Roasted garlic seed & nasturtium flower compound butter

July 28, 2022 — Posted in: Recipes, Sides

Ingredients:

Garlic flowers
Nasturtium flowers
Zucchini flowers
Olive Oil
4 lbs. unsalted butter

Cornbread for the Thanksgiving table

November 26, 2020 — Posted in: Breakfast, Mexican inspired, Recipes, Sides, Vegetarian

My corn crop was destroyed by birds this past summer. It was coming in strong, 6 feet tall with a wonderful showing of several cobs on each plant in mid July. The bed I set wasn’t large, about 25 feet wide and 40 feet long. Then, late in the month a freak hurricane named Hanna ran up the Mississippi River and turned right mid way through the country, we were hit with its tail end. Just enough force to mess with my corn, twisting it up and opening the tightly packed rows. This in turn provided the birds access to each Cob which are generally buried tightly in the mass of plants that I refer to as my wall of Oaxacan green “Indian corn”. The birds ate all of my corn this year, it was hard to watch nature take her share.

The birds got to share our Estia’s garden corn this year.

Sofrito from field to plate

November 1, 2018 — Posted in: Recipes, Sauces, Sides, Stories, Vegetarian

Harvesting different types of peppers at the Quail Hill Farm

Reporting in from the Quail Hill Farm on October 30th. My membership here extends back to the early days, having joined New York’s first Community Supported Agriculture adventure (CSA) in 1993 I’m always thrilled to harvest here.

Harvesting carrots was my first task. Take a look at our carrot video in the Estia Seed to Plate series. Once I was finished with the pitchfork in the carrot bed I moved on to find an abundance of chili’s three beds to the west. As always my eye was distracted by the beauty of the farm that’s been created and maintained by the Quail Hill crew now run by farmer Layton and mentored by poet and seed specialist Scott Chaskey.

Last week my email inbox featured a note from my pal Laura’s wife Catherine. She had visited a garden—planted by a man she spoke fondly of—and she carried a large bag filled with peppers home that day. Her note to me requested a recipe that might properly celebrate the harvest. Read More »

“Over the top” Mac & Cheese

September 22, 2018 — Posted in: Pasta, Recipes, Sides, Vegetarian

This is a dish that I started using as a big starch filler for our annual Christmas party last year. The key ingredient was love as I had my 3 daughters by my side, each of them stuffing penne into rigatoni, singing Christmas songs and making it all so easy.

Today as I stood alone in the kitchen I was missing the girls—and their hands, their smiles & their cooking enthusiasm. Then our pals Stew, Tina and Amy walked in and took over the pasta stuffing. I made the béchamel, added the cheese, and in 15 minutes there were 3 casseroles going into the fridge, ready to be baked and served at tonight’s harvest dinner.

Recipe serves over 20 people

Ingredients:

2 boxes Penne (DeCecco, Penne lisce #10)
2 boxes Rigatoni ( DeCecco, Mezzi rigatoni #26)
16 oz Swiss cheese, grated
24 oz Gruyer cheese, grated
16 oz Mozzarella, grated
3 cups, salted butter
1 cup A.P. flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
4 tablespoons salt

Mid Summer Garden Vegetable Escabeche

August 4, 2017 — Posted in: American Rivers Tour, Sides, Vegetarian

Makes 4 quarts (32oz Mason jars)

Ingredients:

16 carrots, peeled and cut into four sticks each
10 jalapeño peppers with top removed, quartered, leave the seeds
1 quart flat beans, ends trimmed
1 quart string beans, ends trimmed
3 heads of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 bunch of cilantro, washed twice in water bath to remove sand
2 cups sugar
1 cup salt
32 oz white vinegar
4 32 oz Mason jars, sanitized in boiling water*

In a 4 qt. or large stockpot, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Drop the carrots in the boiling water and simmer at medium heat for 1 minute. Add flat beans, string beans, and jalapeños. Stir and boil for 2 minutes. Read More »