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Category: Garden & Flowers

Apple Cider Amaro Spritz

Posted on by Admin General

In the summer we enjoy sharing our refreshing Amaro Spritz with friends and family. It has become the signature welcome drink at our Sunday Night Neapolitan Pizza Dinner Parties, and I must admit that I am missing it already.

Inspired once again by the incredible Amaro Nonino, I crafted a delightful fall spritz that combines the Nonino’s exquisite blend of macerated herbs, roots, and spices with our favorite locally sourced fresh-pressed apple cider from The Milk Pail in Water Mill, and slices of apple from our own fruit trees. This year, the Apple Cider Amaro Spritz will take center stage as our Thanksgiving welcome drink, gracefully replacing our beloved Cranberry Margarita.

As the trees begin to change colors, our vegetable garden is yielding the last few leeks and peppers, our landscape is transformed into a fall foliage masterpiece, and the few remaining apples and pears on our espalier are at their ripest. It is the perfect moment to toast another wonderful summer, and beautiful Autumn.

autumn landscape

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Yield: Makes 1

Blackberry Jam

Posted on by Admin General

Summer is winding down too quickly, as it always does, and I find myself trying to hold on to every last bit of what remains. The Hamptons is a place, a space, and an echo all at once. It’s peaceful, medicinal, and sometimes wild and chaotic like the sea that draws us to these hamlets.  

Sweet, buttery corn and luscious fruits evoke smiles and thoughts of beach parties and backyard gatherings. These are flavors I want to hold on to for a little while longer.  

Blackberries grow wild on my property and there’s nothing more delicious than a sun-ripened berry right off the bush. I harvest as much as I can, eating them out of hand, presenting them warm and freshly picked on the breakfast table. Here, I share my recipe for blackberry jam, a simple way to hold on to the flavors and feelings of summer.   

Yield: Makes 1 ½ Cups 

Kimchi Dressing

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Kimchi, a traditional side dish in Korean cuisine, is a combination of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish, made with a widely varying selection of seasonings and a variety of spices. I first tasted kimchi when my brother’s then-girlfriend would come to our home for dinner. She would always bring a big jar of her mother’s homemade, super spicy, kimchi. With its perfectly subtle crunch, umami, sour, and piquant flavors, I fell in love with this dish immediately. 

Back then, very few non-Koreans were enjoying kimchi and it was difficult to find. Now, most Americans are aware of its potential health benefits.  According to Harvard, “Probiotic foods contain live helpful bacteria…” and kimchi is high on the list of those thought to support a healthy microbiome, which plays a key role in immune function. It is no wonder kimchi has been enjoying a renaissance during these pandemic times.

It was the team at foodtrainers that encouraged me to reintroduce kimchi to my diet, and I have been adding it on as a side dish, layering pieces in my salmon bowl, or simply enjoying it as an afternoon snack. 

Recently, chef Sarah Patricolo, created this delicious dressing as a way of getting even more kimchi into my diet. Easy to make, this dressing adds an incredible burst of flavor to any salad, and pairs especially well with Castelvetrano olives. Our favorite brand is Mother in Law’s Kimchi, a crowd-pleaser, available in original and vegan versions. 

Yield: Makes ¾ Cup 

Shiso Mojito

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Also known as Japanese mint or perilla, shiso is a bright maple-leaf-shaped herb often served with sashimi or sliced into ribbons and added to rice. It has a memorable, captivating flavor. A member of the mint family, this tasty leaf can impart flavors of basil, cinnamon, and anise.  

This summer I decided to grow shiso in my garden—it is Fall and the plants are still happy and bountiful. I have been adding shiso leaves to salads and summer rolls, using them for garnish, and making teas.   

While visiting Japan, I enjoyed shiso tea for the first time—leaves added to hot water, made like a mint tea, and believed to contain antioxidants, as well as anti-inflammatory and allergy-fighting properties. It is thought to help strengthen the immune system and improve the health of your skin. I love the flavor of shiso and found it fascinating to learn that shiso oil is an herb-based alternative to fish oil, as it can provide omega-3 fatty acids.

One of my favorite discoveries this summer was the Shiso Mojito—just swap mint for shiso and rum for vodka, add the flavor of yuzu and you have a fabulous, exotic summer cocktail! Shiso can pair with a wide range of spirits and be used to either flavor the drink or simply add a bright and refreshing aroma when used as a garnish.

If you’re planning a dinner with any variety of Japanese dishes, this is a great welcome drink to serve your guests. For cocktail hour, I love the wonderful burst of flavor this drink adds when paired with pickled plums and wasabi peas. Here in the Hamptons, I found everything I needed for a Japanese inspired cocktail hour at Hen of the Woods.

Yield: Makes 1 Cocktail

An Interview with Christine and Paula, the collaborative team behind Maui Luxe Picnics

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Christine and Paula are the dynamic duo behind Maui Luxe Picnics. Inspired by their love of food, nature, and gatherings, together they create unique and intimate experiences on the beautiful island of Maui. These amazing ladies designed a magical and memorable atmosphere for my husband and I to toast our wedding anniversary. The backdrop—the sun setting just in front of us on the horizon of Mōkapu Beach.

They found a talented photographer to capture the memories, and a ukulele player to set the mood. Their resources are endless, and you can add-on videography, drone footage, hula dancers, fire fighters, and more. 

The best part was that after a few friendly conversations with Christine, she understood exactly what I was looking for, and we simply showed up to enjoy the evening! It was one of the most seamless and effortless events I have ever planned, which made me a bit nervous, but it was truly perfection! When our magical evening ended, Christine and Paula arrived to congratulate us, and to take care of all the packing and cleaning. It was such a delightful, carefree evening—as all special occasions should be.

I am absolutely thrilled to share our conversation about intimate gatherings, being surrounded by beauty, and sourcing both healthful and delicious celebratory foods. 

If you are planning a celebration but cannot get to Maui, you will find useful tips for planning your own intimate celebration. 

Q&A

AF: Your mindfully curated grazing board for our picnic was both beautifully placed and delicious. When putting together your platters where do you start? What is the process, your recipe for success?

MLP: We usually work on our grazing boards as a team. One prepares the foods by cutting and handing them over to the other one who arranges everything on the board. By doing so, we try to pair items that complement each other like cheeses with meats, and veggies with dips and crackers. We choose fruits that add color pops to the board and fill little gaps with nuts and dried fruits. The last item to be added is normally the chocolate. 

AF: Please share with us your favorite picnic locations on Maui.

MLP: We prefer the Wailea area for its beaches. They are the easiest accessible and offer the best sunsets. As a contrast to that, Polipoli is the place both of us would choose for a personal favorite picnic spot. Unfortunately, we can’t offer this location for clients as we are not able to obtain permits but it’s ideal if you want to set up your own. 

AF: What is your go-to healthful indulgence to bring to a picnic?

MLP: If it’s available at the upcountry farmers market, we love to include moringa pesto by Niu Life Kitchen.

AF: Where do you source your decorative items? From the vintage beach umbrellas to the romantic rugs, blankets, and pillows—all curated for maximum impact, with a magical mix of color and texture—simply gorgeous! 

MLP: Thank you, Annie. We have collected all our items from different vendors and platforms like Etsy, Amazon, Pier1 and small sellers on Instagram. For example, we have blankets from Sardinia, Turkey, and Australia. Some items were gifted to us and others – like our umbrellas – are not being sold at this time.

AF: Do either of you have a background in interior design? We were surrounded by beauty, both natural and created which adds so much to any gathering. It helps create more mindful moments. What inspired the offering of such a curated space? 

MLP: No, neither of us have a background in design but we both have an eye for detail and aesthetic. At the beginning, we were motivated by picnic companies in Australia, and we now continue to be inspired by the diverse and incomparable landscapes of Maui. 

AF: What is the most important thing to keep in mind when shopping for picnic items?

MLP: We try to keep our style as we shop for setup items but still want to be able to create different schemes. We are constantly trying to improve and add to the diversity.

AF: It seems more and more people are celebrating life’s milestones with intimate gatherings rather than big, blow out events.  Perhaps encouraged by the pandemic, but do you feel these more personal fetes are here to stay?

MLP: Yes, this is exactly what we are witnessing right now, and we are expecting it to stay like this for a while. It feels like people are exploring new ways of celebrating different occasions and personalized picnics are the perfect way to do so. We are happy about it and don’t think it will get old any time soon.

AF: Our picnic foods were sourced the same morning at a local farmer’s market. Please share with us your favorite Maui markets, and your go-to vendors. 

MLP: We try to get most of our veggies, fruits, and flowers from the Upcountry Farmers Market at Kula Malu. The following are a selection of vendors we use frequently:

Niu Life Kitchen for their moringa pesto

Devine Dahlias for her flowers

Maui Raw for the nut-based dips

AF: Do you have a favorite recipe you could share, ether one of yours or something a chef or caterer created for a party you created? 

Chef Nicot’s Saffron Risotto with Scamp, and his Avocado Shrimp Ceviche. 

Fruit Salad Infused with French Four Spice Syrup

Posted on by Admin General

Hotel Manapany located in Anse de Cayes, a beautiful, untamed beach in St. Barth’s, debuted in the spring of 2018. A five-star, eco-friendly resort that rests among the glitzier hotels for which the island is known. It is the only resort on St. Barth’s deeply committed to protecting the environment, with amenities that include electric vehicles for guests to use and solar-powered electricity. Manapany produces its own water, maintains a vegetable and fruit garden, and provides towels made from natural products—eco sensitive luxury at its best.

The hotel exudes authentic French-Caribbean culture, including cocktails infused with rhum agricole from Guadeloupe and Martinique, and a seafood-inspired menu built on the bounty procured from local fishermen and the native herbs from an on-site garden. The extraordinary juxtaposition of casual island food and impeccable haute-cuisine techniques result in memorable fare and unforgettable cocktails.

During our stay, Executive chef Anthony Martel treated us to a bowl of tropical fruit infused with a wonderfully fragrant simple syrup and he was kind enough to share the recipe. This aromatic syrup is easy to make and a delightful way to elevate fruit.

A selection of seasonal, tropical fruits from a local farm in Florida served as my inspiration to revisit the recipe. When using mixed fruits, be sure to cut each into even, bite-sized pieces. For a beautiful addition to a summer buffet dinner, I opted for colorful melon balls and added garden-fresh mint and edible violets.  

Whether you choose tropical, exotic, or local fruits, a high-acid, aromatic white wine will work best. Malvasia, gewürztraminer, or sauvignon blanc are all good choices.

Yield: Serves 4 (1 ½ Cups)

Composting for the Health of your Garden and the Environment”

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There was a fire in our summer home, a house where my family and I gathered for more than two decades to rest, relax, and spend quality time together—three generations of family. Offering a much-needed respite from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, our home served as a welcoming place where we forgot about work and responsibility for just a little while. 

The fire occurred just weeks before my husband and I intended to arrive there, and the news shrouded us in sadness for a few days. My parents are no longer with us, but their voices, their strength and steadfastness will always be a part of me. Growing up, my dad often reminded us “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” and when we went through particularly challenging times, he said “always remember that tough times never last, but tough people do, and when they persist, they are often transformed for the better—a metamorphosis.”

The memory of my father’s words rallied my spirit, and we immediately began planning both the renovation of our home, and the reconstruction of our summer plans. In the process, we travelled to new places, solidified old friendships, made new friends, and created opportunity out of ashes. 

Meanwhile, we renovated our home in a way that better serves the future generations of our family and the environment. We added carbon neutral septic tanks, a geothermal heating system, and indigenous, pollinator-friendly plantings, as well as a vegetable garden—a small place to grow pesticide free, organic produce for our family. 

With my dream garden in place, I was more motivated than ever to compost. The idea of filling my beds with “black gold” in preparation for Spring plantings revived my interest, and according to a recent New York Times article, “The answer to so many gardening questions is, typically, compost, whether you’re adding it to help improve fertility or water-holding ability: Compost, compost, compost.” 

My daughter, Kayla, believes that the answers to life’s big questions lie in our connection with the natural world, and while seeking volunteer opportunities that would put her in nature, she discovered a plethora of community composting programs, and gifted us a fall membership with Ecological Culture Initiative. It was so effortless! ECI gave us a list of what they will accept for composting and provided collection receptacles that were picked up every Tuesday morning and replaced with clean pails. The staff tracked our scraps by weighing and recording each pail they picked up and we earned compost—food scraps transformed, metamorphosed into nourishing soil.  

If you do not have a garden, you can use your compost to nurture your houseplants or donate it back to ECI for their community garden.  

Here are a few community composting programs in New York City, the Hamptons and Palm Beach—it is such a feel-good way to have a daily impact on our environment.

Grow NYC

Ecological Culture Initiative

Let it Rot

Super Crunch Salad

Posted on by Admin General

Having more time in the kitchen means being adventurous, and creating meals that are tasty, healthful and balance ingredients in a way that feels new and playful.

Karen Sheer created this Super Crunch Salad and suggests topping it with two scoops of her Carrot Sorbet. Refreshing, satisfying and good for you!

Use Karen’s base ingredients to be sure to create a healthful salad, then add what is local, fresh, or simply what you have on hand. I added Florida avocado, roasted Indian-spiced chickpeas, and bell peppers from our garden, plus sesame seeds. Had my guests not eaten all our Carrot Sorbet I would have cubed the leftover pops and piled them right over the avocado! Next time.

Here is Karen Sheer’s original recipe.

Serving Size: 4

Carrot Sorbet

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This week I will be sharing a conversation I had with Karen Sheer, a professional chef, writer, and caterer who specializes in creating innovative and original recipes. She collaborated on my book, Hamptons Entertaining, and shared this Carrot Sorbet recipe with me during our interview. Karen likes to pair this savory sorbet with her Super Crunch Salad, which I will also share. When served this way, it becomes a cooling summer mid-day meal. Perfect for those dog days of summer.

When I tried Karen’s recipe, I was reminded of how I love the surprise of savory sorbets—tomato, celery, and roasted fennel are just some of my favorites. They are so refreshing, and the icy chill wakes you up—your mind is anticipating something sweet, but your tongue registers something wonderfully unexpected. 

I hosted a casual Indian dinner at my home (a family celebration—we are still in pandemic mode) where I tweaked Karen’s recipe a bit, adding a touch of curry powder, and replacing the sugar with a local honey. I served freezer pops rather than the traditional scoop—placed in the center of the table, over ice with fresh mint from the garden. Serving this way meant less to clean up after dinner and made the sorbet that much more enticing. It is bold to serve savory sorbets and granitas, but these pops were a lovely intermezzo between courses, offered after a particularly spicy dish they created the perfect interlude.

Here is Karen’s original recipe.   

Yield: Makes 3 Cups

Karmakazi Hot Sauce

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If you love eating chili-rich spicy foods, there is evidence that adding a kick to your meals may be linked to longer life. That is a refreshing thought given the amount of hot sauce my family consumes. In our home you will rarely find a saltshaker on the table, instead there’s a jar of homemade hot sauce; and I have been known to carry a small bottle in my bag (I’m in good company, so does Beyoncé!). Store-bought hot sauce can be chock full of additives, cancer-causing dyes and artificial ingredients topped with a heaping amount of sodium, which is why I love finding great hot sauce recipes like this one from Anamaya, a resort in Costa Rica.

Anamaya is Sanskrit for “good health” and at the core of the Anamaya diet is lots of raw food, plenty of protein and healthy fats, minimal processing, lots of fruit, veggies, and whole grains—so much like my own diet, including their commitment to include only a minimal amount dairy and seafood. They do not use white sugar, ever, and are 100% gluten-free.  Those are two items I am still working on at home.

Anamaya grows much of their own produce and when chef Jeffrey Horton is cooking, he loves working with organic and local ingredients, and takes pride in his made-from-scratch meals, no shortcuts. When we visited, chef Jeff put out a squeeze bottle of his Karmakazi Hot Sauce every day on the breakfast and lunch buffets. Guests, our family included, poured it over eggs, added it to stir-fries and tacos, and just about everything else. It is perhaps the most requested recipe at Anamaya!

Yield: Makes 3 Cups