Monthly Archives: September 2010

Tomato Paste

29 September 2010 by local kitchen

Tomato paste is one of those basic pantry staples that I love to put up. As much as I love creating interesting, and sometimes wacky, jams & preserves, it gives me a great sense of satisfaction when cooking to reach into the pantry and pull out basics that I preserved myself: canned tomatoes, applesauce, dried basil, ground chile pepper. And tomato paste, of course. I first made tomato paste two years ago, when we were flush with tomatoes in the Northeast, and […]

Categories: tomatoes • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Pear Syrup with Fennel

28 September 2010 by local kitchen

We are back from the Interweb-less wilds of Maine and rural New Hampshire and there is much to share: wild Maine blueberries, tart-sweet Concord grapes, chocolate birthday cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting and boozy pear sauce filling and grilling chicken & vegetables over a wood fire by headlamp. But first, a simple, and simply delicious, pear syrup. When I made the pear butter with white wine and fennel a couple of weeks ago, I was so captivated by the fragrance of […]

Categories: canning, fall, pears, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

October Can Jam Reveal

23 September 2010 by local kitchen

Did anyone else have the Mystery Date board game when they were young? Now that I think back on it, it may well be the least politically-correct game ever invented, but I got hours of enjoyment out of spinning the door handle and ‘revealing’ the future man in my life. I was also a fan of Let’s Make a Deal (I’ll take door number 3, Monty); I always like the risk that you’ll trade away something good for something fantastic, […]

Categories: Can Jam, community • Tags: canning, recipes

Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Soup

20 September 2010 by local kitchen

We’re off to Points North for a while; a stopover in Boston to visit friends, a trip to Maine to visit family and then over to Rumney, NH for some climbing and outdoorsy fun. Some husband of mine has a milestone birthday this week, so we are celebrating with good friends, family, outdoor time and, of course, good food. Since it’s always colder than you think in Maine, and I always do some cooking when we are up there, I’m […]

Categories: chickpeas, cilantro, eggplant, garlic, parsley, roasting, soup, summer, tomatoes, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Salsa Rojo

18 September 2010 by local kitchen

A basic red salsa with a nod to Mexico: grilled corn, guajillo chile, cumin and cilantro. Corn in salsa? Why, yes, thank you for noticing. I’m not sure why you never seem to find corn included in salsa recipes, since corn and tomatoes are such a natural pair. Maybe it’s because salsa always seems to be served with corn: corn tortillas, chips, nachos, etc. But I got it into my head to add some of Tai’s delicious grilled corn to […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, cilantro, corn, hot chile peppers, preserving, salsa, summer, tomatoes • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes

Can Jam: Nectarine, Pear & Chile Jam

16 September 2010 by local kitchen

September already and three-quarters of the Can Jam entries tucked away in the pantry, dreaming of winter. Where did the year go? I have to admit that when Miss Kate over at Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking announced stone fruit as the September Can Jam fruit-of-focus, I’m sure I let out a huge groan. Having just preserved about a bizillion-and-one pounds of peaches, not to mention plums, apricots and nectarines, I thought that I was done with stone fruits for the season. […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, fall, hot chile peppers, jams, peaches, pears, preserving, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Fire Roasted Tomato & Ancho Chile Sauce

15 September 2010 by local kitchen

I think the Canning Gods have forgiven me for whatever transgression prompted the Great Green Ketchup Debacle of 2010, because this recipe? This recipe kicks ass. I can hardly describe the flavor to you without overusing rhapsodic superlatives (and “thaumaturgic” doesn’t quite seem to fit); it is rich, smoky, definitely a tomato sauce but halfway to a molé, with strong chocolate overtones and just a hint of capsaicin bite. In the space of 24 hours, we have already eaten it on […]

Categories: canning, hot chile peppers, preserving, sauces, summer, tomatoes • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes

Caramelized Pear Jam with Vanilla Bean

13 September 2010 by local kitchen

“Burnt” is such an ugly word. “Caramelized” is so much prettier, inspiring visions of caramel apples, gooey caramel melting into a sundae, or caramel candies festooned with America’s favorite pork product. Let’s face it, there is a fine line between “caramelized” and “burnt” and it is mostly one of taste: does it taste good (caramelized) or bad (burnt)? In fact, the very definition of ‘caramel’ can be “burnt sugar“ (although most do not put it quite so crassly). So why […]

Categories: breakfast, canning, fall, jams, pears, preserving • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Watermelon Jelly with Balsamic & Mint

12 September 2010 by local kitchen

If there are still watermelons at your farmer’s market, this one is a keeper. I was intrigued, but a little dubious, about the amount of balsamic vinegar in this recipe, and we all know that I do not have the best luck with jelly. I have to say, however, that this turned out to be quite delicious in addition to being rather beautiful. Tai gave it his patented “This is horrible. Don’t even try it; I’ll suffer and eat it […]

Categories: canning, jellies, melon, mint, preserving, summer • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Herbed Bacon Cheddar Quiche

10 September 2010 by local kitchen

I’ve made quiche a couple of times in recents weeks, having been gifted with some of Julia’s delicious backyard eggs, and wanting to do something a little more special with them than scrambling (although I’m here to report that Julia’s backyard eggs scrambled with my backdeck chives = heaven). I’ve been surprised by how easy quiche is: I’ve always thought of it as a bit fussy, a bit fancy. In reality, quiche is simply an omelet baked in a pie crust, as fancy or […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, breakfast, cheese, chives, main course, pork, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Spicy Green Ketchup PSA

8 September 2010 by local kitchen

This is a publice service announcement: do not make this ketchup. Do not even attempt this at home. We here at Local Kitchen are highly-trained professional Recipe Destroyers; we can’t take the responsibility for any destruction that may result from attempting this recipe in your home kitchen. Dreadful, disasterous, disgusting; none of these descriptors seem to adequately convey just how bad this ketchup is (oh, the travails of the food-blogger!). Really, the only word for this ketchup is god-awful (although that seems an […]

Categories: condiments, disaster • Tags: food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes

Pear Butter with White Wine & Fennel

7 September 2010 by local kitchen

A few weeks ago, when the weather was still hot & humid but the leaves were telling us that Fall was on the way, I went pear picking with Julia. She had connected with a lovely man who had three huge, old D’Anjou pear trees in his yard: more pears than any one family, no matter how pear-loving, could possibly go through in a season. He was nice enough to let us pick as many as we liked, hoping that […]

Categories: canning, fall, pears, preserving, spreads, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Cherry Tomato Confit

5 September 2010 by local kitchen

About a week ago, I had a bowl of cherry tomatoes to use up and I wasn’t in the mood for bruschetta or cucumber salad. I decided on a confit, and as it was cooking, it smelled so heavenly that I had plans to eat it immediately over pasta; yet, by the time it was done, I was running out the door, so I just popped it into a jar and into the fridge. I’m so glad I did, because today […]

Categories: appetizer, basil, parsley, preserving, spreads, summer, thyme, tomatoes, vegetarian • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes, vegetarian

Salsa Verde

2 September 2010 by local kitchen

All the cool kids are doing it. My version of salsa verde – long live the tomatillo! Adapted from Tomatillo Salsa in The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, J. Kingry & L. Devine, eds. ——————————————————— Salsa Verde INGREDIENTS 4 cups (about 2 lbs husked) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and finely chopped 1/2 cup red onion, diced to 1/4-inch (about 1 tennis ball-sized) 1/2 cup Cubanelle peppers (or green bell peppers), diced to 1/4-inch 1/2 cup minced jalapeno & long green chile peppers, […]

Categories: canning, cilantro, citrus, hot chile peppers, preserving, salsa, summer, tomatillos • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes