Fresh, local produce and seafood is at its peak this time of year in New Hampshire. Garden tomatoes are coming in and pick-your-own farms are bursting with berries.
For June’s Big Question, we’re asked: What’s one recipe you have to make every summer?
NHPR’s Julia Barnett stopped by Market Days in downtown Concord to see what’s cooking in New Hampshire.
Christine - Concord, NH: As a working mom of two, in the summer, I like things where I don't have to turn the oven on, specifically. So, anything in the crock pot. Our favorite is cheesy chicken penne, which is: you cook the chicken, you make a sauce out of, like, cream of chicken soup, cheese, season until your heart tells you to stop, and you just cook the pasta, mix it all together, sprinkle extra cheese on it and let it go. And it doesn't heat up the kitchen and you get like two meals out of it and it's so good.
Andrew - Concord, NH: I, too, love it when she makes cheesy chicken penne. It used to be when she didn't work, I'd come home and it was cooking all day. I'm like, ‘Oh yes, it's so delicious.’ Pretty easy to clean up and just… she knows how to make some chicken.
Does that mean you're on clean up duty?
Andrew: Always. Yep. I'm the clean up man.
Christine: He's my dishwasher.
Cleopatra - Lawrence, MA: I had these mulberry trees outside of my house. I no longer live there, which is really sad… [but] every time around this time, when the mulberries were ripe, I would make this really amazing mulberry crisp with a ginger-oat crust and the mulberries, and it was just amazing. And then also make mulberry jam out of the rest of it. This is the time where all the mulberries were in season and super ripe.
Amy: So, my favorite thing to make all year round, but especially at summertime because it works for barbecues, is called an ‘avocado crack dip.’ There's very minimal ingredients, but obviously the mainstay is avocado. So it's avocado, it's feta cheese, it’s garlic, it's onions and tomatoes with oregano and some olive oil and red wine vinegar. It is absolutely a hit and it's very easy and everybody will enjoy.
Alison - Concord, NH: I love summer cooking, but I don't love the heat. So, honestly, for the summer… Our son is 19, he's home from school and we love to grill. Usually I'm the griller, but when he's home, he takes over and he does amazing. He spices everything more appropriately than his moms do. He makes smash burgers. He's a very good smash burger cooker. He's a purist, so he doesn't like to add too many different things to it. The other day he made us honey butter to add to the burgers. He'll make a plain burger because he knows one of his moms only likes plain and his sister only likes plain things. But then he'll make honey butter that we can add to it, and he's just fancy with his condiments.
Did you teach him this stuff?
Alyssa - Concord, NH: He’s self-taught. He loves YouTube, and he watches cooking videos all the time. And he's always like, ‘Oh, I want to try this.’ And we're like, ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ The other night he made us chicken shawarma because he wanted to try it. He's amazing. He's so good.
Additional responses
Ann - Hollis, NH: Growing up in Iowa, every church cookbook had pages of rhubarb recipes. When I lived in North Carolina, they could not grow it. So, I missed having it for four summers in the late 1980s. I am blessed to now know several people with big rhubarb patches near me in Hollis. People don't think they like rhubarb, but I've never had anyone not want seconds of this delicious moist cake called ‘Oma's Rhubarb Cake.’ And this recipe is so simple. You can also make any apple crisp recipe into a rhubarb crisp. Just add more sugar to taste and enjoy.
