Tag: 201022

Drink ’em now

Four beers to savor this fall

A few weeks back I sat dangerously close to a heat lamp in the beer garden at Loaded Question Brewing Co. in Portsmouth, sipping and truly savoring the brewery’s Coffee Tartan, a rich, aromatic coffee porter.

I sat with a couple friends and insisted they needed to try it too, offering my glass before remembering, you know, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and maybe sharing glasses isn’t the best idea.

The point is, I was excited about the beer, which featured huge notes of coffee and a silky smooth finish. Sometimes a stout or a porter features the subtle flavor of coffee, but this was closer to a cup of decadent coffee than it was to a beer — a true coffee lover’s brew. Loaded Question blends its standard Tartan porter with “specially made cold brew from Mule Kick beans.”

In addition to the Coffee Tartan, I’ve been fortunate to enjoy a number of extraordinary beers lately, and I would be awfully selfish if I just kept them to myself. For the greater good, here are four more beers I’ve enjoyed recently that I think you will too.

Farmhouse Noir with Raspberries by Stoneface Brewing Co. (Newington)

I must admit I stepped way out of my comfort zone on this brew, which is a lively dark saison featuring very tart raspberry flavor and a little dark chocolate too. This was just a really interesting, complex beer: pronounced tartness from the raspberries and a little funkiness coupled with more richness and decadence than I’m used to with a saison. You can sip this one slowly to appreciate its vibrance and its range of flavors.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Milk Stout by Bent Water Brewing (Lynn, Mass.)

This is one of those beers where you take a sip and you have to ask, “Are you serious?” This is just a bomb of rich, luscious flavor. And this isn’t a case where you can just pick up the notes of chocolate and peanut butter; the peanut butter, especially, hits you right in the face both on the palate and on the nose. I could argue the coupling of chocolate and peanut butter is one of the best combinations ever created and I could point to this beer as exhibit A. This is your next dessert beer. Bent Water beers are sold in beer stores throughout New Hampshire.

Fresh Patch Pumpkin Ale by Wormtown Brewery (Worcester, Mass.)

I know, I complain about pumpkin beers every year, and now I have one on a list of beers I think you should try. On top of that, usually the pumpkin beers that I actually like tend to be stouts and porters and this one is anything but. And yet, I love this beer. It’s not super sweet but the pumpkin flavor does stand out in a good way, probably because they brew this with hundreds of pounds of local pumpkins. While they do add a spice mix to the brew, it is not overpowering like many other pumpkin beers, This is light, pumpkin-y and very, very easy to drink. This would be a great choice after an afternoon of yard work.

What’s in My Fridge
TEN FIDY Imperial Stout by Oskar Blues Brewing (Longmont, Colorado)
I really cannot say enough good things about this beer. This incredibly rich brew just overflows with flavors of chocolate, coffee and dark caramel. This is a big beer, coming in at 10.5 percent ABV, and it’s one you can slowly sip and savor hopefully next to a crackling fire on a chilly fall night. Come next month, Oskar Blues will release its coveted bourbon barrel-aged version of this brew, which just amps up the flavor another notch with warming bourbon and sweet vanilla. Cheers!

Featured photo: Boris is a decadent chocolate peanut butter milk stout by Bent Water Brewing Company. Courtesy photo.

In the kitchen with Josh Buxton

Josh Buxton of Derry is the owner of Buxton’s Pizza (buxtonspizza.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @buxtonspizza), a mobile brick oven pizza truck specializing in Neapolitan-style pizzas, calzones and cannolis. Since the launch of his business over the summer, Buxton has appeared at private events and parties all over southern New Hampshire on most weekends. The truck is a 13-foot retired FBI mobile command center from New Haven, Connecticut, that Buxton found at a local auction. His menu includes multiple types of 12-inch pizzas cooked fresh on the truck, with traditional toppings like cheese, pepperoni and margherita. But he’s also dabbled in unique offerings like Mexican street corn pizza with corn grown at J&F Farms in Derry, and a pizza with Cortland apples, bacon, cheese and Brussels sprouts called the Brussel Pig. The catering menu expands to other options cooked in the wood-fired oven, from wings to tater tots. As for cannolis, he has offered various filling flavors like Fruity Pebbles, strawberry shortcake and Oreo.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A pizza peel.

What would you have for your last meal?

I just love food in general. … I’d probably say some really good tacos, either carnitas or al pastor. Just really nice and simple, but they’d have to be authentic.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I’m going to give it to The Birch on Elm [in Manchester]. [Chef] Nick Provencher has really inspired me. I just think their food pairings are really great and Nick is really good with the crazy stuff that he does.

What celebrity would you like to see trying something from your menu?

Any celebrity would obviously be great to have, but I think my biggest inspiration is [chef] Matty Matheson, so definitely him.

What is your personal favorite thing you’ve offered on your menu?

I’d probably say the Mexican street corn pizza, because it combines two of my favorite things — pizza and Mexican food. It has charred corn from J&F Farms, pickled red onions, jalapenos, Cotija cheese and a lime cilantro aioli that I make.

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

Instagrammable food has been a trend for a while, just with everybody trying to capture a really good-looking item on camera.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like a nice cast iron rib-eye. Just a real simple meal.

Oreo cannolis
From the kitchen of Josh Buxton of Buxton’s Pizza (yields about a dozen cannolis, depending on the size of the cannoli shells you are using)

2 pounds ricotta
1 cup crushed Oreos
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

Strain ricotta in a cheesecloth to remove the liquid. Add vanilla and powdered sugar to ricotta and mix. Mix in more powdered sugar to get filling up to the desired sweetness. Fold in the crushed Oreo cookies. Use a piping bag to fill a cannoli shell and enjoy.

Food & Drink

Summer farmers markets
• Concord Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, on Capitol Street in Concord (near the Statehouse), now through Oct. 31. Visit concordfarmersmarket.com.

• Contoocook Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to noon, at 896 Main St. in Contoocook, outdoors through at least Oct. 31. The year-round market usually moves indoors to Maple Street Elementary School (194 Main St..) in early November. Find them on Facebook @contoocookfarmersmarket for updates.

• Henniker Community Market is Thursdays, from 4 to 7 p.m., at Henniker Community Center (57 Main St.), now through Oct. 29. Find them on Facebook @hennikercommunitymarket.

• Milford Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 300 Elm St. in Milford (across the street from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op), now through Nov. 21. Visit milfordnhfarmersmarket.com.

• Salem Farmers Market is Sundays, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Salem Marketplace (224 N. Broadway). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org.

Featured Photo: Josh Buxton

European inspired

Étagère opens in Amherst

Sticky buns at Étagère. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.

A new shop in Amherst can best be described as a “unique boutique,” its owners say, with coffee, tea and pastries, antiques and a beauty bar all under one roof.

Étagère (pronounced “eht-uh-ZHAIR”), which held its grand opening the first weekend in October, gets its name from the French word for a curio cabinet, or an open shelf cabinet in which multiple types of collectibles are displayed that was typical of Victorian-era home decor. The name, according to co-owner Joy Martello, is symbolic of the different tasting and shopping experiences available to customers with each visit.

“We really wanted a place that was a feast for the eyes, and not designed like a big box store,” said Martello, a self-taught baker and antique collector who runs Étagère with her daughter Brook and her longtime friend, classically trained pastry chef and former culinary arts teacher Cheryl Emerson. “We want you to walk in here and go ‘whoa’ … and then the more you walk through the shop, the more treasures you find and enjoy.”

Desserts and breakfast pastries — many of which are European-inspired with an American twist, Martello said — are made in-house, and you never know what you may find in the case on any given day. On the breakfast side, offerings have included pecan sticky buns, stuffed cardamom buns, almond croissants, and multiple flavors of muffins, Danishes, quiches and scones.

Martello and Emerson also prepare several of their own takes on classic European desserts, like tiramisu, chocolate tarts and French macarons (featured flavors have been vanilla, strawberry shortcake, oatmeal cookie, pistachio, Bananas Foster and blueberry cheesecake).

“I definitely wanted the pastry end … to reflect a little bit of Europe,” Martello said. “Traveling in France, the pastries I’ve seen there [are] pieces of art, and I wanted that for my pastry cabinet, where people can enjoy looking at that pastry as well as eating that pastry.”

Most of the time, Étagère’s pastry case has treats that are completely untraditional, too. The Island Paradise, for instance, is a short dough cookie with a crushed pineapple gelée center, a coconut cremeux and a mango mousse. Others include the strawberry pistachio cake (with layers of strawberry and pistachio cremeux encased in a vanilla mousse and strawberry glaze) and a s’mores tart with a graham cracker crust and a marshmallow mousse on top.

The shop has a full coffee menu, from traditional drip coffee to espresso lattes, with its own blends from beans roasted at Good as Gold Coffee in Worcester, Mass.

“We have two house whole bean blends — the Noir, which is a dark roast, and then the Lumiere is a light roast,” said Brook Martello, adding that nitro brew and cold brew are also available.

Other drinks include hot, iced and nitro teas, hot chocolate and fresh squeezed lemonade. You can also book high tea tastings by calling or visiting the website. Tea tastings are available every Wednesday through Sunday at 12:30 p.m., with a second seating later in the afternoon to be added soon. The tasting menu will likely change twice a month.

In addition to offering European-style pastries, coffees and teas, Étagère operates as a small antique shop with home decor items, gifts, trinkets and more. A 600-square-foot beauty bar with four pedicure tables and a face and body treatment room is also in the back of the shop, available to rent for parties, baby showers and other private functions.

Étagère
Where: 114B Route 101A, Amherst
Hours: Wednesday and Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. (High tea tastings are by reservation only, at 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Sunday; visit their website or follow them on social media for expanded winter hours and additional high tea reservation times.)
More info: Visit sipshopsoak.com, follow them on Facebook and Instagram @etagere.sipshopsoak or call 417-3121

Featured photo: Courtesy of Étagère.

New eats on the Oval

Frankie’s Diner & Stonecutter’s Pub coming to Milford

Chicken Parmesan. Photo courtesy of Frankie’s Diner.

A restaurateur his entire adult life, Frankie Bobola got his start in the industry in 1962, his career spanning decades at several local establishments. Frankie died in April 2018, one month after the second Bobola’s Family Restaurant opened in Nashua, but his family is paying tribute to him with a new location in his name that will double as an upstairs diner and downstairs pub.
Frankie’s Diner, overlooking the Souhegan River on the Milford Oval, will also include the Stonecutter’s Pub downstairs, with dinner service and a full bar. Both are on track to open in the coming weeks, in the former spaces of the Red Arrow Diner and J’s Tavern, respectively.
“We wanted to try putting a little different twist on what we do,” said Frankie’s son Derek Bobola, who now runs both Bobola’s Family Restaurant locations in Nashua and Dracut, Mass. “My father loved diners. … He worked in a lot of high-end places but he always reverted back to the old-school diner. It was like his comfort place.”

My father … worked in a lot of high-end places, but he always reverted back to the old-school diner.

Derek bobola

Bobola had looked at several other potential locations in southern New Hampshire to expand, but it was the disparity of the two adjoining spaces in Milford that ended up sealing the deal for him, he said. Renovations have taken place over the last several months, including an overhaul of the diner’s interior, with freshly painted walls, and new floors, tables and booths. Frankie’s Diner’s company logo even features a drawing of a man in a chef’s hat with a cooking spoon — a modernized version of the same drawing by Derek’s older sister Kim as a teenager, which Frankie put on the menu of the first restaurant he operated on his own in the 1980s.
Both Bobola’s Family Restaurant locations are known for their simple, home-cooked meals served in a casual dining environment, from plated breakfasts to burgers, sandwiches, pastas and seafood dinners. Many of those items will also be part of the menu at Frankie’s Diner, like the eatery’s wildly popular French onion soup, the hand-breaded onion rings and hand-cut fries, the mushroom Swiss and barbecue bacon burgers, the chicken Parmesan, turkey and pot roast entrees, and the fresh seafood dishes, like a baked seafood casserole with either house, walnut or crabmeat stuffing, and the fisherman’s platter, or a plate of haddock, sea scallops, Jumbo shrimp and clams, served with french fries, onion rings and coleslaw.
While Frankie’s will pay homage to the classic diner, Bobola said Stonecutter’s Pub, borrowing its name from a lounge that operated in the same space throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, will take things a step up. Several new menu items not previously available at either Bobola’s restaurant will be introduced, like bacon-wrapped pretzels with jalapenos and house-made beer cheese; a mushroom stout burger with caramelized onions, bacon, Swiss cheese and cracked pepper aioli; a grilled veggie stack sandwich with eggplant, mushrooms, pepper, zucchini and tomato; a panko fried chicken sandwich with bacon, tomatoes, jalapeno aioli and pomegranate slaw; and a chicken cordon bleu sandwich on a pretzel bun with lettuce, tomatoes and honey mustard. Specialty entrees like braised short ribs, Buffalo chicken or pulled pork macaroni and cheese, sirloin tips, lamb shanks with demi-glace and prime rib on Fridays and Saturdays are also expected, as well as homemade desserts from family recipes and a full bar with 10 lines on draft.
“We want it to be a neighborhood place,” Bobola said. “We were trying to get some ideas for names and looking up the history of Milford a little bit, and a lot of people in town we talked to would talk about how they used to love Stonecutter’s and that it would be so cool to bring it back. … So we went with that for the name, kind of like as a little throwback.”
Frankie’s will likely be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner through about 8 p.m., he said, while Stonecutter’s will begin lunch service around 11:30 a.m. and remain open later at night.

Frankie’s Diner & Stonecutter’s Pub
An opening date for both eateries is expected in the coming weeks. Visit the website or follow them on social media for updates.
Where: 63 Union Square, Milford
Hours: TBA
Visit: bobolasrestaurants.com or find them on Facebook or Instagram @frankiesdinermilford

Featured photo: Boom Boom Burger. Photo courtesy of Frankie’s Diner.

The Weekly Dish 20/10/22

News from the local food scene

• Local wine tour: Fulchino Vineyard (187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis) will host the make-up dates of its commemoration of National Drink Wine Weekend during the weekend of Oct. 24 and Oct. 25. For $20 each, ticket holders can visit up to five participating local wineries throughout the weekend and taste four different wines, including at Fulchino but also at Averill House Vineyard (21 Averill Road, Brookline), Moonlight Meadery (23 Londonderry Road, Londonderry), Appolo Vineyards (49 Lawrence Road, Derry) and Winnipesaukee Winery (458 Center St., Wolfeboro). All ticket holders also receive an event tasting glass and a chance to win gift packages of bottles from each participating winery. Purchase tickets online at fulchino-vineyard-inc.square.site.

• Gourmet flavors: Dozens of local specialty food vendors and food trucks will be on hand during the Great New England Fall Craft & Artisan Show, a two-day event happening on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Hampshire Dome (34 Emerson Road, Milford). The show will feature vendors from New Hampshire and other New England states selling items like baked goods, maple syrups, honeys, fudge, salsas, specialty dips, jams and jellies, in addition to handmade crafts, apparel and personal care products. Food trucks will be parked outside the venue with outdoor seating, and a schedule of live local music is planned as well. Tickets are available online at ticketleap.com or at the door for $5 each (your ticket is good for both days) and children ages 12 and under are admitted free of charge. Visit gnecraftartisanshows.com.

• An Able-bodied dinner: Join The Grand at the Bedford Village Inn (12 Olde Bedford Way, Bedford) for an Able Ebenezer beer dinner on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. The multi-course dinner will feature various selections from Able Ebenezer Brewing Co. in Merrimack. Food options will include hors d’oeuvres like artisan cheeses and crackers with house-made seasonal spreads (paired with the Victory Nor Defeat double IPA); a fall salad with apple, butternut squash, Boursin, Swiss chard, microgreens, hazelnut, ginger and pomegranate (paired with the La Mere Marianne culinary ale); crispy confit duck leg with poblano pepper hash (paired with the Burn the Ships smoked IPA); salumi Bolognese stuffed delicata (paired with the Homecoming Harvest pumpkin ale); and caramel apple cake (paired with the Glory Not the Prey New England IPA). Tickets are $70 per person and must be purchased in advance. Visit bedfordvillageinn.com.

October blooms

Autumn treasures in my garden

Summer has faded and gone. Autumn’s bright foliage does compensate, somewhat, for the dearth of flowers, but a few of my trees and shrubs (and several perennials) bloom in October, and I treasure them. Let’s take a look.

Starting in early September but varying greatly from year to year, my Seven-Son Flower Tree blooms. This year in early October its white flowers were in bloom, despite four hard frosts. Some years even one frost will ruin the blossoms, but not this year. The flowers are white, small (half-inch in diameter), and borne in clusters of flowers mostly near the top of the tree.

After the blossoms finish, the tree will often display small, purplish-red fruits (half-inch drupes) crowned by very showy rose-pink sepals that elongate after bloom and can last into late fall. But frost usually interrupts that display in colder parts of our region.

The Seven-Sons Flower tree is typically a small one. Most sources refer to it as 15 to 20 feet tall and eight to 10 feet wide. But it is fast-growing and can produce branches five to eight feet long in a single season once it is well-established. It has interesting bark: gray and dusty brown, variegated and exfoliating. In winter the bark stands out well against the snow.

Although this small tree was introduced to the United States from China in 1907, it was not readily available until it was reintroduced in 1980. I’ve had mine for more than 15 years and have not noticed any seedlings or root sprouts. I am always on the lookout for invasive tendencies for newly introduced species, but this one has given me no reason to worry.

A lesser-known shrub that blooms for me in October is disanthus. This shrub likes rich moist slightly acidic soil in part shade to full shade. It is a polite shrub — it does not spread out and take over the area, and rarely needs pruning. During the summer it has nice dark green leaves similar to those on a redbud tree. But in fall the leaves turn an intense reddish purple and hold on well into the fall. I think the leaf color is better than that on burning bush, which is invasive and is no longer sold.

The blossoms on disanthus are tiny, and I didn’t even notice them for a couple of years after planting mine as they are right on the branches and obscured by leaves. But it is fun to have something special to look for now, in autumn, and to show to friends. Mine haven’t appeared yet but should soon.

Then there is the witch hazel tree. I remember the first time I encountered one. I was hiking in late October and came upon a native tree covered in yellow blossoms. Although the blossoms were small, it had petals that were curly and bright — and I was not expecting anything to be blooming.

So of course I had to have one. The foliage turns yellow in September and holds on, obscuring the blossoms a bit. But eventually the leaves drop, exposing the flowers. There are also early spring-blooming varieties as well. Arnold’s Promise is a nice one with red and yellow flowers.

Although I have never seen pollinators on the flowers, they are fragrant and brightly colored, so I assume they are trying to attract something. The only source for information I have found on this comes from Bernd Heinrich in a 1987 Scientific American article. He witnessed the night-flying owlet moth feeding on the nectar and pollinating the flowers in November when most other insects are no longer around.

Of the garden flowers blooming now, you must have seen big, bold New England asters and perhaps some of the more shy wild woodland asters. Some of my phlox are still blooming, as are some black-eyed Susans. Of those, a rudbeckia called ‘Henry Eiler’ is the most dramatic. Over five feet tall, it will bloom all month in a huge clump. I just wish I didn’t have to tie it up to keep it from flopping.

I have an absolutely stunning goldenrod, a cultivar called “Fireworks.” It is one I purchased several years ago and it is now a nice tight clump four feet across and three feet tall. The blossoms arch over gently and point in different directions, creating a stunning display, a little like the finale of a good fireworks display. Unlike wild goldenrod, it does not seem to spread quickly by root or seed.

Also in bloom for me now is Knautia macedonia with deep wine-red flowers reminiscent of scabiosa or pincushion flower. It has been blooming for months and is a delight. The stems are thin and tend to bend over a bit when blooming, but the blossoms never seem to fall to the ground. It is not a good cut flower but earns its place in the garden because of its long bloom time.

Most species of monkshood bloom in June, but I also have one species, Aconitum carmichaelii, which blooms now with intense blue flowers on five-foot stems that do not flop. All monkshood species have poisonous sap, and some were said to be used to poison wolves in Russia.

I have always tried to expand the growing season here in my cold Zone 4 garden. I should have a few blossoms into November, and then there will be a hiatus until early March when my first snowdrops bloom. But I can buy flowers for my table in winter, and I do have plenty of houseplants.

Featured Photo: Fall blooming monkshood is a poisonous beauty Photo by Henry Homeyer.

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