Category: Food

Pumpkin pie biscotti

We are working our way through the fall flavors in this column: first a savory sweet potato baked good, then a unique apple side dish. Now, it’s time to add some pumpkin to your menu.

Rather than serving pumpkin in a pie, it’s time to try it in biscotti. Not only does this give you a new way to eat biscotti, but it also makes it an acceptable way to eat cookies for breakfast. While you wouldn’t think about offering chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, biscotti seem to hover on the line as to whether they’re a dessert or breakfast treat.

These biscotti are simple to make and store incredibly well. Although if the people in your house are anything like mine, you won’t have to worry about storing them for long.

Michele Pesula Kuegler has been thinking about food her entire life. Since 2007, the New Hampshire native has been sharing these food thoughts and recipes at her blog, Think Tasty. Visit thinktasty.com to find more of her recipes.

Pumpkin pie biscotti
Makes 24

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup pumpkin purée
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla extract, beating until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix well.
Add pumpkin to mixture, stirring well to combine.
Divide dough in half.
Shape each half into a 10″ x 3″ rectangle, using floured hands.
Set loaves 2″ apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough is set.
Leaving the oven on, remove the baking tray and place on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
Transfer each loaf to a cutting board, and slice the loaves into diagonal bars, 1/2″ thick.
Return biscotti slices to the cookie sheet with the cut sides down.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Flip slices to other cut side, and bake for 10 minutes more.
Remove biscotti from oven, and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Combine white chocolate and coconut oil in a small microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir.
Continue heating chocolate in 15-second increments, stirring in between, until chocolate glaze is smooth.
Using a spoon, spread a layer of glaze on the tops or sides of biscotti.
Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set glaze.

Photo: Pumpkin pie biscotti. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

In the kitchen with Mackenzie Lindquist

Mackenzie Lindquist of Goffstown is the owner of Boston Bakes (find her on Facebook @bostonbakesnh and on Instagram @boston_bakes), a homestead business offering a variety of sweets and treats made to order, from birthday or special-occasion cakes to multiple flavors of macarons, cupcakes, cookies and more. Born and raised in New Hampshire, Lindquist got her start in the industry when she moved to Boston at the age of 18, first working at Flour Bakery + Cafe before later holding an assistant pastry chef position at Mistral, a French Bistro in the city’s South End. Just prior to going full-time with Boston Bakes, she was the pastry chef of Greenleaf in Milford for about a year, creating the farm-to-table eatery’s entire dessert menu while drawing on nostalgic flavors from her childhood. Orders can be placed through her Facebook or Instagram pages, or through her email at [email protected], with pre-arranged pickups out of Lindquist’s home. Local deliveries are also available.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Definitely a rubber spatula. People have heard me say so many times that I hate to waste product, so a rubber spatula always helps ensure that I get that last bit of whatever I’m baking.

What would you have for your last meal?

It’s a tie between barbecue eel sushi and birthday cake Oreos.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

My current favorite is Taipei & Tokyo, located in Bedford. I’ve been going there with my dad ever since I was younger. They consistently have the best Japanese food, for sure.

What celebrity would you like to see trying something that you’ve baked?

[Top Chef winner] Melissa King. She’s just an icon.

What is your personal favorite dessert that you’ve ever made?

I think it might be the three macaron trees that I did for a private event at Greenleaf. It was a project that took nearly two weeks to complete and had over 300 macarons, but it was so satisfying to see them at the end.

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

I think it’s probably farm-to-table dining. I love that people, especially now after Covid, are really interested in learning about where their food comes from and what is in season in New Hampshire. As chefs, we love to be able to teach people about that kind of stuff.

What is your favorite thing to make at home?

The humble chocolate chip cookie. They are just the best.

Mom’s soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
From the kitchen of Mackenzie Lindquist of Boston Bakes

1 can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons milk
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups chocolate chips
Cloves and/or nutmeg (optional)

Combine wet ingredients into one bowl and set aside. Combine dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips into another bowl. Whisk wet and dry ingredients together. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Scoop batter, about two tablespoons worth per cookie, onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges appear set. Wait until cool and enjoy.

Featured photo: Mackenzie Lindquist. Courtesy photo.

Riverside brews

Exeter’s Powder Keg Beer Festival returns

When the Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival was first held in downtown Exeter in 2012, there were only a few other events like it in New Hampshire. Nine years later it continues to be one of the largest beer festivals in New England, bringing together dozens of local and regional breweries collectively pouring more than 200 different beers, ciders and hard seltzers to try in one spot. After a one-year hiatus in 2020, Powder Keg is back — the festival will return on Saturday, Oct. 2, along Exeter’s Swasey Parkway by the Squamscott River.

Of course this year’s festival is not without its modifications, perhaps the most notable being the absence of chili makers that usually accompany the breweries. Instead there will be a few local food trucks parked throughout the day, in addition to some specialty food vendors.

“We didn’t want to approach restaurants about donating large amounts of chili and staffing a booth, because we know how hard it’s been for the industry,” said Greg Bisson, director of the Exeter Parks & Recreation Department, which organizes the festival in collaboration with the town’s Chamber of Commerce, “but that also allowed us to spread out our beer vendors more. So, where we used to have four big-top tents with all of the breweries under them, we are now spreading them out on the perimeter of the whole entire park to allow people to have their own booth … and give them a couple of feet of open air away from others.”

Another change is the implementation of two ticketed sessions. Beer lovers can choose to attend and receive unlimited beer tastings either from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., or from 2 to 4 p.m.

An eclectic lineup of brews will be represented, Bisson said, from multiple styles of IPAs to sours, stouts and many seasonal releases. Festival organizers partner with the social network app Untappd to provide an online list of what you will encounter.

Beer purveyors will range from big names like Sam Adams to breweries right in Exeter or surrounding towns. In some cases they may showcase some harder-to-find offerings.

“The Exeter Brewing Co. will bring its Swasey Daze [New England IPA], which only drops in a few stores, so that’s a bit of a unique situation,” Bisson said. “We always get the variety of pumpkin beers, being in the fall … [and] we’ve been seeing a trend in hard seltzers as well.”

Truly Hard Seltzer, for instance, will be there pouring its lemon iced tea, tropical punch and strawberry lemonade. As an alternative to hard seltzer but without the carbonation, NOCA Beverages is a company founded by three University of New Hampshire graduates — they will be at the festival too, pouring multiple flavors of their spiked still water.

As it is Oktoberfest season, you can expect a fair share of Märzen-style lagers or festbiers, including those from Woodland Farms Brewery of Kittery, Maine, Long Blue Cat Brewing Co. of Londonderry, and Sawbelly Brewing Co. of Exeter, to name a few.

Cabot Creamery will be giving out cheese samples to pair with your beers, while options from the featured food trucks will include burgers from Lexie’s Burger Bus and sweets from Clyde’s Cupcakes, both of Exeter. Chubba Wubba’s Sweets & Refreshments, a Seabrook-based mobile kitchen converted from an old Manchester Transit Authority bus, will be serving ice cream and other treats, while Chubb’s Fries & Dough will provide fair food.

“I think there’s a lot to offer in Exeter … and we hope, with the short two-hour blocks, it offers people the opportunity to enjoy downtown,” Bisson said.

Powder Keg Beer Festival

When: Saturday, Oct. 2; two ticketed sessions are offered, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 2 to 4 p.m.
Where: Swasey Parkway, Exeter
Cost: General admission tickets are $35 in advance and $45 at the door ($10 in advance and $15 at the door for designated drivers). Attendees can also purchase a commemorative pint glass at the festival for $10.
Visit: powderkegbeerfest.com
Event is 21+ only. No children or pets are allowed. Free parking is located around the festival’s entrance off Water Street, as well as at the Main Street School (40 Main St.) and the Lincoln Street Elementary School (25 Lincoln St.).

Featured photo: Photo by Allie Burke Photography.

A bite of the apple

AppleFest returns to Nashua

For more than a decade the Salvation Army of Nashua has partnered with Sullivan Farm to present AppleFest, an annual outdoor event marking peak apple-picking season with local foods, demonstrations, family-friendly activities, games and more. After a year off, the two-day festival will return to the farm on Saturday, Oct. 2, and Sunday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

“We are so excited to be back doing it again this year. We all really missed it,” Salvation Army of Nashua administrative assistant and AppleFest coordinator Amie Groff said. “It’s a great fall family event, and it’s something that the kids look forward to all year long.”

A rainy summer season has helped produce a bountiful crop this year for apple orchards across the Granite State, including at Sullivan Farm, which is also open for pick-your-own daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Kathy Williams, who owns the farm with her husband, Bob, said there are several apple varieties grown on the orchard, from McIntosh and Cortland to Macoun, Mutsu and Red Delicious. This year Lull Farm has also opened a small satellite farm stand at Sullivan Farm, selling its fresh fruits, vegetables, mums, cider, eggs and more.

“There’s a good crop,” Williams said. “All of the rain was definitely helpful in sizing up the apples. … They are not overly big, but bigger than they have been in some previous years.”

Courtesy photo.

AppleFest will have two ticket booths set up at its entrance, Groff said — tickets are either $1 apiece or 25 for $20 and are used to purchase foods or gain access to featured activities.

Fresh apple crisp and apple pies will be available for sale, using mostly Sullivan Farm-grown apples. According to Groff, culinary students from Nashua Community College and Nashua High School North respectively prepare each dessert, both of which can additionally be ordered with vanilla ice cream. The Salvation Army of Nashua will provide additional food options, like hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and popcorn.

“We’ll also be doing a little chance raffle, so we’ll have some baskets set up and you can put your name in there to win,” Groff said. “We have lots of gift cards from local restaurants, a watch from Cardin Jewelers, and a huge painting from the Art by Nonda gallery on Main Street.”

Throughout both days there will be live music, face painting and pumpkin painting, plus demonstrations from local groups and businesses, like Tokyo Joe’s martial arts studio. Kids will have the opportunity to make their own scarecrows or go on a hayride throughout the apple orchards. Pony rides, a petting zoo, and a touch-a-truck event with members of the Nashua Fire Department are all also expected, Groff said.

AppleFest

When: Saturday, Oct. 2, and Sunday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days
Where: Sullivan Farm, 70 Coburn Ave., Nashua
Cost: Tickets are either $1 apiece or 25 for $20, and are used to purchase various foods and activities offered during the festival
Visit: nne.salvationarmy.org/nashua/applefest
Event is rain or shine.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 21/09/30

News from the local food scene

• May the best chili win: Join Goffstown Ace Hardware (5 Depot St.) for its annual Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off,set for Saturday, Oct. 2. Chili entrants are welcome to bring a slow cooker of their best batches by 10:30 a.m., with sampling beginning at 11 a.m. Prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners for each chili at 1 p.m., as voted by all attendees. Pat Barss of Goffstown Ace Hardware told the Hippo that all chili varieties have been known to be featured at the cook-off, from beef and venison to white chilis and vegan chilis. No cost is required to enter your chili or attend as a taster. Find the event on Goffstown Ace Hardware’s Facebook page @goffstownhardware for more details.

• A taste of Germany: Head to Mile Away Restaurant (52 Federal Hill Road, Milford) for an Oktoberfest celebration on Sunday, Oct. 3, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. The event will feature dinner plates available for $17 per person, with options like sauerbraten (German pot roast), schweineschnitzel (pork schnitzel), hunter’s stew or spicy beef and sausage chili with cheddar cheese, along with two sides (German potato salad, sea salt chips and sauerkraut, braised red cabbage, pickled beets or applesauce). There will also be a dessert and pretzel station with additional a la carte items, like pumpkin pie, Black Forest cake, flourless chocolate cake and more. Live music will be featured from the TubaFrau Hofbräu Band, a Waltham, Mass.-based German oompah band. There is a $20 parking fee per car. The event is cash only and first-come, first-served. Visit mileawayrestaurantnh.com. For more details on Oktoberfest celebrations and a full list of upcoming events happening in New Hampshire, check out our cover story in the Sept. 23 issue of the Hippo, which begins on page 18.

• Flavors of fall: Tuscan Market (9 Via Toscana, Salem) will hold its Toscana Fest, an annual Italian street festival and fundraiser, on Sunday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to multiple flavors of gelato and other options from local food vendors, this year’s Toscana Fest will feature a variety of family-friendly activities like face painting, pumpkin painting, carnival games and a bounce house, plus crafts, live music and more. Admission is free and foods are priced per item. Proceeds from the event benefit Lazarus House Ministries in Lawrence, Mass., a nonprofit that helps people in need by providing transitional housing and educational and work preparation programs. Visit tuscanbrands.com.

• From vines to wines: LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst) is hosting the fourth and final session of its Walks in the Vineyard series on Sunday, Oct. 3, at 11 a.m. Vineyard manager Josh Boisvert and wine educator Marie King will lead participants on an educational walk throughout LaBelle’s Amherst vineyard, focused on the vines’ overall life cycles. You’ll also have the opportunity to taste four different types of wines throughout the session. No previous knowledge of wine or attendance of previous vineyard walks is required. Admission is $27.25 per person and includes tax. Visit labellewinery.com.

Pumpkin time

Why these seasonal brews are hard not to like

I know I get all indignant about pumpkin beers, specifically that they arrive too soon each year, but the reality is, I like them. Labor Day hits and wham, it’s pumpkin time.

OK, honestly, I usually make it until later in September, but this year I was ready early. It was a strange summer and I think I was ready to turn the page.

When it comes right down to it, the complex, sweet, earthy flavor of this giant squash actually does go well with beer.

Yes, I do think you can run into pumpkin beers that are too sweet, too syrupy and maybe more pumpkin pie spice than pumpkin, but I also think you’re starting to see a greater array of really good pumpkin beers, particularly as craft brewers jump on board with this style.

While I dare to say the cinnamon-sugar-rimmed glass shouldn’t be shunned as it so often is by beer enthusiasts, there’s just more to pumpkin beer now than simply sugar and spice. Brewers are roasting locally grown pumpkins — or using fresh — to develop a rich, sweet, complex flavor that creates delicious, interesting beers.

You are seeing pumpkin beers run the gamut, from big, heavy stouts and porters with a pumpkiny, malty backbone to super light, crisp brews that accentuate the sweetness of pumpkin — and everything in between. So you have plenty of choices.

Despite being awfully sweet and syrupy, the Southern Tier Pumking is an explosion of flavor. Shipyard has taken a step past its popular Pumpkinhead with its Smashed Pumpkin, which is, well, a lot more intense with its 9 percent ABV.

Local craft brewers are experimenting with pumpkin, not satisfied with the more mass-produced beers, pairing pumpkins with yams, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, molasses and more. They’re pairing pumpkin with an array of seasonal flavors and many are experimenting with barrel-aging and souring.

As beer drinkers, we’re the real winners here. If you do like pumpkin beers, it’s an exciting time. Here are four pumpkin beers to enjoy this fall.

Pumpkin Ale by Smuttynose Brewing Co. (Hampton)

This is a longtime favorite of mine: hearty, not too sweet and just a little spicy. Although, honestly, I haven’t had it in a few years, more by accident, so I’m looking forward to it this year to see if its taste or my palate has evolved. My memory says the pumpkin is very present, but not so overpowering.

Toasted Pumpkin Ale by 603 Brewery (Londonderry)

I love this beer. The brewery makes this with real organic pumpkin and then ages the brew on Madagascar vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks. This is just exploding with flavor.

Post Road Pumpkin Ale by Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, New York)

I think this is a perfect pumpkin brew: pumpkin-forward with just a little spice, it’s warming and sessionable. I grabbed one of these recently after a long day of yard work and, well, that was just the right move.

Pumpkin Patch Ale by Rogue Ales and Spirits (Newport, Oregon)

They grow their own pumpkins. That’s just pretty cool and indicative, again, of brewers’ commitment to this style. Vanilla, orange peel, cardamon, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg together make this a spice-forward pumpkin beer. If you’re going to go spice, you might as well not hold back. This beer certainly doesn’t.

What’s in my fridge

Islands IPA by Mast Landing Brewing Co. (Westbrook, Maine)
I’ve got to say I’m yet to try a beer by this brewery that I don’t love. I feel like they’re just meeting me on my level time and time again. I find an inherent drinkability with all their beers. This is a double dry-hopped IPA brewed with Azacca, Simcoe and Centennial hops that delivers a fresh, clean and tropical punch. This is one you’re going to return to over and over. Cheers!

Featured photo: Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is a classic. Courtesy photo.

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