Category Archives: Fruit

  • Weekly Cocktail #39: Blood On The Adriatic

    January 11, 2013

    23 Comments

    Blood on the Adriatic.

    Blood on the Adriatic.

    After the detours of the holidays and Mixology Monday, we now resume our normal weekly cocktail schedule. And we are happily back at “work”. As for this week’s cocktail, it certainly checks a lot of our boxes for how we choose drinks. Seasonal ingredient? Check. Excuse to try a new type of booze? Check. Not too boozy? (it’s January, we’re a bit pickled from the holidays) Check….Oh, and does it tastes really good? Check.

    blood3The Blood on the Adriatic combines blood orange juice, Amaro Montenegro and Aperol, shaken and strained into a cocktail glass. It is easy to make, uses the blood oranges that are in season, is barely stronger than a glass of wine, looks beautiful (IMHO)…and packs a lot of complimentary flavors. We based this cocktail off of the Adriatique Cocktail from Jackson Cannon at Boston’s Island Creek Oyster Bar.

    blood4Serious Eats wrote this cocktail up a while ago and we loved it, with the sweet, acidic orange juice playing well with the herbal and bitter Amaro and the citrus and rhubarb of the Aperol. But both of us immediately thought the cocktail would be better (at least for us) with the more tart, berry-ish complexity of blood oranges. And we think we were right. The tart, acidic berry flavors add to the sweet orange and balances the bitter notes. This cocktail is very refreshing and has a wonderful aroma. And we will admit that we just love the color.

    blood7As for the ingredients, you can find blood oranges in most good produce or farmers markets this time of year. We tend to prefer the deeply colored Moros, but all blood oranges will have that berry-ish flavor. As for Amaro Montenegro, it is a type of Italian “Amari”, a family of bittersweet, herbal liqueurs and digestifs (here is a good intro guide). Amaro Montenegro is one of the more “accessible” Amaro, it is sweeter and less bitter than most, with complex herb and honey notes and only about 25% alcohol. Aperol is basically Campari’s sweeter, lighter, and less bitter, boozy and “ashy” cousin. Aperol has lots of sweet citrus and rhubarb flavor with a bitter finish. Both the Aperol and Montenegro are good introductions to more bitter-flavored cocktail ingredients.

    bloodWhile these may seem like disparate flavors to put in a cocktail, they all share a similarity. Each has sweet notes on its own, but is balanced by another flavor. Blood oranges have the tart berry flavors, Amaro Montenegro has herbal notes and the Aperol adds more fruit and a bitter finish. When you put them together you get a sip that starts with tart, moves to sweet, fruity and herbal and ends with a clean, slightly bitter finish. And for all that flavor, this cocktail is way less than half-strength, so you can have more than one. Good stuff? Check.

    blood2Blood On The Adriatic:

    Ingredients:

    • 1 oz. blood orange juice
    • 1 oz. Amaro Montenegro
    • 1/2 oz. Aperol

    Assemble:

    1. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly and double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass, coupé or flute. Serve.
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  • Amazing Persimmon Bread

    December 6, 2012

    31 Comments

    bread8While we love cooking with the season, winter can be a bit tough, even in California. Lots of produce is available, but some of it has moderate appeal (we love kale, turnips and broccoli, but not every day) and some is just confounding. We love our pomegranates, but they are hard to eat and you can only sprinkle the seeds on so many salads. The citrus is a bright spot, but somehow tends to end up in desserts and cocktails, and after lemon chicken how many savory dishes are there?. And then we have Persimmons. These bright orange, beautiful fruits light up the farmers market, but what do you do with them?

    bread2bread3For Fuyu persimmons, the round ones, the answer is easy. Treat them like apples and place raw slices into salads or serve with cheese or charcuterie. But what about the heart-shaped Hachiya persimmons, what to do with them? It turns out you need to let them ripen almost to the point of rot over-ripeness and then scoop out the pulp. The pulp will be very sweet with pumpkin and citrus notes. One of the more popular uses of Hachiya pulp is to freeze it and serve it like sorbet, but the other primary use is in baking. And this is where we get to this amazing sweet bread. And we don’t mean “amazing way to get rid of persimmons” we simply mean “amazing”. This bread is one of the best surprises we’ve had here at Putney Farm.

    bread4bread5In some ways, we shouldn’t be surprised. The recipe comes from David Lebovitz, one of the best pasty chefs and food writers in the world, and is adapted from a James Beard recipe. Yep, James Beard. The original recipe comes for his book “Beard on Bread“. So we are working from some very solid source materials. Ironically, the recipe itself is a bit “squishy”. You are encouraged to add or subtract sugar to your taste, add some booze and play with different dried fruit and nut combinations. We even use some white whole wheat flour with good results. But the unifying factor is the Hachiya persimmon pulp. It gives a bright pumpkin note and keeps this bread incredibly sweet and moist. With the fruit, nuts and spice this bread has lovely texture and flavor. You can eat it at breakfast, or as a daytime snack or even dessert.

    bread6bread7And making the bread is a straightforward operation. First you must buy and then ripen some Hachiya persimmons. Leave them out and wait. They are ripe when they feel like overripe tomatoes about to burst (Lebovitz describes it as “water balloon about to burst”). You may also see discoloration on the skin, but that is OK. When the persimmons are ripe, spoon out the pulp and purée in a blender, food processor of food mill. Then you are ready to go. And making the rest of the bread is easy. Chop some nuts and dried fruit, we use pecans and dried cranberries, but walnuts, raisins, apricots or dates will work. Then make a standard sweet bread. Combine the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients, make a batter. Butter some loaf plans, then pour in the batter. Bake for an hour at 350 (the kitchen will smell great), cool and serve. And enjoy, this is the good stuff. So when winter produce gets you down, buy a few Hachiya persimmons, let them ripen and make this bread. It will be a bright spot in winter.

    bread

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  • Medjool Dates Stuffed With Celery and Parmesan

    November 13, 2012

    31 Comments

    Medjool Dates Stuffed with Celery and Parmesan.

    As we move towards the holidays we break out quick recipes for entertaining. When we host a party we tend to serve a few quick snacks, usually a mix of hot of cold dishes. One of our favorites is just radishes, butter and salt, but this combination of sweet dates with crunchy celery and savory parmesan cheese is a new favorite. The dish combines many flavors and textures, is quick to make and easy to eat with a drink in your hand. A perfect cocktail party treat.

    We are familiar with many parmesan-stuffed date recipes, but this recipe from Hugh Acheson is one of the first we know of that adds the crisp, vegetal crunch of celery and the bite of Italian parsley. Add some acidity from a quick vinaigrette and you have a very well-rounded bite.  We added some of the tender celery leaves and a splash of sherry vinegar to fit our tastes, but whether you tune the recipe or stick with the original version, you get a very tasty dish.

    Making these stuffed dates is as easy as it gets. Peel and chop some celery, and reserve some of the leaves, then chop some Italian parsley. Make a quick dressing with olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Add the celery and parsley and mix with the vinaigrette. Grate a few ounces of parmesan cheese and add it to the mixture. Then slit 6-8 Medjool dates lengthwise and carefully remove the pits and stuff with a tablespoon of the cheese and celery mixture.

    And then you are pretty much ready to serve. Put the stuffed dates on a serving dish, maybe drizzle on some oil, vinegar,a pinch of salt and a few sprigs of parsley. The only question is how you present the dates. The dates are malleable and sticky, so you can stuff them and close them completely to hide the stuffing. Or you can leave the dates open to show off the goodies. We like to leave the dates open, but it is your call. Regardless of how they look, you will enjoy the depth of flavors and textures. And it’s good these are easy to make, your guests will probably ask you for another batch.

    Medjool Dates Stuffed With Celery and Parmesan:

    (Adapted from Hugh Acheson)

    Notes Before You Start:

    • Look for large, quality Medjool dates for this dish and use the best parmesan you can find.

    What You Get: A perfect cocktail party snack.

    What You Need: No special equipment required.

    How Long? 5 minutes. Anytime dish. And this is worth making any time.

    Ingredients:

    • 6 large (or 8 medium) Medjool Dates
    • 1 stalk of celery, preferably with a few leaves still attached
    • 2 tablespoons good olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
    • 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped
    • Pinch of salt
    • 2 – 3 oz. grated parmesan cheese (the best you can get)
    • Sherry and/or balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

    Assemble:

    1. Peel the outer side of the celery and remove the strings. Chop the celery, on the diagonal, into pieces about 1/4 wide. Reserve a few of the celery leaves. Chop the parsley.
    2. Combine the celery, celery leaves and parsley with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the lemon juice and salt. Mix well and then fold in the grated parmesan cheese.
    3. Slit one side of each date lengthwise and then remove the pits. Stuff the dates with about a tablespoon of the celery and parmesan mixture. Squeeze the dates a little to secure the stuffing. Arrange the dates on a serving plate and drizzle with the remaining olive oil, a touch of balsamic and/or sherry vinegar, a sprinkle of salt and a few sprigs of parsley. Serve.
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  • Apple Cinnamon Muffins (And the sweet smell of victory!)

    October 29, 2012

    24 Comments

    Apple Cinnamon Muffins.

    So what do you do when your team wins their second World Series in three years? Well, you put your happily beaming children to bed, watch a few minutes of the post game, then mix up a tasty cocktail and smile….. and then you go outside and give up a seriously primal scream of joy and relief. UNBELIEVABLE!  And you know what you do the next morning? You sit down with a good cup of coffee and a tasty apple cinnamon muffin and read all the news on how your team kicked-ass won. Your kids are still beaming, the kitchen is warm and smells like fall. Happy days here by the Bay.

    And even if your team didn’t win the Series, you can still enjoy a tasty, spicy apple muffin. If you’re like us, we can get a bit “enthusiastic” when we buy apples. If we don’t eat them out of hand, we take the extra apples that may be getting soft and make applesauce or these muffins. And these muffins are exactly as advertised. They have a pronounced apple and cinnamon flavors and feature a crisp top with a very soft interior. Good for breakfast, but not bad as an afternoon treat, either.

    Like many baking recipes, these muffins come from a familiar formula, but a few tips and techniques do matter. Firstly, we grate our apples in this recipe. Grating provides a more uniform texture and gives you apple flavor in every bite. Secondly, we also butter (using cooking spray) the muffin tin, then the paper cups and the top of the tin. There is a method to the madness, the longer muffins cool in the tin, the tougher they get. If you heavily grease the tin and the paper cups you can get the muffins out of the tin as soon as you can handle them. This makes a big difference, the muffins will be moist and tender. And finally, we substitute half of the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour for a “nuttier” flavor. We like the extra flavor, but regular AP flour will work fine.

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  • Spiced Pear Cardamom Butter

    October 23, 2012

    29 Comments

    Spiced Pear Cardamom Butter.

    As we mentioned in last week’s weekly cocktail post, we sometimes find pears to be a challenging ingredient. We like to eat our Comice pears out of hand, but when we got to our “mystery” pears we were a bit stumped. Part of the issue is that we have no idea what our “mystery” pears are. The tree is over 50 years old, and it has tremendous yield, but we have no other data. And since there are literally over 3000 varieties of pear, it “could” be almost anything. (And since Silicon Valley was an agricultural area before tech came, we do have all sorts of backyard heirloom fruit trees- so we mean “almost anything”).

    But, like many food mysteries, the proof is in the eating. We tried our mystery pears and they have a hard, crisp texture and a light, sweet flavor similar to apples with a touch of vanilla. A good pear, but not meant for eating fresh. After a little research, we decided the mystery pears were somewhere between a Bosc and a Concorde pear. Both are varieties best known for baking or canning. And since our mystery pears had light flavor, we went for a canning option and decided to make spiced pear butter.

    The advantage of making pear butter is that you can cook the pears to concentrate their flavor, and you can vary the cooking time and spices to match the pears you have. Since our pears had light, sweet, apple flavor, we chose to make Spiced Pear Cardamom Butter. The recipe is adapted from “Tart and Sweet“, Kelly Geary and Jessie Knadler’s excellent canning and pickling book. The recipe combines pears and a strong dose of winter spices; cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. This may seem like overkill, but the pears carry the spices well and the result is very tasty. The spiced pear butter tastes like spicy apple butter but with honey and vanilla notes to go with the spices. Great on toast at breakfast, and certainly worth making.

    And making pear butter is easier than most canning and jamming. Simply peel and core the pears, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces (the pears are firm and easy to handle). Then add to a pot with a bit of lemon juice, a dash of salt, a cup of sugar and the spices. Cook for about an hour, mashing the pears occasionally, and then blend in a blender of food processor and return to the pot for a little extra cooking. You can choose the consistency you like. Then process the pear butter, following your standard steps. The only issue with this recipe is the pears themselves, they vary widely in density and water content. The recipe says you will get about seven half pints of pear butter, but you may get eight you may get five. We got five. But simply taste the pear butter as you make it and then process when you are ready. You will still have plenty of pear butter.

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  • Weekly Cocktail #33: The Rochelle-Normande

    October 20, 2012

    19 Comments

    The Rochelle-Normand Cocktail

    As we drink our way through the seasons (and yes, that sounds both good and bad) we find some cocktail ingredients are easier to work with than others. Citrus is easy, lots of great recipes and combinations. Stone fruits are harder to handle, but are very tasty in all sorts of drinks. Apples? No problem. But now we get to pears, and it gets a bit challenging.

    Pears are one of our most ancient fruits and are popular all over the world, but oddly, are not a common cocktail ingredient. Pears have a soft, sweet flavor and light fragrance that can get lost when mixed with other flavors. And pear brandy (eau-de-vie), while common in France, is a rarity here in the states. More recently new pear liqueurs and vodkas hit the market. And since it is pear season (and we have a few pear trees and a decent crop) we got some Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear liqueur and started to experiment.

    As we noted, there are few “classic” pear cocktails to work from, so we approached this more like a dessert recipe. Firstly, we tasted the pear liqueur and it was sweet with clear pear flavor and a slightly dry finish. A good sip, but more of an attractive flavor accent than a lead note. So what else plays well with pears? Apple and spice came to mind. And we also like sparkling cocktails, as they often show off the aromas of their ingredients (and we had some sparkling wine left over from making Death in the Afternoon cocktails). With that in mind we did some research and found a cocktail called the Daisy Buchanon that combines pear liqueur, apple brandy and Champagne. We then looked to another of our favorite sparklers, the bitters-heavy, spicy Seelbach, for inspiration. And after many experiments, we got the Rochelle-Normande.

    The Rochelle-Normande combines pear liqueur, applejack (or calvados), lemon juice, Bittermen’s Tiki Bitters (substitute Angostura) and champagne. We garnish with a slice of pear and lemon twist. The sip is crisp and dry with both apple and pear flavors and aromas showing through. The lemon juice adds some acidity and the finish shows off the allspice, cinnamon and clove notes of the tiki bitters. A tasty, if somewhat dry, seasonal cocktail for the holidays. (And we like the look of the pear slice in the champagne flute.)

    You might note a lack of overtly sweet ingredients in this cocktail, and we did experiment both with Domaine de Canton to add sweetness and ginger notes and muddled pears. But muddled pears get gritty and the Canton did not play as well with the pears as we expected. In the end, we like the aroma and dry notes from both the pear liqueur and apple brandy and decided to highlight them. And the name? La Rochelle-Normand is an area in Normandy known for growing apples and pears. So while making this cocktail was challenging, finding the name was easy.

    The Rochelle-Normande:

    Ingredients:

    • 3/4 oz. applejack or Calvados
    • 3/4 oz. pear liqueur (Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear)
    • 1/3 oz. fresh lemon juice
    • 3 dashes Bitterman’s Elemakule Tiki Bitters (or Angostura bitters)
    • 4 oz. Champagne or sparkling wine
    • Pear wedge, for garnish (optional, but nice)
    • Lemon twist, for garnish

    Assemble:

    1. Combine the applejack, pear liqueur, lemon juice and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly and strain into a chilled flute. Top with the Champagne and then add the pear wedge and lemon twist. Serve.
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