Category: Food

The Weekly Dish 22/02/03

News from the local food scene

• Meet Robert Irvine: The host of Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine will appear at the New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet in Bedford (9 Leavy Drive) on Thursday, Feb. 10, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sign bottles of his Irvine Dry Gin and Irvine Vodka, according to a press release. Proceeds from sales of those spirits go to support military personnel and first responders, the release said.

• Ready for kickoff: The Patriots may have been eliminated from the playoffs, but if you’re still planning on tuning in to the Big Game (Sunday, Feb. 13), some local eateries have you covered. Friendly Red’s Tavern (22 Haverhill Road, Windham) for instance, is offering party packs of 24 chicken wings with sauces, 16 potato skins with sour cream and 10 pretzel sticks with cheese sauce — orders will be accepted right through noon on the day of the game for onsite pickup. Email [email protected] or call 437-7251. At Copper Kettle To Go (39 Main St., Wilton), platters are available for pre-order featuring your choice of steak and cheese and chicken Parm egg rolls with dipping sauces, or assorted snacks like potato skins, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers and mango habanero wings, as well as Boston cream cake bombs. Order by Feb. 9, for pickup on Saturday, Feb. 12. Visit copperkettletogo.com.

• Eat organic: Join the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire for its 20th annual winter conference, to be held via Zoom over the course of several days from Sunday, Feb. 6, through Saturday, Feb. 12. Normally a one-day event with more than 40 interactive workshops, a keynote speaker and a Q&A session, the conference switched to a series of virtual events in 2021. The theme of this year’s conference is “collaboration and self-reliance,” with workshops that will cover a variety of topics such as community food security, agroforestry, beekeeping, organic seeding, edible garden growing and more. You don’t have to be an expert farmer or gardener to take part in them — anyone interested in learning about organic food practices is welcome to attend. According to NOFA-NH program coordinator Laura Angers, registration starts at $50 and includes access to all of the workshops, in addition to their recordings for three months after the conference if you miss any of them you wanted to view. Visit nofanh.org/winterconference for the full schedule of featured speakers, topics and times.

• Mischief and cocktails: Save the date for Manchester’s Most Wanted, a special interactive event happening at the Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St., Suite 103, Manchester) on Thursday, Feb. 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. Actors from the Majestic Theatre will be portraying some of the Queen City’s most nefarious pre-Victorian era villains throughout an evening that will also feature appetizers, a cash bar and more. Tickets are $25 per person or $20 per Manchester Historic Association member (event is 21+ only) and include a complimentary cocktail and souvenir shot glass. Visit manchesterhistoric.org/events to register.

• Capital City pies: After several months of construction, a new full-service dine-in restaurant featuring brick-oven artisan pizzas, appetizers and desserts made with local ingredients has arrived in downtown Concord. The New Hampshire Pizza Co. opened late last month in the former Crazy Goat space at 76 N. Main St., according to its website and social media pages, and also features local craft beers and specialty cocktails. It’s owned by Joel Harris, who also opened Dos Amigos Burritos, first in Portsmouth in 2003 and then in Concord four years later. “I’ve really come to love Concord … and I felt like full-service family-friendly brick-oven pizza would be a great addition to the city’s dining scene,” Harris told the Hippo back in August. Both traditional and specialty pies are available, in addition to gluten-free crusts and dairy-free options. The eatery is open Tuesday through Thursday, from 4 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, from 4 to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., for brunch. Visit newhampshirepizzaco.com.

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.

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