"Dr.Brent" news and stories

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

Last month we concluded America's Oldest, Largest Garden Party by asking all of you to submit the best recipe you've concocted from ingredients from your own garden.

We were overwhelmed with all of the culinary talent out there, and we had to turn to our friend, celebrity chef and gardener Alice Waters, to help us choose the best of the best.

The recipe that emerged victorious was a succulent (and some might even say sexy) lamb stew that's just perfect for chilly autumn weekends.

Tomatillos and hot peppers. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

Earlier this summer, when a friend gave us a few small tomatillo plants, we weren't really that interested in them. Nevertheless, we found a spot in the heirloom garden and pushed them into the dirt.

Three short months later, as we watched every blight-bitten tomato turn brown and drop from the vine, we were thrilled to have those tomatillo plants.

Oddities in the garden, we've been asked more than once what they were. One visitor even exclaimed, "I didn't know you could eat Japanese Lanterns!"

An autumnal feast. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

One of the true pleasures of life on the farm is walking out to the heirloom vegetable garden to decide what looks good for dinner. All summer, we've been sharing some of our own recipes, but we're not the only ones out there with a backyard garden and a little creativity. There are thousands of you!

We decided to hold a contest to see who came up with the best impromptu recipe from their garden this year.
And guess what? One of the most influential gardening chefs in the world, Alice Waters, is going to help us choose the winner. We'll even prepare the winning recipe and put it right here. You and your recipe could be famous!

To get you started on the right track, we're giving you one of our favorites this season.

Harvest vegetables. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

When we first moved to the Beekman Farm, we knew really nothing about farming. Most of what we now know we learned from talking to our neighbors, local farmers with years worth of experience. We felt it was time to say "thank you," so the Beekman Farm is hosting a Harvest Festival in historic Sharon Springs, N.Y., to celebrate local farmers. The festivities will conclude with a five-course meal at the American Hotel , with primary ingredients (from the butter to the bourbon) that are all locally sourced.

While the festival was a year in the planning, there are some very worthwhile things that you can do to say "thanks" to your own local farmers. Here are a few ways to get started:

• Didn't even know there were farmers in your neck of the woods? Then a good place to start is at localharvest.org. Plug in your ZIP code and in an instant see what's growing near you.

Heirloom beans. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, gorgeous photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

Native daughter Rachael Ray has a profound appreciation for the farmlands of upstate New York, and just paid a visit to Beekman 1802 to learn more about our farm-to-table project with The American Hotel.

What does one make when Rachael Ray comes to dinner? We knew it had to be 1) delicious, 2) simple, and 3) easy. So we traipsed out to the garden for inspiration and found a few tender new green beans just ready for the picking. These are sometimes referred to by their French name, haricot vert, which translates to, you guessed it, "green bean."

Our "yummo" recipe and a bit about our hills of heirloom beans, after the jump.