Farm Kitchen Recipes
From our Farm Kitchen to yours! Enjoy.
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Pan (rice) Pudding
There are few things that bring comfort like a warm pan settled on the lap, filled to the brim with rice pudding. It doesn’t hurt that it’s super creamy and flecked with freshy grated nutmeg, either. Oh. And there’s Bourbon. Didn’t I mention that? All in all, a delectable feast. And it all starts with simple rice. Well…as you may have guessed, not just any rice will do. You can’t set aside that gelatinous rectangle squeezed from your Chinese leftover container and expect the same results as say…Arborio. For those of you unfamiliar with this heaven-sent starch, it’s the short-grained Italian rice used for risotto. And that same creaminess, that…
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Farm Kitchen Spanakopita
I do not like cooked spinach-fresh is fine, good even. But cook it and it becomes a mushy pile of green goo. Unless of course you cook it in a bit of olive oil along with more than a bit of garlic, stir in some freshly crumbled feta cheese and stuff it in layers of buttered pastry. Then, it’s delicious. It is a bit cumbersome, but trust me, it’s the only right and proper way to eat cooked spinach. Unless you like your mush. If so, I leave you to it. To begin five cloves of garlic (I did warn there’d be a lot) are minced and added to a…
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Spring Bread
Some call this Easter bread, and you can, but that implies it can only be eaten one day a year, and that is a travesty. Yes, a travesty. Why would you want to limit the consumption of a bread so sweet, so tender, so full of the very best things in life to just one day a year? No. I won’t hear of it. This is Spring bread, just as it should be, to be enjoyed all the months this great earth enjoys a little warm-up of its own. To make a right and proper spring bread you will need two days. Nothing more, nothing less. And like all good…
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Dessert fit for a Seder: Baklava
Each year as Spring comes to the Farm, there is one dessert which is made without fail: Baklava. I know, I know, this makes no sense. The Farmer is German, and his Wife a strange blend of Irish/Scottish/Norwegian?. Absolutely no one on the Farm can claim Greek roots. Never-the-less, this dish makes its way into the hearts and mouths of all those who live on the Farm and a few dozen besides each and every year, because this is the very (and only) dessert that’s made for the annual Seder. This Seder has been hosted by the Farmer’s Wife and her mother for forever so long, or the last twenty…
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Golden Blondies
There are many blondies running around and about the Farm (although not the Farmer, he’s stuck with the darkest of hair). Some are light while others are golden, like the sun shining down from the Heavens. And, despite the fact we love our chocolate here on the Farm, sometimes you have to have a good golden blond. Just ask the Farmer. And the very best thing about these brownies? They’re made in a saucepan and poured into a baking dish. Easy-peasy. To start, take a quarter cup butter and a quarter cup virgin coconut oil and place in a large saucepan over medium heat until both are just melted.…
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Hannah Bakes: Fancy Pies
Hannah has started making pies. By herself. And she doesn’t make them how her Mother would. No. She makes them fancy. Her mother stands over her shoulder as she rolls out the dough. “It’s too thin,” she complains. “Not for what I’m doing,” is the answer Hannah gives in return. Her Mother hmpphhs and looks from a different angle. The dough does look a bit thin, but let’s trust Hannah here. She’s been at her Mother’s side watching hundreds of pies being made. She’s even made a few herself. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. Wait a minute! What is she doing now? She’s gotten out the cookie cutters.…
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Boozy Chocolate Cake
This cake graces the table at the Farm for all birthdays, break-ups, post-fight make-ups, or for a general Sunday afternoon. It is what every cake should be: moist, rich, and chocolate. And here is how it’s made: One and three quarters cup pastry flour is sifted with three quarters cup good cocoa powder (the Farmer’s Wife uses either Hershey or Callebaut), one teaspoon baking powder, two teaspoons baking soda, and one teaspoon salt. This bowl is set aside for now, while a half cup softened butter is creamed with two cups sugar of the granulated variety for a good three minutes until all is light and fluffy. Two room temperature…
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Maple Sugar Cookies
In the part of the country where the Farm calls home, the trees wake up some time in March and start singing. And you can tell when they’re about to begin because everywhere you look there will be buckets hanging around their waists in anticipation. And then one day they will start. The buckets will fill with something that looks like water, but really is so much more. Sap, some people call it. And this sap, when boiled down, makes the most delicious liquor in the world: Maple Syrup. And this syrup may be used in all kinds and ways but is best enjoyed as it was meant; with lots…
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Thanksgiving Sandwich
The Farmer’s Wife just can’t get Thanksgiving out of her mind. That Turkey. That stuffing. Cranberries. Yum. She has to have more. She simply must. And so she shall. Today, she is making her weekly Good Loaf of Bread, only this time, she is putting in a few additions in the way of her secret winter spice mix (sage, celery, onions, shallots (or garlic powder), all dried and pulverized together. Think thanksgiving stuffing.) and chopped dried cherries. If you have forgotten the recipe to her Good Loaf of Bread, you can refer to it here: https://thefarmerandhiswife.org/2021/02/23/a-good-loaf-of-bread/ As far as those thanksgivingee additions, they go like this: Two tablespoons dried sage…
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Winter Staple: Chicken Cacciatore
At the House in the Village there was a woodstove, which meant long, slow-cooked meals were enjoyed all the Winter long. There were soups and stews, roasts and scrapples, and This. But most often, This. Because, quite simply, this is the epitome of slow cooking. Simple ingredients readily available melting together to form something completely delicious. We still have it here at the Farm, but it’s not nearly as good. It needs just what it was: a slow spot on the back of a woodstove to simmer the day away. And I promise, as soon as a woodstove graces these halls, it will be the very first thing that’s made.…
