Tag: 220421

Warm butternut and apple salad

Salad season is almost here! Yes, I know salads are all-year food items, but the warmth of summer makes them so much more enjoyable. As we navigate the transition from cold winter to hot summer, this is the perfect salad to serve. It’s veggie-centric but served warm, making it a good choice for a warm spring day and cool evening.

This salad does require a bit more prep time than your typical salad recipe. First, you have three different ingredients that require dicing. Then you have roasting time for the squash, onions and apple. Finally, you need to cook the pancetta. This is not meant as a deterrent; rather this info is shared so that you plan adequately. From start to finish, you need about 45 minutes to an hour.

The time and effort are well worth it. This salad has a nice mix of textures and flavors.

Warm butternut and apple salad
Serves 4

¼ cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon dried sage
1½ pounds butternut squash, peeled & seeded*
1 small sweet onion
1½ Tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces pancetta
1 apple, core removed
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine vinegar and maple syrup in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat slightly, stirring occasionally until reduced by half.
Stir sage into dressing, and set aside.
Dice squash into 1-inch cubes.
Slice onion into small wedges.
Combine 3 cups squash and onion on a rimmed baking sheet
Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, and toss to coat fully.
Bake for 15 minutes.
While squash and onions cook, dice pancetta into small pieces
Heat a frying pan over medium; cook diced pancetta for 3 to 5 minutes or until crispy.
Drain pancetta on a paper towel-lined plate.
Dice apple into 1-inch cubes.
Drizzle apple cubes with remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil, and toss to coat.
After baking for 15 minutes, remove tray from oven.
Add apple to tray, return to oven, and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Transfer squash, onion and apples to a large bowl.
Pour reduced dressing over it; stir well.
Top with pancetta.
Serve.

  • Save leftover squash for another recipe.

Featured Photo: Warm butternut and apple salad. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.

In the kitchen with Saurav Goel

Saurav Goel of Nashua is the general manager of Raga Contemporary Kitchen (138 Main St., Nashua, 459-8566, find them on Facebook @raganashua), overseeing its kitchen and bar operations. Raga opened in downtown Nashua last October, its menu made up of a variety of items inspired by Indian street foods. Options include a selection of curries, like tikka masala and korma masala, as well as various starters, burgers and wraps. There is also an emphasis on cocktails, which feature many of the same ingredients traditionally used in Indian cooking — Streets of Mumbai, for instance, is a vodka-based cocktail handcrafted with fresh ginger and curry leaves, while American Dreams is smoked with bourbon and a blend of amaretto and fresh lime. Raga, which gets its name from the Sanskrit word meaning “melody,” is known for featuring a regular schedule of live music every week, including acoustic acts on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, jazz performers on Sundays and karaoke nights on Tuesdays.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I would say a santoku knife. Santoku, in Japanese, means it is a “three virtues” knife. It is used in the kitchen for cutting, slicing and chopping … so that’s why it’s very handy and useful.

What would you have for your last meal?

A humble bowl of kadhi pakora and rice, which is a traditional dish from Northern India.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I’m very new [to the area] … so I haven’t experienced many local eateries, but one which I really like is Bagel Alley. That’s one of my favorites.

What celebrity would you like to see eating in your restaurant?

Without a doubt, Gordon Ramsay. I consider him a mentor in many ways.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

The Delhi aloo chaat is probably one of my favorites. … They are basically potato fritters, stuffed with lentils, finished with a dollop of fresh yogurt, sweet and sour chutneys, freshly chopped onion and tomato, and then garnished with fried vermicelli.

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

I think more and more people are moving toward vegetarian or vegan [items]. … We get a lot of guests every single day who are asking for vegetarian or vegan options, and they are really happy to see that we have so many of them on our menu.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like to cook dhal fry, which is an Indian dish with lentils, and some steamed rice. It’s the easiest and the healthiest thing that I would prepare at home.

Mint chutney (mint dipping sauce)
Courtesy of Saurav Goel of Raga Contemporary Kitchen in Nashua

2 cups mint leaves
1 cup cilantro
2 green chili peppers
1 Tablespoon grated ginger
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon sugar
Salt to taste
½ cup water

Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend at low speed until the ingredients start to mix, then increase the speed and blend into a smooth paste. Stop and stir the ingredients a couple of times if necessary.

Featured photo: Saurav Goel. Courtesy photo.

Greek eats return

Nashua’s St. Philip Church presents pop-up event

Last October, St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church in Nashua held a first-come, first-served gyro and baklava pop-up, its first food event in a year, and it far exceeded organizers’ expectations.

“We sold out twice during the day, had to make an emergency run to get more supplies … and still ended up having to close up,” said Christina Eftimiou, who co-chaired the pop-up with fellow parishioner Tina Alexopoulos. “I think we really underestimated just how much people missed having our annual festival and the Greek food that we put out.”

A second pop-up highlighting Greek pastries and cookies followed, just ahead of the holiday season, and was also a resounding success. Now, Eftimiou and Alexopoulos are organizing a new pre-ordering event featuring more favorites like pastitsio (Greek lasagna), keftedes (Greek meatballs) and spanakopita (spinach pie). Online orders are available now through April 30, with pickups on Saturday, May 14, coincidentally falling on the church’s normal festival weekend.

“We didn’t want people to not be able to get the food that they wanted,” Eftimiou said, “so at least by having the pre-order end about two weeks before the actual pickup date, we’re going to be able to make exactly what we need so that everyone who places their order is going to get it.”

Planning for this new pop-up began in February. When coming up with a menu, Eftimiou said she and Alexopoulos looked both at what some of the bigger sellers were from previous events, and which items they could produce in bulk and in a reasonable amount of time. The pastitsio, keftedes and spanakopita are all available to order as dinners with rice and Greek string beans baked in a tomato sauce. Those same dinner-sized portions can also be ordered a la carte.

Spanakopita. Courtesy photo.

Pastitsio is a Greek-based pasta dish with ground beef and a béchamel sauce. The keftedes, also prepared using beef, are cooked in a tomato sauce and come three per order, while the spanakopita has layers of spinach and feta cheese. The church’s own freshly baked baklava, made from an old recipe, is also on the menu a la carte — that comes in a pack of four per order.

A cookbook of recipes collected by the church’s Agape Ladies Society is being sold too.

When ordering through the website, you’ll choose a pickup time between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

“We’re trying to plan so that the food is coming out of the oven fresh, so that we’re able to package and deliver it to people hot and ready to go,” Eftimiou said.

Next year will mark the church’s 50th anniversary. Eftimiou said she hopes the festival can be brought back to its traditional format by then, and a gala is also in the planning stages for the fall.

Greek food festival pop-up

When: Pre-orders are available now through April 30; pickups will be on Saturday, May 14, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Where: St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church, 500 W. Hollis St., Nashua
Cost: Foods are priced per item; see ordering form for details
Visit: nashuagreekfestival.com

Featured photo: Pastitsio (Greek lasagna). Courtesy photo.

Culinary creativity

Fire & Fusion chef competition returns

A timed cooking challenge involving four “mystery” ingredients — think Food Network’s Chopped — the Fire & Fusion executive chef competition pits local chefs against one another to create their best dishes in under 30 minutes before a live audience. The event returns for its ninth year on Wednesday, May 4, at the Alpine Grove Banquet Facility in Hollis, and will also feature a People’s Choice appetizer challenge.

Fire & Fusion was last held in person in 2019, although a virtual iteration of the cooking challenge featuring pre-recorded video of the chefs in action did take place in the fall of 2020.

“We’re super excited to have it back in person,” said Judy Porter, director of marketing, communications and development for the Nashua Senior Activity Center, which hosts the event. “People just love to feel the energy in that room. They want to see what the chefs are doing and they want to smell the food … [and] if they’ve never gone before, they’ll just be blown away.”

female chef preparing food at outside table during event
Courtesy photo.

Each of the nine participating chefs currently works in senior, long-term care or assisted living facilities in the area, and that’s by design, Porter said. Six are taking on the timed challenge, while three additional chefs are competing in the People’s Choice round only.

“That was really the genesis of this event, was to show and let the public taste the food from the health care community,” Porter said. “I think back in everyone’s memory, we have this image in our minds of health care food not being very good or having a ton of flavor … and so we wanted to show people that things have changed. … Especially amongst assisted living, you want to have really top-notch food, because for a lot of people it’s a high point of their day.”

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a wide selection of both hot and cold appetizers provided by each of the chefs, who are encouraged to bring cuisine as part of this year’s theme, “A Night in Monte Carlo.” Guests can meet the chefs, sample various items and vote on their favorite to win the People’s Choice Award. The unveiling of the mystery ingredients, courtesy of celebrity judge Nicole Barreira of Great New Hampshire Restaurants, will then take place at 7 p.m.

The ingredients themselves are kept a secret right up until the night of the event, Porter said, but will typically consist of one meat and some other uncommon items. The chefs have 30 minutes and must incorporate all four of them into their dish to serve to the judges.

“We’ll have it all being broadcast on two big screens, plus people can get up and walk around the outside of the table areas [to] see what the chefs are doing and ask them questions,” she said.

2 chefs preparing h'ours d'oeuvres at event table
Courtesy photo

This year’s roster includes both new and returning contestants. Rejean Sheehy of The Courville at Nashua, a previous Fire & Fusion champion and three-time People’s Choice award winner, is back this year, and so is Guy Streitburger of The Arbors of Bedford, who was awarded “Top Chef” in the 2020 virtual competition. James LeBlanc of Bedford Falls, Bailey Bocci of Bridges by Epoch at Nashua, Celina Saccardo of Nashua Crossings, and Jim Younce of the Hunt Community will each also be showcasing their culinary creativity.

Longtime radio personality and author Mike Morin is returning as the event’s host. Judges, in addition to Barreira, will include WMUR anchor Sean McDonald, New Hampshire Magazine columnist Susan Laughlin and meteorologist and Realtor Josh Judge.

Raffle tickets will also be sold throughout the evening for the chance to win one of more than two dozen deluxe themed gift baskets. Prizes include everything from sports memorabilia to vacation getaway tickets, gift certificates, specialty food items and more.

9th annual Fire & Fusion executive chef competition
When: Wednesday, May 4, 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: Alpine Grove Banquet Facility, 19 S. Depot Road, Hollis
Cost: $50 per person, or $450 for a reserved table of 10 (early admission VIP tickets are $60 per person and $550 per table of 10 and get you into the event at 5:15 p.m.)
More info: Visit nashuaseniorcenter.org, or call the office at 816-2642 to purchase tickets

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 22/04/21

News from the local food scene

• The key to deliciousness: Join artisan bread maker Cheryl Holbert of Nomad Bakery in Derry for a Shlissel challah key design class, set to take place virtually on Wednesday, April 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. A Jewish custom, a key-shaped challah is baked on the first Shabbat (day of rest) after Passover to welcome a season of good fortune. Admission is $50 per person — registrants will receive a link via Zoom to access the class, as well as a printable pdf file of Holbert’s signature and vegan challah recipes. Visit nomadbakery.com.

• Georgia wines: Discover wines of Georgia with WineNot Boutique (25 Main St., Nashua) during a special event on Friday, April 22, which will feature in-store tastings from 6 to 8 p.m., as well as a virtual tasting via Zoom during the second hour. The tiny country of Georgia is the oldest wine region of the world, and features at least 430 indigenous grape varieties. Admission is $25. Visit winenotboutique.com.

• Through the grapevines: LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst) will host a Walks in the Vineyard wine class, the first event of an upcoming four-part series, on Sunday, May 1, from 11 a.m. to noon. Wine educator Marie King and vineyard manager Josh Boisvert will lead attendees through a fun and educational walk through the vineyards, focused on the life cycles of the vines. Attendees will learn how the wine enjoyed in a glass starts as grapes on vines, and will also get a chance to taste four LaBelle wines during the session. More events in the series are scheduled to take place over the coming months through October — no previous attendance or prior knowledge of wines are necessary to attend any of the walks. Tickets are $30 per person plus tax, and reservations are suggested. Visit labellewinery.com.

• Time for ice cream: Moo’s Place Homemade Ice Cream will open its Salem shop for the season on Friday, April 22, according to a recent announcement on its Facebook and Instagram pages. Its Derry shop opened three weeks earlier, on April 1. Since 2004 in Derry (and 2012 in Salem), Moo’s Place has been offering a wide variety of its own homemade hard-serve ice cream flavors, in addition to frozen yogurts and Italian ices. Both shops are also known for offering a selection of their own ice cream cakes. The Salem location will be open this weekend from 3 to 9 p.m. on Friday and from noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Visit moosplace.com.

• Flavors of Jalisco: Simple flavors of authentic Mexican street foods are available at a new eatery now open in Derry. Los Reyes Street Tacos & More opened earlier this month in the town’s Hillside Plaza (127 Rockingham Road) — tacos, quesadillas, burritos and bowls all make up the menu with a wide variety of filling options. To start, the eatery is open five days a week for lunch and six days a week for dinner. Visit losreyestreettacos.com.

On The Job – Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell

Pressure washer technician

Colin Campbell co-owns and -operates PressureWorks, a pressure wash and deep cleaning service based in Sandown.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I mainly do pressure washing, but I also offer on-the-road car detailing services. My pressure washer makes it easy to do driveways, the outside of homes and cars, so I figured, why not include them all? I mainly deal with all the customers, while also keeping up … all aspects of the work, from setting up the job, to cleaning underneath the seats of cars.

How long have you had this job?

I’ve been doing work for customers for about a month, but just recently registered as an LLC.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

I told myself that I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore. I wanted to be my own boss, make my own decisions, and not only reap all the benefits of it, but feel proud of the work I was doing. My friend and I heard a lot about pressure washing businesses being started online, and I began to look into it. After a few weeks of planning, I finally had enough tools to complete some simple jobs. I continued to study and do research while practicing with my pressure washer, and I realized not only was it not too difficult, but I actually enjoyed it and definitely did feel proud of my work.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I didn’t need any specific schooling for this, but I think extensive research or professional training is necessary to do this, though. I spent countless nights researching to ensure that I knew more than enough to answer customers’ questions and complete the jobs right.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

When I’m working, I like to wear a pair of jeans and weatherproof boots. When pressure washing, it gets a bit wet, and sometimes it’s impossible to avoid the splashback on your legs and torso. For a shirt, I generally wear a plain, blank, polyester T-shirt that allows my body to breathe in the scorching sun during the summer.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

I wish that I had prepared a little more with some of the tools I needed, or had gotten a truck instead of an SUV two years ago. I’m able to make it work out of an SUV, but a pickup truck would make it a thousand times easier.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

That it’s very simple and very cheap to get into this business. I was able to borrow most of my equipment and only had to order a few things that I needed, but, overall, I was able to start this business and complete my first few jobs with just a few hundred dollars. I think just about anyone with a big enough vehicle can start up their business and start making profit with under $1,000, [which] is quite inexpensive.

What was the first job you ever had?

My first job was at a Christmas tree farm. I worked there from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve for two years when I was around 12 years old, and it was a great starting job. I’d deal with customers and practice my sales pitches by trying to sell them certain trees, hoping to get them to buy the biggest one. Then, if they wanted me to, I’d do the manual labor of cutting down the tree with a handsaw … and putting it on top of their car.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

To never blindly take someone’s advice just because they seem knowledgeable, and don’t be afraid to make your own path. I need to believe in myself to continue to grow and not listen to anyone else. I accept help, but make my own decisions.

Five favorites

Favorite book: The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
Favorite movie: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Favorite music: Hip-hop and rap
Favorite food: Tacos
Favorite thing about NH: My whole family is here.

Featured photo: Colin Campbell. Courtesy photo.

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