Author: Matt Ingersoll

Matt Ingersoll writes about all things food and drink, covering new restaurants and following the most delicious foodie trends in the state. Reach him at mingersoll@hippopress.com.

May the best chilis win

Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off returns

If you think you make the best bowl of chili around, here’s your chance to show it off — the Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off, returning to Goffstown Ace Hardware on Saturday, Oct. 22, is a friendly competition and fundraiser that will feature a variety of homemade chilis available to taste from local community members and restaurateurs.
Chili entrants are welcome to bring a slow cooker of their best batches by 10:30 a.m., with sampling beginning at 11 a.m. No pre-registration is required for entrants, nor for tasters who just want to come and vote. Prizes in the form of Goffstown Ace Hardware gift cards — $100 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place — will be awarded to the winners.
“We started doing it … just sort of casually, and now people are really excited about it, and so we keep doing it in October,” said event coordinator Pat Barss of Goffstown Ace Hardware, who herself took home second place in last year’s cook-off, her first year participating as an entrant.
The cook-off was introduced in 2018 as one of several fundraising events sponsoring Goffstown Ace Hardware owner Karen Henderson’s annual running of the Boston Marathon. While they did have to skip a year in 2020 due to the pandemic, Barss said they experienced a great turnout at last year’s cook-off, with around 15 chilis for attendees to sample.
“There are chili competitions all over … and I guess the word gets out,” she said.
But part of the draw of this cook-off is that you’ll never know what’s in store to taste until the day of. In the past, Barss said the event has been known to feature all varieties of chili, from traditional beef chili to some white chilis, vegan or vegetarian chilis and even a venison chili. While any individual can enter, the cook-off in the past has garnered participation from local agencies like the Goffstown Fire Department, as well as The Village Trestle and some other restaurants in the area. All of the slow cookers are placed under tented tables out in front of the store. Each entrant is assigned a number that’s displayed in front of the chilis, enabling attendees to blind taste each one and vote for their favorite. Some people, Barss said, have even turned the cook-off into their own lunch outing.
“We have little sampling cups … and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said. “If most people are there to sample early, then … some of the [slow cookers] are cleaned right out.”
Vote counting will take place at the conclusion of the cook-off around 1 p.m. Donations will also be accepted during the event, with proceeds benefiting Boston Children’s Hospital.

Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off
When: Saturday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Goffstown Ace Hardware, 5 Depot St., Goffstown
Cost: Free to enter in your chili or attend as a taster; no pre-registration required
Visit: goffstownhardware.com
Entrants are asked to bring their chilis to Goffstown Ace Hardware by 10:30 a.m. First, second and third place prizes — Goffstown Ace Hardware gift cards of $100, $75 and $50 — will be awarded. Proceeds from gathered donations will benefit Boston Children’s Hospital.

Featured photo: Scene from the Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off.

The Weekly Dish 22/10/20

News from the local food scene

• Come, we fly! Have you seen Disney’s Hocus Pocus 2 yet? Decorated candy apples featured on screen in the film were made right here in New Hampshire, at Nelson’s Candy & Music in Wilton — that’s according to owner Nancy Feraco, who told the Hippo she received a special phone order nearly a year ago for a large quantity of them. “We didn’t know it at the time, but they were for the filming of Hocus Pocus 2 in Rhode Island,” Feraco said in an email, adding that the apples were prepared for use in the film by Nelson’s confectioner Maria Marini. Feraco even recently brought her whole Nelson’s candymaking crew together at the nearby Copper Kettle eatery on Main Street for dinner and a special screening of the film. Leading up to its release, Feraco said she had been “dying to tell people” of Hocus Pocus 2’s connection to the Granite State. “We have been keeping quiet about it as we didn’t know if those shots were edited out or not … [but] we never guessed it was part of the plot,” she said. The film was released Sept. 30 and is available to stream now on Disney+. Visit nelsonscandymusic.com.
• Brews and tunes: Join Twin Barns Brewing Co. (194 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith) for a harvest festival on Saturday, Oct. 22, kicking off at 10 a.m. with a full schedule of live local music acts all day. Also included will be several local food trucks, a cornhole tournament with prizes, and specialty brews — Twin Barns even just held a release party last week for a seasonal Pumpkin Fest ale, declared the official beer of the upcoming New Hampshire Pumpkin Fest in Laconia on Oct. 29, according to the brewery’s Facebook page. Tickets to the harvest festival are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Funds are being raised for student music education, with event proceeds benefiting the New Hampshire Department of Education’s Modern Band Initiative. Visit givebutter.com/harvest-fest-22.
• OakCraft Pizza coming to Salem: Nashua’s OakCraft Pizza will soon open a second location inside the Tuscan Village development in Salem, according to recent announcements made on the company’s website and social media pages. Construction on the new space is underway and regular updates will be made on its progress, the posts read. OakCraft Pizza owner and Hollis native Rick Carvalho opened the fast-casual eatery in Nashua’s Amherst Street Village Center in September 2021, specializing in made-to-order wood-fired pizzas cooked in an imported Italian oven. The restaurant offers completely customizable options on an assembly line before your pie reaches the end, along with additional items like cheesy garlic bread, salads, meatballs with red sauce, and hand-filled whoopie pies. Visit oakcraftpizza.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram @oakcraftpizza for updates.

In the kitchen with Krystal Hudon

Krystal Hudon and her husband, Chris, of Nashua are the co-owners of Comfort Spice Co. (comfortspiceco.com, and on Facebook), now offering nearly two dozen homemade premium spice blends and several fruit jams since their launch two years ago. The couple started their company with an authentic Mexican spice blend that Krystal Hudon, who grew up in southern California, learned how to make from her neighbors at the time. Since then, their product lineup has grown to include everything from a roasted chicken rub, a steak and beef rub, a lamb seasoning and a pork seasoning to a house curry blend, a pumpkin pie spice and an apple pie spice. Comfort Spice Co.’s blends can be found at Trombly Gardens (150 N. River Road, Milford) and at Gigi’s Country Store (10 Main St., Wilton), as well as at Creative Vibes, inside the Pheasant Lane Mall (310 Daniel Webster Hwy., Nashua) — four-ounce bottles are available inside each of the stores, or you can contact them directly via email or Facebook Messenger to inquire about eight- or 12-ounce bottles. As for the jams, those come in eight-ounce jars and are available at Creative Vibes only.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Normally, I would say a sturdy stirring spoon or a type of wooden paddle. … But no matter what you use in the kitchen tool-wise, nothing is going to come out well unless you have good, quality ingredients.

What would you have for your last meal?

For me, it’s cheesecake. I don’t even care what kind. … For [my husband] Chris, he said tacos and tequila.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

We love the Copper Door. It’s a scratch kitchen. They source most of their ingredients locally … and the food is always excellent.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your spice blends?

We picked Jason Mraz, for an interesting reason. … He has a farm in California where he grows all of his own vegetables, and his wife is also a chef. … I would have to talk to him and find out what he likes, because our spice blends are all very, very different.

What is your favorite spice blend that you make?

Chris says his favorite is the Cajun blackening mix, and he likes to put it on everything. … Mine is the roasted chicken rub. I think my favorite thing to use that on is pan-seared chicken legs and thighs with roasted vegetables and a nice pan gravy.

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

A lot of people seem to be into … locally sourced [foods], but it definitely should not be a trend.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Any comfort food or anything that feels cozy. Things like beef stew and chicken soup. … I love making a Lancashire hotpot, which is so good. … It has fall-apart beef on the bottom, [with] carrots, peas and onions, all roasted, and then you layer potatoes on top that are sliced in discs and you bake it.

Homemade Lancashire hotpot
From the kitchen of Krystal Hudon of Comfort Spice Co. in Nashua

2 pounds shoulder roast, diced, or stewed beef, cut into slightly smaller chunks
1 ½ large onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 carrots, chopped into ¾-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup Marsala
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
4 cups beef stock
4 to 5 potatoes, sliced into ¼-inch thick slices
2½ Tablespoons Comfort Spice Co. steak and beef rub
¼ cup melted butter
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 to 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Massage the steak and beef rub into your beef. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven, then add onions and garlic and saute on medium heat until soft. Turn the heat up and add the beef. Brown the beef, stirring often so that the onions and garlic don’t burn. Cook until most of the liquid is gone, then add the Marsala and the Worcestershire sauce — this will loosen any bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for about three minutes. Add the beef stock. Simmer, covered on low, for about an hour and stir occasionally. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix your cornstarch with equal parts cold water and pour into your beef, stirring until thickened. Turn off the heat. Add the frozen peas and the chopped carrots and mix well. Layer your potatoes on top and brush them evenly with the melted butter. Sprinkle a little more of the steak and beef rub evenly on top. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, turn up the heat to 400 degrees and continue to cook for 30 more minutes to brown the potatoes. Remove from the oven, let it cool for five minutes and enjoy.

Featured photo: Krystal Hudon. Courtesy photo.

Brews for vets

New brewfest coming to Goffstown

A new event coming to Goffstown this weekend will feature more than a dozen beer options from area breweries — along with local food vendors and live music — all to raise money for local disabled veterans in need. The inaugural Mount Uncanoonuc Brewfest is happening on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 1 to 5 p.m. in the parking lot of the town’s former Shaw’s supermarket.

The event is being presented by the Worker Bee Fund, its beneficiary nonprofit organization, in conjunction with Mountain Base Brewery. Plans to hold a brewfest were conceived shortly after the brewery’s opening late last year, according to Worker Bee Fund founder Brian Hansen, following some conversations he had with co-owner Carrie Currier and her daughter, event coordinator Candice Pendagast.

To date, the Worker Bee Fund has completed around 30 home projects to date benefiting disabled veterans within an hour’s drive of Manchester.

“In a nutshell, what we do is fix up houses for people in really low income brackets,” Hansen said. “The idea is to help them age in place, and what that basically means is that when folks get older, it’s really nice that they can stay in their homes as long as possible. … As a result, we may go in and fix up their kitchen so that it’s wheelchair-accessible, or we’ll do like a full kitchen model or bathroom model or something like that. And we raise all of the funds ourselves.”

Set to take place rain or shine, the brewfest will take place in a cordoned off area in the south end of the parking lot, Hansen said, with plenty of tents and bar-height cafe tables for attendees. He expects around 14 breweries — nearly all from southern New Hampshire — to be represented, either via their beers being donated for the festival or the brewers pouring the beer themselves. Four-ounce samples of each featured beer will be available to ticket holders, encompassing several styles.

In addition to the beers, the brewfest will feature food options from a few local purveyors, including those that have hosted pop-ups at Mountain Base Brewery in the past. Squaloo’s BBQ of Manchester, for instance, which held its first pop-up at the brewery back in late July, will be there — chef Ira Street is known for traditional Midwestern barbecue staples and smoked meats. Other vendors at the brewfest will include Granite State Whoopie Pies, which will have fresh baked cookies, and The Bakeshop on Kelley Street, with its soft baked pretzels. Live music will be featured by the Robyn V Group, a young rock cover band based in Nashua.

At the conclusion of the brewfest, attendees can cross the parking lot and visit Mountain Base Brewery, which will be open that day and evening. The brewery recently debuted the release of its Grand Pumpkin, a vanilla pumpkin porter.

A three-barrel commercial nanobrewery, Mountain Base originally began as a homebrewing passion project for the Curriers — longtime residents of Goffstown — in their basement more than a decade ago. The brewery opened in the site of a former RadioShack inside the Shaw’s Plaza in mid-December 2021, across the parking lot from where the brewfest will take place. Currier said Mountain Base features anywhere from six to 12 rotating brews on a regular basis.

“[We keep] four or five [beers] on pretty consistently, just because we’ve … established some regulars at this point who drink specific ones,” she said.

Mount Uncanoonuc Brewfest
When: Saturday, Oct. 15, 1 to 5 p.m.
Where: 553 Mast Road, Goffstown (at the southern end of the parking lot)
Cost: $25 in advance or $30 at the door; admission is free for designated drivers
Visit: workerbeefund.org/events/brewfest
Event is rain or shine and 21+ only. All proceeds benefit the Worker Bee Fund.

Featured photo: courtesy photo.

Granite grazing

Taste of New Hampshire returns (in person!)

Experience the best of what several local eateries have to offer during the 17th annual Taste of New Hampshire — for the first time post-pandemic, the event is due to return in person to the Grappone Conference Center in Concord on Tuesday, Oct. 18, featuring opportunities to meet with chefs, discover new restaurants and breweries and bid on all kinds of silent auction items.

Formerly known as the Taste of Concord, the event — a chief fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire — began welcoming restaurants in other neighboring cities and towns in 2017. The last two years, Covid regulations caused it to go virtual in the form of discounted restaurant gift card promotions. Although the Boys & Girls Club was able to raise more than $160,000 for local restaurants over those two years, development manager and event coordinator Tanya Frost said she’s “thrilled” to be able to have it back in person once again.

“The gift card portion was such a huge hit that we’ve had people reach out about it, and we’re actually working with the restaurants now to see who would like to participate in that,” Frost said of this year’s event. “So we will also be selling gift cards to some of those restaurants in attendance as well, and that will be at a discounted rate, so the consumer is still getting that deal. … For $20 you get a $25 card and then for $40 you get a $50 card. We will be reaching out to those who purchase them after the fact, just like we’ve done in past years.”

Frost added that the event, normally held on a Thursday, has been moved up to a Tuesday to accommodate the participating restaurants, many of which continue to experience staff shortages.

“We’re just trying to be respectful of the restaurants as well [with] every step that we’re taking,” she said. “Even before we started planning, we surveyed the restaurants and ended up moving the event to Tuesday to try and help them and so that we could also get more people.”

hand passing plate with small burger in bun to another person
Courtesy photo.

Attendees will have free rein to graze their way through the venue, sampling sweet and savory options from more than two dozen vendors this year. The Red Arrow Diner, for instance, will serve American chop suey with garlic toast, onions and peppers, while O Steaks & Seafood will offer its homemade macaroni and cheese. Some vendors, like the Banquet Center at Pats Peak Ski Area in Henniker, are bringing a whole smorgasbord of items for you to try — they’ll have bacon-wrapped shrimp drizzled in a honey garlic sauce, along with fried chicken and mini waffles served with maple syrup, and teriyaki beef kabobs with onions and peppers.

New Taste of New Hampshire participants include the 110 Grill, which is due to open a location in Concord next year. Reed’s North of Warner and the Flannel Tavern of Chichester — both owned and operated by local chef Carrie Williams, a friend of Frost’s — are also newcomers.

For dessert, there will be items like a flourless chocolate torte from The Crust & Crumb Baking Co.; pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate cake shots from The Red Blazer Restaurant & Pub; and chocolate-covered cream candies from Granite State Candy Shoppe. The Boys & Girls Club will even be serving its own pumpkin whoopie pies throughout the evening. As for drinks, New Hampshire Distributors and Horizon Beverage Group will be providing some wines and a wide variety of craft beers to sample, including several Oktoberfests, pumpkin brews, IPAs and more.

Silent auction items are available for all event attendees to bid on — in the past, items have included everything from restaurant gift certificates and assorted gift baskets to VIP brewery tours and some other special experience gifts. All proceeds from the Taste of New Hampshire benefit various programs of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire, which has expanded to more than 20 service sites across the state.

17th annual Taste of New Hampshire
When: Tuesday, Oct. 18, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Grappone Conference Center, 70 Constitution Ave., Concord
Cost: $40 per person, or $350 per 10 people; tickets are available in advance or at the door, with all proceeds benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire
Visit: tasteofnh.com

Participating local businesses
• 110 Grill (110grill.com)
• Alan’s of Boscawen (alansofboscawen.com)
• The Barley House Restaurant & Tavern (Concord, thebarleyhouse.com)
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Central New Hampshire (Concord, nhyouth.org)
• C.C. Tomatoes Restaurant (Concord, cctomatoes.com)
• Chuck’s BARbershop (Concord, find them on Facebook @chucksbarbershopnh)
• The Common Man (Concord, thecman.com)
• Constantly Pizza (Concord, constantlypizza.net)
• The Crust & Crumb Baking Co. (Concord, thecrustandcrumb.com)
• Downtown Cheers Grille & Bar (Concord, cheersnh.com)
• El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant (Concord, el-rodeo-nh.com)
• Flannel Tavern (Chichester, flanneltavern.com)
• Granite State Candy Shoppe (Concord, granitestatecandyshoppe.com)
• Grappone Conference Center/Catering by Design (Concord, cateringbydesignnh.com)
• Hermanos Cocina Mexicana (Concord, hermanosmexican.com)
• Horizon Beverage Group (Concord, horizonbeverage.com)
• Lakehouse Tavern (Hopkinton, lakehousetavern.com)
• New England’s Tap House Grille (Hooksett, taphousenh.com)
• O Steaks & Seafood (Concord, osteaksconcord.com)
• Pats Peak Banquet Center (Henniker, patspeak.com)
• The Red Arrow Diner (Concord, redarrowdiner.com)
• The Red Blazer Restaurant & Pub (Concord, theredblazer.com)
• Reed’s North (Warner, reedsnorth.com)
• Smokeshow Barbeque (Concord, smokeshowbbq.com)
• Sunshine Baking (sunshineshortbread.com)
• Twelve 31 Events (Tilton and Concord, twelve31.events)
• The Wine’ing Butcher (Pembroke, wineingbutcher.com)

Featured photo: Photo by HK Photography.

The Weekly Dish 22/10/13

News from the local food scene

• Diner days: Join the Red Arrow Diner for a special 100th anniversary celebration event at its Manchester location (61 Lowell St.) on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The block party-style event is free and open to the public, featuring an afternoon of raffle prizes, games, music, family-friendly activities and an onsite radio broadcast with DJs Nazzy and Marissa of Frank FM, along with samples of a variety of the diner’s most iconic dishes available to ticket holders for a small fee. All year long, to celebrate its 100th year in business, the Red Arrow has also been featuring monthly “Diner Dish of the Decade” promotions at each of its four locations, offering special discounts that have corresponded to various menu items that were or became popular during different decades. Visit redarrowdiner.com to learn more, or check out our coverage of the Red Arrow’s historic milestone in the Sept. 29 issue of the Hippo — the story starts on page 10. Visit issuu.com/hippopress to read the e-edition for free.

• Grapes and meatballs: Don’t miss the Hollis Grape & Italian Festival, set to return to the Hollis Town Common (Monument Square) on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 2 to 7 p.m. Presented by Fulchino Vineyard, the annual festival raises money for the Hollis Agricultural Scholarship, the Hollis Police Benevolent Association and the Hollis Fire Explorers. This year’s features will include grape stomping, cornhole games and local vendors, as well as a few food trucks and — new this year — a meatball contest. Admission is free, but there is a $5 fee to sample the meatballs entered into the contest. Visit fulchinovineyard.com.

• Get in the spirit: Tickets are on sale now for A Taste of Ireland: Exploring Premium Irish Spirits, a special seminar-style tasting event happening on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the Manchester Country Club (180 S. River Road, Bedford) as part of New Hampshire Distiller’s Week. Leading Irish spirit experts and distillers will be on hand to present a series of products from their premium brands, from Clonakilty, Coole Swan and Drumshanbo to Five Farms, Green Spot, West Cork and more. The event will also include a reception with various hors d’oeuvres and sampling of some signature cocktails. Tickets are $60 per person and, at the end of the event, attendees will be able to purchase products with a 15 percent discount on every bottle. While you’re at it, save the date for the annual Distiller’s Showcase of Premium Spirits, due to return to the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St.) on Thursday, Nov. 3. Visit distillersshowcase.com.

In the kitchen with Emilee Viaud

Emilee Viaud of Milford is the owner of Sweet Treats by Emilee (sweettreatsbyemilee@gmail.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @sweettreatsbyemilee_), specializing in cakes, decorative cookies, doughnuts, scones, croissants and a variety of handcrafted chocolate items. She started the business in October 2020 at the height of the hot cocoa bomb trend, soon becoming a regular vendor at the Manchester Craft Market inside the Mall of New Hampshire (1500 S. Willow St., Manchester) and branching out to all kinds of bomb flavors, from milk, dark and white chocolate to salted caramel, cookies and cream and peanut butter. She now has a whole lineup of sweet treats stocked there, as well as at Junction 71 (707 Milford Road, Merrimack) — items include chocolate-covered Oreos, chocolate-covered pretzel rods, Rice Krispie treats and jumbo peanut butter cups. Viaud also sells an assortment of fresh baked goods at the Milford Farmers Market (300 Elm St.) on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from doughnuts and croissants to scones, cupcakes and rotating flavors of hand pies. The final outdoor date of the market is Oct. 8 before it moves indoors at the Town Hall Auditorium starting next month. Viaud’s first participating date of the indoor market will be Nov. 19.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

The utensil that I use the most is definitely a whisk.

What would you have for your last meal?

I grew up eating a lot of pasta with meatballs and garlic bread. That’s kind of always been like a childhood meal that I enjoy.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Revival [Kitchen & Bar in Concord] because, of course, it’s farm-to-table and their menu changes seasonally. One thing that always stays consistent is their meat and cheese platter, and so I’ll always go for that as an appetizer.

What celebrity would you like to see trying something you’ve made?

I would choose a lot of people, but I kind of lean toward Duff Goldman, just because I watched a lot of his shows growing up. … I really like him specifically because he’s more on the decorating side, and that’s what I enjoy the most out of baking. So, I know that he would give me an honest opinion on whether he liked it or not.

What is your favorite item that you offer?

I would say probably the doughnuts, because I have not been doing them for a long time. I’m honestly still learning — I’ve changed the recipe multiple times ever since making them, so it’s something that kind of challenges me a little bit, and I also get to change the flavors seasonally.

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

I was thinking, maybe, like cultural food. … You’re starting to see, I guess more on the side of pop-ups, more restaurants displaying their heritage and their food.

What is your favorite thing to make at home?

Something that I always try to do is fresh bread … because I feel like it really completes a meal. I just love fresh bread and butter — there’s nothing better.

Brown butter Rice Krispie treats
From the kitchen of Emilee Viaud of Sweet Treats by Emilee (makes a 9-by-13-inch pan)

1½ sticks butter
2 10-ounce bags mini marshmallows, plus 1 cup
12 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Place the butter in a pot. Let it melt until bubbles form on the top, then start stirring, lifting the browned butter from the bottom of the pan. Once the butter has burned brown, add the two bags of marshmallows. Once the marshmallows are melted, add your cereal. Mix until fully coated, then add an extra cup of marshmallows for extra gooey treats.

Featured photo: Emilee Viaud. Courtesy photo.

Ready, set, cook

MasterChef Junior Live tour comes to Concord

Former contestants of the hit Fox cooking competition series MasterChef Junior hit the road last month for the “MasterChef Junior Live” tour, an interactive show packed with cooking demonstrations, unique challenges and audience participation throughout. Locally, MasterChef Junior Live will make a stop at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord on Thursday, Oct. 13.

Season 8 of MasterChef Junior premiered on Fox in March and concluded on June 23, but it was actually filmed back in 2019, prior to the pandemic. Each week young chefs between the ages of 8 and 13 from across the country perform in a number of challenges and present their own prepared dishes to celebrity judges Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez and Daphne Oz.

The Oct. 13 show in Concord will feature live appearances from Season 8 winner Liya Chu of Scarsdale, New York, who was just 10 years old at the time of the show’s filming, as well as runner-up Grayson Price and fan favorites Molly Leighninger and A’Dan Lisaula.

“The fun part of our show … is that we end up with about 10 people that we randomly choose from the audience that can come onstage and taste the actual food they cook,” tour manager Marti Ramirez said. “People get to be tasters and they judge the appetizer part, and then we have four people that are volunteers, also from the audience, that are sous chefs. … At the end, kids get to come up on stage and help decorate the dessert part of our show, which is cupcakes.”

Chu, now 14 years old, recently spoke with the Hippo via phone about her experience being on MasterChef Junior, as well as what attendees can expect ahead of the Concord show.

Can you tell us about your cooking background and interest in cooking at such a young age?

I started cooking around 5 years old. … My first dish was making dumplings, and it’s kind of a family tradition, since my mom learned how to make them from her mom, and her mom learned it from her mom. So it has kind of been passed down through many generations. … My parents own two restaurants, so I’ve kind of been involved in the restaurant life since I was young. … One restaurant is in Bronxville, New York, and it’s called Dumpling + Noodle, and then the other one is called Fantasy Cuisine and it’s in Hartsdale, New York.

What was the audition process like for getting on MasterChef Junior?

My friend was actually on Season 7, so that was when … I was like, ‘Oh wait, I could go on the show as well.’ … [The audition] started around, like, February [2019] or so, and then it was back and forth for two months of Zoom interviews. Sometimes they’d ask you to cut red peppers or onions or, like, cook an egg 20 different ways. … After those two months, many of us … wondered if we were even still in the audition, because they wouldn’t answer us for like two or three weeks. … Then, May 20 was when they confirmed and we flew all the way to L.A., but at that time it was still [in the] Top 50, and then they started to cut it down to the Top 16 and then the Top 10, the Top Five and then that whole process was another two months. … [The show’s airing] got delayed many times, so after a while, since it was three years, it kind of felt like it was a dream.

Do you remember which dishes you made while on the show? What was the most challenging dish that you prepared for the judges?

Yeah, I do remember a lot of the dishes, because they are all really important to me. Every dish I made was something that … represents my family, my background and what I’ve learned since I was young. … I think the hardest dish was either the sweet bread or the eel dish, or maybe the duck dish that I made last. … Duck is a pretty hard dish to cook, because you have to time it just right in order to get it medium rare. The eel was also hard because it was my first time cooking on the show, and I was really nervous that time.

What is Gordon Ramsay like in person?

Gordon is a very tall man. I mean, of course, we were all very tiny at that time. But he was really nice to us. Of course, he would get mad at us sometimes, but when he did, I think [it was] because he was only trying to teach us and trying to get us to push ourselves. … I was definitely nervous to see what he was like, but he was really nice. He wasn’t mean.

What was your personal favorite thing that you made on the show?

It was definitely my semi-finale dish, which were the dumplings. … When I was around 5 years old, my mom every weekend or every two weekends or so, she’d cook dumplings for my brother and me. … I remember I would run around the house and I would always try to peek around the corner and say, ‘Hey, Mom, can I help you out?’ But it would never work out well because [the dumplings] would always just flop over or they wouldn’t even close. … My mom would still teach me. She never said, ‘Oh, Liya, you’re too young,’ or anything. … She still always tries to help me improve.

Tell us about the MasterChef Junior Live tour. Will the challenges be happening in real time?

Yeah, so it’s kind of like being in the show, in a way, just actually seeing it front and center and being part of it. … We’re cooking on stage, and so yeah, it’s all happening in real time. We don’t know who’s winning, because it’s the audience who is doing the judging. It’s more about just having fun and letting the audience be able to experience it. … It’s definitely fun and family-friendly, and something that I would encourage everyone to come watch.

What’s next for you? Is cooking something you think you’d want to pursue as a career?

I’m very interested in art and being creative, and cooking is definitely a type of art form, for sure. … I don’t really know what I want to do yet, of course, I still have a lot of time to think of what I want to do. But yeah, definitely art and maybe even culinary will be part of my future.

MasterChef Junior Live
When: Thursday, Oct. 13, 7 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord
Cost: Ranges from $23.25 to $58.25. Optional VIP add-ons are $75 and include a pre-show Q&A, meet-and-greet with photo opportunities and a signed poster.
Visit: mastercheflivetour.com

Featured photo: Liya Chu. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 22/10/06

News from the local food scene

• Market updates: Farmers markets in Milford and New Boston are each expected to wrap up their outdoor seasons this Saturday, Oct. 8 — in Milford, the final outdoor date at 300 Elm St. (across from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op) will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., before it returns indoors inside the Town Hall Auditorium (1 Union Square) every other Saturday beginning early next month. New Boston’s market, meanwhile, also holds its final market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the same day on the corner of Route 13 and Meetinghouse Hill Road. Other markets across the Granite State, including in Bedford, Concord, Henniker and Pelham, each still have a few more weekends to go before they wrap up by the end of October.

• Bring on the doughnuts: The New Hampshire Doughnut Co. is now open at 410 S. River Road in Bedford, the company’s third location overall. The custom doughnut shop opened its first location on Route 4 in Chichester in August 2019 before a second location arrived in the former space of the Capital Deli in Concord the following year. Cake doughnuts baked fresh daily are the stars of the menu, with regular flavors that include vanilla, chocolate, apple cider and several gluten-free and dairy-free options, as well as rotating specialty-themed doughnut weeks. Owner Amanda Baril told the Hippo last month that the new Bedford location is expanding New Hampshire Doughnut Co.’s offerings into yeast ring doughnuts, filled doughnuts, fritters and French crullers. Visit them Wednesday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit nhdoughnutco.com.

• Forage around: Join the Brookline Public Library (16 Main St.) for Foraging New England, a special presentation on Wednesday, Oct. 12, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., featuring Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of Wild Plants I Have Known … and Eaten. The 60-minute slideshow will include images and information about at least two dozen species of native edible plants suitable for adding to your own landscape. Cohen will cover the many keys to the identification of each species, along with their edible portions, seasons of availability and preparation methods, as well as foraging guidelines that are safe and environmentally responsible. Printed handouts and some samples of foraged goodies will be provided. Register online at brooklinelibrarynh.org.

• Turkeys and trains: The Hobo & Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad is partnering with Hart’s Turkey Farm in Meredith to offer turkey dinner train rides — the next one is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 8, with two more to follow on Oct. 15 and Oct. 22. The trains depart Meredith Station (154 Main St.) at 5 p.m., traveling south along the western shore of Lake Winnipesaukee through Weirs Beach and Paugus Bay toward Lakeport and back along the same route, returning at around 7 p.m. Riders will be treated to a complete dinner catered by Hart’s Turkey Farm, featuring freshly carved roast turkey, stuffing, whipped potato, butternut squash, gravy, rolls and butter and apple crisp for dessert. The cost is $47.50 per person and advance reservations are required. Visit hoborr.com.

In the kitchen with Rocky Burpee

George “Rocky” Burpee of Loudon is the owner of Shaker Road Provisions (89 Fort Eddy Road, Suite 2, Concord, shakerroadprovisions.com), which opened April 16 in the former Smokeshow Barbeque space. Scratch-made bacon is the heart of the operation at the shop, which offers everything from flavored slices and bits to all kinds of bacon-incorporated prepared foods, like burgers, macaroni and cheese and even bacon chocolate bars. Shaker Road Provisions regularly sells its bacon at the Concord Farmers Market on Saturdays, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and at the Salem Farmers Market on Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — both markets will continue to run outdoors through the end of October. The shop also carries a selection of various locally sourced products, and recently received approval to sell its bacon to restaurants.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

The most important thing to me, for bacon specifically, is my slicer. I spent the money on a really nice slicer and it’s made all the difference from when I first started.

What would you have for your last meal?

I’d have to say … a surf and turf. Just an amazing aged rib-eye and a nice fat lobster tail, or something like that.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Without a doubt, Industry East [in Manchester]. [Chef] Jeff Martin is a genius, especially with what he has to work with in that kitchen. And, [owners] Jeremy [Hart] and Dan [Haggerty] are just amazing guys. … My wife and I, we try to go there at least a couple times a month. … I always try to get the specials, but you can’t go wrong with the Goon Glizzy, their crab rangoon hot dog, and also the steak and cheese tacos.

What celebrity would you like to see trying your bacon?

I’m a die-hard Gordon Ramsay fan, but I also know that he doesn’t pull any punches, so I’d be really nervous for him to try it. … The only other person that comes to mind immediately would be Alton Brown. He taught me a lot when his show came out, just because he’s so analytical and the way he breaks things down is great.

What is your favorite thing you make that incorporates your bacon?

I think the bacon burgers are just out of this world … and you also can’t go wrong with our sweet and spicy bacon bits in a scrambled egg dish. They are just fantastic. That was actually my wife’s idea.

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

The trend is not to be trendy. It’s innovation and it’s trying new things. It’s like, more [about] who can outdo the next person and who can get crazy and put stuff together that hasn’t been put together before.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I love prime rib. My prime rib is slathered in my bacon fat, covered in my spice mix and then I sous vide it for 10 hours. … Serve that with a side of potatoes any way you like it, and it’s just like upscale meat and potatoes.

Baked potato soup with bacon
From the kitchen of George “Rocky” Burpee of Shaker Road Provisions in Concord

1½ pounds baked potatoes
½ cup flour
6 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
6 to 8 ounces Shaker Road Provisions bacon (maple or peppered), cooked and roughly chopped (substitute sweet and spicy bacon bits for an extra punch of flavor)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bake potatoes in a 400-degree oven for one hour or until fork tender. Once cool, peel and cut into small chunks, or lightly mash. While the potatoes cool, in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add the flour and slowly stir in the milk, whisking continuously until the flour is fully incorporated. Continue stirring often until the milk is bubbling and thickened (about 10 minutes). Add the potatoes to the pot and blend with an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender in batches and blend until smooth. If you prefer more texture, you can also fully mash the potatoes prior to adding them to the milk and skip blending them. Return the blended soup to low heat. Add the cheese, sour cream, green onion and bacon or bacon bits (reserve some bacon for a garnish if you want to make it look extra pretty). Season to taste with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. (Optional: As a gluten-free option, use 4 cups of milk and skip the flour).

Featured photo: George “Rocky” Burpee, owner of Shaker Road Provisions in Concord. Courtesy photo.

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