Category Archives: grains & legumes

Easy Homemade Hummus

14 January 2010 by local kitchen

I know what you’re thinking: “Hmmph. Easy. Says she of the 3-day pie crust and the day-long chicken pot pie.” But, really, this recipe is easy. Easy as pie. Well, way easier than pie, actually. Easy enough for Rachel Ray (although why make hummus when it’s so much more convenient to buy it in the store? And why do I pick on this woman when I’ve never even seen her show? I’m sure she’s a lovely person. Really.). Anyway, you […]

Categories: appetizer, beans, chickpeas, chives, citrus, herbs, quick & easy, spreads, vegetarian, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Dark Days: Handmade Whole Wheat Pasta

10 January 2010 by local kitchen

I’ve been meaning to make fresh pasta again for a while now; I probably would not have done it today if I had not remembered that it is Sunday and I hadn’t yet planned my Dark Days meal o’ the week. Thanks, Dark Days Challenge, for giving me a kick in the pants! The last time I made whole wheat pasta, I used all whole wheat bread flour (hard red spring wheat flour from Wild Hive) and the dough was so […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, Dark Days Local, eggs, main course, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Yogurt Cheese Scones with Lemon & Thyme

9 January 2010 by local kitchen

The latest entry in my scone obsession, these are a savory, tangy mini scone that I made to bring to dinner tonight at our friends Amy and Bob’s house. These are an appetizer scone, great nibbled with fresh slices of apple or a nice chutney. How lemony they taste depends on the depth of flavor in your cheese; a strong cheese will allow just a hint of citrusy freshness to come though, while with a milder cheese you will really taste the […]

Categories: appetizer, baking, breads, breakfast, cheese, citrus, quick & easy, thyme, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cheese, cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

Calypso Bean Minestrone

7 January 2010 by local kitchen

Calypso beans are so gorgeous. They are one of those fantastic heirloom varieties that you only see when you start searching out such a thing; a bean so gorgeous, you want to wear it as jewelry, so tasty that the unique flavor and texture are impossible to describe, so miraculous that if you push it into the soil, in Spring a plant will emerge. (That simple fact never fails to thrill me). Calypso beans, also called orca beans because of […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, heirloom beans, kale & leafy greens, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, soup

Dark Days: Pancake FAIL

2 January 2010 by local kitchen

We’ve had many guests over the holidays and we’ve made quite a few pancake breakfasts. Tai has made a couple of batches, I’ve made a couple of batches, and while I would not say our pancakes are outstanding, they are generally pretty good (and anything that you can drown in Ronnybrook butter and New England Farms natural maple syrup can’t be all bad). In fact, Tai made a batch just yesterday, for our friends Erik & Melissa, who came up from Philly […]

Categories: 100% local, berries, breakfast, Dark Days Local, sauces, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: breakfast, cooking, food, local, recipes

Ginger & Orange Scones

29 December 2009 by local kitchen

It’s very cold here today, with temps in the teens and gusty winds up to 50 mph making it feel like 1 degree F. Brrrr! Wind is howling around our little cottage, but we are snug as bugs in a rug with the oven warming up the kitchen and the tropical flavors of orange and ginger making us dream of sunny beaches and warm breezes. This is another variation of my basic sweet scone recipe, with the added bonus of […]

Categories: baking, breakfast, citrus, dessert, non-local luxuries, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, breakfast, cooking, dessert, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Dark Days: Sausage & Pepper Pizza

28 December 2009 by local kitchen

Last night we had the happy coincidence of two friends traveling back home from Christmas celebrations, both of whom decided to stop and spend the night with us en route. We had a delicious, impromptu, and local dinner of sausage & pepper pizza, served up with Saranac ales, good conversation, and many laughs. Thanks, Frannie & Christina, for a great night! Happy holidays everyone! ————————————————————- Sausage & Pepper Pizza INGREDIENTS 1 recipe Quick(er) Whole Grain Pizza dough 1/2 lb smoked […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, cheese, Dark Days Local, main course, pizza, sausage, tomatoes, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pizza, recipes

Black Bean Veggie Chili

27 December 2009 by local kitchen

As a nice respite from all of the rich, heavy holiday food, as well as a warm bowl of comfort food against the chill and dreary 39-degree rainy day, yesterday I made a big pot of chili. Packed full of veggies and protein-laden black beans, this dish is winter locavore cooking at its best: peppers chopped and quick-frozen back in August only need pouring into a measuring cup; sweet corn, blanched and cut off the cob, frozen at the peak of […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, celery, cilantro, corn, garlic, hot chile peppers, main course, parsley, stew, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: black bean, cooking, food, local, recipes

Dark Days: Swiss Chard Quiche Minis

21 December 2009 by local kitchen

Undaunted by the blizzard, a few intrepid souls made it to our annual Christmas party on Saturday night. Luckily for them, there was no shortage of yummy food on hand. My kitchen counter was groaning under the weight of this sausage bread, made with linguica and local smoked mozzarella, Wild Hive rosemary bread crostini with olive oil, garlic and basil, a selection of local cheeses, curried apple chutney, sweet cherry chutney, cranberry apple butter and cranberry sauce, homemade stuffed grape leaves […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, breakfast, cheese, Dark Days Local, eggs, kale & leafy greens, main course, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Sunday Spring Cleaning: Curried Pumpkin & Kale Stew

6 December 2009 by local kitchen

I’ve long been of the belief that, if you add enough curry to something, it’s bound to be good. This stew upholds the belief: nothing spectacular, just good, tasty, warm and comforting stew for a snowy New York Sunday. The bonus is that this was a freezer-clearing special: I used some cooked cranberry beans that were hanging out in the fridge, frozen pumpkin cubes leftover from this soup, frozen kale put-up this summer, plum tomatoes that I stuck in the freezer, whole, […]

Categories: beans, fall, heirloom beans, kale & leafy greens, main course, quick & easy, stew, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, winter squash, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Rose’s Apple Pie

5 December 2009 by local kitchen

It’s a cold, grey drizzly day here in New York. What better time for an old-fashioned apple pie? As you may have noticed, Rose Levy Beranbaum is one of my baking heroes, and she doesn’t disappoint with this classic apple pie. The apples are macerated in sugar to release their juices and the sweetened and spiced apple juice reduced, with butter, to make a thick, caramel-like sauce to coat the apple filling. The pastry crust stays crisp, the apples have […]

Categories: apples, baking, dessert, fall, holiday, pastry, pie, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: apple pie, baking, cooking, dessert, food, holiday, local, pie, recipes, rose levy beranbaum, whole wheat pastry

Easy Chicken Vindaloo

2 December 2009 by local kitchen

I love me a good vindaloo. Vindaloo is always spicy, but I like it really spicy: make me cry, but give me a flavor profile beyond just “hot,” and I’ll call it a success. I can rarely get vindaloo spicy enough in Indian restaurants (I suppose I can’t blame them when they look dubiously at my pale, freckled face and fuzzy red head, ordering my vindaloo “really spicy.” They just assume that I am not used to “Indian-spicy.” Little do they know!). But the […]

Categories: chicken, hot chile peppers, main course, potato, quick & easy, rice, stew, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, Indian, local, quick & easy, recipes, spicy

Dark Days: Goat Cheese, Chive and Cranberry Scones

29 November 2009 by local kitchen

I had every intention of making a local dinner of Flying Pigs pork cutlets stuffed with CSA frozen arugula, Nettle Meadow chevre and Cranberry Hill organic cranberries. Tai was drooling at the mere thought. However, as the afternoon waned I realized that I was just not in the mood for meat, even though the pork was thawing away on the counter. So I stuck Flying Pigs back in the fridge for tomorrow and made the same basic flavors (and ingredients) into […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breads, breakfast, cheese, chives, cranberries, Dark Days Local, fall, herbs, quick & easy, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, whole grain breads

Drunken Cherry & Apple Pie

26 November 2009 by local kitchen

My contribution to the Thanksgiving table: preserved sweet cherries from the summer’s harvest, hand-picked, organically-grown Mutsu and IdaRed apples from Fishkill Farms, and flaky, tender pastry crust. Happy Thanksgiving! Adapted from The Best All-American Apple Pie in The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum ————————————————————– Drunken Cherry & Apple Pie INGREDIENTS double recipe of Rose’s Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust (see Options for the cream cheese variation) 2 and 1/2 lbs baking apples 1 and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp lemon […]

Categories: apples, baking, cherries, dessert, fall, pastry, pie, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

Use It or Lose It! PB&J Cookies

22 November 2009 by local kitchen

I was rotating stock in the “pantry” the other day (aka “the garage“), separating 2008 home-canned goods from 2009 (Yes, my life is a thrill a minute! Don’t you want to be me?), when I realized that I had a couple of jars of homemade preserves leftover from May and June of ’08. As I try to use these up within about a year (and we’re well past that now) I decided it was high time these came upstairs to the fridge. […]

Categories: baking, dessert, jams, non-local luxuries, nuts, Use it or Lose it!, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes, thumbprint cookies, using jam