Fresh and very juicy sliced Yellow and White Peaches for my pie last night – they were perfection!
Once again – you know I tend to “go on” about a few issues in this blog. Sometimes I wonder if it weren’t just a little dangerous to put this vehicle in the hands of someone like me – to have this outlet for saying a whole bunch of things that I’m feeling. But, oh well, this must be what it felt like back in colonial times when the free press got going – what freedom – and I love it – mostly because there are such multitudes of topics to research and cover!
Anyway, from time to time I have been profiling some of my favorite farmers – mostly through their books or websites – as I don’t live in California and that’s where I tend to be fixated most of the time. For instance, I am in love with the Masumotos and Frog Hollow Farm. I am anxiously awaiting my little excursion there in September – hoping to enjoy the seasonal beauty and bounty once again. Their growing season is so long and lovely – is it any wonder that this is the land of so much labor of love? But, mostly I want to give great big kudos to the people who are in love with farming and who, like me, wish to celebrate the glories of this vocation, this passion and their way of life.
Last night, I had one of those “ah-hah” moments when I realized, sadly, that I had missed out on the Farm to Table Dinner at Bartlett’s Farm on Nantucket. Ellen posted some pictures from there and it looked like a glorious event. I chided myself for not being more on top of the action – this would have been a perfect event for me to “cover”. I was “green with envy”.
The Farm to Table Dinner last night at Bartlett’s Farm – photos courtesy Ellen Wraith – thank you, Ellen!
I am not a resident of Nantucket – mostly for logistical reasons as George’s travel situation over the years since we bought our first house on the Cape has been varied and unpredictable. Island living definitely has its charms but only if you can afford to fly on and off at your leisure and can stay put in the event of fog. Hence, we have been happily ensconced in Orleans for over 10 years now and driving on and off the Cape, while commonly a frustrating experience, is usually doable if, as a commuter, as George is, you have some latitude with your arrival and departure times. I have loved getting to know the rural parts of the Cape (it’s the shopping centers that have “developed” (develop – that word from yesterday’s post!) off the exits of rt 6 that make the hair on my arms stand up), but I shall save that for another day. Anyway, there is definitely a celebration of local farming on the Cape and Islands which is indeed, inspiring. I visit Nantucket usually a couple of times a Summer and the Vineyard whenever I can as well, to try to drink in the differences between it and the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard. I love how each has its own personality and ethos.
Anyway, its not anything new that the Farm to Table movement is alive and thriving in our country. It is one of the great bright spots for a person like me who remains wedded to the times when seeing a tractor drive down your street was not some crazily obscure occurrence. I am enamored and in awe of the people who have dedicated their lives to small scale farming and love to see their bounty. Yesterday I saw someone re-using the title of “A Trip to Bountiful” and I made a mental note – yes, ahhh-oooo, I love it!
There are so many people now who are making a great example of the way of life of the farmer – of course there’s Dan Barber of Blue Hill and Stone Barns fame and Blackberry Farm’s Sam Beal and who figure prominently in the food media arena. The great ingenuity and vision of these people draws me in and makes me wistfully adoring – like, wow, I wish I’d thought of that! Here is a great blending of passions with which I can identify. Anyway, it IS great for all of us to have people with this type of dedication that are not only making farming a workable and economically self-sustaining vocation, but have actually turned it into something much more: a platform for so many causes from healthy eating, profiling the success for organic and sustainable causes and, in the case of the two mentioned about – something much more – something beautifully alluring and almost sexy – a gorgeous venue in the country that you want to visit, stay and soak in – a genre that says – wow now, this is a beautiful and fulfilling life! They not only farm and raise various livestock, they transform their environs into a showpiece – of tranquility, beauty and creativity.
Farming as a vocation has always had a mystique to me – from the time I was a little girl. I was drawn to the passion to plant with my Dad when I was very young. And, through the years I have always followed it, and thought often of the ravages of corporate farming. It sort of dovetailed with my study of finance and I always sort of mused about the whole economies of scale thing gone wild – like so many other industries and facets of business during my life cycle. Anyway, I am so very heartened about people like the Bartlett’s and the Beals and the Barbers the Masumotos and the Courchesnes of Frog Hollow – I am not meaning to just profile those who was found a media profile such as theirs – it’s just that they immediately come to mind for me. However, I would like to make the point that it IS people like this who have brought small scale farming into the food media’s eye and who have made it attractive to go there. They may inspire people to go into the business now and in the future, in a whole new model, emerged from the pull-away from the great-sized agri-business gone a-foul and made small family farming, yes, I’ll say it again, sexy. For, as we all know, sexy sells, right? Gosh, it’s a marketing lesson. Sexy is not my favorite word – not in this application or otherwise – I think alluring and attractive and appealing are better – to one’s conscience and sense of responsibility to fellow man and our planet.
As another example, here is the inspiring story of the owners of Coach, who started their own farm featuring goat cheese – http://www.ediblemanhattan.com/departments/the-foodshed/the-nanny-diaries/
and, the story of the wildly successful Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery: http://www.vermontcreamery.com/our-story-of-cheesemaking
What’s truly amazing is that there are thousands of such stories emerging across the country – featuring the whole gamut of produce, organic and grass-fed ranching, sustainable fisheries and cheeses, ice creams, and other dairy. What fun!
I think the very best place to study and learn about all of these great people is in the collection know as Edible Publications. They currently feature 80 local markets of farming and agri-culture.
My current favorites:
- Edible Jersey
- Edible Cape Cod
- Edible Santa Barbara
- Edible Manhattan
- Edible Hudson Valley
- Edible Vineyard
- Edible Berkshires
- Edible East End
- Edible Coastal Maine
- Edible Marin and Wine Country
- Edible Monterey Bay
I don’t know, do Ben and Jerry get big kudos for being one of the first to go out on this limb here – back in 1977? While I am sure they should get good credit here for their initial fervor, intent and execution – and I’d love to give them a great big profile here, it was when I realized they had sold out to that dastardly Corporate giant, Unilever way back in 2000 – the ruiners of my all-time favorite obsession, my all time favorite consumer product – Pears Soap, that I was extremely disheartened. Oh gosh – why, why, why???????? Much was made of this apparent about-face back then and I can’t vouch for their motives – but it is so. So, while they get credit for the start of their story, for me they get a big black goose-egg for the end in my mind! I will NEVER buy another container of Ben and Jerry’s for the rest of my life. (this is where this venue becomes of questionable wisdom for someone like me)
Anyway, in the spirit of the true subject of this post and the season, I’m going to re-feature what is perhaps my favorite (so far) recipe of the Summer of 2013:
ROASTED PEACH AND LAVENDER ICE CREAM WITH LEMON SALT SHORTBREAD COOKIES – recipe and photos courtesy tarteletteblog.com
I went for white peaches for no other reason that they were the most ripe ones at the market one morning and I did not want to wait any longer to make ice cream. Use any stone fruit you like best. Do not worry if you can remove the pits before you put them in the oven, both skins and pits will yield under your fingers once the fruits are roasted. Cook, peel, mash and throw in with the ice cream base which is nothing more complicated than milk and cream and a little sugar or honey.
Best is to prepare the fruit and ice cream base the day before you plan on churning it.
Ingredients:
For the ice cream:
6 peaches
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon dried edible lavender buds
1 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whole coconut milk
1/3 cup honey
For the shortbread cookies (makes about twenty 2-inch round cookies)
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
2 egg yolks
1 cup millet flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup milk (optional)
Lemon salt (optional)(or make your own by added lemon zest to coarse sea salt)
Instructions:
Prepare the ice cream:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits.
Place in large roasting pan, cut side up. Drizzle with the honey and lavender. Roast until golden brown and soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely and peel the skins off the peaches (you can roast them the day before if you want). Reserve.
In a large saucepan set over medium heat, cook together the cream, milk coconut milk and honey until they barely come to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate until cold.
When both fruit and ice cream based are chilled sufficiently, mash the peaches with a potato masher or a fork (no need to puree fine), add them to the base and process the ice cream according to your ice cream maker manufacturer’s instruction.
Freeze until set.
Prepare the cookies:
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter, sugar and egg yolks together on medium speed until creamy looking. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds with the back of a knife and add to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix for 10 seconds. Add the millet and sweet rice flour with the mixer still on low speed. If the mixture feels too crumbly add a little bit of milk to obtain a smooth but not too wet dough. Start with one tablespoon at a time.
Gather the dough into a bowl and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
When ready to bake, turn the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Roll the dough in between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to about 1/4 to 1/8-inch thick. Cut cookies out in the dough and place them on a parchment lined baing sheet. Sprinkle with lemon salt.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Serve with the ice cream.
(originally featured in post on June 25)
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And, in signing off today – a big thank you and dedication to the guernseys for their cream to make this recipe and a couple of photos from yesterday:
THANK YOU TO ALL THE SMALL, INDEPENDENT AND ESPECIALLY ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLE FARMERS WHO GIVE OF THEMSELVES SO TOTALLY AND DAILY TO GIVE US THEIR AMAZING OUTPUT – YOU ARE INDEED A GREAT INSPIRATION