Category: Food

Friends and family on the farm

Vernon Family Farm hosts agritourism events

For the past nine years, Vernon Family Farm, a livestock farm in Newfields, has been supplying the community with fresh meat, farm-to-table meals and agritourism events like live music and outdoor classes hosted by other organizations. Their next event will be on Friday, Aug. 4, from 4 to 8 p.m. with dinner and live music by New Hampshire Grateful Dead tribute band Not Fade Away.

Having grown up in New London in a family that raised and processed animals for consumption, Jeremiah Vernon developed a love for the farming lifestyle. This interest was reinforced while attending college in Maine.

“There was a big dairy farm near the school and the dairy farm had a restaurant … and I just became enamored with the whole farm scene they had going on over there,” he said. “That was sort of my start of production farming and basically I’d been farming for other people for about 10 years and then in 2014 we bought our own property and started our one farm.”

What started out as Jeremiah’s passion has turned into a family affair, his wife Nicole Vernon, a Spanish teacher at Exeter High School, co-owning the farm with him.

“It’s what I wanted to do having worked on farms for so long. This is who I am and what I want to do,” he said. “Nicole at the time [was] on the outside looking in as far as her farming experience, but now 10 years in she’s as deep in it as I am. … Now it’s definitely a shared passion and shared career.”

The farm has come a long way since growing 1,200 broiler chickens on leased land in 2012. They now annually produce about 15,000 to 20,000 chickens as well as other livestock, like pigs and sheep and a small amount of vegetables, such as cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas, on their 33-acre property. They have a farm store open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., host dinners on Thursdays and Saturdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and have even created a second business, Vernon Kitchen. While the catering company used to be a part of Vernon Family Farm, it made more sense to have it be its own entity that the Vernons could hire to cater events.

“[It] means that we can do more events more often and we also have more resources available to us,” Jeremiah said. “It is also the highest-profit market aspect of our business, so having a customer buy a ticket and sit down for a fried chicken dinner, that’s the most profitable way we can get that chicken to you.”

On average, about 50 to 100 people attend these events, with upward of 300 on nights when there is live music. Tickets can be purchased on their website ahead of time or upon arrival for music events. For non-music events, a $5 cover is charged that is donated to various nonprofits.

In addition to dinners, entertainment and tours, the farm also functions as a space for other businesses to use for classes on yoga and meditation, cooking and art.

“Our farm is very beautiful, like many in New Hampshire,” Jeremiah said. “We have a big wildflower meadow, nice seating, there’s animals everywhere [and] ample parking. It’s a nice … creative space to occupy.”

Upcoming events at Vernon Family Farm

Kids Art Classes: Treehouse Construction
When: Friday, Aug. 4, 10 a.m. to noon
Where: 301 Piscassic Road, Newfields
Visit: vernonfamilyfarm.com

Not Fade Away
When: Friday, Aug. 4, 4 to 8 p.m.
Where: 301 Piscassic Road, Newfields
Visit: vernonfamilyfarm.com

Featured photo: Event at Vernon Family Farm. Photo courtesy of Vernon Family Farm.

The Weekly Dish 23/08/03

News from the local food scene

• Sample wine and bourbon and golf: Don’t miss Bourbon, Wine & Nine at Stonebridge Country Club (161 Gorham Pond Road, Goffstown) on Friday, Aug. 4. Sample wines, bourbons and food from Drumlins Restaurant. Live music will also be featured, as well as a nine-hole scramble tournament and a putting contest. Golf registration starts at 2 p.m. and tee-off is at 3 p.m. The tasting tent opens at 5 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $60 and can be purchased via eventbrite.

• Try traditions from Zimbabwe: Sycamore Community Garden will hold the third and final event in its current guest speaker series on Sunday Aug. 6, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at NHTI (31 College Drive, Concord). Board member Sibongile Ndlovu will lead an interactive food preservation workshop. Learn how to properly dry tomatoes through a Zimbabwean food preservation technique and learn about the importance of food preservation in Zimbabwe through Ndlovu’s personal experience and cultural background. Everyone will help in cutting and preparing the tomatoes for sun drying. The event is free. Visit sycamorecommunitygarden.org or sign up via eventbrite.

• Get vegan Southern eats: Vegan pop-up vendor Southern Fried Vegan hosts Vegan Brews N BBQ at Rockingham Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive, Unit 1, Derry) on Thursday, Aug. 10, 4 to 8 p.m. Menu items are nut- and gluten-free and the menu includes jambalaya, totchos, cajun corn and more.

Creamy Cucumber and Pea Salad

We have reached the end of July, which is one of my favorite times of summer because of the local produce. If it has been a good farming season, we have tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces and more available at nearby farm stands. This year’s rain has definitely wreaked havoc on local farms, but we can hope that the fields and produce will be salvaged.

Although widely available, cucumber is quite often an overlooked piece of produce in my world. It doesn’t have a lot of flavor, so it isn’t a go-to snack for me. However, because of its low flavor profile, it is excellent at retaining other flavors. This creamy cucumber and pea salad requires few ingredients but delivers a lot of texture and taste.

The ingredients in this recipe are straightforward. Ideally, the cucumber will be freshly picked, but a grocery store cuke will work also. For simplicity, stick with frozen peas, but fresh peas aren’t that much more work. Shell and add them to boiling water for a minute or two, and they’re ready for the salad. I prefer Greek yogurt, as it is extra creamy, but plain yogurt can work as well. One note: The cucumber needs to sit for an hour and the entire salad should rest for a couple hours, so make this in the morning, if you want it with dinner that night.

On a personal note this is my last recipe for Try This at Home. It’s been fun writing these articles, but it’s time for me to focus on other endeavors. Thank you for reading, trying my recipes, and occasionally reaching out. It’s been a fun few years!

Creamy Cucumber and Pea Salad
Serves 4

1 medium-sized cucumber
salt
½ cup peas, fresh or frozen
2 Tablespoons minced red onion
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1½ Tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
ground black pepper

Peel cucumber.
Slice in half lengthwise twice, so that you have 4 spears.
Cut each spear into ½-inch-thick wedges.
Place cucumber wedges in a bowl, and sprinkle with 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt.
Allow to sit for at least an hour.
While the cucumber sits, blanch fresh peas or defrost frozen peas.
After an hour, drain cucumber, and transfer to a paper towel; blot to remove excess salt.
Combine cucumber, peas and onion in a medium-sized bowl.
Whisk yogurt, vinegar and sugar together in a small bowl.
Add yogurt mixture to veggies, and stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, stirring well.
Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Featured photo: Creamy cucumber and pea salad. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

In the kitchen with Sherrie Paltrineri

Originally from East Aurora, New York, outside Buffalo, Sherrie Paltrineri went to school at Babson College in Massachusetts. Paltrineri always loved to cook and bake, and leaned into these hobbies while she was out of work due to the pandemic, selling homemade cocoa bombs at craft fairs. With her business, Sweet and Sassy, Paltrineri now makes and sells a variety of s’mores and marshmallow flavors and is a vendor at farmers markets in various towns such as Bedford and Greenfield.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I am a collector of kitchen gadgets, much to my husband’s chagrin, but I think my one item I would be lost without is my deep fryer. Being from Buffalo, I am a wing snob. I know it’s completely unhealthy, but there are just some items that can’t be baked.

What would you have for your last meal?

A true Buffalo fish fry. For some reason, those Buffalonians know their way around a fryer. There was a restaurant in our town that was run by a German couple and they had the best fish fry around. We would order it with real German potato salad, french fries with malt vinegar on the side and pitchers of Iroquois Dark beer. That would be my ideal last meal.

What is your favorite local eatery?

I really like to stay home and cook, but when my husband and I have a date night we head to the Dublin Tap Room in Jaffrey. It’s right down the street from us, and they have Monday night wing specials. Their Buffalo wings are good … but the garlic Parmesan is to die for. They also do burger specials on Wednesdays, and prime rib dinners on some Friday nights. They have a huge tap menu and in the summer you can sit outside on the patio that overlooks the Shattuck golf course.

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

Two come to mind. Rob Lowe would be one, not that I would have anything to offer him [because] I don’t think he is a sweets kind of guy, but I have had a crush on him since the ’80s and I would love to meet him in person. The other celebrity would be Judge Judy. This would be someone I could sit down and really talk to while she indulged in some desserts. I just love her no-nonsense approach to life.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

It’s hard to say, as I feel like every time I make a new treat, I think “this is my favorite,” but push come to shove, our Almond Joy s’mores bar is probably my go-to treat.

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

Limited-time-only offers have been around for a long time, but we are seeing more of [it to] make people think they will miss it if they wait another day. … I am also fascinated by Crumbl’s menu strategy of releasing only six cookies each week. You don’t know what they will be until Sunday night, they are only available that week and you never know when, or if, they will be back.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

My favorite thing to cook would be any meal where my whole family can be together. It could be sandwiches or a full Thanksgiving meal, but just cooking to bring us all together at the same table would make me happy.

–Mya Blanchard

Key Lime Marshmallows
From the kitchen of Sweet and Sassy

½ cup Key lime juice
3 packages unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
½ cup water
½ cup corn syrup
½ teaspoon salt
green food color (optional)

In a standing mixer mixing bowl, pour lime juice and sprinkle the 3 packages of unflavored gelatin on top.
In a heavy sauce pan, add sugar, water, corn syrup and salt, stir, and bring to a boil.
Let sugar mixture boil until a candy thermometer reads 240°.
Once sugar mixture reaches 240°, mix the gelatin bloom and then begin to slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into it while whipping it on low.
Turn mixer to high and continue whipping for 7 to 8 minutes, or until mixture triples in size and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Add a few drops of food color.
Immediately pour mixture into a well greased 9×13” pan. For thicker marshmallows, use an 8×8” pan.
Let set for 4 hours minimum, or overnight.


Featured photo: Sherrie Paltrineri. Courtesy photo.

It’s Donut O’clock

Doughnut makers find their crowd in Nashua

By Mya Blanchard
mblanchard@hippopress.com

Their first time at the Nashua farmers market, Donut O’clock sold out in just 40 minutes.

“I don’t know how that happened because it was our very first day in Nashua,” said Anna Khachatryan, who owns the business with her husband. “We had this rush of people [and] everything was gone by 10:40 a.m. It was just the best experience.”

Donut O’clock, which operates out of a commercial kitchen in Derry, attends the Nashua farmers market at 6 Hartshorn Ave. every other week, returning on Aug. 6.

According to Khachatryan, what has now become Donut O’clock started not as a business venture but as an experiment.

“We were trying doughnut places here and there and … every time we would try a new place, one of the components wouldn’t be satisfactory,” she said. “We really couldn’t find the ideal doughnut.”

Being a pastry chef, her husband Davit Hovhannisyan decided to create the ideal doughnut himself. He started developing the recipe during the beginning of 2022. After months of research and experimentation, he finally perfected the recipe for the brioche-style dough.

“It takes a lot of time to ferment and he would use a special technique so at the end the doughnuts would come out really, really fluffy,” said Khachatryan. “Then he would experiment with the glazes and the flavors. His goal was to develop a dessert that is not too high in calories, but at the same time is really elevated. … It was a journey.”

The two began bringing the doughnuts along to gatherings for friends, who declared the doughnuts the best they had ever tasted.

“Instead of taking it just as a compliment, he thought that maybe it [was] worth turning it into a full production,” Khachatryan said.

By September 2022, Donut O’clock was officially in business. With 15 varieties on their website menu, like maple apricot, apple caramel, mango and strawberry cheesecake and tiramisu, each doughnut is hand-rolled, according to Khachatryan. The creams are made from scratch every day with quality ingredients; they craft their own purees, jellies and glazes from fresh fruit.

“It is a labor of love. It is really, really demanding,” Khachatryan said. “The techniques are really artisan. They’re handmade, whereas if you go to a typical doughnut shop you will have machinery involved.”

Originally from Armenia, Khachatryan and Hovhannisyan moved to Boston and then to New Hampshire about five years ago. Both with musical backgrounds, Hovhannisyan being a classical pianist and Khachatryan being the director Virtuoso Kids Music Academy in Nashua, they wanted to incorporate musicality and artistry into their doughnuts.

“He’s so close to art and so close to the kitchen, so he just tried to make artistic doughnuts,” Khachatryan said. “It’s just like music and art; there’s a lot of components like different textures and different flavors.”

Khachatryan has noticed more and more local businesses bringing handmade products to the market, which is something she is glad to be a part of.

“The markets have been great so far. We just love people’s feedback, it’s been overwhelmingly [positive],” she said. “We are adjusting the numbers and bringing more and more but since they are handmade there’s a production capacity; we can’t just make a thousand. Not yet.”

Donut O’clock
Where: Find Donut O’clock at the Nashua farmers market in the Nashua Public Library parking lot, 6 Hartshorn Ave.
When: Sundays, Aug. 6, Aug. 20, Sept. 3, Sept. 17, Oct. 1, Oct. 15, Oct. 29, Nov. 12 and Nov. 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Visit: donutoclock.net

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Donut O’clock.

A casual alternative

The Patio at the Mile Away now open in Milford

A Milford institution for more than 50 years, the Mile Away Restaurant is best-known as a frequently visited spot for special occasions of all kinds, from birthday and anniversary parties to weddings. A new outdoor space directly adjacent to the eatery’s main dining area is inviting guests to enjoy lighter fare in a more casual setting, featuring its own separate kitchen and menus, along with a seated bar with TVs and additional seating at patio tables with umbrellas.

The Patio at the Mile Away, which recently opened for the season, operates during the same hours as its main restaurant and event center, weather permitting. It’s open to walk-in guests and, unlike the Mile Away’s plated four-course European-style dinners, offers a menu of shareable tapas, entree-sized salads and soups, and burgers and sandwiches with choice of a side. The outdoor bar even has its own draft lines and specialty cocktail offerings.

“It’s essentially a completely separate concept, and it’s like having a completely different restaurant that just happens to also be on the premises,” Mile Away general manager Kyle Altman said. “[We wanted to] have a more casual option for people to come out and just have a drink after work, which the four-course European-style fine dining thing doesn’t necessarily appeal to that particular occasion. But now, we can appeal to both.”

Although the patio space was constructed during the summer of 2019 before making its debut that fall, this is the first season in which the new outdoor kitchen is up and running. It’s full of unique amenities that longtime Mile Away owner Joshua Murphy built himself, from a corrugated steel roof over the bar seats to a pulley-like mechanism on its wooden fence, the latter designed to give wedding guests privacy during concurrent ceremonies.

Mile Away executive chef Mark Worcester, an industry veteran, has worked several stints at the restaurant on and off over the years, dating back to 1978. He said the patio’s menu was created with simplicity in mind, as well as various best-sellers on previous menus. Only a few items, like the Mile Away’s famous Swedish meatballs, cross over with the restaurant’s main dinner menu.

“We’ve been here for over 50 years, but the thing is that … people will get used to just coming here for special occasions, and we wanted to kind of shake it up a little bit,” Worcester said.

fish on leafy salad with pecans and lemon slices, on plate
Photo courtesy of the Mile Away Restaurant.

But despite its more casual approach, Altman said the menu will still feel familiar to guests who expect that traditional tried and true cuisine the Mile Away has long been known for.

“You don’t have to be constantly doing the newest things with the newest ingredients, if you do the classic recipes perfectly,” Altman said. “That’s some of the appeal. … Sometimes you don’t want to try a new thing every time you go out. You want this thing that you get every year on your anniversary, because we do it perfectly and no one else can do it.”

According to Altman, the Mile Away building was originally a farm built way back in 1746, and was one of the earliest settlements of the town of Monson, New Hampshire (now parts of Hollis, Brookline and Amherst). The farm is one mile away from Monson rock, hence the eatery’s name.

The plan is for the patio to operate from around late April through mid-October, or around when the Mile Away hosts in annual Oktoberfest celebration, although they do have propane heaters they can install on colder nights. Altman added that it can also be available to wedding clients.

“If people want to have a bachelor party, or if they want to just rent this out as part of their program with our wedding packages, this is an option … just the same as they can rent out the private room inside the restaurant,” he said.

The Patio at the Mile Away
Where: Mile Away Restaurant, 52 Federal Hill Road, Milford
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m. (hours are weather permitting). Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
More info: mileawayrestaurantnh.com/the-patio
Walk-ins are welcome for outdoor patio service; no reservations required.

Featured photo: Patio photo by Matt Ingersoll.

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