Tag: 251030

Apple Bars, or maybe Cake

These apple bars might actually be bars. But this might also be a cake. Or it could be a pan of apple blondies. This dessert’s status depends on the belief of an individual snacker.

  • 12 ounces (340 g) diced apples, about three fist-sized apples; I like to mix it up and use a couple of different types – Granny Smiths and Braeburns, for instance
  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1½ cups flour (180 g) – I find whole wheat works well for rich, brown baked goods like this, but regular all-purpose flour will work just as well
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1½ cups (320 g) brown sugar
  • 1 egg plus one or two egg yolks – you probably have some yolks left over from making the pumpkin soufflé (see page 17)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or dark rum
  • pinch of coarse salt

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Line an 8×8” baking pan with parchment paper. If the parchment seems reluctant to stay in the pan, put a dot of butter between the pan and the paper to hold everything in place.

Melt the butter in a small skillet, then pour almost all of it into a dish to cool off. Fry the apple pieces in the remaining butter until they start to brown slightly, then remove the pan from the heat.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices. Set the mixture aside to psych itself up for its big moment.

In a second bowl — it could be the bowl to your stand mixer, but it doesn’t have to be — whisk the melted butter and sugar together thoroughly. Whisk in the egg and extra yolk, then the vanilla or dark rum. When the gloppy ingredients are all mixed, stir in the dry ingredients, one half at a time, then stir in the fried apples.

Transfer the apple batter to the parchment-lined baking pan, and bake on the center rack of your oven for 40 minutes or so. You can use a toothpick to judge how done it is, or just pat it gingerly, like you would a lizard. It should be golden brown and not squishy. The apple bars, not a lizard, though he probably shouldn’t be squishy either.

Let the bars — or maybe it’s a cake — cool in the pan. Eat warm with vanilla ice cream, or cool and chewy for breakfast.

Featured photo: Apple bar with ice cream. Photo by John Fladd.

Two restaurants, one kitchen

Bravo is home to two concepts

“The original plan was just to open up a fine dining restaurant,” Rhonda Duhamel said, “seven days a week from 4 to 10 p.m. at night.”

But, as boxer Mike Tyson once famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” For Duhamel, co-owner of the recently opened Bravo Restaurant (73 Hanover St, Manchester, 854-8139, bravonh.com) and its sister business, Café at Bravo (85 Hanover St, Manchester, 854-8089, cafeatbravo.com), the metaphorical punch was the need for more kitchen space, which led them to open a second, lunch-centered restaurant two doors down from the fine-dining one. Both use the same kitchen.

“Because we connect in the back, we are able to prep in the back for the restaurant and also make signature sandwiches for the cafe side along with homemade soups, pastries and salads; everything is made in house,” Duhamel said. “So that’s why we now have the Café at Bravo.”

This double business model has allowed Duhamel and her partner, Robert Singer, to serve two different types of clientele with little additional staff and minimal disruption to the fine-dining restaurant. The café is open until the early evening. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m., and there is little overlap between the two, Duhamel said.

The Café at Bravo focuses on sandwiches, salads, pastries and soups, she said.

“We make homemade soup — a special soup every day, and a specialty sandwich each week. We also just added a big catering side to the cafe, so that’s really ramping up now. People are ordering our signature sandwiches for their parties — businesses and Sunday football get-togethers. It’s a self-serve cafe. We do have a counter where people can come up and order their food, but we encourage people to use our kiosks.”

The kiosks are automated stations located at the front of the café, where customers can order and pay for their food before picking it up at the counter in the rear.

“We wanted to have very little overhead here on this side,” she said, “so we figured we would offer the kiosks…. We would rather pay our staff more and let the consumer not tip them.”

Two doors down, the Bravo Restaurant focuses on upscale American cuisine, Duhamel said. “We have everything from salmon, sea bass, seafood casserole — I actually had that last night — haddock, sole, and then we go into some nice chicken dishes. We have a nice rib-eye. Our tomahawk pork chop is very popular, and our short rib has been spectacular. And then we have filets and a [pasta] bolognese. We also do have a burger on the menu.”

The restaurant has the flexibility to meet several types of white-tablecloth-dining needs, Duhamel said.

“We have 101 seats. We have a regular bar and then we’ve added a wine bar here in our dining room. It’s a seated bar where you can have your meal. We’re very much into wines. We have 24 seats outside on the patio. We also have a private dining area with 16 seats, so we can rent it out for a family party to a business party. In this wine bar, we also have the ability to use audio if we have a chef’s tasting here. If we have upcoming special events, like a Valentine’s Day event, we can advertise on the screen here for our guests to see.” She pointed at a large abstract painting over the bar. “That isn’t a painting; it’s a video screen.”

Duhamel said that the two Bravo restaurants are a good fit for downtown Manchester.

“We complement the other restaurants in the city,” she said. “Hanover Street is the happening street, downtown. And now we have it filled — Hanover Street has no empty spaces.”

Café at Bravo
Where: 85 Hanover St., Manchester, 854-8089, cafeatbravo.com
Hours: open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Bravo Restaurant
Where: 73 Hanover St., Manchester, 854-8139, bravonh.com
Hours: open seven days a week, 4 to 10 p.m.

Featured photo: Cafe at Bravo. Photo by John Fladd.

The Weekly Dish 25/10/30

By John Fladd
jfladd@hippopress.com

• Bazaar eats: The Ladies Philoptochos Society of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (111 Island Pond Road, Manchester, 623-2045, assumptionnh.org) will hold its annual Fall Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. A variety of homemade Greek food and pastry will be available. The menu includes lamb shanks, roast chicken, meatballs, pastitsio, spinach peta, cheese peta, butter cookies and assorted Greek pastries. Visit the church’s website at AssumptionNH.org.

• Launching a cabernet: LaBelle Winery Amherst (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898, labellewinery.com) will host a release party for its new LaBelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 7 p.m. Participants will have the opportunity to taste the new vintage as well as the previous one and enjoy light hors d’oeuvres, while winemakers Amy LaBelle and Melaney Shepard discuss the new cabernet. At the end of the event, attendees will each get to take home a bottle of the new cabernet sauvignon, included with their ticket. Tickets are $45; visit labellewinery.com/public-winery-events.

• Spirit Sabbatical: As part of its 2025 Distillers Week, New Hampshire Liquor Stores and Outlets will host a Spirit Sabbatical at the Pembroke Pines Country Club (45 Whittemore Road, Pembroke, 210-1365, pembrokepinescc.com), Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Attendees will have an opportunity to sample spirits from around the world and speak one-on-one with distillery representatives. Tickets are $65. Visit distillersshowcase.com/event/worldwide-spirits-sabbatical-2025.

Kiddie Pool 25/10/30

Family fun for whenever

More spooky fun

In the Oct. 16 issue of the Hippo, we presented a guide to Halloween happenings for all ages, from the extra-scary haunted houses for the 18+ crowd to kid-friendly not-so-scary events. Some events, such as corn mazes and haunted attractions, continue through Sunday, Nov. 2. Find the issue in the digital library at hippopress.com. Here are some of the happenings this weekend:

• Trick or Treat at Concord Community Music School, 23 Wall St. in Concord, ccmusicschool.org, on Friday, Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the website.

• Downtown Trick or Treat on Main Street in Goffstown on Friday, Oct, 31, from 6 to 8 p.m., according to goffstownmainstreet.org.

• Spookville, 1 Cheshire St. in Nashua, is put together by S.C.A.R.E. NH, a nonprofit organization providing Halloween costumes to kids in need and offering free admission to its haunted house, according to scarenh.org. The Spookville attraction features volunteer actors and new themes every year, the website said. Spookville operates Friday, Oct. 31, 6 to 9 p.m. There is also a United Way Collab Saturday, Nov. 1, from 6 to 9 p.m, “Spookville: A Decade of Darkness,” with tickets for $10. At all Spookville sessions, donations are accepted.

• The Corpse Bride (PG, 2005) the stop-motion animation feature co-directed by Tim Burton, will screen at the Park Theatre, 19 Main St. in Jaffrey, theparktheatre.org, on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 2 and 6:30 p.m.

On stage

• Seussical The Musical presented by RGC Theatre of Portsmouth, facebook.com/RGCTheatre, Friday, Oct. 31 through Sunday, Nov. 2, at Derry Opera House, 29 W. Broadway, Derry. Tickets $28 and up at eventbrite.com.

• The Addams Family young@part presented by the Palace Teen Apprentice Company, with a cast of performers ages 12 to 18, will be on stage at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, palacetheatre.org, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, and Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.

Treasure Hunt 25/10/30

Dear Donna,

I came across this bank of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. I believe it’s copper and is in great shape. Can you provide me with a possible value? I purchased it at a local consignment store for $7. I thought this might be valuable.

Derek

Dear Derek,

Your bank is one of many; they were made for many years. Most are of different historical sites in the United States. They were very popular and I bet even today you can find more modern versions. The banks are made from pot metal. This means a mix of metals with a copper, bronze or brass wash.

The banks are great souvenirs of visits to places. You can also find themed ones like banks, presidents, cars, etc.

Finding one for $7 is a tiny treasure. The value on them varies with the subject of each one. Yours is in the range of $30. So, Derek, you did well. I hope this is the beginning of a collection for you. Thanks for sharing with us.

Note: If you find these banks and the wash/plating is chipping off, don’t buy them! Not many have value if they are damaged and worn.

Murder most fried

Interactive mystery show at Majestic Theatre

Last year the Majestic Theatre staged Murder’s In The Heir, a comedic mystery about a billionaire, a will and an untimely demise, with the audience voting via secret ballot to name the perpetrator. The show was a hit, so when time came to pick a show for the 35th season, Majestic director Robert Dionne looked for another work from that play’s writer, Billy St. John.

He found Southern Fried Murder. It hews to the idea of “where there’s a will, there’s a play,” but with a difference. The story centers on a dinner party in a hotel dining room organized by a matriarch named Magnolia Capote. She’s devised a sort of scavenger hunt that’s detailed on the last page of her will. It will reveal who gets her money.

Magnolia dies early, killed with her walking stick. The so-called fourth wall dissolves as cast members wander through the audience to look for clues, about the money, and her murder. Interactions begin when patrons are seated by actor/ushers; in character, they begin dishing on fellow cast members.

That back-and-forth continues throughout the performance, as the cast veers away from the script into a blend of improv and standup crowd work that includes accusing audience members of committing the crime. Occasionally, they wander into the crowd, looking for clues and asking for input.

At the end, there isn’t a vote to name a killer; the deed-doer’s identity is already known. The challenge for the audience is to guess it correctly. One other twist not in last year’s production is that someone from the crowd will be drafted into the cast and given a script to play the small but important role of Terry, the hotel’s manager.

It’s directed by Becky Rush, who also helmed Murder’s In The Heir. In a recent phone interview, Rush explained that it’s a choose your own adventure show that can be done as dinner theater or something else. Majestic chose the latter, more or less.

“We’re passing out recipes and serving refreshments, bottled water, after-dinner mints and whatnot,” she said.

An observant person will be able to glean a clue or two while they quaff, but Rush was careful to withhold any details.

“Billy St. John always has some really interesting audience twists,” she said. “So this is another way that he gets them involved with his shows.”

Four actors from Murder’s In the Heir are returning this year: Natasha DaCunha Lund is Maggie St. Lawrence, Matthew Davis plays Ben Parker, the lawyer, Ilana Pete is Stump, and Katie Davis is Magnolia Woods. “They just really enjoyed the Billy St. John last year,” Rush said.

Other performers include Krystal Timinski, Chad Boutin, Aimee Baker, Jordan Gagan and Jeff Caron, who’s a veteran of the company.

“He’s been around The Majestic for many, many years; I actually was in a show with him in February, Last of the Red Hot Lovers,” Rush said. “So Jeff is no stranger to The Majestic stage.”

Boutin is, Rush continued, “sort of a surprise, playing both the role of the mother who gets killed and the son, Lou. So he’s doing some really cool stuff. We’re trying to get some nuance to this character, where the mother stands a certain way and then Lou stands in the exact same way, but with a little twist …mirroring those two characters.”

Rush has been with the company for 30 of its 35 years and is enjoying the current anniversary season.

“I’m so proud to be affiliated with The Majestic,” she said. “Even though we’ve lost our space a couple of times, we just keep getting back up and fighting the good fight and being an active part of the community. I believe 100 percent in this organization and what we do for the community.”

Southern Fried Murder
When: Friday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 1, at 2 and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m.
Where: Majestic Theatre, 880 Page St., Manchester
Tickets: $15 to $20 at majestictheatre.net

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!