Last week might have been the end of my three-part biscotti series, but it was not the end of my baking theme. As we head toward spring, we know there is still some winter weather in our plans. Why not ward off the chilly feel with a homemade baked good to start a weekend morning? That is where these blueberry and white chocolate scones come into play.
What makes these treats a wonderful start to the day is the small amount of time and effort required. From gathering ingredients to taking your first bite is about 45 minutes. Better than driving to your local bakery, you can make these in your pjs and enjoy the amazing aromas as they bake!
A few cooking tips for this recipe: If you use frozen blueberries, expect your dough to have a blue hue. It’s just aesthetic, not a big deal. You don’t have to buy buttermilk to make these scones. It can be hard to find a container that small. Check the bottom of the recipe for my shortcut. Finally, if you have salted butter, it will work. Just reduce the salt from 1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon.
Let the baking continue!
Blueberry and white chocolate scones Makes 8
2 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 5 Tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, diced 3/4 cup white chocolate chips 3/4 cup blueberries fresh or frozen 3/4 cup buttermilk* 1 large egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add butter. Combine dry ingredients and butter using a pastry blender (or two forks) until the butter is reduced to the size of grains of rice. Add white chocolate chips and berries to flour mixture, tossing gently. Whisk buttermilk, egg yolk and vanilla in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquids to dry ingredients, stirring until the dough forms a ball. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and press into an 8-inch round, using well-floured hands. Cut into 8 wedges. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Transfer wedges to a rimmed baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the scones are crusty on top and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm.
*In lieu of buttermilk, you can combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice and enough milk (I’ve used both cow and almond milks with success) to equal 3/4 cup. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.
Featured Photo: Blueberry and white chocolate scones. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.
Megan Kurs is the owner of The Yolk Grill (116 Bridge St., Pelham, 635-0992, theyolkgrill.com), a family restaurant that opened in the fall of 2019, offering breakfast and lunch seven days a week. Originally known as Alicia’s Diner, the eatery was first owned by Kurs’s stepsister’s dad, Roger Chagnon, and she worked there when she was younger. Benedicts, omelets, burgers and sandwiches are all part of the menu, while other items have their own unique twist, from Oreo cookie-filled pancakes and Captain Crunch French toast to Tater Tot nachos and Buffalo chicken and waffles. The Yolk Grill is also known for its monthly rotating freakshakes: flavored milkshakes stacked with all types of candies and baked goods.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
Definitely a spatula, no matter what position on the line I am in.
What would you have for your last meal?
It would be a filet with asparagus and mac and cheese. That’s my favorite meal, and it’s my go-to when we go out to eat.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
We enjoy going to the Old School Bar & Grill in Windham. It just has a really good atmosphere.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
We like to cook chicken Parm. Just a regular ziti with some hand-breaded chicken.
What is your favorite thing on your menu?
If I’m looking for something sweet, then it’s the Captain Crunch French toast, but if I’m really hungry I’ll have the rib-eye and eggs with loaded home fries.
What celebrity would you like to see eating in your restaurant?
Sandra Bullock or Ryan Reynolds. Either one of them. My favorite movie is The Proposal, which they are both in, but I love watching any of their other movies.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
I feel like right now what’s super trendy are the sampler-style [items]. Right now, we have four different alcohol flights, like a mimosa or bloody mary flight, and then I’ve seen a couple of other places do food flights. … People like to have different things they can take pictures for and post them on social media and tag us and things like that.
Homemade brown gravy From the kitchen of Megan Kurs of The Yolk Grill in Pelham
1 pound unsalted butter 2 cups white all-purpose flour 1 container beef base 1 can beef broth Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce (optional)
Melt butter in a pot. Once melted, whisk in flour to make a roux. Cook roux on low heat until simmering. Whisk frequently. Add beef broth and bring to a boil. Add two tablespoons of beef bask and whisk frequently. Continue cooking on low heat while your gravy thickens. For a darker color, add a splash or two of Kitchen Bouquet.
Beau Gamache has spent the last several years mastering the art of pizza-making. In 2017 he started an Instagram account called “ThePizzaGram,” where followers could watch his journey creating dough, sauces and cheese blends. Eventually it became known as Ray Street Pizza (named after Gamache’s Manchester street), and in early 2020 he made the leap to host a series of pop-ups at what was then Brookstone Park in Derry.
“That was the first real kind of movement toward this becoming an actual business,” Gamache said. “I believe it was in March of that year when I moved to the ghost kitchen at Bayona [Cafe in Manchester] … and it kind of blew up from there, so I quit my day job.”
Meanwhile, the pop-ups continued — Gamache branched out to other locations across New Hampshire with a mobile setup, notably at breweries like Concord’s Lithermans Limited. But he knew that with his growing popularity came the need for a larger, permanent space.
Enter Ray Street Pizza on Main, now open in the former Vikster’s Pizza storefront in Goffstown. With the help of chef Jon Talbot, whom he has worked with on pop-ups and catering events, Gamache now has a regular brick-and-mortar spot where you can try many of the pizza recipes he has spent years perfecting. Even though it’s technically on Main Street, Gamache said he decided to keep his existing name simply because “too many people knew about it” by that point.
“Everyone thinks my name is Ray too, which is pretty funny,” Gamache said. “Someone would be like, ‘Hey, where’s Ray?’ so eventually I was just like, ‘It’s OK, I can be Ray.’”
Since the space was a turnkey operation, Gamache ended up inheriting some equipment, including the conveyor oven, which he said was different from the Ooni ovens he was used to.
“We had to adjust a few things in the dough … [by] just updating the recipe enough so that it cooks well and it looks nice,” he said. “We had to change the type of pans they were cooked on, and the proofing process is different now because it’s cooked at a different temperature.”
Aesthetically, Gamache described his pizza as being similar to a New York-style, while the dough itself more closely resembles a New Haven-style, due, he said, to its wet and soft texture.
The menu mostly combines pies Gamache had been dabbling in at the ghost kitchen with newer versions of some non-pizza items that had previously been available at Vikster’s.
“I wanted at least a majority of the menu to still be available for the folks who come in for lunch but don’t get pizza,” he said. “It’s just been updated in terms of quality, and quantity too. We add more steak in the steak and cheese [and] more chicken in the grilled chicken sandwich. … We’ve also upped the small size for pizzas. They used to be 10 inches, and they are 12 now.”
Slices of cheese and pepperoni pizza can usually be ordered Monday through Friday until about 4 p.m. A lineup of domestic and local craft brews is available, and Gamache is currently working toward implementing a full-service bar, which will additionally have wines and cocktails.
For the long term, Gamache has his hopes set on opening a flagship restaurant in a larger city.
“I want to do something kind of like Roberta’s in Brooklyn, where you walk in and you see this giant pizza and you can watch people make the pizza,” he said. “The menu would be tiny, just a handful of pizzas and maybe some small appetizers or salads and a nice big bar. … I think there’s something to be said about making pizza that’s so good that you don’t serve anything else and yet it’s busy, and Roberta’s is incredible.”
Ray Street Pizza on Main Where: 23 Main St., Goffstown Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (hours may be subject to change) More Info: Visit raystreetpizza.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @raystreetpizza or call 497-8211 Local deliveries are available within about a five-mile radius.
Rambling House and TaleSpinner Brewery open in Nashua
Since Debbie and Denis Gleeson founded The Nature of Things (now known as 2nd Nature Academy) in 1997, the South Nashua school has evolved to have a multi-faceted curriculum focused on sustainability — the Gleesons also operate a sister farm where they raise their own eggs, lamb and cattle. Twenty-five years later, the couple has a new locally sourced restaurant with a seasonally rotating menu, along with an accompanying craft brewery onsite.
Rambling House Food & Gathering opened March 4 on Factory Street and it’s a true family affair — all three of the Gleesons’ daughters, Erin, Kerry and Meghan Ayer, are co-founders, while TaleSpinner Brewery is spearheaded by their uncle Dave, a longtime avid homebrewer.
Multiple connections to the family’s farm or school are present, from spent beer grains going back to feed the cows, to baked goods sourced directly from the campus’s commercial kitchen. It’s a concept that’s been several years in the making, said Erin Gleeson, who serves as president.
“When I was graduating college, I had it in my mind that I wanted to run my own business [and] I was interested in food, craft cocktails and farming,” she said. “I think what we were finding was that there were places around to eat and drink, but they felt like just that, places to just eat or just drink. … What we’re trying to be … is more of a community gathering space. That was our goal, and I think luckily since the time we started thinking about this, a lot of that has been popping up in Nashua. It’s growing in that way, which I definitely think is the right direction.”
In addition to the Gleesons’ own farm, the eatery’s dinner and bar menus feature ingredients sourced from purveyors all over New England, and an in-house cafe with locally roasted coffee and grab-and-go items is expected soon. Here’s a closer look at each core part of the business.
Rambling House
Erin and Kerry’s paternal grandfather, Maurice Gleeson, immigrated to the United States from Ireland as a teenager. Growing up on a farm in the small village of Glenflesk in County Kerry, Maurice would visit a traditional “rambling house,” an informal inn of sorts that was known by all the locals as the family home to come gather and share stories, play games or listen to music.
Crohan craft cocktail. Photo by Donna Desimone Photography.
“It was just the spot where everyone knew in the community to be almost like that safe harbor, and it was also the place where a weary traveler was always welcomed in by the fire to lay their head for the night,” Kerry Gleeson said. “He’d tell us all the time about how when he was young he would go visit the rambling house that was up the street from him. … He had such fond memories of it, and we just loved that sentiment, so that was a no-brainer for us for the name.”
Today, the Gleesons remain very much connected to their Irish heritage. Framed photographs taken by Maurice throughout the 1950s and early ’60s adorn the walls, and a small plaque by the door heading out to the upstairs balcony proclaims the “Margaret Mary Martha Murphy Mezzanine,” an inside joke and reference to their cousin overseas, with whom they are close.
But despite the strong family influences, Rambling House is not an Irish pub — rather, what you’ll find here is a diverse offering of meat, seafood and vegetarian options that will change every few months based on product availability and seasonality.
“We’re going to start with four menus a year, but that will probably grow to six menus a year, because our seasons are a little quick,” Erin Gleeson said. “We’ll keep a lot of the skeleton of the menu, so for example we’ll always have a burger on it, but the toppings will be different. We’ll always have a chicken [dish] on it but it might not be the lemon roast chicken we have now.”
The Gleesons have brought on Jeremy Guyotte to serve as the eatery’s head chef. A native of Gloucester, Mass., Guyotte has extensive experience working with seafood, notably during culinary stints he spent at Captain Carlo’s Oceanfront and at Passports Restaurant in Cape Ann.
Out of the gate, seafoods at Rambling House include a pancetta-wrapped Atlantic monkfish loin; pub mussels sourced from Blue Hill Bay in Maine with tasso ham, onion and herbs; and a bouillabaisse, featuring shrimp, scallops, mussels, littleneck clams and whitefish.
“When Jeremy first started making us seafood samples, we were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, who have we brought on?’” Kerry Gleeson said. “He is an artist, and our sous chef, Karyn [Polley], is fantastic too. She has been with us even longer, working at the school.”
Other menu items, like the porchetta and the shepherd’s pie, have so far received rave reviews. The latter is a traditional version made with lamb, veggies and house herbed gravy.
Baker Angel Lopez is an ardent bread maker and Erin Gleeson herself even makes her own small-batch ice cream, passion projects that are now part of Rambling House’s menu respectively in the form of desserts like brioche bread pudding and house brownie sundaes.
The restaurant’s main dining area features a unique post and beam layout with a bartop and shelves all designed by Erin and Kerry’s brother-in-law, Kyle Ayer of Green Building & Consulting Group. Once it gets a little warmer, an outdoor rooftop deck with additional seating areas will open, offering panoramic overhead views of the Nashua River.
“Our favorite thing so far is that when you’re up on that top deck, that skyline is where you can see the fireworks on the Fourth of July,” Erin Gleeson said.
A full bar features TaleSpinner brews on tap, in addition to a menu of craft cocktails, hard ciders, wines, non-alcoholic beer and hard kombucha. The cafe, meanwhile, is at the front of the restaurant and will soon be offering coffee from Bedford’s Flight Coffee Co., as well as various takeaway items like baked goods and breakfast sandwiches.
TaleSpinner Brewery
On the first level below Rambling House, TaleSpinner Brewery can be accessed through the opposite end of the building, on the Water Street side. The tasting room is at the top of a short flight of stairs from the entrance, and overlooks its full production area.
The brewery, which opened a few weeks earlier than its restaurant counterpart, was similarly named with Erin and Kerry Gleeson’s grandfather — described by Kerry as “a consummate tale spinner,” or storyteller — in mind. Their uncle Dave works closely with head brewer Scott Karlen to create TaleSpinner’s lineup of brews, which currently include a few New England-style IPAs, in addition to a Belgian blonde ale, a raspberry sour, a German-New Zealand Pilsner lager, and a Belgian strong ale. They’re also working on a peach apricot sour and an Imperial brunch stout with maple syrup, cacao nibs, vanilla bean and coffee from Flight Coffee Co. There are a total of 24 taplines: a dozen each in the restaurant and brewery.
“My uncle … made great stuff as a homebrewer and had a passion for it, and it became part of a conversation that it would be really fun to open a brewery,” Kerry Gleeson said. “So it was a natural sort of thing where the two concepts just fit into each other like puzzle pieces.”
A small bar menu is available out of the tasting room, featuring some items you’ll find upstairs at Rambling House, as well as others mostly exclusive to that space, like the fish and chips, the poutine and the duck confit flatbread. Those items, while not on the regular dinner menu at the restaurant, do become available upstairs as well after 9 p.m., Kerry Gleeson said.
Guyotte will sometimes cross-utilize TaleSpinner’s products with his food, notably a beer gravy for the poutine and spent grain waffles for the chicken and waffle sliders.
“There’s definitely a cycle with everything, and we want to build on that and make it as close to coming full circle as we can,” Kerry Gleeson said.
Rambling House Food & Gathering and TaleSpinner Brewery Where: 57 Factory St., Nashua, Suites A and B Current hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. (extended hours likely coming soon) More info: Visit ramblingtale.com or follow them on social media (@ourramblinghouse and @talespinnerbrew on Facebook, and @ramblinghouse and @talespinnerbrew on Instagram) TaleSpinner Brewery’s entrance is accessed at the opposite end of the building on Water Street.
Featured photo: Winter charcuterie. Photo by Donna Desimone Photography.
• Franco Foods challenge: Join the Franco-American Centre for its inaugural Fleur Délices Challenge, an amateur baking competition happening on Saturday, April 9, at 6 p.m., at Anheuser-Busch Tour Center & Biergarten (221 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack). Contestants are welcome to bring a cake of their own representing a country that’s part of the International Francophonie (or where French is among the most commonly spoken of languages). Winners will be chosen by a panel of local judges who will follow a grading criteria – they include pastry chef Alexandre Waddell of Cremeux French Patisserie in Merrimack and chef Matt Provencher of Red Beard’s Kitchen, a two-time winner of the New Hampshire PoutineFest. The cost is $20 and registration forms are due by March 18. See facnh.com for details.
• Bunny campaign: The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary is selling chocolate Easter bunnies made by Granite State Candy Shoppe now through April 1 as part of its Bite Out of Hunger Campaign. The cost is $8.50 for an eight-ounce solid milk, white or dark chocolate bunny. Proceeds benefit The Salvation Army’s Kids’ Café program, which offers evening meals and recreation activities to local children and teens multiple days a week. Call Sylvia Crete at 490-4107 to order a bunny, or visit nne.salvationarmy.org/manchester to download the bunny order form. Bunnies may be picked up at The Salvation Army’s Manchester Corps (121 Cedar St.) any Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Between the vines: LaBelle Winery owner Amy LaBelle has partnered with Kerri Zane of KZ Enterprises to produce a lifestyle show based on her life. According to a press release, The Winemaker’s Kitchen Show will feature both of LaBelle’s restaurants in Amherst and Derry, as well as their vineyards, event centers and other amenities that were unveiled last year, like the Derry property’s onsite golf course and artisan food market. The show will also provide various culinary tips, tricks and recipes commonly covered in her regular cooking classes and seminars. LaBelle has hosted televised cooking shows previously, when she partnered with New Hampshire PBS last year to produce a series of interactive classes geared toward kids. In a statement, Zane, an Emmy Award-winning television executive producer, said LaBelle is “poised to unseat Martha Stewart as the reigning queen of all things kitchen.” Visit labellewinery.com.
• New spots for beer and barbecue: Concord’s newest craft brewery has landed — after more than a year of planning, Feathered Friend Brewing Co. (231 S. Main St.) officially opened last week in the former Taylor Rental space in the city’s South End. Owner Tucker Jadczak told the Hippo in February that the brewery’s name stems from his love and appreciation of birds. He has worked with head brewer Ryan Connor to create a lineup of craft beers that includes a red ale, a stout, a sour and a double dry-hopped IPA with Galaxy and Citra hops called Second Sun. Barrel-aged beers are also in their planning stages. An adjoining space next door to Feathered Friend Brewing Co. is the new home of Smokeshow Barbeque Co., which also recently opened its doors. Smokeshow owner Matt Gfroerer said the space triples the seating capacity of what he had before and allows him to build on his menu of Texas-style barbecue favorites. Visit featheredfriendbrewing.com or smokeshowbbq.com for more details on each.
Melissa Gove is the owner of Chase Hill Insulation, a weatherization business based in Weare that serves families in residential homes throughout the state.
Explain your job and what it entails.
My workday starts at 6:30 a.m., when my crew arrives at my shop. The job … is for a customer of the weatherization program, and the work … is based on an energy audit of the home. I have a work order that I follow that gives me specific details about the home and the measures my crew is supposed to install. My crew chief and I go over the work that needs to be done for that particular job and talk about any issues of concern for the job that either of us might have. The work truck is loaded with material, and my crew heads out. … Once they arrive at the job, they start the process of weatherizing the home, [which] may include insulating the basement, the walls and the attic.
How long have you had this job?
I’ve been weatherizing homes in New Hampshire for 16 years.
What led you to this career field and your current job?
Before starting my business, I lived in Rhode Island, but I would spend all my free time at my family’s camp in Deering. It was always so sad to leave the camp, and I desperately wanted to move to New Hampshire, but I needed a career to support that dream. I did hours of research online and found that there was a need in New Hampshire for insulation contractors for weatherization assistance programs. I built my business plan around that need with the help of my ex-husband, who was an experienced insulator.
What kind of education or training did you need?
I worked as a bookkeeper at a wire mill in Rhode Island for seven years, but in 2003 the mill burned to the ground. I was given an opportunity to go back to school, and in 2005 I received my degree in business management. I also have a good friend that’s an expert in the weatherization field that’s been a mentor to me over the years of building my business.
What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?
Chase Hill Insulation long-sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, hats, jeans and work boots are our everyday work gear.
How has your job changed over the course of the pandemic?
It’s really hard to ask people to let you come into their homes when they’re afraid of getting sick. I have had to reassure all of my customers that my crew and I will take every precaution to work safely while working at their home, and we will wear all necessary PPE.
What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?
I wish I had known that business doesn’t always work out according to your plan. I had to learn to problem-solve, and I had to surround myself with good people. That’s how I continue to stay in business.
What do you wish other people knew about your job?
People aren’t always aware that their home is lacking insulation. Adding insulation to your home is something you can do right now to lower your heating bills for the rest of this winter and cooling costs for this upcoming summer. There are utility-funded programs available to help with these costs. People can reach out to their local utility company to see if they qualify.
What was the first job you ever had?
My first job was at my favorite pizza and sandwich shop in my hometown.
What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?
Take the time to listen to your customer’s needs and give them the attention they deserve.
Five favorites Favorite book: Dracula Favorite movie: The Shawshank Redemption Favorite music: Classic rock Favorite food: Italian Favorite thing about NH: That I never have to leave, because I’m finally home.
