Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 88
October 25, 2012
Shop at Beekman 1802 Online Mercantile
When William Beekman operated his original Mercantile in Sharon Springs, NY, he stocked the shelves with things that were beautiful and practical—everything one needed in his rural community to live a beautiful and practical life. We do the same today, both online and at our store in Sharon Springs. Take a look around and see why NASDAQ called Beekman 1802 “the fastest growing lifestyle brand in America.” Shop now.
Beekman 1802 Beauty and Skin Care – Did you know that the secret to Cleopatra’s beauty was bathing in goat milk? With a pH nearly identical to that of human skin, goat milk will leave your skin beautiful and moisturized. And with no synthetic chemicals added, every single one of our products are just perfect for you sensitive types. See why Beekman 1802 products are found in the best boutiques and salons around the world, and why Vogue (July 2012) called Beekman 1802 “an American beauty brand worth celebrating”. Click here to become more beautiful.
Goods for Good Homes – We work with over 22 members in our B. 1802 Rural Artist Collective to design and produce hand-crafted and heirloom-quality products for the home. Most of our collection is made within a 20 mile radius of Beekman 1802. Click here to make your home more beautiful.
Provisions and Fine Edibles – A cheese so good that is has a waiting list? Flavor infused honeys? All the makings for a stellar cheese plate? A best-selling cookbook from the farm? Yep, you can find them just like they sit on our own pantry shelves. Click here to eat more beautifully.
The Heirloom Garden – We grow over 110 different varieties of heirloom vegetables at Beekman 1802, and we want everything we use in the garden to have the same heirloom quality as the vegetables we produce. Get good harvests for generations to come! Click here.
See everything Beekman 1802 has to offer. Walk through our entire virtual shop by clicking here.
Roasted Beet, Pumpkin & Carrot Soup
We’re gonna be honest. Brent really did not like the color of this soup. But the taste is hard to beat on a cold fall or winter evening. And it’s an extremely healthy meal for the start of cold and flu season. Simple, hearty, and healthy. Add some red pepper flakes for extra kick.
Roasted Beet, Pumpkin & Carrot soup.
Ingredients:
1 small sugar pumpkin (not Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin,) or 3 cups of pumpkin puree
3 large carrots,
1 large beet
1 medium onion
3 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups of chicken stock.
1 cup of sour cream or creme fraiche
1/2 cup of fresh, flat leaf parsley, chopped.
salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 400F. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut sugar pumpkin in half, top to bottom. Scoop out pulp and seeds, remove stem, and place cut side down on foil. Place washed carrots, beets, and peeled onion alongside pumpkin halves. Drizzle with olive oil, cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast for approx 90 minutes, or until all vegetables are easily poked through with sharp knife. (Be careful when removing foil to avoid injuries from steam.) Remove from oven, and transfer beet, carrots and onion to large, heavy saucepan. Once pumpkin has cooled enough to handle, scoop flesh into saucepan with other vegetables. Add chicken stock. Bring mixture to boil, mashing vegetables with either potato masher or immersion blender. (Or let cool and puree in blender or food processor.) Stir in salt and pepper to taste. When still hot, but removed from heat, stir in sour cream until it melts and incorporates, and parsley. Serve immediately.
Sweet Loaf Bread French Toast
We love to make all sorts of loaf breads, including zucchini, pumpkin, lemon, banana, fruitcake, apple, etc. But sometimes we aren’t able to finish an entire loaf before it dries out or gets stale. This is a great way to use up sweet loaf breads that may have passed their “sell by” date.
Sweet Loaf Bread French Toast
Ingredients
For toast
1/2 stale loaf sweet bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices. (zucchini, banana, pumpkin, etc)
3 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1/2 C milk
For syrup
1 cup orange juice or apple cider
1 cup confectioners sugar
First, make syrup: Bring confectioners sugar and juice to boil in heavy saucepan, whisking occasionally. Reduce to simmer, and allow to reduce by one third to one half.
For toast, whisk together eggs, milk and cinnamon in medium bowl. Heat nonstick griddle on stove top to medium-high heat. Individually dip loaf bread slices in egg mixture, being sure both sides are coated and mixture is slightly absorbed into bread. Immediately transfer slice to griddle, allowing one side to cook completely before flipping. Repeat with remaining slices. Once both sides are lightly brown, serve immediately, with syrup mixture spooned over top. Garnish with whipped cream and orange zest if desired.
Rum Raisin Pumpkin Pancakes
What’s better than pancakes? Pancakes with booze! These Rum Raisin Pumpkin Pancakes are perfect for an autumn adult brunch, but if you prefer to forgo the rum “punch,” the raisins can easily be soaked in orange juice or apple cider instead. (Note: the raisins must be soaked overnight, so be sure to start this recipe the evening before.)
Rum Raisin Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup dark rum
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or some mixture of yogurt and regular milk.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3 Tablespoons brown sugar, packed.
3 eggs
1/2 stuck butter, melted and slightly cooled
Night before:Soak raisins overnight in rum.
In large bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, black pepper, salt, and baking powder. In medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Drain excess rum from soaked raisins (save for cocktails) and fold raisins into batter. The batter should be wet enough to be scooped with ladle. If not, add more buttermilk or milk.
Heat stove-top griddle over medium flame. Pour batter onto griddle. Flip once when ready, and serve warm.
Pumpkin Harvest Cookies
Brent loves oatmeal raisin cookies. Josh loves chocolate chip cookies. We both love pumpkin cookies. So we created this “ultimate cornucopia” of cookies, using all of our favorite fall harvest flavors – rich dark chocolate, earthy pumpkin, chewy oatmeal, raisins, and rich toasted hazelnuts. Plus a little corn-meal for great texture. This recipe makes over two dozen cookies, because we like to freeze cookies to bake later. (Simply spoon dough onto baking sheets as if you were going to bake, place tray in freezer, and once completely frozen, remove and place in large plastic bags.) But the recipe can be easily halved.
Beekman 1802 Pumpkin Harvest Cookies
Ingredients:
2 C Flour
2 C Oats
1 C Corn Meal
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t cardamom
1 t nutmeg
1 t salt
3 Sticks unsalted Butter
1 C brown sugar
1 C granulated sugar
2 t vanilla
3/4 C honey
1 3/4 C pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1.5 C raisins
3/4 C chopped, toasted hazelnuts (or any favorite cookie nut.)
10 oz dark chocolate chips
Pre-heat oven to 350F
(If your nuts are not pre-toasted, spread on baking sheet and roast in 35oF oven until golden brown and aromatic. Begin checking at 7 minutes. Do not allow to burn. Once cool, chop.)
In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, corn meal, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, beat butter, sugar & brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, honey, pumpkin and eggs, with beater on low speed. Beat until combined.
With mixer on low speed, slowly add dry mixture. Do not over-beat. Once combined, fold or slowly stir in raisins, nuts and dark chocolate chips.
Drop roughly 3 Tablespoons of batter, approximately 3 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for approximately 8-12 minutes, or until they are light brown. Cool on baking rack.
Pumpkin Porch Decor
Sure, scary Jack-o-Lanterns might be fine for Halloween, but we like to decorate with pumpkins for most of autumn. And like a Christmas tree in February, a Jack-o-Lantern on your front porch for Thanksgiving is a little pitiful.
Here’s a fun way to keep the glow of a carved pumpkins throughout the fall season. Carve a short message on a row of pumpkins and line them up on your porch steps or railing. Or, to help people find your house when throwing a festive fall dinner party, carve your house number in pumpkins and set on your walkway or at the curb. Check out our slide show for simple instructions:
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Cooking with Fresh Pumpkins.
First lesson: All pumpkins aren’t equal.
That massive pumpkin that you bought at the grocery store to carve into a Jack-O-Lantern? Trust us, no matter how frightening its face, it would be even more scary in a pie. Those giant pumpkins aren’t bred for cuisine. Their flesh is stringy, tough, and tasteless. If that’s the only kind of whole pumpkin you can find, you’re better off substituting Butternut, Hubbard, or Kabocha squash in recipes calling for fresh pumpkin. Or go ahead, use Libby’s. No judgement here…usually the pumpkins used in canned pumpkin are processed quicker than it takes for a fresh one to get to market.
But if you can find a fresh, ripe “pie pumpkin” at your local farmers’ market, nab it. Typically, they’re much smaller than Jack-o-Lantern varieties. A few kinds we grow at the farm are “Small Sugar” and “Cushaw Orange”. If you buy one, be sure to use it immediately. Resist the urge to use it as decoration on your front porch until you’re ready to make a pie. The extreme temperature fluctuations in autumn will make it rot from the inside. But if you must store it for a few days, your refrigerator or a cool, dry basement is best.
Processing your fresh pumpkin is very easy. Heat your oven to 400F. Then simply cut pumpkins in half from top to bottom, snap off stem, and use a large spoon to scoop our seeds and pulp. (Save the seeds, of course, to make Peppy Pepitas.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with tin foil to make clean up easier, and place pumpkin halves face down on foil. Place in oven and after one hour, check for done-ness. Skins should be darkened and beginning to peel away from the flesh. A knife should be able to puncture through flesh as if it was softened butter. If not, continue baking, checking every fifteen minutes.
Once finished allow to cool completely. Be especially careful lifting pumpkin halves off of baking sheet as trapped steam make cause injury. Flesh should scoop away from peel very easily, and may be pureed in a food processor or blender. If resulting puree seems too “wet,” drain for several hours in paper-towel lined strainer, or reduce other liquids called for in your recipe. Pumpkin puree may be frozen for later use, but it will lose its flavor quicker in freezer than other frozen vegetables.
Do you have any additional pumpkin processing techniques or tips? Let us know in the comments below.
October 20, 2012
Gartending: The Kilt Raiser
The Scotch Hot Toddy… a cocktail to warm the heart and the soul.
Klaus loves this time of the year. Perhaps it’s because in his little Black Forest heart, he understands that to truly warm the body, he must drink hot liquids. After all, as a German Drinking Gnome- Drinking is his middle name!
The sturdier herbs are still in the garden- thyme, rosemary, lavender and sage.- These hearty herbs haven’t been killed back by the couple of frosts that blanket the rose bushes. When combined with Scotch whisky, these intensely flavored herbal elixirs can be fashioned into an herbal punch. When hot tea is added to the herbs and the Scotch- Klaus becomes the gnome he has always wanted to be… And that is soused!
But what is a Soused Gnome? After a couple of hot toddy cocktails it just won’t matter.
Klaus is especially fond of the salt tinged Whiskey from the Isle of Islay in Scotland. These peat infused whiskeys are perfect for a hot toddy because of their assertive flavors of salt, barley malt and smoke. They stand up to honey syrup and especially the plethora of herbs from the garden. It is said that during Prohibition, Scotch Whiskey was imported and imbibed in the United States as medicine!
Some kind of medicine indeed!
The history of the Hot Toddy is murky at best.
“Legend says the name ‘Hot Toddy’ comes from the source of Edinburgh’s water. Old Tod’s Well. Beloved for centuries as a functional and therapeutic drink during colder months, this all-natural authentic recipe stays true to its 1751 origins.
The best Hot Toddy involves Scotch Whiskey (no surprise here) but they can also be made from rum, vodka or even gin. When hot water or tea is added to cocktails containing liquor, the end result is inebriation. There is something to be said for that warm feeling that starts at your lips, slides down your throat, warms your esophagus, then the mixture finally hits your stomach. The warmth spreads over your entire body, warming you completely from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet! After a day skiing, there is something to be said for a container of strong beef bouillon, with a couple shots of Scotch Whiskey added as a necessary companion.
Klaus seems to think that his Toddy should have honey syrup wound around a core of Scotch, with a muddle of freshly picked herbs and a splash of boiling hot tea. Ok, maybe a few little splashes should go into this warming drink. He wouldn’t want to dilute the power and elegance of his Whiskey with only water!
The Islay Punch
Ingredients:
Islay Scotch Whisky such as Laphroaig Single Malt Whisky (nice and smoky)
Heather Honey Simple syrup made from Scottish Wildflower Honey
Assorted herbs from the garden, thyme, rosemary, sage and Lavender in a cheesecloth bag for steeping
Black Tea or boiling hot water (I prefer the nearly black in color Lapsang Soochong tea because of the smoky nature of this brew)
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (to ward off scurvy)
Preparation:
To a preheated mug, add 3 oz. Scotch Whisky from Islay (pre-heat a mug with boiling hot water, pour out just before creating this toddy)
Add a couple tablespoons of the honey syrup to the mug
Place your herbs in a cheesecloth bag and steep them in the hot tea or boiling hot water for about five minutes then pour over the Scotch, honey mixture
Add about 1 oz. of the lemon juice, then stir…
Sip to dreamland
Klaus is sleeping and dreaming of Scotland
What do you wear under your kilt?
October 19, 2012
Tarred Heels
October 15, 2012
Same Old Story
Two people happen across an old farm in upstate NY and fall in love with it.
They figure out how to turn a piece of history into a flourishing new business.
They become home décor icons.
Does this sound even vaguely familiar? It’s the story of Mackenzie-Childs.
You can tour the original home in the Finger Lake region of New York and many of the beautiful products that the company designs are still produced in Aurora, NY
It’s rare that a design element is so singular and powerful that it becomes immediately identifiable to a particular brand. Think the Burberry plaid, the interlocking Gucci ‘G’, or the emblematic Damier pattern of a certain brand of brown leather luggage (see, we don’t even have to say the name!)
Mackenzie-Childs accomplished this feat with their check pattern enamelware.
Hmmm…wonder what will become the Beekman 1802 signature?
Take a look at the beautiful farm that started it all. Click here.
