Inspired by New Hampshire

THE MEAL

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I wish I were better at planning these meals out so that they best fit the season that I’m making them in. Right now in Indiana, it’s hot and muggy, but the meal I put together inspired by New Hampshire would have been PERFECT for autumn!

BEEF STEW

I chose beef stew as the main dish because New Hampshire cuisine is often described as “old world” or rustic, with people traditionally using what’s available in the surrounding area—venison, bass, root vegetables, apples, etc. I could have made fried bass, but it seemed too similar to my fried catfish and pan-fried trout, so I went a different direction.

Originally my plan was to make a venison stew, because that seems to be something you would find in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, though, venison is not easy to find in Indiana. Game meat was pretty easy to find back in Utah (not that I ever bought it, but I know where I could have!), but not so much in Indiana! I would have had to either order venison in bulk online (which would have been a waste), or put out a call online to see if anyone would sell me any (which seemed sketchy).

I was pretty bummed to have to just use beef, but it turned out well! For one thing, the official state food of New Hampshire is just “boiled dinner.” Irish immigrants brought corned beef and potatoes, but they basically use whatever meat and root vegetables are available. It’s not quite a stew, but I felt like making a beef stew fit the general spirit of the meal. Also, if you go back to my Utah-inspired meal, you know that I grew up on beef and root vegetables as a traditional Sunday dinner, so I was more than happy to make a soupy version of the same concept.

This beef stew was so easy to put together (which explains why they always seem to be eating stew in Old West and medieval fantasy media, doesn’t it). You just need to sear the stew meat, soften the vegetables a little, then add the liquid ingredients and let it stew for an hour or two until everything is nice and tender. I was happy to be able to control the consistency by pureeing the diced tomatoes a little instead of having to slurp down huge chunks like I often do when other people make me stew. (I love you, Mom, but you know I hate the texture of cooked tomatoes!) The flavor was nice and earthy thanks to the herbs de Provence, and the richness of the beef and tomatoes was very filling and warmed me up from the inside out. Again, not ideal for summer, but PERFECT for fall.

ANADAMA BREAD

To go with the stew, I decided to make a classic New England bread called Anadama bread. I couldn’t find a bread that specifically originated in New Hampshire, but anadama bread comes from its neighbor Massachusetts and is common in all of New England, so it fit.

This bread is unique in that it contains cornmeal and molasses in addition to the usual bread ingredients. Cornmeal and molasses are used in a centuries-old New England meal called “Indian Pudding,” which supposedly plays into how this bread got its name. They say that the original creator had a wife named Anna who would only ever make him cornmeal and molasses. One day he got so fed up with it that he added flour and yeast and baked it into something new, muttering “Anna d*** her” under his breath the entire time. No idea how true that story is, but it’s easy to see how it caught on!

It’s a really simple bread to make, with only a few steps and a couple hours needed. I expected it to taste more like molasses and cornmeal, but those flavors weren’t overwhelming at all! The molasses gave it a beautiful dark color, and the cornmeal gave it a nice dense texture, but it mostly just tasted like a rich wheat bread. It went pretty good with the stew, but I discovered I liked it best toasted with butter and honey.

APPLE CIDER

For the drink, I poured myself a tall glass of apple cider. New Hampshire is well-known for its apples and is home to the oldest continuously operated apple orchard in the U.S.—Applecrest Farm Orchards, established in 1913. New Hampshire also has a 10-mile Apple Way scenic drive that winds through orchards and homesteads. I want to go there in the autumn sometime!!

Anyway, I didn’t make apple cider from scratch this time, because I already had enough to do and have already made it before, for the Connecticut-inspired meal. Click here for that recipe!

APPLE CIDER DONUTS

What I did make from scratch to represent New Hampshire’s apple industry was apple cider donuts. These amazing treats have been around a lot longer than I thought—apparently apple-harvest season coincides with butchering season, so people had lots of fat for frying and lots of apples to be fried. Apple donuts have been a seasonal treat since the 1800s, though they really only took off in 1951, when an automated donut-making machine was invented and people were driving more cars. Apple donuts became an ideal treat for roadside stands—easy to make and easy to eat when on the road.

A lot of apple cider donuts are fried, but I’ve always preferred denser cake donuts, so that’s what I made for this meal. I bought a donut pan, which made the process pretty much foolproof! (They definitely wouldn’t have turned out as pretty if I’d tried to fry them.) All you need to do to make these yourself is reduce some apple cider, make a batter, and bake them in the molds, then coat with melted butter and cinnamon-sugar! I was thrilled with how easy it was. The resulting donuts were light and cakey, just how I like them, and they had an amazing apple cinnamon flavor! I took the leftovers to work the next day, and my coworkers made quick work of them!

In conclusion, this meal was delicious and so easy to put together. Not gonna lie, I often feel exhausted and am sometimes frustrated after putting one of these meals together, and sometimes I don’t even feel like eating what I made. Not so in this case! It only took a couple hours from start to finish, and I enjoyed every bite.

So how do you think I did? Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for improvement, and be sure to tune in next time for my take on a meal inspired by Vermont! If that’s where you’re from, what do you think I should make to represent your state? Bonus points if you have reliable recipes or pro tips before I make the attempt! Thank you for reading!