Tag: 200730

Sour power

Summer is the perfect time to explore sours

I often talk about sour beer as if it’s simply its own category of beers, just like IPAs or stouts or Pilsners. But that’s not really accurate. The category, if we can even call it that, is much, much broader.

Sour beers run across styles. They vary greatly in both flavor and color. Some are so bright and tart that you have to pucker up. Others are much, much more mellow, featuring more earthy tones and layers upon layers of complexity — and everything in between.

Lambics, Gose, Berliner weisse and wild ales are all styles that can qualify as sours.

Regardless of the style, sours are unified, in my mind, by an extremely vague standard that I will describe as: they taste funky. See, not a whole lot of science behind that analysis.

Bacteria creates the tart acidity most have become accustomed to with sours, and wild yeast adds the earthiness; admittedly, this is a pretty dramatic oversimplification, but that’s what we’re going with.

On a hot day, a tart, crisp, salty Gose is perfect and a Berliner weisse, which is a variant of a wheat beer, is a perfect summer brew, thanks in part to its super-low alcohol level. A lambic can be heavier and and downright syrupy and wild ales can sprint across the spectrum.

In the summer I want brews that are crisp, refreshing and on the lighter side but still have plenty of flavor. What I’ve really started to enjoy about lighter sours, particularly Goses and Berliner weisses, are the unique combinations of flavors sours can bring together.

The SeaQuench Ale by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, for example, is “a session sour mash-up of a crisp Kölsch, a salty Gose and a tart Berliner weiss brewed in sequence with black limes, sour lime juice and sea salt.” I don’t know what black limes are and I’m scared to ask, but the resulting brew is super light and refreshing, extremely tart and crisp, but still overflowing with big flavor.

Ballast Point Brewing Co. features a Citrus Cove Gose that boasts a similar salty-lime profile.

Both of these brews are approachable and eminently drinkable but the tart acidity coupled with fruity flavors adds a new dimension to the drinking experience.

Here in New Hampshire, breweries are not ceasing to experiment. Throwback Brewery in North Hampton currently features a Plum Luck Sour, a Gose brewed with salt and plums. Stoneface Brewing Co. in Newington offers All the Raspberries & Blackberries, a Berliner weisse brewed with “copious” amounts of blackberries and raspberries and which “strikes the perfect balance of sweet and tart,” says the brewery.

603 Brewery produces its own take on a refreshing lime-flavored sour with its Margarita Gose, pairing the flavors of lime, salt and bit of orange. Henniker Brewing Co.’s Sour Flour is an exciting dry-hopped brew boasting bright, tropical fruit flavors with the flavor of tart lemon.

Poppy’s Moonship, a brew by Schilling Beer Co., is another interesting Gose featuring a “gentle salinity” and which is brewed with Schilling’s own house culture.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is if a brewery wants to toss a bunch of fruit, some salt and some crazy bacteria and yeast into a brew, don’t sprint in the opposite direction. Dive in face first.

What’s in My Fridge
Evil 3 Triple IPA by Heretic Brewing Co. (Fairfield, Calif.) Full disclosure: This beer was just too much for me. I’m not ashamed to admit it. This ultra-aggressive triple IPA comes in at 11.5 percent ABV — full stop. I woke up the next morning after having a single beer wondering what exactly happened the previous evening. I think others will probably disagree but I just felt like the alcohol made it hard for me to fully appreciate the other characteristics of this beer. But I could also be a big baby. I do look forward to trying this again to see if I feel any different about it. Cheers!

Featured photo: Light-bodied sours are perfect for summer. Courtesy photo.

In the kitchen with Michael Simmons

Michael Simmons of Manchester is the head chef of Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop (815 Chestnut St., Manchester, 625-9544, angelaspastaandcheese.com), overseeing all kitchen operations and developing his own menus every week for lunch and dinner specials. Angela’s has been in business for four decades, offering all types of specialty food items, like cheeses, wines, pastas and heat-and-serve meals, as well as a selection of products from a variety of local businesses and catering menus around the holidays. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the shop has pivoted to offering curbside pickup and local deliveries for its products. Prior to joining the kitchen staff at Angela’s four years ago, Simmons worked in several seafood restaurants on the South Shore of Massachusetts, where he grew up. He also served as the executive chef at the Wildcat Inn and Tavern in Jackson for four years.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A pair of tongs. It’s like an extension of your hand. Nothing beats a good solid knife either.

What would you have for your last meal?

I would do a Dijon-crusted rack of lamb and a big glass of merlot. I’m really passionate about good food and wine together.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

My favorite restaurant hands down, I would say, is the [Hanover Street] Chophouse [in Manchester]. I really enjoy a nice rib-eye with a glass of wine there. It’s a phenomenal place. The Crown [Tavern] is great too. In fact, they buy our sausages from us for their pizzas.

What celebrity would you have liked to see trying something that you’ve made?

I would have taken Jerry Garcia [of the Grateful Dead] in a New York minute. I just think his influence and his outlook on life were very unique.

What is your personal favorite thing to cook at the shop?

The passion is there for everything I do, but any time I get to venture off into something that I haven’t [done before], I get into it incredibly. A few weeks back I did a braised duck arancini, which had a raspberry compote sauce and crumbled goat cheese on it. It was awesome.

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

Farm to table and locally sourced produce are huge. A lot of grain salads and heart-healthy things like quinoa and avocado are too.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like to seek out the freshest swordfish I can find and grill it with some rice and a vegetable. That would be my go-to. I’m a big seafood lover.

Fried crab cakes
From the kitchen of Michael Simmons of Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop in Manchester (makes roughly 8 three-ounce crab cakes)

½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 whole eggs
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
½ cup breadcrumbs or ground cracker meal
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper and Old Bay seasoning with a whisk. Use the mixture to form little patties with the crabmeat and breadcrumbs. Drop the patties into 350-degree frying oil until crispy. Remove and drizzle with fresh lemon juice (optional).

Treasure Hunt 20/07/30

Dear Donna,
Can you help with an approximate value on old 1930s to 1940s Christmas cards? I just don’t want to put them in the trash. Could you give me some advice and possibly let me know of someone who would want them?
Cecile

Dear Cecile,
I understand why you wouldn’t want to throw them away. So many have such sweet graphic designs.

Some holiday cards can bring a value for age, designs, content (like antique Valentine’s Day pop-up cards, for example). The ones that are worth the most would be from before the 1900s, so the earlier the better, and condition is very important. People kept cards over the years so they are not as uncommon to find, especially from after the 1900s.

I have seen many cards from the same era as yours. They usually are in a shoe box or small bags for around $20. If the cards were unused it would be a bit more (they are not as common).

No matter what they are worth they are such a fun piece of nostalgia and can be fun for framing, repurposing, etc., so no, they are not trash.

Beyond perennials

Making your garden a very special place

By Henry Homeyer

[email protected]

My garden is the place I go in times of sadness, worry or stress. It makes me feel better. I took a few moments one morning recently to really look at what was in my garden to see what made it so special. I saw that in addition to the plants (and who cannot be happy snacking on red raspberries or Sun Gold cherry tomatoes?), I have many things that remind me of friends and of good times. Let’s take a look at my garden, and perhaps you’ll get some inspiration for yours.

I’ve been working on my gardens for about 40 years and have created some nice stone projects. As a young man I built a low 80-foot stone retaining wall to create a terrace that would allow me to plant some fruit trees — most of my full-sun space was near a small stream with a high water table, which is not good for fruit trees.

I worked with my stepson, Josh Yunger, who was a young teenager at the time. It was fun working with him, finding stones on the property and from a tumbledown wall a neighbor, George Edson, had allowed me to pick through. I knew little about walls but had the basics. One stone over two. We mostly found stones with rounded shapes, not flat stones.

And I didn’t know to use crushed stone, not round pebbles, to act as drainage and support for the wall. So those round stones sitting on round pebbles, over time, moved and the wall has slipped and fallen in places. But now it is mostly hidden by plants, and its ramshackle appearance doesn’t bother me. And I feel good when thinking about the work Josh and I did.

If building a stone wall is too much for you, how about placing a long, thin stone standing vertically as an accent in the garden? I have a few of those, and they look great all year round. Just stand up a 36- to 60-inch-long pillar of a stone in a hole 18 to 24 inches deep. Add some loaf-of-bread sized stones in the bottom, and dump in a bag of dry concrete mix. Fill in the rest with soil and pack it well.

I have three nice Japanese red maples that bring fond memories. Two came from my parents’ home in Connecticut, another from a friend. I dug two of them as foot-tall saplings, one bigger. One of these I planted in the early 1970s and it is now 10 feet tall and wide with a 6-inch-diameter trunk at the base. I see it and often think of the 60-foot-tall “mother plant” I climbed as a boy.

Other things are easier than stone projects. I have two nice blue ceramic bird baths. They contrast nicely with the flowers around them, even though no birds ever bathe there. But I love the water in them, and that my wife Cindy Heath floats cut flowers in them. (Yes, my longtime partner and I finally got married July 1 in a Zoom wedding attended by loved ones all over.)

I have a lovely high-temperature fire urn in the garden, a birthday present from Cindy this year. It makes me happy every time I see it. It has a drainage hole and the potter, Stephen Proctor of Brattleboro, Vermont, tells us that it can stay outside all year. Always a bit of a worrier, I will bring it inside before Christmas. It’s too nice to risk having it crack.

A new garden this year is just an oval 7 by 10 feet. I put in a Y-shaped path so it looks like a peace sign from the 1960s. One section is dedicated to milkweed plants for the monarch butterflies. The milkweed will, I suspect, eventually take over the entire garden. But for now? I love seeing the peace symbol —‌ it reminds me of my activist youth.

Then there is my 16- by 20-foot barn. I had a barn raising event in the late 1990s and had more than 30 friends show up. My late friend Bernice Johnson, then in her eighties, showed up with a little hammer in her hand. It makes me happy when I think of that day, and that we got the walls up and rafters on in one day. And now Cindy keeps it tidy inside —‌ something I never managed to do.

Speaking of Cindy, this year she built a gravel walkway down that 80-foot terrace I built for fruit trees in the ’90s. She did an amazing job, lining the path with old bricks I had salvaged from chimneys I removed. The path has a crushed stone base, landscape fabric and then a pea stone layer on top. And of course, Cindy has removed the weeds along the sides, and mulched the beds nicely. It makes me happy to walk along it.

I love the perennials I have gotten from friends and from gardeners I have interviewed. I remember every plant given to me, who gave it to me, and often when I got it. It’s part of what makes my garden so special to me. Now I tend to add little white plastic tags labeled with that information so it will be available even if I am not always around to provide that information.

I recently saw two Doric-style white wood columns free by the side of the road. I stopped. Garden art? Sure. I was in my old green truck, so I loaded them in, and now I have a new project. Not sure how I’ll use them, or where. But they’ll make me happy and remind me of traveling through Europe back when I was a young man. Gardens are good that way. Mine provide plenty of happy memories.

Featured Photo: Peastone walkway. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

The Art Roundup 20/07/30

• A look at Manchester’s ponds: The Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St., Manchester) presents a new exhibit, “Manchester’s Urban Ponds: Past, Present, and Future: A Celebration of the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program’s 20th Anniversary,” on display now through Nov. 28 in the museum’s State Theater Gallery. Through its cleanup efforts, the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program has helped restore the city’s ponds to their historic uses. “Although ponds may not be the first thing one thinks about in Manchester, the Queen City has several ponds that have played an important role in the area’s history,” program coordinator Jen Drociak said in an email. The exhibit provides a look at the history of some of those ponds, including Crystal Lake, Dorrs Pond, Maxwell Pond, Nutts Pond, Pine Island Pond and Stevens Pond. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $8 for adults, $6 for seniors age 62 and up and college students, $4 for youth ages 12 through 18 and is free for kids under age 12. Call 622-7531 or visit manchesterhistoric.org/millyard-museum.

• Environment-conscious kids books awarded: Local author Sarah Woodard received honorable mentions in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, presented by Story Monsters Ink for two of her children’s books, she announced in a press release. The books, The Little Lost Bee and Leila’s Goal, were entered in the Green/Environmental awards category and are suitable for kids ages 5 through 9. The Little Lost Bee teaches kids about bees and how to help protect them through the story of a bee named Bitsy, who gets lost, then rescued after being sprayed by chemicals. Leila’s Goal also encourages nature-friendly practices through the story of a fairy named Leila, who gets sprayed by chemicals and gathers her fairy friends to show humans the negative impact that using chemicals has on the environment. In April, Woodard released her 10th and newest book, Bart’s New Home, which tells the story of a donkey named Bart and the family that raised him. When the family can no longer care for Bart’s special needs, it considers euthanizing him, but ultimately finds a farm sanctuary where he can live out the rest of his life. “[I’m] on a mission to create a world in which all beings are respected and honored,” Woodard said in the press release. “One way I do this is with books. I believe books change the world one reader at a time.” The author is also a Reiki Master Teacher, Certified Shamanic Practitioner, animal lover and communicator and a chemical-free beekeeper. Visit facebook.com/sarahwoodardauthoress.

• The show goes on: Phylloxera Productions’ Copenhagen continues at the Hatbox Theatre (Steeplegate Mall, 270 Loudon Road, Concord) through Sunday, Aug. 9, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (See Hippo’s story about the product in the July 23 issue on page 10.) Tickets cost $18 for adults; $15 for seniors and students. Call 715-2315 or visit hatboxnh.com.

Featured Photo: “Manchester’s Urban Ponds: Past, Present, and Future” exhibit at the Millyard Museum. Courtesy photo.

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