APRIL PLEASURES ABOUND AT ADAIR

As chocolate is one of our passions, we’re eager to share Chef Orlo’s secret chocolate truffles recipe with our Easter Getaway guests at Adair Country Inn & Restaurant in Bethlehem. Yummmm… we can already taste that melt in your mouth chocolate goodness. What could be better than a romantic weekend away and the richness of chocolate, unless it’s the Easter Bunny Treats Basket and Spring Flower Bouquet in each of our guest rooms? Oh, what fun!

We’re also preparing for our annual Easter Brunch Buffet on Sunday, April 24, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Along with the delicious foods that Chef Orlo is preparing — a Smoked Seafood Platter, Sticky Bun French Toast, Made-to-order Omelets, Glazed Smoked Ham, Luscious Desserts, and much, much more, guests can take part in an Easter Egg Hunt for Grownups (remember how much fun this was as a child!), along with great prizes and live music. It’ll be a hoppin’ event, so be sure to make your reservation today at (888/603) 444-2600.

Spring has taken its time this year, but we’re slowly seeing signs that it’s truly arrived here in the White Mountains. The sun is warmer, the days are longer, and the buds on the trees are popping. Drive along any country road here in the North Country, including the Adair Country Inn & Restaurant’s long driveway, and you can’t but notice the beautiful spring greens everywhere. And, don’t overlook the crocus and daffodils. These strong and sturdy flowers are among the true harbingers of spring — those clumps of purple and white crocus and the waving stems of brilliant yellow daffodils are a welcome sight for winter weary eyes.

If you decide to come to the Adair Country Inn & Restaurant in late April, you’ll find there’s lots to do, from shopping to hiking to culture. Littleton is a great place to spend a couple of hours browsing in the many small specialty shops on Main Street. Littleton also has Chutters (it holds the Guinness Book of World Records’ record for the longest candy counter in the world), and the Village Book Store one of those rare-these-days independent booksellers. Check out the toy department for fun gifts for you and the grandkids.

Littleton also boasts a wonderful pedestrian covered bridge over the Ammonoosuc River, and a nearby walking path that takes you over a long (and bouncy!) suspension bridge. This being New Hampshire, there are loads of covered bridges to choose from. A couple of our favorites are the Mechanic Street and Mt. Orne bridges in Lancaster, the Bath-Haverhill, Bath and Swiftwater bridges in Bath, and the Sentinel Pine (pedestrian only) and Flume bridges in Lincoln, all within easy driving distance of the Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. If you want to go further afield, check out New Hampshire’s listing of covered bridges. Spring is the perfect time to roam around and check out these wooden beauties (many built in the 1800s). The rivers are running swift and high with snow melt, and it’s quite a thrill to drive across the wooden floorboards just a short ways above the rushing water!

In late April we also have a hankering for some of Polly’s Pancakes with real maple syrup, and a side of smoked bacon. Polly's Pancake Parlor, in Sugar Hill, is a North Country staple (since 1938), which relies on traditional recipes along with a dose of good North Country friendliness for its popularity. And, just up the road, check out the Sugar Hill Sampler, housed in the big red barn, for décor and gifts for the home, along with a museum, photo display and some of the best views around. And, just down the road apiece, there’s Harman's Cheese & Country Store which offers a large selection of delicious cheeses.

Looking for a little exercise to work off those Easter Brunch calories? Hike one of the many trails on the 200-acre Adair Country Inn & Restaurant property, at the nearby Rocks Estate or head on down into Franconia Notch State Park and take a stroll or a longer hike along one of the many trails there.

When you’ve finished exploring, a relaxing evening and a comfortable feather bed await you back at the Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. (80 Guider Lane, Bethlehem, New Hampshire ~ http://www.adairinn.com/)

Moonlight Snowshoe Hike Builds Memories

By Eileen Alexander


BETHLEHEM — Tromping through snowy woods on a bright winter’s evening was exactly like a scene straight out of an old-fashioned postcard — or a Robert Frost poem, with a few tweaks to account for 21st century tastes. Crisp air, towering pines, the clack and creak of our snowshoes on the snowy trail, brightly colored ski clothes, deer tracks in the snow, nervous laughter when someone stumbles over the unfamiliar terrain, a little huffing and puffing on the uphills, and oohs and aahs when the clouds part to reveal a full moon.

I’m on a moonlight snowshoe hike with about a half-dozen other guests at the Adair Country Inn and Restaurant. I’ve been on snowshoes before, and I’m the only one in our group with any experience – not counting our guide, of course -- although experience is stretching the truth some. Years ago I’d done some snowshoeing using the old-fashioned wood and gut snowshoes, but this year I have a brand new pair of lightweight aluminum ones and I’m eager to try them out. The day before the hike I strap on my snowshoes and hike the field next to my house just to be sure that I can a) put on the snowshoes without falling on my face and looking like an idiot, and b) can make it around the field without keeling over from exhaustion. I manage to accomplish both without any difficulty so I figure I’m all set for my outing.

We’re a nice group of women, some of us young and some of us older. Everyone is keen to give snowshoeing a try under the guidance of Nigel Manley, the manager of the nearby Rocks Estate, a 1,400-acre conservation property that is managed by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. So, not only are we going to have fun on our snowshoe adventure, we’re going to learn a little bit about conservation, forest management, and the creatures that roam the woods and whose tracks we can identify in the snow. While we don’t see any moose, bears or turkeys on the trails we follow around the 200-acre Adair property, there are plenty of deer tracks to marvel over, as well as lots of fox prints – they always travel in a straight line, Manley tells us – as well as some teeny, tiny mouse prints that seem to evaporate into thin air. Not so, Manley says; the mice have burrowed into the snow at the places where the tracks end.

Adair is managed for multiple uses including recreation (hiking, snowshoeing, snowmobiling) and conservation (it’s a tree farm), to best enhance and preserve its fields, forests, soils, water and wildlife for future generations. During our hike we traverse some of this landscape – forested land along the trail opens into a small meadow; in other open areas downed trees have been left to provide food and shelter for birds and small mammals; we tramp along a snowmobile trail that crosses one edge of the estate; and stone walls are evidence of long-ago farming activity.

Innkeeper Ilja Chapman has filled us in on some of the property’s history. Adair, a beautiful, three-story Georgian-style building, was built in 1927 as a wedding gift for Dorothy Adair Guider, the only daughter of Frank Hogan, a famous Washington, DC trial attorney. Mrs. Guider lived in the house until her death in 1991, where she hosted everyone from presidential hopefuls and Supreme Court justices to actors (Helen Hayes was a lifelong friend) and sports figures. It became a nine-room inn in 1992, and is now owned by Nick and Betsy Young and managed by Ilja and her husband Brad Chapman.

We get to experience some of Adair’s legendary hospitality during the buffet that precedes our snowshoe hike. A hearty and appetizing buffet has been set out for us in the Granite Room, so called because of its stout, granite-clad walls. Dozens of photographs and newspaper clippings recall the career of Frank Hogan, but there are also plenty of comfortable couches and chairs, games, books and a pool table that could easily beckon guests to relax and linger in front of the fireplace on a rainy afternoon or after a day on the slopes. Tonight, though, we enjoy the food but are eager to head out to the main event. Guests are welcome to bring their own snowshoes or borrow the Adair’s. There are plenty to go around and not too many difficulties getting us all strapped in and set to go. The temperature is around 20 degrees, cold enough to be stimulating, but not so cold anyone wished they’d stayed home.

We set off with Nigel Manley, our interpretive guide, for an hour’s hike along easy to moderate terrain. I’ve brought my ski poles to help me balance (a good idea for the over 50 crowd!) and I lend one to another older woman who’s not too steady on her feet. There is a lot of laughter and camaraderie on the trail, we each find a pace that works for us, and many of us remark on the unfamiliar feeling of being outdoors under a full moon. We’re too used to going from the warmth of our cars to the warmth of our homes, and few of us spend any time outdoors at night.

The evening concludes back at the inn with s’mores and hot spiced cider around the flickering fire pit. Cameras come out and we snap photos of each other as the fire crackles and sparks add some interesting effects to our pictures. It’s the end of a memorable evening, and we’re all feeling cozy and a bit tired, but wanting the night to last just a little bit longer to savor all of the good sights, smells, tastes and new friendships.

“Committing to an activity in the cold was a challenge,” says fellow snowshoer Colleen Moritz, who was there with her sister. “However, we were pleasantly rewarded with a great fun evening. We can't wait to go again.”

One woman, who was there with her daughter as an early holiday present, noted that the evening was a reminder that the best thing to invest in are memories and that is why they had come.

Her feelings were echoed by Aliza Anvari, another guest. “My friend Ruth and I had a blast for first time snowshoers and visitors to Adair Inn. We vow to come back with more friends and family to create more lovely memories!”

I couldn’t have said it better.

The Sweet Taste of Spring Is Upon Us!

Maple season is upon us here in the North Country and the clear sap will soon be turned into sweet New Hampshire gold. It is a wonderful time of the year — cold, crisp nights followed by warm days. The sugar maples need these ideal conditions to give up their sap. This is a tradition started by the Native Americans, who then taught the European settlers the art. It has turned into a multi-million dollar industry and New Hampshire produces some of the best syrup in the world. March Maple Madness Getaways are a perfect way to experience this season.

In brief — it takes a sugar maple 30 years to reach the proper diameter of 12 inches and it takes 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. Add to that the high cost of fuel it takes to boil down the sap and that explains the high price of genuine maple syrup.

Back in Colonial times, wood was plentiful, as were sugar maples. Maple syrup and maple sugar were the standard household sweeteners, as they were much cheaper and much more readily available than refined sugar. Of course, that has all changed in modern times.

Cooking with maple is a wonderful way to add sweet undertones to any style of dish, from soups and salad dressings to meats, fish and, of course, desserts. As less maple is needed than white sugar, the flavor, rather than the sweetness, can come through nicely when used properly. When used with a light hand, maple syrup goes equally well with salty and strong flavored meats as well as milder tasting items such as chicken or scallops. Some different dishes to make include Maple Indian Pudding, Maple-Marinated Roasted Salmon, Roasted Apples with Salted Maple Cream, Sweet Pear and Gorgonzola Salad, and Warm Cabbage Slaw with Maple-Bacon Dressing.

One of the best things about Maple syrup is that it is 100% natural and contains calcium, zinc, antioxidants, riboflavin and niacin. Maple is graded according to a USDA grading scale:
Grade A — This is the best grade of syrup and is divided into Light Amber, Medium Amber, and Dark Amber. These terms refer not only to color, but also to flavor; the darker the color, the more intense the flavor.
Grade B — This is a dark, strongly flavored syrup with good maple flavor and overtones of caramel; generally used for cooking or in the production of other food products.
Grade C — This is a commercial-grade syrup, very dark and not generally for sale to consumers. This is used in commercial cooking and is often found in the "table syrup" blends.

Pure maple syrup contains a single ingredient: maple syrup; nothing added, nothing taken away, except water. It is mostly sucrose, with a small portion of glucose and fructose. A tablespoon of maple syrup contains 50 calories, 29 grams of carbohydrates, a negligible amount of sodium, and no protein, fat, or cholesterol.

You can use maple syrup anywhere you use ordinary white sugar. There are different ways of substituting maple syrup for white sugar depending on what you’re doing with it. The easiest way to use maple syrup in cooking is by using maple sugar. When substituting maple sugar for white sugar, use one-half the amount the recipe requires. This is because maple sugar tastes much sweeter than white sugar.

When cooking with maple syrup, I suggest using three-quarters of a cup of maple syrup for every one cup of sugar that the recipe suggests. Even though maple syrup is not in solid form it is still very sweet compared to white sugar.

Now, when it comes to baking it gets a little tricky. Maple syrup has a lot of water compared to white sugar. So, when substituting for white sugar, the dominant wet ingredient also needs to be reduced. For the main wet ingredient use three tablespoons less for every one cup of maple syrup used. For example, if the recipe calls for one cup of cream, you would only use 6.5 ounces of cream for every cup of maple syrup. When mixing maple syrup into the recipe, it is important to remember to add it with the wet ingredients instead of the dry.

Unopened syrup stores easily, un-refrigerated. However, prolonged storage may cause the color of maple syrup to darken and the flavor may deteriorate; thus it is recommended to store maple syrup in the freezer. This is the best way to prevent any chance of spoilage and to keep the syrup at its peak of quality. If a thin layer of mold develops on an opened container of syrup, it can safely be peeled off and the syrup re-sterilized by bringing it briefly to 180° (a brief, light boil) and then rebottling it. The syrup may darken, but the flavor should be unaffected.

As part of the New Hampshire Maple Experience, we will be serving the following dessert here at the Adair Country Inn & Restaurant each weekend in March.

Maple Crème Brulee — 4 servings.

1/2 cup New Hampshire Maple Syrup
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg
2 cups whipping cream
Granulated New Hampshire Maple Sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk maple syrup, yolks and egg in medium bowl to blend. Put cream in a heavy medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Gradually whisk hot cream into yolk mixture. Divide custard among prepared dishes. Set dishes into roasting pan. Add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up sides of dishes. Cover pan with foil. Bake custards until set in center, about 55 minutes. Chill custard uncovered until cold, at least 5 hours. (Can be made a day ahead. Cover; keep refrigerated.) Before serving, top with maple sugar and burnish carefully with a blow torch, or put under the broiler 2 minutes until sugar is melted.

— Orlo Coots is Head Chef at Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. Enjoy his cooking Thursdays through Mondays by making a reservation at 603-444-2600. Orlo can be reached at cheforlo@hotmail.com for questions about this recipe or any other food-. related questions. Remember — whether cooking for one or for a crowd, make every bite count

MAKE EVERY BITE COUNT - FOOD AND WINE PAIRING

There are several ways to approach the wine and food pairings, whether doing it is at a restaurant or to enjoy the proper wine with your dinner at home. The first step is to decide on the food to be served. At the Inn, I always start with the food. It is much easier for our wine expert and me to match wine to food than food to the wine. If you will be doing multiple courses, make sure to start with lighter flavors and work your way up to bigger, bolder flavors, then end with sweet dessert. The wines will progress the same way and the flavors from the earlier foods and wines will not overpower the following courses.

Once you have the foods decided upon, now comes the tricky part of matching the wines. Of course, the most important choice is to make sure to drink what you like. If you prefer a particular wine regardless of the food you are eating, by all means drink that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking a light white wine while eating a steak, just as there is never an issue with drinking a big cabernet sauvignon with a piece of light fish. What matters most is that you like how your wine tastes. However, to make every bite count, by matching the flavors and characteristics of the wine to the flavors of the foods, I think that you can more fully enjoy how certain wines pair with some foods.

Now that you have decided to try to match wines to your foods, the most basic guideline to follow is light foods go with light wine and heavy foods go with heavy wines. But you must also keep in mind the accompanying ingredients. For example, a Sauvignon Blanc goes very nicely with a piece of fish with a light sauce. However, if you were to add tomatoes and a rich lobster stock to the sauce, a medium bodied red wine like a Pinot Noir will actually be a great choice. The old rule of white with fish and red with meat is a great place to start, but do keep in might what else will be on the fish or meat.

If you are going to do a spicy dish, this will certainly determine what type of wine you choose. Certain wines more perfectly complement the spiciness of certain dishes, just as the spiciness can bring out the good (or bad) flavors of the wine. A slightly sweet Riesling or Gewürztraminer is a very good choice for spicy foods.

The best way to find the best pairing for your food is to do a little internet research. There are hundreds of websites that can guide you to the right match. Simply Google the name of the dish and add “wine pairing” and you should have several hundred links to choose from for a suitable wine choice.

If you are planning a special dinner, another option is to test the dish beforehand with two or more wines. Yes, this can be time consuming or costly, but you get to sample wines and make sure you know how to prepare the dish before the big dinner. Sounds good to me! Make sure to taste each wine without the food first, then, taste each one after taking a couple of bites. See how the flavors all come together (or not, if they are the wrong choices).

Now, if you already have a special bottle of wine, you can always match a food with that. The bottle may have some basic suggestions. If not or if not enough information is provided, go to the winery’s website and look up that wine. There will probably be some more detailed suggestions on what to have with the wine. The next step is Google the name of the wine and add “food match”. There should be plenty of links to follow.

Remember- wine and foods go great together, so do not get too intimidated with finding the perfect wine to drink with your meal. Focus on flavors and characteristics of the foods, do some research, ask questions at the wine store or even call a Chef. I have taken many phone calls and emails from family, friends and strangers asking for advice on what to drink with a particular dish or what to eat with a particular wine.

With all of the wines out there to choose from, it can be somewhat daunting, but drink what you like, like what you drink and make every bite count.

Poached Pears with Spicy Honeyed Vermouth Syrup
This dessert is very easy to prepare, looks fancy and difficult and matches very nicely with a sweet dessert wine like a sauterne or late harvest Riesling.

6 servings
1 bottle dry white vermouth
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon black pepper (preferably freshly ground)
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
1 cinnamon stick
6 pears, preferably Bosc

In a sauce pan deep enough to hold the pears, add all ingredients except pears. Bring to a boil, then, turn to low simmer.

Peel pears, leaving whole with stems intact and cut out core. A melon baller works best to core from the wide, bottom end for this.

Put pears into pot, turn up heat slightly, cover and cook pears until soft enough to easily pierce thickest part with a knife, approximately 20-25 minutes. You can do the pears in batches if needed.

Remove pears from syrup to cool.

Once all pears are cooked, reduce liquid uncovered until it is a thick golden syrup. Let cool.

To serve, place one pear on dessert plate, drizzle with some of the syrup. Garnish with mint and some unsweetened whipped cream. Serve with your favorite dessert wine and enjoy.

Orlo Coots is Head Chef at Adair Country Inn and Restaurant. Enjoy his cooking Thursday through Monday. (603) 444-2600. Orlo can be reached at cheforlo@hotmail.com for any questions about this recipe or any other food-related questions you may have. Remember- whether cooking for 1 or for a crowd, make every bite count.

MAKE EVERY BITE COUNT

As I prepared to write this month’s column, I stopped to think about how I try to make every bite count while cooking here at Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. While making sure to properly season and properly prepare and cook each item of food are important steps, it is really much, much more than that. Also involved is making sure to get the best quality and freshest foods you can buy and correctly storing and handling them.

I then thought about how I go about researching and planning our Dine Around the World menus. I spend time searching on the internet for authentic dishes and food items for each country we “travel” to. The internet has made making every bite count much more accessible. From sites that present culinary traditions and national dishes to shopping sites that allow anyone to purchase just about any ingredient in usable amounts for reasonable prices, the internet has been a very important tool to make sure that our travels are as authentic as possible. It is no longer necessary to just use what is available to somewhat recreate a national dish from a far off country. We are able to research and order the special ingredients that are the difference between the finished dish being a close approximation to it being just like the way the dish is served in the country of origin. It is very satisfying to hear a guest say “We lived there for 2 years and that dish is exactly the way it tasted over there”.

While we do have a very nice Asian market in Littleton, there is very little else nearby when it comes to procuring specialty ingredients. A perfect example is when I was preparing the dishes for our Guatemala dinner, a few of the recipes called for annatto paste, guajillo and pasilla peppers. All the recipes gave alternate ingredients, but those would have made the dishes less authentic. As we strive to make every bite count, authenticity is the goal. I searched on the internet for sources of these ingredients and was able to have them delivered to the Inn. Again, they were delivered in quantities that did not cost too much or such that I will need to use them in every other dish to get rid of them.

So, when you go to prepare you next meal- whether it is a traditional Thanksgiving meal or a special ethnic meal, use all the tools available to you- fresh food, proper seasonings and research on the proper ingredients and preparation. This will help you to fully enjoy the meal knowing that you have made every bite count.

Here is the recipe for our Apple-Cranberry crisp, which was our most popular dessert this past fall foliage season. Fresh local ingredients prepared simply to bring out the full flavors of the fruits. This is a great dessert for your Thanksgiving table.

-butter a 9x9 baking pan
-preheat oven to 350
-serves 6

for topping:
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces butter, cold, cut into pieces
1/2 cup oats (not instant oatmeal)

for filling:
5 apples- mixture of Granny Smith and Macintosh
6 ounces cranberries
¼ cup and 2 Tbsp sugar

To make topping:
Chop walnuts to medium fine pieces, set aside
in processor, put brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt into bowl and
process until sugar is no longer lumpy.
Put butter onto mix, process until mixture resembles coarse meal.
add oats and walnuts, process just too combine
(mixture can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated).

To make the filling:
Peel, core and quarter the apples. can use peeling machine or peel by hand.
Put apples, cranberries and sugar into mixing bowl and combine thoroughly.
Put fruit mixture into prepared pan. Put walnut topping and spread evenly.
Bake 40-50 minutes until fruit is bubbly and topping is nicely browned.
Serve warm with ice cream.

— Orlo Coots is Head Chef at Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. Enjoy his cooking Thursdays through Mondays by making a reservation at 603-444-2600. Orlo can be reached at cheforlo@hotmail.com for questions about this recipe or any other food-related questions. Remember — whether cooking for one or for a crowd, make every bite count.

Enjoy Summer Down Under with the Cuisine of Australia

Adair Country Inn & Restaurant “travels” to Australia on Thursday, December 2, as part of our Dine Around the World evenings. To put it into perspective, we recently had some guests stay here at the Inn who traveled more than halfway around the world to get to Bethlehem. Australia really is the land down under, 13-14 time zones away and in the Southern hemisphere. While we are preparing for winter, the Aussie summer is just about to begin. We will celebrate the Australian summer by serving shrimp on the barbie (Australian for barbecue!) and grilled lamb sausages.

Australian cuisine is very conflicted. Relying on the many traditional, conservative dishes dating back to the early English settlers, Australians never really developed a national cuisine. With a surge of immigration in the 1980s — many from Asian countries — many chefs started to incorporate Asian foods and cooking techniques into their menus. Recently, there has been much more interest in searching out indigenous foods and recipes. These factors have led to an exciting variety of foods and dishes being newly discovered by Australians. Kangaroo, long not much favored as a food, has become very popular with many new Australian chefs as a true Australian ingredient.

Perhaps the biggest stride that Australia has made has been in their production of world-class wines. While there are no native Australian wine grapes, many major varietals have been introduced to the country. Australia has become one of the premier producers of Shiraz in the entire world, and Penfolds Grange is considered by many to be the greatest red wine in the world.

While Australia does not have a long culinary history, it has certainly had great success in recent years due to immigration and a desire to show off the country’s local foods. Our Dine Around the World menu touches on both aspects of Australia’s culinary history. We will offer some traditional early English classics like lamb, meat pies and Pavlova, along with some newly rediscovered native foods such as kangaroo and barramundi (a freshwater fish) — all paired with some world-class Australian wines.

Ending the Meal on a Sweet Note

A trip down under is not complete without a serving of Pavlova, a meringue cake that has a light and delicate crisp crust and a soft sweet marshmallow center. This lovely dessert is typically served with softly whipped cream and fresh fruit.

Pavlova
4 large egg whites:
1 cup superfine (castor) sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (corn flour)
Topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Fresh fruit — kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, passion fruit, peaches, pineapple, or other fruit of your choice.

Pavlova: Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a 7-inch circle on the paper.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. (Test to see if the sugar is fully dissolved by rubbing a little of the meringue between your thumb and index finger. The meringue should feel smooth, not gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers). Sprinkle the vinegar and cornstarch over the top of the meringue and, with a rubber spatula, fold in.

Gently spread the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper, smoothing the edges, making sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center. (You want a slight well in the center of the meringue to place the whipped cream and fruit.)

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the outside is dry and takes on a very pale cream color. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool completely in the oven. (The outside of the meringue will feel firm to the touch, if gently pressed, but as it cools you will get a little cracking and you will see that the inside is soft and marshmallowy.)
The cooled meringue can be made and stored in a cool dry place, in an airtight container, for a few days.

Just before serving gently place the meringue onto a serving plate. Whip the cream in your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Sweeten with the sugar and vanilla and then mound the softly whipped cream into the center of the meringue. Arrange the fruit randomly, or in a decorative pattern, on top of the cream. Serve immediately as this dessert does not hold for more than a few hours.
Serves 6 to 8.

— Orlo Coots is Head Chef at Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. Enjoy his cooking Thursdays through Mondays by making a reservation at 603-444-2600. Orlo can be reached at cheforlo@hotmail.com for questions about this recipe or any other food-related questions. Remember — whether cooking for one or for a crowd, make every bite count.

Travel to Guatemala

By Head Chef Orlo Coots

Adair Country Inn & Restaurant “traveled” to Guatemala on Thursday October 28, 2010 as part of our Dine Around the World event. While I was working in the various restaurants in and around Boston, I had the opportunity to work with people from all over the globe. Many of these people came from Central and South America. As cooks, they brought with them the recipes from their homes and integrated them into the restaurants. Some were served to the staff during staff meal; others were placed on menus or served as nightly specials. Many of the ingredients used were still at the time foreign to most American born chefs and diners. Some of the most intriguing meals were the ones cooked by the Guatemalans I worked with.

With a culinary history starting with the Maya and then heavily influenced by Spanish and other nations, Guatemalan food is rich and exotic, with many layers of flavors throughout the dishes. Due to long braising with several additions of spices and pastes, the finished foods are wonderfully balanced with all of the flavors coming through. As with many Central American nations, corn and black beans play a large role in the culinary traditions of Guatemala.

The Guatemalan cooks I worked with were the first people who introduced me to tomatillos, black beans, plantains and yucca. To some degrees, these foods have become somewhat common here in the States, but 20 years ago, they were still rather unusual and exotic. Having sampled the ingredients and dishes at he restaurant, I asked for the recipes. Of course, most of them were old family methods of cooking and the cooks did not have written recipes. It was “add this much of this and this many of that” type of cooking, which quite often is the best way to learn how to cook different foods. From these early lessons, I learned how to use some of these once strange ingredients and I was able to replicate some of the original dishes they showed me.

One dish that stands out is Hilachas, beef simmered with tomatoes and tomatillos. This is a rather simple dish to prepare, but with many layers of flavors due to the steps involved in the process and the flavorful variety of ingredients. This dish is very representative of the many influences of Guatemalan cuisine. When served with the traditional sides of tortillas, rice and plantains, you have an authentic Guatemalan meal full of history and flavor.

Hilachas-Cooked and shredded beef with tomatoes and tomatillos 6 to 8 servings
• Beef, flank or skirt steak, cubed -- 2 pounds
• Water -- 5 cups
• Oil -- 2-3 tablespoons
• Onion, chopped -- 1
• Chopped tomatoes -- 1 cup
• Chopped tomatillos -- 1 cup
• Guajillo chiles, warmed over a flame, deseeded and chopped -- 2-3
• Salt and pepper -- to season
• Potatoes, peeled and chopped -- 1 pound
• Carrots, peeled and chopped -- 2-3
• Shredded corn tortillas -- 1/2 cup
• Cilantro, chopped -- 1 bunch

Method
Place the beef, water and a big pinch of salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the beef is very tender. Remove the beef to a bowl, reserving the broth, and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the beef with your fingers and set aside.
While the beef is simmering, place the onion, tomatoes, tomatillos and chiles in a food processor or blender and puree, adding a little water if necessary.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium flame. Add the onion-tomato puree and simmer until the puree is cooked down and darkens somewhat in color, about 10 minutes. Do not burn.
Add the shredded beef and about 3 cups of the broth to the onion-tomato puree and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Stir in the potatoes, onions and a little more broth or water if necessary. Simmer until the potatoes and carrots are cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
Stir in the shredded tortillas to thicken the sauce. Then stir in the chopped cilantro, adjust seasoning and serve hot with corn tortillas or rice.

Variations
•If the sauce has thickened enough while simmering, no thickener may be necessary.
•Add 2 teaspoon achiote seasoning to the onion-tomato puree for added flavor. Bricks of achiote seasoning can be found at many Latin markets.
•The potatoes and carrots can be eliminated if you like.
•Canned tomatoes and tomatillos work just fine in this recipe.
•Two cups of chopped tomatoes can be used if you would like to eliminate the tomatillos.
•If you can't find guajillo chiles, use anchos or pasillas. Or substitute with 1 tablespoon of paprika and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Orlo Coots is Head Chef at Adair Country Inn & Restaurant. Enjoy his cooking Thursday through Monday. (603) 444-2600. Orlo can be reached at cheforlo@hotmail.com for any questions about this recipe or any other food-related questions you may have. Remember- whether cooking for 1 or for a crowd, make every bite count.