Summertime at Cairncrest Farm, New York

Banana, nut and choco chip bread

This is a very simple recipe and the ingredients are easy to procure as well. My mother-in-law is an extremely talented baker and when she parceled us a loaf of her delicious walnut and banana bread, I had to attempt to recreate it. 



3 bananas, preferably on the ripe side

2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup barley flour

1 cup yoghurt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raisins and pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Beat whole eggs gently in a bowl, a fork can be used as an electric beater is not required for this recipe. 

2. Sift  whole wheat, barley flour and baking powder through a sifter or a fine mesh sieve. Sifting breaks up clumps, adds air to the flour which helps produce lighter cakes, breads pastries, and makes measurement more uniform. 

3. Add sifted flour slowly to the eggs using a spatula, add all the other ingredients as well. Mash the bananas with a fork before adding them to the batter. Do not over mix. The batter should not look like a paste. Should be slightly chunky and fluffy.

4. Turn the oven to 350 degrees.

5. Once the oven has heated to the required temperature, pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for a little over an hour. 



Your absolutely delicious banana and nut loaf is ready! I substituted sugar for honey as it adds that plump moist texture to cakes and breads. In place of butter or oil I used yoghurt. I also substituted all purpose white flour for whole wheat and barley flours. Feel free to use your imagination and give this recipe your own personal twist. 

Cairncrest Farm

Visiting Cairncrest farm had been on our agenda for a some time so one fine morning we drove 5 hours upstate towards West Winfield. Cairncrest Farm, located in central New York, about fifteen miles west of Cooperstown (where the national baseball hall of fame is located. Brothers Edmund and Garth with their wives Normandy and Alanna purchased the farm in October, 2009 with intentions to start a grass-based, seasonal dairy producing artisan cheese. When Edmund discovered he had a dairy allergy they changed course and now produce clean, healthy 100% grass-fed and finished meat from Kerry cows. The farm also raises Heritage turkeys and chickens.

'We're proud of our animals and our production methods. Raising animals the way we do provides them with the space to fulfill their instinctive drives, minimizes the fear they experience during their lives, and as an added bonus it improves the fertility of our soils.  When we get to provide our hard-won meat to our customers it is gratifying to feel like we've engaged in a win-win-win exchange.' Alanna, Normandy, Edmund & Garth. 

www.cairncrestfarm.blogspot.com

Almond Milk

Almond milk is an excellent dairy substitute to be used in shakes or meal replacements with the addition of protein powders, fruits and juices. Freshly made almond milk tastes better, has more nutrients and does not contain any suspicious ingredients other than water and almonds. In all cartons of almond milk, even those labeled as organic, besides a weak and watery mixture of almond milk you also get: cane sugar or some other form of sugar, sea salt (why add salt and sugar together), locust bean gum (a gelling agent), sunflower lecithin (fat), gellan gum (another gelling agent), or carageenan (another thickener allowed in organic foods in the US but banned in Europe), plus an added vitamin or two which are completely unnecessary. Organic isn't always the best but home made with pure and natural ingredients certainly is.

Ingredients for almond milk: 4 cups

1 cup almonds

4 dates

3 cups water

1. Soak almonds overnight in a large cup of water with the dates. 2. Blend almonds, dates and water in a blender for a minute. 3. Use a cheese cloth to separate the liquid from the solids then squeeze out as much of the milk as you can into a bowl. 4. Transfer your fresh almond milk into a glass bottle or jar and refrigerate. 5. Refrigerate the left over pulp as well (you can leave it in the cheese cloth) so that it dries out and then transfer into a small jar. This delicious and insanely nutritious blend of almond bits, skin and date pulp (all dry the next day) can be eaten with yoghurt as an almond granola, bread mix, mixed in with cake batter, any cookie mix or as a topping in your morning cereal. You can keep almond milk and meal in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days.  Make sure you shake the milk before drinking or blending into a satisfying and delicious smoothie. 

Cool Cucumber

Cucumbers are available during late spring and throughout summer. Cucumbers are 95% water, so during summertime when our body requires more than it's usual intake of liquids, they hydrate and cool the body whether eaten whole or juiced. They replenish the body with vitamins and electrolytes, adding many essential nutrients lost during dehydration. The high water content and dietary fiber in this super vegetable is very effective in ridding the body of toxins from the digestive system and aiding in digestion. Daily consumption of this vegetable is good for constipation, reduction of bad cholesterol and controlling blood pressure.

I don't regularly add tomatoes to my cucumber juice but this particular tomato (pictured above) looked so delicious that it was just aching to be juiced! To my usual combination of cucumbers and lemon I top with a few mint leaves and a touch of black rock salt. If you're extremely serious about your juice add a spoonful of spirulina powder for a double dose of nutrients. Personally an addition of spirulina tastes incredible with the cucumber and mint mix.

It’s best to leave the skins on when juicing most fruits and vegetables as this is where most of the nutritional value lies. Seeds and skin are a great source for essential oils and nutrition that are sadly neglected from juicing. Avoid apple seeds as they contain small levels of cyanide which isn't particularly harmful if you ingest a few seeds now and again. For juicing to happen on an optimum level I advise investing in a good quality juicer. A great  juicer should have the capability to juice leafy greens. If you can find one that does then it will be a friend for many years as juicing greens more than fruits is the secret to your vitality and health.

Cool cucumber juice blend:

2 large cucumbers with skin

1/2 lemon/lime with skin

a few mint leaves added later to the glass of juice

touch of black sea salt

1 tablespoon spirulina powder (if you like but not necessary)

Detox Morning Juice

Some tips that I have collected over the years through personal studies, friends and or health nuts for juicing are quite valuable. For example, did you know that the best time to drink a glass of fresh juice is early in the morning, when your body is ready to absorb the most nutrients? It's also best to juice mostly vegetables. Use vegetables with a low sugar content so they will not cause spikes in your blood sugar as too much sugar can lead to a Candida overgrowth in your stomach which can be quite disastrous for your daily well being. Some symptoms of Candida overgrowth are: fatigue even after a full night's sleep, yearning for caffeine as an energy booster, yeast infections, irritability, gas, constipation, bloating and acid reflux amongst others.

Ingredients:

5 medium sized carrots (do not peel) 

2 medium sized whole beets

1/2 green apple

some ginger with skin

small piece of raw turmeric root

Do not eat or drink anything for 45 minutes after drinking this juice for it to benefit your system. Ginger, turmeric and beet are known to be blood purifiers. Carrots contain a pigment called carotenoid which has hundreds if not thousands of phytonutrients with cancer fighting properties. These roots and vegetables are full of fiber which remove impacted wastes from the lining of the colon and allow for the maximum absorption of nutrients. 

A little Wine in the Afternoon

On this beautiful Friday afternoon we walked over the Brooklyn bridge from downtown Manhattan and on reaching Dumbo, chose a small cafe for lunch. Being rather thirsty from our long walk we would normally have begged for champagne but an Orvieto and a Rioja caught our fancy.

Orvieto is an Italian wine region located in Umbria and Lazio, centered around the commune of Orvieto. It is primarily known for its white wines made from a blend of mostly Grechetto and Trebbiano. The hills in this area with their tufa limestone and volcanic soil contribute to the crisp, dry and slightly bitter style which is best drunk young and paired with cheese, fruit salads, and fish.

The Rioja is a famous wine growing region in Spain categorised into 3 subdivisions- Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja. The main grape varietal of this region is the Tempranillo grape, early ripening and hence the source of it's name -Tempranillo, which translates to "little early one". Tempranillo wines can be consumed young, but the most expressive are aged well for several years in oak barrels. The wines are ruby red in colour, with aromas and flavors of strawberry, spice and fresh tobacco.

Union Square Green Market

Quite a few green markets crop up here and there in Manhattan during the summer- although I wish more would open up in the other boroughs.

'Eating organically' seems to have become so fashionable these days. If health is what we desire then why are organic produce and products so expensive compared to the produce sprayed with different pesticides or fattened with hormones? Should only a certain segment of society be able to afford organic produce and lead 'a healthier lifestyle?'

Personally, I feel that it is more about eating from our own garden which is the country that we live in, the United States which has 5 time zones, different geographical areas- all of which are able to produce different produce, grains etc seasonally. Why do we get tomatoes from Argentina, apples from Chile and bananas from Costa Rica when we can support the farms in and around where we live? As a country which is third after China and India in terms of the world's population, the USA produces most of it's waste and also emits 24% of the world's greenhouse gases, making it the world's most polluting country.

So please do support your local farmers, eat seasonal fruits and vegetables and reduce the pollution of our waters and the land that we live on.

14th Street
Union Square
New York, NY

Strawberry Season!

They are here! Fresh, juicy, red strawberries are everywhere.....To get crispy, cruchy and very fresh produce from farms around the tri state area in Manhattan is the Union Square market which is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday and Saturday during the summer until late fall. If you live in Brooklyn try the Fort Green market and the Green Point farmer's markets which open only on Saturdays.

Olive Oil Tasting @ Di Palo's

Di Palo's was suggested to me by Maryna who shares with me an appreciation for old world markets selling gourmet fare in old world neighborhoods. A few weeks ago I did visit but could hardly get past a peek as Dipalo's was almost bursting with customers! I returned again much wiser for a leisurely visit on a Tuesday afternoon and was pleased to find the place quite quiet. While shopping for olive oil, one of the owners of Di Palo's offered a tasting of select olive oils from Italy chosen specifically for their shop by his elder brother Lou. Di Palo's is one of the oldest purveyors of fine Italian foods located in little Italy on Grand Street and is run by the fourth and fifth generation of Savino Dipalo who arrived in New York in 1903 from his small mountain village of Montemelone in Basilicata, Italy.

Just as with fine wine, environment plays a role in the taste of olive oil, a staple for the Mediterranean diet. Whether produced in coastal Liguria or the Tuscan hills, olive oils can be found with drastically different flavors and aromas which depend on the olives’ varietal and the climate in which they are cultivated and harvested. Sweet, grassy, buttery, herbaceous, and peppery, high-quality olive oils offer a complex mixture of flavors, aromas, and textures.

Recently Di Palo's opened their first wine shop dedicated exclusively to Italian wines next to their gourmet store. Both are separated by a glass wall which offers tantalising glimpses of the latteria next door with it's rounds of cheese and hams hanging from the ceiling and from this store you can spy the red chandeliers and neatly arranged wine bottles of the wine store.

200 Grand Street
New York, NY

Orient, Long Island

Last week when it was suggested that we spend a few days with friends who had an artist's residency in Orient, NY,  I was elated. So off we went towards Orient - a little hamlet located in the North Fork of Long Island.  Our friend Alanna is an artist and her husband Garth a writer. Between the two, they have been the artist and writer in residence at the house of the artist William Steeple Davis for the past two years.  Davis was best known for his essays on photography and established a career as a commercial illustrator.  His house is part of a trust that allows an artist or writer to live on the property and concentrate on their work for a year.

Besides being artists the couple share a love for food, wine, animals, organic farming, and both are darned good cooks. For the time we were guests, we were offered the most delicious fresh milk, coffee, eggs, soups, recently shot venison, beef, greens freshly picked from their greenhouse, freshly baked bread, east bay oysters and pot au creme. New York city has dozens of gourmet stores that sell fresh produce but nothing compares to reaching out and picking greens for dinner,  holding soft recently laid eggs in your hand, or sipping thick, creamy milk from cows that were freshly milked just an hour or so ago.

Coffee, Tea or -Me?

I've always wondered about people that somehow have to have their habitual mug of coffee or tea right after they wake up. Do they need the rush or do they actually enjoy these beverages purely for their aroma, feel and taste?

Personally, I cannot drink more than a few sips of coffee. It makes the blood
rush to my head too suddenly and then
my heart beats
like that of a wild beast.
My eyes find it difficult to focus and then
a slight tremor is added to my limbs.
But then, goodness!
The aroma of a freshly brewed, little cup of coffee
like for example, Madras Filter
drives my senses
wild.

In NY, as in many parts of the country, this coffee fix is easily fixed by a rushed trip to Star-bucks or Dunkin Donuts. Both, I have found to be quite heinous to the palate. I, then resort to borrowed tastes from friend's coffee cups in restaurants. Sometimes there is delight in every sip and most times- alas! Need anything more be said? This quest for the most delicious cup (or sips in my case) seems to be an ongoing adventure.

Then, there is the slightly more delicate Camellia Sinensis or tea. A beverage that I steadfastly refused just because most Indians drink it morning noon and night, making it almost impossible to ignore. So I completely abolished it from my vision. Then about 7-8 years ago, I discovered that milk and tea don't always go together with ingredients like cardamom, ginger and spices (our Indian tea) but this beverage comes in many different shapes, sizes and aromas and does not always make the heart go pitter patter like that with coffee.

So along with Oolong, Puerrh and various types of white, green and golden teas, a taste for this slightly more delicate brew was discovered. Now, a few cups of Darjeeling or cups of one of the many assorted teas from around the world are part of my daily homage. It still has not been proven whether it's medicinal, herbal or ceremonial significance's have played any part in my health or demeanour. What can be said however is that it is a most pleasurable habit to acquire along with breakfast and a boyfriend. Maybe sometimes in the afternoon as well? Or just as a companion to a conversation with friends or colleagues.

For anyone of you that want to try something other than English Breakfast, do try the extremely robust and smoky Lapsang Soushong with some toast and butter or marmalade. And for the more gentler palate; Oolong or the many types of green teas will work just as wonderfully. And please- no milk or lemon! A dab of honey will do just as well.

Food & Wine Pairings

Pairing food and wine can turn out to be an exhausting and frustrating exercise -only if you stick to the rules. The old rules of pairing red wines with red meat and white wine with white meat or fish are quite outdated. As we all know food and wine pairings are highly subjective and unless one has knowledge of the many different varietals and the flavour profile of a particular wine, it is very difficult to orchestrate a pairing.

The problem with these old rules is that they don’t take into consideration the complexity of today’s multi-ethnic food available in cosmopolitan cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Fransisco where you can find Mexican cuisine, South Indian food consisting mostly of vegetables, lentils and yoghurt or Sushi. Not to mention the dozens of new wines that are reaching international markets from Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina and even India.

As far as pairings go the most important factor that should be taken into consideration is: Harmony. The wine should not overpower the food nor should the food overpower the wine and both should enhance each others qualities.

In almost every city there are restaurants or small groups that conduct wine tastings or give wine classes. I would definitely join one or the other. It really does open up your world and as you start learning more and meeting more people interested in the same subject you will find the world of wine and food pairings to be less mysterious than it had appeared before.

Hot Dogs at Yankee Stadium