Putney Farm

Orchard Update: The Battle Begins!

May 11, 2012

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Loquats on one of our older trees. The squirrels love these. We will use them in chutney-like preparations.

Spring is the season of hope. And just as the winter citrus crop is gone, we move to the orchard. And this year the orchard is looking very hopeful with cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, loquats, apples and pears all off to a good start. The big question is not if we will have a good crop, the question is who will get to enjoy it- us or the varmints? I hope we get to enjoy the fruit, but the rascally rodents of Putney Farm will certainly come calling, and we will have a fight on our hands. We hope we win.

Orange Blossom and happy honeybee. Citrus season is pretty much over.

While we have our share of pests to fight in the garden, the orchard is a totally different deal. The garden is partly caged with raised beds and wire mesh to fight the gophers, moles, etc. We fight the bugs organically, and it works pretty well. In the orchard, we are also (mostly) organic, but it’s a full-on battle. Birds, squirrels, wood rats, gophers and all sorts of blights go after our trees and fruit with gusto. And once the fruit is even close to ripe, the hordes will descend upon us. We get better every year at protecting the crop (and yes that means killing a bunch of gophers and wood rats), but we are far from victory.

Early peaches showing some color.

But for now, all is beautiful. When we first venture into the orchard, it is hard to see the fruit, but suddenly we see dozens, sometimes hundreds of small peaches, plums and cherries. The colors are just developing and the fruits are small, but we just know how good the fruit can be. It makes us smile, every time. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Garden and Orchard, Musings Tags: berry patch, cherry, fruit orchard, orchard, peach, plum, putney farm
Garden Update: Planting and Harvesting

May 10, 2012

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Nasturtium in the garden

Exciting times for us here at the “farm”. We finished our planting and are harvesting some of our early season fruits and veggies. So far, we harvested our spring potatoes and now the blueberries, strawberries and artichokes are in full swing. The herbs are going crazy with the heat. The mint, as always, is trying to take over the garden (so are the potatoes, for that matter).

Let’s start with the harvest. Our blueberries struggled with the variable weather a few weeks ago, the alternating rain and heat swelled the berries, but they had little flavor. With the last few weeks of consistent sun, they are taking off and the flavor is concentrated and far sweeter. We have 4 large bushes (and a few stragglers) and they each provide blueberries with slightly different flavors. Fun to taste for the differences if you like to geek up on these things (and we do). Happily for the next month or two we will get at least 1/2 pint of blueberries a day, some days a lot more. The bushes are surprisingly productive and we often have to work to keep up. These are good problems to have.

Blueberries- if they pull-off easily, they are ready.

The strawberries are also taking off. We cleaned and de-slugged the beds a few weeks ago to coincide with the warm, sunny weather. Since then the beds are doing great. The first crop is usually a bit funky in flavor and shape, but most of the plants are looking good. We won’t be able to keep up with the strawberries as we move into summer, the bed has over 30 active plants and when they get going, they get going. Needless to say, you will be seeing strawberry cocktail and dessert recipes a lot in the coming months.

Strawberry in raised container. This keeps the berry off the ground and limits rot.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Garden and Orchard, Musings Tags: artichokes, baby artichokes, blueberry, food, garden, harvest, putney farm, strawberry

Quick Pickles

May 9, 2012

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Quick Pickles

Its is getting summery here at Putney Farm and when we cook for summer we start thinking about pickles. Really? Well, yes. Few ingredients get less attention that the lowly pickle, but few make such a difference in summer cooking. Bread and butter pickles on pulled pork and burgers? Check. Cool dill pickle spears? Check. Refrigerator pickles with your home-grown cucumbers? Check. Sweet gherkins or salty cornichons in the potato salad? Check. Home-made relish for your dogs? Check. We think you get the idea- the sourness, acidity and crunch of pickles compliment almost any rich dish.

We make our own refrigerator pickles every summer (recipe soon) and have a love affair (that is not too strong a description) with Horman’s Best Pickles in New York. Horman’s red flannel bread and butter pickle chips are one of the best foods in the world (and no, that is also not too strong a description). We are also enjoying Sonoma Brinery pickles locally. But when we need an instant “pickle fix”, we like to make a simple quick pickle from cucumbers and radishes. These pickles take all of 10-15 minutes to make and are great for a snack, condiment or side salad.

Now you may say “what’s the big deal” with a quick pickle. Well, we will tell you that some of the best chef’s in the world use pickles to add instant crunch and brightness to their cooking. As we often mention, the best recipes blend a range of flavors and textures, and pickles add acid, sweet, sour and crunch. A neat trick for so little work. It is not surprising that chefs like David Chang and Hugh Acheson use quick (and fermented) pickles in many of their award-winning dishes. And this recipe combines some of their techniques from Chang’s Momofuku Cookbook and Acheson’s A New Turn in the South.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Lunch / Salads / Sides, Vegetables Tags: momofuku pickle, pickle recipe, pickles, quick pickle, quick pickle recipe, radish pickle
Weekly Cocktail #12: The Cherry Fling

May 8, 2012

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Cherry Fling Cocktail

A few things came together recently to provide us with this week’s cocktail, the Cherry Fling. Firstly, our friend Roger came over for dinner and happened to see a bottle of genever on the bar and was curious. Secondly, cherries are in season (yes!). One thing leads to another and we get the Cherry Fling Cocktail.

As for the cherries, ours are green and on the tree, but the farmers market had some beautiful early-season Bing cherries. The cherries were a deep, dark red and very sweet but with some tart notes. The cherries will end up in pies and ice cream soon, but we wanted something now, so we went right for a cocktail. We did some research and found a few good cocktail recipes using fresh cherries, like the Ruby Tuesday (good drink, btw), that include whiskey as the base spirit. In fact, most fresh cherry cocktails have bourbon or rye as the base spirit and add lemon juice. But Carolyn didn’t want a “brown drink” and I was thinking limes rather than lemons with the cherries (I love cherry limeade, yum). Limes, however, don’t usually go with rye or bourbon. Luckily, this led us right to the genever.

So how did we come up with a cherry and genever cocktail? As we mentioned, our friend Roger came over for dinner the other night. We made Roger a genever Old Fashioned that was very tasty and reminded us that quality genever can easily replace rye or bourbon in many cocktails. For those of you unfamiliar with genever (also known as Hollands gin or jenever), it is an early form of gin made in the pot-style stills most often associated with making whiskey. Like dry gin, genever has juniper and botanical flavors, but also features malty notes and a heavier mouthfeel. Good stuff. We like Genevieve from Anchor Distilling but Bols also makes a well-regarded genever. Genever is often taken straight or on the rocks, but mixologists also use genever as a slightly lighter, more herbal substitute in “brown” drinks, or to add more body and depth to cocktails that use dry gin. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, From The Garden, Gin Tags: bing cherries, cherry cocktail recipe, cherry fling cocktail, cherry lime cocktail, cocktail recipe, cocktail recipes, genever gin, putney farm cocktails

Cocktails at Martin’s West

May 6, 2012

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Kumquat Crofter cocktail at Martin’s West

Note: This is the first of (hopefully) many posts introducing our readers to cocktail spots in the San Francisco Bay Peninsula and South Bay. Good cocktails have reached us here in the ~~sticks~~ suburbs and country and we encourage locals to try these places. If you are out of the bay area, you can still read about some great drinks and get some inspiration.

For many bay area residents, downtown Redwood City is probably not the first place they would look for a gastropub. And if you are curious, “gastropub” is a recent term to define a British-inspired pub that features high-end food and spirits. Gastropubs are not “bangers and mash” joints, but truly high-end restaurants and bars that feature local, artisinal foods and quality spirits. Gastropubs led Britain’s unlikely charge to the heights of international cuisine, so it is a treat to have a good gastropub in the heart of the peninsula.

And this brings us to Martin’s West in Redwood City. Established in 2009, Martin’s West is a true gastropub located in the historic Alhambra building, a refurbished old-time saloon and theater, first opened in 1896. The current space features tall ceilings, and exposed bricks and beams, giving it an eclectic, pub-inspired interior. The main room features a long wooden bar with plenty of stools, multiple tables, cozy booths and even an alcove by the front windows. Martin’s West is a welcoming spot that feels comfortable like a pub, but also polished, refined, and slightly metropolitan.

In addition to the comfortable, welcoming atmosphere, Martin’s West features Scottish-inspired food from local ingredients, a great beer selection and a deep menu of single-malt scotch. We are big fans of chef Michael Dotson’s food at Martin’s West (the house-made pickles and charcuterie are favorites), but we are frequent visitors for the cocktails. Led by GM/partner Moira Beveridge, Martin’s West regularly features 10-20 cocktails with a good mix of old-time and creative, modern drinks using fresh, seasonal ingredients. We posted on the popularity of the Moscow Mule, and Martin’s is known for their interpretations of the Manhattan, and these drinks are worth a visit. But we were lucky enough to visit Martin’s West just as they added a few new cocktails to the menu.

Sunny Brae Cocktail at Martin’s West

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: Cocktail Recipes, Musings, Reviews and Notes Tags: cocktail review, martin's west, martin's west cocktails, peninsula cocktails, silicon valley cocktails, south bay cocktails
Fried Baby Artichokes

May 3, 2012

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Fried Baby Artichokes With Remoulade

More artichokes and deep-frying this week. But unlike our Rapini Fritto Misto, this recipe is as easy as deep-frying gets, and the results are one of the best ways you can enjoy artichokes. The only challenge is getting the baby artichokes.

Baby or “spring” artichokes are simply small artichokes that have yet to develop tough leaves or thorns and can be eaten (mostly) whole. You can find them at the farmers market early in the spring and fall growing seasons. The problem is that artichokes grow so quickly that sometimes our local farmer/supplier can’t pick enough of the baby artichokes to meet demand. And there is plenty of demand from chefs and home cooks (and the growers wisely keep some for themselves). So far we have detected a pattern that if it’s warm and sunny the artichokes will be bigger and we will miss out on the baby artichokes. If it is cold and rainy we seem to have better supply. But this is a small, local sample, so who knows?

Happily, last week we scored some absolutely beautiful baby artichokes that were no more than 2 inches in size. We normally cook the baby artichokes with potatoes. But this week we decided to try a recipe Carolyn saw on TV. Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa, again. But Ina and Alice Waters rarely let us down with their veggie recipes, so we decided to give this one a try. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Lunch / Salads / Sides, Vegetables Tags: artichoke, artichoke recipe, baby artichoke recipe, baby artichokes, fried artichoke, fried artichoke recipe, fried baby artichoke recipe, spring artichoke