Category: Food

We all keep coming back to them

Sure, I go through spells, often even prolonged spells, where I’m focused more on Pilsners or stouts, or brown ales or just trying new things.

Then I take my first sip of an IPA in a while, and it’s like that moment in a murder mystery when the detective puts all the pieces together — sort of an explosive epiphany. A classic “a-ha” moment.

It’s hard to describe that first sip but I think all IPA enthusiasts appreciate that moment after taking a break from the style. And I think we all have to take a break from time to time.

After a recent hiatus, I took a sip of an IPA called Lucidity by Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. in Worcester, a brewery that is well-worth seeking out if you’re a fan of big IPAs, and it blew me away. The beer is super juicy up front but fades away into a clean, crisp and almost dry finish — it’s the kind of beer that refreshes any beer-drinkers’ love for IPAs.

IPAs greet your taste buds with bright, exciting flavors that seem to jump around in your mouth, providing almost like a cascade of flavor. The style can feature a wide range of flavors, including tropical fruits, citrus, pine, floral notes and so on, along with a bitterness that can run from mild to full-on bracing.

It’s also a style that perhaps stands to benefit the most from being enjoyed fresh, preferably right at the brewery or poured from a growler filled right at the tap. You can taste the freshness.

Yes, IPAs are a dime a dozen right now, and sometimes that’s frustrating when you’re looking for literally anything else at your local beer store, but there’s a reason why that’s the case.

Here are four New Hampshire IPAs to refresh your devotion to the style:

Safe Space by Concord Craft Brewing (Concord)

This is your classic New England IPA: juicy, hazy and smooth. With big notes of tropical fruit and citrus, this is a crowd-pleaser for sure. One of the things I like about the New England-style IPA is that it tends to come in at a bit lower ABV, just making it more approachable. This one sits at 6 percent ABV, which seems to be a very nice sweet spot for this style of IPAs.

Dwayne’s World by Stoneface Brewing Co. (Newington)

This is another New England IPA but this hits a different end of the spectrum, featuring big, bold flavors of mango, grapefruit and orange, in a package that comes in at 9 percent ABV. Go easy on this exciting brew, because it absolutely does not drink like it’s 9 percent ABV.

Long Brothers American IPA by Flying Goose Brew Pub (New London)

It’s difficult to describe styles within the IPA realm — seems to me there’s a good bit of overlap — but this is an American IPA, which I think tend to be a bit more intense on the palate. You’re still going to get big flavor notes from the hops but it’s a little more bracing and a little less what you might call juicy. This is extremely well-balanced and features some nice complexity.

Miles and Miles by Henniker Brewing Co. (Henniker)

This is a perfect session IPA, giving you just enough IPA character to satisfy your taste buds, in a lighter, lower ABV package. It’s drinkable, it’s tasty and you can have more than one.

What’s in My Fridge
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Framinghammer by Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers (Framingham, Mass.)
This Baltic porter is luscious, rich, decadent — pick your descriptor. This is a beer worth savoring. It’s also super boozy (12 percent ABV) and filled with deep notes of bourbon, chocolate, oak and maybe some vanilla. The brew is quite complex, boasting layers upon layers of flavor. The brewery puts out a number of versions of its barrel-aged Framinghammer, including salted caramel, French toast, coffee and tiramisu versions; every version I’ve tried has been delicious. Cheers.

Featured photo. Lucidity by Greater Good Imperial Brewing Co. Courtesy photo.

In her Little House books Laura Ingalls Wilder made a big deal out of the changing of the seasons. Fall was an obvious one with all the emphasis on the harvest, etc., but springtime was also a really big deal for her.

In one of the books — I don’t specifically remember which one — she goes into a four- or five-page reverie about her mother making the first salad of the year. She describes the lettuce that she grew, and how her ma would make a dressing out of bacon drippings and vinegar.

“Oh, Ma!” the barefoot kids would cry, “Salad!”

“Hooray! Salad!”

“By gum, Caroline,” her Pa would say, “You beat everyone else all hollow for making salad!”

And Ma would blush, and admit that while it wasn’t perfect, it was, in fact, a pretty good salad.”

And I, as a child of the ’70s, would stop reading briefly, and shout at the book.

“Seriously, people! It’s a salad! Get over it!”

What I didn’t or couldn’t realize at the time was that this frontier family had just come off a winter of living on potatoes, salt pork and hardtack, and now even the potatoes were gone. They all had early-stage rickets and scurvy. Fresh, leafy greens must have hit their systems like a vitamin A speedball.

Now, while we haven’t spent the winter locked up in a one-room shanty on the prairie, we are coming off a long takeout and frozen dinner jag. Many of us have spent the past week or two standing in our gardens, hands on hips, staring down at the seedlings and going, “WELL?!”

The big stuff — the cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn — is still a long way off, but we are starting to get a few tiny things, vegetable flirtations, if you will, from our gardens.

Springtime Cocktail #1

Peas and mint are a classic combination. My question was a matter of ratios — how much mint to how many peas?

I looked through many, many recipes and found very little agreement. But Martha Stewart advised 10 ounces of peas to 1/3 cup of mint leaves, and if there is anyone I would put blind trust in on this matter, it would be Martha.

The great thing about this recipe is that aside from washing the peas and mint, you don’t have to pluck, chop or process them in any fussy way.

Preparing the gin:

• 1/3 cup (8 grams) fresh mint — Don’t worry about plucking the leaves. The stems will work well here, too.
• 10 ounces fresh sugar snap peas or snow peas in their pods
• 10 ounces (285 grams) medium-quality gin — I used Gordon’s

Measure all three ingredients into a blender — a kitchen scale is excellent for this.

Blend thoroughly for a minute or so.

Leave the mixture to steep for an hour.

Strain with a fine-meshed kitchen strainer.

Your yield will be about a cup (8 ounces) of Bright Green Gin — enough for four cocktails.

The cocktail itself:

• 2 ounces Bright Green Gin
• 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce amaretto

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.

Shake.

Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

This is what I call a classic Utility Cocktail recipe — two parts alcohol, one part citrus juice, ¾ part syrup or liqueur.

Amaretto has a reputation of being a bully and taking over any drink it’s a part of. When used judiciously, it is an excellent team player. Peas go extremely well with mint – that’s a given. They also go with lemon and with almonds. All these ingredients play extremely well together.

The first thing you notice, of course, is the color, a bright vibrant green that even the amaretto won’t dull. The pea flavor is distinct but not overly assertive. The acid of the lemon juice brightens everything up.

It is startlingly delicious.

And holds off scurvy. There’s no sense in taking chances.

(One observation: The Bright Green Gin has a short shelf life. It will start losing its vibrant color and flavor within a couple of hours, so it is best to drink it right away. This is a perfect before-dinner cocktail to share with friends, or for two of you to have two apiece.)

Featured photo. Springtime Cocktail. Photo by John Fladd.