Tag Archives: gardening

  • Bonus Cocktail: The Orchard Moonraker

    July 9, 2012

    16 Comments

    The Orchard Moonraker cocktail.

    Last week Carolyn and I had a few days in San Francisco and the wine country, and of course that means we enjoyed some great food and cocktails. Ironically, the wine country is filled with signs promoting cocktails along with wine- and we think this is a great thing. Wine country is also farm country and there are all sorts of tasty fruits and vegetables that can make their way in to cocktail menus- and they are, often with tremendous success. Meanwhile, San Francisco continues to be a hotbed for great food and cocktails. If you like to eat and drink, San Francisco is a very easy place to like.

    And our inspiration for this week’s drink, the Orchard Moonraker comes from a visit to Bar Agricole, one of the best bars (and restaurants) in San Francisco. Bar Agricole is well-known for its cocktail program and a mix of both classic and creative drinks. The interior is modern and clean, the spirits top quality, the glassware beautiful and the bartenders knowledgeable. Altogether, an excellent place for a cocktail, and a great place to discover new flavors. In this case Bar Agricole featured their take on a classic cocktail, the Moonraker, which comes all the way from the Savoy Cocktail Book of the 1930’s.

    The original recipe for the Moonraker is equal parts brandy, peach brandy, quinquina (Lillet blanc or Cocchi Americano) and a few dashes of Absinthe. We tried it this way with Armagnac and Rothman and Winter’s Peach liqueur- and it is a good drink. Bar Agricole’s adaptation was brandy, Leopold Brothers Peach Whiskey, Cocchi and a few dashes of Absinthe. This was even better. The brandy and peach whiskey feature floral and sweet peach flavors, while the Cocchi adds herbal and bitter notes and the Absinthe cleans the palate. A bit unusual, but a very tasty drink. If you like Manhattans or Sazeracs, you may really enjoy the Moonraker. We certainly liked it.

    But as we are gardeners, and we have fresh peaches from the farmers market (ours are about a 10 days out- we are very excited), we adapted the Moonraker one more time to include fresh peaches and more common ingredients. Our version includes brandy, rye (you can use bourbon), muddled peaches, Cocchi and Absinthe. And if your peaches are not particularly sweet, a touch of sugar may help. The Orchard Moonraker, features overt floral and peach flavors and is a bit less sweet (peach liqueur is very sweet) with a touch of spice and depth from the rye and brandy. We use a little less Cocchi (you can substitute Lillet). The other notable difference is that the drink is cloudy from the muddled peaches. But overall, a tasty cocktail and fun way to enjoy peaches in season.

    Orchard Moonraker cocktail and ingredients.

    As for the name, it has nothing to do with the James Bond movie- the recipe has been around a lot longer. But a bit of internet research doesn’t give much more connection to the cocktail. A Moonraker is the name of a small, uppermost sail on some old ships, but is also a knick-name for some old-time British smugglers. Neither seem to have any real connection to the drink, and if they did it’s lost in time. But “Moonraker” sounds good, and the cocktail tastes good. So we will just have to drink it.

    The Orchard Moonraker: (Moonraker recipe below)

    Ingredients:

    • 1 oz. brandy
    • 1 oz. rye (or bourbon, in a pinch)
    • 1/4 ripe sweet peach, in slices (we like the skins on for extra flavor, but skin the peaches if you like)
    • 1/2 oz. Cocchi Americano or Lillet Blanc
    • 2 dashes Absinthe
    • A few dashes of simple syrup if the peaches are tart.
    • Peach slice, for garnish.

    Assemble:

    1. Add the peach slices to a cocktail shaker and muddle thoroughly.
    2. Add the brandy, rye, Cocchi, Absinthe and ice. Shake well to combine. Taste for sweetness and add a bit of simple syrup, if needed.
    3. Double strain (the peach pulp can be thick) into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. Garnish with peach slice and serve.

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  • Green Olive-Lemon Relish (With Sous-Vide Halibut)

    July 2, 2012

    14 Comments

    Green Olive-Lemon Relish With Sous-Vide Halibut.

    Please pardon the somewhat strange title. Usually we would lead with the fish, but this dish really is all about the relish.

    We are big fans of salsa verde here at the farm, it works on veggies, chicken and fish- particularly during the summer. But we are always looking to branch out and discover new flavors, and we happened to find this recipe for green olive-lemon relish from Judy Rodgers of the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. And Judy Rodgers notes that this relish works on fish, chicken, pork and grilled vegetables and is easy to make. So we gave it a try.

    Few ingredients, but lots of flavor.

    And we are glad we did. This relish is a simple mix of firm green olives (Lucques or Ceregnola are good), diced lemon, chopped almonds, a touch of capers, lemon juice and olive oil. The flavor profile is very similar to salsa verde but the olives, almonds and lemon pieces give the relish more body and heft. The relish has a nice balance of sour and briny notes from the olives, lemon and capers, while the almond and olive oil add nutty and sweet notes.

    We served the relish with sous-vide halibut at 122 degrees using our basic method for sous-vide fish (here is a link to a good oven-based method) and it was a lovely summer meal. This relish would work very well with any firm white fish- so we suggest you use whatever cooking method you like and then simply add the relish. And if you grill eggplant, squash or zucchini, this relish will be a great partner.

    Pit and chop the olives. Add chopped lemon, almonds and capers.

    Combine with olive oil and lemon juice.

    The relish goes with fish, chicken, pork or grilled vegetables. We made sous-vide halibut.

    Making the relish couldn’t be easier. Skin, roast and chop some almonds (or use store-bought roasted almonds, unsalted Marconas would be very good), dice 1/4 of a lemon, pit and chop the olives, add some capers and a bit of extra lemon juice and then add the olive oil. A neat trick here is that you can add varying amounts of olive oil and still have a good relish. If you want the relish chunky, add less oil, if you want to use it more like a sauce (good with fish) add a little more oil. Both versions taste great. So if you like salsa verde in your summer meals, give this relish a try, it will be a very tasty change of pace (you might even like it better than salsa verde).

    Green Olive-Lemon Relish:

    (Adapted from Judy Rodgers’ Zuni Cafe Cookbook)

    Notes Before You Start:

    • Rodgers suggests a few types of olives for the relish including Lucques, Ceregnola, Ascolane and Picholine. But she notes that if the Picholines (or any of the olives) seem extremely briny to blanche them for 2 minutes to soften their flavor.
    • If you want to skin and roast your almonds, simply blanche raw almonds in boiling water for 10-15 seconds, then cool and skin (the skin will come off easily). Then roast the almonds in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until they color slightly. Make extra- freshly roasted almonds are very tasty on their own.

    What You Get: A bright, tasty relish for fish, chicken, pork or vegetables.

    What You Need: No special equipment required.

    How Long? 5-10 minutes of chopping. And extra 15 minutes if roasting your own almonds. Anytime dish.

    Ingredients:

    (Makes about 1 – 1 and 1/2 cups)

    • 12 roasted, skinned almonds (see above if you want to DIY)
    • 1 cup good green olives like Lucques, Ceregnola, Ascolane or Picholine
    • 1/4 of a lemon
    • 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
    • 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
    • 1/4 to 1/2 cup of good olive oil
    • Salt and pepper

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  • And Suddenly There Are Apples

    June 20, 2012

    23 Comments

    Gravenstein apples.

    Just two weeks ago, when it was still cool, our Gravenstein (or what we think are Gravenstein) apples were barely showing on the tree. But a few weeks of warmth and sun and the tree is thick with apples. Gravensteins are a “variable harvest” apple, which just means the fruit ripens unevenly. The apples will ripen and develop a slight red blush on top, but they are tart and tasty even before they fully ripen.

    Quite a few apples. These need to be thinned.

    The animals seem to think they are ready. The Deer love the apples and we throw the apples that drop early over the fence. The deer will congregate to that same spot every evening to see what fell from the trees. We will thin the apples this week to get a better crop later in the season- the deer will be extra-happy for a few days. Now they just need to stay on their side of the fence.

    Pears are also looking good.

    Otherwise we leave you with flowers on a beautiful summer day. Surprise at the end…

    Last gasp of the wisteria.

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  • 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.

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