“Wild fermentation is the opposite of homogenization and uniformity, a small antidote you can undertake in your home, using the extremely localized populations of microbial cultures present there to produce your own unique fermented foods. What you ferment with the organisms around you is a manifestation of your specific environment, and it will always be a little different.” – Wild Fermentation, Sandor Ellix Katz
Leave a comment » Keep reading »
It’s a mellow Sunday and one of the first gorgeous days of spring. Outside thousands of New Yorkers are tucking into baked eggs and already on their second Bloody Mary.
My mother, Matt, and I are inside discussing the flavor whereabouts of a certain Potato-Leek soup we’re attempting out of The America’s Test Kitchen. We’ve decided that the recipes in the book are deliberately more about technique than flavor, partially because we love Cook’s Illustrated and want to give them props and partially because we can’t imagine why the soup is soo bland. The traditional Vichyssoise and this hot adaptation may be mild, true. But while my mother rightly pointed out, “it is potato and leek soup, so it’s not like it’s going to kick ass,” we’ve spent the brunch period building some elegant flavors out of these potatoes and leeks.
3 Comments » Keep reading »
This means “I had a good birthday” in sleep speak.
We’re going to Jackson (Hole) and we’re taking Harvey with us. As a PI he’s accustomed to traveling in stealth.
And the jury says? It’s toasty and pillowy soft. It’s so smooth you almost don’t realize what your eating is cold. Matt ate his toasted marshmallow custard ice cream with his eyes half closed.
Just made toasted marshmallow ice cream w/ homemade marshmallows and an egg custard base. Wow. It reminds me of my first real egg custard in Maine.
Mom says if you’re going to make your own ice cream, you just *have* to do it up right with custard. Next up, sugar punkin’. Holiday cooking rules. And since I seem to have started off with one of the most complicated recipes possible, it’s all easy breezy from here on out. Two hours and I’ll be tucking into a big bowl a spoonful from Matt’s bowl, says he (after we licked the whole machine clean). Who doesn’t love ice cream in winter?
The snow storm on October 24th devastated Simsbury. My mom had around 100 trees down on the path around the property, including a couple of treacherous Old Maids (cracked but still attached branches that hang vertically). So we’ve been walking around the property as much as we can, pruning and clearing and macheting and chainsawing.
We can’t really fathom how a bunch of heavy snow can take down all these trees and limbs, but we’ve seen the results firsthand. It feels good to be out in the woods, breathing in the leave dust and feeling the chilly November air of New England. We can’t complain. It is good to be home.
