Category: Food

Ice, ice, cookie

Pork bao, crab pakora and smashburgers at Local Street Eats

By John Fladd

[email protected]

Kelli Wright is one of the best cookie decorators in the business, but it didn’t come easily.

“I’m self-taught,” she said. “It took me so long just to even figure out how to mix royal icing correctly, to get the consistencies that I like, and decorate a cookie, and to make a straight line. It took me hours upon hours of reading, and watching videos and baking shows, and trying to figure it out.”

After having spent years establishing herself as a bespoke baker and decorator — her decorating business is called Just Wright by Kelli — she has taken on teaching decorating classes and workshops, where she tries to help home bakers skip over the most tedious stages of learning to decorate.

“Seeing people start out six to eight months ahead of where I was in the process,” Wright said, “just to see them be able to do it and do it right away is extremely gratifying. When they’re like, ‘Aha! I got it! I understand some of this,’ is so rewarding to see the outcome.”

Wright teaches decorating classes in several different places. The most recent one is The Culinary Playground in Derry. She teaches groups of 10 to 15 people to decorate cookies with royal icing. The classes run either two hours or two and a half. Each student is provided with the icing, tools they will need, and four to six sugar cookies. Wright concentrates on teaching participants how to decorate the cookies, using particular patterns that they can work from.

“What I like to tell people is ‘I give you a starting point’,” Wright said, “‘and then it’s all about learning how to just kind of let go and let your creativity take over. Learn what you like, what you don’t like — try to develop a style that’s yours.’ And some people are … not comfortable with going off-script based upon whatever their prior knowledge of decorating is and some people get very creative and want to improvise and do things that make them happy. I think that’s the whole [attraction] of baking is to have joy and share love through an edible treat. So I let them go rogue and have fun.”

In her classes, Wright works exclusively with egg white-based royal icing.

“I want to make sure it sets nicely for people to travel with when they take their cookies home,” she said. “If you put the right balance of ingredients together it’s not hard when you bite but it does still have a nice soft bite after it has a chance to dry.”

Although Wright teaches groups as large as 75 people, her classes at The Culinary Playground are smaller to fit the space available to her there.

“The classes take up a bit of space,” said Kristen Chiosi, owner of The Culinary Playground. “You have your cookies, you have a flexible mat to work on, and you have all your tools. So 16 is what’s comfortable in our space. We project up onto a screen so students can see what she’s doing. So we have a camera that’s pointed down toward her mat that has her cookie and you can see her hand and as she’s doing it. She’s talking through the steps and that’s being projected on the board so that people can follow along.”

Wright said cookie-decorating is fulfilling to teach, because students can learn a concrete skill very quickly and extrapolate from there. “I love seeing people try something new and then get that realization like, ‘Now I understand why custom is custom and what goes into making that one piece of edible art.’”

Cookie-decorating
Kelli Wright’s next sessions at The Culinary Playground (16 Manning St, Derry, 339-1664, culinary-playground.com) will be a Valentine Cookie class Saturday, Feb. 15, from 1 to 3 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 19, from 4 to 6 p.m., and a Saint Patrick’s Day Cookie class Sunday, March 9, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 12:45 to 2:45 p.m. Register online through the Culinary Playground website.

Featured photo: Cookie decorating classes at Culinary Playground. Courtesy photo.

Bringing a street-food vibe to Nash

Pork bao, crab pakora and smashburgers at Local Street Eats

By John Fladd

[email protected]

What is street food? For Alyssa Drift, the owner of Local Street Eats in Nashua, it’s not about the exact food you might get on a street corner halfway around the world. Although it could be.

“I haven’t traveled internationally a whole lot,” Drift said, “but I like to eat. So it’s more like going out into different cities and different places, whether it’s Boston, Portland, Portsmouth, any of those kinds of places. Even in Florida, like Miami and places like that are just a little bit more rich in culture than New Hampshire is a lot of the time. I feel like places like that have more of a diverse dining scene, and I wanted to bring something like that to Nashua.”

With a mission statement like that, it would be understandable if the menu at Local Street East went in a bunch of different directions, featuring dishes from a large number of places around the world. Drift and her staff have done the opposite. She said it was important to them to keep the menu clean and simple.

“It’s really streamlined, very simple, some handheld [items], some bites, some snacks. It’s really approachable, again, on the food standpoint, but very manageable for us to keep fresh ingredients in-house and have everything go out consistently at the high quality that we expect our team to deliver.” Plus, Drift said, she and her staff have a loophole. “The other thing is, we offer specials every single week,” she said. “So in addition to our regular menu, each week that runs Wednesday through Tuesday we offer at least two to three specials coming out of the kitchen. We usually offer a larger item and then a smaller item just to give variety to those people. We have a really big regular clientele. So we like to give people the choice to switch it up every now and again and not get sick of the regular menu. And then the plan for the regular menu is to switch that every 12 weeks. So we’ll do four seasonal menu changes.”

This winter’s menu items have been inspired by cultures as different from each other as China’s, Thailand’s, Mexico’s, and from the southern U.S. Some of the appetizers include Pork Bao (chewy Chinese dumplings), Crispy Crab Pakora (deep-fried Indian snacks) and a charcuterie plate called Girl Dinner. Main courses include American-style smash burgers, pad thai, and blackened fish with pineapple salsa.

About half the items on the menu either are plant-based or can be modified to be.

“We have a lot of vegan options on the menu,” Drift said. “Not just vegetarian, but full vegan. I feel like that’s a demand. Today, people try to be a little bit more more sound in their decisions and how they eat and source food. It’s definitely on the upswing. There are a lot of non-alcoholic people and a lot of vegan people. We have a permanent section on our cocktail menu that has zero-proof cocktails at all times and we have specials that we rotate every now and again. But I mean, to have 10 to 15 non-alcoholic options that aren’t Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite is a point of pride for us. We take just as much care making those as we do with any of our cocktails.”

Bar manager Krista Fisher said that whether she is designing mocktails or full-octane drinks the goal is to find ingredients that go well together, especially if they are a little surprising, so she can keep customers on their toes. “The special this week is called a Clown Car,” she said. “It has scotch, apricot, raspberry, and orange bitters — a little bit of everything. It’s served in a Collins glass on the rocks.”

“With a little umbrella,” she added. “Everything here is made a little cute.”

“Inspiration comes from everywhere,” Fisher said. “There’s a lot of trial and error. We’ve definitely experimented with flavors where you’re like, ‘Nope, that was weird.’ But pineapple and espresso go together, so that was cool to find out.” The biggest realization she has come to recently is the importance of picking a great name for each drink. “The name attracts them,” she said. “The flavor makes them stay.”

Local Street Eats
Where: 112 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 402-4435, local-streeteats.com
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 11 p.m. Make reservations through the restaurant’s website.

Local Street Eats. Photo by John Fladd.

The Weekly Dish 25/02/06

News from the local food scene

• Chili and ice cream: The Amherst Lions Club will hold its annual Fire and Ice Chili Cookoff Friday, Feb. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Souhegan High School cafeteria, 412 Boston Post Road, Amherst. To purchase tickets contact any Amherst Lion or purchase online. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for students ages 7 to 12, free for children ages 6 and under, $40 for a family of four or more. There is no fee to enter a chili. Competitors must register by Feb. 4. Visit the Amherst Lions Club website at e-clubhouse.org/sites/amherstnh.

• Dipping strawberries: Learn how to cover strawberries with chocolate like a professional at Van Otis Chocolates (341 Elm St., Manchester, 627-1611, vanotis.com) on Friday, Feb. 14, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Each participant will take home approximately 1 pound of dipped strawberries. This class is suited for guests over the age of 21, and they are welcome to bring their own bottle of wine or Champagne. After the class, guests will have the opportunity to shop in the store and receive a special class-only discount to be used the same day. Tickets are $60 through eventbrite.com.

• Flames and frost: 603 Brewery and Beerhall (42 Main St., Londonderry, 404-6123, 603brewery.com) will host a Fire on Main event Saturday, Feb. 8, from 3 to 9 p.m. This will be a cozy community event featuring a bonfire, food trucks and vendors, music and more. Main Street will be closed, there will be fire pits to warm up at, and s’mores will be served. Dress for cold weather. Admission is free, and all events are for all ages.

• Soup madness: The Henniker Brewing Co. (129 Centervale Road, Henniker, 428-3579, hennikerbrewing.com) will hold its First Annual Soup-er Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 9, from 1 to 4 p.m. Try the best homemade soups and chilis in Henniker before settling in for the big game, or see how your own soup/chili stands up to the heat. If you’d like to feature your dish, register by calling the taproom or sending email to [email protected]. Free to enter, free to taste. Music by Speed Trap starts at 1 p.m.

In the kitchen with Elisbet Dupont

Baker and owner of Bittersweet Bake Shoppe (272 Derry Road, Litchfield, 978-649-2253, bittersweetbakeshoppe.com)

Elisbet Dupont is a graphic designer from Venezuela and the new owner of Bittersweet Bake Shoppe.

“I came here 20 years ago,” she said. “I work a lot with my hands. I love designing and crafting things with my hands. I love decorating cakes — that’s how I came to the bakery to work for Lynn [former Bittersweet Bake Shop owner Lynn Donnelly]. I was making figures with fondant or buttercream. That was my job here, helping her decorating birthday cakes …. I worked with her for 14 years — for 10 years in Tyngsboro, and then after 10 years she moved here. I had a food truck called Tres Latinas. There were three girls and we opened it in the pandemic. It was open for four years, and then I decided to close it last year. And now I’m in business by myself. I just became the owner of the bakery last week. It feels exciting and overwhelming at the same time.”

What is your must-have item in your kitchen?

Flour. I need to have that to make everything. It’s the main ingredient for everything I make. I use flour for bread, and then flour for pastries. My specialty is cachitos — a light wheat bread stuffed with ham, or chicken, or guava.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

My favorite thing is that — the cachitos. I didn’t have a lot of room to make it in the food truck, so now I feel I have the space and the equipment to make them and then bake them. It’s easier for me. And people are loving them so it makes me really happy.

What would you have for your last meal?

I would have scrambled eggs and a cachito and tres leches cake. I like my scrambled eggs a little soft.

What is your most popular item?

I think birthday cakes are what people call in the most orders for. … The rest of the items — cookies and pastries — they are here because we want to offer them, and we know that people like them, but the item that people call us for is birthday cake.

What is your favorite place to eat, locally?

I’m Spanish-speaking, so I like Mexican food. Around here, I love California Burritos; they’re really good.

Is there a celebrity you would like to see eating your food?

I had David Ortiz, the baseball player, try my food. He went to the food truck and he tried my arepas. He loved it. I made the arepain the shape of his logo. It was very nice.

What do you like to cook at home?

At home, I make arepas for my daughter. I make them with cheese, with butter, and with chicken for my husband, bacon, bacon, egg and cheese — kind of an American arepa. And then pasta with my homemade tomato sauce. My daughter asked me to have that here at the bakery, but I don’t know if I can include that item here. I don’t know yet.

Venezuelan Tres Leches Cake (Three-Milk-Cake)

1 stick of unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup of granulated sugar
5 eggs (room temperature)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup condensed milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup whole milk
2 cups whipped cream (topping)

Using a mixer combine the stick of butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, then add flour and baking powder, and mix until smooth.
Spray baking oil on a 10” by 10” square baking pan and pour in the batter. Bake in a 350°F oven for about 20-25 minutes. Once the cake is baked you can cut it 4×4 to get 16 small pieces. Pour the three milks combined in the cake, and let it soak in the refrigerator for a couple hours. You can decorate with whipped cream and enjoy a delicious Venezuelan Tres Leches Cake!

Alexander. Brandy Alexander.

zero-proof breakfast cocktail

In Ian Fleming’s 1960 short story “Risico” spy James Bond is supposed to meet with another agent in a hotel bar. Never having met him, he is supposed to be on the lookout for a man drinking a Brandy Alexander. In an interior monologue, Bond is impressed by this detail. It is such a feminine drink, he thinks, that a man will be able to be recognized much better than he would be by holding a newspaper folded in a particular way or wearing a specific flower in his lapel.

As with many of the opinions expressed by the literary James Bond, this one hasn’t aged particularly well. Aside from some antiquated gender norming, Flemming missed a golden — and in hindsight obvious — opportunity. Brandy Alexander is a classic name for a female character in a Bond piece. Brandy would be beautiful of course, with dark hair cut startlingly (for Bond at least) short. She’d have a musical laugh and flashing dark eyes, and be an expert poker player and gifted butterfly collector. She would also be Europe’s most notorious cat burglar and jewel thief.

In the movie version she would be played by Audrey Hepburn and would have her own theme song, written by Henry Mancini.

At the end of the story, Bond would find himself with an attaché case notably empty of jewels, and a cheeky note dabbed with Brandy’s perfume, shaking his head and staring at her sports car disappearing into the distance.

Regardless of all that, Friday, Jan. 31 is National Brandy Alexander day, and we should celebrate with a cocktail, if not an actual jewel theft.

Brandy Alexander

1½ ounces brandy – some pedants will say it should be cognac, or brandy from a particular monastery in the mountains of Latvia, but let’s face it: you’re mixing it with crème de cacao – you’re probably not looking for subtle nuances here

1 ounce crème de cacao

¼ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ounce light cream or half & half

Ice

Combine the brandy, crème de cacao and cocoa powder in a cocktail shaker, and dry shake it for 30 seconds or so. This means without ice. The trouble-maker here is the cocoa powder. Cocoa is hydrophobic, meaning that it doesn’t like dissolving in water. If you tried to mix it with the other ingredients over ice, you’d end up with little clumps of cocoa stuck to the ice cubes, bringing the sophistication of the drink down by about 15 percent. If you shake it vigorously with liquor, however, it will mix in pretty well. Like many of us, it is easier to get along with after enthusiastic exposure to alcohol.

Add ice and cream to the mixture, and shake for another 30 seconds or so, then strain into a cocktail or coupe glass. If you judged your shaking right, there should be just a few tiny ice chips floating on the surface.

Ask your digital assistant to play the James Bond theme, and sip your Brandy Alexander to it. You won’t be sorry.

Unlike many cream-based cocktails, this isn’t overly sweet. There is some residual sweetness from the crème de cacao, but it is balanced by the bitterness of the cocoa powder and the richness of the cream. The brandy is able to stand proudly in the front of this jazz combo of a cocktail. It carries a caché of sophistication and inspires confidence.

Paying it forward

Customers help out at Soel Sistas

By John Fladd

[email protected]

Feeding the hungry is a priority for any restaurant, but Kendra Smith, the owner and chef of Soel Sistas Soul Food in Nashua, has worked to expand that mission statement. She remembers that it started with a hungry-but-broke customer.

“We had a gentleman come in,” Smith said, “and he asked for a meal and I kind of just looked at him and I was like, huh? But I made him a meal, and we just comped it [gave it to him without charge]. I was like, you know what? I can’t afford to feed everybody. But there was an idea I had seen on Facebook last winter. If [a customer] knows about it, they can come in, grab a ticket off of the board, bring it right to the cashier, they’ll bring it to the kitchen, and then we’ll bring out their food.”

“The Board” refers to a wall of a pillar near the front of the restaurant, where a selection of meal tickets are posted, the type a server fills out with a customer’s order to send to the kitchen. These tickets are for meals that other customers have already paid for, either in person or online.

“There was a post on Facebook, which had kind of gone viral a little bit,” Smith said, “and there’s a Venmo link on there that people can use, or they can come in and pay for a meal if they’d like. I’ve had some people donate who didn’t specify anything from the menu, and told me, ‘Use your discretion.’ So I wrote out orders for some eight-piece meals for families. They can come in and grab a meal because I know it’s hard. I had four kids too, so there were six of us. Every time we went out, it was like a grocery bill, right?”

Knowing how tough it can be to feed a family when someone is food-insecure, Smith has worked to keep some of her menu items priced to be within reach for a parent who is struggling financially. “We like to keep our kids’ meals at five dollars,” she said, “just because I feel like that’s easy for most people to be able to afford. So if somebody came in and they had four kids they could get four kids’ meals and that would only be $20. We print up the tickets, we put it right up on the board and then somebody can just come in and use it.”

Soel Sistas serves what Smith described as “Southern American Delicacies.”

“We serve fried chicken,” she gave as an example, “collard greens, smothered pork chops [which means that they are fried, then covered with gravy and onions], and shrimp and grits.” These are dishes from Smith’s childhood, and feed into her philosophy of community — in this case, bringing her family traditions into the broader Nashua community. Weekly specials at Soel Sistas can include, braised oxtails, chicken and waffles, sausage and chicken gumbo, cornbread and fried catfish.

Smith has put a lot of thought into food options on her menu that children and teenagers will actually eat and can buy inexpensively or grab a ticket off the board for.

“We have a lot of kids that come in here,” she said, “and they like our snack box, which is $10, because they can choose from the things that they’re used to. French fries, mozzarella sticks, pizza bites, onion rings, tops, chicken tenders. I have a couple kids that come in and they’ll get all corn dogs because you get to pick three [items]. That’s just, it’s kids’ stuff. It’s what they like. It’s easy. I like to try it. Corn dogs are just good stuff. Or I might point them to our Soul Plate. So again, if you got an eight-piece bucket, then you might have something left over for later. You get two large sides and then cornbread as well with the protein.”

Soel Sistas Soul Food

Where: 30 Temple St., Suite 202, Nashua, 943-1469
Hours: open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Fridays from noon to 8 p.m. It is also a full-service catering operation.
More: soelsistas.com
To buy a meal for another customer, pay in person or via Venmo @Soel-SistasLLC.

Owner Kendra Smith also runs Feed The Kids (soelsistas.com/feed-the-kids), a charitable organization to feed hungry children during school vacations, when many do not have access to regular meals, which would welcome help or donations. She is also part of the Meals on Wheels’ Dine Out program that allows food-insecure seniors to go out for dinner. Details of all these programs are available on the Soel Sistas website.

According to the food advocacy organization Feeding America (feedingamerica.org), 9.5 percent of the population of Hillsborough County, more than 40,000 people, are food-insecure.

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