Grin and Pear it

Being a resident of New London, CT from August 2002 through May 2006 gave me ample opportunities to explore the various food purveyors, restaurants, wine shops, brew pubs, vineyards, and fish shacks dotted throughout South East Connecticut.  While a few places stood out, like Stonington Vineyards, Brie and Bleu, and Thames River Wine and Spirits, there is one gastronomic institution that cannot be overlooked.  In the town of Mystic resides B.F. Clyde’s cider mill, the oldest steam powered cider mill in the US.  Clyde’s sells a number of cider-based products, including some outrageously good cider donuts, along with a countless array of spreads, dips, dressings, and pickles.  However, the pièce de résistance is the hard cider sold in the cellar of the barn.

The Rooftop Farm Season Finale

First off, let me apologize for the lack of posts this summer.  I have had an insane schedule at work and simply have had zero time to put anything up on the site.  That said, I was unable to document the progression of my first gardening attempt, which is something I deeply regret.  However, I did take pictures of my garden before moving apartments in September, so I did memorialize my garden’s bounty as of August 31, 2009.  As you can tell from the picture above, I should change my name to Orange Julius Peppers. 

Operation Urban Rooftop Farm – The Initial Ascent

There has been considerable progress since my last post here at the Roof Top Farm.  My tomato plants have more or less doubled in size and look quite robust and healthy.  Unfortunately, I had 12 tomato plants in one large planter, which simply doesn’t work.  I transplanted the tomatoes into seven planters, two of which are large circular planters that can hold only one plant in each, and 5 long rectangular planters that now house two plants each.  This took a toll on my bedroom since I went from having just three planters (two house my pepper plants) to having nine large planters sprawled across the bench beneath my windows.  Thankfully we should be beyond the point of overnight frosts here in Boston, so my plants will be taking up residence on the roof very soon.  I can’t tell you how imperative it is that these plants get out of my room.  There are little gnats, which I believe are called mud gnats, which live in the soil and buzz around my room like they own the place AND I needed to mix some fertilizer into the soil, so my room smells like the restroom at your local KFC.

Operation Urban Rooftop Farm – Where Have I Bean?

 

Well it has been a long while since my last post, but as you can see there has been much agricultural progress.  My tomato plants, pictured above, are growing like weeds.  They grew rapidly when in their individual seed pots, but since transplanting them into the larger pot above, they have really taken off.  The average last frost date in Boston is May 5th, so I cannot put them outside yet, but given the recent streak of nice weather, I might start hardening them off a touch earlier than anticipated.  My pepper plants are also doing quite well.  They do not seem to grow with the same vigor as their tomato neighbors, but they are looking very promising.  However, not all of my plants have faired so well…

Operation Urban Rooftop Farm – Week 2

 

Well apparently I got a great batch of seeds, because these puppies are growing like weeds.  In just one week I’ve gone from seeds to well established seedlings.  Owen’s nursery is apparently a decent place to call home.  The plants that have really done the best so far are the pole beans and tomatoes.  Everything else is fairing quite well too, including the crimson-stalked Swiss chard, which are by far the most visually appealing seedlings as yet.  What I find to be incredibly interesting is that despite being very different plants when mature, all of these plants look more or less identical after one week of growth.  The pole beans are the outlier here.  They are making every other plant look bad.  My brown-nosed pole beans are growing at an incredible rate…they are already in need of repotting.  The only plants that have not exploded with growth are my peppers.  The cayenne peppers have just barely sprouted, and I’ve seen zero action from my orange bell and habanero peppers.  Hopefully this won’t be the case in next weeks post.

Operation Urban Rooftop Farm – Week 1

 

Living in Boston for the better portion of the last three years has made my completely reliant on grocery stores and farmers markets, which I certainly do not have any complaints about.  The supermarkets here tend to sell locally produced fruits and vegetables and the farmers markets are loaded with the most beautiful produce I have ever seen.  However, since I do not have any land to call my own, I have yet to take a shot at growing my own fruits and veggies.  I do not have a yard, but I do have a roof deck, which means 2009 is the year that I attempt to grow a full-fledged vegetable garden while in the urban confines of Boston.  I will post a garden update every week in order to keep you all abreast of the progress of my urban farm.

 

Are You Daffy About Daffy?, Part Two – Confit = Oui Oui!

 

One of the most tantalizing and titillating phrases to have ever been coined in the food world is “cooked in its own juices.”  Ron Popeil has made millions of dollars off of this phrase…and, of course, “set it and forget it.”  The thought of a nice piece of meat or fish cooking in its own juices makes my saliva glands go from 1st to 6th gear in a flash.  How can you best such a seemingly perfect cooking method?  How can you achieve better flavor and texture?  How can you possibly up the wow factor?  Cook meat in its own fat…that’s how.  That’s right.  Today’s post is going to focus on one of the most prized and celebrated French dishes, duck confit.

Are You Daffy About Daffy?, Part One – A Stock Worth Investing In

 

Almost all home cooks, including yours truly, are guilty of paying no mind to one of the most delicious meats readily available in all supermarkets…DUCK!  When I go out to eat and see duck on the menu, I almost always jump at it, which makes sense since I never prepare it myself.  Every time I go to the store I end up cycling through the following steps when perusing the butcher section:

 

1. Look at the whole ducks
2. Think about all the various dishes I could make with duck
3. Slowly reach for the plumpest, tastiest looking bird
4. PANIC
5. Start psyching myself out and convincing myself that I actually want to cook chicken
6. Look back and forth at the ducks and chickens
7. Buy chicken

 

Well this week I did not allow myself to panic.  I reached for a duck and actually ended up getting one.  I promptly brought it home and broke it down into its various parts, knowing full well what I was going to do with each and every one.  Today’s post will focus on what to do with the carcass of the bird after having removed all the delicious meat and fat.

 

Edward Buddha Hands, Part One – Crème Caramel

Buddha’s hand is one of the absolute strangest fruits that I have ever seen.  If somehow a lemon and a cuttlefish were able to mate, and produce an offspring…and that offspring mated with Medusa, the offspring of THAT encounter would probably look an awful lot like Buddha’s hand.  I would like to send a special “Thank You” to Luke and Sarah for gifting me with a Buddha’s hand. 

The only usable part of the fruit, in my opinion, is the zest, and there is a whole lot of it, so I will be putting up a number of posts about this unusually fruit.  Today’s post will focus on a dish that definitely falls in my top 5 desserts list, crème caramel.  PLEASE NOTE – Buddha’s hand is not an easily accessible fruit, so all Buddha’s hand based recipes that I post can easily be made with the zest of any citrus fruit.

I’m Looking at You, Broccoli

 

Broccoli soup…I know, it sounds terrible.  I’m sure any kids that have stumbled upon this post have asked their parents to block our site to ensure that they will never have to read something so ghastly again.  I think broccoli soup gets a bad rap because it typically takes one of two forms: liquid salt from a can or frozen broccoli boiled in unflavored, under-seasoned water and pureed.  Well, I say that broccoli soup can not only be good, but it can be sublime!  How are we going to go about deliciousizing (take that, Shakespeare) broccoli soup?  Two words, caramelization and shallots.