Category Archives: basil

Fresh Herb Flatbreads

3 August 2013 by local kitchen

More herb lovin: this time, handfuls of mixed fresh herbs are tossed in a garlic-infused olive oil and spooned over skillet-grilled homemade naan. Sprinkle on a little salt, pepper and a touch of Gruyère cheese and you’ve got a bright, fresh, addictively delicious snack, appetizer, side dish, or, as I called it today: lunch. And dinner. Pretty sure it would be breakfast as well, if there were any left. Not quite a pizza, but definitely more substantial than a cracker, […]

Categories: appetizer, basil, breads, herbs, oregano, pizza, rosemary, side dish, summer, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, summer, vegetarian, whole grain breads

Curried Potato Salad with Basil & Mint

27 July 2013 by local kitchen

I have three massive bunches of basil sitting in glasses of water on my counter. Well: two massive bunches now, as I used most of one bunch in these potatoes. Which were also sitting on my counter, picked up at last weekend’s farmer’s market, quickly growing sprouts despite the black tea towel protecting them from light. Ah, summer. The basil overflows, the mint grows like a weed; even the potatoes are stretching towards the sunshine. And the eating is as […]

Categories: basil, mint, potato, roasting, salad, side dish, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, summer, vegan, vegetarian

Bruschetta Risotto

11 August 2012 by local kitchen

It happens the same way every year: you wait (and wait, and wait) for bright red, sun-warmed, bursting-with-flavor summer tomatoes. Basil shows up first: the small-leafed, pale-green, delicate basil of June. You buy some, just to inhale the heady fragrance, and dream of tomatoes. Then, sometime in July, you see the first pints of cherry tomatoes at the farmer’s market: they cost a fortune, and they’re not all that sweet yet, but still: tomatoes. Your spine tingles, your mouth waters: […]

Categories: appetizer, basil, main course, rice, summer, tomatoes • Tags: cooking, food, Italian, local, recipes, vegetarian

Kale & Potato Curry

9 July 2012 by local kitchen

Tai had two of his four wisdom teeth extracted a few days ago. Given that most people have their wisdom teeth removed in their teens or early 20’s, it was not an easy procedure: Tai’s adult teeth and jaw did not give up easily. But give up they did, and though it’s been a painful few days for my poor husband, he’s enjoyed the side benefits of root beer floats, chocolate-cherry butter shakes and yogurt-blueberry-maple breakfast drinks. Of course, after […]

Categories: basil, kale & leafy greens, main course, oregano, potato, stew, summer, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, vegetarian

Garlic Scape & White Bean Soup

5 July 2012 by local kitchen

It’s hot. So it would seem that a hearty, garlicky, potato + white bean soup is just the ticket, no? I didn’t think so either, and in fact, I made this soup simply to use up the two big bunches of garlic scapes that were in the fridge, anticipating yet another bunch in this week’s CSA. I thought I would simply make the soup and freeze it, assuming that a thick-n-hearty soup was not the thing to offset my popsicle-and-popsicle […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, garlic, herbs, main course, potato, quick & easy, soup, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Strawberry Jam with Mint, Basil & Habanero

10 July 2011 by local kitchen

It’s cruel to do this to you, I know, since strawberries are long gone in most parts of America. But I still have some fresh, local strawberries in the fridge (albeit they are starting to look a little peaky), and they are just coming into full season for our friends in the North. If you are one of the lucky ones that still has fresh strawberries in your neighborhood, or one of the industrious ones who put-up a few pounds in […]

Categories: basil, berries, canning, hot chile peppers, jams, mint, preserving • Tags: berries, canning, chiles, food, local, preserving, recipes, strawberries

Sausage & Swiss Chard Lasagna

26 February 2011 by local kitchen

Do you know how hard it is to take an appetizing picture of lasagna? Well, let me tell you: it’s hard. Especially in dreary, grey, rainy February afternoon “daylight.” There’s a reason that lasagna photos are always tarted up with fresh basil or a white-aproned chef, proudly bearing the baking dish: lasagna is ugly food. Lest that dissuade you from making this dish, however, let us remember The Kitchenette’s cardinal rule: ugly food is delicious. (And on a completely unrelated note, […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, main course, pasta, sausage, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, lasagna, local, pasta, recipes, sausage, winter

Dark Days: Spicy Basil Roasted Chicken

15 December 2010 by local kitchen

Chicken is difficult. Not difficult in that it is tasteless, bland, rubbery, spongy or just plain boring: I never find those things to be true about organically-fed, pastured, humanely-raised chicken. Not difficult in that it’s too hard to cook: in fact, roasted chicken is one of the easiest dishes I make. Chicken, that most ubiquitous of American meat staples, is difficult because it is hard to find. My regular local chicken guy used to be Pat of New England Farms. Pat […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, chicken, Dark Days Local, hot chile peppers, main course, roasting, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, roasting, winter

Purple Basil Vinegar

8 October 2010 by local kitchen

Purple basil is a lovely thing: a deep, dark, almost black purple, with that familiar basil flavor & aroma, but just slightly mellower; a little sweeter, a little less grassy, perhaps just a touch more refined. Dare I say regal? Must be the purple. Whenever I get some, I feel I must do something special with it, not just toss it into salads, bruschetta, pasta or pesto like most of the green basil that comes my way. Are you still […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, herbs, preserving, summer, vinegar • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, 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

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

Peach Jam with Caramelized Onion & Basil

27 August 2010 by local kitchen

I was thinking of saving this recipe for the September Can Jam but; who am I kidding? We all know that I couldn’t wait that long. And it gives me the perfect excuse (as if I needed one) to dig in to peaches, plums and nectarines one more time before the season ends. This is another Michel Nischan preserve (he of Strawberry Rhubarb & Caramelized Onion Jam, Pickled Sweet Peppers and Blueberry, Lemon & Chilé Jam fame) and while, once again, there were […]

Categories: basil, canning, jams, peaches, preserving, summer • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Blue Leather

26 August 2010 by local kitchen

No, it’s not the sequel to Blue Velvet (but a girl can dream, right?). As promised, the recipe for sweet & sour blueberry leather, using the leftover pulp from infusing Blueberry-Basil Vinegar. Being congenitally incapable of throwing anything out, I clearly was not going to just discard perfectly good blueberries and basil simply because they had been sitting in vinegar in my garage for a month. But let’s use the term “recipe” in the loosest way possible, folks: basically, once […]

Categories: basil, berries, preserving, snack, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce

25 August 2010 by local kitchen

In honor of the Great Tomato Can Jam Round-Up of 2010, today we bring you Garden Vegetable Tomato Sauce. Let me warn you from the get-go: this is not a beginning canner’s recipe. The ratio of non-acidic to acidic ingredients is critical for canning safety, as are strict adherence to the methods (slicing, dicing & measuring) and processing instructions. Also, I’ve tweaked, more than a little bit, a published recipe (Italian-Style Tomato Sauce from the Ball Complete) in order to add […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, canning, carrot, preserving, sauces, scallions, summer, tomatoes, zucchini • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes

Blueberry-Basil Vinegar

20 August 2010 by local kitchen

Can you believe that blueberries are still going? Well, they are, for today at least: Jones Family Farms (in Shelton, CT) has announced today is the last day for blueberry picking at the farm. And what better way to preserve your late-season haul than an infused vinegar? (Um… what?) OK, I’ll admit, there are a million lovely things to do with blueberries, including, but not limited to: pancakes, scones, tarts, (a blueberry-peach pie that I am making today for a […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, berries, condiments, preserving, quick & easy, summer, vinegar • Tags: condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes