Caramel Cake.

So here is the good news, this is one tasty cake. The caramel frosting has a crystallized, almost maple candy-like outer shell and a creamy, caramel-flavored interior. The yellow cake is moist and delicious. The combination is a perfect bite. You don’t even want ice cream with this cake. Just enjoy it as it is.

So here is the bad news. This is a hard cake to make and not one that welcomes any messin’ around with the recipe. Caramel frosting is tricky stuff and you need to make a sturdy cake to handle such a heavy frosting. But if you follow the formula you get a delightful dish. And it is worth the effort.

And we do use the word “formula” here. As we (and others) often like to note, baking is a form of chemistry. And in many cases you simply can’t play with the basic formula and get good results. To be fair, baking is hardly as exact a science as “real” chemistry. Humidity, inconsistent ingredients, finicky ovens and variations in cookware make baking a very inexact science, even in the best conditions. But we suggest that if you make this cake you stick with the recipe (at least the first time you bake it).

We adapted the recipe (barely) from a Cook’s Country recipe. Cook’s Country is Cook’s Illustrated’s less  ridiculous? obnoxious?  “overbearing” cousin, and tends to feature recipes that you can make and actually work. This is one of those recipes. They do add some technique and tuning to a traditional recipe, but in real terms the big addition is using all-purpose flour in the cake and not softer cake flour. Using AP flour makes for a firmer, but still moist, cake that can handle the thick, heavy frosting.

Otherwise, the other key technique is to beat extra butter into the frosting just before you apply it to the cake. Butter does make everything better, and if it makes the frosting easier to work with, then we are all for it. The bigger challenge will be keeping your fingers out of the frosting. It tastes so good, you can lose quite a bit as it makes its way to the cake. But we do encourage a little patience. When you combine the frosting with the cake, it is even better.

So if you have the time this Memorial Day weekend, this is a cake worth making. Is it a bit of extra fuss? Well….yes. It it worth it? Without a doubt.

Caramel Cake:

(Adapted from Cook’s Country)

Notes Before You Start:

• No extra notes. Just follow the recipe and take your time.

What You Get: A crowd-pleasing, sweet and flavorful cake with awesome caramel frosting. Yum.

What You Need: A stand mixer (or electric mixer) and 2, 9-inch cake pans.

How Long? 3 hours, with about an hour, maybe a little more, of active time. Details matter here, so taking your time is advised.

Ingredients:

(Makes 1, 2-layer cake)

Cake:

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces and softened

Frosting:

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened
• 2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Assemble:

1. For the cake, place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2, 9-inch cake pans and then line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl or measuring cup.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then, with you mixer on slow speed, beat in the butter one piece at a time until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Pour in half of the liquid mixture an and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, about a minute. Then slowly add the rest of the liquid to the bowl and beat until incorporated, about 15-20 seconds.
4. Scrape the batter into the pans, smooth the tops and lightly tap to release any air bubbles. Place the cakes into the oven and cook until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutres. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and turn out the cakes onto a wire rack. Let the cakes cool completely, at least 2 hours, before frosting.
5. For the frosting, heat 8 tablespoons of the butter, brown sugar and salt together in a large saucepan over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan, 4-8 minutes. Whisk in the cream and cook until the bubbles reappear, 1-2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
6. Transfer the hot frosting mixture to the bowl of your mixer. Then, at low speed, slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is pale brown and just warm, 4-5 minutes. Then add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, one piece at a time, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
7. Line the edges of a cake stand (if you have one, otherwise use a plate) with strips of parchment. Place one of the cake layers on the stand. Spread 3/4 cup of the frosting on top of the cake and spread to the edges. Place the second cake on top and press lightly. Then frost the sides and top of the cake. Remove the parchment paper from under the cake. Slice and serve.

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Pulled pork sandwich with the works.

UPDATE: This is a reblog from last year. But Memorial Day is coming and this is still our favorite BBQ recipe. Enjoy!

We’re posting a number of summer food and cocktail recipes for Memorial Day weekend, so let’s get going. We will start with our favorite “summer” dish, pulled pork. Also simply known as pork barbecue, pulled pork is one of the most tender, succulent and flavorful meat dishes you can find. Nothing feeds, and pleases a crowd, like a brined, rubbed and slowly smoked pork shoulder. And it is pretty easy to make. You just need one ingredient: time. Lots of time (some planning and patience help too). But it is worth making this dish, particularly for a holiday weekend.

Pulled pork sandwich.

In case you are unfamiliar with pulled pork, it is a pork shoulder (also known as Boston butt) that’s smoked at a low temperature for a long span of time. Usually, though not always, the pork is also brined and a spice rub is added for extra flavor. The long, low-temperature cooking breaks down the fat and connective tissue in the shoulder into gelatin that bathes the meat and provides the tender “finger-licking” flavor of great barbecue. Pulled pork is cooked everywhere in the US, but its spiritual home is the southeast. Texas has beef brisket, the Mississippi river region has ribs, but the Carolinas have pulled pork. We like the Carolinas.

As for making the pulled pork, it can be a 1-day or 2-3 day operation, it simply depends on the time you have. The most basic approach is to get a pork shoulder and rub it with salt and pepper. Then smoke it with hickory or applewood at about 210 degrees for at least 8 hours or until the internal temperature of the pork is at least 190 degrees (shortcut included below). Let the meat rest for an hour and then “pull” or chop it. The meat will shred easily. And this will be good, real good. But it can be so much better.

Pork shoulder ready to brine.

To take pulled pork to the next level requires a few extra steps and a few extra days. The frist step is to brine the pork shoulder. Pork isn’t as fatty as it used to be, so added moisture is a good thing while cooking, as is extra flavor from the brine. The brine is just a combination of salt, sugar and water (plus seasonings if you like). Pork will benefit from as little as 6 hours of brining, but up to 48 hours will help without making the pork too salty. 12-24 hours is about right. And making the brine is as easy as boiling water with sugar and salt and letting it cool. Once the brine is cool, you place the pork in the brine and keep it in the fridge.

“Rubbed” pork shoulder, note the liberal application of dry rub.

The next step is to add a dry rub to your pork shoulder. Spice rubs add flavor to the meat and develop an attractive and tasty, “bark” on the outside of the meat while cooking. And if you let the rub sit on the least overnight, the flavor will penetrate deep into the pork and add a new dimension of flavor

There are literally thousands of pork rub variations, and you can make most of them at home. While purists my scoff, you can also buy pork barbecue rubs at the grocery store. We make our own, but also use store-bought with success. We include a recipe based on a combination of a Alton Brown’s and Steve Raichlen’s (good BBQ writer, btw) rubs with a few tweaks of our own. But, in general, if you like a flavor like thyme or cumin, add a little more.

Pork shoulder in the smoker. Grab a beer this will take a while…

So once you brine and rub the pork, you are ready to smoke. If you have a dedicated smoker, that is great (we use a Big Green Egg- very good tool). If not, most grills have instructions for smoking, please follow them. Weber kettle grills are easily adapted to smoking and do a great job. Gas grills also work. The key is to cook low and slow and get good smoke. We use a mix of 50/50 applewood and hickory and soak the woodchips or chunks for at least 30 minutes. Soaking the wood is critical, you want the wood to smoke, not burn. The other critical element is temperature control. You want to keep an even temperature at about 210 degrees. It usually takes some time to control the airflow on your smoker to reach, and maintain, the right temperature, but it’s worth it. The goal is to slowly build the internal temperature of the pork to at least 190 degrees- this is what gets you the “finger-licking” texture of great barbecue. Normally this will take 8-10 hours, but there are other ways that save you a little time.

Optional shortcut- finish in the oven. Just get to at least 190 degress internal temperature.

Again, traditionalists my be horrified, but it is generally accepted science that the pork will absorb most of the smoke flavor in the first 3-4 hours of smoking. So after 3 hours of smoking you could move the pork shoulder into a lidded Dutch oven or covered roasting pan and cook in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours, or until you reach 190 degrees internal temperature. If we have time we will smoke the full 10 hours, but we use the oven method quite often. And if you are entertaining, the “finish in the oven” method is much more convenient and lets you control the timing.

“Pulling” the pork just before service.

There is one last step that cannot be ignored, regardless of how you cook the pork. After reaching the desired temperature the pork needs to be covered, or wrapped in foil, and rested for at least an hour. The pork will keep cooking but the juices will set in the meat for a better, juicier texture. After the hour is up, just “pull” the pork apart with 2 forks or lightly chop with big knife. The pork will fall apart easily.

Tasty, easy sauce. Lots of acid, sweet, sour and hot flavors to cut through the rich pork.

To serve the pork we place a big pile of the meat on an everyday hamburger bun, add some sauce, pile on some cole slaw and finish with a few bread and butter pickles. As for the sauce, we use an adapted North Carolina-style vinegar sauce that is very piquant, but is a bit sweeter and not as bracing. But we suggest you use a style of barbecue sauce you like. And, if you are so inclined, an ice-cold beer is a nice compliment to the pork. In the end, you can serve the pork almost any way you like, you and your guests will be very happy. There is no other dish that says “summer is here, and the living is easy” like pulled pork.

And a nice cold beer, too….

Pulled Pork:

Notes Before You Start:

• You can use bone-in or bone-out pork shoulder. Bone-in may be a bit juicer, but you can get rub into the center of the bone-out shoulder for more flavor.
• If you order the pork shoulder from your butcher, tell them not to take off too much fat. It will mostly render during cooking, but helps keeps the meat moist.
• If you see a red ring near the outside of the meat, this is OK. In fact, it means you did a good job smoking the meat. The red color is a chemical reaction to the smoke.

What You Get: An American classic and one of the best pork dishes in the world. Period.

What You Need: A smoker or grill that adapts to smoking.

How Long: At least 1 day and if brining and rubbing the pork, at least 3 days. Pulled pork is a “special occasion” dish that requires planning. We posted on Monday so you can get ready for the weekend..

Ingredients:

(serves 8-12)

• 1 pork shoulder, 6-8 pounds
• 16 hamburger buns
• 1 quart cole slaw (optional)
• Bread and butter pickles (optional)

Brine:

• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Dry Rub:

• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dry thyme
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt

Sauce:

• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar (or molasses)
• 1 teaspoon salt (add more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (add more to taste)

Assemble:

1. For the brine, combine the water, salt and sugar in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for a few minutes until the salt and sugar dissolve. Allow the brine to cool a few hours on the stove top then chill in a large container (one that will fit the pork and brine) in the fridge. Once chilled, add the pork to the brine and place in the fridge from 6-48 hours.
2. For the dry rub, combine all the ingredients and store in an airtight container. When ready to use, generously “rub” the dry rub onto the pork, covering all available surfaces. Allow the pork to “marinate” in the rub for up to 48 hours, or smoke immediately.
3. For the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until combined. Taste and adjust salt and hot sauce, if you like. Store in the fridge (the sauce will be ok for about a week).
4. To cook the pork, prepare your smoker to smoke at 210 degrees. Soak your wood chips or chunks. Add a drip pan, if necessary. Place the pork shoulder on the smoker grate or in a shallow foil pan. Add wood chips and smoke for 8-12 hours or until the pork reaches 190 degrees internal temperature. (Or smoke for 3 hours and move the pork to a lidded vessel and finish in a 300 degree oven until the pork reaches 190 degrees internal temperature, about 3-4 hours).
5. Once the pork reaches 190 degrees, remove from the heat, but keep it covered and allow it to rest for at least 1 hour. After 1 hour, “pull” the pork apart with 2 forks or chop with a large knife. Serve on hamburger buns with sauce, cole slaw and pickles, if you like.

The Strawberry Witch cocktail.

Wow, time flies. It’s Mixology Monday again. It seems like we just made our CSA Gin cocktail for the last MxMo and here we are. Happily, we have another theme that is close to this wannabe farmer’s heart, “the witch’s garden”. Here are the details from this month’s host Cardiff Cocktails (an excellent site, worth a visit):

As far back as we can look, the use of fresh herbs have been prevalent in the world of mixed drinks. From the early days of the julep, through Williams Terrington’s 19th century Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, to Don the Beachcomber’s ahead of their time Tiki drinks, fresh herbs have always been at the forefront of mixology. So lets take influence from the bartenders that once ruled the world of mixology, raid your herb garden that too often gets neglected, and start mixing. I don’t want to put too many limits on this theme so get as creative as you please, want to use roots, spices or beans as well? Sure thing. Want to make your own herbal infusions or tinctures? Sounds wonderful.

Well, we certainly have herbs here at the farm. Mint, thyme, basil, tarragon, oregano, sage, marjoram, lemon verbena, parsley and rosemary are all in full swing. But we also have strawberries that need to be used and we wanted to play with Strawberries and thyme for a while. So we chose these as the basis for the cocktail. We also took the name of the challenge to heart and immediately looked at our bottle of Strega (“Strega” means witch in Italian) as a potential ingredient.

If you are unfamiliar with Strega, it is an herbal Italian digestif that features a rich yellow color (from saffron) and sweet herbal flavors. Strega, is usually enjoyed by itself, but we have been trying to get it into our cocktails. To our tastes, Strega has mint, juniper and citrus notes, so gin seemed like a good match (and one more herbal ingredient). But we were a bit concerned about too many herbal notes, so we added some lemon juice and a splash of sparking wine to brighten, and lighten, the overall flavor of the cocktail.

So how does the Strawberry Witch taste? In a word, herbal. But in a good way. Strawberries and thyme play very well together, the Strega sweetens without being cloying and the gin, lemon and champagne add the expected bright notes. The sip is tart, with mint and thyme flavors followed by some of the lemon and sweet notes of the Strega. The strawberries do more for color and aroma than flavor, but we are OK with that.The finish is very clean, almost dry.

(One last note here. Thyme can be strong stuff. At first we muddled it along with the strawberries and some lemon peel. This was a bad idea- the thyme got harsh and bitter. The next time around we muddled the strawberries and lemon first, then added the thyme and gave it just a few nudges. This worked way better, plenty of thyme flavor but not too much. Fresh herbs vary widely in strength and flavor, but be warned, you may want to do a quick test run before you muddle your herbs.)

Thanks again to Cardiff Cocktails and Fred Yarm at Cocktail Virgin Slut for another great MxMo!

The Strawberry Witch:

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium strawberries
• Lemon peel
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, plus some extra for garnish
• 1 1/2 oz dry gin
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. Strega
• 1-2 oz. sparkling wine or Champagne

Assemble:

1. Place the strawberries and lemon peel in the cocktail shaker. Muddle until the strawberries are a smooth purée. Then add the thyme springs and lightly muddle a few times.
2. Add the gin, lemon juice and Stega to the cocktail shaker. Add some ice and then shake until well-chilled. Double-strain the mixture into a coupé or flute. Top with the sparkling wine and garnish with a thyme sprig. Serve.

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Spinach With Walnuts And Miso

It may not sound like it, but to us, this dish is essentially “Japanese creamed spinach”. Just lighter, and probably healthier. What you get is sweet, earthy spinach with rich umami flavors and a creamy texture. This was not what we expected when we made the recipe, but we will take it. This dish is a very pleasant surprise. As Carolyn said “I could eat this every day”.

And I am certainly happy about that, since the recipe came from Nancy Singleton Hachisu’s excellent cookbook “Japanese Farm Food“. The cookbook was a Mother’s Day present for Carolyn and she chose the recipe. It is always good when the first recipe you try is a winner (particularly if the cookbook is a gift). And we can’t wait to try more of the recipes, a bunch of them look amazing.

The story behind the cookbook is also very cool. Nancy Singleton Hachisu is an American expat (from Norcal) living in northern Japan with her Japanese husband and children. They run an English language school and grow, cook and preserve their own food. Her cooking is pure, clean, simple and beautiful. This is what she serves her family. Good enough for us.

This recipe is also a good example of the keys to Japanese home cooking (at least, in our opinion, we do not claim to be experts). A few well-chosen ingredients matched with proper technique give you a dish that is way more than the sum of its parts. In this case you need to quickly blanch, chill and then completely drain the spinach. Squeeze out the moisture more than once. The other trick is to take your time making the dressing and then tossing/folding it into the spinach. But the attention to detail is worth it, this dish is a treat.

Spinach With Walnuts And Miso (Horenso No Kurumi-Ae):

(Adapted from Nancy Singleton Hachisu)

Notes Before You Start:

• How you cool your spinach may depend on your kitchen layout. Just be sure to cool it quickly and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
• Using a mortar is the more traditional approach and is easier to control (but also takes more work). If using a food processor, chop in quick pulses.

What You Get: Flavorful, yet surprisingly light spinach. Think “Japanese creamed spinach”.

What You Need: A mortar or food processor. No other special equipment required.

How Long? About 30 minutes. This dish is easy, but cooking, chilling and squeezing the moisture from the spinach takes some time. Your efforts will be rewarded.

Ingredients:

• 3 small or 2 medium bunches of spinach, about 1 1/2 pounds, washed
• 5 heaping tablespoons walnuts (whole or chopped)
• 2 tablespoons miso paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Assemble:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and water. Have a large strainer / colander ready.
2. Working in batches, cook a few handfuls of spinach in the boiling water for 1 minute then remove from the water and plunge into the ice water bath. Move the spinach to the strainer and run under cold tap water until fully cooled. Then squeeze out as much water as you can and place the spinach on a large plate or baking sheet. Repeat with all the spinach. Then squeeze the spinach again until it’s as dry as you can get it.
3. Using a food processor or mortar, grind 2 tablespoons of the walnuts until finely chopped. Set aside. Then take the 3 remaining tablespoons of walnuts and process/grind until you get a rough paste. Then add the miso and vinegar and mix until you have a thick dressing.
4. Squeeze any extra moisture from the spinach (one more time). Shred the spinach into a salad bowl then fold in the dressing. Mix well until the spinach is evenly coated. Garnish with the finely chopped walnuts. Serve.

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Meanwhile, the lavender is just starting to pop. That means bees, bees and more bees. The bees, honeybees and native bees, simply love the lavender. They will work the lavender all summer and the flowers will move and buzz all day when the sun is out. It never, never gets old- for us, or the bees.

And we have loquats. Lots of loquats. We need to do something with them (marmalade?) this year. We know they are getting ripe, as the woodpeckers and squirrels come calling for the fruit. The woodpeckers are cool, the squirrels, not so much. The woodpeckers just take ripe fruit, we can live with that. The squirrels take a bite and drop the unripe fruit. Varmint.

Otherwise, the garden and orchard are always in (slow) motion. Plenty of blueberries and strawberries. Raspberries will be ready tomorrow. The figs are ripening. Apples, pears, peaches and nectarines are all growing, and probably need thinning. The nasturtiums and squash are in bloom and there are tiny yellow flowers on the tomatoes. The eggplant even recovered from a serious beating (eating?) by the snails. And the roses are still roses. Have a few…

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Maple Moon Scones.

Mother’s Day has come and gone, but Carolyn is such a cool Mom that she made these scones for us, her folks and friends for Sunday morning (don’t worry, Carolyn got a nice Mother’s Day dinner). She is indeed the perfect woman. And these scones are worthy of a special occasion. Big (huge, really), moist and with plenty of maple flavor, these are some serious scones. They do look like the moon, too. Cool.

The recipe comes from Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa), although Carolyn adapted a number of ingredients, including some oat flour, date sugar and maple essence for deeper flavor. But the standard Ina Garten formula of scads lots of butter and buttermilk stays the same. Ina never met a buttery scone or shortbread she didn’t like. But if you are baking from scratch, the recipe may as well work. And butter does make everything better. Add some real maple syrup and it is hard to go wrong.

And it truly is hard to go wrong here. This recipe is “scone 101″, plus some extra glaze. Mix dry ingredients, add in cold butter, mix the wet ingredients and add to the dry, roll, cut and bake. The glaze is super-easy as well, if you can stir, you will have glaze. So if your waistline can take it (or if you have hungry kids), you can make these scones whenever you like.

Even better, you can cut the scones from the raw dough and refrigerate them for a few days without any loss of quality. So if you want scones during the week, make the dough and then bake the scones as needed. But you may as well cook the full batch, your crew will certainly eat them, and your friends will be happy if you share.

Finally, love and thanks to Carolyn from the boys and I. We are truly blessed to have her, and we are eternally grateful.

Maple Moon Scones:

(Adapted from Ina Garten)

Notes Before You Start:

It is best to dice the butter first, and then put it back into the fridge until ready to use.

Also a good idea to measure and mix the wet ingredients first, and also store in the fridge until use. It keep everything colder, longer.

This is a sticky dough- use lots of flour on your surface and on your hands.

What You Get: Big, awesome scones with serious maple flavor.

What You Need: A stand mixer really helps here. No other special equipment required.

How Long? About an hour.

Ingredients:

Scones:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup oat flour (or sub more all-purpose flour)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick cooking oats, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons date sugar (or white sugar)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound cold unsalted butter, diced (keep in fridge until using)
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon maple essence (optional)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Glaze:

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup real maple sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assemble:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Fit your stand mixer with a paddle attachment. In the mixing bowl combine the flours, oats, baking powder sugar and salt. Blend in the butter at your mixer’s slowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.
2. Combine the buttermilk, maple syrup and eggs and then add quickly to the dry ingredients. Mix until just barely blended. You will have a sticky dough with lumps of butter (that is OK).
3. Flour a large working surface and then turn out the dough. Flour your hands and a rolling-pin and roll out the dough to between 3/4 and 1 inch thick. Cut into 3 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash and then place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are crisp and the insides are done (test with a cake tester or toothpick, if you like). Let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, to make the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and vanilla in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth. Drizzle the glaze on the scones. Garnish with uncooked oats, if you like. Serve.

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The Queen’s Park Swizzle

Happy Friday everyone! We like Fridays here at the farm, and the best thing about them is they happen every week….So now that the weekend is here and the forecast is for sunny skies and 80 degrees, what to drink? When the sun is out we tend to look towards gin, rum and long drinks.  G n T or a Collins? Great, but we have been there (and will continue to do that). Tiki? Awesome, but often complicated. Punch? Always good, but then we have to throw a party (a good excuse, btw). But how about a Swizzle?  Now that is something worth exploring…

What’s a swizzle? Basically it is a rum-based cocktail (almost always, although Chartreuse swizzles are very tasty) served with crushed ice that is then vigorously stirred or “swizzled” using a spoon or “swizzle stick”. When you swizzle the cocktail a nice layer of frost forms on the outside, and the drink itself gets very, very cold. Popular in the Caribbean, swizzles are meant for long, lazy sipping on hot days.

There are all sorts of swizzle recipes out there, but this one, The Queen’s Park Swizzle, is one of our favorites. A combination of mint, Demerara rum (we add some aged Jamaican rum), lime juice, sugar syrup and bitters, the Queen’s Park Swizzle is a simple, smooth and flavorful drink. It is also very strong, with almost double the normal amount of booze, but these drinks are meant to be nursed over time. As it is, we usually have only one (and if we had two we probably wouldn’t remember anyway).

The one surprise about the Queen’s Park Swizzle is the flavor. You might expect a big bold drink, but instead you get soft, mellow flavors. You get a big whiff of mint from the garnish, followed by a sweet, rich rum sip with just a touch of the lime, mint and bitters. This is really a rum drink, with the other players in supporting roles. Demerara rum (we use El Dorado 3yr old here), with its smoky flavors is the traditional choice for this cocktail, but we add the aged Jamaican for a little more funk and vanilla notes.

As for the history of this cocktail, the recipe supposedly comes from the (now closed) Queen’s Park hotel in Trinidad. Some say this was one of the first swizzles, but like most things in cocktail history, the facts are a bit fuzzy. Pretty much everyone in the hemisphere had rum, sugar, limes and bitters. Most people had readily available ice by 1900, and they all know how to stir. So maybe this was the first swizzle, maybe it wasn’t. We just know the Queen’s Park Swizzle is our first choice when we swizzle….now we just need to swizzle more often…;-)

The Queen’s Park Swizzle:

Ingredients:

• 8-10 mint leaves (plus more for garnish)
• 2 oz. Demerara rum (or use 3 oz. and omit the Jamaican rum)
• 1 oz. aged Jamaican rum (optional)
• 1/2 oz. rich simple syrup (2 to 1 sugar to water)
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Lime wheel, for garnish

Assemble:

1. Place the mint leaves in a highball or Collins glass. Lightly muddle the mint and rub it along the inside of the glass.
2. Add the liquid ingredients to the glass and then fill it with crushed ice. Then, using a spoon or swizzle stick, stir the drink until it is very cold and a light frost forms on the outside of the glass. Top off with more crushed ice to fill the glass, if needed.
3. Garnish with a big sprig of mint and a lime wheel. Serve.

Related articles

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• Sweet Clementine #Cocktail (chefpickykid.com)
• Weekly Cocktail #50: The Brooklyn Cocktail (putneyfarm.com)
• Pichuberry Mint Cocktail (cali-zona.com)
• Rum, fruit and spice – The Ancient Mariner (cold-glass.com)

Blueberries. They were good.

“Harvest” is a relative term around here. We have herbs and potatoes most of the year, and citrus over the winter (and spring). But each year’s harvest really starts when we get blueberries and strawberries. To us, these are the signals of a new year in the garden.

And so it begins again. Use whatever cheesy metaphor you want about springtime, it still rings true. Life continues, life starts again. It is a worth an extra moment to take a step back and enjoy the miracle of life, and tending a garden (preferably with the ones you love) is a very good place to do it.

And the work also starts again. We will cop to getting some help this year with netting and (organically) spraying the orchard. The trees are too big to do it ourselves, and the varmints will take everything if we don’t have the nets. But we are back to thinning, planting, spreading compost, acidifying soil and generally schlepping around the garden. But a few early blueberries and strawberries are a very welcome reward. A big heat snap got the berries going and (along with the artichokes, herbs and roses) they are off and running, with no end in sight.

We also have hints of what’s to come. The Van cherries are a week or two out, the Bings probably a few weeks later. Golden raspberries will get sweet with the next stretch of warm weather. Peaches, nectarines, apples, pears and figs are all maturing on the tree, but have months to go. The lavender is sending up canes, and when they flower the bees will be here from dawn to dusk. And we have our first tomato blossoms. Nice. Slugs ate our young eggplant. Not so nice.

Tomatoes are coming…just not soon enough.

The next step is planting the lettuces, radishes, carrots, cukes and squash. The lettuces and radishes are so fast we hold off until we are ready to spend a lot of time in the garden. Well, we are ready. Spring is in full swing. Summer is on the way. Tomatoes and peaches are just around the corner….

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• Garden Harvest (curiosakat.com)
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Smoky Cauliflower Frittata.

We almost never do this, but we are enjoying Yotam Ottolenghi’s (YO) cookbook “Plenty” so much that we are posting another recipe. This wasn’t exactly by plan, but we like this recipe a lot and have the photos, so why not? And the other new cookbook we are working from that will go nameless Nigella, isn’t working out quite as well- at least, not yet. But if this keeps up, YO may end up in Alice Waters’ territory as far as being a “go-to” source for vegetable recipes. In our part of the world that is lofty company (although we gather that this wouldn’t be a surprise in the UK).

Oddly enough, this frittata is more about the eggs and cheese than the cauliflower, but it is easy to make and tastes good (and the vegetables give at least the appearance of a healthy dish). That makes us happy. And using scamorza (smoked mozzarella) makes us even happier. This cheese melts evenly and has smoky, but clean, flavor that works incredibly well with the sweet, caramelized cauliflower. And YO then adds some smoked paprika and aged cheddar to accent the scamorza even more. If you haven’t tried smoked mozzarella, this recipe is worth a try. We bet you will want to use it in other recipes.

The other key to this dish is that YO uses crème fraîche, Dijon mustard and chives in the egg mixture (we added a little tarragon, as well). This adds sharp, herbal and tangy notes that cut the richness of the overall dish (even as the crème fraîche adds a good dose of fat). It’s these little things that make a big difference in the final dish. Without a little tang, this recipe might be all smoky cheese and eggs, good on the first bite, but probably overwhelming as a main dish. But those brighter notes make for a dish that is good from beginning to end. And if you serve this frittata with a nice green salad with a basic vinaigrette, the balance is even better.

Another good thing about this dish is that it is quick and easy. It will take about 30 minutes total, without a bunch of work. The only extra step is to boil the cauliflower a few minutes before you caramelize it. But this does soften the cauliflower and give you an even texture, so we think the work is worth it. And since the rest is so easy, you barely notice the extra work. Otherwise, this is frittata 101. Start it on the stove top, finish in the oven, let it cool just a bit and serve. A good payoff for the time spent. Happy Monday.

Smoky Cauliflower Frittata:

(Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Plenty“)

Notes Before You Start:

What You Get: An easy dinner with extra flavor. A perfect weeknight dish.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? About 30 minutes, and an easy 30 minutes, at that. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6 as a main dish)

• 1 medium cauliflower cut into small florets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons crème fraîche
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons sweet, smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon (optional)
• 5 oz. scamorza or smoked mozzarella, including the smoky rind, grated
• 2 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Assemble:

1. Place the cauliflower in a medium pot and just cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until slightly soft, 3-4 minutes. Drain the cauliflower.
2. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Break the eggs into a large bowl and add the crème fraîche, mustard and paprika. Whisk until well combined. Fold in the chives and 3/4 of the grated cheeses.
3. Place a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and then add the cauliflower. Cook the cauliflower, stirring occasionally, until it caramelizes and gets golden brown. Pour the egg mixture over the cauliflower and spread it around the skillet. Cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes.
4. Spread the remaining cheese over the frittata and then place it in the oven. Cook four 10-12 minutes, or until the inside sets.
5. Remove the frittata from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Slice and serve.

Pouring a Brooklyn cocktail.

One of the many things we enjoy about the blog is that we get to “follow the muse”. Yes there are seasons, events and themes to guide us, but in the end we get to do what makes us happy. That’s the point, plus we usually get a few tasty dishes and drinks out of the deal and have excuses to invite friends over. (Have we found the secret to happiness? Maybe.)

So while we could be blogging on Mint Juleps for the Kentucky Derby (we like them, but not all that much), and we owe our friend Viveka a cocktail for winning our quiz (working on it Wivi!), we somehow found ourselves mixing a Brooklyn cocktail. And the Brooklyn cocktail is worth a try, particularly if you are a whiskey fan. And even if you aren’t, this smooth sip may surprise you.

The Brooklyn combines rye whiskey, dry vermouth, a dash of maraschino liqueur and a dash of Amer Picon. No one seems to have Amer Picon (a French digestif) these days, so most sources suggest amaro like Ramazotti, CioCiaro, Nonino or Montenegro. The recipe is flexible and all of these will work, we went with the Ramazotti, but also liked it with Nonino (we like a lot of stuff with Nonino). You can even just go with a mix of orange and Angostura bitters in a pinch.

If you notice a pattern with many of our cocktail posts, we tend to like to match rye whiskey with dry, rather than sweet, vermouth. Rye is dryer and spicier than bourbon, and we think you often lose those notes with some sweet vermouths (not always, but sometimes). If we want to enjoy the flavor of the rye, the herbal notes of a good dry vermouth seem like a natural fit. And we do like the combination in drinks like the Scofflaw (and our variant, the Tax Evasion ), so it isn’t that much of a surprise that the “muse” guided us towards the Brooklyn. (Or maybe it was Google….)

So what do you get with the Brooklyn? Firstly, you get a beautiful looking drink with deep golden hues. Lovely. As for the flavor, you get a smooth and slightly sweet sip, but with the spice of the rye, herbal vemouth and the bitter notes of the amaro keeping the flavor from becoming cloying. The maraschino adds some sweet, floral and nutty flavors. Basically, the Brooklyn is a dryer, smoother riff on a Manhattan. But since Brooklyn is way cooler than Manhattan these days, we think it makes sense that they have the smoother drink. (And speaking of Brooklyn- Hi Tina, Jonathan, Max and William!)

The Brooklyn Cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. rye whiskey (Rittenhouse 100)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin)
• 1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)
• 1/2 oz. Amer Picon (sub Ramazotti or other amaro)

Assemble:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail glass with ice. Stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupé. Serve.

Related articles

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• Manhattan (andrewho1026.wordpress.com)
• Two Manhattans: Coffee & Cherries (16sparrows.typepad.com)
• Income Tax Cocktail (drinkstraightup.com)
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And many of the recipes in the cookbook are true winners. There are also some recipes that require way, WAY, too much work for what you might get- but for the most part we are big fans. And YO does know his flavors. But, like many restaurant chefs, YO will ask you to do work that simply isn’t worth it, but looks/sounds good at the time. Chefs do that sometimes. Chefs are not home cooks, and they just can’t help themselves.

In this case YO asks you to make a very tasty potato salad with a bright pesto sauce and peas, but then adds halved, soft-boiled quail eggs. We like quail eggs, and used them in the recipe, but you can’t tell us that quartered hard-boiled chicken eggs wouldn’t work just as well (maybe better). And after you try to peel a dozen quail eggs, you might agree. But maybe that is what makes the recipe “royal”….whatever. (Actually it is named after Jersey Royal potatoes…but why let the facts get in the way of some good snark?)

As for the rest of the recipe, this is the good stuff. Boiled waxy potatoes with a herbaceous, not too garlicky pesto, peas and soft-boiled eggs is a lovely dish. We did adapt the recipe for more herbs, particularly parsley, in the pesto. But this is where you can play around to fit your tastes. But what you get is a mix of bright, earthy, sweet, herbal and umami flavors along with soft and slightly crunchy textures. If this sounds like a restaurant-quality dish, that’s because it is. We have come to accept that YO is truly a “vegetable whisperer”.

Royal Potato Salad:

(Adapted from “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi)

Notes Before You Start:

You need “waxy” new potato varieties, or Yukon Golds in a pinch. Russets will not work here, as they will fall apart.

You can play with the proportions of parsley and basil in this recipe. If your basil is fresh and flavorful, lead with it. Otherwise go with more parsley, it makes for very good pesto.

Ingredients:

(serves 4-6)

• 10 quail eggs or 4 chicken eggs
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 pounds new or “waxy” potatoes
• 3/4 cup basil leaves
• 3/4 cup Italian parsley (plus more for garnish)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup, about 2 oz. grated parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, lightly crushed
• 1 cup olive oil
• Dash of vinegar
• 1 bunch (handful) mint leaves, shredded
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Assemble:

1. Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to a boil. Then simmer for 30 seconds to 2 minutes for quail eggs, or 2-3 minutes for chicken eggs, depending on the doneness you prefer. Remove the eggs and place in cold water. Once chilled, peel the eggs and reserve.
2. Bring a few cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Blanche the peas for 30 seconds then drain and chill under cold water. Set aside.
3. In a separate pot of boiling water, cook the potatoes for 15-20 minutes until done in the center but still holding their shape.
4. Meanwhile, place the basil, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan cheese in a food processor. Pulse until you get a paste. Then add the oil and pulse the food processor until you get a smooth pesto. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Pour the pesto into a large bowl.
5. Drain the potatoes and cut them in half as soon as you can handle them (the salad is best made when the potatoes are still warm). Add the potatoes, peas, vinegar and mint to the bowl with the pesto and gently fold until combined.  Taste and adjust seasoning. (YO suggests a lot of black pepper and we agree).
6. Cut the eggs in half or quarters and then gently fold into the salad. Garnish with a little parsley and/or mint. Serve.

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Meyer Lemon Sorbet.

Life was “in the way” last week, so it has been a long gap between posts. We get a little twitchy if we don’t get to cook, so it is nice to be back. Happily, we still have Meyer lemons on the tree. But time is running short on our favorite citrus, so we made lemon sorbet to get ourselves back on the “blogging track”. After all, if life gives you lemons, make lemon sorbet (umm….or something like that….maybe Lemondrops….whatever).

And there are few desserts that give you this much flavor for so little effort. Lemons, water, sugar (maybe a touch of booze- we will explain). Heat, then cold. That is really it. You do need an ice cream maker (although granita is another option), but ice cream makers are cheap, most work well, and you get a good return on your investment. We think smiles make for good ROI. And with summer coming, sorbet will please just about anyone.

But, like all good things, there are a few tips and techniques that will make your sorbet kick serious a$$ the best it can be. Sorbet is basically frozen fruit juice and extra sugar. Pretty simple stuff. But you can control the flavor and texture. For flavor, first pick good fruit. Second, if using citrus add some zest into the mixture. There is a lot of flavor in the zest, so it you want more depth, this is the way to get it. You can put the zest into the final sorbet mixture, and that is OK, but it is best to incorporate the zest into the sugar syrup to extract the most flavor. (If you are hardcore you can make an oleo- saccharum syrup- see here.) Once you get the flavor of the zest you can keep it or strain it, your call. We strain. And we add a touch of Limoncello to the sorbet, this does add flavor, but it is really about texture.

And texture is where the action is. Good fruit gives your sorbet good flavor. But technique gives your sorbet that magically soft, yet still “icy”, texture. Happily, the techniques are easy. To start, just be sure that your mixture is well-chilled when you put it into the ice cream maker / churn. The colder the mixture, the smaller the ice crystals. The smaller the ice crystals, the smoother the sorbet. You can chill the mixture in the fridge or, if you are in a hurry, use an ice bath. But you need the mixture to be under 45 degrees. The other tip is to add a touch of booze. Alcohol inhibits freezing and ice crystal formation- so a few tablespoons of spirits (maybe of Limoncello, vodka or Sauternes if you have it), will smooth out your sorbet. You can omit this step, but it is a negligible amount of alcohol, and the results will be worth it.

If you follow these steps, you will have some very tasty sorbet. It doesn’t need anything extra. But in case you want to take things to the next level, you may want to drizzle on some sour cherry syrup. Sour cherry lemonade sorbet? Oh yes. And if you really want to impress, put a scoop of the sorbet in a cocktail class and then fill the glass halfway with champagne. Oh my….

Add some sour cherry syrup…you won’t be sorry…

Meyer Lemon Sorbet:

Notes Before You Start:

• You can use any fresh lemon juice with this recipe, we might just add a bit more sugar if using something other than Meyers.
• When using lemon zest try to include as little of the bitter white pith as possible. It is worth a little extra effort.

What You Get: Lemon sorbet with very smooth texture. A treat for summer. (It is closer than you think!)

What You Need: An ice cream maker / churn. No other special equipment required.

How Long? 2-6 hours total, but with only a few minutes of active time. Anytime dish…or at least you can start at any time.

Ingredients:

(Makes about 1 1/2 pints)

• 6-8 large Meyer lemons (you will need at least 1 cup of juice)
• Zest from 2 of the Meyer lemons
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup very cold water
• 2 tablespoons Limoncello or other spirit

Assemble:

1. Combine 1 cup water, sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Chill the mixture in a water bath or in the fridge for a few hours. Strain the zest from the syrup, if you like.
2. Meanwhile, juice the lemons until you get at least 1 cup of juice. Strain to remove seeds, extra pulp and pith. Combine with the 1 cup of cold water and the Limoncello. Stir to combine and then chill with an ice bath or in the fridge.
3. Combine the lemon juice and syrup mixtures and make they chill to under 45 degrees (and lower is fine). Stir the mixture and then pour into your ice cream maker. Follow the instructions from your ice cream maker.
4. Once the sorbet is semi-soft, place it into a chilled, airtight container and into the freezer. Let the sorbet set for at least an hour, 2 will be better. Serve.

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The CSA Cocktail.

Another Mixology Monday is here and (hopefully) we got this in under the wire. This month’s theme is “Drink Your Vegetables” and is hosted by Rowen at the Fogged In Lounge (a very good cocktail blog, worth a visit). And thanks, as always, to Fred Yarm of Cocktail Virgin Slut for keeping this whole shindig going. So here are the details of the theme:

Want to get more vegetables but you’re always eating on the run?… Well then, how about a vegetable cocktail? No, not that nice little glass of red stuff Grandma put at each place setting—we’re talking something with a kick in it. You can definitely start with the little glass of red stuff and expand it to a Red Snapper-style drink like a Bloody Mary. Or how about a cucumber-scented cooler like a Pimm’s Cup, or maybe a cocktail featuring a vegetable-based ingredient like Cardamaro or celery bitters? Maybe you’ve been wondering if you can get more mileage out of that juice extractor before consigning it to the garage sale. However you get them in that glass, be prepared for the most fun with vegetables ever.

So you would think that a “farm” blog would have this one in the bag, right? Not so, my friends, not so. We struggled mightily. It’s a good theme, and certainly we like our veggies, but somehow it took a bunch of time for us to formulate anything remotely original, interesting or blogworthy. And we aren’t big Bloody Mary fans, so no fallback there, either.

So what to do? Two things. Firstly, we chose to use fennel, one of our favorite ingredients (we may change the name of our blog to “Fennel Farms”). Secondly, we decided to use veggies to actually craft the base spirit and the cocktail. In this case we use veggies, fruits and spices to make “gin” and then formulate a cocktail.

And since gin often features the anise and citrus flavors we find in fennel and some gins (Hendrick’s) favor cucumber, we figured we could start with the traditional juniper and build a “gin” with veggies, herbs, citrus and spices. In the end, we used juniper berries, cinnamon (cassia), baby fennel (more citrus notes), fennel fronds, cucumber slices, rosemary, lime peel, lemon peel and Cara Cara orange peel. We muddled like crazy, then added some vodka (a good use for vodka, you could never predict how gin would respond to all these new flavors) and then muddled some more. And then it got interesting.

Right out of the shaker we got the cinnamon, cucumber and a touch of the rosemary. Good, but not like gin. So we let the mixture steep for 6 hours and the citrus and fennel stared to kick in, while the cinnamon faded. Better, but not there yet. 12 hours later we got more of the fennel, citrus and the sweetness of the cucumber. Basically, we ended up with a ligher (albeit cloudier) version of Hendrick’s. We can live with that. We had to live with that, time was running out.

Now that we had our “gin”, we made the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) cocktail. With all the flavors here, we didn’t add much. A little lime, a little agave syrup and a few dashes of Angostura. The CSA cocktail opens with  cucumber and citrus nose followed by a sweet cucumber and agave sip. Then you get the lime and finish with the fennel, rosemary (we got more rosemary than juniper, we think) and cinnamon. Not bad, and it certainly would beg the question; “is this cucumber vodka or Hendrick’s?” And that will have to do. Rowen, you made us work on this one.

The CSA Cocktail:

(Serves 2)

• 6 juniper berries
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 2 or 3 rosemary needles
• Zest / peel of 1/2 lime
• Zest / peel of 1/4 lemon
• Zest / peel of 1/4 orange
• 1/4 cup baby fennel, roughly chopped
• 1 fennel frond
• 4 slices cucumber
• 6 oz. vodka
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. agave syrup
• 4 dashed Angostura bitters
• 2 lemon twists for garnish

Assemble:

1. Add the juniper berries, cinnamon stick and rosemary to a cocktail shaker. Muddle thoroughly. Add the citrus peels, chopped fennel, fennel frond and cucumber. Muddle some more. Then add the vodka. Muddle again.
2. Pour the entire mixture into an airtight container and put in the fridge for at least 6, and preferably 12, hours.
3. Place the entire mixture in a large cocktail shaker with ice. Add the lime juice, agave syrup and bitters. Shake until well chilled and double strain (at least once, maybe twice) into a chilled cocktail glasses, flutes or coupes. Garnish with the lemon twists and serve.

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The Tax Evasion Cocktail.

Monday was tax day. Nobody except the most dedicated masochist likes tax day. Regardless of politics, or whether you think you get your money’s worth or not, the actual act of sending the check isn’t fun. But there is a cocktail for that (there is a cocktail for almost everything). In fact, the Income Tax cocktail is something of a classic, and you see it a lot this time of year. It combines gin, orange juice, sweet and dry vermouth and bitters. The only problem with the Income Tax cocktail is that we don’t love the flavor combo of orange juice and sweet vermouth. It’s not as bad as paying taxes, but the Income Tax cocktail doesn’t ease our pain either.

But being the industrious drinkers farmers that we are, we decided that perhaps we could create our own cocktail to “celebrate” the occasion. Even better, a cocktail that would allow us to fantasize about not paying the “gummumint” at all. Fittingly we chose to riff on the Scofflaw, one of our favorite prohibition era cocktails. The Scofflaw combines rye, dry vermouth, lemon and grenadine, and is an incredibly drinkable cocktail that works both for whiskey fans and those who prefer lighter spirits. A crowd pleaser, and a good template to work from.

The Tax Evasion Cocktail combines rye, dry vermouth, lemon juice, sour cherry syrup (d’arbo is great stuff) and a dash of Peychaud’s bitters. We chose cherries because paying taxes is, you know….the “pits” (ugh, eye roll). Like a Scofflaw, the dry vermouth lightens the rye so you get a light spicy sip with a touch of the lemon and then the sweet / sour of the cherry syrup and just a hint of the spice and anise of the bitters. You don’t have to use the bitters, but it adds a bit of bite and depth that we like. A very enjoyable cocktail, and if you find the overt sweetness of grenadine a bit cloying, the sour cherry syrup is a very good substitute. The Tax Evasion also works well as a cocktail served “up” or as a longer drink served on the rocks (you have to be flexible to dodge the taxman).

As for the key ingredient, if you can find the d’arbo sour cherry syrup, we suggest you get some. It is a very tangy sour cherry syrup that makes a great base for sour cherry limeade or lemonade. So even if you just want a “mocktail”, the sour cherry syrup is worth it (but if you sneak in a little gin, we won’t tell). Normally, we would make our own sour cherry syrup here at the farm, but sour cherries are one of the few fruits that are very hard to get here in Norcal. We did just plant our own sour cherry tree, but we don’t expect fruit for another few years. For now, we will just use the syrup, enjoy the cocktail and try to forget about April 15th.

The Tax Evasion Cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. rye whiskey
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin is good here)
• 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. sour cherry syrup (d’arbo)
• Dash of Peychaud’s bitters
• Lemon twist, for garnish

Assemble:

1. Combine all the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well-chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, flute or coupé. (You can also serve on the rocks, if you like). Garnish with a lemon twist. Serve. 

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• Feeling bitter in the Bronx – the Income Tax Cocktail (cold-glass.com)

A different kind of flower.

Peaches on the way.

Happily, the orchard has gone from blossoms to fruit and we have berries, cherries, figs, peaches, pears, nectarines and apples on the way. And we are still using up our citrus. Life truly is giving us lemons….the good kind. I guess we just need to make some lemonade and mix a few more drinks for friends. Somehow, I think we can handle that.

Blueberries in a week.

And finally, the flowers are really starting to pop. This makes us happy. Always. Everywhere we go there are flowers. The wildflowers line our highways and back roads, the trees are in bloom and our gardens fill up with color. And summer is coming. Things will get even better.

Related articles

• Peach Tree Growing (auntiedogmasgardenspot.wordpress.com)
• More Blossoms….Because We Can. (putneyfarm.com)
• Master Gardener: Which fruit trees need pollinators? (redding.com)
• A Day in the Garden: Made to Order (gardeningnirvana.com)

Seared Ahi with Grapefruit and Fennel.

Many of you know how much we like fennel here at the farm. Usually simply caramelized, or in risotto, fennel brings a light anise flavor and subtle, earthy sweetness to many dishes. We love it and think fennel is an underused and under-appreciated ingredient. So when we see a restaurant dish using fennel, we often try it out at home. And in this case, while in Kauai, we tried a dish of seared ahi with a light “slaw” of thinly sliced, barley pickled fennel and supremes of ruby-red grapefruit. It rocked, so we tried to make it at home.

And we are glad we did. Not only because it was a delicious dish, but it served as a reminder to us about what restaurant dishes we should try to cook at home. In general, we often avoid making restaurant dishes, they tend to be complex, use purposefully esoteric ingredients and are often cooked with equipment most home cooks just don’t have. But then there are restaurant dishes that simply combine quality fresh ingredients with a few basic techniques. The resulting dish seems upscale, and it is, but anyone can make the dish if they know a few tricks. This is one of those dishes.

All you need to make this dish is some very fresh ahi (and that may take some time to find, save this recipe for when you get it), a rocket-hot pan, a very sharp knife and some technique. The hot pan is to sear the seasoned ahi about 45-60 seconds per side (max). That is all you need, then slice the ahi to stop any cooking in residual heat.The sharp knife is to peel the grapefruit and cut “supremes” from between the membranes. This seems like a lot of work, but it takes just a few minutes and is easier than you think. Just do it over a bowl and reserve the juice. Then thinly slice the fennel (we add some radish as well). And if you have a small hand-slicer or mandolin, this gets even easier.

To finish the dish you simply make a quick pickle of the sliced fennel and radish. Quick pickling is one of the easiest ways to quickly add flavor to a dish, you just combine sugar and salt with sliced veggies for about 15 minutes then drain the veggies. We add a splash of rice wine vinegar here as well. Then you assemble the dish. Layer the grapefruit supremes and slices of the ahi and then add a splash of the reserved juice and a bit of rice wine vinegar. Then add the pickled fennel and radish. Season and serve. And the whole thing takes maybe 25-30 minutes.

And what do you get? A beautiful, flavorful and balanced dish that is pretty healthy, too. The light but meaty ahi goes very well with the acid of the grapefruit and the sweet, earthy crunch of the fennel and radish. It looks and tastes like a restaurant dish, but almost any home cook can make it.

Seared Ahi With Grapefruit And Fennel:

(Adopted from Bar Acuda in Hanalei, Kauai)

Notes before you start:

• You can use most types of tuna for this dish, and you do not have to serve it as rare as we do. But tuna past medium-rare gets very dry. Tuna is expensive, so if you prefer well-cooked fish, other recipes may be a better choice.

What You Get: A restaurant-quality dish with less work than you think.

What You Need: No special equipment required, but a hand-slicer or mandolin is always nice for slicing veggies.

How Long? 25-30 minutes with 10 minutes of active time. This dish takes less time than you might expect. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course)

• 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, cleaned (a few fronds reserved)
• 6 small radishes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 pound fresh ahi tuna (preferably cut into a rectangle by your fish monger)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons high heat cooking oil like peanut or canola
• 1 large ruby-red grapefruit

Assemble:

1. Thinly slice the fennel and radish with a sharp knife or hand slicer. Place the fennel and radish into a bowl and mix in the sugar and salt. Let sit for 15 minutes, then drain any liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning and then add the rice wine vinegar. Set aside.
2. Place a heavy skillet or cast iron pan over high heat and let it get very hot. Turn on your kitchen fan. Meanwhile, liberally coat the ahi with salt and pepper and then rub on 1 tablespoon fo the oil. When the pan is very hot add the rest of the oil, then the ahi and sear for 45-60 seconds on each side. Turn using tongs or a spatula. When each side is seared, remove the ahi from the heat.
3. Take one slice of the ahi and look at doneness. If ready, slice immediately into 1/2 inch slices. If you want the ahi to cook a little more, simply wait 30-60 seconds. The ahi will cook in the residual heat. Then slice and set aside.
4. Over a bowl, peel the grapefruit and then cut supremes of the flesh from between each membrane. Place the slices in the bowl and then squeeze out any juice into the bowl.
5. To assemble the dish, place alternating layers of grapefruit and ahi across a plate. Season and drizzle on some of the reserved juice and vinegar from the pickles. Add on the pickled fennel and radish. Top with a few fennel fronds and a big grind of black pepper. Serve.

Related articles

• Seared Ahi Tacos With Wasabi-Lime Crema (putneyfarm.com)
• Marinated fennel and grapefruit salad (fiveandspice.wordpress.com)
• Avocado, Grapefruit, and Shiso Salad (downwarddogyogastudios.wordpress.com)
• Oil-Poached Tuna with Fennel and Orange (thebittenword.com)
• Bitter Sweet Sicilian Salad (healtherella.wordpress.com)
• Seared Sea Bass with Fennel and Oranges (noshmyway.com)
• I have a new love in my life: Roasted fennel (ramblingprose.wordpress.com)
• Sicilian street salad (baconisaveg.wordpress.com)
• A New Favorite: Fennel & Apple Salad with Apple Vinagrette (nestleusa.wordpress.com)

The Florodora cocktail.

What’s in a name? Well in the world of cocktails, quite a bit. We think it is safe to say that some famous drinks remain popular as much from their name as their flavor, and some excellent cocktails lost favor over time when their names no longer seemed macho quite right. Enter the Florodora (sometimes spelled Floradora), a delicious long drink that was one of the most popular cocktails of its day, only to fade into obscurity. And we are pretty sure the name had something to with it. Can you really imagine James Bond striding to the casino bar in his tux and ordering a “Florodora, shaken, not stirred”? We didn’t think so. (Not sure you would see Don Draper sippin’ a Florodora either.)

Although we have no doubt that Ian Fleming, Bond’s creator, would have enjoyed the Florodora. The Florodora combines gin, lime juice, raspberry liqueur or syrup and is topped by ginger ale (or ginger beer). These are all solid cocktail ingredients, and they play very well together. The Florodora starts with the aroma of gin and lime, on the sip you get the lime plus the sweet berry and sugar from the ginger ale, but the gin and ginger spice keep the finish clean. Like most classic long drinks, these are very easy to drink. Maybe too easy.

Ironically, in its day, the Florodora name was “cool”. The name comes from a famous musical “Florodora” of the late 1800′s and early 1900′s that featured six attractive young women of similar stature (that wasn’t a hard sell back then either). The girls from the show were very popular in New York and legend has it that all six actresses from the original cast married millionaires. Sure, why not? But after a few years the show fell out of fashion and the name faded with it. What was once cool, soon sounded “dated” (at best). Again, we are pretty sure Frank Sinatra never ordered a Florodora. (He was a Jack drinker anyway..)

But we think the Florodora deserves a real comeback. This is a drink that is easy to make and will please a crowd. The only issue with the ingredients is choosing to use raspberry syrup or liqueur like Chambord. We make our own raspberry syrup, and it is a useful ingredient, but prefer the concentrated berry flavor and vanilla notes of the Chambord. You can also play with the gin to get more, or less, herbal flavor. We like to use a classic like Plymouth, but suggest you experiment. And maybe you can tweak the recipe enough to create your own version of the cocktail and give it a new name. Just make sure it’s a good one….

The Florodora:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. dry gin
• 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 raspberry liqueur (Chambord) or raspberry syrup
• 3-4 oz. ginger ale or ginger beer
• Lime wedge for garnish

Assemble:

1. Combine the gin, lime juice and raspberry liqueur in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a highball or Collins glass filled with ice.
2. Top with the ginger ale, give a quick stir with a cocktail spoon and then garnish with the lime wedge. Serve.

Related articles

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• Weekly Cocktail #47: Hemingway Hated Hawaii (putneyfarm.com)
• Weekly Cocktail #46: Sunny In The Garden (putneyfarm.com)
• April Showers Bring Spring Cocktails! (smallchickbigdeals.com)
• Thirsty Thursday: Pomegranate and Lime Iced Tea (news.health.com)
• 6 spring cocktails to bid adieu to winter (coolmompicks.com)
• It’s Friday! Time for a Moscow Mule (with homemade ginger ale) (airrunn.wordpress.com)
• homemade ginger ale (foodiejoanie.wordpress.com)

Golden Beet Sliders.

Or as a simple salad. If you don’t want the bread.

Best to get this out upfront. This recipe is inspired by some beet sliders we saw on a rerun of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Yes, we love our cookbooks and yes most of our inspiration for cooking comes from the garden (and other blogs). But we still like a good burger joint or seaside clam shack, and we do occasionally indulge and watch Guy Fieri do his thing. And in this case, he visited a place called Gatsby’s in Sacramento and they featured beet sliders. We do love beets and sliders, so at some point we had to make this. And we just got some beautiful baby golden beets at the farmers market, so Carolyn made the call. Golden beet sliders for dinner.

While we were inspired by the Gatsby’s dish, we changed the recipe substantially. We use golden and not red beets, roast rather than boil the beets and use an orange vinaigrette for the sauce instead of green goddess dressing. We also add goat cheese for tang (and some bacon and pecorino as an extra option, yum). And, of course, we use King Hawaiian rolls for the bread, simply because everyone likes them. But while we changed a lot of the dish, the fundamental idea stays the same: sweet beets are a very good substitute for beef in a burger. These sliders are good, really good. Not just a good “vegetarian dish”, but a “good dish”, period.

The only downside of this dish is that it takes time to cook beets. There is no way around it (even if you microwave them you are looking at 25-30 minutes). Our only suggestion is that when you roast beets, roast a lot of them and put them in salads over the next 2-3 days. Otherwise, just roast the beets for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on their size. Wrapping in foil will speed things up a bit and makes for easier cleanup. When you can easily pierce the beets with a knife and the skins peel off easily, they are done.

Once you roast and skin the beets, making the rest of the dish is easy. Make a quick vinaigrette with some orange juice and zest (oranges and beets are a great mix) and dress some bitter greens like arugula. Then season and sear the beets for a minute or two on each side. Then lightly grill or toast the buns. You assemble the sliders with a bed of the dressed greens, then add the beets, a little goat cheese, more greens and the top of the bun. Most people can easily eat 2 or 3 of these. And if you want to add even more flavor, a little bacon and some grated pecorino add some umami and salt flavors to the sweetness of the beets. Either way, it is hard to go wrong.

Golden Beet Sliders:

Notes Before You Start:

• You can use red or golden beets for this dish. We prefer the golden beets for their slightly sweeter flavor and that they don’t stain our fingers nearly as much as red beets.
• You can boil, steam, microwave or roast the beets for this dish. Use whatever method you prefer, just be sure they are cooked all the way through.

What You Get: A delicious vegetarian “burger” that will please almost anyone. A good way to get doubters to enjoy beets.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? Up to 90 minutes, depending on the roasting time for the beets. You only need 15-20 minutes of active time. So cooking the beets ahead if time is a good idea.

Ingredients:

(Makes 10-12 sliders)

• 2 pounds of small to medium golden beets
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 1 pinch orange zest
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small bunch arugula or other bitter greens, washed
• Fresh goat cheese, like chèvre
• 12 small, sweet rolls like King Hawaiian or Parker house, sliced in half
• Grated pecorino cheese (optional)
• 2-3 slices bacon, crumbled (optional)

Assemble:

1. To roast the beets, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then place them on a large sheet of foil and rub them with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Seal the beets in the foil and place the foil packet on a baking sheet. Place the beets in the oven and roast until completely cooked, about 60 minutes for small beets, 80-90 minutes for medium-sized beets. Remove from the oven, open the foil packet and let the beets cool. Skin the beets with your hands, a kitchen towel or peeler (if cooked completely, the skins will be easy to take off). Set aside.
2. To make the vinaigrette, combine the 3 tablespoons of the oil, the vinegar, orange juice, zest, mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper in a jar or small bowl. Mix until well-combined and a dressing forms. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside. (You will have extra.)
3. To sear the beets, cut them into 1/2 inch rounds and season on each side. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and, when hot, add the last tablespoon of olive oil. Place the beet rounds in the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes per side, until they just brown. Remove the beets from the pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan, lightly toast the sweet rolls, another 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, dress the arugula with about 1/3 of the vinaigrette. Taste and add more dressing, if you like.
5. To assemble the sliders, place the rolls on a plate. Add a layer of the arugula, then a beet slice, a dollop of goat cheese, more arugula and then the top of the bun. Add some pecorino and/or bacon to the sliders if you like. Serve.

Related articles

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• Red beets gnocchi, with mustard-honey sauce & goat cheese. (thenomadiczest.com)
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• Beet and Goat Cheese Hummus (abeautifulmess.com)
• Grange Community Kitchen: Pickling Beets (essexonlakechamplain.com)
• Torri di Darbabietole D’oro (Towers of Golden Beets) (celebratewholefoods.wordpress.com)
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• Beets with cumin seeds and tomatoes (nami-nami.blogspot.com)

Pickled Asparagus.

We try to avoid too many shameless plugs here at the farm, but often sometimes I can’t resist. For the last few months I’ve worked with Edible Silicon Valley magazine on both the print and online editions. I do most of the blogging, which I love (and you can check out here), but there is still something special about seeing your words in print. And our Spring edition just came out and I wrote a few of the articles and took a number of the photos (Carolyn will have some photos in the summer edition). If you want to explore the amazing new form of indoor, sustainable, organic farming created by Ecopia Farms, try this article. And if you want to learn about an entire town that truly embraced gardening and local produce, you may want to peek at this article.

But in the end of the day, we still like to cook, adapt and write recipes and take pictures. It’s kinda what we do here. Happily, we also got to do that for Edible Silicon Valley and this recipe for Refrigerator Pickled Asparagus (along with this quick pickle recipe) is in print for all to see. As gardeners we know it takes time for things to grow, but maybe a few articles in print will eventually lead to a cookbook. One can dream.

As for the recipe, asparagus is in season here in Norcal and few things taste better than pickled asparagus.  Refrigerator pickles are a very easy way to keep the sweet, earthy flavor and crunch of the asparagus, but also add spice and acidity. And you don’t need a canning rig or anything complicated for refrigerator pickles. The only important tip here is to quickly blanch the asparagus so the pickling liquid can penetrate all the way through the stalks.

Otherwise, if you can boil some liquid and mix some spices, you can make refrigerator pickles with almost any veggie. The only bummer is that the pickles are best if you let them sit for at least a day (better at 2-3 days) in the fridge before you start snacking. We try to wait, but often fail. These asparagus pickles are hard to resist. Even the kids like them.

Pickled Asparagus:

(From our recipe in Edible Silicon Valley)

Notes before you Start:

• You can use store-bought pickling spice, but it is easy to make at home. See below for a recipe.
• Blanching the asparagus before pickling is an extra step, but very much worth it, the flavor and texture will be much better.

What You Get: Very flavorful asparagus pickles. Yum.

What You Need: No special equipment required. Which is nice.

How Long? About 30 minutes to make the pickles, and then at least a day of waiting. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Makes 2 (24-ounce) or 4 (12-ounce) jars)

• 3 pounds asparagus, washed and trimmed to fit your jars
• 1½ cups water
• 1½ cups white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice (*To DIY, see recipe below.)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed

 Assemble:

1. Combine vinegar, water and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Set aside.
2. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the asparagus to the pot and cook for exactly 1 minute. Transfer asparagus to a colander and run under cold water until chilled.
3. Place 1 tablespoon of pickling spice and 1 garlic clove in the bottom of each jar (split the spice and garlic cloves if using 4 jars). Divide asparagus evenly between the jars. Pour pickling liquid over asparagus. Seal jars and let cool to room temperature, then store in the refrigerator.
4. Let the pickles rest in the fridge at least 24, and preferably 72, hours before eating. The pickles will keep for 2 weeks.

—-

* Pickling Spice

(Makes 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons allspice berries
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon ground mace
• 1 small cinnamon stick, crushed into a few pieces
• 12 large, or 18 medium, bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• ½ tablespoon ground ginger

Assemble:

1. Place a small pan over low heat and toast peppercorns, mustard seeds and coriander seeds until just fragrant. Remove pan from heat and gently pour spices onto a cutting board. Lightly crush spices using a heavy pan, the side of a knife or a very quick spin in a spice grinder.
2. Combine the cracked spices with the rest of the spices in a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Store in an airtight container.

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• How To Make Pickles, Lazy-Girl Style (refinery29.com)
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The Hemingway Hated Hawaii cocktail.

Did Hemingway really “hate” Hawaii? It’s hard to say, but he didn’t seem to like it all that much…but more on that later. Meanwhile, the Putney Farm crew is enjoying our trip to Kauai the rainy ”Garden Isle”. Knowing that the weather can be terrible unpredictable, we started to build ourselves a tropical bar to help pass the time and make our umpteenth hand of bridge a bit more enjoyable. It is a riff on our “basic home bar” of citrus, sugar, gin, rum, Cointreau and Angostura bitters, but instead of whiskey we have tequila and we slip in some Bittermens Tiki bitters. Tiki drinks, Margaritas, Palomas and old school British colonial cocktails like the Pegu Club and Pink Gin are all on our fingertips. Life is good my friends, very good.

The “tropical bar”. All you need while in warmer climates.

But what about a cocktail book? Don’t we want to educate ourselves whist we imbibe? Of course we do. So we brought along “To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion“, Phillip Green’s excellent cocktail book inspired by Hemingway’s love of booze. And whether you liked Papa’s writing or not (we are fans, but with a wink), the man knew how to mix a drink and throw a party. Our kind of guy.

Our alarm clock.

As we worked through the book we found a great recipe for a basic highball of gin and coconut water, and it was extremely tasty. (It may not be an intuitive mix, but the coconut water takes any rough edges off the gin while keeping the best herbal notes.) We then found a recipe for the “Green Issac’s Special” or “Tomini” a combo of gin, coconut water, lime juice and Angostura bitters. Even better. And as we are in Hawaii and exploring long drinks, we wanted to go a bit more tropical/tiki so we added a dash of Cointreau (Hemingway disliked sugar in his cocktails, we like a touch of sweet) and some of the Tiki bitters. The sweet orange and extra spice took the cocktail over the top. So now we had a new cocktail, but no name. Not yet.

But as we read on, it turned out that Hemingway didn’t really take to all the “Aloha” you get in Hawaii, or at least what you get on cruise ships in Honolulu. Go figure. We would have thought that the big wave surfers, free divers and watermen of Hawaii would have appealed to Hemingway. But Hemingway died in 1961 and missed out on a generation of special athletes and personalities that would match any bullfighter or Caribbean rum runner. His loss. But he was dead, so we will give him a pass.

But Hemingway’s dislike for Hawaii did give us the name for our cocktail, and we do love a touch of alliteration at the farm. The Hemingway Hated Hawaii is a light, but very flavorful, long drink. You get an aroma of herbal gin, spice and lime, followed by the clean cold taste of the gin and coconut water with a touch of sweet orange from the Cointreau, and a finish of tart lime and spice from the Angostura and Tiki bitters. This drink goes down easy and is perfect on a warm day. We will drink this all summer, wherever we are- even if it is in Hawaii. Sorry Papa, but we think you might understand.

The Hemingway Hated Hawaii cocktail.

Hemingway Hated Hawaii:

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. coconut water (found at most markets these days)
• 2 oz. dry gin
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz. Cointreau or triple sec
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 dashes Bittermens Tiki bitters (or a drop of Allspice dram)
• Lime wedge, for garnish

Assemble:

1. Combine all the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a highball or collins glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge. Serve.

—–

The Green Issac’s Special or Tomini:

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. coconut water
• 2 oz. dry gin
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Lime wedge, for garnish

Assemble:

1. Combine all the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a highball or collins glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge. Serve.

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And we knew exactly how we wanted to use the tarragon, as a flavoring for roasted fish. Here in Norcal, that usually means local halibut, rock cod/rockfish or salmon. In this case we use halibut, but any firm white fish will do. As for the cooking method, you can go sous-vide (and it would be great), but we also have a relatively foolproof roasting method for fish. We simply create a bed of citrus and herbs for the fish, add the fish and then layer on a bunch of butter, salt, pepper, more herbs and more citrus. This method also works with other herbs (thyme is one of our favorites), just make sure to bruise the herbs before you layer them in, this releases the oils and gets the flavor into the dish. Then roast the fish at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness) and serve.

So now that we had the herbs and the fish dialed, the big question was the sauce. A little internet search brought us to a tarragon and halibut recipe with a hazelnut and brown butter sauce from Bon Appetit. Nice. We adapted the recipe, particularly how we cook the fish, but also played a bit with the brown butter recipe. But the addition of the hazelnuts to the brown butter was all Bon Appetit’s, and we will certainly give credit to them for a good idea. This is a good extra touch and takes the sauce over the top.

Not that you can go wrong with brown butter sauce. If you have butter in your fridge and 10 minutes, you have a perfect sauce waiting to happen. Brown butter is easy to make and works beautifully with pasta, fish or earthy veggies. A sauce you need in your toolkit. The key is to cook the butter at medium heat until the milk solids get brown (not black, if you get close to dark brown, stop cooking the sauce) and develop a nutty flavor and aroma. You then just add seasoning and some herbs, sage is a natural fit but tarragon also works very well.

The last piece of the puzzle for this sauce was to add the chopped hazelnuts and a dash of lemon juice. The hazelnuts add more nutty flavor, but also some needed crunch to the dish. The lemon adds some acid and sourness to match the rich butter and fish. Overall you get sweet fish, savory brown butter and hazelnuts, earthy and herbal notes from the tarragon and acidity from the lemons that cleans the palate for the next bite. The extra bonus is that the brown butter sauce works beautifully with roasted asparagus (another spring crop), so we just roasted some asparagus spears and served them with the fish and the brown butter. Excellent, and all in less than 45 minutes. Like we said, we couldn’t wait to use our herbs…

Roasted Halibut With Tarragon and Hazelnut Brown Butter:

(Adapted from Bon Appetit)

Notes Before You Start:

• The best way to check for doneness on fish is to use a digital thermometer. We think it is the most important kitchen tool after a sharp chef’s knife. If you don’t have one, the best way to check is to cut into the fish and look. Otherwise, pull the fish from the heat just before it’s done, it will keep cooking in residual heat.
• Many resources will say halibut needs to be cooked to 145 degrees to be “safe”, we prefer it less cooked, closer to 130-135 degrees.

What You Get: A rich, flavorful and easy fish dinner in about 45 minutes.

What You Need: No special equipment required, but a digital thermometer would be nice.

How Long? About 45 minutes with 20 minutes of active time. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• 2 to 2 1/2 pounds halibut, skin removed
• 1 large bunch of fresh tarragon
• 2 large lemons thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 tablespoons butter
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Assemble:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the hazelnuts on a baking pan and put it in the oven. Cook the hazelnuts until lightly brown, about 8-10 minutes, and remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then rub off the skins (most of them, anyway) with a kitchen towel. Roughly chop and set aside.
2. Keep the oven at 350 degrees. Rub the tarragon between your hands until very fragrant. Then, on a large baking sheet, layer on half of the tarragon and lemon slices. Then layer on the fish, dot with half of the butter, a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper, the rest of the tarragon and the rest of the lemon slices. Place in the oven and cook until done, 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut the filet(s) into portions for serving.
3. While the fish cooks, place the rest of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook until the butter foams and then browns (don’t let it get close to black), 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the hazelnuts, taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and the lemon juice.
4. Place the fish on plates, with some of the tarragon and lemon slices. Spoon on the brown butter and hazelnut sauce. Serve.

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Back to the office….

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Sunny in the Garden cocktail.

We know spring just sprung, and hasn’t reached many of you at all, but we are already thinking about “long drinks” for summer. For those who are unfamiliar, long drinks are simply large volume cocktails, often six to eight ounces, with more mixer than spirits, usually served on the rocks and often associated with warm summer afternoons, garden parties and preludes to long naps. (We also like to drink them while gardening, but that is just us). The Tom Collins is probably the classic long drink, highballs like the Gin and Tonic also qualify, and there are other well-known classics like the Cuba Libre, Paloma, Pimm’s Cup and the Dark ‘n Stormy. All worth a try, and you may see some more here on the blog over the next few weeks.

Part of the fun of long drinks is that you can take almost any mixer, add some spirits, and perhaps a few modifiers, and you have a new drink. The variations are almost endless and it is pretty hard to screw up. In most cases the mixer is non-alcoholic like juice, soda water or ginger ale, but we decided to make a long drink from an apéritif and just a splash of spirits. And if we mix with an apéritif, it will often be Lillet Blanc, one of our favorite ingredients. (See the Rose Pearl for another long drink, this time using Lillet Rose.)

Lillet Blanc is a fortified wine that combines white wine with citrus (mostly orange) infused spirits. It is sweet with citrus notes and a slight bitter quinine edge (if you like things a bit more bitter use Cocchi Americano) and is very easy to sip on the rocks. But we wanted to amp the orange flavor, tame some of the sweetness and add some “heat” from alcohol, but not mess with the core flavors of the Lillet. So we figured this might be the kind of cocktail that makes good use of the vodka gathering dust on our bar (gin tends to win out here at the farm). And while vodka is not always a respected mixology ingredient, it does have its uses, and this was one of those times.

The Sunny in the Garden combines Lillet Blanc, vodka, lemon juice, orange bitters and a large orange twist, served on the rocks. The aroma is wine, floral and citrus, perfect for summer. As for the taste, you get a big, sweet wine and orange sip up front, but balanced by the lemon juice and just a bit of kick from the booze at the finish. Is this the world’s most complex cocktail? Hardly. But is a very enjoyable sipper you can linger over, think “like white Sangria, but way better”. In fact, we may serve the Sunny in the Garden along with summer meals as a substitute for wine or Sangria. But summer is still a ways away, so for now we will just have to sip this while gardening. We can live with that. Now about that nap….

Sunny in the Garden cocktail.

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc
• 1 oz. vodka
• 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
• Long orange peel, for garnish

Assemble:

1. Combine all the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and then strain into a highball or Collins glass filled with ice.
2. Twist the orange peel over the drink and rub along the edge of the glass. Add the orange peel to the cocktail. Serve.

Related articles

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• Weekly Cocktail #45: The Paper Plane (putneyfarm.com)
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Easy Oven Ribs With Sriracha Barbecue Sauce.

We do love our ribs here at the farm. And, without a doubt, we love Memphis-style barbecue ribs with a dry rub, mop and slow smoking over applewood and hickory. Toss in some hot, vinegary Carolina barbecue sauce and Nirvana awaits. But we just made it into spring, the rains come and go, it’s still cold and the smoker needs to be set up (and we are tired from working in the garden). Time to turn on the oven.

And there is nothing wrong with making ribs in the oven. In fact, some would argue that it may be a better place to cook ribs, assuming you use the right tools/technique and choose the right seasoning and sauce. The one thing that is really hard to do is get the deep smokey flavor and “smoke ring” color from the oven. But you can get very flavorful, tender ribs.

As for the tools and technique, the main thing you need is some time, sauce (we will get there) and aluminium foil. The big thing with ribs is that they need to cook low and slow and, preferably, in a moist environment so they don’t dry out. This is particularly true for baby back ribs, which don’t carry much extra fat. But if you season and sauce the ribs and then wrap in a packet of foil, you can trap the juices from the ribs and gently steam the ribs for a few hours until they reach the desired temperature of 185 F. You need the temperature to get at least to 185 so the collagen in the meat turns to gelatin (that luscious texture) and the ribs get tender. Then you open the foil packets, add some more sauce and finish the ribs under the broiler for a few minutes to get a nice crispy, caramelized crust. Easy, but like most good things, you need a few extra steps.

And now for the sauce. Since we don’t feel we can get a southern-style smokey flavor, we look more to Asian flavors. Instead of a base of ketchup, cider vinegar, Worcestershire and hot sauce, we go with ketchup, onion, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and Sriracha. You get a familiar texture of barbecue sauce but the more Asian-inspired notes and some heat. And you can control the heat to your liking by just adding or subtracting Sriracha and/or some red pepper flake. Good stuff and good fun.

One last note on cooking the ribs. It will take about 2 hours baking in the foil to get tender ribs that still have a little “toothiness”. But if you like “fall-off-the-bone” tender ribs add another 15-30 minutes of cooking. And right about now you may hear a food snob someone say “technically ribs aren’t supposed to fall off the bone”. Hmmm. That may be true in barbecue contests, where they don’t want people “cheating” by boiling or steaming their ribs to make them more tender. But last we checked 99.99999% of ribs are cooked at home or restaurants, not contests. If you like “fall-off-the bone” ribs, go ahead and make them- just budget a bit more cooking time. We think that “technically” enjoying your food is the most important thing…..but we are silly that way.

Easy Oven Ribs With Sriracha Barbecue Sauce:

Notes Before You Start:

• If you don’t want the Sriracha barbecue sauce you can use the same cooking method and rub the ribs with standard pork rub and then glaze with traditional barbecue sauce.
• You can substitute spare ribs for baby backs, and they will be very good. Just expect another 45-60 minutes of cooking time.

What You Get: Tender, flavorful ribs, with a hot, tangy sauce. All cooked indoors.

What You Need: A lot of aluminium foil. Check your roll before you start.

How Long? About 3 hours with 30 minutes of active time. Mostly a weekend dish, but easy to prepare ahead of time.

Ingredients:

(Serves 6-8)

• 2 racks of baby back ribs (the meatiest you can get)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (more to taste)
• 1 pinch red pepper flake
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha (more, or less, to taste)

Assemble:

1. Place the ribs on a sheet pan and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place in the fridge while you make the sauce (you can do this up to 12 hours ahead).
2. To make the sauce, place a medium saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the oil and the onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes until it starts to turn clear. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, soy sauce, vinegar and pepper flake.  Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Taste for heat and then mix in the Sriracha. Cook for another few minutes, taste and adjust seasoning, Sriracha and vinegar to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Lay out 2 very long strips (at least 2.5x the length of the ribs) of aluminium foil. Place the ribs, curved side up, on the aluminium sheets. Liberally glaze the ribs with some sauce. Fold the foil over the ribs and tightly fold/seal all around the ribs. Then place the ribs, curved side down, onto a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven.
5. Bake the ribs in the oven for about 2 hours, or until very tender and the internal temperature is 185. (The foil packets may leak, this is OK). When done, remove from the oven, flip over the foil packets and open them so the curved side is up and exposed. Brush on more of the sauce.
6. Move the oven racks to the top third of the oven (remember those oven mitts!) and turn on the broiler. Place the ribs back in the oven and broil until a nice dark crust forms about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
7. Let the ribs rest for 10 minutes and then place then on a cutting board. Slice the ribs and brush them one more time with the sauce. Serve.

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Oregano in the garden.

While we are still deep in winter citrus, and the fruit blossoms are everywhere, we only have a few “crops” that are ready (or close to ready). But we do have some of the good stuff. The mix of sun and light rain brought the herbs back to life, and with gusto. Oregano, marjoram, tarragon, thyme, mint, chocolate mint and the always-present rosemary are thriving. Still have to wait on basil, but soon (sigh). Artichokes and potato plants seem to bend the laws of nature, they grow so quickly. And the blueberries and strawberries are forming, first tastes in 7-10 days (hopefully). Serious planting is starting soon….

Marjoram.

Tarragon.

Mint, already trying to take over.

Artichoke.

Blueberries forming.

Strawberries sooner than you think.

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Lasagne. Hungry?

Well, we certainly don’t. Is there a better dish in the world than good lasagne? Even the word “lasagne” (or is it “lasagna”?) brings a smile to our faces. There is something about a bunch of meat, cheese, béchamel and tomato sauce encased in pasta, and then covered by more cheese, that almost always works. Heck, you can make tasty vegetarian versions of the dish and it will still rock. Hard to go wrong here…as long as you have a good recipe and take your time.

And if there is one drawback to lasagne (beyond expanding waistlines), it does take a little time to make. But not nearly as much as you think. And since you can make a big batch, you can feed your family for a couple of meals. Make lasagne over the weekend and you get an easy night during the week. So you can even view lasagne as a time saver…kinda…sorta. In any event, you get the idea, we think lasagne is a perfect dish to make at home.

The key to a good lasagne is not to accept any short-cuts. You need to make your own meat sauce, béchamel and ricotta mixture. Again, none of these steps are hard, they just take time. You can save some time using “instant”  lasagne noodles, if you like. We have run this experiment enough, and don’t see any difference (unless you use fresh pasta). But one of the secrets is to use as little pasta as possible, just enough to keep everything together. That way you get a big dose of tomato, béchamel, meat and cheese (and that is what you want, and what you need).

The recipe we use is adapted from a 1980 Palo Alto Junior League cookbook. We get a little compulsive about buying and/or collecting cookbooks, particularly local charity cookbooks. Many recipes will be total duds, but a few will be true gems. This recipe is one of the gems. And it has withstood the passing of time. We use more fresh ingredients where we can, but we don’t change all that much.  Good is good, no matter the age of the recipe. But lasagne is a timeless classic anyway, so somehow a 30 year-old recipe just makes it even better.

Lasagne:

(Adapted from a 1980 Palo Alto Junior League recipe)

Notes Before You Start:

• You can use “instant” or regular lasagne noodles. If using traditional lasagne noodles, cook them in boiling water until “al dente”. Then drain and keep in cold water until ready to use.
• The recipe calls for parmesan, mozzarella, teleme and romano cheese. You do need the parm and mozzarella, but you can substitute for the other cheeses, if you like.

What You Get: An awesome dish that almost everyone loves. Leftovers for a few days. A good return on your time investment.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? A couple of hours, with an hour of active time. None of the work is hard. Have a glass of wine, do your work and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Invite some friends for dinner. Be a hero. Weekend dish.

Ingredients:

(Serves 8-10 as a main dish)

Pasta and Sauce:

• 1/2 pound instant lasagne noodles
• 1 pound ground beef chuck
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 pounds canned or fresh tomatoes with their juice
• 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt

Bechamel:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Kosher salt

Ricotta Filling:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 pound ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cheeses:

• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 4 oz. teleme cheese, sliced
• Unsalted butter

Assemble:

Pasta and Sauce:

1. Place a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook until just softening, 1-2 minutes. Add the ground beef and spread it around the skillet, cook until no longer pink, 6-8 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and herbs, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until thick, about 30-40 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed. Set aside.
3. Soak the instant lasagne noodles in warm water for 5 minutes, or until soft.
4. Meanwhile, place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Bechamel:

1. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and when melted, the flour. Cook, stirring frequently, until a light roux forms, 1-2 minutes.
2. Slowly add the milk and chicken stock, bring back to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick enough to easily coat a spoon. Taste and add salt, if needed. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Ricotta Filling:

1. In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Add the ricotta, parmesan, nutmeg and salt. Mix until well combined. Set aside.

Lasagne:

1. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Then layer in the following order: a little of the tomato sauce, half of the noodles, half of the remaining sauce, 1/2 cup béchamel, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/4 cup romano, half of the mozzarella, teleme and ricotta mixture. Then add the remaining noodles and meat sauce, the remaining béchamel, ricotta mixture and the rest of the cheeses- with the mozzarella and a dusting of parmesan on top. Dot with butter.
2. Place the lasagne in the oven and cook, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and slightly brown on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Serve.

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The Paper Plane cocktail.

“Now that’s a good brown drink, I like that”, is something we rarely hear from Carolyn when whiskey is involved. She likes her gin, vodka and rum just fine, but most “brown drinks” with bourbon, rye or scotch taste too sweet and heavy for her tastes. And to be honest, even I prefer the spice of rye to the sweetness of bourbon. But we do like the caramel and vanilla notes of good bourbon, we just don’t want it to dominate the drink. But this week’s cocktail, the Paper Plane solves this problem quite nicely. It is by all measures a bourbon drink, but it is a very bright and refreshing sip.

Created a few years ago by well-known New York bartender Sam Ross, the Paper Plane combines equal parts good bourbon, lemon juice, Amaro Nonino and Aperol and is garnished with a lemon twist. The combo of the whiskey and lemon is standard, but the key to the Paper Plane is the use of two sweet and bitter ingredients, the Amaro Nonino and Aperol. These are both bitter ingredients but come from very different ends of the spectrum. We would not have thought to combine these ingredients, but it really works, and that’s why cocktails are fun. There are always surprises awaiting.

Aperol (which we have discussed in the blog and is one of our favorite ingredients) is Campari’s lighter, less boozy, cousin and features sweet citrus and rhubarb notes with a bitter finish. The Amaro Nonino is a whole other animal. It’s amaro, but it is sweeter and boozier than most and with some fruity notes to compliment the herbal core. Nonino is seriously good stuff and is fun to play around with in all sorts of whiskey-based drinks (Nonino Manhattan variants are very tasty). Also fun to substitute for Benedictine. Along with Montenegro, the Nonino is now one of our favorite amari for mixing. Worth picking up a bottle if you can.

As for the taste, the Paper Plane starts with bourbon and lemon, but also has some orangey and almost grapefruit notes (there is no grapefruit but Aperol can play with your taste buds sometimes). All the way through you get the herbal flavors of the Nonino and a pleasantly clean and slightly bitter finish. Unlike some whiskey drinks, the finish keeps us coming back for more, it isn’t too sweet. You could easily serve the Paper Plane as a summer cocktail. And with that in mind, most recipes suggest you serve the Paper Plane in a cocktail glass, but we also enjoy it as a sipper on the rocks. This is a lovely drink for a sunny afternoon…and we just happen to have some of those on the way…

The Paper Plane:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 oz. bourbon
• 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 oz. Amaro Nonino
• 3/4 oz. Aperol
• Lemon Twist

Assemble:

1. Combine all the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, flute or coupé. Or pour into a lowball glass with a single large ice-cube. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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White Whole Wheat Biscuits.

So let’s get right to the question, “what is white whole wheat”? It’s real whole wheat, just from a variety of wheat that has none of the red color and somewhat less of the overtly strong and tannic flavors of traditional whole wheat (think albino whole wheat). White whole wheat flour has all the nutritional benefits of whole wheat, but has a softer flavor with just a pleasant hint of “nuttiness”. What it also means is that you can bake whole wheat biscuits, scones and pastries for your kids (and other picky eaters) and they will eat and enjoy these treats as if they were made from refined flour. A neat trick. Good for you, too.

And if you get your hands on some white whole wheat flour (we use King Arthur, but there are other brands), we suggest you make some biscuits. Why biscuits? Firstly, who doesn’t like a biscuit? Secondly, you can get a good idea how white whole wheat flour provides a hint of “whole wheat” flavor and color, while having a texture like refined flour. And finally, biscuits are easy once you get the hang of it.

Making these biscuits follows a mostly traditional method. You combine dry ingredients with cold butter. Then add in wet ingredients and lightly mix to create a dough that just holds together. The less you handle the dough, the less gluten forms, the more tender the biscuit. The only trick in this recipe is that if you use honey as your sweetener (and you should, but you can use sugar), is that you need to heat it slightly so it will mix easily with the eggs and cold water without clumping. Otherwise, just cut the biscuits from the dough, bake, eat and repeat. And smile.

Before we get to the recipe, a note about one of the ingredients you may not see in most recipes, the dry nonfat milk powder. Dry milk powder is basically the calcium and protein from the milk without the water or fat. Protein makes baked goods firmer and calcium helps with browning- without adding extra water that may alter the chemical balance of the recipe. In this case, the milk powder helps get you a nice brown biscuit that holds its shape. There are other ways to add protein and calcium, but they can require some serious reformulation (and remember, baking is chemistry), we just use the dry milk powder when we are told. It works. So if you see it in a recipe, there is nothing to worry about, just get some and use it, there are even organic versions. One more tool for your baking “arsenal”.

White Whole Wheat Biscuits:

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Notes Before You Start:

• You can use regular whole wheat flour in the recipe. The flavor will be fuller and nuttier, and the texture will be firmer, but you do not need to adjust proportions.
• You can use sugar or honey as the sweetener in the recipe, but honey will add a rich note and aroma that plays well with the light nutty notes of the flour.

What You Get: Whole grain biscuits that are not a compromise. These taste good and have a “biscuit-y” texture.

What You Need: White whole wheat flour. No special equipment required.

How Long? 45-60 minutes, depending on your energy level. Not quite an “anytime” dish, but an easy treat for weekend mornings. You will have plenty of fans.

Ingredients:

(Makes a dozen 2 1/2 inch biscuits)

• 2 1/2 cups (10 3/4 oz.) white whole wheat flour, plus extra for dusting work surface
• 1/4 cup (3/4 oz.) nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz.) honey or 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 oz.) sugar
• 3/4 cup (6 oz.) cold, unsalted butter, cut into pats
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup (4 to 6 oz.) very cold water (ice water works well)

Assemble:

1. Place a rack in the top third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with a silicone mat.
2. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the flour, dry milk powder, baking powder and salt.
3. Cut the cold butter into pats or small chunks and, using a pastry cutter or forks, lightly mix into the dry ingredients until the butter is the size of peas. (Don’t mix with your hands, it will melt the butter.)
4. Heat the honey (if using) for 10-15 seconds in a microwave until warm and runny and then blend it into the beaten eggs. (If using sugar just mix it with the beaten eggs)
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg and honey mixture and 1/2 cup of the water. Mix gently until just combined. The dough should be wet and sticky, but hold shape. If too dry, add the rest of the water.
6. Dust a countertop or work surface with flour and place the dough on top. Rub flour on your hands and pat the dough into a circle about 3/4 of an inch thick. Re-flour your hands as needed.
7. Flour a biscuit cutter and cut the biscuits and transfer them to a baking sheet. Leave space between the biscuits for crispy sides, or have them touch for soft sides. Combine any scraps of dough and form extra biscuits by hand.
8. Bake the biscuits for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven, cool for just a few minutes and serve hot.

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Early cherry blossom.

All sorts of new blossoms at the farm this week. Spring, it seems, keeps…um, springing. And we are quite happy about that. In just the last week cherries, pears, strawberries and apples all started to bloom. And the peaches, nectarines, figs, rosemary and blueberries came into full flower. Our potato plants are taking off, the mint is already trying to take over the world and wisteria is just starting. Citrus still sits ready on the tree (but not for much longer).The bees are back, doing their magic. Wildflowers start to cover the hills. Color and sound fills the soul. This never gets old. Never.

First apple blossoms.

Peach blossoms.

Early comice pear blossoms.

Figs, growing quickly.

Blueberries. Can’t wait.

Strawberry blossom.

Pear blossom.

Wisteria, just popping.

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The 20th Century Cocktail.

Another Mixology Monday is almost here, but it looks to be a busy weekend, so we are posting on Friday. This month’s edition of the online cocktail party is hosted by Scott Diaz of the excellent cocktail blog Shake, Strain and Sip. Thanks Scott. And as always, thanks to Fred Yarm of Cocktail Virgin Slut, for keeping the whole Mixology Monday thing going, it is great fun and the source of some very inspiring cocktails. So here is Scott’s theme:

The evolution of the cocktail has been a wondrous, and sometimes, frightful journey… But with all this focus on “craft” ingredients and classic tools & form, it seems we have become somewhat pretentious.  The focus on bitter Italian amari, revived and lost ingredients such as Batavia Arrack or Crème de Violette, the snickering at a guest ordering a Cosmopolitan or a Midori Sour has propelled us into the dark realm of snobbery… Remember, the bar was created with pleasing one particular group in mind: the guest. As such, this month’s MxMo theme… will focus on concocting a craft cocktail worthy of not only MxMo but any trendy bar, using dubious and otherwise shunned ingredients to sprout forth a craft cocktail that no one could deny is anything less.  There are a plethora of spirits, liqueurs, and non-alcoholic libations that are just waiting for someone to showcase that they too are worthy of being featured on our home and bar shelves.  So grab that bottle of flavored vodka, Jägermeister, cranberry juice, soda, neon-colored liqueur, sour mix, or anything else deemed unworthy of a craft cocktail, and get mixin’!

Create or find a drink that uses one or more ingredients that are not considered “craft”, but are used in a “craft” cocktail.  Sweet & sour, coffee, cranberry juice, most flavored vodkas, Midori, X-Rated, Alize, almost anything starting with creme, etc., are all game.

Hmmm. At first, we simply had to laugh. We spend a few years building a bar without “crass” ingredients, and now we need to go buy some. We had visions of Midori dancing in our heads (and back in the day there was plenty of Midori…and headaches). But before we bought anything we decided to use what we have, and we still have the back of one cabinet set aside for “all that other stuff” (you know, the stuff we don’t show off). And the first thing we saw was some Dekuyper White Creme de Cocoa. Yup, crass enough.

Dekuyper makes many of the most crazily named, colored and flavored liqueurs you can find. They are responsible for “Sour Apple Pucker”, “Razzmatazz”, bottled “Sex on the Beach” shots and dozens of other types of flavored booze. It may all be decent stuff, even fun, but it certainly ain’t “craft”. (But you should check out the cocktail recipes at their website for Spring Break classics like the “Banana Whammer”, “Apple Spazz” and the “Juicy Screw”. And the list goes on, check it out for a quick smile.)

So what to make with our very sweet and somewhat artificial-tasting Creme de Cocoa? The 20th Century, of course. Created by British bartender C.A. Tuck in 1937, and immortalized in the classic Cafe Royal Cocktail book by William Tarling, the 20th Century combines gin, Lillet blanc or Cocchi Americano (to mimic the “original” Lillet), lemon juice and white Creme de Cocoa. Think “Corpse Reviver #2 with Creme de Cocoa instead of Cointreau”. And while your first thought may be “gin and chocolate, yuk”, it does work very well. The chocolate plays well with the herbal gin, sweet fruit of the Lillet and the sour notes of the lemon. If you get the proportions right, there is just a very pleasant hint of chocolate to finish a tasty gin, Lillet/Cocchi and lemon sip.

But when using a “crass” ingredient, you sometimes need to play with the proportions. And they do vary for this drink. The original recipe says 2 parts gin to 1 part each Lillet, lemon juice and Creme de Cocoa, but plenty of respected mixologists have tweaked the recipe to fit their tastes. For us, the Dekuyper Creme de Cocoa tastes like milk chocolate but is very sweet and has a slightly artificial aftertaste. We drop the amount of lemon juice and Creme de Cocoa so we still get the sweet and chocolate, but just a hint. If you are making this drink with better Creme de Cocoa, you should adjust as needed. We also suggest you try the 20th Century without Creme de Cocoa and use a bit of simple syrup and a few healthy dashes of chocolate bitters (but that wouldn’t be crass enough).

As for the name of the drink, it comes from the 20th Century Limited, the famous art-deco styled train that used to run from New York to Chicago. The 20th Century Limited was quite the swanky spot back in the day (it stopped running in 1967) and many a good drink was poured, and consumed, by the famous travelers who lounged on its cars. So if we combine a great name, a great story, respect from mixologists and great flavor, we think we can say the 20th Century truly is a “craft” cocktail, even with some Dekuyper in it. But we bet Dekuyper, if given the opportunity to be crass, would rename the drink to “Sex on the Train”.

The 20th Century Cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 oz. dry gin
• 3/4 oz. Lillet blanc or Cocchi Americano
• 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. white Creme de Cocoa (Dekuyper)

Assemble: 

1. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, coupé or flute. Serve.

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Couldn’t resist leading with the asparagus.

I guess you could also call this “caramelized fennel and asparagus risotto”, but what fun is that? In any event, we tend to get excited as spring breaks loose and we buy up all sorts of stuff at the farmers market. And right now, asparagus just came in, the fennel is rockin’ (and we have Meyer lemons in orchard). Time to make risotto. And since we have some Serrano ham, parmesan, pecorino and saffron, may as well toss them in as well. But it is really up to you how you accent the veggies. Like we said, this is a bit of a “kitchen sink” recipe.

Spring “Kitchen Sink” Risotto.

But the key elements in this dish truly are the spring veggies. Caramelized fennel (one of our all-time favorite dishes) sweetens when cooked and is a perfect foil for the earthy asparagus. Put them in a creamy risotto and you have a lovely spring dinner. And we make extra, as the leftovers are also a real treat. The only downside of this dish is that it is risotto. And cooking risotto takes time. Expect 45 to 60 minutes of total time. Some extra prep may shave off a few minutes, but it is what it is.

The upside of risotto is that it is very easy to make, and any home cook can get some very “pro” results. And once you know how to make risotto, you can make dozens of variations. And if you garden or get a CSA box, risotto is an excellent use for all sort of random uncommon veggies. (Btw, if you want some serious risotto recipes, Stefan’s Gourmet Blog is the place to go, he knows his stuff.) Basically, all you need to do is a bunch of chopping and stirring (and tasting). Once you get the knack, it just comes down to the flavors you use.

As for this dish, we choose a lot of flavors, but they do hold up. We add saffron to risotto because we can (bloom it in the stock for the best flavor). It adds subtle sweetness and aroma that always helps rice. Parmesan and cured ham like prosciutto or Serrano add salt and umami. So far, mostly traditional. But our key additions are lemon juice and zest and a bit of pecorino romano cheese. The romano has more bite and salt than parm, so you get extra depth. And the lemon juice and zest add acid, brightness and aroma to balance the richer flavors and compliment the veggies (both asparagus and fennel like lemon). So even if this is a bit of “kitchen sink”, there is some method to the madness.

Finally, we use a recipe that will easily feed six, and possibly eight, for a light dinner. The reason is the leftovers. Risotto keeps very well. You can simply reheat it or go further and make arrancini (fried risotto balls, very tasty). It even tastes good as a quick late-night snack right out of the fridge (yes, guilty as charged). So if you see some good spring veg at the farmers market, go crazy, make some “kitchen sink” risotto and enjoy it for a few days.

Spring “Kitchen Sink” Risotto:

Notes Before You Start:

• Opinions vary on the short grain rice to use for risotto (and there are many varieties), but either carnaroli or arborio rice will be fine and are widely available.
• Be light with seasoning the risotto while you make it, the salt from the stock concentrates during cooking, and the cheese, will add salt. Best to adjust seasoning near the end of cooking, when all the ingredients are in.

What You Get: Fun, flavorful spring vegetable risotto. What else do you need?

What You Need: Time. No other special equipment required.

How Long? 45-60 minutes, we won’t sugarcoat it, risotto takes some time.

Ingredients:

(Serves 6-8 as a light dinner)

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 pinch saffron
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cups short grain Italian rice (carnaroli or arborio)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 large or 3 medium fennel bulbs, cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
• 6-8 slices of prosciutto or Serrano ham, pulled into small pieces
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Assemble:

1. Add the stock to a medium saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and add the saffron. Keep at very low simmer while you make the risotto.
2. Place a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Add half of the olive oil and all the diced onion. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and toast, stirring often until slightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Move the heat to medium-low, add the wine and stir until the mixture is close to dry, 2-3 minutes.
3. Now start adding the stock, in 1/2 cup increments, stirring regularly and adding more stock each time the mixture is mostly dry (no extra liquid in the pan). This will take 20-30 minutes. If you run out of stock before the rice is done, add lightly salted water to your stock. Taste for doneness, the rice should be cooked with just a tiny bit of bite in the center.
4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and soft, 10-15 minutes. Remove the fennel from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Then, in the same pan, quickly sauté the asparagus until just soft, 2-4 minutes.
5. When the risotto is done. Add the fennel, asparagus, ham, cheese and lemon zest to the risotto and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning with the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve with a little extra grated cheese and a few asparagus tips as garnish, if you like.

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Seared Ahi Tacos With Wasabi-Lime Crema

We have to admit, if we have a “crutch” as cooks, it’s our love of serving tacos. They are fun, easy, and you can please a crowd with very diverse tastes. And kids simply love them. They choose what goes in the taco (up to a point), they build it the way they want and they can eat with their hands. Come to think of it, that’s why adults enjoy them, too. But if we are going to serve tacos as often as we do, we at least try to mix things up a bit. And that is where tacos like these come into play. Still simple, still good, but with a few extra flavors that, we hope, elevate the dish.

And what makes this taco recipe somewhat special is the use of seared tuna (Yellowfin, in this case) the wasabi-lime crema, and quick pickling of some of the veggies. This adds a bit of Japan to an otherwise Mexican dish. The flavors are a bit lighter and brighter, so they don’t hide the flavor of the fish. But make no mistake, these are still fish tacos. And if you don’t have access to tuna steaks, or just don’t like their cost, this recipe will still work with any firm-fleshed fish, just don’t serve it rare like tuna.

As for searing tuna on the outside and still being rare on the inside, there are a few tricks. Firstly, your pan needs to be rocket hot, and cast iron works best. A very hot grill also works. Secondly, the exterior of the tuna should be free of moisture, you need the tuna to sear, not steam. Use a high-temp cooking oil like peanut or safflower or it will break down and hurt the flavor. And finally, you need to stop the cooking quickly, or the tuna will continue to cook from residual heat, even when out of the pan. Many chefs will plunge the tuna into an ice bath, and that does work. The easier way is to simply slice the tuna when it is cooked the way you like it, letting the heat escape the fish and stop the cooking. This works both ways. If the tuna is a bit too rare, just wait 30 seconds and look again- it will have cooked quite a bit in its remaining heat. (FWIW, taking the photos cost us a few extra seconds and we got a bit more of the cooked outer layer than we like- that is how quickly the tuna cooks in its own heat.)

Making the crema for this dish is as easy as it gets. A crema combines sour cream, heavy cream and your choice of seasonings. In this case we add some wasabi powder, prepared horseradish (it amps the wasabi), rice wine vinegar, lime juice, lime zest and salt. Blend the ingredients, taste and adjust seasoning and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors meld. Great on almost any fish, and tasty on veggies. Hard to go wrong here.

As for the other parts of the dish, we serve on corn and flour tortillas with a bunch of condiments. Cotija cheese, avocados, limes and salsa are all good, but we suggest you use the taco condiments you like. (We even use some celery root remoulade, yum). But one key extra step is that we “quick pickle” some of the radish and shredded cabbage in a sugar and salt mixture for 10-15 minutes, then add a dash of rice wine vinegar (recipe here). It softens the veggies a bit and adds a delightful sweet and sour tang that plays very well with the fish and crema. An extra step, but a good one. And since it only takes a few minutes to cook the tuna, you will have plenty of time.

Seared Ahi Tacos With Wasabi-Lime Crema:

Notes Before You Start:

• You can use any tuna steak, but since these are tacos, the more affordable Yellowtail or Tombo tuna are good choices.
• You can substitute any firm white fish for the tuna, just be sure to cook it to the desired temperature.
• Wasabi powder or paste is available in most gourmet or Asian markets.

What You Get: Fast, flavorful tacos with a bit of Mexico / Japan “fusion”.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? About 30 minutes. The tuna only takes a few minutes, the rest of the time depends on how you assemble you condiments.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

Wasabi-Lime Crema:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2-3 teaspoons wasabi powder
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• Zest of one lime
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Ahi Tacos:

• 2 tablespoons high-temperature cooking oil, like peanut oil
• 1 pound tuna steak(s), about 3/4 inch thick
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Corn tortillas
• Flour Tortillas
• 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup shredded cabbage (optionally quick pickled)
• 6 red radishes, thinly sliced (optionally quick pickled)
• Salsa, red or green (optional)
• 1 lime, cut into 8 pieces
• Hot sauce (optional)
• Cilantro or microgreens, for garnish

Assemble:

1. For the crema, place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until well combined. Taste and adjust flavors and seasoning. Cover and place the crema in the fridge.
2. For the tuna, dry the tuna steak of any external moisture and then lightly coat with 1 tablespoon of the oil and a light coating of salt and pepper. Heat a heavy and/or cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Add the tuna steak and cook on one side until seared and brown, 1-2 minutes (for rare) and then flip and cook another 1-2 minutes.
3. Remove the tuna from the heat, cut into the steak to test for doneness. If the tuna is cooked enough, slice it immediately. If not, let the tuna steak rest and test again for doneness every 20-30 seconds, it will continue to cook in its own heat. Slice immediately when the tuna reaches the desired doneness. Set aside.
4. Heat the tortillas on a 250 degree oven or in a large skillet over low heat. When warm and slightly toasted wrap in foil. Set aside.
5. To build the tacos, set up an “assembly line” of tortillas, tuna, veggies, cheese, salsa and the wasabi-lime crema. Garnish tacos with cilantro or microgreens. Top with a squeeze of lime juice and/or hot sauce. Serve.

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Wild-Eyed Rose cocktail.

(Note: Before you read on, we suggest you visit Liquid Culture Project and read about the Ile Saint-Honorat, one of the best cocktails we’ve had in quite a while. Then come back and see us.)

St. Patrick’s Day is coming, and while we are not big fans of the holiday (we explain below), we decided to play around a bit with Irish Whiskey. And this can be a bit of a tough task. Irish Whiskey is very tasty stuff, but is basically known for smooth flavor. Good for sipping on its own, or alongside a good beer (and we are all for a shot and a beer sometimes). But since Irish Whiskey lacks the smoke of Scotch, the spice of rye or the sweet of bourbon, it can get lost in many cocktails. With that in mind, there just aren’t that many cocktails that lead with Irish Whiskey.

But we do have the internet and an ever-growing stack of cocktail books to look through and it didn’t take long to find the Wild-Eyed Rose (we found it at Alcademics). This cocktail is a simple combination of Irish Whiskey, lime juice and grenadine. And, at first, you can look at this recipe and think it is one of the thousands of basic cocktail “trios” of spirits, sweet and sour. But on further inspection, there is a little more going on here, and the cocktail comes with a decent back story.

The recipe for the Wild-Eyed Rose is interesting in a number of ways. Firstly, it uses lime juice with whiskey, rather than the more traditional lemon juice. Secondly, it uses a whole lot of lime juice, a full ounce balanced against two ounces of whiskey and a half ounce of grenadine. This is a dry and strikingly sour sip, but you get just enough sweet at the end to keep you coming back (it certainly isn’t cloying). A good cocktail to start the evening and get your taste buds going. And the lime and cherry garnish is visually appealing (we are suckers for that kind of thing). Finally the drink came from famous pre-prohibition bartender Hugo Ensslin and his cocktail book “Recipes for Mixed Drinks“, so the cocktail comes from a master (CORRECTION: Ensslin wanted only the juice of 1/2 a lime- other recipes changed the original. Thanks to Doug Ford for the real scoop.) As for the name of the drink, it is a riff on the song “My Wild Irish Rose”, and as names go, it’s pretty good.

But this does get us to the whole St. Patrick’s Day thing. We love Irish people, food, spirits and beer, but we don’t need an excuse or a specific date to enjoy them. We suggest you enjoy them when you damn well please want. In fact, we have similar thoughts about all the “drinking holidays”. Celebrating with family and good friends over quality food and drink is something we should do whenever we can, and not just when the calendar says it’s OK. Any day we wake up is a day worth some celebration. We bet St. Patrick would agree.

The Wild-Eyed Rose:

(From Hugo Ensslin)

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Irish whiskey
• 1 oz. fresh lime juice (OR 1/2 oz for a sweeter sip)
• 1/2 oz. grenadine (recipe to make your own)
• Lime wedge for garnish
• Maraschino cherry for garnish

Assemble:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake thoroughly and strain (or double-strain) into a chilled cocktail glass, flute or coupé. Garnish with a lime wedge and maraschino cherry.

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Warm Mushroom and Arugula Salad.

We love to cook here at the farm (in case you couldn’t tell), but life still gets in the way sometimes. We have kids, jobs, community, family, the garden and just every day stuff that needs to get done (and baseball starts soon). And we are certainly not complaining (life is good), it just means we have less time than we would like to cook. That is why we make a point to always have (and look for) quick, easy one-plate dinners that use common ingredients. And this salad is one of those dishes. You can get the ingredients at almost any market, it takes maybe 20-30 minutes to make, it tastes great and sneaks in some veggies.

And it shouldn’t be a surprise that this recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s “Barefoot in Paris” cookbook. Ina’s recipes tend to use common, fresh ingredients and subs simple preparations over complex technique. And while purists may howl at times (don’t purists howl about everything?), her recipes do work. And as an ex-caterer, Garten’s recipes tend to require less extra time and prep than most. With that in mind, if we want to adapt a basic dish, Garten’s recipes are often where we start. And with this dish of warm sautéed cremini mushrooms and dressing over a bed of arugula and prosciutto, garnished with parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and parsley, we didn’t have to change all that much. The whole dish is one big “umami-bomb”, what’s not to like? (Unless you are a vegetarian, then just sub caramelized shallots or onion for the prosciutto).

But we do make a few significant changes to the recipe that, we think, improve the dish. Firstly, Ina tells you not to wash the mushrooms, but brush them clean instead, so they don’t absorb water. While many “old-school” chefs will tell you to brush, many current food-science oriented cooks like Alton Bron and Harold McGee have run many experiments showing that you can, and should, wash mushrooms. They just don’t soak up that much water and what they soak up will cook out. Save yourself 20 minutes of mind-numbing, ineffective brushing and wash those mushrooms. Secondly, Ina has you cook the mushrooms for just a few minutes, but to really get the golden brown, meaty flavor and texture out of the mushrooms you need to sauté them longer, more like 10-15 minutes. Take your time with the mushrooms and you will be rewarded, besides you have the 20 extra minutes you saved by washing the mushrooms.

As for assembling the dish, this is as easy as it gets. Rinse and dry some arugula (you could sub baby spinach), place it on the plates and drape over a few slices of prosciutto. Cut some slivers of parmesan cheese and dice a few tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes. Rinse and dry a few leaves of Italian parsley. Meanwhile, as you finish sautéing the mushrooms, add some sherry or cider vinegar to make a warm dressing. Taste the dressing and adjust vinegar and seasoning and then spoon the mushrooms and dressing over the greens. Garnish with the parm, sun-dried tomatoes and parsley. Season one last time, if you like, and serve. It really is that easy. And this dish really is that good.

Warm Mushroom and Arugula Salad

(Adapted from Ina Garten)

Notes Before You Start:

• If you choose to wash the mushrooms, and you should, just rinse them under lukewarm water and lightly scrub off any dirt. Then just give the mushroom a squeeze to get some water out and drain on a kitchen towel.
• The recipe suggests sherry vinegar, which has a sweeter profile than some vinegars. If you want a little more bite and brightness, use cider vinegar or add a dash of lemon juice to the final dish.

What You Get: A very easy, very flavorful one-plate meal.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? 20-30 minutes. “Anytime” dish.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4 as a lunch of light dinner, 6 as a side).

• 1 pound brown or “cremini” mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste
• 4 bunches fresh arugula (fills a medium-to-large salad bowl), washed and dried
• 8-12 slices of prosciutto (or Serrano ham)
• 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar (sub cider vinegar)
• Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil
• Italian parsley
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, optional

Assemble:

1. Cut the stems from the mushrooms and wash them. Then slice the mushrooms into 1/2 to 1/2 inch slices. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the butter, half of the oil, the mushrooms, salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms are golden brown, 10-15 minutes.
2. While the mushrooms cook, arrange the arugula on serving plates and layer over slices of the prosciutto. Shave slices from the parmesan, dice the sun-dried tomatoes and rinse off and dry a few dozen parsley leaves. Set garnishes aside.
3. When the mushrooms are done, add the remaining olive oil and the vinegar to the pan, stir until combined and a dressing forms. Taste and adjust vinegar and seasoning. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, if you like.
4. Spoon the mushrooms and dressing over the arugula and prosciutto on the plates. Garnish with the parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and parsley. Check and adjust seasoning. Serve.

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This is a peach blossom!

Spring is here at the farm, and not just in spirit, the blossoms and flowers are out. YES! The magnolias are in bloom. Our peach trees and blueberry bushes are in full flower. There are buds and new growth on the apple, pear and fig trees. The cherry and nectarine trees are almost there, just a day or two away. The herbs are green and the artichokes are sending up canes. Time to get back to work in the garden and orchard…..and we couldn’t be happier.

Blueberry blossom.

You know what this is…

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Marinated Tokyo Turnip Salad.

Spring is just about here in Norcal (we hope), and we are very excited to say goodbye to winter. It is almost time to get back in the garden and orchard, clean up the grill and smoker and spend some more time outside. And baseball opening day is just weeks away, sigh… But we aren’t quite there yet, so we are still eating winter veggies and making the most of our citrus. And this turnip salad recipe, while having a very light spring flavor, is very much a winter-ingredient dish.

And before you say “yuck, turnips”, we want to suggest you keep an open mind about the Tokyo or Hakurei turnip. These turnips are smaller, lighter, thinner skinned and crisper than your average turnip, in fact Tokyo turnips are very good in raw preparations and salads. And you don’t have to take our word for it, our boys and a friend tried, and loved, these turnips. If you can get kids to eat turnips you know you are onto something good. Tokyo turnips are a trendy ingredient these days, but are still uncommon in many supermarkets, you may have to go to a farmers market or Asian produce market to find them, but it is worth the effort.

While we are big fans of Tokyo turnips, they are a winter vegetable and do need a bit of extra work to really shine. And if we can make one generalization about winter vegetables is that they can be as good, and sometimes better, than spring or summer veggies, but usually there are a few extra steps to bring out the best flavors and textures. And this recipe is no exception. We adapted the recipe from Kevin Gillespie, Chef at Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill and Top Chef contestant. He recently wrote a cookbook “Fire In My Belly” and we have been working our way through the book (so far, so good). While many of the recipes are southern-influenced, Gillespie is a big advocate for local, organic food and this recipe comes more from that part of the book.

This salad combines marinated turnips with orange and blood orange supremes, a goat cheese and horseradish mixture and roasted nuts (Gillespie uses hazelnuts, we like almonds). While we simplify the recipe somewhat, we do keep some of the core techniques in place. The main trick here is to thinly slice the turnips and marinate them between two layers of plastic wrap. This may seem fussy (and you can skip it if you like) but this technique creates almost a vacuüm seal and really gets the flavor into the turnips. Worth a try. The other cool trick is to add some sour cream and prepared horseradish to the goat cheese, it adds real depth of flavor and the extra zip of the horseradish plays very well with both the turnips and oranges. A tiny dusting of curry powder at the end is also a nice touch and adds a little extra flavor and aroma.

In the end, you get a very satisfying salad with vegetal, spicy, sour and sweet flavors along with crisp, crunchy and creamy textures. In other words, a complete dish. This salad is great as a side and could even be the base of a light lunch. And while the recipes does take extra work, all the steps are easy, you just need to spend the added time. And since this dish is good enough to get kids to happily eat turnips, we thing it s time well spent.

Marinated Tokyo Turnip Salad

(Adapted from Kevin Gillespie)

Notes Before You Start:

• Tokyo or Hakurei turnips are small, white thin-skinned turnips you can find at farmers markets and some produce stands. There is not a direct substitute but use baby turnips if you cannot find Tokyo turnips.
• “Supremes” are simply wedges of citrus you cut from between the membranes (see photos). Cutting supremes is messy and takes a few minutes, but makes for better presentation and eating. Here is a good photo series.

What You Get: A very flavorful raw salad that makes the best of turnips.

What You Need: No special equipment required, but the thinner the turnip slices, the better. A small hand-slicer or mandolin will be a big help.

How Long? About 30-40 minutes with 20+ minutes of active time. It takes extra time to get the best of winter veggies, but this is still an “anytime” dish.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almonds or hazelnuts
• 2 oranges (Valencia or cara-cara are good)
• 2 blood oranges
• 6 Tokyo turnips, each about the size of a golf ball
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh soft goat cheese (like chevre’)
• 2 teaspoons sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion, scallion or chives
• 1 small pinch Madras curry powder

Assemble:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then coarsely chop.
2. Peel the oranges with a knife and cut supremes from each orange (see notes) place the supremes on a plate but reserve the peel, and squeeze the juice from the membrane into a bowl.
3. Wash the turnips, cut off their tops and rub off any rough patches of outer skin with a kitchen scrubber or towel. Slice the turnips, as thinly as you can, with a mandolin, hand-slicer or very sharp knife.
4. Tightly stretch a layer of plastic wrap on a baking sheet. Then lay the turnip slices, in a single layer, on the plastic wrap. Sprinkle on the rosemary, then squeeze the orange peels and a few sprinkles of orange juice onto the turnips. Drizzle on some honey and lightly season with some salt. Then stretch another layer of plastic wrap on top of the turnips to form a seal. Let the turnips marinate for 10-15 minutes. They will soak in flavor and soften.
5. In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, sour cream, horseradish and a pinch of salt. Mix until smooth, taste and adjust the salt if needed.
6. To assemble the plate, layer on or “shingle” the turnip slices. Sprinkle on the orange segments and then add in dollops of the goat cheese mixture. Garnish with some of the onion, the chopped almonds and a light dusting of the curry powder. Season with salt and pepper, if you like. Serve.

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The Jezebel Cocktail.

After a thoroughly enjoyable time hosting Mixology Monday, we are back to our regular weekly cocktail. Although in this case our weekly cocktail is really just a holdover from our MxMo experiments. And while it didn’t make the cut (for purely technical reasons- we had no photos) the Jezebel is a delightful cocktail that we will make any time we have some blood oranges on hand.

The Jezebel is a riff on the classic cocktail the White Lady, a simple combination of gin, lemon juice and Cointreau (some recipes include egg white for extra body). But for this drink we substitute blood orange juice for a bit of both the lemon juice and the Cointreau. And the extra berry notes, acidity, tartness and color of the blood oranges makes big difference (better than the original, IMHO).

Yes, we are on a bit of a blood orange kick (we are a seasonal food blog, after all). But it has been a tremendous season for blood oranges here in California, and we simply can’t resist one of our favorite fruits (and a number of MxMo participants seemingly agreed and used blood oranges in their recipes- very cool). And what makes this even more fun is that orange juice is traditionally a difficult citrus ingredient for cocktails. Flavors and acidity vary, and oranges are often just too sweet (and watery) to balance the base spirits. There are some classic exceptions like the Bronx cocktail, the Monkey Gland (horrible name) and the Screwdriver, but generally oranges are a difficult cocktail ingredient. Blood oranges are a whole different story, the only bummer is limited availability based on the season. But if it’s winter, go get some and start making drinks (the juice is great on its own, btw).

As for the name of the drink, we have the MxMo theme of “inverted” and one of our favorite blogs, Silver Screenings (a fantastic blog about classic movies, we can’t recommend the site enough) to thank. We wanted to invert the White Lady and decided that blood oranges would work, and the drink tasted great. Happily we were looking at Silver Screenings and asked, “what about using a classic movie name” and, of course, we immediately thought of the 1930′s Bette Davis movie “Jezebel“. We won’t give away much of the story, but we will say that respectable young ladies in the 19th century shouldn’t wear red to the ball when all the other bells wear white. In the 21st century, we may have cut Jezebel a little more slack, or maybe even bought her a drink….

The Jezebel Cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. dry gin
• 1/2 oz. Cointreau (or quality triple-sec)
• 1/2 oz. blood orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice.

Assemble:

1. Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well-chilled. Strain (or even better, double-strain) into a chilled cocktail glass, coupé or flute. Serve.

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Fried Fingerling Potatoes With Vanilla Salt.

One of our favorite things about cooking and blogging is that the more you cook, the more you learn. And when you share with others, inspiration and ideas come from all over the place. And that is the story of this dish. We made a pan seared flank steak a few nights ago and wanted a potato dish. We looked at our standard recipes but also looked for something new, and having hosted Mixology Monday this month, we had all sorts of ideas spinning around. But amidst the slight chaos here at the farm, we do have the occasional moment of clarity.

And that moment came from a cocktail recipe and a very pleasant memory. The cocktail recipe was Stir and Strain’s El Jardin de Mi Abuela (a Margarita variant) that included a vanilla salt rim. And that gave us a very pleasant memory. It came from our friend Chad. Chad is a professional chef and in his fine dining days he once served us a langoustine dish with a side of just a few french fries dusted with vanilla salt. The combination of sweet langoustine, potato, salt, fat and vanilla was simply delightful. And the light vanilla aroma was truly memorable. One of our favorite dishes. Ever.

We were not going to make french fries on short notice, but we did want to make a pan-fried fingerling potato recipe we saw at Serious Eats a while ago. That recipe uses duck fat (and that would be excellent), but we only had bacon fat and figured it would work with the recipe and we could add vanilla salt to enhance the dish. The recipe also has a few good pieces of technique, it has you boil the potatoes before slicing and frying them. Similar to how we steam our parsnips before roasting them, the extra cooking before the final roast/fry ensures even cooking. The recipe also has you start your potatoes in cold water and bring them up to heat with the water, again making the cooking more even. This is a fussy step for some potato recipes, but if you want to cook the potatoes twice and have them keep their shape, it makes good sense.

So while this dish does need a few extra steps, everything is very easy. To make the salt you simply split and scrape the tiny beans from a vanilla pod and combine with kosher salt. Mix them together and store in an airtight container with the used vanilla bean. Best to let the salt sit for a few hours so the vanilla aroma gets into the salt. As for the potatoes, you just boil them, then cool and slice them in half and then pan fry with a flavorful high-heat fat like duck, lard, bacon fat or beef drippings. And if you don’t want animal fat, peanut oil will work just fine. Then you serve immediately with a big sprinkle of the vanilla salt (don’t be sparing with the salt on potatoes).

So what do you get? Fried potatoes, of course, but just a bit better…and then a lot better. The smooth vanilla aroma will start to waft up and enhance the rich, crispy and salty potatoes. What we find with these potatoes is that the extra depth from the vanilla salt keeps them interesting, and tasty, from beginning to end. And we get the bonus of having a bunch of vanilla salt for cocktails as well…you may see a few of those in the coming weeks.

Fried Fingerling Potatoes With Vanilla Salt:

(Adapted from Serious Eats, Stir and Strain and Chef Chad)

Notes Before You Start:

• Fingerling potatoes are a very good for this dish. Their long and narrow shape, and firm flesh fit this kind of double cooking. If you can’t get fingerlings, use another small, medium to waxy potato. Mealy potatoes like russets will not work well and will likely fall apart.
• Most chefs will tell you the best fat for fried potatoes is duck fat. And it is very, very good. Lots of deep flavor. You can often get duck fat from your butcher. Beef fat, or tallow, is also good for fried potatoes. But bacon fat or peanut oil also work well.

What You Get: Beautiful, crispy and tasty potatoes with a little something extra.

What You Need: No special equipment required.

How Long? About 30-40 minutes for the potatoes, with 10 minutes of active time. The vanilla salt is best if made a few hours ahead, but only takes a few minutes to assemble.

Ingredients:

Vanilla Salt:

• 1 medium vanilla bean pod (3/4 large pod)
• 1/4 cup kosher salt

Potatoes:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds small fingerling potatoes, washed
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 3 tablespoons bacon fat, duck fat, beef drippings or peanut oil.

Assemble:

1. To make the salt, split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and kosher salt in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Store in an airtight container.
2. For the potatoes, place them in a large saucepan. Cover with water and add the 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then lower to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are just tender all the way through, about 10-15 minutes (pull out a potato and cut it to see if it’s done).
3. Remove the potatoes from the pot and strain any water. Let the potatoes cool and then slice in half lengthwise.
4. Place a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add the cooking fat. When the fat is hot, carefully add the potatoes, cut side down. Do not crowd the pan, work in batches if you need to. Move the heat to high and cook until the potatoes are golden brown, 5-6 minutes.
5. Remove the potatoes from the pan and drain on paper towels. Season with the vanilla salt and serve immediately.

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Pan Seared Flank Steak With Herb Butter.

Sometimes you just need some steak and potatoes. And here at the farm, after a few weeks of experimenting with kale recipes and creative Mixology Monday cocktails (think of it as a simultaneous mix of indulging and cleansing), a good back-to-basics dinner is always welcome. And this is where simple recipes really shine, a few good ingredients, a touch of extra time, a little technique and you have a very lovely meal. And there are few simpler, and few better, dishes than pan seared flank steak with herb butter (potato recipe coming soon).

Flank steak, even with its recent surge in popularity, is a relatively affordable cut of meat with deep, beefy flavor. The key to flank steak is to choose the right cooking method and to serve it thinly sliced against the grain. We can’t stress this enough. But unlike some cuts, the grain on a flank steak is very easy to see, just cut across it. And while it will look prettier if you cut diagonally (or “on the bias”), thin vertical cuts will give you the most tender meat.

As for the cooking method, we are all for outdoor high-heat grilling (or even a long, slow sous-vide cook, followed by grilling or pan-searing), but the quick, easy way to cook a flank steak is to pan fry it briefly in a very, very hot pan. Just be sure it is a heavy pan (cast iron is very good here), your kitchen is well-ventilated and you use a high-heat cooking fat like bacon fat or peanut oil. Then you cook the flank steak for 5-7 minutes (for medium-rare) on each side, until well-browned, then let it rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. The meat will finish its cooking during the rest, and the juices will also settle and not run all over your cutting board when you slice. Again, a little extra time makes a difference.

There are a few other steps that will help take this dish over the top. Pre-salting the meat at least 4 hours, and preferably 6-12 hours, before you cook will amplify the already excellent flavor of the steak. Wiping the steak dry with a paper towel, right before cooking, will remove excess moisture and help brown the outside of the steak and form a beautiful and flavorful crust. And if you want to be a bit fussy (and sometimes we do), take the steak out of the pan when you flip and wait 1-2 minutes before you cook the other side of the steak. The pan cools while you cook, so letting it reheat will help you evenly brown both sides. A few little things, but you will notice the difference.

The flank steak will taste great with most sauces, or even a dash of salt and a squeeze of lime, but we prefer to use a simple herb butter. Making herb butter, or any compound butter, is as easy as it gets, it just takes a little time. You just let butter soften and then mix in salt, pepper, chopped herbs (we usually use parsley, chives and another herb like thyme or oregano) and a bright element like lemon zest and/or minced shallots. Then place the herb butter on plastic wrap and roll/twist it into a log. Chill in the fridge for a few hours and then you have “instant sauce”. The herb butter works with fish, over veggies, on eggs and even splashes up your morning toast. As for us, we will serve it on our flank steak and be very, very happy. Now about those potatoes…

Pan Seared Flank Steak With Herb Butter:

Notes Before You Start:

• Cooking times will vary slightly based on thickness of your steak. If using a meat thermometer, pull the steak from the heat when the thick part of the steak reaches 120-125 degrees. The internal temperature will go up another 5-10 degrees. If you do not have a meat thermometer, you can test doneness by feel (tricky) or simply make a small cut in the steak and check visually.

What You Get: A very tasty steak. A good dish for an informal dinner party.

What You Need: A heavy skillet. No other special equipment required, but you will want to be sure your kitchen is well-ventilated.

How Long? The steak can be ready in about 20 minutes. But you will need at least a few hours to pre-salt the steak and make the herb butter. A good dish to prepare in the morning and then cook in the evening.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

Herb Butter:

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon salt (a little more if using unsalted butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, etc.)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

Steak:

• 1 flank steak, about 1 1/2 – 2 pounds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons high heat cooking fat like bacon fat or peanut oil
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 lime (optional)

Assemble:

Herb Butter:

1. Combine the softened butter, salt, pepper, chopped herbs and zest in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.
2. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on a flat surface and then put the butter mixture on the plastic wrap. Roll the plastic around the butter and twist at the ends to form a log. Chill in the fridge until hard, about 1-2 hours.

Steak:

1. If pre-salting, rub the olive oil and salt all over the steak and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
2. Place a large heavy skillet over very high heat. Turn on the kitchen fan and/or open some windows. When hot, place the cooking oil into the pan.
3. Dry the steak with a paper towel and then place in the pan. Cook, without moving, for 5-7 minutes. Then remove the steak from the pan and place it on a plate. Let the pan reheat for 1-2 minutes and then place the steak back in the pan, uncooked side down, and cook another 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove the flank steak from the pan, plate it on a large plate or cutting board and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Thinly slice the steak, across the grain, and then saeson and sprinkle with some fresh lime juice, if you like. Slice the herb butter and serve 1 or 2 pats of the herb butter on the steak.

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