May 2011

Rhubarb & Black Currant Jam

30 May 2011 by local kitchen

I feel like some tout in a seedy doorway, at once bored and alert, tossing out my banter with practiced skill, repetitious yet intriguing, tacky yet titillating. Except, instead of GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!, the neon sign over my head blinks RHUBARB! RHUBARB! RHUBARB! “Come on and get your rhubarb heAH, just one taste my lovlies, just one taste, it’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s tangy and tingly, step right up now, step right up!” Maybe I should just throw in the towel on […]

Categories: canning, currants, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, currants, food, jam, local, preserving, quince, recipes, rhubarb

Rhubarbaritas

27 May 2011 by local kitchen

From me to you: an easy-peasy preserving recipe, a fancy cocktail for holiday-weekend fun, and a way to enjoy rhubarb long after it has disappeared from the market and the garden. It’s been a busy, busy time here in the last few weeks. Tai has been working overtime, trying to make up for all the lost outdoor time during our incredibly rainy April, and I’ve been drowning in a particularly knotty data analysis with a deadline of earlier this week. Yesterday, […]

Categories: canning, condiments, preserving, rhubarb, spring, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, cocktails, cooking, drinks, food, local, preserving, recipes, rhubarb

Yet Another Ramp Pickle

23 May 2011 by local kitchen

I know: you’re so over ramps, right? And ramp pickles – gah! Everyone has done them (no, really, everyone) and I am late to the party. I might as well just post a cupcake recipe and have done. But, but, but…. well, I have no excuses. Except to say this: if this little jar of ramps waiting-to-become gets pushed out of sight in the fridge, hidden behind the massive bunches of rhubarb, the parsley and dill, the radishes and leeks; if it […]

Categories: 100% local

Fresh Chive Pasta

19 May 2011 by local kitchen

Rain. Rain, rain, rain. There’s been a lot of it. We are lucky in the Northeast not to be dealing with the floods that have ravaged the middle of the country, but still: rain. It gets you down when days and days go by with no sight of the sun and the incessant drip, drip, drip of rain off the eaves threatens to drive you ’round the twist. I firmly believe, however, that every cloud has its silver lining: the […]

Categories: 100% local, chives, eggs, main course, pasta, quick & easy, side dish, spring, vegetarian, whole wheat flour • Tags: chives, cooking, food, local, pasta, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, whole grains

Strawberry Pinot Noir Preserves

16 May 2011 by local kitchen

The Great Freezer Clean-Out 2011 continues: this time with a Ferber-esque strawberry preserve, made with Pennsylvania pinot noir from Sand Castle Winery. I unearthed a giant bag full of strawberries from last June in my freezer assessment of last week. Half the bag went to one of my favorite strawberry recipes, strawberry rhubarb & caramelized onion jam; for the remaining 2 pounds, I wanted to do something new. I poked through Mes Confitures to see what she may have in […]

Categories: berries, canning, preserves, preserving, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: canning, cooking, dessert, food, jam, local, preserving, recipes, spring, strawberries

Pumpkin Soup with Chocolate & Chipotle

13 May 2011 by local kitchen

Pumpkin soup in May. I know what you’re thinking: she’s finally lost that last (lonely) marble. But hear me out: I realized yesterday that June is nearly upon us; and with June comes the first onslaught of seasonal produce. My CSA will start, and with it kale, chard, cabbage and all those gorgeous Spring greens. Strawberries will show up in June as well, ripe for the picking. And then the summer squashes and cucumbers start coming, and cherries and raspberries, […]

Categories: chocolate, fall, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, food, local, main course, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Use It or Lose It! Meyer Lemon Pork Rolls

10 May 2011 by local kitchen

Earlier this year, when I was busily turning winter’s citrus into marmalades and jams, I lamented to Shae that I was a bit disappointed with my first foray into Meyer lemons. “I mean, they are nice enough,” I said, “but I don’t really see what all the fuss is about. I keep thinking I would like them better if they were more, well, lemony.” Shae responded that Meyers are quite soft-skinned and not as hardy as other citrus fruits, so they lose […]

Categories: citrus, main course, pork, spring, Use it or Lose it!, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, dinner, food, local, main course, pork, recipes

Recipe Index: Preserves

6 May 2011 by local kitchen

Happy Friday, all! You may notice, in the top navigation menu, a new page called “recipes.” I’ve been working on a recipe index for some time now, in my spare moments between cooking, longing for Spring, researching cholesterol, and inventing new ways to screw up marmalade. (Oh, and that job that actually pays the bills. There’s that, too.) But I’m happy to announce that at least one piece of the puzzle is complete: a single page with every preserving recipe on the […]

Categories: preserving • Tags: preserving, recipes

Ramp & Asparagus Frittata

2 May 2011 by local kitchen

Have you ever spent an entire day in a jumpy house with a 7 year-old? Let me just tell you, for the sake of science, that it is possible to pull every sinlge muscle in your body at the same time, especially when, inspired by giggling, 7 year-old cries of “Do it again!,” you demonstrate your NBA-style, windmilling slam dunk on the jumpy house baskbetball net about 847 times. My friend Kami celebrated her 7th birthday a couple of weeks ago […]

Categories: 100% local, asparagus, breakfast, cheese, chives, eggs, leek, main course, parsley, scallions, spring, vegetarian, wild foods • Tags: asparagus, breakfast, brunch, cooking, eggs, food, local, ramps, recipes, vegetarian