Category Archives: meat & dairy

Berry-Braised Beef with Herbed Chèvre Rice & Blackberry Reduction

27 March 2012 by local kitchen

The last time I ate beef was the summer of 1987. I remember it quite well: I was home from college, working in Boston as a temp secretary for a rather stuffy accounting firm down at South Station, and living out near Boston College with some friends. The father of one of my roommates was in town on business and decided to take “us girls” out to dinner. He chose Anthony’s Pier 4, which was a bit of a thrill […]

Categories: 100% local, beef, berries, braising, meat & dairy, parsley, Use it or Lose it!, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: beef, cooking, dinner, food, local, main course, recipes

Use It or Lose It! Bean & Sausage Chili

22 March 2012 by local kitchen

It’s not like this site really needs another heirloom bean recipe; and I think I’ve fairly covered the spectrum of pork sausage possibilities. But this recipe isn’t really about beans, or sausage, or even chili for that matter: it’s about how “putting up” isn’t just about jam. And about how put-ups aren’t always meant to stand alone: while some, it’s true, are glorious on the oft-recommended cheese tray, I could eat a cheese tray for dinner every night of the […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, bell pepper, fall, heirloom beans, main course, pork, sausage, tomatoes, Use it or Lose it!, winter • Tags: chili, cooking, food, local, main course, recipes

Pork Fried Rice

18 March 2012 by local kitchen

Now that St. Patrick’s Day is safely behind us, I can talk about this dish that has cabbage, lots of green vegetables, and pinkish meat, without it having anything to do with traditional Irish boiled dinner. A head of bok choi (frozen last Spring and unearthed from the depths of the chest freezer), a few farmer’s market finds, some leftover rice and the last of the pork spare ribs made for a quick, easy, yet very satisfying lunch. According to Food & Wine, pork […]

Categories: Asian greens, carrot, main course, pork, rice, side dish, spring, year round • Tags: chinese, cooking, food, local, main course, pork, quick & easy, recipes, rice

Slow-Roasted Spare Ribs with Espresso Jam Glaze

13 March 2012 by local kitchen

Ribs: they’re such a weekend, laid-back, backyard barbecue sort of thing, aren’t they? I mean, they roast all day long, then you coat them in a sticky glaze, fire them up, and wash them down with warm cornbread, cold beer, and more than a few clean napkins. Still, it’s hard to think of a better reason for ribs-on-a-Tuesday than 70 degrees in March, no? You might just have to do it. And if you suddenly (cough, cough) are feeling just […]

Categories: main course, pork, year round • Tags: BBQ, coffee, cooking, food, local, main course, pork, recipes, ribs

Use It or Lose It! Salsa-Braised Turkey Breast with Chile & Citrus Peel

4 March 2012 by local kitchen

Take half a turkey breast: brown the outside. Add it to a pot with liquid and vegetables. Simmer. Rest meat, reduce sauce, serve. Such a simple procedure and one I’ve done many times, often, like now, when I have things that need clearing out of the fridge and freezer: an open pint of salsa; a gallon Ziploc full of fat, frozen jalapeños; another jammed with citrus peels. It’s generally tasty, sometimes ugly, but almost always satisfying in the filling-up and using-up categories. Occasionally, […]

Categories: braising, citrus, hot chile peppers, main course, turkey, Use it or Lose it!, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, turkey

Mandarin Orange Risotto

9 February 2012 by local kitchen

On the off chance that you’re tired of marmalade recipes (Never fear marm-fans: there are more recipes coming down the Pike!), a fresh twist (Ha! Twist! Do you see what I did there?) on citrus: Mandarin orange-infused risotto. Oranges can be tough to cook with: they are sweet and delicious, but without the assertive tang of a lemon, the flavor can be easily lost, especially in savory cooking. However, that should not preclude us from trying: the flavor of oranges, especially […]

Categories: appetizer, cheese, citrus, main course, rice, side dish, thyme, winter • Tags: citrus, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian, winter

Mini Linguiça Drop Muffins

27 January 2012 by local kitchen

We interrupt this citrus-filled January for a horse of a different color: mini linguiça drop muffins! I had a dream about these muffins last night: spicy, smoky linguiça, sharp cheddar cheese, tangy buttermilk, nutty whole wheat flour. I woke up with my stomach growling, a woman on a mission to recreate my dream. (On a side note, when I’m actually dreaming about processed pork products, I think it’s safe to say I might have overdosed, just a wee bit, on citrus. […]

Categories: appetizer, baking, breads, breakfast, cheese, holiday, oregano, pork, sausage, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, linguica, local, quick & easy, recipes, whole grain breads, winter

Potato Leek Gratin

14 January 2012 by local kitchen

My girlfriend Christina grew up in Schoharie County, NY: home of Howe Caverns, tragic flood damage, and the Fabulous Beekman Boys. While she was home for the holidays, she picked me up the Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook for Christmas. It’s chock full of seasonal recipes, using homegrown and local ingredients, handed down through the generations and adapted by the Beekman Boys, all on a farm only a couple of hours from here. Be still my local-girl heart. Coincidentally, I had recently read the […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, fall, leek, milk, potato, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, leeks, local, potatoes, recipes, vegetarian, winter

100% Local: Brazilian Feijoada

7 January 2012 by local kitchen

I am an ornery cuss. Not only do I give you a hearty, wintry, braise-all-day-long meat & bean stew on a 60-degree Saturday in January, but I got dozens of great black bean ideas from you folks following my call for inspiration on the Facebook page, yet I ignored them all to try feijoada. Like I said: ornery. (Which must always be pronounced “orn-ree” for maximum authenticity.) Feijoada is a traditional meat and bean stew: according to Hank Shaw, black beans […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, main course, pork, sausage, stew, winter, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, main course, pork, recipes, stew

Chicken Pot Pasties

27 November 2011 by local kitchen

We visited family in Maine for Thanksgiving and while I was happy to leave the task of roasting a 30-lb turkey to Tai’s Aunt Sue, I’m sort of bummed that I don’t have mountains of turkey leftovers to work my way through. Because this recipe was fantastic with cooked chicken but I’m sure would be equally wonderful with turkey: and with leftover Thanksgiving turkey gravy, some roasted carrots, creamed onions, maybe slivered green beans, you could create the entire filling from […]

Categories: 100% local, carrot, celery, cheese, chicken, fall, main course, pastry, pie, snack, thyme, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, food, hand pies, local, lunch, pasties, pastry, recipes, turkey

Freeform Rye Muffins with Red Onion & Farmstead Cheese

9 November 2011 by local kitchen

I feel like it’s been all-carbs, all-the-time around here lately, but I realize that I do this every year around this time: after a summer of free-flowing vegetables from the CSA and farmer’s market, not to mention eating & preserving of all of the season’s fabulous fruits, my body gets to October and suddenly wants meat. And bread. Hearty pastas with cheese and sausage, spicy beans and roasted vegetables. It’s finally cool enough to make keeping the oven on for an […]

Categories: 100% local, breakfast, cheese, thyme, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, breakfast, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Stovetop Mac and Cheese

6 November 2011 by local kitchen

One of the great things about writing a food blog is that you have a handy, online, personal cookbook: it travels with you wherever you go; it’s searchable by ingredient, recipe type, season; your personal recipe notes are preserved so that you don’t make the same mistakes twice. It’s brilliant really, except…. during a power outage. In the classic human condition of wanting-what-we-can’t-have, I often find myself, when the power is out, craving baked things: chocolate chip cookies, freshly baked bread, buttermilk […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, fall, main course, pasta, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, dinner, food, local, pasta, recipes, vegetarian

Baked Gobetti with Cauliflower, Grape Tomatoes & Chorizo

26 October 2011 by local kitchen

This is one of those recipes that I had no intention of posting here: I mean, tossing leftovers with pasta and baking it all together is quick, convenient, often delicious, but hardly revolutionary. You don’t really need me to tell you that some meat, vegetables and cheese, tossed with pasta and baking until bubbly, is almost sure to be a crowd pleaser. But this dish was so surprisingly good I decided that I had to share. I didn’t really have high […]

Categories: 100% local, cauliflower, cheese, fall, main course, pasta, pork, sausage, thyme, tomatoes • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, pasta, quick & easy, recipes

Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Pepper & Rosemary

12 October 2011 by local kitchen

I’ve been making this dish for about a million years. Maybe a million and one. Even in the days when I didn’t really cook, living in Manhattan or in my teeny-tiny, 350-square-foot apartment in Boston’s North End, I would whip this up when Fall arrived, as a potluck dinner contribution or for a family Thanksgiving. I’m not quite sure why it’s never made it to these (hallowed) pages: maybe because I’ve been making it so long, it has ceased to […]

Categories: 100% local, bell pepper, cheese, fall, parsley, rosemary, side dish, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, food, holiday, local, pumpkin, recipes, sides, squash, strawberries, vegetarian

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

24 September 2011 by local kitchen

Hands up, who likes okra? <cricket, cricket> I thought so. Me either. I mean, it looks like something the Star Trek crew would have spray-painted orange and pretended was exotic, alien fruit; it’s skin is hairy and kind of spiky; fresh okra seems to get limp and slimy after 10 minutes in the fridge; and let’s not even talk about the snot that oozes out once we slice it, hmm? Yet, despite my lack of love for the spiky green […]

Categories: bell pepper, celery, fall, main course, parsley, rice, sausage, stew, year round • Tags: cooking, food, gumbo, local, main course, new orleans, recipes