Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 101

Baby PolkaSpot – the “Lost Footage”

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PolkaSpot came to Beekman 1802 Farm in late 2008. She and her mother, Looksalike, arrived from a farm that was shutting down operations. Unfortunately, her mother did not adjust to the move, fell ill, and died shortly after arrival. PolkaSpot was raised by a herd of mother goats, and has become the Chief Diva of the Pasture. We recently stumbled on some “lost footage” of PolkaSpot and her mom.

Sunset in the Pasture

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Sometimes it’s nice to end the day amongst friends. Especially when they’re generous with the kisses:

Mother’s Day Cake

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We doubled our own recipe to make this cake worthy of both our moms.

For Mother’s Day this year we wanted to create a cake that is as fabulous as our moms. Which is pretty darn fabulous. This floral yellow cardamom cake has strawberry rhubarb sauce between layers and is held together with a delectable caramel buttercream icing (courtesy of our friends at Baked NYC and their awesome Baked Explorations cookbook.) Be prepared, this cake takes a while to make and assemble, so you’ll need to set aside a morning or afternoon. But if  you don’t think your mom isn’t worth a few hours effort, then you’re not worthy of having one!

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Beekman 1802 Mothers Day Cake

(We double this recipe for a four layer extravaganza.)

For cake

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2  1/4 cups sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (but not melted)

5 eggs

1  1/4 cup milk

2 vanilla pods, split with seeds scraped free

4 cardamom pods

For strawberry rhubarb sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 lb rhubarb stem, cut into 1″ pieces

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced in half

For Caramel Butter Cream Frosting (courtesy of Baked Explorations by Baked NYC)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

3 sticks unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons caramel sauce at room temperature.

 

To Make Cake:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

In small heavy sauce pan, heat milk, vanilla seeds, and crushed cardamom pods until milk begins to simmer…do not allow to boil. Keep at low simmer for three minutes, then take off heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, strain milk mixture through wire sieve.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. In stand mixer bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, using paddle attachment. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add vanilla and mix until combined.

With butter/sugar/egg mixture on low speed, add one third flour mixture, followed by one third cardamom milk. Repeat in thirds until all ingredients are combined.

Divide mixture into two prepared cake pans. Smooth surface gently. And bake in center of oven for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. (Rotate pans halfway through bake time to ensure an even baking.)  After removing from oven, cool pans for 15 minutes on cooling rack. Then, once cool to touch, flip cakes out of pans onto rack to cool completely. Once at room temperature, use long serrated knife to thinly slice off top of cake layers for a very even surface. Place cakes in freezer for at least one hour, while making sauce and frosting.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce:

Place all ingredients in heavy, medium-sized saucepan. Bring to boil, then lower flame to simmer. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until all fruit has softened completely. Take off heat and puree with immersion blender or mash thoroughly with fork.

Begin Assembling Cake:

Remove chilled cake rounds from freezer. Spread thin layer of strawberry rhubarb sauce on top of each layer. Return to freezer for one more hour to chill. Make frosting.

Caramel Buttercream instructions: (courtesy of Baked Explorations by Baked NYC):

In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool. Reduce speed to low and add the butter and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Add ⅓ cup of the caramel and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until it is the proper consistency. If the frosting is to firm, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.

Continue Assembling Cake:

Remove cake layers with strawberry rhubarb sauce from freezer. Spread 1/2 inch layer of caramel butter cream on one, then set second layer on top. Spread very thin layer of buttercream over top and sides. This is the “crumb layer.” If crumbs are being dislodged in frosting, return to freezer for 1/2 hour. Remove again and continue to frost top and sides.

Optional:

Drizzle any extra caramel sauce on top or sides. Garnish with flowers that are as pretty as your mom.

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Braised Chicken with Rhubarb and Spring Onions

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The lowly but prolific rhubarb stem is mostly used in spring desserts. Alas, one has to add more than a fistful of sugar to purge its pucker enough to please your sweet tooth. So why did folks relegate this tangy vegetable to the dessert tray in the first place? We don’t have an answer for that, (and we’re certainly not trying to banish delicious rhubarb pies,) but we do have an answer for how to use rhubarb without all the sugar – move it to the main course!

Faced with an early and bountiful rhubarb crop, we decided to give this old farm stalk a chance to prove itself in the center of the dinner table. In the spirit of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” we decided to emphasize the rhubarb’s natural tartness by combining it with balsamic vinegar. Turned out quite lovely, actually. Now if we can dream up nice rhubarb appetizer, we might just throw a rhubarb-themed dinner party. (Check out our Black Pepper Rhubarb Sauce recipe here.)

Braised Chicken with Rhubarb and Spring Onions

2 – 3.5 to 4 lb chickens, cut into pieces.

1 bunch (8-10) spring onions, roughly chopped. (Spring onions are actually young onions, usually available in farmers’ markets in early spring. You may substitute scallions.)

3 cloves garlic, smashed but whole

3 cups of chopped rhubarb (cut into half inch pieces.

5 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 bottle dark beer

1 cup chicken stock

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Wash and pat dry chicken pieces. Heat olive oil in a pot large enough to hold all of the chicken. In two or three batches, brown chicken pieces on all sides until caramelized. About 10 minutes per batch. Once all chicken has been browned and removed onto a platter, add spring onions and rhubarb to pot. Cook until onions are transparent and rhubarb is wilted, about 5 minutes. Tilt and drain any excess olive oil or chicken fat from pan. Pour beer, stock, and balsamic vinegar into the pot, add bay leaves, and bring to boil. Stir to incorporate any browned bits on bottom of pot. Add chicken pieces, reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for an addition 25 minutes or until chicken meat is opaque when cut into.

Once chicken is fully cooked, transfer onto heated platter in warm oven. Bring cooking liquid to a boil and reduce by a third to 1/2. Pour reduced sauce over chicken on platter and sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Serve with:

Simple Kale Salad

Spring Picnic Asparagus Salad

Gartending: Trial by Error

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For the Spring and Summer growing season, we bring you a new feature at Beekman 1802, the Soused Gnome.  He’ll teach  you how to “gartend”–create perfect seasonal cocktails using fresh ingredients from the garden.

 

This cocktail uses a Gin from Oregon distilled in a pot still.  A pot still is method of distillation that is less sophisticated on a technology standpoint, but more flavorful in the taste category.  Pot still spirits have real character and dare I say soul than mass produced column still spirits.  The art and craft of the distiller shines through each batch of liquor produced the old-fashioned way, one drop at a time.

This cocktail uses freshly snipped, slapped basil in the mix.

But wait, what is slapped basil?  Well, you take a piece of basil and put it in your hand, then as if clapping, slap your other hand onto the one that holds the basil. Your basil has now been slapped!  The physical momentum of slapping the basil releases the oils in the leaf and makes your cocktail even more aromatic!

This cocktail uses coconut water ice and a bit of seltzer water, but really it is the flavor of the Gin that you want, woven with the basil.  Why cover up perfection with too many ingredients?

 

Trial by Error Cocktail

makes two electrifying drinks

 

Ingredients:

4 shots Aviation Gin

2 nice pieces of Basil, slapped!

Seltzer Water

Lemon Zest

Bitter End Moroccan Bitters

 

Preparation:

To a cocktail shaker, fill ½ with fresh regular ice

Add Aviation Gin to the ice and stir, very gently, you want to chill the Gin not dilute it

Add a Coconut water ice cube to a champagne coupe’ glass  (old fashioned champagne glass)

Slap your Basil and add it to the glass over the coconut water ice

Add three drops of Bitter End Moroccan Bitters to each drink (right over the top)

Pour the chilled Aviation Gin over the top and garnish with a twirl of lemon zest

 

 

Warren Bobrow is the Food and Drink Editor of the 501c3, non profit Wild Table on Wild River Review located in Princeton, New Jersey.  He has published over three hundred articles in about three years on everything from cocktail mixology to restaurant reviews and travel articles.  Learn more from his website, The Cocktail Whisperer,  or by visiting his blogs at The Daily Basic, Foodista, and Williams-Sonoma

5 Beautiful Things

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This new feature is designed to inspire you to look at the world around you, to take note of the season at hand and to capture it – in memory or on film – for posterity. I will be choosing five photos each week for Beekman1802.com with this aim in mind. We’re calling the feature, The Five Most Beautiful Things In The World This Week

 

Margaret’s Eden

When a friend told me about the Open Days Program sponsored by the Garden Conservancy I was intrigued enough to pack an overnight bag and drive across the U.S. border to the Catskills in upstate New York to experience a garden of dreams, firsthand. My destination was the garden of Margaret Roach, who was then the chief editorial director of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Each year, the Garden Conservancy organizes regional garden tours, spanning the entire growing season, giving the public an opportunity to tour and observe some of America’s finest private gardens. The program was devised primarily as an educational tool, urging visitors to learn more about garden design, horticulture and the greater importance of environmental stewardship as land owners.

Margaret’s garden had long been a source of inspiration for me. I had seen numerous examples of it in the pages of Martha Stewart Living magazine and had read her book, A Way To Garden, from cover to cover several years before. Margaret’s gardening philosophy is one I connect with very strongly:

Let nature be natural, but edit what doesn’t work
Respect the growing conditions of your climate but challenge them enough to yield some exciting surprises
Allow yourself to be humbled by the outdoors and its ever-changing personalities
Always remember why you garden – the reasons should always be personal and rewarding.

When I first met Margaret, she was disarmingly nervous as visitor after visitor strolled up her laneway to tour her beautiful, hillside landscape. She gave me a few tips on where to begin my journey and off I went, stepping into a garden I had only ever seen in two-dimensional form, like a child stepping into a storybook.

The garden was lush and flourishing on this warm September day and I was so captivated by the beauty that spilled out over huge, unusual foliage, across a prairie field hissing in the autumn wind and tickling the tips of gorgeous garden specimens I had never laid eyes on before. For nearly two hours I wandered and wondered, happily realizing that a little dream was coming true. Seeing a place you have only dreamt about is a magical experience.  I took many photographs of the garden but realize now that the gardener understands how best to capture its beauty. Below are some of Margaret’s photographs of her home in Copake Falls, where she now lives fulltime, working on her award-winning blog A Way To Garden and writing new books.

 

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All photos by Margaret Roach

1.       The front of the house in the fall

2.       Margaret in the garden

3.       Apple blossoms

4.       On the windowsill

5.       The back of the house

 

Andrew Ritchie is the creator of Martha Moments, a blog devoted Martha-Stewart related content and her community of supporters. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada, and has been a longtime friend of Brent & Josh, Beekman 1802 and Sharon Springs. Each week he’ll scour the world (wide web) to find the 5 most beautiful things to inspire you. Follow Andrew on Pinterest.

 

 

Making the Rounds

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Color and texture are common methods for bringing cohesion to the various elements of a room, but in one of the rooms at the farm, we used shape to pull it all together.

 

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The first piece of furniture that we purchased for the farm was the nickel-plated Irvington bed.

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 We then found this stainless steel side table that replicated the finial spheres of the bed.

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We were excited that our $60 bid won this table at an auction of antique furniture.

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We then scoured our various “collections” for other rounded shapes.

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Including some of the first thrift store finds Josh ever made when he moved to NYC

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On a weekend road trip we found this sculpture that had blown off the top of an out of use courthouse.

Last Autumn we bid on this mid-century lamp at a charity auction.

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A scavenger hunt through your own home (get the kids to help look for the shapes) might give you an entirely new look for a room you’ve grown bored with.

Mary and Radishes

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Mary Beekman is a four-year-old ghost who resides in The Beekman Mansion, and considers Brent and Josh her “imaginary friends.” Follow Mary Beekman’s Diary to learn what it’s like to be a young child in early 19th century America

 

It had rained during the night and the ground looks to be soft and muddy from my bedroom window.  I hope that Mother will allow us to go to the garden after breakfast to pick radishes.  They are planted very early in the spring because Mother says they like the cool weather.  I  looked at the row yesterday and there was a straight line of green leaves. We pluck out every other one to make room for the ones left behind to grow larger.

We like to have radishes and johnny cake with our morning tea.  It is the first fresh vegetable we have after the winter.  Sometimes the vegetables in the cellar do not last for all the winter months.  They become soft and have a strange smell.  We give them to the pigs. They will eat anything!!!  Josh and Brent like to make noises to call our pigs.  I don’t think they sound like a pig at all. Mother also will not have any thing from the cellar where there are rodents present prepared for our table.

There are so many radishes in the spring that we cannot eat them all fresh. Mother pickles them and we have them during the winter.   Mother says it is best to pickle softer fruits and vegetables. Nell’s mother pickles walnuts. I really only wish to think about summer right now.

To Pickle Radish Pods *

Cut them in nice bunches as soon as the are fully formed; they must be young and tender–pour boiling salt and water on them, cover with a thick cloth, and pewter plate, to keep in the steam; repeat this every day till they are a good green; then put them in cold vinegar, with mace and whole pepper; mix a little turmeric, with a small portion of oil, and stir it into the vinegar; it will make the pods a more lively green.  They are very pretty for garnishing meats.

Gartending: Rhuby Rose

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For the Spring and Summer growing season, we bring you a new feature at Beekman 1802, the Soused Gnome.  He’ll teach  you how to “gartend”–create perfect seasonal cocktails using fresh ingredients from the garden.

 

Making Simple Syrups from fruits picked fresh from the farm orchard was one of those childhood memories that made their way into my modern day cocktail life. We had many ancient trees bursting with fruit that displayed itself during the growing season. The trick was to get to the fruit before the birds did! That was always a challenge. I’m a real fan of the fruit and savory Simple Syrups made by a small husband and wife team from Brooklyn, NY. Their product is called Royal Rose. Available in most Williams-Sonoma stores or from their website, the flavors they chose are not your usual sugar syrup and uncertain amalgamations. They do a Rose scented syrup that is like a plane ticket to Istanbul without the jet-lag. It’s amazing stuff indeed.

This cocktail uses Royal Rose “Rose” Syrup, Rhuby (USDA Certified Organic Rhubarb Liquor, 80 proof) and dreams. Yes dreams. It is an exotic cocktail, so simple to prepare. Haunting in its flavor profile- dreamy on a hot summer day.

 

Visions of the Bosphorus Cocktail

Serves two with room for more

Ingredients:

4 shots Rhuby (USDA Certified Organic)

2 oz. Royal Rose “Rose” Syrup

10 spring strawberries (charred in an ancient cast iron pan)

Fleur de Sel for finish

1 sprig of lemon thyme

 

Preparation:

Muddle the toasted strawberries in a cast iron pan

Let cool then muddle them with the end of a wooden spoon to reveal their secrets

Add some ice to the muddled strawberries

Fill about ¼ full with ice

Add the Rhuby liquor and the Royal Rose Syrup to your cocktail shaker

Add a couple of cubes of ice to some cocktail glasses

Shake and strain the strawberry/Rhuby mixture in to the glasses

Sprinkle a bit of Fleur de Sel on top and garnish with a sprig of lemon thyme

 

Warren Bobrow is the Food and Drink Editor of the 501c3, non profit Wild Table on Wild River Review located in Princeton, New Jersey.  He has published over three hundred articles in about three years on everything from cocktail mixology to restaurant reviews and travel articles.  Learn more from his website, The Cocktail Whisperer,  or by visiting his blogs at The Daily Basic, Foodista, and Williams-Sonoma

5 Beautiful Things

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This new feature is designed to inspire you to look at the world around you, to take note of the season at hand and to capture it – in memory or on film – for posterity. I will be choosing five photos each week for Beekman1802.com with this aim in mind. We’re calling the feature, The Five Most Beautiful Things In The World This Week

 

 

The Sculpted Garden

Most of us grew up knowing of at least one garden. Perhaps it was your mother’s, or your grandmother’s, or maybe it was a public garden at a nearby park or monument. For the next few issues of “Five Most Beautiful Things” I’m going to bring images of gardens that have inspired me, artistically and philosophically. I will group them by type or theme so that the whole spectrum of garden design is covered.

The first installment is the sculpted garden – trees and shrubs that have been manipulated and pruned to conform to the gardener’s whims. This extremely disciplined form of gardening takes incredible skill, plenty of determination and an absolute commitment to maintenance. The idea of shaping natural elements to conform to human design has its roots in ancient Japanese culture. The idea was to create an aesthetic that felt controlled and therefore soothing to the mind, inspiring contemplation and reflection.

During the Renaissance, formal gardening was in vogue throughout much of Europe as well, especially in Italy and France where a burgeoning community of influential artists and designers were espousing the virtues of discipline and craftsmanship. The English followed suit. Soon, the formal and well-manicured garden became the preeminent sign of wealth and aristocracy, and by extension, culture and intelligence.

The photos below are not all traditional formal gardens. Some are contemporary interpretations of the ideal, mostly from European settings. While I could never maintain such a garden, I do find them pleasing to the eye: restive and comforting with their curated, monochromatic lines and spheres.

 

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Photos:

1.       A 17th Century garden at Hatfield House in England

2.       A reflecting pool in East Hampton

3.       Gardens of the Chateau de Marqueyssac in France

4.       A Cliffside sculpted garden in Italy

5.       A modern sculpted garden in Thailand

 

Andrew Ritchie is the creator of Martha Moments, a blog devoted Martha-Stewart related content and her community of supporters. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada, and has been a longtime friend of Brent & Josh, Beekman 1802 and Sharon Springs. Each week he’ll scour the world (wide web) to find the 5 most beautiful things to inspire you. Follow Andrew on Pinterest.