Category: Food

South End sandwiches and more

Flanagan’s Southender opens in Concord

Photo of the outside of a building with wrap around porch, a US flag, an Open flag and cars parked in front
Photo of a wrap full of chicken salad, tomato and lettuce

As a kid growing up in Concord’s South End, Dave Banzhoff can remember frequenting the former Ordway’s Market across the street from his childhood home. Decades later, Banzhoff is back in his hometown as chef of a new grab-and-go and takeout eatery — housed in the very same building as Ordway’s all those years ago.

Flanagan’s Southender Deli & Market, which opened on June 18, gets its name from co-owners and brothers Ian and Tynan Flanagan, childhood friends of Banzhoff’s who were also regulars at Ordway’s. The pair recruited him to return to his old stomping grounds once they found out the property was for sale. At the time, Banzhoff was living in Florida working as a cook at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, but it didn’t take much convincing for him to return.

“My wife and I are both New Hampshire locals, and we were actually looking to come back home anyway,” he said. “I had worked at the Omni Mount Washington Resort for seven years [as a cook], and I had learned a lot there.”

For the last 11 years, the popular spot at the intersection of South Street and Iron Works Road was known as Cimo’s South End Deli. The Flanagan brothers took over the space on June 1 from former owner John Cimokoski, according to Banzhoff. Since then, the trio has spent the last several weeks remodeling and working on an all new menu.

“When it was Ordway’s it was more of a neighborhood deli and market, and over the years it’s kind of turned into a convenience store,” Banzhoff said. “So we’re moving away from that and going back to fresh, homemade food, grab-and-go salads, sandwiches, pizzas, things like that. … It’s a fresher, more modern take on the deli and market.”

Breakfast is available from 6 to 11 a.m. each day, featuring items like sandwiches, burritos, a pizza with an egg scramble and crumbled bacon, and baked goods like homemade muffins. They also carry a selection of doughnuts from Brothers Donuts of Franklin.

The lunch menu includes more than a dozen hot and cold sandwiches You can stick with a traditional option and get a chicken Parmigiana, an Italian sandwich or a steak and cheese, or you can build your own sandwich, choosing a meat (turkey, ham or roast beef), a cheese (American, Swiss, provolone or cheddar) and assorted toppings and extras. Banzhoff said two or three specials a day on sandwiches, soups and chowders will be featured.

There are also pizzas available by the slice or as whole pies, as well as some fried foods, like french fries, onion rings and chicken fingers.

Salads include larger, entree-sized options such as Caesar, Greek and caprese, and smaller, grab-and-go selections like mixed fruit salad, coleslaw, broccoli salad and macaroni salad.

“We’re going to try to do some stuff that people can take home and grill like steaks, kebabs and marinated chicken,” Banzhoff said. “We definitely also want to tap into grab-and-go entrees … where people can take something home, heat it up and feed a family of four. That’s something that we’ve never had here before.”

On the market side of the business, Banzhoff said there is a greater selection of local products than there was before, from craft beers to items like candies and maple syrup.

While Flanagan’s Southender is a takeout business, a few picnic tables have been added outside. About seven to 10 flavors of ice cream are available out of a stationary trailer on the property.

Boxed lunches, which include a sandwich, chips, a drink and a house baked cookie, can be ordered for groups of five or more.

“A big thing that we’re going to keep doing from Cimo’s is … supporting the local sports teams, so we do boxed lunches for all the middle school and high school sports teams from Bow and Concord,” Banzhoff said. “We all have strong ties to this neighborhood … and that was something that we wanted to keep doing for the community.”

Flanagan’s Southender Deli & Market
Where: 250 South St., Concord
Hours: Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (hours are according to the website and are subject to change)
More info: Visit flanagansouthender.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram, or call 856-8020

IPA is still king

There is no getting around it

We can talk about stouts and sours and Belgian-style brews and Pilsners and barrel-aging and so on and so forth, but at the end of the day the IPA is still driving the bus. So, let’s get right into it.

I’ve been fortunate to have a series of excellent IPAs recently — not all at once, mind you — and even as I find myself overwhelmed or even burnt out with the style at times, I can’t help myself from going back time and time again.

Simply put, IPAs remain delicious and brewers seem to continually find ways to create exciting brews that delight the palate.

Here are three IPAs I’ve recently enjoyed and one I look forward to enjoying.

Angelica Hazy Orange IPA by Lord Hobo Brewing Co. (Woburn, Massachusetts)

I love the citrusy, sweet burst of a New England-style IPA that gives it that “juicy” characteristic. The combination of hops can provide an array of tropical flavors like papaya, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and orange. So all of that said, I was intrigued but also scared of this beer. Like I said, I like the citrusy burst but I get scared when a beer is labeled with the name of a fruit. It just screams “too sweet” to me. I need not have been afraid. On a blistering hot and humid day, this beer was refreshing, drinkable and extremely tasty. There is big orange flavor but I never got the over-the-top sweetness I feared. Lord Hobo also produces a non-orange version that is also delicious.

Trading Tales Dry Hopped Lager by Collective Arts Brewing Co. (Waunakee, Wisconsin) in collaboration with Dancing Gnome Brewery (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

I know, I know this is technically a lager but take a sip and you’ll slot this into the IPA category too. This brew hits you in the face with hops, specifically strata and citra hops but it comes in at an eminently drinkable 5.1-percent ABV. This was an absolute pleasure to drink, and, as with all Collective Arts brews, the can artwork, is, well, interesting.

Rise Double IPA by Breakaway Beerworks (Manchester)

I recently stumbled upon this brewery and grabbed this beer thinking I was grabbing something from an entirely different brewery. Now that it’s clear that I might not be all that detail-oriented these days, I’m glad I did mistakenly choose this brewery, which actually brews its beers at Great North Aleworks in Manchester. Rise is an aggressive brew that is, I think, best described as “amped up.” The hops are amped up, the flavor is amped up, the bitterness is amped up and the alcohol is amped up. But these are all good things. I’m just giving you a heads up. It’s a bold IPA that brings huge citrus and pine flavor. This is a terrific double IPA and I look forward to trying more brews from this brewery.

Playlist 07:01 IPA by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

Many breweries are offering ever-evolving versions of their IPAs, keeping the recipe the same but switching up the hop combination or some other aspect of the brew to create a new and interesting concoction with each batch. Throwback’s Playlist beer series features the same “base IPA recipe,” of oats and malts, but they switch up the yeast or the hops with each batch. This iteration, made with dragon, wolf, fox and citra hops and kveik yeast, features flavors of citrus, strawberry and light honey, along with light herbal tea and pine notes, according to the brewery. I’ll be tracking this one down.

What’s in My Fridge
Rise A.P.A. by Whalers Brewing Co. (Wakefield, Rhode Island) I love the can design here featuring a big ol’ whale, of all things, on the front. Their flagship brew, this is a pretty easy-drinking, dry-hopped American Pale Ale that paired quite well with watching my kids run through sprinklers on a hot day. Cheers!

In The Kitchen with Maria Bares

Maria Bares of Deerfield is the owner of The Bakers Hands (facebook.com/thebakershands), a homestead business that offers a variety of baked goods, like cinnamon rolls, biscuits, cakes, scones and breads, plus specialty treats like dairy-free mango pudding and blueberry lemon thyme cake. Bares, who has been baking since she was a kid growing up in an Italian household, said she saw an opportunity to launch The Bakers Hands once Covid-19 began to affect New Hampshire. She started with advertising her baked goods on a Deerfield town Facebook page before later creating one for her own business. The response was so positive (Bares said she sold eight dozen cinnamon rolls in just 10 minutes) that The Bakers Hands is now taking weekly orders online, with pickups available at her Deerfield home every Saturday between 10 a.m. and noon.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

My tried and true KitchenAid mixer.

What would you have for your last meal?

Definitely tacos. Some nice crispy pork tacos with a ton of onions and a good hot sauce.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Umami [Farm Fresh Cafe] in Northwood. They have the best burgers and lattes.

What celebrity would you like to bake for?

I would probably die if [baker and Great British Baking Show judge] Paul Hollywood ordered from me. He’s my bread-baking idol.

What is your favorite thing to bake?

I think it would be the cinnamon rolls. Even though I do the weekly specials, there’s someone just about every week that comes to pick up the cinnamon rolls.

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

If I had to guess, I’d say it’s more people enjoying and supporting farm-to-table [restaurants].

What is your favorite thing to bake at home?

Homemade bread. I like to do a lot of Dutch oven breads.

Mixed berry buttermilk cake
Courtesy of Maria Bares of The Bakers Hands in Deerfield

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon almond extract
Zest of one lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup mixed berries (or any fruit)
1½ tablespoons granulated sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan. In large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about two to three minutes). Beat in egg at medium speed until fully combined, then beat in almond extract and lemon zest. In a separate small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add a third of the flour mixture to the batter, and mix at low speed until just combined. Pour in about a third of the buttermilk, then mix at low speed again until just combined. Continue alternating the rest of the flour and buttermilk. Mix until just combined each time; don’t overmix, as the batter will be quite thick. Scoop batter into cake pan and spread out evenly. Add berries evenly scattered over top of the batter. Sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of sugar over the top. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. Serve cooled cake dusted with powdered sugar or topped with whipped cream.

Find your farmers markets

A look at the socially distant summer market scene

You can still get your leafy greens, grass-fed meats and fresh poultry at local farmers markets this summer, but there’s no denying that the fresh-air market vibe won’t be the same, with regulations in place to promote social distancing and the cancellation of vendor demonstrations, tastings and live music.

“It has really been a shift from hanging out and socializing at the market … to just coming in and purchasing or picking up the product,” said Julie Dewdney, market manager of the Canterbury Community Farmers Market, which began on June 3.

Farmers markets have been considered essential businesses from the beginning, according to Gail McWilliam Jellie, director of agricultural development for the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food. The department has encouraged markets to stay open, both to maintain cash flow for the vendors and to provide food sources for customers. Despite that, many summer markets started late and some have canceled altogether.

Early season markets

One of the only markets in the Granite State that has remained uninterrupted during the pandemic is in Salem. The year-round market, which normally operates indoors from November through about April or May, moved outside several weeks earlier than planned, on March 15, despite temperatures barely above freezing.

“I think on that first day [we went outside] it was 37 degrees out,” board president Bonnie Wright said, “but people wanted to come and vendors wanted to come, so we kept the market going. … We’ve had to adapt a great deal and make a lot of changes as the virus situation has evolved.”

After being in the parking lot of the Mary A. Fisk Elementary School for a few weeks, the Salem Farmers Market moved back to its normal summer location at Salem Marketplace a few miles away on April 5. Since then the market has been operating at limited hours each week, on Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon only — it’s normally from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to Wright.

Moving the market outdoors in a paved parking lot, Wright said, has allowed its board members to further space out each vendor and control the flow of customers. Only 100 people are allowed into the market at a time to prevent long lines from forming. Table fees are, for the time being, waived for all vendors in an effort to help supplement the income some have lost.

“It definitely doesn’t have that farmers market feel that people are used to,” Wright said, “but we are seeing quite a bit of people … and occasionally people have to wait to get in.”

In Concord, after the cancellation of its winter market in Eagle Square on March 17 with more than a month left to go, growing uncertainty loomed over whether the city’s summer market on Capitol Street could go on. The market did miss its targeted opening date of May 2 by one week, resuming operations on May 9 with just a fraction of its vendors, but president Wayne Hall said it has exceeded his expectations since then.

“It’s been tremendous,” said Hall, who owns Rockey Ole Farm in Concord. “It’s been very, very steady, and people have been very respectful of the things we’ve been putting in place. … We are also constantly adding more new vendors as we go along.”

Hall said there is still an abundance of leafy greens available at the market, such as lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard. Next up for produce will be strawberries, coming from Apple Hill Farm, followed by blueberries later in July. Summer squash, tomatoes and cucumbers are all expected to be available soon too.

A second summer market has also debuted in Concord this year. For the first time, Cole Gardens is hosting an outdoor market in its parking lot following the conclusion of its indoor winter market in April, market manager Jane Iarussi said.

The Contoocook Farmers Market, according to manager Karin Cohen, began its summer season a couple of weeks earlier than planned, on May 23. Another year-round market, Contoocook had suspended operations indoors at Maple Street Elementary School on March 14.

“We were slated to reopen outdoors on June 6, but there were a lot of community requests for us to open [earlier], and a lot of our farmers also felt like they were ready to go,” Cohen said.

Now back at its normal summer location next to the Contoocook Railroad Museum, the market is encouraging just one member per household to visit if possible, and to leave all children and pets home. Reusable and single-use plastic bags are allowed, as long as you don’t place them on any table surfaces. Product sampling, vendor demonstrations, live music and arts and crafts vendors have all been temporarily suspended until further notice.

“We’re really trying to encourage people not to linger, just because we are such a small market,” Cohen said. “Unfortunately, it’s not the social market that we’re used to, but I think everyone so far has been happy to still be able to come out and support our local farmers.”

Jim Ramanek of Warner River Produce in Webster is a featured vendor at the Contoocook, Cole Gardens and Canterbury markets — he’ll also be joining the Franklin market on Tuesdays when it gets underway on June 23, and has started an online ordering system via harvesttomarket.com.

“We still have a few winter vegetables and we’re doing lots of mixed lettuce, radishes and baby turnips,” Ramanek said. “Spinach is on the decline because it’s just been too hot for it.”

Work Song Farm in Hopkinton, another vendor at this year’s Contoocook market, has certified organic strawberries available first-come, first-serve. According to co-owner Dan Kilrain, the farm will have them for at least the next two to three weeks.

June and beyond

The month of June has brought with it several more summer markets in the state kicking off their seasons under new guidelines. The Canterbury Community Farmers Market was able to begin on schedule, Dewdney said, after its association spent several weeks discussing what the safest practices would be for vendors and customers.

“It was really important to us that we opened up that access to good products,” she said, “so we came up with a whole set of guidelines, with help from the UNH Cooperative Extension and the Maine Federation of Farmers Markets.”

In addition to encouraging masks, all handling of products is done by the vendors until after purchases are made. The Canterbury market has also eliminated all special activities it would normally have throughout the season, and is encouraging people to limit attendance to one visitor per household.

“Our first week was really successful,” Dewdney said of the June 3 market. “We didn’t have to control the crowd level. We had one entry point and we kind of just had a steady stream.”

The Canterbury market averages about 20 vendors — and even though Dewdney said a few vendors have dropped out, the Association has been receiving interest from newcomers.

One of the returning vendors, Kathy Doherty of Sanborn Meadow Farm in Canterbury, said the market’s opening day went well and that many customers even thanked her for being there. Doherty focuses primarily on herbs and leafy greens.

“Early in the season, it’s a lot of radishes, arugula and mixed Asian greens. That’s what I brought the first week, and I’ll diversify a bit with lettuce, broccoli, rhubarb and some varieties of kale,” Doherty said. “The spring was very cold and it seemed to delay everything … but they’re starting to catch up now. I think tomatoes will be coming a bit later than usual.”

The New Boston Farmers Market, which opened for the season on June 6, has roped off access from outside the town common, only allowing one-way entrances and exits for customers. Market co-manager Allison Vermette said the response to the changes has been positive so far.

“Most of the people who have shown up have been very thankful that we’ve been open. I think there’s been a very big push to have more local products available during this whole pandemic,” Vermette said. “It’s normally a very community-based market, so this year we do look a lot different. … We usually have different community guests come in, but that’s unfortunately been cut out for the foreseeable future. We’re also not doing our children’s market this year.”

In Milford the pandemic caused the cancellation of the town’s final two indoor winter market dates on March 14 and March 28. But on June 13 the market was able to start its summer season under new guidelines at 300 Elm St. across from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op.

“I’ve done a lot of research on how to open safely,” market manager Adrienne Colsia said. “Last year I used probably only half the parking lot, but now we’re using the whole perimeter of the lot to space everybody out. … We have one entrance, and we’re encouraging people to just grab and go and not hang around if they can. Customers are allowed to bring reusable bags.”

Colsia, who also co-owns Paradise Farm in Lyndeborough with her husband Wayne, said they will have strawberries available at the market. Other items you can expect at the market include meats like grass-fed beef, pork and lamb, poultry, fresh fish, cheeses, and leafy greens like kale, arugula and Swiss chard.

The Bedford Farmers Market, scheduled to begin on June 16, is in a new spot this year — the parking lot of the Harvest Market on Route 101 in Bedford, which closed its doors about a month ago, according to market manager Lauren Ritz. The market had previously been in the parking lot of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church on Meetinghouse Road.

“The Diocese of Manchester … wasn’t comfortable with having us in the parking lot with the state that New Hampshire was at, at the time the decision was made,” said Ritz, who also co-owns Hoof and Feather Farm in Amherst, one of this year’s vendors. “So we actually reached out on the Bedford’s town Facebook page, and the Harvest Market offered us their parking lot.”

The market will feature 30 vendors throughout the season, some of which will rotate depending on the product availability of each. Hoof and Feather Farm is the meat vendor, featuring chicken, beef and pork, while other vendors are selling various fruits and vegetables, cheeses, honey, maple syrup and personal care products.

Newcomers include Jennifer Lee’s Bakery out of Worcester, Mass., which makes gluten-free and dairy-free baked goods; and the Bedford Sewing Battalion, which will have a table handing out free masks and accepting fabric and elastic donations. Like many of the state’s other markets, Ritz said Bedford had to cancel all planned live entertainment and demonstrations.

Merrimack’s farmers market is also expected to begin this week. According to market manager and town agricultural commission chair Bob McCabe, the Merrimack Town Council on June 11 approved the market to begin on June 17, one week after its proposed start date. That market is expected to continue through mid-October, in the parking lot of Vault Motor Storage on Daniel Webster Highway.

More markets to come

A few more summer markets in the state are expected to get going as the month winds down.

In Nashua, for example, the market will resume on June 21, continuing every Sunday through the middle of October. Due to several lane closures on either side of Main Street to accommodate outdoor dining space for restaurants, this year’s market has moved from its normal spot between Temple and Pearl streets down to the area in front of City Hall Plaza.

“We’ll be around City Hall on the Main Street side, as well as in the shaded area of the Nashua Heritage Rail Trail and [in] the surface parking lot to the rear of the building,” Great American Downtown executive director Paul Shea said. “It’s a larger area than where we normally operate … so customers will have a lot of space to move through the market while distancing.”

The Franklin Farmers Market is expected to begin on June 23 at Marceau Park on Central Street, while in Wilmot the farmers market will start on June 27 on the town green.

While the Intown Farmers Market in Manchester will not be taking place in the traditional sense, plans are in the works for a limited version of the market to return. Starting on June 25 farmers with Fresh Start Farms, a program of the Manchester-based Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, will be at Victory Park every Thursday through August.

“It’s going to be more like a farm stand,” Intown Manchester executive director Sara Beaudry said. “We were already in the process of restructuring our farmers market … to move from Stanton Plaza back to Victory Park, but then with everything going on we teamed up with ORIS to bring the market back and to simplify it.”

Jameson Small, program manager for the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project at ORIS, said members of Fresh Start Farms are also at the Bedford, Concord, Merrimack, Milford and Salem markets. In addition to leafy greens they’ll have tomatoes, cucumbers and squash later in the summer, as well as ethnic crops, like amaranth greens and African eggplant.

Market cancellations

The pandemic has caused a few markets in New Hampshire to pull the plug on their summer seasons entirely. One of the most notable to shut down for the year is the Derry Homegrown Farm & Artisan Market, which would have begun earlier this month in downtown Derry.

The market’s board had initially announced that the season would at least be delayed before the decision was made to cancel it altogether on June 2, one day before its original opening date.

“It was a really, really difficult decision that we did not want to have to do,” market manager and board vice president Neil Wetherbee said of its cancellation.

Wetherbee said it came down to the market’s location and its board ensuring the safety of all vendors and customers. Unlike most of the other markets, which are on paved surfaces, Derry’s is on grass, eliminating the ability to make six-foot markers with chalk. He also said its unique location in the center of town, along with its proximity to the rail trail, made it difficult to mandate specific entry and exit points for visitors. Other potential locations in town were considered but its board ultimately could not find one suitable.

In addition to all of those factors, Wetherbee said if the market were to take place it would have featured less than half of its regular vendors.

“We spent the last three years trying to turn this into a community event … and it really would’ve been a shell of what it has been,” he said. “A big part of discussion also was that we didn’t want to live with the responsibility if one of our vendors, especially one of our older vendors, was to get sick, or if we started to see a spike in virus cases in Derry.”

The Lee Farmers Market, which would have started on the last Thursday in May, has also canceled its season, instead “existing virtually,” according to manager Tina Sawtelle.

“We’ve sort of pivoted to becoming an online source to help local farms connect to customers, and to point people in the right direction for where to get product,” said Sawtelle, who originally started the market with her husband through the Lee Agricultural Commission. “It’s actually helped our vendors increase their CSA shares too.”

Find a market everyday
Here’s a list of summer farmers markets happening in southern New Hampshire.

Sundays
• Cole Gardens Farmers Market is from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road, Concord), now through October. Visit colegardens.com.
• Dover Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Henry Law Park (1 Washington St., Dover), now through Oct. 11. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Nashua Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall Plaza (229 Main St.), June 21 through Oct. 18. Visit downtownnashua.org/local.
• Salem Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to noon at Salem Marketplace (224 N. Broadway). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org.

Mondays
• Durham Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of Sammy’s Market (5 Madbury Road), now through October. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Fresh Chicks Local Outdoor Market is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Monadnock Community Hospital (452 Old Street Road, Peterborough), now through October. Email [email protected].

Tuesdays
• Bedford Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the former Harvest Market (209 Route 101), now through Sept. 29. Visit bedfordfarmersmarketnh.org.
• Franklin Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Marceau Park (Central Street), June 23 through Sept. 29. Find them on Facebook @franklinlocalmarket.
• Rochester Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Rochester Community Center (150 Wakefield St.). Visit rochesternhfarmersmarket.com.

Wednesdays
• Canterbury Community Farmers Market is from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Elkins Public Library (9 Center Road), now through Sept. 30. Visit canterburyfarmersmarket.com.
• Dover Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Dover Chamber of Commerce (550 Central Ave), now through Oct. 7. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Merrimack Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Vault Motor Storage (526 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack), now through Oct. 7. Visit merrimacknh.gov/farmers-market.
• Peterborough Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. on the lawn of the Peterborough Community Center (25 Elm St.). Find them on Facebook @peterboroughnhfarmersmarket.

Thursdays
• Exeter Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 6 p.m. behind the Seacoast School of Technology (30 Linden St.), now through Oct. 29. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Henniker Community Market is from 4 to 7 p.m. at Henniker Community Center (57 Main St.), now through October. Find them on Facebook @hennikercommunitymarket.
• Intown Manchester’s Farmers Market will be from 3 to 6 p.m. at Victory Park (Concord and Chestnut streets, Manchester), June 25 through Aug. 27. Find them on Facebook @manchesterfood.
• Rindge Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at West Rindge Common (Route 202 North), now through Oct. 8. Find them on Facebook @rindgefarmersandcraftersmarket.
• Wolfeboro Area Farmers Market is from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Clark Park (233 S. Main St., Wolfeboro), now through Oct. 15. Visit wolfeboroareafarmersmarket.com.

Fridays
• Francestown Community Market is from 4 to 7 p.m. across from the Francestown Police Station (15 New Boston Road). Find them on Facebook @francestowncommunitymarket.

Saturdays
• Barnstead Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 96 Maple St. in Center Barnstead, now through September. Visit barnsteadfarmersmarket.club.
• Concord Farmers Market is from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Capitol Street in Concord (near the Statehouse), now through October. Visit concordfarmersmarket.com.
• Contoocook Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to noon at 896 Main St. in Contoocook. The year-round market usually moves indoors to Maple Street Elementary School (194 Main St.) beginning in early November, according to market manager Karin Cohen.
• New Boston Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the corner of Route 13 and Meetinghouse Hill Road, now through October (no market on Saturday, July 4). Visit newbostonfarmersmarket.webs.com.
• New Ipswich Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to noon at the New Ipswich town offices (661 Turnpike Road). Find them on Facebook @newipswichfarmersmarket.
• Milford Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 300 Elm St. in Milford (across the street from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op), now through Oct. 10. Visit milfordnhfarmersmarket.com.
• Portsmouth Farmers Market is from 8 a.m. to noon at the Little Harbour School (50 Clough Drive, Portsmouth), now through Nov. 7. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Warner Area Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the lawn of Warner Town Hall (5 E. Main St.), now through October. Visit warnerfarmersmarket.org.
• Wilmot Farmers Market will be from 9 a.m. to noon at 9 Kearsarge Valley Road in Wilmot, June 27 through Sept. 26. Visit wilmotfarmersmarket.com.

Weekly Dish 20/06/18

• Glendi canceled: For the first time in four decades, Glendi, a popular three-day festival celebrating Greek culture through food, music and dancing in Manchester, will not be taking place this year. Glendi had been scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20, at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, but the church made the announcement of its cancellation in a June 10 press release. “Our number one priority is the safety and health of our volunteers, our parishioners and our customers,” the release read. St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church’s 72nd Lamb Barbecue, which would have been on June 20 on the church grounds on Bridge Street in Manchester, has also been canceled, its Parish Council announced.

• Appetite for poutine: In place of the canceled fifth annual New Hampshire PoutineFest, which would have been last Saturday, the first PoutineFest Roadshow will be kicking off next month. Tickets recently went on sale online to purchase a special roadshow “passport” for $14.99 (or $29.99 with an event T-shirt included). From July 11 through Aug. 31 you can take the passport with you to any participating restaurant and get 25 percent off a regular order of poutine. According to event organizer Tim Beaulieu, participating Roadshow restaurants encompass much of New England, including many in New Hampshire but others as far north as Maine and the Canadian border and as far south as Rhode Island. “It’s just our way keeping the community of poutine-lovers alive,” Beaulieu said of the Roadshow. “We’ve also had some restaurants in the past that have wanted to come participate at PoutineFest but couldn’t because they were so far away, so now this is their opportunity.” Visit nhpoutinefest.com.

• Dinner at your doorstep: Great New Hampshire Restaurants, which owns T-Bones, Cactus Jack’s and the Copper Door, has recently launched a new project called DingDongDeliver.com. Known as a ghost kitchen, DingDongDeliver.com prepares and delivers ready-to-cook meal packages, featuring items like scratch-made chicken pot pie, burger kits, butcher cut steaks, pasta dishes and homemade desserts. Currently, pre-ordered deliveries are available to all Manchester and Bedford addresses on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 1 to 5 p.m. Orders must be placed 24 hours in advance. Visit dingdongdeliver.com, find them on Facebook @dddeliver or call 488-2828.

Tropical Fruit Stack

Try this at home

The weather finally is turning to the warmth of summer. Although we, as New Hampshirites, are excited for the increased temperature, we also will be complaining about how hot and humid it is in the very near future. With that in mind, I have created a dish that welcomes the arrival of summer while keeping one cool.

Allow me to introduce to you the tropical fruit stack. While its name may make you think that it’s a sweet dish, it actually has a nice balance between sweet, savory, salty and even a little bit of spice. Yes, it’s all of the taste categories in one dish. Additionally, it has a nice balance between tender and crunchy, so what’s not to like?

This is a simple dish to make, but because of its simplicity you also need to be mindful when purchasing your ingredients. All of the produce needs to be fully ripened, as it won’t spend any time cooking or macerating to highlight its flavors. If you can only find under-ripe produce, that’s fine. The mango and avocado can be ripened by placing them in a paper bag on the counter for a day or two. The same is supposed to work with pineapples, although I’ve never tried that.

You may hesitate to try this recipe because you need a ring mold. However, there are many substitutes for a ring mold. You can make one out of aluminum foil. If you buy your pineapple whole but with the skin removed, that container can work, if you cut off the bottom. You also could cut the bottom off a large disposable plastic cup and use it with the widest part as the bottom of your mold.

With fresh ingredients and your tool acquired, you’re ready to make a dish that’s sure to wow. It’s pretty easy to make, elegant to view and refreshing to eat. Summer dining doesn’t get much better than that.

Tropical fruit stack. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

Tropical Fruit Stack
Serves 2

1 1/3 cup diced pineapple
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 avocado
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 cup diced mango
2 tablespoons finely chopped salted macadamia nuts

In a small bowl combine pineapple, chili powder, and salt.
Stir until pineapple is fully coated.
Remove skin and pit from avocado.
Place avocado and lime juice in a small bowl.
Using a fork, mash until avocado is creamy.
Place a 4-inch ring mold on a small plate.
Spoon half of the pineapple mixture evenly as the bottom layer.
Spread half of the mashed avocado on top of the pineapple.
Spoon half of the diced mango over the avocado.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of macadamia nuts over the mango.
Carefully remove mold, and repeat for second serving.
Serve immediately.

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