putneyfarm

The best thing going

February 21, 2012

2 Comments
I have lust in my heart....

These are fresh bay scallops from Gardiners Bay in Long Island. The real thing. There are not many to be had and the season is not long, but they are about the best thing going- get them if you can. (You probably won’t, NYC restaurants get them all). My buddy Chad is cooking these now and I am jealous. Very jealous.

Usually, after getting the scallops out of the shell, Chad heats a pan until it is super-hot, adds oil and the scallops and cooks for 30 seconds, pulls them off the heat and adds salt and pepper. The carry-over heat finishes the scallops to perfect doneness. That is all you need for perfection. The scallops are so sweet they taste like seafood caramel. Trust me, this is a good thing, a very good thing.

Chad sent me the photo out of friendship, and spite, as he is eating these right now… Grumble, at least it is 70 degrees here….;-)
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes Tags: bay scallops, chad callahan
Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya (and King Cake)

February 20, 2012

1 Comment
It is Mardi Gras and every year we make a basic jambalaya and king cake. Truth be told, Carolyn uses a King Arthur Flour kit for the king cake, it is one of the few things she does not make from scratch. But the cake is sooooo good and it looks great- the kids and I love it. So does everyone else. A few years age we had a houseguest (and good friend) who liked it so much he ate half the cake over a day. He is still sheepish about that, but we understood entirely. Sweet, moist cake with almond paste is hard to pass up!

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Dessert, Dinner, Entertaining Tags: andouille, jambalaya, king cake, mardi gras celebrations, sausage and shrimp jambalaya

Weekly Cocktail #3: The Whiskey Smash

February 18, 2012

1 Comment
I got a bottle of rye whiskey this week. It is trendy to drink rye these days, but I like the taste of rye quite a bit. To me, it is less-sweet bourbon with some spicy flavor. Rye has familiar flavors, but is different enough to justify seeking out for specific cocktails. I certainly understand why Manhattan fans prefer a good rye to bourbon.

But I am not a Manhattan lover (sorry, too sweet for me), so I experimented with rye cocktails this week. We have lemons and mint in the garden, and I stumbled on the Whiskey Smash, which uses both. It turns out that in the first half of the 20^th century the Whiskey Smash was a very, very popular drink. Think “Cosmo popular”. Then it wasn’t. Rye went out of style and the Smash went with it. But Rye is back, and the Whiskey Smash deserves a comeback as well. Then, if there is any karma in the world, maybe the Cosmo will go away, along with the Appletini. One can only hope. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, From The Garden, Whiskey / Rye Tags: cocktail recipe, Cocktails, rye whiskey, whiskey smash, whiskey smash recipe
Our “Best” Recipe: Mussels Meuniere (mussels steamed in white wine)

February 17, 2012

4 Comments
It is the “best” recipe? No, of course not. I don’t believe that with food, there is the “best” anything. Tastes vary. One person’s epiphany is another person’s “meh”. Such is life.

But this mussel dish is our best, because it has a deeper meaning to Carolyn and I. When we first starting cooking together over twenty years ago, this was one of the first dishes we made for each other and then for friends. Mussels meuniere became a starting point for a lifetime of cooking together (along with our Christmas parties, but more on those adventures later). Our repertoire has grown over the years and we make much more complicated dishes, but mussels meuniere is still something we make on special occasions. It is a simple dish, but for us it represents something more, something wonderful. You may have a dish like this. I hope you have a dish like this. If not, there is always time. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Dinner, Lunch / Salads / Sides, Musings Tags: family cooking, gluten free, mussels, mussels meuniere, seafood

Adventures in Home Charcuterie: Corned Beef, Part 1

February 16, 2012

2 Comments
In five days this brisket will become corned beef

Having had a success with Michael Ruhlman’s homemade bacon recipe we decided to buy his book Charcuterie and start curing, drying and pickling at home. This is a “farm”, after all, we might as well try act like it. We already pickle a lot of our veggies, but will expand into fermentation and preservation. We are making bacon on a regular basis and experimenting with different cures and smoke (trying maple bacon and applewood smoking this week). But as St. Patricks Day is next month we figured we should try and make our own corned beef for corned beef and cabbage. (Before you even say it, I know that “nobody eats corned beef and cabbage in Ireland”. But, so what? Its good, their loss.) Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Dinner, Home-Cured Meats, Lunch / Salads / Sides Tags: charcuterie, corned beef, family cooking, home charcuterie, home curing, michael ruhlman
Gougeres: Cheese puffs that sound, and taste, better in French

February 15, 2012

5 Comments
“Gougeres” sounds better than “cheese puff”. It just does. Just as escargot sounds better than…snail. And “C’est la vie” is much, much better than “tough luck”. You get the idea. Such is the endless advantage of all things that are, or sound like they are, French.

And gougeres not only sound great, they look and taste great. As you would expect from a “puff”, gougeres are light and “puffy” in texture, like a popover. But gougeres also feature extra richness and flavor from butter and cheese that makes for a special combination. The French pretty much exist to come up with this stuff. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Entertaining, Lunch / Salads / Sides Tags: baking, cheese puff, easy french food, french dishes, gougere, gougeres

Putney Farm

Get some good food. Cook it. Share with friends. Have a cocktail.

Author Archives: putneyfarm

The best thing going

Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya (and King Cake)

Weekly Cocktail #3: The Whiskey Smash

Our “Best” Recipe: Mussels Meuniere (mussels steamed in white wine)

Adventures in Home Charcuterie: Corned Beef, Part 1

Gougeres: Cheese puffs that sound, and taste, better in French

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