Category: Food

In the kitchen with Lior Sadeh

Clinical herbalist Lior Sadeh has been growing herbs and making products for 12 years. Having closed the physical location of Bee Fields Farm, Sadeh works with people to reduce inflammation and heal their gut by making lifestyle changes, with herbs and supplements and bone broth, by reducing stress and making detox part of their everyday lifestyle. Her products include herbal tea blends, herbal infused honey, oils, salves, creams, extracts, elixirs and more. You can find her at the Concord Winter Farmers Market.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I think a good knife and a cutting board are a must. … I love my slow cooker … I do bone broth in it so whenever I am eating meat I collect the bones and cook them for a couple of days with a little bit of vinegar to make bone broth and then I use it in all my cooking and it’s very healing for the digestive tract and it’s also filled with minerals.

What would you have for your last meal?

I love salmon.

What is your favorite local eatery?

Riverside Cafe in Milford.

Name a celebrity you would like to see trying something you made.

For me celebrities are farmers … farming is hard work that is not rewarded … farmers should be celebrities because in all kinds of weather farmers get up and go out and take care of the animals and the plants so we all do have food, so my celebrities are farmers and I would love it if farmers would drink my tea.

What is your favorite product that you make?

I love the teas because I think if a person takes the time to make themselves a cup of tea and sits down … and relaxes with it and really kind of all body experience, they start a good chance to follow … any herbal program and succeed in getting what they want from it. … I don’t believe in quick fixes, and there are a lot of herbal medicines like tincture that you can squirt … and then rush off to the next thing that you do, and I think that tea forces us to sit down … [and] forces you to breathe. … When you drink a cup of tea and you sit down with it you have this moment of breathing and letting go and just checking with yourself how it feels to be in your body.

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

I don’t know … I’m not a trendy person.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I’m very seasonal. I really love soups in the winter, and in the summer I love salads, especially Israeli salad with a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes when they are in season.

Immune Supporting Bone Broth
from the kitchen of Lior Sadeh

Bones collected from chicken, lamb or beef organically raised or 100 percent grass-fed
4 quarts water
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 handful dried burdock root
1 handful dried astragalus root
1 handful dried reishi mushroom

I start my bone broth after eating a whole chicken. I collect the bones and place them in a slow cooker.
Cover with water. You want to use clean, not fluoridated water.
Add the apple cider vinegar.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for a couple of days.
Check a couple of times a day to make sure you have enough water in the pot. If needed, add water.
You can always add other bones. My bone broth simmers for close to a week and I add bones to it as the week goes.
Twelve hours before you are ready to strain broth, add the herbs.
Strain, pour into a mason jar, cool and refrigerate.
You can drink a cup of warm broth daily or use it in cooking soups, stews and grains.

Featured photo: Lior Sadeh. Courtesy photo.

Just like mom used to make

Manchester native opens homestead business to honor her mother and yia yia

On Nov. 11, 2023, Barbara George made her business debut at the Manchester Memorial Craft Fair with Auntie B’s Greek Pastries, a homestead baking company through which she bakes pastries from her mother and yia yia’s (grandmother’s) recipes.

“I watched my mom bake for so many years and kept notes to keep the recipes alive, as she never used recipes — the recipes were all in her head,” George said in an email. “I would ask her to make one of her specialties, and once she was ready to add the ingredients I would measure them out and that’s how I captured her recipe. As she gave me tips along the way as we baked together, I would write [them] down. They come in so handy to this day where I’m not able to ask her.”

Having grown up in the Manchester area, George attended Plymouth State University before starting a 38-year career in sales, with baking remaining a hobby. She spent 22 of those years in California, where she would bake for friends, before moving back to the Granite State. Back home after the passing of her mother, friends would request she bake her mother’s recipes for family events, and she started to imagine turning it into a business.

“It was Covid year and I followed a lot of people on Instagram [who] baked or opened up their own baking businesses,” George said. “It’s been over a couple years that has gotten me to this point and I just thought where people are enjoying them that I would … try my hand at [home baking].”

After seeing a post about the Manchester Memorial Craft Fair, she reached out to become a vendor where her baking would officially become a business and she would sell out of everything she brought.

“Something I learned was that a lot of people don’t know Greek pastries and it was fun telling people about it.” George said. “I was just used to the Greek festivals … I happen to be the parish president at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church … [and] I also volunteer at St. George for their Glendi … so it’s been fun telling people and sampling with them and seeing their reactions to foods they [have] never tried before.”

Out of her home, George makes Flo Flo’s nut rolls, her mother’s variation on baklava, koulourakia, which are Greek twist cookies, and custom orders that people request.

“I always hoped that I could get my mom’s and yia yia’s recipes out to more people and that seems to be happening,” George said. “I just always get excited that people want to try my products and they want to buy my products. I think that’s fantastic and I’m always appreciative of that.”

Auntie B’s Greek Pastries
Where: Bedford
Call or send an email to place your order. Visit auntiebsgreekpastries.com

Featured photo: Barbara George with a few of the featured items she sells. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 24/01/18

News from the local food scene

• See vineyard, taste wine: Experience the Fire Tower Winter Wonderland Wine Tasting Experience at Averill House Vineyard (21 Averill Road in Brookline; averillhousevineyard.com) at various times on Fridays through Sunday in January through March. With a view of the vineyard, enjoy a private outdoor tasting of four wines around outdoor pellet stoves. Each ticket ($59) accounts for two adults and each additional person will cost $15 for a maximum of eight people. Children under 13 are free and pets are welcome if on a leash. Get your tickets at eventbrite.com.

• Wine in an igloo: Enjoy a charcuterie board with meat, nuts, cheese and crackers and taste four wines in a private Norwegian-themed igloo or gazebo Averill House Vineyard (21 Averill Road in Brookline; averillhousevineyard.com) with theme lighting and music. Gazebos also include a fireplace and fluffy living room. Dates are available in January through March, on Fridays through Sundays as well as Wednesday, Feb. 14. Tickets ($100) account for two people and can be purchased via eventbrite.

• Drinks for a cause: On Saturday, Jan. 20, To Share Brewing Co., New Hampshire Brewers Association and Old Dogs Go To Helen host Pints and Flights for Old Dogs Go To Helen. One dollar from every pint or flight sold will be donated to ODGTH, a senior and hospice dog rescue and sanctuary.

• Cupcake decorating for kids: Uno Pizzeria & Grill (15 Fort Eddy Road, Concord) hosts a kids’ winter cupcake decorating class on Tuesday, Jan. 23, from 4 to 9 p.m. Call to make your reservation.

• Wines of Italy: Wine expert Anne Arnold will lead you through The Wonderful Wines of Italy hosted by From the Vine to Wine at Stroll Café & Wine Bar (15 Portwalk Place, Portsmouth) on Thursday, Feb. 1, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $50 to $65 on eventbrite.

• Chocolate, wine, dinner: The 17th annual Chocolate Madness Wine Pairing Dinner at Zorvino Vineyards (226 Main St., Sandown) on Thursday, Feb. 1 starting at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour and dinner at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased via eventbrite.

• Farm-to-table tasting: Restoration Acres Farm hosts a farm-to-table tasting on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 4:30 to 8 p.m. at Black Swan Inn (354 W. Main St., Tilton) featuring food from local farmers and artisans, wine and mead sampling from Hermit Woods winery and live music by Audrey Drake. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased via eventbrite.

Rubber Ducky

On Jan. 10, 1992, the Greek container ship Ever Laurel ran into rough weather in the North Pacific, a couple of days out from Tacoma. At some point a stack of six shipping containers snapped its chains and plunged overboard into the Pacific Ocean.

This kind of accident isn’t common but it’s also not unheard of. On average around 1,500 shipping containers are lost at sea each year. This is a tiny percentage of the estimated 500 million containers in use, but also nothing to shrug at.

What made this particular accident noteworthy is that one of the containers was filled with 28,000 bath toys, including 7,200 yellow rubber duckies.

Over the next several years the toys were carried north by ocean currents, eventually traveling through the Northwest Passage north of Canada, and dispersed by other currents around the world. Even now some of these toys are still washing up in unexpected places. They have been found as far away as the United Kingdom, Australia and Chile. Now that there is less Arctic sea ice than ever, some plastic ducks, turtles and beavers are being released to a new generation of beach-combers.

As I’m sure you’re aware, National Rubber Ducky Day is this weekend. You are probably still in the process of getting rid of other holiday ornaments, and haven’t had time to shop for rubber ducks, but if you’re feeling a little spent, gray and empty with the start of a new year, it’s probably worth raising a glass to our plastic yellow friends and reflecting on the fact that things could always be worse. You could spend 30 years, bobbing and smiling, through Arctic Sea ice.

Rubber Ducky Cocktail

  • 1½ ounces Midori melon liqueur
  • 1½ ounces 99 Peaches peach schnapps
  • 2½ ounces fresh watermelon juice (see below)
  • ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

Open your laptop, and place it on the counter next to you.

Open YouTube, and search for Hampenberg DuckToy Vocal Club Mix.

Turn your volume up to an unconscionable level and press play. This will be the perfect background music for mixing this drink. You’re ready now.

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.

Shake enthusiastically.

Pour, including ice, into a rocks glass.

Sip, vibing seamlessly — or, if you are like me, shuffling awkwardly — to the rubber ducky club mix playing on your computer.

This is a shockingly fun cocktail. The melon juice and the melon liqueur obviously go well together. The peach schnapps provides a floral fruitiness. By itself watermelon juice is surprisingly flat, but the acid from a jolt of lime juice brings it to life. This doesn’t exactly taste like bubble gum, but it also doesn’t not taste like gum of some sort. At first glance this might seem flighty and low-octane — and that may be true of the Midori — but the 99 Peaches actually clocks in at 99 proof, so this is not a drink to take for granted. Like a rubber ducky lost at sea, it might take you to unexpected places.

Watermelon Juice

Buy a one-quart container of pre-cubed watermelon at your supermarket. You aren’t going to be laying this out on a fruit plate or pairing with a nice prosciutto, so it’s OK to cut a corner during this process.

Pour the contents of the container into your blender and blend thoroughly. If you notice a seed or two, don’t panic; your blender will take care of things. If you have an over-powered, overly enthusiastic blender like mine, he will probably look on any seeds as a challenge.

Using a fine-mesh strainer, strain off the watermelon pulp. Leave everything in the strainer for half an hour or so, to let the components say goodbye to each other.

This should net you about 12 ounces of juice. If you want to drink it as juice, add the juice of half a lime to de-flatten it (see above).

Featured photo: Rubber Ducky Cocktail. Photo by John Fladd.

In the kitchen with Cara Karpinski

When Cara Karpinski moved to New Hampshire in 2020, she discovered that her new job was no longer being offered due to the pandemic. Needing to find a new way to provide for her family, she realized her true passion was for dogs. Being a dog-mom of four, she decided to create Barkalicious, a gourmet preservative-free dog treat business made with eggs from her own chickens, with the belief that all dogs should to be “treat”ed with love.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

My must-have kitchen item is my KitchenAid mixer. I use it every day to combine my ingredients for the dog treats. I think it may be time to upgrade to a commercial version [of a] KitchenAid.

What is your favorite local eatery?

Currently, my favorite place for a romantic dinner is Buckley’s Great Steaks in Merrimack. For a more casual meal I enjoy the Coach Stop in Londonderry as well as Backyard Brewery on the Manchester/Londonderry line.

Name a celebrity you would like to see purchasing your dog treats.

It is hard to pick just one celebrity I would like to see purchase my dog treats, but the ones that come to mind are from HGTV. Tarek and Heather El Moussa from Flip or Flop, or Jonathan Knight from Farmhouse Fixer. I would say Taylor Swift, but I think she just has cats.

What is the most popular item on your menu?

Our most popular menu item is our bacon cheeseburger sticks. They are a little bit crunchier than our soft treats, but it has bacon on it, so how can it not be good!

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

The biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now is maybe pho. I had it for the first time a few weeks ago and it was fantastic. I am not really a hip [or] trendy foodie, but I do love all kinds of food.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

My favorite thing to cook at home is anything from scratch. I enjoy watching my family eat the meals I have prepared. It gives me great satisfaction when they love my hard work in the kitchen. The best meals I have made recently: beef stroganoff, chicken noodle soup and brisket.

Brisket
From the kitchen of Cara Karpinski

4-pound (or so) brisket
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cut
1 onion, chopped
3 or 4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 or 3 boxes pre-made beef stock or broth
salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika

Season both sides of meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Heat canola oil in a pan and sear both sides of meat for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan.
Add onions, mushrooms and garlic to pan and lower heat. Cook until onions are translucent.
Add ½ cup water to scrape any solids in the pan. Return the brisket to the pan.
Cover meat with beef broth and simmer. Cook until tender (at least 6 hours).
Remove brisket and let cool.
Slice against grain. (I use a meat slicer to get very thin slices of meat.) You can also cut by hand.
Let the liquid in the pan cool to about room temperature as well as the brisket. Once cooled, add the meat back into the pan with the liquid and put in the refrigerator overnight.
About 3 hours before you want to have dinner, put the pot with the liquid and brisket back onto the stove and slowly warm. This meal goes very well with homemade mashed potatoes and carrots

Featured photo: Katie Pope of Confections by Kate. Courtesy photo.

From her table to yours

Farmers market vendor opens shop selling meals and baked goods

While opening her own bakery wasn’t her original career plan, the universe had other ideas for Chelsea Annett, the owner of Table, a Concord bakery offering cookies, cakes, soups, chicken pot pie and more freshly made items made from locally grown ingredients.

“This business really chose me versus me choosing it,” she said. “It just felt like something [that] had to be pursued and brought to fruition.”

Annett’s journey with baking started as she learned more about the local food system and seasonal ingredients from farmers at farmers markets.

“I started developing relationships with the farmers there and being curious about the things that people were growing and making, and having conversations about how to use them in food and really just becoming curious on my own about what I could make with those things,” she said. “I think that [seasonal ingredients] are the most fresh, they have the most flavor, [and] I think that supporting our local farmers is critical to environmental protection and … the future of food.”

A natural caretaker and a self-taught baker and cook, Annett enjoyed cooking for her loved ones as a way to care for others and make them feel good. After experiencing burnout and going through major life changes, she left her 14-year career in special education to focus on bringing her passion for baking from her own table to those of others.

“It never really felt like it could fully take off as a career because I don’t have professional training, I didn’t go to culinary school, I taught myself how to do everything,” she said. “There was probably a little bit of imposter syndrome that I was dealing with thinking that I wasn’t good enough to make it into a career.”

She began in 2019 by selling products wholesale and at the Canterbury and then Concord farmers markets. For the past few years Annett would travel to a commercial kitchen in Derry to do her baking, as Concord’s homestead food licensing rules prevented her from selling food made in her own kitchen. After looking for her own space, she found her current location in Concord, which she started working out of in June and opened for retail in November, and where her client base continues to support her.

“I’m extremely grateful I have beautiful, loyal customers that have sort of been with me from the beginning,” Annett said. “They’ve been waiting and waiting for me to have a place … and they are great about telling their friends and bringing people in. I think I’m lucky that the product tends to speak for itself.”

Table
Where: 55 N. Main St., Suite B, Concord
Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
More info: tablenh.com

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