Tag Archives: Cocktails

  • BLT’s VIP Popovers

    January 10, 2013

    52 Comments

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    BLT Popovers.

    We have plenty of recipes worth sharing here at the farm, but sometimes the back story is a bit harder for us to come up with. This isn’t one of those times. These popovers are a truly delightful dish (are any popovers bad?), but the story that comes with them is one of our favorites. It goes back to summer…

    pop3pop4…when we visited a friend in Washington DC. We were on our way to Williamsburg, but stopped in DC so the boys could visit the Smithsonian and see the monuments, Capital and White House. Our hotel was near the White House and we looked online to find a nearby restaurant that both our friend and our kids would like. We quickly found BLT Steak, one of Laurent Tourondel’s steakhouses. BLT is something of a chain, but they do a very good job. We figured it would be a fun night.

    pop5pop6And it was great night, but with a bit of a surprise. When we arrived, a bunch of sunglass-wearing security with USA pins sat at the door. They said we could come in, but we were lightly (but politely) frisked and checked for metal. We asked “who is in there”? They “couldn’t say” but smiled ever so slightly. So we went in, met our friend and the host sat us right behind the VIP, who was having a calm dinner with her friend.

    pop7pop8But it turns out that sitting two hungry preteen boys behind the VIP was a great idea (and one probably made from experience). Our boys found out who it was, and said “cool”, but really couldn’t care less (we were pretty geeked-up). What our boys did care about was their steaks and these popovers. The popovers were huge and rich, but also had a crisp, cheesy exterior and light texture that none of us could resist. The boys even asked “can we make these at home”?

    pop1Happily, these popovers are so popular that BLT Steak gives out the recipe with each order. Excellent. And this is a very solid, if somewhat traditional, popover recipe. The only surprise is that these popovers use very little added fat, except that of the Gruyère cheese. But the cheese, milk and eggs do their job. These popovers are plenty rich and plenty good. The only bummer is that you do need a popover pan to make these, but popovers are so good we suggest you buy or borrow a popover pan. Then you can make these popovers and you will feel, and eat, like a VIP. Continue reading →

  • Holiday Hangover Soup

    January 1, 2013

    26 Comments

    Holiday Hangover Soup.

    Holiday Hangover Soup.

    …and we’re back! (We had some internet issues. It turns out to be very hard to blog w/out internet access. Someone better get on that.) Happy New Year! We welcome the new year and the end of the holiday season. We love everything about the holidays, but our waistlines suggest it’s good that they only last so long. Soon it will be time for new year’s resolutions (post coming soon, backsliding soon after), but before that we get to deal with the slightly hungover bleary feelings that come with January 1st. Time for a big bowl of soup and the Rose Bowl. Go Stanford!

    hangover3hangover5We call this soup “Holiday Hangover Soup”, but we could just as easily call it “Resolution Soup”  (“Guilt Soup”?), or simply “Winter Vegetable Soup”. You could also call this soup a “Garbure”, if you want to be a bit more high-brow (we don’t). But whatever you call it, this soup combines a rich, flavorful stock and just a bit of pork with winter vegetables. It is easy to make, easy to tune to your tastes and easy to like. You get a lot of flavor and just a little fat to go with a good dose of veggies, and after the holidays most of us need a few more veggies.

    hangover6hangover7This recipe is ours, but we did develop it from a Michael Ruhlman recipe for Winter Vegetable Garbure from his book “Ruhlman’s Twenty”. “Ruhlman’s Twenty” is a cookbook that focuses on twenty specific techniques and/or ingredients that make up the foundation fo good cooking, and then provides a few recipes to prove the point. If you are new to cooking, this is a very solid cookbook for your collection. If you are a more experienced cook, you get some extra pointers on technique and some recipes for inspiration. Worth a look.

    hangover10hangover11What drew us to this recipe was a few tips that make our soup stock really sing. Ruhlman notes that a little tomato paste and a touch of fish sauce in the soup adds umami, while a splash of sherry vinegar supplies acidity for balance. We enhanced / changed the recipe to build the stock from smoked ham hocks and (optionally) add some Sriracha for smoke and spice notes. When you combine these flavors with crunchy, bright and sweet winter vegetables you get a winning dish. The soup is still light and healthy, but the depth of flavors almost makes it feel like a stew or chowder. This soup is a meal in one bowl. And it helps clear a fuzzy head…. Continue reading →

  • Gingerbread Cake For Christmas

    December 25, 2012

    17 Comments

    Gingerbread Cake. Merry Christmas!

    Gingerbread Cake. Merry Christmas!

    Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to all! For all the stress of the holidays, it is still a magical time of year. At it’s best, Christmas is a celebration of hospitality and generosity. While we hope it is never a necessity for anyone, it is good to have an annual reminder that giving to others (or baking, or cooking, or mixing a cocktail) is its own reward. We wish you peace.

    ginger3ginger4While Christmas does have deeper meaning, we also enjoy the food and drink. We already shared some Christmas cocktails (and remember there are twelve days of Christmas to work with), but we also want to share our favorite dessert, gingerbread. We enjoy gingerbread any way we can get it, in cookies, sheet cakes or this beautiful ring cake. We love the deep spicy flavor of gingerbread and the smell says “holidays” to just about everyone. The funny thing, though, is that we think that you could just as easily call it “molassesbread”. This recipe features a big splash (does molasses splash?) of molasses and oatmeal stout beer. When combined with a full slate of holiday spices, the funky molasses and roasted maltiness of the stout make for one seriously moist and flavorful cake. Once you have this gingerbread, it’s hard to go back.

    ginger5ginger2The recipe comes from the Gramercy Tavern in New York City and was published in 2008 by Smitten Kitchen. We are lucky enough to have dined a few times at the Gramercy Tavern and it is simply one of our favorite restaurants anywhere in the world. As for Smitten Kitchen, it is one of the best food blogs out there (great cookbook, too). And we get to visit Smitten Kitchen any time we want, we don’t even have to be in New York. In any event, when one of your favorite blogs posts a recipe from one of your favorite restaurants, the dish is likely to be good. We made this recipe for the first time a few years ago, now we can’t wait for Carolyn to make it as a Christmas treat. Oh, and did we mention you can make French toast with this gingerbread? (And if there is any left over, you should.)

    ginger6ginger7Making this gingerbread is, happily, pretty standard baking. (We will note this is another very moist cake that uses oil, rather than butter, hmmmm…) The only real trick here, and it is a BIG deal, is to thoroughly and completely butter and flour the bundt or loaf pan. And we mean completely. If you miss a spot, the cake will stick. Take your time and if you see even a tiny open spot, you need to fix it. This won’t take long, but no one likes a cake with chunks missing, even if it is one of the best tasting cakes they have ever had. And we are betting this will be one of the best cakes you’ve ever had. Merry Christmas from all of us here at Putney Farm!ginger8

    gingerGingerbread Cake:

    (Adapted from Gramercy Tavern and Smitten Kitchen)

    Notes Before You Start:

    • You can use a bundt-style pan, a ring pan or use loaf pans for the cake.
    • The cake is better the second day and should keep a few days. It is very good toasted or made into French toast.

    What You Get: Very moist, spicy and funky gingerbread. If you like molasses, you will love this cake.

    What You Need: No special equipment required.

    How Long? About 90 minutes with 30 minutes active time. With planning, an anytime dish.

    Continue reading →

  • A Few Christmas Cocktails

    December 23, 2012

    29 Comments

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    The Back Word Cocktail. Maybe we can add peppercorn “ornaments” next time.

    The big day is almost here, and in the moments between shopping, gift wrapping, partying, pulling your hair out, decorating and cooking we suggest you take the time to have a well-made cocktail with special family and friends. Taking a few minutes to put on some music, pick the recipe, pull out the glasses and mix the drinks will soothe your soul. And you get a tasty drink and good company out of the deal, a very merry Christmas indeed! (And if Hanukkah is your gig, then please try the Bees Knees.)

    backword4So what to drink? It all depends on your taste. We like gin and it is the holiday season. Gin does taste a bit like a Christmas tree (all that juniper), so we may toss in some winter citrus and mix up a classic like the Aviation or a Pegu Club. We also like champagne and spice, so a Seelbach is an almost perfect holiday cocktail, and a good choice for bourbon fans. If you like rye whiskey and deep flavor, then the Sazerac, with it’s bright red color and strong kick will bring out your inner Rudolph (2 or 3 Sazeracs will make you think you’re Rudolph, but you’re not).  Cold? Try a toddy like the Tammany Jack. If you want a lighter, aperitif-style cocktail then a Calla Lily, Chrysanthemum, or our variant, the Flowers For Sonja would be a good choice. And if you just need a cold, hard dose of booze (and sometimes we do), then a dry Martini will always do the trick.

    martini3But what if you want to experiment? Maybe impress your guests with a secret ingredient? Well, there are plenty of places to look. Fred Yarm’s Cocktail Virgin Slut is one of the leading cocktail blogs with literally hundreds of innovative recipes from the best bars in Boston. He also has a companion book, Drink and Tell. If you get a few good bottles of booze, pick up Drink and Tell and mix away. Other good web references include the Mixology Monday series of themed online cocktails parties, Drinks at Serious Eats, Liquor.com, Saveur and Cocktail Chronicles all have large libraries of new and old cocktails. And CocktailDB has a huge list of classic drinks, just be ready to sort through a lot of recipes!

    dback3Before you start, remember that making cocktails is just like making a good dinner for family and friends, just faster (and slower, if you follow). Look at the booze you have, your fridge and your spice drawer. Maybe you have a few herbs in the garden, or some fresh fruit? Seek out a little inspiration (or a challenge), think of what you and your guests like, and then get going. You will be glad you did.

    Required summer reading.

    Required holiday reading.

    And if you need a little help getting started, here are a few of our favorites that encompass the old and the new, the simple and complex. And we have one new recipe, The Back Word, that we think clearly fits the holiday theme. Have fun and Merry Christmas!

    backword5The Back Word:

    (From Drink and Tell and Backbar in Boston)

    Ingredients:

    1. 1 and 1/2 oz. dry gin
    2. 3/4 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
    3. 1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc
    4. 1/4 oz. Luxardo cherry jar syrup (or brandied cherry syrup)
    5. Lemon peel, for garnish
    6. Rosemary, for garnish

    Assemble:

    1. Combine the liquid ingredients with ice in a cocktail glass or shaker. Stir until very cold and strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe.
    2. Cut a small slit in the middle of the lemon peel and insert a sprig of rosemary in the peel. Float the peel on the top of the drink and serve. Continue reading →