Category: Food

The Weekly Dish 24/07/18

News from the local food scene

• Cocktail recipes: James Beard Award-winning drink writer J.M. Hirsch will return to Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) Thursday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m. with his new book of drink recipes, Freezer Door Cocktails: 75 Cocktails That Are Ready When You Are. He will discuss readymade cocktails for whenever you want them: batch drinks made directly in the liquor bottle and stored on your freezer door. Copies of his book will be available for purchase and signing. The Bookstore will accept online orders and signing requests on its website.

• Beer and music: The Biergarten at Anheuser-Busch (221 DW Highway, Merrimack, 595-1202, budweisertours.com/mmk) will host a Brews & Blues event Saturday, July 20, from noon to 7 p.m. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy a day of summer sun, live blues music, and tasty brews. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for those under 21, free for kids under 12. Food will be available for purchase from Bentley’s Famous BBQ.

• Lavender season: There are still a few days left to pick lavender at Pumpkin Blossom Farm (393 Pumpkin Hill Road, Warner, 456-2443, pumpkinblossomfarm.com). The lavender fields are open for picking until Sunday, July 21, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine. Lavender grows in direct sunshine, so comfortable shoes, sunscreen and a hat or umbrella are recommended.

Blueberry Pierogi

Filling

  • 1¼ pounds (or 567 g) (or 2 10-ounce bags of frozen) blueberries
  • ½ cup (99 g) sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon – depending on how flavorful your blueberries are
  • 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • zest of 1 lemon

Dough

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup (79 g) water
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
  • 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting your counter when you knead and roll your dough, so it doesn’t stick

Garnish

  • sour cream
  • lemon wedges
  • sugar
  • blueberries in syrup (see below)

Add all the filling ingredients to a medium-sized saucepan. Stir everything to combine it, and to make sure you don’t have a bunch of sugar at the bottom of the pot that might turn into caramel before the mixture comes together.

Cook over medium heat, until the berries give up their juice. This happens easily with frozen berries, because of the ice crystals inside them, but the sugar will pull juice out of the berries even if they are fresh. You know that word from high school science that you were supposed to remember, but never could — osmosis? That’s what’s happening here. Once there is some sauce, taste it. Blueberries are a flighty fruit; you never know how they’re going to taste. If these taste a little dull, they probably need another squeeze of lemon juice to brighten them up. If they are just not very flavorful, add the cinnamon. On the other hand, if the syrup tastes fruity and zingy and makes you want to do a blueberry dance, you should probably leave well enough alone.

Bring the blueberry sauce to a boil, and let it simmer for two minutes, then remove it from heat.

In a medium bowl, mix the dough ingredients, starting with the eggs and water, until it forms a shaggy dough. Turn it out onto a floured counter and knead it until it comes together and makes a smooth ball. Cover it and set it aside for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. While the dough rests, chill the blueberries in your refrigerator. You and the pierogi could both use a breather.

When you’re pretty sure the dough has rested enough, flour your counter again and roll the dough out as thin as you can. Don’t go overboard and try to read a newspaper through it or anything, but if you can get it as thin as a penny, you’re probably in good shape. Use a drinking glass that is 3 inches across to cut as many circles as possible out of the dough.

Take the blueberries and sauce out of the refrigerator, and strain it, saving the syrup.

Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil.

Now, this is the part of the procedure that requires confidence. Do not let the pierogi dough intimidate you. Making sure your counter is still dusted with flour, take a dough circle, and put a small amount — one half to a full teaspoonful — of the blueberries in the center of it. Fold it in half, to make a moon shape, then crimp the edge with a fork, to seal the berries inside. Keep doing this until you’ve used up all the circles, then roll the leftover dough out again and repeat, until you use it all.

Boil the pierogi, six or seven at a time, just like you would ravioli. Make sure none of them stick to the bottom of the pot, and fish them out when they float to the surface of the water.

Eat these warm, garnished with sour cream and a sprinkling of sugar. If they need some more brightness, another squeeze of lemon juice will do that for you. If they don’t taste strongly enough of blueberries, drizzle some of the blueberry syrup over them. These will chew like pasta, taste like summer, and give you some well-deserved emotional validation.

Featured Photo: Photo by John Fladd.

In the kitchen with Griffin Starr

Bartender, 815 Cocktails and Provisions (815 Elm St., Manchester, 782-8086, 815nh.com)

“I’m 24 years old, born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire,” Starr said. “I got the opportunity to start working at 815 Cocktails and Provisions in 2022, where I began learning the trade of being a bartender. Through this and the help of some of the loveliest people I’ve had the opportunity to work with, I’ve had the pleasure of serving some unique drinks. Being able to make cocktails is great, but really the best part is the experiences you share with new people every night and I’m glad I get to do it.”

What is your must-have kitchen/bar item?

I feel like good glassware is a must. I’m always hunting around second-hand shops, trying to find good coupes or a new tiki mug. Who doesn’t love having a funky little cup to drink out of?

What would you have for your last meal?

Scallops with risotto was always a special treat growing up, so if I’m going out I’m going out thinking about all the good scallops I’ve had. The pizza they eat in A Goofy Movie is my backup option.

What is your favorite local eatery?

This is a really loaded question, but Alley Cat Pizzeria has always had my back through thick and thin. Whenever I come back from a trip, I go and get a pie as a way to bring on that feeling of being home.

Name a celebrity you would like to see drinking one of your cocktails.

I feel like getting to serve David Byrne would be a once in a lifetime experience. His music has been a part of my life for so long that it would be such an honor to create something for someone who has unknowingly created a lot of memories for me. Finding a glass worthy of his style would be the hardest part.

What is your favorite drink on your menu?

‘Tacos Sold Separately’ is a drink we launched earlier this year that was a lot of fun coming up with. It’s a tiki drink with Myers’s Rum, Cynar, orange juice, lime, coconut, vanilla and nutmeg. I just love the melody of flavors that goes on with the fruits and spice while the dark rum kind of guides you through.

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

There’s been an increase in people who have been hopping on the mocktail train, which has been cool to see. I think what a lot of people are looking for today is a way to have that fun experience of going out without dealing with the side effects that alcohol can bring. I have definitely seen bartenders around the state upping the quality and care they put into their mocktails, because everyone deserves to have a good time out.

What is your favorite thing to make at home?

I’m pretty boring when it comes to making myself drinks, to be honest. Usually I just sip some rum or mezcal over ice. What I really love doing after a shift is making nachos with whatever random ingredients I may find in my fridge. No recipe, varying results, always a good time.

Classic Daiquiri
from Griffin Star
With the rapid rise in temperature I think everyone should know how to cool off with a basic daiquiri:

¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce simple syrup (I really prefer demerara or a brown sugar syrup)
2 ounces of your favorite rum
Shake that up with some ice and strain into a chilled coupe.

Featured Photo: Griffin Star. Courtesy photo.

Farm to market

Sourcing from their farm and nearby at Eden’s Table Farm Store

Given how difficult it can be to find a spicy, flavorful chile in New Hampshire, is it possible to grow one here?

“We’ve had two hot peppers that I just love!” said Addie Leader-Zavos, co-owner of Eden’s Table Farm in Dunbarton. “I was shocked by how good a pepper year we had last year. We’re trialing a bunch of different paprika types this year.” The Czech Black, for instance.

Her husband, Michael Williams, agreed.

“These [the Czech Blacks] will fake you out,” he said. “They smell like mango fruit leather, but they are serious. These are a little milder than a serrano when they’re green, but then they blow way past it when they’re ripe. They go from 5,000 Scoville units [a system for rating the heat of chiles] when they’re green to 17 [thousand] to 30,000 when they’re ripe. They’re no joke.”

This is the first full season that Eden’s Table Farm has been in business. The wife-and-husband team have been building a new farm more or less from scratch.

“We are a diversified market farm,” Williams said. “We grow vegetables. We have 65 mature blueberry bushes that we inherited. We also have a rhubarb patch that we inherited from the previous owners. There are a lot of volunteer raspberry, black raspberry and blackberry bushes; we’re going to mark the ones that taste best and take cuttings and propagate for next year.”

And, of course, the chiles.

The Williamses grow many different fruits, vegetables and herbs that they sell through their farm store, but the peppers are a good illustration of the amount of thought that is put into growing them. Leader-Zavos spent months researching varieties of chiles that would do well in New Hampshire’s climate. Eventually she discovered multiple varieties from Eastern Europe, from countries with similar climates. After that, the new farmers selected the varieties with the shortest growing season to try on the Farm.

“It was really important to us to have the shortest days-to-maturity,” Leader-Zavos said. “We wanted to be able to grow varieties that will work for us when our growing season is so short.”

Growing seasons, soil acidity, and hours of sunlight are some of the factors that Williams and Leader-Zavos have been working hard to get a handle on. Since moving from Virginia, where Leader-Zavos worked as a pastry chef and Williams was a sommelier and wine marketer, the couple have tackled the steep learning curve of starting a farm and a business with enthusiasm. “Addie’s superpower is research,” Williams said. “She can find the answer to anything.”

Which is how the two ended up buying a farm in Dunbarton. They had decided to start a small farm together.

“We cast a pretty wide net when we were looking for farm properties,” Williams said, “and at one point the price on this property dropped and it showed up in our searches. [We asked ourselves] ‘Should we go to New Hampshire to look at this property?’” They visited the farm that November, and owned it by the end of January.

In addition to actually growing things, the couple’s main focus is on their farm store, which sells their own produce and baked goods, as well as other locally produced meats, dairy, wild foods and artisanal products.

“We are very locally focused in terms of sourcing,” Williams said. “Everything in here, with the exception of a very short list of items, is from New Hampshire, and the things that aren’t from New Hampshire are from Maine, and they’re all artisanal products.”

He pointed to several varieties of dried beans as an example. “These are Baer’s Best Beans,” he said. “One of the things I like to do with new suppliers is I will go to them to pick up my first order, because I want to see what they are doing and how they’re doing it. I walked in [to Baer’s] and somebody was hand-sorting beans. So I was very happy. I was like, ‘OK, these are my people.’ This is the level of detail and attention that I like.”

Not to mention that the beans will go really well with the chiles.

Eden’s Table Farm Store
240 Stark Highway N., Dunbarton Center, 774-1811
Open Thursdays and Fridays 3 to 7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Weekly Dish 24/07/11

News from the local food scene

• Brew on: The annual Keep NH Brewing Festival is happening Saturday, July 13, at Kiwanis Waterfront Park behind the Everett Arena in Concord (15 Loudon Road). General admission is from 1 to 4 p.m., with VIP admission beginning at noon. The festival is the signature fundraising event for the New Hampshire Brewers Association and features one of the largest gatherings of craft beers on tap, with more than 140 options to try and more than 50 breweries represented. Food trucks, local vendors and live music will also be featured. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit nhbrewers.org.

• Lemon up: LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898, labellewinery.com) will hold I Love Lemon!, a lemon-themed wine pairing dinner, on Saturday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m.. This event will include four courses paired with LaBelle wines. LaBelle’s Chef and wine experts will share insights into each pairing with participants throughout the event. Tickets are $85 each and available through LaBelle’s website.

• Midday in the vineyard: Flag Hill Winery (297 Route 155, Lee, 659-2949, flaghill.com) will hold brunch by the vineyard on Sunday, July 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m Sparkling Cayuga will be served and there is a full mimosa bar. A farm-to-table brunch will feature a mac & cheese bar; fresh pastries and fruit; quiches, frittatas and more. Tickets are $65 per person and are available through Flag Hill’s website.

Not Quite Frozen Blueberry Daiquiri

The first few sips of a blender drink are virtually perfect. The problem is that a few minutes later you’ve drunk all the flavor and you’re left with a weak, sad pile of slush.

Which is why, when I want a really cold drink, I rely on crushed ice. It chills the cocktail effectively, but stays apart from it, like a, I don’t know, a lifeguard or something. This metaphor has gotten away from me.

Blueberry Daiquiri

Blueberries in Syrup

  • Frozen wild blueberries – regular blueberries are in season and would definitely work for this recipe, but wild ones generally have more flavor and are small enough to get through a large straw; regardless, they should be frozen, to help syrup-ify them
  • An equal amount of sugar, by weight
  • A pinch of salt

The Daiquiri Itself

  • 2 ounces blueberries in syrup
  • 2 ounces golden rum – white rum would be a little too subtle for this application; a dark or black rum would overpower the other ingredients; something golden like Faraday is a good daiquiri rum
  • 2 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • A splash – perhaps an ounce – of club soda
  • A large amount of crushed ice – this could be from the door in your refrigerator, or run through an old-fashioned, hand-cranked ice crusher; I prefer to wrap regular ice cubes in a bar towel and smash it up with the pestle from my largest mortar and pestle, which gives me a nice mixture of ice, from large half-cubes down to fine snow

Cook the blueberries, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. At first it will be a gloppy, slightly purple pile of sugar. Suddenly, a few minutes into the cooking process, the berries will realize the futility of their existential stubbornness and collapse into a thin jam. Keep cooking and stirring, until the liquid starts to boil. Make sure that all the sugar sticking to the sides of the pan has dissolved into the hot blueberry sauce.

Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.

Fill a mixing glass with a couple handfuls of crushed ice, then add the other ingredients. Stir gently, but thoroughly, into a more or less homogeneous solution.

Transfer into a tall glass, and top with a splash of club soda and a few syrupy blueberries.

Take your drink to your deck, or front porch, or fire escape, and drink it with an oversized boba straw while listening to “The Girl from Ipanema.” It could be the original Brazilian version, or the hep-cat, Sammy Davis big band version, or even Amy Winehouse’s take on it, but the important thing is that you can lean back and draw large amounts of blueberries, rum and lemon into yourself, until it’s difficult to know where you end and the samba music starts. In fact, you could make up an entire playlist of nothing but covers of “The Girl from Ipanema” and spend an hour or two comparing them.

Normally, one of the pillars of a good daiquiri is fresh lime juice, but blueberries and lemon get along so splendidly, whether in a cheesecake or a cocktail, that the lemon is a good substitution in this particular drink. It provides the same amount of acidity and zing, but dances — we might even say it sambas — with the blueberries. The syrupy blueberries bring sweetness and depth to the daiquiri and might even make it a little too sweet if not for the club soda, which brings additional zing to the proceedings while diluting the syrup. The crushed ice brings the temperature down enough to make drinking this cocktail intensely, almost painfully, refreshing.

Without bringing your blender into it.

Featured Photo: Photo by John Fladd.

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