Lunch at historic Hanover Tavern

Lunch at Hanover Tavern is served on the veranda. This is a sunny porch on the rear of the building. It is light and bright and charming. We arrived at about 2:00 p.m. on Halloween and joined the others who were enjoying their meal.

The lunch menu is simple. They offer a soup of the day, a sandwich of the day and a blue plate special. Their menu is available online, other than the soup and the blue plate special you will be able to see what they have to offer. A selection of soups, salads, and sandwiches round out the offerings.

I ordered the Virginia Peanut Chopped Salad with the addition of grilled shrimp, my husband ordered the braised beef Rueben. You have a choice of side one of which is their hand cut fries. We had water to drink which was served immediately. The wait for our meals to arrive was short and even if it had been longer, the food was good enough to warrant the wait.

The chopped salad was romaine lettuce, beets, Virginia peanuts, chopped country ham and of course the grilled jumbo shrimp, all six of them. It was dressed with a creamy bacon dressing. It was, a very good salad and the size was generous but not huge.

The braised beef Rueben was phenomenal. Juicy beef with sauerkraut, dressing, and cheese on very good, thick cut, rye bread. The hand-cut French fries, however, were the star of the show. They really are fresh potatoes and they are seasoned with salt and pepper perfectly. It is worth coming here just to have those fries and had I known how truly good they were, I would have ordered a sandwich instead of the salad. Luckily, my husband likes to share.

For dessert, we shared an orange and pumpkin crème brulee. It was the perfect seasonal dessert. The spicing was subtle but there was no question that it was pumpkin. My guess is that the orange was in the sugar top.

The service was friendly and efficient and this is a restaurant that I would not hesitate to recommend. As a matter of fact, it was recommended to me by a docent at Patrick Henry’s Scotchtown and I am very grateful.

If you are looking for a lovely meal in a historic location, Hanover Tavern is the perfect destination for lunch, dinner or Sunday brunch.

Slow cooker beef tips and gravy

I wanted to make something a little like a stew but not quite stew. I bought a pound and a half of stew beef and wanted to make something different but delicious. I succeeded. 

Place about half a cup of unbleached flour in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and chili powder and smoked sriracha. I never measure anything so basically enough to flavor the flour. 

Place some olive oil in a frying pan and set it on medium high. Coat the beef cubes with the flour and place in the pan. Keep the leftover flour. Add two medium onions and a cup of butternut squash. Brown the beef and be careful not to burn the onions. 

In the slow cooker place 5 bouillon cubes with 2 cups of water and 1 cup apple cider. Add gravy master for color, garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and Worchester sauce. 

Add the meat, onion and butternut squash. Place the cooker on high and cook for 4-5 hours. Take some of the broth and add it to the flour and make a smooth paste. Add to the mixture and let cook another 10 minutes. 

We ate this served over mashed potatoes but it would be just as good over noodles. 

All American snacks: Rice Krispy Treats

Rice Krispies Treats are an all-American dessert. Making Rice Krispie treats requires a minimal amount of work involved in to prepare. It is so easy that the kids can get involved as well. Even the youngest child can help. You can be made  the traditional recipe but there are many variations that can make them a little different every time.

Standard Rice Krispies Treats

• 3 tablespoons of butter (or margarine)
• 4 cups of mini marshmallows
• 6 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal

Grease a nine by thirteen pan.

Melt the butter (or margarine) in a large saucepan, add the marshmallows and cook over low heat stirring constantly until it is totally melted. Add the cereal and mix, this can be quite a project, you may have to mix them with your hands. Pour into a 13 by 9 pan and pat it down flat with a spatula. I often grease my hands to press the treats down into the pan, be careful not to burn yourself. Let it cool and cut into twenty-four pieces. At this point, you can throw a little flour on your face like they do in the commercial so your family realizes how hard you have been working.

Now if you want to take it up a notch, here are a few variation: 

Replace the white marshmallows with pastel, this is especially nice in the spring. Add a 1/2 cup of mini chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch chips to the mixture just before you press it into the pan.

Place half the mixture into the pan and press it down, melt a cup of semi-sweet chocolate bits in the microwave and spread on the top of the first half of the treats. Then press in the second half for a sandwich effect. Melted chocolate can be placed on top of the bars or the cut bars can be half dipped in the chocolate.

Add 1 cup of M&M's to the treats before pressing into pan.

Use a cookie cutter and cut the treats into fun shapes. Add 2 drops of food coloring to the melted marshmallows and butter. This is great for Halloween pumpkins, Christmas bells or Easter bunnies or chicks. You could cut shapes as well that are not seasonal like pink or light blue for baby shower treats.

These sweetly sticky treats are a favorite with everyone from small children to seniors. If you wrap them in waxpaper they are a portable treat that you can enjoy anywhere, any time of the day. Don't be afraid to experiment with these delicious bars, the more you add the better they get. Rice Krispie Treats, they're a good thing!

Non-Italian style pizza

Pizza has been around almost as long as man has. As soon as man figured out that baking a grain mixture on rocks produced bread he started adding toppings to it, the pizza was born. It may not have been called pizza but it was flatbread upon which a variety of topping were placed.

The Aeneid makes mention of a flat bread that was used as a plate and then eaten and remnants of flat bread were found in the ruins of Pompeii. Pizza is nothing new, it is almost as old as time.

The discovery of the new world brought the tomato and the flatbread together in a marriage that has lasted until the current time. Most people can't imagine the two of them not being together.

Late in the 19th century, Naples became the center of the pizza universe. The Margherita Pizza was named for the Queen of Italy and was served to her by the king of pizza Neapolitan Raffaele Esposito. When Italians emigrated to the U.S. they brought their wonderful recipes with them and they have become part of everyone culinary heritage no matter where you live and what your nationality is.

What are  non-Italian types of pizza? First I think we must define what an Italian pizza is. Neapolitan pizza is very different from Sicilian pizza. Sicilian pizza has a much thicker crust that is not crusty and chewy. The pieces are usually cut in squares, not slices and stand up much better as finger food. Italian pizza can be red but it can also be white, it can have meat or vegetables but it can also be quite plain. Usual meats are meatballs, sausage and pepperoni and vegetables such as onions, peppers and mushrooms are typical.

Go to almost any pizzeria in the United States and you will see many things that are not included in what is a traditional Italian pizza.

A local favorite in Connecticut is a buffalo chicken pizza, not your typical Italian pizza at all. Made with strips of white meat chicken, spicy buffalo sauce and a coating of cheese usually on a thin and chewy crust, very delicious but it is not the least bit Italian. Another favorite that is seen at many restaurants is the Hawaiian pizza. It comes in several variations, the one thing that you are guaranteed to find on the pizza is pineapple, what goes with it can be ham, bacon or Canadian bacon depending on who is offering it. It is a very addictive combination of sweet and salty.

In Quebec they serve pizza on a crust so thin it is best described as a cracker. It is called pizza and it almost looks like pizza but it is as different from the typical Italian pizza as can be. They serve it with such delights as shrimp, a Popeye which is chicken and spinach Parma ham and eggplant and other gourmet toppings. Leave it to the French Canadians to bring pizza to a whole new level.

In the southwestern U.S. you will find Mexican flavorings and in the south pizza is so different from anything that we are used to in the northeast that we find it hard to imagine it is pizza. A rose or a pizza by any other name, however, is a pizza, even in New Haven Connecticut where it is known as apizza.

Pizza comes in a great many varieties. All you need is some sort of flat bread and some toppings and you can create a delicious meal that is portable and can be Italian or not, the choice is totally yours. It will be delicious either way and creativity, it's a good thing.

Farm to table Rockland, Maine

On a recent trip to Rockland, Maine we were lucky enough to be the guests of two local restaurateurs at their gardens as well as their restaurants. It was a unique opportunity to see the farm to table concept in person. Melissa Kelly, the award-winning chef and co-owner of Primo, and Kerry Altieri, the award-winning chef, and owner of Café Miranda, were both willing to offer personal tours of their gardens and farms and introduce us to their dream.

Primo is a Victorian house that is located on 4 acres of land which is used to raise chickens and pigs, grow edible flowers, vegetables and has beehives for honey. As soon as you walk up the hill past the restaurant, you suddenly feel as if you have gone down on the farm. Seedlings are started in the greenhouse and then moved into the fields. Many of the fields for growing and livestock are rotated as often as weekly.

It was amazing to see the little chicks in their cage. Laer in the tour we saw older chickens some for butchering and others for eggs. The chickens only lay for about two years and then they are off to the stock pot. The pigs were adorable and Melissa got right into the pen with them and scratched their backs. They are destined to end up in some really delicious dishes so it is a little difficult to get too attached to them. 

It is eye-opening to get to meet the animals that are going to be slaughtered for food. The circle of life:up-close and personal. With all that is done here, there is a great consideration for the land. Pens are moved at regular intervals to allow the soil to absorb the nutrients and to keep it healthy. It all feels very natural, the way things used to be done and the way it should be done today. You can just tell that the resulting meals that will be produced are going to be amazing. 

After leaving the field we moved inside Primo and saw the meat that was being cured. Pretty much everything they serve is grown or produced right here. It was a once in a lifetime experience tp tour Primo's gardens with the renowned Melissa Kelly, a pioneer in the farm-to-table concept.

Kerry's Headacre Farm for Cafe Miranda is just down the street from Primo. Kerry has a manager, Anne Perkins , who gave us the grand tour. Cafe Miranda's garden was int he early stages when we were there. It is strictly vegetables that are being grown here now for use in the restaurant but there are plans for a lot of expansion. 

When we were at the farm in June, the greens were still quite small but there were many rows of different varieties. What this means to the consumer is that you will be eating the products of the land here and as time goes on, more will be produced on the farm and less will be sourced from the outside. 

Being able to see these two farms and also visit the restaurants was very eye opening and it gives one a great appreciation for the freshness and what goes into the production of the food that we eat without a thought in restaurants.

Delicious slow cooker pork and apples

I saw a recipe for pork loin cooked in the slow cooker with apple slices placed in cuts in the loin. I actually didn't buy a pork loin, they were just too expensive, I bought boneless pork ribs. Of course, I couldn't find the recipe when I decided to make it so I made this up as I went along. 

What you need:

• A slow cooker
• boneless pork ribs (for the two of us I bought about 1 pound)
• 2 small onions
• 6 small potatoes
• 1 cup butternut squash cut up
• 1 cup Brussels sprouts

Sauce:

• 3/4 cup apple cider
• 1/2  cup soy sauce
• 1/2 balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Take the pork and brown it in olive oil in a hot pan with the onions and apples. I seasoned it with sea salt, pepper, and garlic. 

Place the potatoes, butternut squash and brussels sprouts in the bottom of the slow cooker, place the potatoes, onions, and apples on top of it. 

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours.  In my crockpot, the meat was falling apart tender at this point. 

Spoon it out and enjoy, it was awesome, the sauce is very delicious. 

Crockpot baked beans

I was raised on great homemade baked beans. My mom cooked them in a pot in the over and they were delicious. I used her recipe to create my version which is a set and forget it way to make baked beans you can be proud of and people will rave about. 

What you need:
16 oz Navy Pea Beans
1 package salt pork
1 large or two small onions
1/3 cup molasses
salt and pepper to taste

#bakedbeans

Soak you dried beans overnight. I soak them right in the crockpot. Empty the water and replace it with fresh. Chop the onion and add to beans, cut the salt pork into pieces, size is irrelevant. Add the molasses and salt and pepper, cover with water. Stir and then turn the crock pot on high. 

After 4 hours I lowered the heat to low and cooked for another 4 hours. I served this with crusty semolina bread and it was delicious. It was husband approved!!