Category: Food

In the kitchen with Jennifer Stone-Grimaldi

Jennifer Stone-Grimaldi bought Crosby’s Bakery, established in 1947 in Nashua, five years ago after working there for over a decade. She says she has PBS programming to thank for her interest in food; after the airing of children’s shows, she would be fascinated by chef Julia Child on the screen. As she got older she would turn to her mother’s magazines to look for a recipe she could make with the ingredients she had on hand.

What is your must-have kitchen item?
My must-have kitchen item is a sharp chef’s knife. Unfortunately most people don’t keep sharp knives in their kitchens. Not only does this make chopping more difficult, but often dull knives are more likely to slip and cause injury. I bring my own knife now when I’m planning on cooking in someone else’s kitchen.

What would you have for your last meal?
I would have Thanksgiving dinner cooked by my mom. She makes the best turkey and gravy and I love all the sides.

What is your favorite local eatery?
I can’t pick one favorite eatery, but my two favorites are both within a stone’s throw of each other in Milford, N.H. Riverhouse Café for breakfast and Greenleaf for dinner.

Name a celebrity you would like to see eating in your restaurant?
I wish Conan O’Brien would bring his travel show to my bakery. I would love to teach him how to make doughnuts.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?
My favorite products in the bakery are the specials we run and the new items we make. I prefer having variety. But my favorite old-school pastry that we’ve made forever and ever has to be the apple strudel. I remember I used to eat those as a special treat when I worked the afternoon shift out front many years ago.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
One of the trends I’ve seen lately is having individual pastries for dessert at a wedding instead of serving a giant cake to everyone. A lot of couples are doing a smaller cake for display and cutting purposes and then giving their guests a choice of mini pastries, pies or doughnuts for dessert. It’s really fun.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
My favorite thing to cook at home is anything that cooks on the stove all day when the weather’s cool. It could be marinara sauce with sausage and meatballs, pot roast, Burgundy mushrooms, etc. Anything that makes the house smell amazing until dinnertime. — Mya Blanchard

House Hot Cocoa Mix
From Jennifer Stone-Grimaldi

6 ounces cocoa powder
16 ounces milk powder
12 ounces granulated sugar
2 teaspoons powdered vanilla
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1½ teaspoons salt

Whisk ingredients together and sift three times to ensure even blending. Add two to three heaping tablespoons of mix to a mug of hot water. Add a splash of light cream for a creamier drink.

Featured photo: Jennifer Stone-Grimaldi, owner of Crosby’s Bakery. Courtesy photo.

Parmentier

Some people are remembered by History and become household names, sometimes for silly reasons. Other, more worthy men and women are washed away in the River of Time and are undeservedly forgotten.

Nobody has been cheated out of a legacy more cruelly than Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813), one of the advisors to doomed king Louis XVI of France.Very few historians would make the case that Louis was a wise and competent king, but by the 1780s even he could see that things were going badly. France was overpopulated and underfed. The People, seeing the example set by the American colonists, were talking about overthrowing their ruler. (The irony that the American Revolution had been largely financed by Louis himself was not lost on him.)

The upshot was that the French people were as angry as they were hungry, which is to say, very.

There was actually a partial solution available, however: potatoes. The Spanish had brought potatoes back to Europe from South America a century or more previously, but most European peasants could not be enticed to eat them. Even though they would have provided a welcome boost of calories and carbohydrates, most peasants were convinced that they were deadly poisonous. (To be fair, the actual fruit of the potato is; only the tuber is edible.)

Louis asked his smartest advisor, Parmentier, to try to convince the French peasants to plant potatoes.

Parmentier had his own formal gardens dug up and planted with potatoes, then announced to the locals that nobody was to touch his potatoes under pain of terrible, unspecified punishment. Potatoes were too good for the likes of them; only aristocrats could properly appreciate them. Then, to ensure the security of his potatoes, he placed armed guards around his potato patch for 12 or more hours per day.

Within weeks all the potatoes had been stolen and planted across the French countryside.

The irony of this is that if the French peasantry had not been well-fed on potatoes, they might not have had strength enough to revolt a couple of years later.

Parmentier never got famous, but he did get to keep his head, so he was probably not too bitter about the slight.

In his honor, I have renamed a classic cocktail — The Forbidden Fruit — the Parmentier.

Parmentier
1½ ounces apple brandy – I like Laird’s Applejack
1 ounce Pimm’s No. 1
½ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ ounce simple syrup
2 dashes each of two different bitters – this recipe traditionally calls for Angostura and Peychaud’s, which is what I’ve used here
3-4 ounces ginger beer to top
Combine all ingredients except the ginger beer with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until bitterly cold.
Strain into a tall glass, over fresh ice, and top with ginger beer.
Stir, and drink wistfully, while listening to Maurice Chevalier sing “C’est Magnifique.”

This is a complex and slightly melancholy drink. Pimm’s is a slightly baroque-tasting base to build any drink on with its own collection of herbs and alcohol. Apple brandy brings its own sophistication with it. Throw in two competing flavors of bitters, and you have dropped yourself into a labyrinth of flavors before you even get to the ginger beer, which has a talent for throwing drinkers for a loop.

Which is not to say that this isn’t delicious, because it is. It’s just that normally, with more straightforward cocktails, you can spend the first half-minute or so making a flavor inventory. With Forbidden Fruit — as with History — you might be better off just surrendering yourself to the experience.

John Fladd is a veteran Hippo writer, a father, writer and cocktail enthusiast, living in New Hampshire.

Featured photo: Parmentier. Photo by John Fladd.

Chocolate extravaganza

The Chocolate Expo comes to the Granite State

The Chocolate Expo has garnered international attention since its start in 2006. This year the Expo will make its Granite State debut on Sunday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Expo Center in Manchester.

After organizing the Woodstock 35th Anniversary Celebration in 2004 and switching his company, Baum Image Group, from high technology to event production, Marvin Baum created a chocolate event for New York’s official holiday celebration in 2006.

“That was the kernel of the idea that became The Chocolate Expo,” he said.

What was then a New York chocolate and holiday gift market evolved into what is now the biggest chocolate event in the country.

“We call ourselves the official home of chocolate, food and fun,” Baum said. “It’s basically a tasting and sales event so people can come and try things from a variety of vendors and if they like what they taste they can buy it. This year for New Hampshire I think we have one of our best lineups of vendors that we’ve ever had. It’s just a really nice mix of interesting products.”

The lineup consists of more than 90 vendors, including Kimball Fruit Farm from Hollis, Muncha’s Marshmallows based in Lebanon, Spin Fluff Cotton Candy, The Wine Slushie Guy, Wickedly Wild Waffles as well as wineries, distilleries, bakeries and vendors selling hot sauces, dips and specialty foods.

“We’re trying to help small, local businesses and regional businesses by bringing this all together,” Baum said. “We’re in a very unique position to have things that are different that you’re not going to find if you go to an average street fair. Now we also bring it together with entertainment and celebrity chef demonstrations and things like that.”

Celebrity chefs include Food Network’s Chopped champion Chef Clara, Cutthroat Kitchen winner DJ Chef, who will also be playing music, and Food Network’s Chef Lawrence. There will be a kids zone with crafts, face painting and balloon twisting, and New Hampshire magician Dasean Greene, also known as the Magic Man, will be mingling and demonstrating his talent throughout the event.

In the spirit of Halloween, the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus, impersonated by a group from Massachusetts, will make an appearance, as will Uncle Fester from the Addams family and Star Wars characters.

“Chocolate is something that really unites people,” Baum said. “People associate good times with chocolate. … We probably sold more tickets in advance than we ever have for any other show. I think it’s going to sell out because people are that excited.”

The Chocolate Expo
Where: 155 Dow St., Manchester
Cafe hours: Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.; closed on Sundays.
Salon hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed on Sunday

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 23/10/12

News from the local food scene

  • Taste of the Trail: Try free samples from local food vendors and win local auction items at the Winnipesaukee River Trail Association’s annual Taste of the Trail event on Thursday, Oct. 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Elks Lodge (125 S Main St., Franklin). All proceeds will go toward maintaining and improving the Winnipesaukee River Trail. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased via eventbrite.
  • Sip and script: Enjoy a beverage and learn the basics of modern calligraphy on Thursday, Oct. 12, at Pipe Dream Brewing in Londonderry (49 Harvey Road) from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The class includes a beginner’s calligraphy kit and ends with lettering faux pumpkins. Everything is yours to keep. Tickets are $69 and can be purchased on sipandscript.com
  • Oktoberfest: Stop by the Sandown Oktoberfest on Saturday, Oct. 14, from noon to 6 p.m. at Sandlot Sports (8 Sandlot Way, Sandown) for food, music and games followed by a bonfire until 10:30 p.m. Happenings include a German bake-off, children’s races and contests, a beer tent and several food trucks including One Happy Clam, Dancing Donuts and Agape Cakes.
  • Harvest in Hillsborough: The Hillsborough Community Center holds the town’s second annual harvest festival from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Grimes Field (28 Preston St., Hillsborough) with games, food, vendors, local artisans, art projects and prizes. The event is free to attend.
  • Windham harvest fest: The harvest festival at Griffin Park (101 Range Road, Windham) on Saturday, Oct. 17, from noon to 4 p.m. begins with a doggie costume parade, which is followed by activities from 1 to 3 p.m., and ending with trick-or-treating until the end of the festival. The Women’s Club will be selling baked goods and other treats, and Capri Pizza will be selling pizza.
  • Halloween party: Pipe Dream Brewing in Londonderry (49 Harvey Road) hosts a Halloween costume party on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 6 to 10 p.m. with music spun by a DJ, food and drinks. The winner of the best costume award will win a gift card.

Worker bee brewfest

Worker Bee Fund hosts second Mount Uncanoonuc Brewfest

On Saturday, Oct. 14, from 1 to 5 p.m., more than a dozen breweries will come together with music, games and food for the second Mount Uncanoonuc Brewfest in the parking lot of Mountain Base Brewery in Goffstown. Organized by the Worker Bee Fund, the event will raise money for projects performed by the charity.

“The Worker Bee Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) in New Hampshire,” said Brian Hansen, the founder of the charity. “We fix up houses for disabled veterans [by] doing carpentry jobs like [building] ramps, accessible kitchens [and] bathrooms. … Our goal is to help improve people’s houses that they live in so they can stay there a couple of years extra. It’s kind of aimed at elderly folks [and] focused on lower income brackets.”

Last year about 405 people attended, double the number they expected, including veterans for whom they had done projects in the past. This year, breweries will include Mountain Base Brewery, Stark Brewing Co., Henniker Brewing Co. and Spyglass Brewing. There will also be food vendors, like Paulie’s Hot Dogs, Pastry Dream and Squaloo’s BBQ, as well as ax throwing, cornhole and live music performed by The Apostolides Project.

Hansen started the organization shortly before the onslaught of Covid. He wanted to be able to help people age more comfortably in their own home, so he used his skills in architectural design to make this happen. He has enlisted the help of others along the way, adding people to his team and working with other organizations.

“When you start something like this, a little community forms,” he said. “All kinds of things you didn’t expect were going to happen happen. People come out of the woodwork because they want to help, and you learn things about people you thought you knew.”

Hansen says the hardest part of what the Worker Bee Fund does is finding people who need help, as many people who do often don’t reach out. For this reason, they market directly with veteran organizations in the state.

“A lot of the case workers at [Easterseals’] Veterans Count point people to us,” he said. “They’ve referred people to us before, they’ve chipped in funds on some of the projects, which has been great. We really couldn’t do it without them. … Without them pointing people to us, we’re much less of an organization.”

The money to fund the various projects the organization performs, about 10 a year, is raised by the Worker Bee Fund through social media, donations and events, such as the Mount Uncanoonuc Brewfest.

Hansen hopes for the same great weather they had for last year’s event.

He said, “A big turnout would be really nice because we always have lots and lots of beer, [and] a really diverse group of people who are looking to have a good time … and are eager to meet veterans who are superheroes.”

Mount Uncanoonuc Brewfest
When: Saturday, Oct. 14, 1 to 5 p.m.
Where: 553 Mast Road, Goffstown
Cost: Tickets are $35 when purchased in advance, $45 on the day of the event and $10 for designated drivers.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

In the kitchen with Collin Beckemeyer

For Collin Beckemeyer, every long day in the kitchen is worth it to see the look on someone’s face when they taste something incredible. With 10 years of cooking experience, Beckemeyer has been the sous chef at The Birch on Elm for the last three. From preparation to line work, helping with menus and organizing, he plays a key part in making sure things run smoothly and consistently. He credits his mother for his love of food, recalling how she would always have baked goods waiting for him and his siblings when they got home from school. No matter what kind of day he was having, they were always enough to reprieve him. He says, “A great meal cures everything, at least for that moment.”

What is your must-have kitchen item?
My must-have item in the kitchen has to be a perfect flexible fish spatula. It’s multi-purpose [and] has great flexibility. I’d be lost if I didn’t have one on a busy Saturday night. Also having a fresh stack of neatly folded kitchen towels makes every night better.

What would you have for your last meal?
I think a perfect cheese pizza with great sauce and a perfect crust hits the spot every time. Pizza is done so many different ways, but when you find the perfect slice it’s heaven. For the dessert I would have my mom’s homemade pumpkin pie, which has to to be one of my favorite foods of all time. I have about two of these pies a year and I look forward to it every time.

What is your favorite local eatery?
My favorite local eatery in Manchester is the Bagel Cafe. They have fantastic fresh bagels and it’s my favorite breakfast meal before a long day at work. My favorite place to go for lunch and dinner has to be Street in Portsmouth. They have street food inspired from around the world and everything on the menu is fantastic.

Name a celebrity you would like to see eating in your restaurant?
If I could have one celebrity come into The Birch on Elm it would have to be the Sandman himself, Adam Sandler. I’ve been a huge fan since I was a kid and the fact that he is a local guy makes it pretty awesome.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?
My favorite thing on the menu is anything we put in our house bao buns. They are made fresh every day and have such a perfect fluffiness to them, the texture is incredible. We have a banh mi bao with crispy pork belly, duck fat aioli, pickled daikon and carrot with cilantro that is a perfect classic combination. It is done with such care and careful preparation you really appreciate each bite.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
I think the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now is simplicity at its best. It’s taking classics or food that people are knowledgeable about and bringing fresh ingredients and your own twist on them.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
My favorite thing to cook at home has to be huge “Scooby Doo and Shaggy”-type sandwiches or subs. Tons of fresh vegetables, an array of sliced meats piled high with whatever sauce I can think of. When I’m home I just like to treat myself and build crazy combination sandwiches that I know is too much food but I’m going to love it. — Mya Blanchard

Gochujang BBQ sauce
Yield 1½ quarts
From the kitchen of Collin Beckemeyer

8 roasted Roma tomatoes
2 white onions, julienned
8 cloves garlic
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup gochujang
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, diced
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup Sriracha
1/4 cup ketchup
water or chicken stock to cover

Roast tomatoes in the oven.
Sweat down onion, garlic and ginger to a medium caramelized color
Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.
Add water or chicken stock to your pot, just enough to cover the ingredients in it.
Cook down on medium to low heat, cooking down about 1/4 of the liquid that was in the pot.
Blend in a Vitamix or blender to get the right consistency
Put through a china cap to get the right texture.
Enjoy this with wings, ribs, pretty much anything!

Featured photo: Savannah Nemiccolo. Courtesy photo.

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