Author: John Fladd

From the 1933 recipe booklet Cooking with Cold by the Kelvinator Refrigerator Co.:

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• 1/3 cup (90 g) peanut butter — I’m not sure what the peanut butter was like in the 1930s, but I used a mainstream, brand-name, lots-of-sugar-salt-and-stabilizers peanut butter. The kind your kids like.
• 2 medium-sized jalapeño peppers — the original recipe calls for half a cup of diced green pepper, but this gives it a bit of flavor. Check out the heat level before you use them, but given how mild the jalapeños in New Hampshire supermarkets are you are unlikely to do yourself an injury.
• ½ cup chopped pimento — this isn’t something you run across every day. I roasted and chopped a red bell pepper instead (see below).
• ½ cup (about 40 g) chopped celery
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup whipping cream

Roast a red bell pepper.

Place a bell pepper — it can be any color, but red is the most dramatic — on a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper or a silicone mat. (The pepper will release some liquid as it roasts, and this will help prevent a mess in the stove.)

Move one of the racks in your oven to its highest position and set the oven to a low broil. Leave the pepper to completely char, then turn it with a pair of tongs to char the other side. When the entire surface of the pepper has burned to a papery consistency, take it out of the oven and place it in a sealed container — a bowl with a fitted lid will work well for this, or even a regular bowl, with a plate on top.

Now walk away. Leave the pepper to steam for 20 minutes or so. The hot pepper juices — some of which have leaked out onto the baking sheet you were prepared enough to lay down — will loosen up that papery, charred skin. Now you can wipe it away from the body of the pepper with your fingers — which will get sticky and gross. And the actual pepper will fall apart in your hand. You will have to wipe the seeds away, and flick them into the sink — also a little gross. (This is why TV chefs don’t do this on camera.) But you will be left with a beautiful, perfectly roasted pepper that you can chop up for this recipe.

Putting together the rest of this “salad”:

Cream the cream cheese and peanut butter together until they are light and fluffy, then mix in the peppers, celery, seasonings, and lemon juice. Set aside briefly.

Whip the heavy cream and mayo together until fluffy, then fold it into the rest of the mixture. Spoon it into a lidded container, and freeze for several hours, then cut it into cubes and serve it to a confused but impressed dinner date.

Looking at the list of ingredients, at this point, you are probably saying to yourself, “There’s no way.” This seems like a very odd dish. And I have to confess that I have no idea how or why anyone came up with it, but it is — hold on to your hat — very tasty. It’s just very unexpected. If you find that you’ve become jaded and your palate has become numb to caviar, truffles and wagyu beef tartare, this might be a dish that jolts you back to your senses and braces you to soldier on for another day.

Which is not to say that this wouldn’t go super-well with a glass of Champagne.

Featured photo: Frozen Peanut Butter Salad. Photo by John Fladd.

Daiquiri contest continues for a third year

One of Manchester’s most recent traditions is built on a foundation of rum and lime juice. The Third Annual Manchester Daiq-Off, a daiquiri-making competition hosted by 815 Cocktails & Provisions, will pit some of Manchester’s best bartenders against each other to make the best, fastest and most original daiquiris this Sunday, April 12.

“This is a competition to make one of the most simple classic cocktails,” said Sarah Maillet, co-owner of 815, “which is the daiquiri. So you’ve got lime, simple syrup and rum.” Because it is such a simple cocktail, it is a good indicator of a bartender’s skill, she said. There’s nowhere to hide.

“This competition is [between] local bartenders who come together and it’s based on speed, accuracy and taste,” Maillet said. “The first round is about making the fastest, cleanest daiquiri possible. And then from there the competition narrows until the finalists, the last two, face off head to head. But as much as this is about our industry, the public is obviously welcome. It encourages the public to participate because It’s really cool to see a showcase of talent like this. It reminds people that the bar and restaurant industry is at its best when it’s a little bit competitive, maybe chaotic at times, but a whole lot of fun.”

The Daiq-Off is a bit of a metaphor for that industry, Maillet said, observing that there has been a change in attitude among the area’s bars and restaurants over the past few years.

“When my business partner Ryan and I opened 815 11 years ago, we didn’t get much of a welcome,” she said. The things that we heard were like, ‘I’ll give them a year.’ Over the past few years though, you’ve seen more of a banded community coming together.” An increasing number of bars have embraced craft cocktails, she said, and the owners and bartenders of most of them have known each other for years. “So it’s just like the camaraderie was instilled in friends already before it was implemented into the [bar] community, and I feel like it’s just had a ripple effect through the greater Manchester community over the years.” Perhaps symbolic of that spirit, restaurateur Nick Carnes from Shopper’s Pub and Eatery will be the announcer and emcee of this year’s Daiq-Off.

The competition will consist of three rounds, Maillet said.

“The first two rounds are all about speed, accuracy and taste. And then the wild card at the end, where [the competitors] have the ability to bring an ingredient, like a simple syrup or some sort of thing, to add in to the wild cards at the last round. They have a little bit more time, but the judging is based more on the creativity side of daiquiris.” Last year’s overall winner was Marissa Chick, at the time the bar manager of the Birch on Elm, with a bubble-gum daiquiri that included a handcrafted tincture that took more than a week to prepare.

Maillet said there will be 15 competitors this year, all but one of whom are Manchester bartenders.

“We will have one home bartender who came the first year,” she said. “So in my opinion, he’s grandfathered in. So he’s coming back this year. He wasn’t here last year. I’m pretty excited about that. Then as far as the breakdown goes, we didn’t limit the number of bartenders per establishment this year. We want this to be a snapshot of the industry itself. So for the places with several entrants, they’re going to go head against each other. For example, there will be four bartenders from the [Wild] Rover. They’ll all go head-to-head with each other, and then one Rover bartender will move on into the rest of the competition.”

The Third Annual Daiq-Off
When: Sunday, April 12, from 3 to 7 p.m.
Where: 815 Cocktails & Provisions, 815 Elm St., Manchester, 782-8086, 815nh.com
Spectators and competitors are encouraged to dress in festive tropical attire. Tickets are $28.52 through eventbrite.com.

Featured photo: A classic daiquiri by Joshua Silva, a bartender from 815 Cocktails and Provisions, who will compete in Saturday’s Daiq-Off.

• Diner social: The Rose and Rye Diner at Arts Alley (20 S. Main St., Concord, 406-5666, artsalleyconcordnh.com) will host a Diner Social on Friday, April 10, beginning at 5 p.m., featuring selections from Concord Craft Brewing (117 Storrs St., Concord, 856-7625, concordcraftbrewing.com). Expect a relaxed, social atmosphere with cocktails, beer and wine in a classic diner setting. This event is free to attend. No tickets are required.

• Pasta bar dinner: The Tuscan Market (Tuscan Village, 9 Via Toscana, Salem, 912-5467, tuscanbrands.com) will host an Italian Pasta Dinner, Friday, April 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. Dishes will include spaghetti alla Bottarga, lorighittas with frutti di mare, and wild boar with truffle and ricotta gnudi, all of which will be paired with a matching wine.Tickets are $126.48 through the Tuscan Market website.

• A barrel event at Averill House Vineyard: The New Hampshire Artisan Winery Collective will present a barrel tasting on Saturday, April 11, at Averill House Vineyard (21 Averill Road, Brookline, 244-3165, averillhousevineyard.com) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Three New Hampshire wineries will each present four very special still-in-the-barrel wines. Ticket holders will be able to sample all 12 wines. Taste wines from Appolo Vineyards, NOK Vino, and AverillHouse Vineyard. This will be a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere perfect for wine lovers and the wine curious alike. Tickets are $30 each, through the NH Artisan Winery Collective website at nhwinerycollective.com.

• Beginning Butchery: There will be a cooking workshop at the Cooking School at Hedera Farm (200 Mountain Road, Francistown, 487-7898, hederafarm.com) Saturday, April 11, at noon. The lesson will be Beginning Butchery. Learn what to look for on poultry labeling (additives, processing methods, size-grading, etc.), which is best for different cooking methods, proper sanitation, and cooking temperatures. Then practice the basics of breaking down poultry. In addition to cooking poultry, each participant will break down (and take home) their own chicken. This three-hour workshop costs $80. Register through the Farm’s webpage.

• Bites and Barks: There will be lunch and brunch bites, wine and mimosas at an inaugural silent/live auction at LaBelle Winery Amherst (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898, labellewinery.com) Sunday, April 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. to benefit Second Chance Ranch Rescue (135 McCollum Road, New Boston, 854-1690, secondchanceranchrescue.com). Ambassador dogs will be on hand. Tickets are $40 through zeffy.com.

• Corks and Queens: Big Gay Events (facebook.com/biggayevents) and Unwined Wine Bar (1 Nashua St., Milford, 213-6703, unwinednh.com) will host a Corks and Queens Drag Brunch, Sunday, April 12, beginning at 11 a.m. at Unwined. Tickets are $28.52 through eventbrite.com.

• Food pop-ups have moved outside: In an April 1 press release the United Way of Greater Nashua (20 Broad St., Nashua, 882-4011, unitedwaynashua.org) announced, “beginning the week of April 13, the Pop-Up Pantries organized by the United Way of Greater Nashua will transition back to outdoor locations for the warm months. This move allows the vital food distribution program to continue serving local residents in accessible neighborhood locations as warmer weather returns.” Pop-Up Pantries run from 11 a.m. to noon — Mondays at Harbor Care, 45 High St.; Tuesdays at River Pines Mobile Home Park, 34 Birch Ridge Trail; Wednesdays at Lamprey Health Care, 22 Prospect St.; Thursdays at Nashua Community Music School, 2 Lock St.; Fridays at Crossway Christian Church, 33 Pine St.

This is a drink inspired by a short story I am writing. All the characters are unnamed characters that you see at the very end of the cast credits of a television show or a movie — Bartender, or Jukebox Girl, or Nosy Neighbor. (In case you ever wondered, they have pretty fascinating backstories.)

The hero — actually the heroine — of the piece is a woman with the not very promising name of Hot Girl #2. There is no Hot Girl #1. She turns out to be much more complex and formidable than whoever named her would have ever guessed.

Her cocktail should reflect some of that complexity.

There is sweetness from an Italian liqueur. There is a not-really-in-the-mood-for-your-nonsense kick from brandy. There is lemon juice because — well, reasons. And, much like Hot Girl #2 herself, a couple of surprises.

Hot Girl #2

• 2 ounces Pommeau – an apple brandy
• 1 ounce Galliano – an Italian vanilla-scented liqueur in a seriously tall, skinny bottle
• 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ½ ounce grenadine
• 3 drops rose water

Have your digital assistant play “That Girl” by Maxi Priest and Shaggy. This is a very quick cocktail to make, and this song will set a proper mood for this particular drink.

Wiggle your fingers and get to business.

Add the apple brandy, Galliano and lemon juice to several cubes of ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake thoroughly.

Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

Carefully pour the grenadine over one of the ice cubes. Because it is denser than the rest of the drink, it will sink to the bottom and create a layer of red, which will fade into orange, then to the yellow color of the base cocktail.

Using a medicine dropper, add three drops of rose water to the surface of the cocktail, where it will dissipate into the air as you drink, giving the impression that you just missed a beautiful woman disappearing into a crowd.

At its heart, this is a basic utility cocktail — a base spirit, something sweet, and some sort of citrus juice. It is not unlike a brandy sour. The lemon is the dominant flavor at first taste, but the others sneak into your awareness as you sip over the course of 20 minutes or so.

Like our protagonist, the cocktail has hidden depths.

Featured photo: Hot Girl #2. Photo by John Fladd.

A look at Hickory Nut Farm and their goats

“When I see goats out in the field,” said Donna-Lee Woods, “I just cry for those goats inside barns because they don’t have Christmas trees. Right over there,” she said, pointing to a pile of pine and fir trees that had clearly seen better days, “there’s over 300 Christmas trees. They get dropped off from Newmarket and some of the other towns around here. People keep dropping them off all winter.”

“But the point is,” Woods continued, “the goats love them; it’s their forage. That’s what makes that healthy, alkaline [goat] milk. Every day, we give them three, four, five trees and they will eat everything right down to the white core of the trees. They use [the cores] as scratching posts all summer, and then in the fall time, we have a big bonfire.”

And in the meantime, there is cheese.

Wood and her husband, both former architects, manage a small herd of dairy goats at Hickory Nut Farm in Lee and use raw goat’s milk to make cheese, yogurt and soap, which they sell at area farmers markets.

“We also make a fudge,” Wood said, “which is a 1910 recipe. There’s no high-fructose corn syrup, so it’s not as smooth as most people expect. It’s crystal-y. The raw milk yogurt is very good, and the raw milk itself. Our soap is made with edible oils, not industrialized oils, so there are no chemicals. And you can use it as shampoo, and then you can lather it up and use it as a moisturizer. They use this sort of soap on babies with eczema because it’s so pure.”

But for the Woodses, it’s mostly about the cheese.

“Our cheeses are raw,” she said, explaining that heating goat milk during the pasteurization process breaks down some important nutrients and flavor compounds. “We don’t pasteurize. But our cheeses age for a minimum of two months at a certain temperature and a certain humidity, 54 degrees temperature and 84 percent humidity.” Maintaining those conditions can be particularly tricky in the winter, she said.

Hickory Nut Farm produces three main varieties of goat cheese: Lacey White, a firm, cheddar-like cheese with a distinct nutty flavor; Terrene, a blue-veined, “goaty” cheese that is aged longer than other varieties, and Chebar, a hard, Parmesan-like salty cheese with a buttery flavor. Woods said the only goat cheese she refuses to make is a traditional soft chevre. “Everybody makes that,” she said. “You can find it anywhere, so what is the point in making more of it?”

Woods said one of the things she likes most about selling cheese at markets is being able to talk one on one to customers, who often think they don’t like the flavor of goat cheese. They don’t understand the role pH plays in flavor, she said.

“I tell people, ‘You take a cube of the cheese, just a little cube, and eat half of it. You may not like the flavor, but swallow it, wait a few seconds, then eat the next half. You’re probably going to like it.’ Because what’s happened is the cheese has changed the pH of their palate. Our palates tend to be very acidic because of the types of food we eat.” The high pH of goat cheese neutralizes some of that acidity, Wood said. “That’s the true flavor of the cheese the second time around.”

“When people tell me they don’t like goat cheese,” Wood said, “I say, ‘Do you drink red wine?’ A lot of times they don’t because it tastes bitter to them. I tell them, ‘You probably have a tannin sensitivity because there’s a lot of tannin in red wine, just as there is in goat milk, because of what the goats eat.”

Like Christmas trees.

Cheese!
Hickory Nut Farm products are available at the farm (22 York Lane, Lee) and at the Saturday Concord Winter Farmers Market (7 Eagle Square, Concord,downtownconcordwinterfarmersmarket.com). During farmers market season, Hickory Nut Farm products will be available at several area and Boston markets.