God's Littlest Acre - Window Sill Farming

I've just finished reading The Bucolic Plague, by my friend Josh Kilmer Purcell. It's all about how he and his boyfriend Brent, two confirmed city boys, bought a palatial farm in upstate New York and turned it into a brand. It's a very funny book, and it's gotten me thinking about where my food comes from.

Meanwhile, my parents just left on a weeks vacation to California, and my mother has entrusted me with her potted herb garden. She brought it by a few days ago, and I've been tending to it on my window sill.

Despite the unrenovated windows and window sill, the garden is doing very nicely here! I believe it's even grown some.

She's planted some lovely herbs to use when cooking. They include basil, thyme, rosemary, chives and mint.

Her basil is going great guns! It's the show off of the garden. Just look at how lush it is! I need to trim off the blossoms so it won't go to seed on her.

While not as showy, the thyme and chives both seem happy.

The rosemary is doing well too. Just look at those rich green leaves.

The mint is potted in a separate container. It's a variety with tiny little fuzzy leaves. I have yet to try some in my tea. Maybe this evening.

It's so nice to have these little green friends with me in my apartment. I'm planning my own herb garden for glass shelves I intend to install in my kitchen window when I renovate in there. It's not the wide open spaces of Josh and Brent's farm, but it will be fun to pluck my own fresh herbs for the meals I cook!

Right now I may steal some of mother's basil for a batch of pesto. For those of you that missed it this March, here's my father's recipe:

Pater's Pesto

4 cups fresh basil leaves, neatly compressed
1 cup pine nuts
5 cloves freshly minced garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Begin by combining your basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor. Pulse a few times to begin combining them. With the processor running, add the olive oil in a steady drizzle. Once it's all in, scrape down the sides of the processor and add the cheese and pulse to combine. Salt to taste. Makes about 2 cups.

Be sure and have a look at The Beekman - Brent and Josh's farm. It's a beautiful place. You can also see them on their reality television show on Planet Green on Wednesday nights. It's called The Fabulous Beekman Boys. Tune in, it's a lot of fun!

Simple Summer Savory Satisfaction - Chive Butter

I spent last weekend in the Catskills with friends and made dinner for them on Saturday night. One of the things I made was this simple chive butter recipe.

It's such a delicious treat for a summer lunch or dinner and it's super easy to make.

You'll need:

1 stick of salted butter
Fresh chives
1 tsp lemon juice

Begin by setting the butter out in a medium sized mixing bowl to soften. Cut it up into smaller pieces to hasten the process. Once it's softened up nicely, cut the chives into the bowl.

I find it easier to use a pair of scissors for cutting chives. Then add the lemon juice (if you don't like things quite as tart you can use half a teaspoon) and mix everything together with a fork. Once it's all well combined, remove the butter to a sheet of wax paper.

Using the paper, work the lump of butter back into a stick form. It can be square or round. I chose to make a square stick. The process is a little obscene, but I'm sure some of you will enjoy that. If you're timid, you can put the butter in small ramekins. Put the butter back in the fridge to firm up. Serve with a hearty sour dough bread.

This can also be done with other herbs, and you can substitute cream cheese for butter. I love recipes like this. They add so much to a meal, but are so quick and easy to make. Enjoy!

02-08 Glorious Gastronomic Gifts

It's all about bread today. On the show I'm making a delicious Italian bread and tasty herbed butter to go with it. These can be combined as a delightful gift from you kitchen. 

For the bread you'll need: 

1 package active dry yeast

1 ½ tsp sugar

½ cup warm water

1/3 cup hot water

3 Tbs. butter

1 tsp salt

3 cups flour 

Start by combining the yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl and stirring until smooth. Then combine the hot water with the butter and stir until melted, then add the salt. Put the butter mixture in with the yeast mixture and begin adding your flour. Add it by degrees until the dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. You're then ready for kneading. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes or until the dough responds to your touch by springing back when you poke it. Now we baked ours in a tubular pan which required us to flatten out the dough and then roll it into a log. You can repeat that technique and then bake it on a cookie sheet or bake it in a loaf pan. Either way you'll want the dough to rise in a warm draft free place until it's doubled in size - about 1 ½  to 2 hours. Bake it in 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 35 minutes. Remove bread to a rack to cool. 

For the butter you'll need: 

One stick of butter, softened

Juice of one lemon

Two tablespoons of chopped chives 

Place all ingredients in a bowl and combine well with a fork. Remove to a sheet of wax paper and form into a log. Twist the ends of the wax paper and place in the fridge to firm up.  

These recipes are just delicious together and, as I said above, make a lovely gift when combined in a basket. 

Be sure and include a card with the recipe, the recipient will undoubtedly want some more!