Category: Food

So, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you’ve got a recipe for something that sounds really delicious and intriguing, but it’s been written by a chef, or in this case a bartender, who has access to special equipment and ingredients that a typical home enthusiast doesn’t. Because they are experts, it is likely that their version of a recipe will be excellent. The question is, will it be so much better than a DIY enthusiast’s work-around that it is worth going to the extra time and effort to make as written?

In this case, yes. Yes, it will.

As originally conceived of, this recipe supposes that the cocktail maker has access to a sous vide, a piece of laboratory or commercial kitchen equipment that keeps a water bath at a consistent temperature.

I’ve run this recipe two ways, once with sous vide-infused pineapple gin, and once with regular gin and pineapple juice. The work-around is very good; don’t get me wrong. But the version with shmancy lab-equipment-infused pineapple gin is about 75 percent better. It is simply outstanding.

Think of this as a project.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces pineapple-infused gin (see below) – alternatively, 1½ ounces gin and 1 ounce pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon Licor 43
• ¾ ounce celery syrup (see below)
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Greek yogurt
• 2 dashes celery bitters

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake enthusiastically. Strain into a coupé glass.

Sip, while listening to the Bangles’ 1987 cover of “Hazy Shade of Winter.”

This cocktail tastes of gin and pineapple, and yogurt (a tiny bit), and sunshine.

Pineapple-Infused Gin

Combine equal amounts of London dry gin — Gordon’s is a good choice for this — and fresh pineapple in an air-tight container. This could be a lidded jar or a zip-close plastic bag. Soak in a 155°F water bath for two hours. If you own a sous vide, you probably used it once or maybe twice when you first got it, then put it away and haven’t touched it in several months. This will be a good opportunity to reintroduce yourself to it, and tentatively become friends.

If you don’t own a sous vide — and really, unless you are an actual chef, or desperately obsessed with cooking competition shows, why would you? — this won’t be difficult, per se, but it will be a fiddly couple of hours.

Take a small plastic or Styrofoam cooler and fill it about halfway with very hot water. Use a frying/candy thermometer to find out what the temperature of the water is. If it is above 160°F, wait until the temperature comes down to around there to insert your container of gin and pineapple into the water bath. If it is below 150°F, pour a little bit of boiling water from a kettle into the cooler, and stir, until it reaches 160°F, then put your container in the water bath.

Get a chair from the dining or living room, and sit near the water bath, checking on the temperature every five minutes or so. Each time the water drops below 150°F, nudge it back to 160°F with some more boiling water. Keep this going for two hours.

Regardless of which method you used to infuse your gin, at the end of two hours strain it with a fine-mesh strainer and run it through a coffee filter. Seal tightly and use within a week or so.

Celery Syrup

• ¾ cup (148 g) white sugar
• ¾ cup (179 g) water
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for five minutes, then set aside, covered, for several hours. Strain with a fine-mesh strainer, and again with a coffee filter. Surprisingly, it will be a beautiful golden color. Refrigerate and keep for two to three weeks.

Featured Photo: Two celery sours. Original recipe on left, in smaller glass. Workaround recipe on right made with regular gin and pineapple juice. Photo by John Fladd.

Wine on Main explains ‘Misunderstood Wines’

One of Emma Stetson’s favorite parts of owning a wine shop — Wine on Main in Concord — is teaching classes.

“We do monthly wine classes,” Stetson said. “Each one has a different theme. For example, last month we [discussed wines from] Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It could have a more overarching theme, whether it’s about climate, or full-bodied red wines — things like that.”

This month the theme is “Misunderstood Wines.”

“I’ve noticed there are some wines that people are confused about,” Stetson said, “that have misconceptions around them. So I thought it would be fun to correct some of those for people. So that’s one component of the class. And then the other component is that we have Thanksgiving coming up. So the full title of the class is ‘Misunderstood Wines that are Also Perfect for Thanksgiving.’ It’s a way to clear up some misconceptions but also find unique wines for your holiday table.”

Stetson said some misconceptions about particular wines come from their names.

“An example,” she said, “is in the Loire Valley in France. There is a region called Muscadet. It’s a great wine for pairing, especially for Thanksgiving. It has bright acidity and bright fresh fruit flavors.” She finds that many customers are resistant to trying it. “They’ll tell me, ‘No, I hate sweet wines.’ My reaction is, ‘What are you talking about? Muscadet is a dry white wine from France’s Loire Valley!’ and they’re like ‘No, I hate Muscato and Muscatel’; they think in their heads because the words are so similar….”

“It was funny,” she said. “We did a wine tasting back in October with a Muscadet that was delicious, but it was a major hurdle that we had to overcome first.”

Sometimes people assume wines from a particular region are the same. “Riesling kind of goes hand in hand with that too,” Stetson said. Rieslings are white wines that originated in the Rhine River region of Germany, with a reputation for being sweet. Some of them are, Stetson said, but “riesling” covers many different wines. “I have so many people tell me, ‘I don’t like riesling,’ and for the same reason; they say because it’s too sweet. Riesling can be made in a huge array of styles, especially ones made in the Finger Lakes [of New York State]. They are so close to us, are frequently done in a dry style and so aromatic and beautiful.”

November is a good time of the year to clear up some of these misunderstandings, Stetson said. “Riesling is such a classic wine for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to present people with a dry riesling. The aromatics in the wine and even the grape itself will give hints of blossom and honeysuckle. That pairs really well with root vegetables and Thanksgiving seasonal fare. And white wine is kind of a classic pairing with turkey. You could do reds too, but you would choose a lighter red. White goes well with turkey because it won’t overwhelm the poultry.”

Small classes provide a relaxed, focused atmosphere for wine drinkers to wrap their heads around wines, Stetson said.

“Class goers get the opportunity to have a more in-depth understanding of each wine,” she said, “and ask their questions as opposed to at a wine tasting where it’s quick and they’re contending with other people who might be here. I think it’s a great environment for them to have a more personalized experience.”

“I want them to start to figure out what their palate is like,” Stetson said, “what kinds of wines they enjoy and what they gravitate to. For this particular class, I hope people find really fun wines for the holidays that they can share with their family and friends and talk knowledgeably about. Hopefully, clearing up some of these misconceptions in a Misunderstood Wines class will encourage people to try wines that they might have steered clear of because they thought they wouldn’t like them or just didn’t know about them.”

Misunderstood Wines Class
When: Tuesday, Nov. 12, or Wednesday, Nov. 13, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Wine on Main, 9 N. Main St., Concord, 897-5828
More: wineonmainnh.com
Each class is limited to 20 people and includes six wines and light snacks. The cost is $35 per person.

Featured Photo: Emma Stetson leading a class. Courtesy photo.

News from the local food scene

• Brewery opening: A new brewery is set to open in Manchester during the first week of November. Republic Brewing Co. (72 Old Granite St. Manchester, 836-3188, republicbrewingcompany.com) will have a Founder’s Club soft opening from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, with a public opening soon after. It will serve six house-brewed beers and pub food, initially focusing on tacos and burgers.

• Market opening: World Market (79 S. River Road, Bedford, 688-8947, stores.worldmarket.com) is slated to have had its ribbon cutting on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 9:45 a.m. with a grand opening celebration Thursday, Oct. 31, through Saturday, Nov. 2, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 3, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to a press release which said the opening will include food and drink tastings.

• Find fish: The University of New Hampshire (unh.edu) has announced a new online tool to help consumers access information about locally sourced seafood products: NH Seafood Finder. According to UNH, the website will allow users to search for seafood by “seafood type (ex: lobsters, oysters, scallops), vendor, location type (ex: off-the-boat, storefront, farmer’s market), time of year, or [search by] map/town.” See bit.ly/NHSeafoodFinder.

• Farmers market opening: Saturday, Nov. 2, will be the opening day for the Concord Winter Farmers Market (7 Eagle Square, Concord, downtownconcordwinterfarmersmarket.com). The Market will be open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, November through April.

Shortbread

• 12 Tablespoons (1½ stick) salted (normal) butter
• ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (66 g) white sugar
• 1/3 cup (66 g) brown sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

Filling

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup (66 g) white sugar
• 1/3 cup (66 g) brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
• ½ teaspoon cayenne or other dried chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1¼ lbs. (567 g) sliced apples – weigh them after peeling, coring and slicing them

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Keep cooking it, stirring it occasionally, until it stops spitting and turns a darker color. This is what bakers call “browning” the butter. Some of the butter is pure fat, but there are some milk solids in it as well. As those solids fry in the melted fat, they start to brown, giving the whole pan of butter a darker color. This is a baking trick that is very, very impressive but extremely straightforward. The only thing you have to be careful about is overcooking it. You want it to get to about the color of a graham cracker, but take it off the heat just before it gets to that point, because the milk solids will continue cooking in the hot fat for another 30 seconds or so.

Stir ¼ teaspoon of salt into the browned butter, and set it aside to cool.

Combine the ingredients for the shortbread, adding the butter/salt mixture last.

Set ¾ cup of the dough aside, and press the rest into an 8×8” baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until it just starts to turn golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and set it aside to cool. Turn the oven up to 375°F.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the rest of the filling ingredients together, one at a time.

Spread the apple filling over the baked shortbread, then scatter the reserved shortbread dough over the top.

Bake for 65 minutes, then remove it from the oven and let it cool for an hour or so, then turn out of the pan and cut into nine to 12 portions.

Eat one of these bars, feeling a growing sense of joy and wonder build inside of you.

You will taste the apple filling first, which will be familiar and comforting.

Then, as you chew, you will start to get a little kick from the cayenne pepper, and your eyes will go wide. But then, just before you can get all judgmental, the flavor of the brown butter shortbread will kick in, soothe your outraged taste buds, and leave you with a pervasive feeling of well-being.

“HONEY!” you’ll shout — which will be awkward if you live alone or with roommates — “Come here; you have to taste this!”

At this point your partner, if you have one, will tell you, no thank you, they’re fine.

“Seriously, come taste this!”

“Not right now; I’m busy!” they’ll reply.

The next 10 minutes, as you chase your partner around the house, trying to force an apple bar into their mouth, won’t be pretty, but will be a testament to how shockingly good these apple bars are.

Featured Photo: Photo by John Fladd.