Category Archives: citrus

Grapefruit & Walnut Tart

16 February 2014 by local kitchen

I’m having a tiny love affair with Johnny Weir & Tara Lipinski right now; their figure skating commentary has been one of the bright spots of these Olympics in Sochi and their Instagram feeds (including the combined @taraandjohnny feed) are not to be missed. I love the Olympics, but I loathe the 5:1 ratio of commercials and talking-head noise to actual sporting moments that dominates prime-time. The daytime coverage has, in general, been much more about sport and much less […]

Categories: baking, breakfast, citrus, dessert, winter • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Kumquat Habanero Marmalade

11 February 2014 by local kitchen

It appears that it is Kumquat Preserve Week on ye olde interwebs: not only my own modest contribution, but a straight-up kumquat marmalade from David Lebovitz, slow-cooked and with less sugar, and this rhubarb(!) and kumquat jam from Yossy via Blue Chair Fruit (who are teaching marmalade classes this month as well, if you live in the Bay Area and want to learn). Well, I have one more to add to the pile of kumquat love: kumquat habanero marmalade, originally made & […]

Categories: canning, citrus, preserves, preserving, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, marmalade, preserving

Kumquat & Meyer Lemon Marmalade with Chile & Kaffir Lime

7 February 2014 by local kitchen

It’s been all marm, all the time around here for the last week or two, what with Meyer lemons, Rio Red grapefruit, and blood oranges, kumquats and Kaffir limes all rolling around my counter tops. And trust me, there are worse things than having 40 lbs of California and Texas citrus perfuming the kitchen in the midst of a snowy, snowy Polar Vortex New York winter. I’ve been enjoying a lot of citrus fresh: grapefruit for breakfast, blood orange as an afternoon […]

Categories: canning, citrus, preserves, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, food, preserving, winter

Toasted Couscous Salad with Fennel & Kumquats

9 January 2014 by local kitchen

Can we talk about the tyranny of 5-ingredient recipes? I mean, what line of bullshit have we swallowed that makes us think that limiting a recipe to just five ingredients will make our lives better, simpler, or “down right irresistible?” Don’t get me wrong: we all know that the essence of good cooking is restraint. But to arbitrarily limit ourselves to only five ingredients (not counting salt, pepper, water, a splash of olive oil, a dash of lemon, a…..) out of […]

Categories: cabbage, celery, citrus, fennel, grains & legumes, quick & easy, salad, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, salad, vegetarian, winter

White Bean, Leek & Preserved Lemon Soup

3 January 2014 by local kitchen

Winter storm Hercules was a bust, in my opinion. While my friends in Boston got hammered with a foot and a half of the powdery stuff, we’ve got a mere 7 inches here in New York: hardly Herculean amounts. All sorts of bluster and school closings and road closings and State of Emergency declarings for what was, once upon a time, simply…. winter. It is, however, very cold & blustery, with air temps in the single digits and wind chill standing […]

Categories: beans, citrus, grains & legumes, heirloom beans, leek, main course, soup, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, main course, soup, winter

Chuzos de Pollo

20 October 2013 by local kitchen

Most of the meals I had in Panama fell into one simple category: meat on a stick. While I can’t claim to be a big fan of Panamanian cuisine; it’s very meat & starch-centric, with lots of fried food and nary a vegetable in sight; I can say that when it comes to carne en palito, Panama knows its stuff. Incredibly tender and moist chunks of chicken or beef, marinated and flavorful and perfectly grilled over an open flame: it’s enough […]

Categories: chicken, citrus, grill, main course, parsley, year round • Tags: cooking, food, grilling, latin america, local, meat, recipes

Nectarine Meyer Lemon Butter

29 September 2013 by local kitchen

As promised, the nectarine Meyer lemon butter recipe. It’s a simple one: a nice pile of nectarines from the farmer’s market, a bit (a very little bit) of sugar, and two precious Meyer lemons, hoarded from my visit to Karen in August. This has become my preferred method for fruit butters: coarsely chop unpeeled fruit and soften at a low simmer until you can push it through a food mill; strain the juice from the pulp and reduce the juice […]

Categories: canning, citrus, fall, peaches, preserving, sauces, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Cherry Key Lime Marmalade

7 August 2013 by local kitchen

Does anyone still have cherries? No? Me neither. Maybe Newfoundland? Or wait: my homies in Saskatchewan, this one’s for you! I’m late with cherries this year: as usual. Seems to be a recurring theme. (Another recurring theme? I think I’m going to miss blueberries this year. AGAIN. Sigh.) In happy news, Fishkill Farms finally had a productive cherry season: we’ve only been waiting four years. In unhappy news, they were charging $7/lb: for pick-your-own. And while I had lots of […]

Categories: canning, cherries, citrus, preserves, preserving, summer, year round • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, summer

Meyer Lemon: Citrus Salt, Simple Syrup, Powdered Pectin & Scrub

9 May 2013 by local kitchen

So you say the pantry is already stocked with more marmalade than you can eat in a year (or two? or three? Ahem.) You’ve made lemon pasta (twice!), lemon lentil salad, boozy lemon bars, lemon curd shortcake, and lots of lemony margaritas? The craziness of Spring: visiting friends, impending work deadlines, and mandatory weeknight campfires is upon you? But still, you have this big pile of gorgeous California citrus to enjoy? Well, my friends: I’m here to help. Dispatch a dozen lovely Meyer […]

Categories: citrus, winter • Tags: citrus, food, Meyer lemon, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

Meyer Lemon Cavatelli

22 April 2013 by local kitchen

I realize that I just talked about citrus-zest pasta a month ago, but I got such a lovely surprise in the mail last week: a big box of end-of-season organic Meyers from Karen at Lemon Ladies Orchard. Karen & I are by way of being friends: although we’ve never met in person, we interact frequently over social media, chat now and then on email, and when I confessed to her last year that I wasn’t quite sure what all the […]

Categories: citrus, drying, pasta, spring, vegetarian, winter • Tags: citrus, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Citrusy Red Lentil Salad

5 April 2013 by local kitchen

The last couple of days have finally felt like Spring in New York: bright sunshine, temps approaching 60 degrees F, tiny, pale green buds popping up on the trees and bright green new growth in our tiny patches of “lawn.” Amazingly enough, this run of warm, sunny weather is supposed to continue right through the weekend and into next week: could it be that Spring is actually here? (I wouldn’t lay bets that we’ve seen the last of this winter’s […]

Categories: citrus, grains & legumes, parsley, radish, salad, side dish, spring, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, salad, spring, vegan, vegetarian

Rangpur Lime Tequila Bars

25 March 2013 by local kitchen

Using a cookbook is like dating: you get attracted by an aesthetically pleasing cover, spend 5 or 10 minutes checking it out, and then, almost on a whim, you bring it home. During that first recipe, you’re tentative, accommodating: trying to stay within safe boundaries, do it his (or her) way. A couple of recipes in, you’re ready to assert yourself: “No, that’s way too much sugar,” or “Boil for how long?” After about a half a dozen times together, most […]

Categories: baking, citrus, dessert, eggs, whole wheat flour, wine, beer & liquor, winter • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes, winter

Rangpur Lime Preserves with Honey & Chile

16 March 2013 by local kitchen

Y’all know my friend, Shae, right? She of the fabulous jamz and the pigeon love? If you do, you may have heard that Shae was recently diagnosed with some form of IBD, a blanket term that describes inflammation and/or irritation of the GI tract, typically of autoimmune origin. While this diagnosis has sadly put the kibosh on Shae’s fledgling jam business, she has responded in typically optimistic fashion, telling me that she sees it as both a challenge and an […]

Categories: 100% local, citrus, jams, preserves, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, GAPS, local, preserving, recipes, SCD

Lemon Lime Linguine

6 March 2013 by local kitchen

I should be home by now. Curled up on my couch, exhausted from a long day’s travel, but happy to see my husband after nearly a week away, and excited by the thought of my own bed. Apparently Winter Storm Whatever-Silly-Name-We’ve-Picked-This-Week had other plans. I got up in the wee small hours of the morning, still dark outside, bleary-eyed from yet another fun night in San Francisco. My friend Christina graciously offered to drive me to the airport before she headed […]

Categories: appetizer, citrus, main course, spring, vegetarian, winter • Tags: citrus, cooking, food, local, recipes, spring, vegetarian, winter

Salted Cranberry Grapefruit Jam

13 February 2013 by local kitchen

Cranberries. Rio red grapefruit. Salt. Booze. If I could somehow cram bacon and popcorn in there, I may just spend the rest of my life hiding in a closet with this jam. And a spoon. I almost forgot this year about my standing order of organic cranberries from Cranberry Hill Farm in Plymouth, MA; which seems crazy, considering how much I love them. But between work, the holidays, being in Maine with Grandma, and a few other curveballs that life […]

Categories: canning, citrus, cranberries, jams, preserves, preserving, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: berries, canning, citrus, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes