Category: Food

Curing the winter blues

Spoiler alert: Winter is long and cold

“I have the winter blues,” my wife said to me many years ago.

At the time, the phrase and concept was new to me and I was perplexed and largely unsympathetic.

“You’re sad because it’s cold?” I said.

Turns out that might not have been the best response. A hug may have been a better move.

I get it now though. Winter doesn’t really bother me in that it’s cold. Cold is OK by me. But while spring, summer and fall seem especially fleeting, winter just seems to carry on longer than it should, comparatively speaking. When you get to late January, not even the biggest ski bum on the planet could convince me they don’t think about warmer weather when scraping the ice off their windshield or taking the trash out on a bitter cold night.

That is quite enough complaining about the weather. The fact is winter is cold and long, and beer is the only cure.

During the coldest nights, I tend to find myself turning to higher-alcohol brews, big beers I can sip and savor as I let the alcohol warm me up from the inside out. Imperial stouts, barrel-aged brews and barleywines are just what the doctor ordered.

These are beers with layers of complex flavors that deserve your attention, and with plenty of alcohol to numb your senses to the cold.

I should add that these big beers are perfect for sharing. A whole pint of a 13-percent ABV brew is a lot, so find a friend who needs help with the winter blues, too.

Here are five big beers from New Hampshire to help you through the coldest stretches of the winter.

Erastus by Schilling Beer Co. (Littleton)

This Belgian-style tripel is just wonderful stuff, boasting a little peppery spice, some interesting fruit notes and a deliciously dry finish. This complex brew is one of my all-time favorites and I would drink this any time of the year but it’s perfect on a cold winter night. Erastus gives you plenty to consider as you sip. The fruitiness, coupled with the spice, is tasty and unique.

Fat Alberta by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

This is a chocolate peanut butter Russian imperial stout. Full stop. This is dessert in a glass with big notes of, you guessed it, chocolate and peanut butter. It’s so rich and so warming thanks to the 11 percent ABV — deliciously decadent. Enjoy this by the fire with or without a couple peanut butter cups.

Barrel-Aged RIS 2015 by Stoneface Brewing Co. (Newington)

This is another Russian imperial stout but this one is aged in bourbon barrels, which adds notes of oak and vanilla to an already flavorful and complex brew. At 9.5 percent ABV, the brew packs a punch but it’s still approachable compared to other bourbon barrel-aged brews that can exceed 14 percent ABV.

Quadracalabasia by Lithermans Limited (Concord)

This limited-release brew is a Belgian quadrupel that is brewed with roasted pumpkins and graham crackers. I haven’t had the pleasure of trying this incredible-sounding brew but I look forward to it. The brewery says the beer is “medium bodied and deeply complex with notes of plum, dark fruits and molasses.”

Ironside Barleywine by Kelsen Brewing Co. (Derry)

When it comes to big beers, Kelsen has cornered the market. Ironside is an English-style barleywine aged in brandy barrels for 18 months. The brewery describes it as “boozy and complex with notes of caramel, toffee, oak, vanilla and Werther’s candies.” Hello. This is exactly what I’m looking for when I’m completely sick of winter.

What’s in My Fridge

Modernism by Schilling Beer Co. (Littleton)

This Czech-style dark lager is tremendous, featuring notes of chocolate and coffee and a smooth, extremely easy-drinking package. The beer is a perfect example of how dark beers don’t have to be heavy. You’ll want another. Cheers!

Featured photo: Fat Alberta Chocolate Peanut Butter Russian Imperial Stout by Throwback Brewery. Courtesy photo.

Bruschetta with lemon honey ricotta

This recipe makes a simple but incredibly glamorous appetizer. As a bonus, it is an appetizer that is much better when made individually — by the people eating it. All that is required of you, the cook, is to prepare the ingredients and set them in serving dishes. Your guests will transform them from ingredients to a delicious snack.

Although one of the big selling points of this appetizer is the minimal amount of work required, I would be remiss not to tell you how delicious it is. This recipe is a Venn diagram of flavor and texture. It consists of salty, sweet and sour flavors, providing great balance. There are crunchy and creamy textures to make this appetizer even more appealing to your palate.

However, there is one caveat to the making of this bruschetta. You need to use good ricotta. There are two options for good ricotta. One, you can make your own. It may sound daunting; it really isn’t. You can find a simple recipe at my website, thinktasty.com, or elsewhere on the internet. Two, you can find a good cheese shop or Italian grocery store where they sell homemade ricotta. The stuff you find in a grocery store is fine when hidden under sauce or noodles. For this recipe you want better than fine.

Once you have the ricotta (and other ingredients) on hand, all that is required is about 10 minutes’ worth of work. Slice and toast the baguette. Zest and juice the lemon. Stir those items into the ricotta. Put everything on the counter. Let your fellow diners make their snacks!

Bruschetta with lemon honey ricotta
Serves 6

1 crusty baguette, approximately 10.5 ounces
16 ounces ricotta
1 medium lemon
Honey
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut baguette diagonally into 1/4-inch slices.
Place slices on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Place ricotta in a small bowl.
Zest lemon; add to ricotta.
Juice lemon, removing any seeds, and add to ricotta.
Stir well.
Top each crostini with a hearty tablespoon of ricotta mixture.
Drizzle with honey.
Sprinkle with a flake or two of sea salt.

Photo: Bruschetta with lemon honey ricotta. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

In the kitchen with Jenn Bongiorno

Jenn Bongiorno of Londonderry is a certified personal chef and the owner of Doors Locked; Fridge Loaded (doorslockedfridgeloaded.com, find her on Facebook), a homestyle meal preparation and delivery service she launched last year with busy families in mind. New menus serving four people, usually including three meals and one dessert option, are posted to her group page on Facebook every Tuesday. Items change based on their accessibility and seasonality — during the winter months, one meal will typically consist of a soup or stew, while most weeks also feature one vegetarian meal. Ordering is available through 8 p.m. that Thursday. Bongiorno prepares and cooks each meal at Creative Chef Kitchens in Derry that weekend, and local deliveries in the Derry and Londonderry areas are made by Sunday evening.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Second to a knife, obviously, it would be my vegetable peeler. I pride myself on the fact that I’m using veggies all the time, and if I can help it I’m never buying frozen ingredients. … I’m buying fresh ingredients the day that I’m prepping, and I’m always washing and peeling those vegetables.

What would you have for your last meal?

Pulled pork macaroni and cheese from Mr. Mac’s. If it’s my last meal, that’s definitely what I’m going for.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Chez Vachon in Manchester. … Lots of people I know go there for the poutine, but I love their crepes. They have wonderful, delicious crepes that are thin and crusty on the outside and buttery on the inside.

What celebrity would you like to prepare a meal for?

Alton Brown. I love watching all of his shows on Food Network. … He strikes me as a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I would totally make him something vegetarian just to challenge myself and to have the chance to really wow him.

What is your favorite meal that you’ve made?

I think it would be the grilled chicken and vegetable pasta salad. … It’s my go-to in the summer, but honestly, you’ll find me cooking it year-round because it’s just super easy and it’s a nice protein-packed meal.

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

I would say keto. I’ve had lots of people reaching out to me and asking if I do keto [meals], but actually I’m kind of the opposite. Keto is very low on veggies, and I’m always packing in veggies whenever and wherever I can.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

One of my weekly or bi-weekly meals that I never ever get sick of is my Mexican lasagna. … I’ll layer ground sirloin that’s mixed with corn, onions, peppers, roasted diced tomatoes and garlic, and sometimes I’ll put shredded carrots in there too for a little bit of sweetness. … You smother a tortilla with refried beans, put the mixture on top with cheese and you just keep layering it so that when you cut it, it looks like lasagna. It’s so delicious.

Grilled chicken and vegetable pasta salad
From the kitchen of Jenn Bongiorno of Doors Locked; Fridge Loaded

1 to 1¼ pounds chicken (or sirloin tips or pork cutlets), cut into 2-inch chunks
2 zucchinis, sliced in 1½-inch rounds
2 red peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large red onion, chopped into 2-inch pieces
1 pound box of tri-colored rotini or cheese tortellini, cooked al dente
1 bottle Ken’s Caesar vinaigrette dressing (oil-based, not creamy)

Throw meat and vegetables in a large lidded container. Pour enough of the dressing on it to cover the ingredients, making sure everything is coated. You’ll use about two-thirds of the bottle, saving the rest for a step further. Marinate for 12 to 24 hours. Cook, drain and set pasta aside in the refrigerator. Fire up the grill or broiler. Remove and grill the marinated ingredients over medium-high heat until the chicken registers 165 degrees and the veggies have a nice char on them. If broiling, broil on high but lower the shelf to the second-highest setting in the oven and watch closely. Dispose of any marinade the meat was sitting in. Mix all of the veggies, meat and pasta in a large bowl. Add the remainder of the vinaigrette from the bottle and toss well. Add some shredded cheese, if desired. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Featured photo: Jenn Bongiorno. Courtesy photo.

Wine all you want

Self-serve wine bar coming to Bedford

While down in South Carolina for work, Leah Bellemore was introduced to Ardoa, a wine bar featuring interactive self-serve dispensers used to sample selections by the glass.

“Immediately, I got online and tried to find out if there was anything like this in New Hampshire,” said Bellemore, who lives in Bedford with her husband, Tom, and two daughters. “It just seemed like the coolest business model that I could ever experience.”

An internet search revealed the nearest self-serve wine bar to be all the way down on the South Shore of Massachusetts, and that was when Bellemore realized she had a unique opportunity.

At Vine 32 Wine + Graze Bar, on track to open soon in Bedford Square, you’ll be able to try different wines at your own pace in a casual, relaxed environment. A total of 32 options sourced from all over the world will be available out of several Italian-made self-serve Enomatic wine dispensers, which are able to preserve them for up to 65 days.

“What’s really wonderful about it is that we’re able to offer higher-end wines … that maybe you wouldn’t be able to try anywhere without committing to a whole bottle,” Bellemore said. “Since they’ll be rotating, you can try something new every single time you come in, and really be able to expand upon what you might not even know your preference could be.”

Wine drinkers can choose from three servings of one-, four- or six-ounce pours of each. Similar to opening a tab at a bar, you’ll get a wine key card upon checking in — that key card is your tool to access the dispensers, and it even keeps track of your overall usage.

“They have a monitoring device on them,” Tom Bellemore said. “There are so many volumes per hour and we can adjust it … but it shuts them off, so we have that extra layer of security.”

Staff members known as “wine liaisons” will be on hand to help you use the machines. Leah Bellemore said they’ll also be trained to show you what to look for and offer suggestions for your next wine choice, including some of the best available wine and food flavor pairings.

“This is really more of an approachable way to just figure out what you like,” she said.

In addition to the self-serve wines, Vine 32 will offer a food menu featuring customizable charcuterie boards. Each will come with fig jam, a crusty baguette and an assorted nut blend and will have a variety of locally sourced meats, cheeses and produce, as well as items like tapenades, hummus and a nduja, a spicy prosciutto spread.

Also available will be a few flatbreads with flavors like pesto chicken and margherita, and some sweeter items, from assorted macaroons and truffles to a cookie skillet à la mode.

Vine 32 won’t require reservations to use the wine dispensers. For larger parties of eight or more, it can host everything from birthday parties to networking or corporate events. A patio is also planned for the space by the spring or summer.

Vine 32 Wine + Graze Bar
An opening date is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Visit their website or follow them on social media for updates.

Where: 25 S. River Road, Unit 107, Bedford
Anticipated hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 4 to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday, 4 to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 2 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, 2 to 9 p.m. (closed on Mondays)
More info: Visit vinethirtytwo.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram @vinethirtytwo

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Best spuds

Manchester couple launches The Potato Concept

A new local business venture is proving that a simple russet potato twice baked with butter and salt is a great vessel for all kinds of flavor profiles, from broccoli and cheddar to a poutine potato with cheese curds and gravy to a Mexican-inspired “PoTaco.”

Brandon Rainer and Lauren Lefebvre, owners and founders of The Potato Concept. Courtesy photo.

The Potato Concept was founded by Lauren Lefebvre and Brandon Rainer. The Manchester couple sold their first loaded spuds at the Made in New England Expo last month and will next appear at Great North Aleworks for a pop-up event on Saturday, Jan. 29.

“The versatility behind a potato was very attractive to us,” Lefebvre said of coming up with the idea for The Potato Concept. “It’s also accommodating to all dietary restrictions or needs, whether you’re plant-based or vegan or dairy- or gluten-free. … There’s something for everyone, and the toppings that we put on them are really what make each individual recipe unique.”

Each potato is hollowed out before it’s filled and topped with your desired flavor option. Licensed through Creative Chef Kitchens in Derry, The Potato Concept will often have specially curated menus depending on where you find it. A pop-up they hosted at Rockingham Brewing Co. in mid-December, for instance, featured a beef stew option cooked with the brewery’s Belly of the Beast bacon imperial stout. At the Great North Aleworks event on Jan. 29, you can order a broccoli cheddar loaded potato with an amber lager cheese.

“It’s not an idea that has to stay with a brewpub, but if we were to pop up anywhere, we can kind of collaborate with a different product or atmosphere that we’re catering to,” Lefebvre said.

The Ginger Sweet (Sweet potato blended with brown sugar and butter, topped with marshmallows and gingersnap cookie crumbles). Photo courtesy of The Potato Concept.

Other menu options include the Classic, with lettuce, tomato, chives, sour cream; a Loaded Classic option that adds bacon and cheddar cheese; and the Buff Potato, which features Buffalo chicken, Gorgonzola cheese, sour cream, celery and scallions. The “PoTaco,” meanwhile, has lettuce, tomato, sour cream and cheese, and can be made with either Angus or vegan beef.

Lefebvre and Rainer also continue to experiment with different flavors, trying out recipes like a cheesy spinach and artichoke potato; a barbecue pork potato with coleslaw, pickled red cabbage and fresh corn; and the “Ginger Sweet,” featuring a sweet potato that’s blended with brown sugar and butter and topped with marshmallows and gingersnap cookies. They’ve also created a few breakfast-themed potatoes, like bacon or sausage potatoes with scrambled eggs and cheese, and a corned beef hash potato with steamed asparagus and hollandaise sauce.

A catering menu offers all of these and more, along with the ability to design your own creations, right down to the potato itself, the protein and more than a dozen toppings. Their ultimate goal, Rainer said, is for The Potato Concept to eventually evolve into a traveling box truck.

The Potato Concept

When: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2 to 7 p.m.
Where: Great North Aleworks, 1050 Holt Ave., No. 14, Manchester
More info: Visit thepotatoconcept.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram, or email them at [email protected]

Featured photo: The Buff Potato (Buffalo chicken, Gorgonzola cheese, celery, sour cream and scallions). Photo courtesy of The Potato Concept.

The Weekly Dish 22/01/27

News from the local food scene

• Seniors Valentine’s luncheon: The Salvation Army of Northern New England is inviting Manchester and Bedford area seniors to attend its annual Valentine’s Day luncheon, which will take place at the organization’s Manchester Corps (121 Cedar St.) on Thursday, Feb. 10, at 11:30 a.m. Entertainment will be provided by The Sunshiners. Call 627-7013 by Feb. 3 to make a reservation, or visit nne.salvationarmy.org/manchester.

• Tastes through time: Join chef Liz Barbour of The Creative Feast in Hollis for Cooking Lessons from a Colonial Kitchen: Recipes Then & Now, a virtual event scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. Barbour will take attendees on a tour of her historic 1744 New Hampshire village kitchen, discussing its workings and the typical foods that would have been prepared during the colonial era. The class will then include a cooking demonstration featuring some recipes with historic roots that Barbour has adapted for today’s cooks, including rack of lamb with roasted potatoes and a mint vinaigrette. Recipe information, along with the ingredient and equipment list, will be emailed to participants shortly after registration. The cost is $20 per registrant. A link to the recording will also be emailed following the class. Register online at thecreativefeast.com. or find Barbour on Facebook @thecreativefeast.

• Flavors of the world: Copper Kettle To Go (39 Main St., Wilton) is inviting you on a year-long culinary journey with Around the World in 36 Dishes. Every month, the eatery will combine various internationally inspired dishes with its own unique hometown flair — guests will receive a culinary “passport” marked for each country visited. The month of January is celebrating Turkey. Countries to follow will include Brazil in February, France in March, Greece in April, India in May, Sweden in June, Spain in July, Argentina in August, Thailand in September, Germany in October, Italy in November and Vietnam in December. Tickets are $50 per person and cover one three-course meal for each month (items are currently dine-in only; optional add-on wine bottles are $30). Visit copperkettletogo.com.

• Wine and dine: Third-generation Argentinian winemaker Patricio Santos will be in New Hampshire for three local wine events this week – catch him at The Black Trumpet Bistro (29 Ceres St., Portsmouth, 431-0887, blacktrumpetbistro.com) and at Gauchos Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse (62 Lowell St., Manchester, 669-9460, gauchosbraziliansteakhouse.com), which will hold wine dinners on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 5:30 p.m., and Friday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m., respectively. He’ll also be at WineNot Boutique (25 Main St., Nashua, 204-5569, winenotboutique.com) for a wine class and tasting on Saturday, Jan. 29, from 2 to 6 p.m. Santos is the owner of Tercos Winery and the son of Ricardo Santos, the first winemaker from Argentina to export Malbec to the United States more than 30 years ago, according to a press release.

• Chili cook-off postponed: The Amherst Lions Club’s sixth annual Fire & Ice chili cook-off and ice cream social, which had been set for Friday, Feb. 4, has been postponed due to the latest Covid surge. The goal, according to Amherst Lion Joan Ferguson, is to have a new set date for the event in mid- to late March or later in the spring. The cook-off brings together area restaurateurs and community members for a friendly competition for the best chilis, all to raise money for local charities. Visit e-clubhouse.org/sites/amherstnh or follow the Amherst Lions Club on Facebook @amherstlionsclub for updates on the cook-off.

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