Category Archives: Musings

  • The Farm At The Beach

    July 31, 2012

    11 Comments

    Breathe. Relax. Read a book.

    Well, we are back. Or at least settled. We are now at our “home-away-from-home” on the east end of Long Island. One of our favorite places in the world. I guess you can call it a “home” because we have plenty of friends and family here, and we pretty much know where everything is. That may seem simplistic, but part of being comfortable is familiarity. We cooked in three different kitchens in the last thee days but pretty much knew where everything was. Other people’s kitchens are a tough place to cook, but we know our way around. We can get back to business. But before we cooked, the first business was meeting the two newest members of our extended family. Beautiful babies and happy, if somewhat tired, parents. We can almost field a football team with all the cousins- which is very, very cool. We are so blessed and lucky, and the babies give us a reminder of just how good life is. And they are cute, too.

    Radishes are in season here, and very tasty.

    And we did get back to cooking. In many of our posts, we mention that certain dishes and drinks are good for a crowd. Well, we put a few to the test already. Most meals over the weekend fed groups of 15-20. So far, so good- but we do have a few notes and revisions. And, happily, mostly to the good. As for the actual food, we tend to have simply prepared fish and shellfish as our main courses. Seared ahi tuna, roasted striped bass, sea scallops and steamed clams made it to the table over the weekend, and will be part of almost every dinner this week. Most were caught within the last day or so. The fish is so fresh you don’t need to do much (just don’t screw them up), so we focused on sides that highlight the seafood or feature the local produce.

    The coconut rice goes well with the local fish. A big hit- we will make this throughout the trip.

    Firstly, we had fresh local radishes and served them with butter and salt. Always easy, always good. (My Dad also makes kick-ass guacamole every day, but that is another post). The biggest hit so far is the coconut rice. The rice went very well with the seared, rare ahi tuna (steaks almost 2 inches thick and sooo good). Served with a dash of soy and some cilantro chutney (working on that recipe), it was a perfect fit. A table of 16 were all very happy. One note here, we made the coconut rice with “Light” coconut milk, as the store was out of regular coconut milk. If anything, the light coconut milk gave the dish plenty of flavor, but perhaps a slightly lighter texture. Good to know that we can make a lower-calorie version of the original.

    We added fresh corn kernels to the Red Cat zucchini- it was great.

    Another surprise was how well the coconut rice went with the Red Cat zucchini. The dish comes from here, so everyone enjoyed it (the zucchini was right from the CSA), but as the dish is more Mediterranean, we are surprised how well the flavors meshed. Another note here- we added some fresh corn kernels to the zucchini and they added lovely texture and sweetness. If you have corn, give this a try. The next day we took the leftover coconut rice and combined it with the zucchini and corn. It made a delightful cold summer salad.

    As for the cocktails, we made fresh Tommy’s-style margaritas every day (2 oz. blanco tequila, 1 oz. gave nectar, 1 oz. lime juice). But the big hit was the Lani Honi. As predicted, everyone thought of it as a lemony summer punch with a little extra depth. We served a pitcher alongside the margaritas and the Lani Honi held its own. We had requests for more the next day. Very good.

    As expected, a perfect drink to make for a crowd.

    Lastly we made a punch-sized batch of the Nouvelle Fleur. The drink was a success, but did need some tweaking. In the original recipe we used ruby-red grapefruit and the flavors meshed very well. Out here, we used white grapefruit and the drink was way too sour. Happily, a little extra St. Germain and some agave nectar did the trick and the Nouvelle Fleur was a success, particularly with grapefruit fans. But a quick reminder that it pays to taste your drinks and adjust as necessary.

    A great punch, but we needed to adjust for more sour white greapefruit.

    Today we are off to the CSA garden and then looking for corn and stone fruits. And just wait until we start talking about the pies…oh my. We have new photos and recipes coming all week! It’s good to be back.

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  • The Colonial Garden: Williamsburg, VA

    July 27, 2012

    19 Comments

    A prosperous farmer might have this view.

    Posting from the road for a few days, but we couldn’t resist sharing garden photos from our visit to Williamsburg. For those unfamiliar, Williamsburg is a recreation of an 18th century American colonial town in the time of the revolution (not as hokey as you might think). The town is full of period-costumed staff and many activities (fun for kids) but we were most impressed by the landscaping and architecture. Williamsburg is a very beautiful town.

    You might have an ornamental garden.

    Our favorite places in the town were the gardens of the houses. Many are hidden, but you can tour them, or simply ask and find yourself in a garden that isn’t much different from it was 250 years ago. Our highlight was the vegetable garden.It looks like a garden most gardeners would be proud to have. Gardens don’t change much, just the tools evolve. You could say the same about people.

    Hope you enjoy the photos.

    Vegetable garden- wood supports instead of metal.

    Some people would actually pay extra for this type of wheelbarrow these days.

    Not that much changes in the gard Continue reading →

  • Radishes With Butter And Salt (And Moments Of Perfection)

    June 14, 2012

    22 Comments

    Radishes with butter and salt, a perfect trio.

    Late post today. Our eldest and I went to the Giants game last night and stayed late to watch Matt Cain pitch the franchise’s first perfect game in 130 years. As we occasionally hint in the blog, all of us are lifelong Giants fans. We have seen Bonds’ home runs, All-Star games, Timmy’s Cy Youngs, World Series losses and (glorious) victory and everything in between. And there was nothing quite like the perfect game. Everything comes together in one game. A brief, brilliant spark of pure joy and surprise. And for the players it was the moment when the orchestra is perfectly in tune and the conductor is at his best. A sweet reward for a lifetime of effort.

    But in baseball, it is a lifetime of effort that is always filled with failure. Even the best baseball players fail, in some way, in almost every game. The best learn to accept failure and build more towards a lifetime body of work. That is what makes perfect games or championships so special. Not simply that you were the best on “X” day, but because the players must overcome failure to get there. Success is all the sweeter when reached through failure. You grow, you improve, you build.

    Mixed radishes, fresh from our garden.

    If you garden or cook (or simply raise a family) this should ring true. While you may not toil in the spotlight, gardening and cooking are a lifetime of successes and failures. And some you simply cannot control. The beds were perfect, you checked the soil, picked the right seeds and watered on time. But the blight or frost came anyway. Green became brown. Fail. You picked the perfect recipe, shopped on time, did your prep and cooked like a pro. But the guests came late, one of the kids sprained an ankle and the roast stayed in the oven too long. Medium-burnt. Fail.

    But after a few well-placed “words”, you start again. There is always the next meal, day, week, season and year. And when the successes come they are sweet, and they are shared with those you love. When the cocktail is tasty and the guests are happily chatting, the kids eat the (perfect) fish and the dessert made from the fruit that you grew has been totally devoured, then you have it. A perfect meal, a perfect day, a perfect moment. And well-earned. And well-remembered. Think of those moments, and we bet you have a few that stick with you, and those you love, to this day. Brief, brilliant sparks of love, joy and content. The glow from those sparks lasts a long time.

    In the garden, harvest is often that special moment. This week we have cherries, berries and radishes. More on the fruit soon, but as for the radishes we will give you a “perfect” recipe to enjoy any time. Fresh radishes with butter and salt. How do we know it’s perfect? Because pretty much every celebrity cook, cookbook author and blogger has posted a version of this recipe at some time or other. But since we actually grew these radishes, we (selfishly) think we can post on it too. And it is a very tasty, and easy, dish.

    And we are big fans of radishes, both as cooks and gardeners. In the home garden radishes are a great crop. They grow to harvest in 3-4 weeks (the name comes from the Greek Raphanus meaning “quickly appearing”), work in many climates and compliment many cuisines. Radishes grow in spring and fall, so we stagger our crop over a few weeks to get radishes though most of both seasons. And, frankly, they are hard to mess up. While gardening is filled with failures, crops like zucchini and radishes do offer the opportunity for a few “quick wins”- and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    While we like quick-pickling radishes or using them for crunch and heat in salads, we usually just eat them out of hand. We enjoy their crunch and light, peppery heat (the kids like them too, so that is a big bonus). Serving radishes with butter and salt simply creates a more balanced dish. The sweet, creamy butter and the salt add more dimension to the radish. And all you need to do is slice some radishes and put some butter and salt into a few bowls and serve. This is a great summer dish- easy, but full of flavor.

    Continue reading →

  • Versatile Blogger Award

    June 11, 2012

    11 Comments

    We are very grateful to be nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award by one of our favorite blogs, wifemeetslife.

    So here are the rules:

    • Thank the blogger who nominated you.
    • Nominate seven other blogs that you think are amazing.
    • Tell the blogging world seven things about yourself.

    Wifemeetslife features good recipes, gardening and a hedgehog. Yes, a hedgehog. IMHO, if the hedgehog makes the blog, you need to check it out…;-). Thanks Alison!

    As for the seven other blogs we like, the only problem is that there are way more than seven. One of the great surprises of blogging is how much we enjoy reading other blogs. Our cooking, gardening and bartending are much better, and the sheer volume of amazing photos out there is truly remarkable. As it is, here are seven blogs we love:

    • Promenade Plantings: A simply lovely gardening and cooking blog with a generous spirit. This may not be their first nomination, but still well-deserved.
    • The Boo Lion: Well-written, passionate cocktail blog all the way from Taiwan. And the drinks are good. We don’t miss a post.
    • Stefan’s Gourmet Blog: Great cooking and eating blog. Detailed, well-written recipes.  Stefan’s posts convinced us to get a sous-vide cooker. A good decision, it turns out.
    • Life in The Foothills: A blog about life in the country and a genuine appreciation for the land and where you live. Recipes, wildlife photos and scenes from the Sierra foothills, plus a fruit-stealing fox. Cool.
    • Sybarite Sauvage: Irreverent, funny writing that happens to include good wine reviews. Always gives you a smile, even if you don’t drink wine (oh, but we do…;-)
    • MaggiesOneButtKitchen: Great, and we mean great, baking blog. Amazing what she can do.
    • Mike’s Look On Life: Mike is a photographer with an eye for austere beauty that is unique and, at times, heartrending. Our guess is that his work will extend beyond the blogosphere, should he so choose.

    Oleander from the pasture. The quail like to hang out underneath.

    And seven things about Putney Farm:

    1. The blog truly is “us”. The parents both cook, bake, garden, mix drinks, write and take photos. The kids give “unfiltered” feedback…and plenty of it. The dog and cat try to keep the varmints in check, albeit with mixed results. A true team effort.
    2. We are proud (and sometimes tortured) fans of the San Francisco Giants.
    3. We love good, hand-made cocktails but still sometimes enjoy frozen margaritas from a machine. We are unashamed.
    4. We do make about 10 pounds of home-cured bacon every 2 weeks and share with friends. It goes pretty quick.
    5. Our kitchen is more than just a kitchen. Our garden is more than just a garden.
    6. We try to be grateful for every day. Sometimes we get caught in the weeds. Times with family and friends get us to open pastures.
    7. And we always like to leave you with a few photos….in this case a few from our pastures:

    Due south.

    One of many oaks.

    The bee boxes. Busy and happy with the heat.

    Flotsam and jetsam.

  • Fireworks In Slow Motion

    June 8, 2012

    14 Comments

    Boom.

    I am sure we are not the first to think of this, even the ancient Chinese named their fireworks for flowers, but the flowers in our gardens are simply fireworks with a very slow burn. Different colors, shapes and sizes. Some linger, some burst, some change before our eyes. But they always delight us. Ask yourself, “have I ever been bored by fireworks?” or “are there ever too many flowers in the garden?”. I think we all know the answer.

    Note the insect on the nasturtium.

    More bugs, see the grasshopper on the zucchini blossom.

    Not exactly a flower, but a welcome blossom, nonetheless…

    The flowers even have their own sound-effects, happily supplied by the bees. The constant hum and buzz is a reminder that nature is all around us and, if left uninterrupted, supplies us with a constant stream of beauty and inspiration. Some flowers become honey, other blossoms bring fruit and some simply calm the soul. 

    Melon blossom. A sign of sweet things to come.

    Continue reading →

  • Cooking Sous-Vide At The Farm

    June 8, 2012

    15 Comments

    Sous-vide cooker for the home. It works.

    The more we cook, the more we understand that time and temperature are the keys to good cooking. And it has always been this way in the kitchen. For generations good cooks understood that, for many dishes, low-and-slow transforms even the lowliest ingredients into the best meals. And we use our dutch oven, slow cooker and smoker in many meals to take advantage of low-and-slow, particularly for larger, tougher cuts of meat. We do like our beef brisket and pork shoulder.

    Temperature-controlled water bath with racks to manage space.

    But when cooking steaks, chicken pieces or fish, the slow cooker or smoker are usually not practical options. Most of these meats are fried, seared or roasted in the pan and/or oven, or grilled on the barbecue. The problem with these high-heat methods is that the heat is applied unevenly on the meat. So even with good technique  you get a well-done exterior that moves towards the desired doneness in the center of the meat (assuming you don’t overcook the whole thing). The only real bonus of high-heat cooking is the extra flavor you get from browning / caramelizing. Most traditional cooking methods can’t fully overcome a fundamental challenge- how do we cook and brown this irregularly shaped food without overcooking it?

    Grass-fed ribeye steaks. These are real good- best not to screw it up.

    Sous-vide (French for “under vacuum”) cooking is a solution to this challenge. Basically a slow-cooker for individual cuts of meat, fish and poultry, sous-vide cooking gives the home cook exact control of cooking temperature that’s applied uniformly to the meat. And it works pretty much every time- as long as you have the time. The approach here is pretty simple, a water bath is heated to a specific temperature and the protein (or vegetable) is vacuum-sealed into a bag and the bag is placed in the water. The bag keeps the meat from leaking juices or breaking apart into the water bath. The proteins slowly, and uniformly, cook to the temperature in the water bath. Once done, the protein can be briefly seared to add the tasty browned flavors and improve appearance. It is a neat trick and it really works. If you ever wonder how busy high-end restaurants get their steaks or fish right every time, sous-vide is often the answer.

    Vacuum-sealing the steaks. This takes less than a minute.

    We’ve been reading Stefan’s Gourmet Blog and his results cooking sous-vide always looked great. And as we recently purchased 1/4 of a grass-fed cow from Stemple Creek Ranch, we wanted a cooking method that made the most of the flavor of the beef. So we took the plunge and bought a sous-vide cooker (we got one on sale, but expect the setup to run somewhere between $350 – $500, so it’s not cheap). So far we have tried cooking halibut, salmon and Stefan’s cod recipe. All were perfectly cooked.

    Cook for 1.5 – 2 hours at 125 degrees.

    The next thing we tried was making a good steak using sous-vide. Not ones to be cautious, we went right to making ribeye steaks. We followed the new procedure, sous-vide cook at desired temperature (in this case 125 degrees for rare-to – medium rare) for 2 hours and then sear the meat briefly to brown the surface. Frankly, the meat, while perfectly cooked, is very unattractive unless you brown it. You can use a hot skillet, grill or even a blowtorch, but we just went with a rocket-hot cast-iron skillet. This browning method worked with just 30-45 seconds of searing on each side. Then we rested the meat for a few minutes and cut it into slices to serve. The first thing we noticed was that the meat was seared on the outside but then the same pink color all the way through, no gray layer, just perfectly cooked meat. So we found the sous-vide approach to cooking steaks was a real success, as long as you have the extra time. Our standard cooking method is here, and that takes 20 minutes. But with expensive, high-quality steaks, we think the extra time is worth it. And if you are entertaining, you can hold the meat at the perfect temperature and then sear just before serving, so sous-vide is a good tool when cooking for a group. Continue reading →