Craft beers

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

American beer is in full renaissance, ale, lager, stout, wheat, etc..
The first wave was the microbrewery movement of the 90's and California was ground zero giving me first hand knowledge of many of the small start-up brews... some of which have grown to be not-so-micro.  Now we are into the Craft beer era and I say bring it on.  The movement has been toward the meatier brews..pale ales to heavy full stouts, with bitters and rye in the mix. Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, are all perking with new brews... I just learned today of a couple more breweries that have started in the last year or so north of Manhattan, both in the Bronx.  I intend to track them down and giv'em a go.  There is something very autumnal about a good full ale..so I say bring them on.

Farm to Table

Rhode Island Red hen @ Stone Barns Center

The Hens at Stone Barns Center are free range...they have a large area to roam that is bordered by movable fences so they lead a nomadic life feeding off whatever feed they get and the natural indigenous plants growing in their temporary fields as seen here.  I have just been through 2 dozen of the eggs and they were wonderful.  If you don't know Stone Barns then check out their website. They are leaders in the "farm to table" concept which I witnessed last week first hand.   

Camp Pumpkin Pie

October is awesome here in the northeast, a perfect day to participate in a scout cook-off out in the woods.. woods that are in the throws of changing from green to orange and yet the weather here is still mild, shirtsleeves, did I say perfect?  So how could I resist the scout leader category of Dutch Oven Dessert?  It has been a long while since I made a pumpkin pie from scratch and I have never attempted a scratch dutch oven pie so it was game on. Okay, due to time constraints at the cook-off, I cooked and pureed the pumpkin last night at home (I love that Blendtec), but otherwise the crust was mixed, kneaded and baked in the cast iron dutch oven using only charcoal for top and bottom heat. Also I used 4 Rhode Island Red eggs from Stone Barns in the filling which is a whole separate story... the eggs of these free ranging chickens are awesome.
Finally I had my scouts as horsepower to whip my unsweetened cream up.. using a mason jar with a white wine cork placed inside, they took turns and in 7 minutes had a perfect consistency, this was topped with ground nutmeg.
 If you fancy the 6 buck costco pies that are out now, then you would not like this one..and I would not call it the end-all of pies, but it is from scratch out in the woods and came out to my liking, really nice. Subtle, sweet, fattening and organic..what is there not to like? Food Sylists need not answer this.

What flavor is your Sundae?

Diversity is a good thing..well in some things, the concept is good but in hot fudge sundaes?  not really to my taste.
I don't usually do sundaes, but if in the mood,  likely a chocolate related mood, I like a traditional vanilla hot fudge sundae.. without the whip cream, without the nuts and candied sprinkles and sans that fake looking cherry, just some vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.  Per client/agency request, this shot required nine scoops of different flavors the only one you can't see is behind the thin-mint, all real ice-cream, nothing fake here except the coloring in the Marichino cherry.  I am not sure what food dye is pumped into those things but real it isn't, nor is this forced diversity of flavors real, but a concept
that sounded good on paper.  
Food styling:  Susan Brouchard  Client: Dryers

Their Zucchini my recipe.

It's mid August, who is baking?? I was not thinking about firing up the oven for a couple of hours today but...
My neighbor, feeling sorry that we have only one vegetable bearing plant ( in a pot too) handed over some monster zucchinis, like 3 pounders.  So here you go my late summer Zucchini bread recipe.

3.5 C all purpose flour..today I used up my unbleached white then added whole wheat.
1TBSP ground cinnamon
1 TSP salt
1 TSP ground ginger
1 TSP baking soda
.5 TSP nutmeg
.5 TSP ground cloves
.25 baking powder
2 C  Sugar  I used 1 C brown and 1 cup white
3 large eggs
1.5 OZ Grand Marnier.. or brandy.. to keep it plain vanilla, 1 OZ plain vanilla
.5 LB salted butter softened
3 C shreaded Zucchini
1.5 C mixed nuts and dried fruit.

Pre-heat oven to 350
mix together flour, spices, soda and power and put aside
mix in large bowl the eggs, booze, sugars and softened butter til smooth
(if like me and without mixer, having the butter soft makes it blend easier!)
add in the flour mix until absorbed then add in the zucchini and nut mix.
oil or butter the 4x10 loaf pans and pour batter in.
Cook at 350.. mine takes about 55 minutes.
cool 15 minutes

Calamari Mood

August, beach, novel, calamari..they all seem to fit so well together.  This is where my head is at while I sit inside watching a summer rain shower.  People always mention the benefits of east coast living like the change of seasons..well within a season you have a range of weather as well, unlike California where a spring day can be very similar to a summer day or a fall day.  Days here in the east are like moods and August rain puts me in the mood to share a plate calamari.

This shot was done for Hilton, specifically for their Finn & Porter restaurants and styled pretty much as they serve it up. There have been some negative press on calamari because lets face it, not everyone can handle the idea of squid, or seafood in general.. but squid seems to be the breaking point for a large group.  I find raw squid a bit hard to down but I will ingest just about anything battered and deep fried.  If you find yourself near a Finn & Porter or staying at a Hilton try it, they do it well, not too oily or over-battered.
This goes down very well with a not-to-sweet Riesling..now I am really in the mood.

Mysterious Ramekin

Empty dishes can tell a story...and a photo of one creates a historical article, but one with many open questions.  What did this ramekin hold? Was it shared or liked..not in the world of Facebook, but in the traditional sense?  What made that color?  Can you feel the intrigue building?
Sadly this was a recovered image from one of my first hard drives that crashed, all the contents were either damaged or lost..this is one of about a thousand that I recovered somewhat in tack but lacking any original ID. So it will remain a mystery until I uncover the shots before and after and see if some legible story takes form.