Category: Food

Whisked away

New food truck debuts in Loudon

A new food truck rolled into Loudon last week, and as its name and the whisks on its logo suggest, the Whisked Away Cafe wants to “whisk” you away to a different part of the world — or to Grandma’s house — each week with an ever-changing menu of specials that includes creative takes on wraps, sandwiches, burgers, salads, kid-friendly eats and more.

Sisters Korrie Garland and Crystal Hopkins run the truck with their mother, Louise Cloutier. They began offering lunch service on June 2 at a dirt turnaround road on Route 106 in Loudon, steps away from Cascade Campground. You can now find them there every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where a few dining tables are set up out front.

Fifteen years ago the three women also operated the Bonne Femmes restaurant in downtown Pembroke, a spot that was known in town for its breakfasts, sandwiches and soups. Years after she and Hopkins both had kids of their own, Garland said, they became interested in the freedom a food truck would give them to create different recipes. They ended up finding and purchasing the truck last November.

Prior to starting a regular lunch service last week, the Whisked Away Cafe sold homemade holiday pies late last year and dinners for local delivery in the Pembroke area in March.

“We were doing the deliveries … just to kind of help out the people that didn’t want to or couldn’t leave their homes, so that picked up some steam,” Garland said.

Now, Whisked Away Cafe’s menu features a variety of sandwiches, chicken or steak fajita sandwiches, chicken or seafood salad, and grilled cheese sandwiches called “toasties,” with flavors like jalapeno chicken popper, chicken cordon bleu and Buffalo chicken. There are also breaded chicken fingers, steak fingers, hand-cut french fries and beef, pork or veggie empanadas.

Hopkins said she, her sister and her mother wanted to create a section of the menu that was fun and accessible for kids too. The children’s menu features options like homemade macaroni and cheese and a grilled peanut butter and Fluff sandwich, plus an “octodog” and a “redneck sushi,” both of which come with chips.

“[An octodog] is a hot dog that we slice up so when it cooks it curls up and it looks like a little octopus with legs,” she said. “The redneck sushi is just a slice of ham with cream cheese and a pickle in the middle, so when you roll it up and slice it, it looks like little rolls of sushi.”

Garland said they’ve had several pages of ideas for what will be on their specials menu. They began their first week by featuring a special of pulled pork with homemade barbecue sauce and coleslaw on grilled ciabatta, with either fries or pasta salad as a side.

“Our idea was that we’re ‘whisking’ you away to Mexico, or to your grandma’s house, or to college with a ramen noodle dish,” she said.

For now, Garland said, the trio is sticking with the Tuesday through Thursday schedule. But eventually, she said, they may appear on additional days on the weekends, as well as at events at C-R Helicopters in Nashua, which Cloutier owns with her husband.

Whisked Away Cafe food truck
Where: 485 Route 106 South, Loudon
When: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
More info: Find them on Facebook @whiskedawayfoodtruck

Caramelized peaches with bacon & blue cheese

There is nothing quite like a perfectly ripe peach as an afternoon snack. When a peach is tender and so juicy that you need to have a napkin nearby, it should be enjoyed on its own. There is nothing else this peach needs to evoke all of its flavors.

Sometimes, though, you have peaches that aren’t perfectly ripe. Then it is time to transform those peaches into an entirely different snack. Allow me to introduce you to a ridiculously simple recipe that turns ho-hum peaches into something much more spectacular.

You need only four ingredients and less than 30 minutes to create a dish that could be an appetizer or a side dish. It could even be your lunch if you wanted. Even better, slightly underripe peaches work well in this dish because the roasting time brings forth tenderness and sweetness. Topped with salty bacon and savory blue cheese, this makes an amazing mix of flavors and textures. Oh yes, this simple recipe produces a show-stopping dish.

A few notes on this recipe:

1. You don’t want to use thick-cut bacon, as you want the bacon to be really crispy after cooking so that it will crumble nicely.

2. I found it easier to cut through the pit, as opposed to trying to pull the peach flesh off the pit. Pulling resulted in squishing the fruit.

3. Be very watchful when broiling the final product. It takes mere seconds and will go from caramelized to burnt in the blink of an eye.

Although peaches are lovely on their own, after making this recipe you may be hard pressed to think about peaches without also considering blue cheese and bacon.

Caramelized Peaches with Bacon & Blue Cheese
Serves 2-4

3 slices regular-cut bacon
2 peaches
3 tablespoons blue cheese
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat large frying pan over medium heat.
Add bacon and cook until crisp.
Transfer fully cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
Cut peaches in half (using the crease as a guide) and remove pit.
Place peaches, cut side down, on a greased, rimmed baking dish.
Roast for 8-10 minutes or until tender.
While peaches bake, place blue cheese in a small bowl.
Crumble bacon into small pieces, adding it to the cheese.
Use a fork to combine the cheese and bacon.
Remove peaches from oven, and flip so that they are cut side up.
Change oven from bake to broil.
Move a rack to the highest shelf in the oven.
Fill peach centers with blue cheese and bacon.
Sprinkle sugar over peaches.
Place under broiler for 15-30 seconds.*

*Instead of broiling the peaches, you can caramelize them with a kitchen torch.

In the kitchen with Eddie Saktanaset

Eddie Saktanaset of Londonderry is the owner of Muse Thai Bistro (581 Second St., Suite C, Manchester, 647-5547, musethaibistro.com) and Arincha (80 Constitutional Blvd., Merrimack, 420-8235, arincha.com), two Asian restaurants with entirely different concepts. Muse Thai Bistro features authentic Japanese sushi and Thai options, while Arincha has more of a simplified fast casual approach, offering items like boba tea and Hawaiian-style poke bowls in addition to Thai street food. Born in Thailand, Saktanaset came to the United States when he was 6 years old. His parents own Siam Orchid Thai Bistro in Concord, which has been open for more than two decades. Due to Covid-19, limited menu offerings are currently available for pickup or delivery from both Muse Thai Bistro and Arincha.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

The one tool I must have in my hands is a yanagiba [Japanese chef’s knife], primarily used to slice boneless fish fillets for sushi.

What would you have for your last meal?

Sushi … and a cup of bubble tea that my wife makes for me on a daily basis.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Siam Orchid [Thai Bistro in Concord]. Most of the recipes come right from my mom.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from one of your restaurants?

Chef Masaharu Morimoto … [from the television show] Iron Chef.

What is your favorite thing on either of your menus?

There are a few but my personal favorite for Thai food would be [the] pad Thai, drunken noodles, Bangkok noodles and massaman curry. For sushi, the Arincha poke bowl, shrimp tempura maki and spicy tuna. For boba tea, it would be the black milk tea and the honey dew milk tea.

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

Thai [food], sushi and boba tea. That was why we opened Arincha. We wanted [the menu] to be geared more toward street food, which is how you will find it when you go to Thailand.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

[My wife and I] usually just like to sit and relax and spend time with our son at home. But if we wanted to cook, our favorite would be to bake cookies or make Rice Krispies treats.

Photo: Eddie Saktanaset of Arincha in Merrimack and Muse Thai Bistro in Manchester. Courtesy photo.

Homemade pad Thai
Courtesy of Eddie Saktanaset of Muse Thai Bistro in Manchester and Arincha in Merrimack

Flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Protein (your choice of chicken, shrimp or tofu), cut into small pieces
2 eggs, beaten
Chopped green scallions
½ cup roasted peanuts
Handful of fresh bean sprouts

For the sauce:
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce
5 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons peanut butter (optional)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Cook noodles and rinse under cold water. Mix fish sauce, soy sauce, light brown sugar, peanut butter and rice vinegar to make the sauce, then set aside. In a large saucepan or wok, heat oil over medium to high heat. Add protein and any of your favorite vegetables. Cooking time will vary, depending on the type of protein you choose. Push your ingredients to the side of the pan and add a little more oil. Add the eggs, then add noodles, bean sprouts, peanuts and sauce, mixing and combining all ingredients. Top with peanuts and green onions.

Comfort classics

Flannel Tavern opens in Chichester

For Carrie Williams of Contoocook, flannel is reminiscent of the comforts of her childhood home. So it seemed only fitting that she would call her new restaurant, which features a menu of scratch-made comfort items, the Flannel Tavern. The eatery opened for takeout last month on Route 28 in Chichester, in the former space of Parker’s Roast Beef & Seafood.

“Flannel was big in my family when I was growing up. I grew up in a log cabin, [and] we would get flannel for Christmas, we had flannel sheets when it was cold, things like that,” Williams said. “So flannel to me is comfort, it’s family … and the menu is just that. The menu is really based on a lot of comfort foods I grew up with.”

Williams and her partner, Steve Reddy, took over the space and began renovations in mid-January. According to Reddy, the couple’s original target date for opening was the week of St. Patrick’s Day — the same week that Gov. Chris Sununu announced restaurants in New Hampshire would only be allowed to operate via takeout, curbside and drive-thru services. Once that happened, Reddy said, the decision was made to get the kitchen ready first so the Flannel Tavern can at least open for takeout. Within the last couple of weeks, they received their liquor license and added a few tables for outdoor dining.

The tavern’s current menu features a variety of options with their own unique twists on local ingredients. The soft pretzels on its appetizer menu, for example, feature a side of mustard from the Blackwater Mustard Co. of Contoocook. Other appetizers include hand-cut french fries, nachos with added options of pulled pork or chicken, and hand-battered chicken tenders, which come either plain with ranch sauce or Buffalo style with blue cheese dressing.

The burgers and sandwiches, Williams said, have been among the top sellers since the Flannel Tavern introduced its menu to the community. There’s the house Flannel burger, which is topped with pickles, mustard and four ounces of corned beef; the Ma’am-a-Ja’am burger, which has pulled pork and slaw; and a multi-layered sandwich simply dubbed “The Samich” that has ham, turkey and salami, American, Swiss and provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, purple onion, mayonnaise and Blackwater Mustard Co.’s sweet hot mustard.

Entrees are available too, one of which — the “MacDaddy” macaroni and cheese — is made to order every time, Williams said. That comes with garlic toast and a house or Caesar salad.

There are a few specials Williams has featured on the takeout menu. Recent options include the deep-fried macaroni and cheese balls, and a Sweet Italian sausage, pepper and onion sandwich that actually began as a customer request.

The beer and wine menu has a rotating selection of domestic and local craft options. Williams said more dinner entrees and desserts are expected to be added to the menu when the tavern is able to open to full capacity. Eventually, a breakfast menu will get added to the mix too.

Williams, who worked as a caterer for more than a decade, said things have gone very well so far, despite the occasional supply hiccup. She’s had to make some adjustments to the menu when items like prime rib become unavailable — and has even had to bring in her own home freezer for extra storage when they needed more room but couldn’t purchase one — but she said the community has responded to the new eatery fondly.

“We were unsure of what it was going to be like, but people have been very understanding of the changes and everybody’s been very supportive,” she said. “Everybody’s been flocking out too. … The phone doesn’t stop ringing.”

Photo: “The Samich” (ham, turkey and salami, with American, provolone and Swiss cheese, tomato, purple onion, mayonnaise and sweet hot mustard on a ciabatta roll).Courtesy photo.

Game-changing eats and more

New sports bar and cornhole court opens in Londonderry

Bob Carrier and his younger brother Rodney are both avid players of cornhole, a game they said has consistently grown in popularity and has spawned multiple competitive leagues in New Hampshire and beyond. As the Carriers got to know fellow players, Bob realized there weren’t many communal spaces for them to enjoy food and drinks that could also accommodate cornhole leagues. Some members were even driving long distances — an hour and a half or longer — on weeknights to compete in tournaments.

Enter the Game Changer Sports Bar & Grill in Londonderry, which officially opened for outdoor dining and cornhole games on May 22. The new sports bar features a full menu of original appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads, plus more than two dozen beers and wines.

Named after one of the popular brand names of cornhole bean bags, Game Changer has an outdoor patio that can seat up to 26 diners. There are currently three outdoor cornhole boards out in front of the parking lot for anyone to pick up and play while they wait for a table.

Being open for outdoor dining only, Carrier said, has been effective at helping his servers and cooks get used to the new menu. So far the reception has been very positive.

“Our concept was to have not your everyday pub food … or fried food that makes you not feel very good after,” he said. “We’ve got really great salads, wraps [and] grilled foods … and a lot of the names are based off of sports [terms].”

Of particular note are the burgers, which Carrier said have been Game Changer’s best-selling items thus far. The Game Changer burger features an 8-ounce beef patty, topped with braised pork carnitas, cheddar jack cheese and jalapenos on a brioche roll. It’s then served with pico de gallo and lime. Others include the Buckaroo Burger, which has American cheese, bacon, a barbecue sauce drizzle, lettuce, tomato and onion rings; and a black bean veggie burger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and guacamole.

On the appetizer menu, popular sellers have included the Illegal Touch of the Hand Nachos, (loaded up with cheddar jack, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, scallions, jalapenos and the option to add chicken or pork carnitas); the Playoff Pot Stickers, featuring pork-filled dumplings seasoned with authentic Asian spices and served with scallion soy sauce; and the Last Kid Picked Pretzels (Bavarian pretzel soft sticks served with an artisan beer cheese sauce).

Wraps, like the Changeup Chicken Caesar, the Gridiron Guac BCLT or the Play Action Pulled Pork, are available on white or wheat tortillas, and are served with regular or sweet potato fries. There are also multiple flatbread options, like the Powerplay Pepperoni (with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and smoked pepperoni); the Changeup Cheeseburger (with Angus beef, marinara, red onion, mozzarella and fries); and the Hat Trick Hawaiian (with marinara, mozzarella, Canadian bacon, sweet pineapple and bacon crumbles).

The bar features 16 taps of domestic beers and a rotating selection of local craft brews, as well as bottled and canned beers, some wines and cocktails, like the Game Changer house margarita, which has Hornitos Reposado tequila, triple sec liqueur, agave syrup and fresh lime juice.

The dessert is the only section of the food menu not currently available, according to Carrier, but you can expect several sweet treats soon, like fudge brownie sundaes with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream; cinnamon sugar-covered churros; and multi-layered dark chocolate cakes topped with white chocolate mousse.

When the bar opens indoors, a large designated section will have eight lanes for cornhole, each with high-top chairs and tables, for either competitive or recreational games. For now, Carrier said he’s thinking of having each lane open on a first-come, first-served basis, with rentals for larger groups and leagues. Sanitized bean bags will be available for a small charge.

Behind each cornhole board is an iPad that will keep score of your game. During tournaments, the iPads will be synced up to each 75-inch television screen on the opposite wall that will keep track of the brackets.

Carrier said the concept of Game Changer was not to attract cornhole league members or competitive players, but also to create a spot for anyone to play the game while enjoying a shared appetizer, a burger and fries or a beer.

“Everybody can play cornhole. … It doesn’t matter what age you are. You can throw the bean bag,” he said. “We also like the family atmosphere of just coming to hang out, playing cornhole and maybe watching sports on our TVs. … There have already been a lot of people that have reached out to us to hold tournaments and games to raise money for school sports, fundraisers and stuff like that. So once we get open inside, we’ll start booking those.”

Photo: Interior of Game Changer Sports Bar & Grill in Londonderry. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!