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” but it’s here too. The draw here is that it’s being released on day-glo vinyl, which is as Tarantino-schlocky as things could possibly get I suppose. A

PLAYLIST

A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases

• Right on time, Oct. 25 will see a Friday-load of new albums, from bands, overrated synth-pop artists, and nepo babies who sing off-key! Twerking like demented circus clowns, they’ll bang their Who-boombas and clang their ba-zingas and annoy me with all the noise, noise, noise, noise! What am I to do, fam, demand hazard pay? Ask all those bad bands to take music lessons? No, there is nothing I can do but report on these new albums, so that you’ll know what to do with whatever money you have left after rent, your Roku subscription and your weekly supply of ramen noodle packets and cans of beans! But wait a second, before I whip out my Gatling gun of snark and really go to town, here’s some good news, a new album from Amyl and the Sniffers, titled Cartoon Darkness! You know, I’d thought I was the only kid on my block to admire this Australian pub-punk band, but the other week someone posted about them on my Twitter and my hope for humanity was instantly lifted juuust a little bit. Don’t know about you, but I fell in love with these criminals when I saw the video of “Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled),” like, the singer makes Courtney Love look like Martha Stewart, and all I wanted out of life was to go on a Dave & Buster’s date with that girl and see how long it would take to get arrested. You people really need to go check them out, but in the meantime I’m going to see if they’re still completely feral, by checking out the video for “Chewing Gum,“ from this slappin’ new album! OK forget it, it’s awesome, she’s trying to be the next Lydia Lunch and succeeding, she’s got lipstick all over her insane rictus grin, and she’s holding a cigarette whose ash is like 2 inches long, go see this video, kids, I beg of you, you need to.

• Awesome and groovy, I’m already ahead of the holiday album curve, because your generation’s Elton John, Ben Folds, is releasing an album of Christmas songs, cleverly titled Sleigher, see what he did there! I am pleasantly amazed that the Christmas albums are already coming out, because it seemed like there weren’t any at all for me to write about here the last few years, let’s go see what this wacky piano person is doing to “Jingle Bells” or whatever. Yup, it’s good, this version of “The Christmas Song,” but let’s be real, even Gilbert Gottfried could have made that song appealing. He’ll be appearing at the Cabot Theatre in Beverly, Mass., on Nov. 10, but I’m sure the last 18 remaining tickets will have been sold by the time you read this, sorry for your loss.

• A lot of you old people remember the 1980s, when Tears for Fears was doing so many drugs that they were going around saying they were bigger than The Beatles, ha ha, remember those days? Well, they have a new live album coming out on Friday, titled Songs for a Nervous Planet! Now, don’t worry, fellow old people, Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal are still leading the band, and they still (mostly) sound like Tears For Fears as of their last album, The Tipping Point, so let’s cut to now, when they sound like a sleepy wedding band on the live version of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” that’s on board this one. But who cares, guys, it’s Tears For Fears, amirite? I miss big poofy hair, don’t you?

• Last but not least on our plate is the new album from 1980s Boston-indie-rock legends Pixies, The Night The Zombies Came! “Motoroller” is a decent mid-tempo goth-rocker, with Frank Black doing a passable Marilyn Manson impersonation, sort of, if that’s even what he was even intending to do, who knows.

Apple Bars with Brown Butter Shortbread

Shortbread

  • 12 Tablespoons (1½ stick) salted (normal) butter
  • ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
  • 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (66 g) white sugar
  • 1/3 cup (66 g) brown sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder

Filling

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup (66 g) white sugar
  • 1/3 cup (66 g) brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne or other dried chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1¼ lbs. (567 g) sliced apples – weigh them after peeling, coring and slicing them

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Keep cooking it, stirring it occasionally, until it stops spitting and turns a darker color. This is what bakers call “browning” the butter. Some of the butter is pure fat, but there are some milk solids in it as well. As those solids fry in the melted fat, they start to brown, giving the whole pan of butter a darker color. This is a baking trick that is very, very impressive but extremely straightforward. The only thing you have to be careful about is overcooking it. You want it to get to about the color of a graham cracker, but take it off the heat just before it gets to that point, because the milk solids will continue cooking in the hot fat for another 30 seconds or so.

Stir ¼ teaspoon of salt into the browned butter, and set it aside to cool.

Combine the ingredients for the shortbread, adding the butter/salt mixture last.

Set ¾ cup of the dough aside, and press the rest into an 8×8” baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until it just starts to turn golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and set it aside to cool. Turn the oven up to 375°F.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the rest of the filling ingredients together, one at a time.

Spread the apple filling over the baked shortbread, then scatter the reserved shortbread dough over the top.

Bake for 65 minutes, then remove it from the oven and let it cool for an hour or so, then turn out of the pan and cut into nine to 12 portions.

Eat one of these bars, feeling a growing sense of joy and wonder build inside of you.

You will taste the apple filling first, which will be familiar and comforting.

Then, as you chew, you will start to get a little kick from the cayenne pepper, and your eyes will go wide. But then, just before you can get all judgmental, the flavor of the brown butter shortbread will kick in, soothe your outraged taste buds, and leave you with a pervasive feeling of well-being.

“HONEY!” you’ll shout — which will be awkward if you live alone or with roommates — “Come here; you have to taste this!”

At this point your partner, if you have one, will tell you, no thank you, they’re fine.

“Seriously, come taste this!”

“Not right now; I’m busy!” they’ll reply.

The next 10 minutes, as you chase your partner around the house, trying to force an apple bar into their mouth, won’t be pretty, but will be a testament to how shockingly good these apple bars are.

Featured Photo: Photo by John Fladd.

In the kitchen with Caroline Arend

Caroline Arend is the Chef and owner of Caroline’s Fine Food (132 Bedford Center Road, Bedford, 637-1615, carolinesfood.com) and The Pot Pie Bar (132 Bedford Center Road, Bedford, 432-1927, thepotpiebar.com).

She is a graduate of Boston University and The Culinary Institute of America. She has worked as an executive chef and catering chef in high-end restaurants and catering companies throughout New England. After moving to New Hampshire, she took a break from cooking professionally, but found that she missed it. Her catering and prepared food business, Caroline’s Fine Foods, designs seasonally curated menus and prepared and bespoke dishes for customers. The Pot Pie Bar offers 14 different pies, from classic chicken or vegetable pot pies to more innovative choices such as a bratwurst, beer and cheddar pie, or a lobster pie made with whole lobster claws.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I love my mandoline! It is a surprisingly versatile tool which produces consistent product with great ease.

What would you have for your last meal?

Italian Wedding Soup. It was my grandmother’s family recipe that originated in Naples near Isernia, Italy. It brings back fond childhood memories of wonderful and soulful meals spent together.

What is your favorite local eatery?

Smokehaus Barbecue in Amherst, a great small business serving delicious barbecue staples. I’m a big fan of the Hog Wings!

Name a celebrity you would like to see eating in your restaurant.

Johnny Depp. My family and I have always loved his movies and unique sense of humor!

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

Seared sea scallops with lemon caper aioli and snipped chive. These are always a crowd-pleaser at any occasion.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Pickled and fermented foods. We’re seeing a big uptick and newfound appreciation for all things pickled and fermented.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Chinese takeout! Why take work home?

Just kidding. My family loves freshly steamed mussels in a white wine sauce with chorizo, tomatoes, topped with remoulade and fire roasted bread for dipping. We serve it in one giant mixing bowl and everyone dives in! It is a wonderful way to come together and connect over an interactive family dinner.

Coconut Curry Mussels with Crusty Bread

1 bag of mussels
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Spanish onion, small dice
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons red curry paste (you can find this at your local Asian market; my favorite brands are Maesri and Mae Ploy)
1 can of coconut milk, full fat
2 Tablespoons cilantro
1 Tablespoon scallions, thinly sliced
salt & pepper, to taste
1 baguette, thinly sliced

Clean and debeard mussels in cold water and set aside.
In a stock pot, over medium/low heat, add olive oil, onion and garlic and sauté lightly until aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes.
Once onions are translucent, add red curry paste and sauté for approximately 30 seconds.
Add coconut milk and season lightly with salt and pepper, and mix well. Bring mixture to a simmer.
Add cleaned mussels and cover over medium/low heat.
Cook until all mussels are fully opened, approximately 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While mussels are cooking, cut your baguette thinly on a bias. Each slice should be about 1/2” thick.
Toast your bread — I prefer to brush mine with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper and throw on the grill for some extra char!
Once all mussels are cooked and open, transfer to your serving bowl and garnish with cilantro and scallions.
Serve with toasted bread and enjoy!

Honey dinner

Celebrating bees with a sweet menu

According to Jeff Cole of Barr Hill Gin, Bee’s Knees Week — a national campaign, which includes Friday’s Bee’s Knees Dinner at the the Westbrook Inn (49 S. Main St, Derry., 965-6228, thewestbrookinn.com) on Friday, Oct. 25 — began as a small, almost grass-roots promotion.

“It started out as a restaurant-only program,” Cole said, “where the restaurant would make a ‘bee’s knees’ cocktail, which is a pre-Prohibition cocktail … and they’d donate a portion of every cocktail to the Bee Cause Project, which helped raise awareness for people about pollination and the importance of it. And one of the things they did was put bee observation hives into elementary schools and children’s museums.” This is a cause that was and is important to Barr Hill, because unlike most other spirits, which are distilled from grain, Barr Hill’s gins and vodka are distilled from honey.

The Bee’s Knees event grew, and today it is one of the biggest charitable promotions in the liquor world.

“Something like 3,000 to 3,500 restaurants and retailers participate,” Cole said. “It is a big deal. It’s the largest activation, I guess you’d call it, in the spirits industry.”

How to make a bee’s knees cocktail
Combine 2 ounces very cold gin (Barr Hill would work well for this), ¾ ounce honey syrup, and ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake enthusiastically for 30 seconds or so, until you hear the ice start to break up inside the shaker. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Sip with raised eyebrows and a contented smile.

Mark Saragusa, Manager of the Westbrook Inn, said the Bee’s Knees Dinner marks a turning point in the Inn’s year. “We regularly host weddings and events May through October,” he said, “and then during the fall and winter season, outside of our peak wedding season, we were introduced to [Barr Hill]. So this dinner will be unique in that we’ll bring honey tasters for each guest, but also we ask Chef Chris [Chris Viaud of Greenleaf Restaurant in Milford] to feature honey from Bar Hill in all of his courses. He will use local ingredients and set a menu that’s specific to what’s available that week. There will be an instrumental musician playing during the night. There will be a cocktail hour, then the doors open followed by a four-course menu.”

Saragusa said that one of the special aspects of this dinner is the interaction guests have with the chef. “Typically when you go to a restaurant,” he said “you’re not really seeing the chef at all. Between each course, we ask the chef to come out and explain what they did, where they sourced the ingredients, but then also the thought behind that individual plate. And so having Chris and then even Emilee [Pastry Chef Emilee Viaud] with the dessert just gives a different interaction with the guests and the chefs.”

Chef Viaud is looking forward to the Dinner. “This dinner is going to be a fun one,” he said, “where we’re incorporating honey in each course. We are making sure that we’re kind of finding creative ways to highlight the honey so that way you can taste it throughout each course.” He used the main course as an example: “We do a take on a honey-glazed ham. So we’re going to do a coriander and a pink peppercorn honey glaze mix. [We take] a pork loin from one of the local farms and roast that just gently and then brush it with the honey glaze, then reduce that down with a little bit of butter to create a pan sauce. My wife is the pastry chef at my restaurants as well, so she’ll be making a honey panna cotta.”

“I think it’s going to be a fun-filled dinner,” Chef Viaud said.

2nd Annual Bee’s Knees Dinner
When: Friday, Oct. 25, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: Westbrook Inn (49 S. Main St., Derry, 965-6228, thewestbrookinn.com
Tickets: $95 at Eventbrite.com.
The four-course dinner will be cooked by two-time James Beard Award-nominated Chef Chris Viauld of Greenleaf Restaurant and Pastry Chef Emilee Viaud.

Featured Photo: Chris Viaud. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 24/10/24

News from the local food scene

• New wraps: Wrap City Sandwich Co. (1525 S. Willow St, Manchester, 782-5838, wrapcitysandwiches.com/location/willow-street) has opened in a new location in Manchester, across from the Mall of New Hampshire. Its website describes its offerings as “regional and international.”

• CodeX closed: CodeX B.A.R.on Elm Street in Nashua has closed. It was a speakeasy-style cocktail bar.

• Ansanm closed: Ansamnin Milford closed at the end of September. Owned by James Beard Award-nominated Chef Chris Viaud, it was known for its Haitian-influenced fusion cuisine. In a telephone interview Chef Viaud said, “For us, Ansanm has always been a passion project. It came time at the end of our lease where we just had to make a decision if we wanted to continue on with this passion or dedicate our time to other projects. So we’ll continue to live on through pop-up events throughout the community as well as catering opportunities.”

• BrucePac meat recalled: According to an Oct. 14 press release, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has issued a warning against consuming recalled BrucePac products. “The products have been recalled by the company because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes,” the press release read. Find a list of the specific items in the recall at fsis.usda.gov.

‘Fries are just kind of the perfect food’

Street serves them up with kimchi ketchup

According to Lynn Theth, the Chef at Street in Concord, the secret to a really good french fry is cooking it twice, then watching it like a hawk.

“We parcook [fries] just enough so they’re lightly golden,” she said. “We blanch them in canola oil just until they’re lightly crispy, just enough to hold their integrity. And then we fry them again to order, just so they get nice and crispy and nice and hot. Once they are where we like them to be, nice and golden brown on the outside, we take them and we toss them in a subarashii spice that we make in-house. [Subarashii is a Japanese term that means “splendid or glorious.”] It’s our own blend that we make just for the fries. And then those come with kimchi ketchup that we make as well and the scallion mayo to top it all off.”

The idea behind the double frying, Theth said, is to make sure the inside of a french fry is cooked enough to be fluffy and tender. That’s why she blanches the potatoes in cooler oil. She gives the fries enough time to cool down before cooking them to order. The second frying at a higher temperature brings the surface of the fries to the point where they are crispy without overcooking the interior.

That’s fine in theory, but Theth said that working the fry station in Street’s kitchen on a busy night can get complicated. The fry oil cools down a little with every batch of food that is dropped into it, then heats back up, so it’s never the same temperature for long.

“You kind of have to judge it just by the looks of it,” she said. “We have a very high volume for what we do and when we’re cooking at the volume that we are cooking at, the temperature of the fry oil fluctuates. When you’re cooking them — personally for me, I like to judge by the color depending on when you drop it. Usually, when I’m training people, I’ll talk to them about the integrity of the french fry, because if you don’t blanch them far enough they’ll get soggy and they’ll get all mushed up when you’re trying to double-cook them.”

Then there’s the sound. “When I’m cooking the fries myself,” Chef Theth said, “I usually kind of shake the basket a little bit. And then you can hear those fries like hitting the sides of the basket. And if they’re crisp enough, you can kind of hear them.”

Frying potatoes perfectly is just the first step, though, Theth said. Street is known for its condiments.

“All of the recipes have been the same since we opened,” she said. “For our kimchi ketchup, we use just regular ketchup, but we add probably about a gallon of kimchi to each batch. It’s a cabbage kimchi, just your standard cabbage kimchi. There is fish sauce and things like that in the mix, so it is not vegan, but it’s still delicious. We blend it all and puree it all down, and add a couple other things — rice wine vinegar, some shallots, and other things — then just mix that all together.”

Although Theth and her team develop recipes with elements from all over the world, she said french fries hold a special place in her heart. “You can kind of do whatever you want with them. You can put whatever you want on them. I’m a sauce girl; I love just condiments and things like that. You can use them [fries] as a vessel for whatever you want. If you get a really nice starchy potato, it can uphold whatever you’re going to use it for.”

“Fries are just kind of the perfect food, in my opinion.”

Street
76 N. Main St., Concord
333-2125, streetfood360.com

Featured Photo: Curry fries and Subarashii fries. Courtesy photo.

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