100% local | | Page 15

Spicy Oven Fries

16 February 2009 by local kitchen

These smell so good when they are cooking, it actually hurts. Hurts so good. Adapted loosely from a recipe in Greatest Ever Potato, Papplewick Press, Nottingham, UK. ————————————————————– Spicy Oven Fries INGREDIENTS 2 lb mixed potatoes (purple, red, gold, Russet, sweet – whatever is on hand) 3 tbsp (1.5 oz) butter, melted, or olive oil, or local sunflower oil 1 tsp chile powder (ground from home-dried red chiles from Madura Farm) 1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt METHODS Scrub potatoes well […]

Categories: 100% local, fall, hot chile peppers, potato, side dish, snack, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, fries, local, potato, recipes, snacks

Chorizo & Heirloom Bean Soup

16 February 2009 by local kitchen

A spicy, hearty, sausage-stuffed soup, the beans almost hide in this one, making it a good option for people who aren’t quite sure that they like legumes. Yet, while spicy chorizo sausage flavors this soup, it’s also packed full of vegetables, good homemade stock and heirloom beans, stretching a single pound of meat to easily feed 10 people. The recipe below makes a big pot of soup, so it’s handy that the soup freezes well, because this is just the […]

Categories: 100% local, Asian greens, beans, heirloom beans, main course, pork, sausage, soup, tomatoes, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, pork, recipes, soup, winter

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

14 February 2009 by local kitchen

Have you ever made gnocchi from scratch? Chances are, if you have, your first attempt was less than stellar: dense, miniature hockey pucks of gummy dough rather than light, airy pillows of flavor, beautifully grooved and dimpled to catch your favorite sauce. Gnocchi are not difficult, any more than homemade bread or scones are difficult, but it does take a bit of practice, as well as a bit of confidence in the kitchen, to get it right. Maybe that’s why […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, herbs, pasta, spinach, spring, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, Italian, local, pasta, recipes, whole grain flour

Whole Milk Ricotta

9 February 2009 by local kitchen

Ricotta cheese is typically made from the whey that is leftover from making ewe’s milk cheese. This whole milk version is similar in technique, yet you can make it from milk that you pick up at the market (or farm) and it has a much higher yield than whey ricotta. Homemade ricotta is ridiculously easy to make, tastes delicious, and you control the texture; rich & creamy or drier with a more intense cheese flavor. The ingredients are exactly as […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, meat & dairy, milk, preserving, quick & easy, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Chicken & Wild Mushroom Pot Pie

4 February 2009 by local kitchen

As a kid, I loved chicken pot pie, rare for me as I was suspicious of any food that was “mixed together” and certainly anything in gravy. As an adult, I don’t like most chicken pot pies; the gravy often tastes of nothing so much as cream, flour and salt. This dish, however, is wonderfully savory, flavorful and satisfying. It is elegant enough for a fancy dinner party yet homey enough to serve to kids just home from an afternoon’s hard sledding. It elicits groans […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, fall, herbs, leek, parsley, pastry, stew, winter

Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

2 February 2009 by local kitchen

One of the nice things about being a locavore, or a mostly-locavore (mocavore?), like me, is that you did all sorts of prep work back at the harvest and now you get to reap the benefits. People tend to think that eating locally in the Northeast in winter is all about deprivation; this hearty pumpkin soup is anything but. I keep diced organic pumpkin, chopped local garlic and tablespoon-sized portions of tomato paste in the freezer; all I have to do is […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, chickpeas, fall, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

Whole Wheat Crackers

2 February 2009 by local kitchen

Somehow, I find, it’s always the simplest homemade foods that impress people the most: mustard, pasta, crackers. I’ve made these crackers many, many times over the years and people are always impressed: in fact, more than once I’ve heard, “It never occurred to me that you could make crackers!” But make crackers you can, and quite easily too. At their most basic, crackers are simply flour, water and a bit of fat, with a healthy dose of salt for flavor. […]

Categories: 100% local, snack, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

Local Salt!

30 January 2009 by local kitchen

Even my “100% local” meals are generally only 99.5% local as I refuse to cook without salt. And even though I live not far from the mighty Atlantic, and you would think that someone, somewhere in my general neighborhood would be producing Atlantic sea salt, I’ve been unable to find it. I bought some “Atlantic sea salt” only to find out that it was produced in Holland. I had heard of Maine Sea Salt Company, but at $10/lb plus shipping, it was a […]

Categories: 100% local

Rich Chicken Stock

30 January 2009 by local kitchen

I confess I often use canned chicken stock (well, “boxed” is more appropriate now, I guess) or bouillon-type base. Yes, I know, not very local of me (not to mention not very ‘chef-like’) but my efforts to eat lower on the food chain result in eating less meat in general and the need for soup stock definitely overwhelms the amount of stock bones that pile up in the freezer. Nevertheless, making your own stock is the way to go, whenever you […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, soup, stock, year round

Rose’s Deluxe Flaky Pie Crust

29 January 2009 by local kitchen

I cannot recommend enough The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. If you’ve never heard of Rose, you are either new to cooking, or simply are not a baker, because she is justifiably famous for her Cake Bible; the Pastry Bible and Christmas Cookie books are equally as wonderful. I’m sure the Bread Bible is as well, although I have yet to get my hands on a copy. Friends that I cook for often simply have to hear […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, dessert, pastry, pie, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, year round

Local Cranberry Chutney

28 January 2009 by local kitchen

I love cranberries and I am always looking for new ways to preserve them for enjoyment all year round. This recipe is adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and from Leda Meredith’s Basic Chutney recipe on Leda’s Urban Homestead. This chutney is spicy and flavorful; the habaneros deliver quite a kick that is balanced nicely with local honey. Serve on a sandwich with turkey & brie, put on a cheese platter with crackers or whole wheat focaccia, or make […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, chutneys, cranberries, fall, hot chile peppers, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian