Category: Food

Quick Pickled Watermelon Rind with Baking Spice

Summer is the season of watermelon. Most of the time we simply throw out the rinds. Why not find a use for some of this leftover produce?

This recipe is really simple and creates a slightly tart, slightly sweet snack. Pickled watermelon rind makes a fine addition to a charcuterie tray, a nice topping to a salad, or a different side to serve with burgers.

When making this recipe, the most difficult step is removing the layer of green rind. You can try using a vegetable peeler; however, I found it to be a slow process. I recommend using a paring knife to remove the green rind. Just take your time, as you are working with a slippery ingredient.
Once your rind is ready for brining, the rest of the process is simple. The only tricky part is waiting 24 hours to enjoy the final product. It’s well worth it. In that amount of time the rind absorbs a nice amount of flavor. As these are quick pickles, they do need to be stored in your refrigerator and will last about one month. (That is if they aren’t all eaten by then!)

Quick Pickled Watermelon Rind with Baking Spice
Makes 1 pint

2 cups watermelon rind
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon whole cloves

To get 2 cups of watermelon rind, you need 1/4 of a small watermelon.
Cut out the watermelon flesh, and save for another use.
Using a knife, remove all of the green skin from the watermelon rind.
Cut the rind into small, bite-sized pieces, about 1/2-inch cubes.
In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and cloves.
Bring to a boil over high heat.
Once it begins boiling, stir occasionally until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
Add watermelon rind, and lower to a simmer.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until watermelon cubes are fork tender, about 8 minutes.
Transfer rind to either 1 pint jar or 2 half-pint jars.
Top with brining liquid.
Allow to cool for an hour before sealing with lids.
Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.

Featured photo: Quick Pickled Watermelon Rind with Baking Spice. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

In the kitchen with Chris Davis

Chris Davis has been a cook at Red Arrow Diner for the past six months. Originally from Arizona, Chris moved to New Hampshire to be closer to family, with no prior cooking experience. A self-proclaimed “jack of all trades,” Davis has worked as a mechanic, in contractor work and construction and was ready to try something new.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Spatulas, because if you don’t have a good spatula it affects how you make your egg … affects how you cook.

What would you have for your last meal?

My last meal would probably be steak and lobster.

What is your favorite local eatery?

Definitely would be here.

Name a celebrity you would like to see eating in your restaurant?

I would probably like to meet Mark Wahlberg.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

I would have to say the Trump Burger. [The Trump Tower Burger is two grilled cheese sandwiches replacing the bun with a handcrafted beef burger topped with fried mac and cheese and cheese sauce, served with fries, according to the Red Arrow’s menu.]

What is the biggest food trend in NH right now?

Flatbread would probably be the most trending thing going on up here.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Chicken enchiladas.

–Mya Blanchard

Grilled Cajun Shrimp
From the kitchen of Red Arrow Diner

Fresh shrimp sautéed with diced red onion and diced tomatoes sprinkled with Cajun seasoning. Served over a bed of rice pilaf and sautéed baby spinach.


Featured photo: Chris Davis. Courtesy photo.

Putting down roots

Couple establishes new farm in Hollis

By Mya Blanchard

[email protected]

Life has been busy for Jack and Audrey Hertenstein Perez. They moved from Chicago to New Hampshire about a year ago, have a new 2-month-old baby and opened Singing Pond Farm, in Hollis, in January. They are attending both the Nashua and Derry farmers markets this season, where they sell their farm’s produce, such as romaine lettuce, kohlrabi, beets and radishes, as well as cut flowers and handmade pottery.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Jack Hertenstein Perez grew up around dairy farms and was influenced by his mother, who was an avid gardener.

“Growing up as a child, I loved gardening with my mom and felt how special it was having fresh, local food,” he said. “As I got older, I saw how valuable that was.”

Audrey had a similar upbringing, on a farm in central Illinois. The two met in Boston while in college, both pursuing degrees in health-related fields, Jack earning a master’s degree in public health; Audrey went on to become a family medicine doctor.

“[I] saw the connection between how important food is to your health [and] food access, and having access to nutritious food is kind of the baseline for your well-being,” Jack said. “That was also a connection [to] seeing food and food production as a way to promote the health of our communities.”

As a doctor, this was something Audrey saw firsthand.

“A lot of illnesses just come back to having access to healthy, fresh food, which was hard to come by for the population I was working with,” she said.

The two wanted to start something of their own somewhere out of the Midwest. They bought a house on a field in New Hampshire to put down new roots.

They plowed the land to turn the soil and bury dead grass, and implemented organic practices. According to Jack, this means working with handmade pesticides and fertilizers, like blended seaweed and fish, and covering crops with nets to keep away insects. It was also important to the pair to help those dealing with food insecurity, so they made the decision to donate a portion of each harvest to local organizations addressing this issue.

“Another motivation for moving to this career is the environmental impact,” Audrey said. “Especially having kids we’ve become more concerned about that … [having] a new life who’s going to be living through the more severe changes of climate change really motivated us to want to be part of the solution.”

She added that the fuel emission needed to transport food is one of the biggest contributors to the issue. Getting your food from local sources is a great way to help cut back on emissions while also supporting local farmers.

“Coming out to farmers markets is a great way. There’s a lot of local farmers you can connect with there,” Audrey said. “We live in a great area here in New Hampshire. I know there are a lot of bigger farm stands and local grocery stores that will actually source produce from local farmers … so we live in a really supportive area, which is something that hopefully the rest of the country can model from.”

Singing Pond Farm
Find them: singingpondfarm.com and at the Nashua Farmers Market (Nashua Public Library parking lot, 2 Court St. in Nashua, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Derry Homegrown Farmers and Artisan Market (1 West Broadway in Derry, Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m.).

Featured photo: Photos courtesy of Singing Pond Farm.

Relax and Unwined

New wine bar to open in Milford

By Mya Blanchard

[email protected]

For English sommelier Emma Round, wine is more than just a drink. It stirs up memories, adding depth to life’s moments. In 2021 she had the idea to open Unwined, a wine bar and restaurant, to bring this experience to others. In addition to wine it will also offer cocktails and a diverse range of food served small-plate and sharing style. It is projected to open its doors in late August or early September.

“I was like, ‘You know, it’s after Covid, I’m going to open a restaurant and wine bar in southern New Hampshire,” Round said. “‘I don’t even live in America, but I’m going to do it and it’s going to be great … why not?’ Yeah, I think I temporarily lost my mind.”

With a love for wine and a background in business management in the United Kingdom, Round started looking for locations. She noticed that while the wine industry was growing in America, people were moving out of cities after the pandemic.

“You shouldn’t need to travel to Portsmouth or Portland or Boston to go to a really great place,” Round said. “There are so many places in southern New Hampshire right now that are opening up and creating experiences that you would have expected in these large cities. … I’m hoping we can add a new layer to that.”

In England, Round grew up in a culture and family in which wine was a staple. Wine bars were plentiful, and the beverage was key at family dinners. On the contrary, Round felt that Americans often associated wine with older, wealthier populations. It was important to Round to eliminate this misconception, as well as to educate people in a welcoming environment.

“For us it’s really about taking away that pretentiousness [and] making an inclusive environment that is accessible to everyone,” she said. “We’re hoping to be able to educate people in a fun and approachable way.”

Prior to the establishment of Unwined, Round had never been to New Hampshire but had worked in hotels in Boston. She discovered that she loved New England, finding small-town America to be particularly charming. When looking for a location, she knew she wanted to find somewhere that was easily accessible and central to other locations. She researched areas near the border of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, eventually deciding on Milford.

“I felt there was a really nice space for us there with the wine just to kind of [add to] the Milford food and beverage scene as a whole,” she said.

According to Round, the process of opening Unwined has been intense but incredible. While she had experience in the U.K., she had to learn how to manage a business in the U.S. She feels her European background will allow her to include unique and unusual wines not stocked at other wine bars.

“We’ve managed to source lots of fantastic products locally, and the entire community has been great,” Round said. “Milford town is chomping at the bit for us to open, and everyone has been so generous and open with me. … People have been incredible and so helpful, which I really appreciate.”

Unwined
Where: 1 Nashua St. in Milford
Opening: late August or early September
More info: unwinednh.com

Featured photo: Unwined. Courtey photos.

The Weekly Dish 23/07/13

News from the local food scene

• Art of wine blending: Create your idea of the perfect wine at LaBelle Winery in Derry (14 Route 111) on Saturday, July 15, from 6 to 7 p.m. Once you arrive, you will be given all the necessary materials to create your own unique blend in a personalized bottle. Winemakers Amy LaBelle and Melaney Shepard will guide you, teaching you the fundamentals of wine blending and how to balance flavor and aroma varieties. Ages 21 and up are welcome. Seats are limited, so purchase your ticket now for $70 at labellewinery.com.

• Rosé Tasting – Sip and Savor: Visit Vine Thirty Two, a self-pour wine bar in Bedford (25 S. River Road) on Wednesday, July 19, at 6 p.m. to learn about rosé while sipping four different blends from all around the world that will be paired with cheese. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online via Eventbrite.

• Wine Down workshop: Sit and sip while creating your own custom bracelet with Caitlin and Emily of Seaside & Sunflower during a beading workshop at Vine Thirty Two, a self-serve wine and graze bar in Bedford (25 S. River Road) on Tuesday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m. All materials will be provided. Tickets include one custom bracelet and a $10 credit for wine tasting. Additional bracelets can be purchased during the event and the food menu will be available for additional purchase. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased via Eventbrite.

• Murder mystery dinner party: Find out who dunnit at LaBelle Winery’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party (Amherst 345 Route 101, Amherst) on Saturday, July 22, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Enjoy a three-course dinner while professional actors take you back in time to the turn of the century in Britain, where a shocking crime takes place. It is up to you to be the detective and analyze, interrogate and solve the mystery. A wine pour is included when you arrive and a full bar will be available throughout the event. Tickets are $95.20 including tax and gratuity. Visit labellewinery.com to purchase tickets.

• Great American Ribfest: Save the date for the Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival at The Biergarten (221 Daniel Webster Hwy.) in Merrimack. The event will run on Friday, July 21, from 4 to 9 p.m.; Saturday July 22, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (free entry after 6:30 p.m.) and Sunday, July 23, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (free entry after 5:50 p.m.). Food trucks and vendors will be serving barbecue in addition to a variety of other options, including ice cream, bacon and gourmet food. Live music will also be featured.

Warm heart, iced coffee

Ingredients:

  • 3 ounces cold-brew coffee concentrate – Trader Joe’s makes a very good one.
  • 6 ounces half & half
  • 1 ounce simple syrup
  • frozen coffee (see below)
  • dark chocolate, frozen (optional)

Coffee Ice

The secret to truly excellent ice coffee is coffee ice.

We’ve all been there, really, truly enjoying a cup of iced coffee on a bone-deep level. Not guzzling it — we’ve been around the block a few times, and we know that an ice cream headache is a real danger in situations like this, but we’ve also learned the hard way that we don’t make great decisions after ingesting an injudiciously large caffeine bolus.

So we nurse our iced coffee.

The first sip is transcendent.

The second one, 10 minutes later, is still pretty good.

After half an hour, we ask ourselves if it was really that good to begin with. Right now, it’s only so-so.

It eventually sinks in that the enemy here is the ice, gradually, subtly diluting the iced coffee, like an unwanted watery chaperone.

The secret is to make your ice out of coffee. Pieces of coffee ice will melt, but when they do, do you know what they add to your iced coffee? More coffee!

Use leftover coffee to make ice cubes, or make some with cold-brew concentrate.

But it isn’t the 1970s. What if you don’t have an ice cube tray?

Do you have a cake pan? Or a large zip-lock bag? Use one of those to make a block of ice, then chop it up with an ice pick.

But this isn’t a suspense movie; what if you don’t have an ice pick?

Wrap the ice in a tea towel, and swing it over your head, smashing it into the kitchen counter. Do this three or four times and you will have your choice of smashed ice — from coffee snow, to jagged coffee-sicles, to chunks of frozen coffee that will take up half your glass. Use what you want, then put the rest in a Tupperware container in the freezer for your next, inevitable iced coffee.

The actual iced coffee

The question here is how much restraint do you want to show with your iced coffee? The amounts here will make a very respectable 16-ounce serving. Maybe you only need a little pick-me-up. Maybe you have guests. Maybe you have in-laws staying with you. There are any number of reasons why you might want to drink a reasonable, temperate amount of iced coffee.

But maybe you are alone, or Having. A. Day. Maybe the kids or your boss are making extremely unreasonable demands. Maybe you need to drink enough iced coffee to stun a water buffalo. I’m not here to judge you.

The important thing to keep in mind here is the proportions. A one-quart glass jar would work just as well as a juice glass for this.

Pick a glass, then fill it halfway with coffee ice.

Add the half & half and cold-brew concentrate in a 2:1 ratio.

Add enough simple syrup to sweeten to taste.

Stir.

Using a microplane grater, or the tiniest holes on your box grater, grate frozen dark chocolate on top of your coffee, as garnish.

If you think you don’t like iced coffee, you might want to try this. It is creamy and slightly sweet. It isn’t a takeout milkshake pretending to be iced coffee. It’s the real thing. It’s delicately sweet, without much of the bitterness that mass-produced ice coffee tends to have. It starts out pretty innocent, whistling and looking up at the ceiling, but over the course of an hour it becomes more and more grown-up coffee.

Featured photo: Iced Coffee. Photo by John Fladd.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!