Category Archives: fall

Spicy, Gingery Cranberry Chutney

23 January 2011 by local kitchen

I’ve had this 5-lb bag of cranberries on the bottom shelf of my fridge since Thanksgiving. I usually buy 10 lbs of organic cranberries, every Fall when they are in season, from Cranberry Hill Farm on Cape Cod, then I make a few cranberry preserves and I freeze the rest for use throughout the year. One bag went directly into the chest freezer (do not Pass Go, do not collect $200), while the other bag went into the fridge: some of the […]

Categories: canning, chutneys, condiments, cranberries, fall, hot chile peppers, mint, preserving, winter, year round • Tags: canning, chutney, condiments, cooking, cranberries, fall, food, local, preserves, preserving, recipes, vegetarian

Dark Days: Southwestern Pumpkin Soup

13 January 2011 by local kitchen

Dark days, indeed. This is not a political blog; this is a food blog. I know you don’t come here to hear what I think about current events of the day; you come here to find recipes, to hear about my kitchen escapades, maybe for a chuckle or two. But I can’t seem to formulate a happy-go-lucky post about canning, or kitchen organizing, or even soup, in the face of the tragedy unfolding in Arizona. I am not ashamed to […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, community, corn, Dark Days Local, fall, garlic, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, food, local, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread

22 December 2010 by local kitchen

From the archives ~ A Christmas tradition Chez Porter. Now updated with weights and non-crappy (well, less crappy) photos! Merry, merry! ———————————————————– When I was a kid, my Mom always made cranberry nut bread around the holidays. Now, I’m 99% certain that this was from a mix; my Mom was (and is) a horrible cook. But I loved this bread, and to this day, cranberry nut bread reminds me of Christmas. Mom is coming up from Asheville, NC tomorrow; she’s […]

Categories: baking, breakfast, citrus, cranberries, eggs, fall, non-local luxuries, nuts, winter, year round • Tags: baking, bread, breakfast, cooking, cranberries, food, local, recipes, walnuts

Dry-Brined Roasted Turkey

19 December 2010 by local kitchen

What do you cook for Christmas Day? Do you have a leisurely day of cranberry nut bread and eggnog, like we do? Do you whip up a full breakfast of eggs, bacon and pancakes? Or do you go all out with a traditional dinner, roasted turkey or goose, plum pudding and the works? Just in case roasted turkey is on your Christmas dinner agenda, I thought I would share my Thanksgiving turkey recipe with you: a simple dry-brine with sage, bay and orange […]

Categories: citrus, fall, holiday, main course, roasting, sage, turkey, winter • Tags: cooking, dry-brine, food, holiday, local, main course, recipes, turkey

Indian-Spiced Apple Butter

9 December 2010 by local kitchen

Want to give homemade gifts this holiday season, but you didn’t spend the summer squirreling away the season’s bounty? Never fear: apples to the rescue! Apples are still abundant at area farmer’s markets and there is a dizzying array of options for holiday gift giving: from applesauce (great for new parents or friends with toddlers), jam (quick & easy, with no worrying about the ‘set’) and jelly, to chutneys, spiced or spicy (fantastic hostess gift and great on a cheese tray), […]

Categories: apples, breakfast, canning, fall, holiday, preserving, spreads, winter • Tags: apples, canning, condiments, cooking, fall, food, fruit butter, holiday, local, preserving, recipes, vegetarian

White Bean & Roasted Turkey Soup

2 December 2010 by local kitchen

Heirloom beans, roasted Thanksgiving turkey, aromatics and sage = one delicious soup. Are you as tired of turkey as I am? While I do love the big bird, seven days straight and my body is screaming for a green salad, crisp, crunchy vegetables and anything-but-meat. So what do I do? Make soup, of course. Hear me out – it makes more sense than you think. I didn’t make it to the market last weekend, since we had so much food […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, fall, heirloom beans, potato, sage, soup, turkey, winter • Tags: cooking, fall, food, heirloom beans, leftovers, local, recipes, soup, turkey, winter, yellow eye beans

Use it or Lose it! Drunken Cherry Pie

30 November 2010 by local kitchen

Hands up – who still has turkey? Yep, I’m with you, sista. Even though we got a small bird (11.5 lbs), and we’ve been eating turkey steadily since Thursday, there is a lot left. We don’t eat a lot of meat in general, so at 3 to 4 ounces at a time… well, it’s going to take a while. I’m going to have to make a turkey soup, or chili, or pot pie, or something (I know – shocking revelations at […]

Categories: baking, cherries, dessert, fall, pastry, pie, Use it or Lose it!, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: baking, cherries, cooking, dessert, drunken, food, leaf lattice, local, pie, recipes, vegetarian

Locavirgin: Roasted Cauliflower with Bacon

27 November 2010 by local kitchen

So, you get it right, the way this blog works? Every other cooking blog on the planet regales you with Thanksgiving recipes in the weeks prior to the event. Bah, I say. Humbug! Now that everyone else is featuring turkey tacos, turkey tamales and turkey tettrazini, I’ll give you… Thanksgiving dishes! The ones that were on my table. Because, you know that I love to test recipes on the fly (and making any of my Thanksgiving recipes in advance would […]

Categories: 100% local, cauliflower, fall, holiday, Locavirgin, pork, roasting, side dish, winter • Tags: bacon, cauliflower, cooking, fall, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, side dishes

Fresh Cranberry Salsa

23 November 2010 by local kitchen

Having a last-minute Thanksgiving? Relax – you are not alone. I just tested out this fresh cranberry salsa for my own Thanksgiving table: it took me under 23 minutes from start to finish (yes, I timed myself) and that included rooting around in the Thanksgiving-stuffed fridge for ingredients, searching the packed-to-the-gills utensil drawer for the apple corer (and eventually turning it up in the dishwasher – oops), weighing the ingredients, and jotting down the recipe for you, the time-stressed Thanksgiving cook. […]

Categories: apples, cilantro, condiments, cranberries, fall, quick & easy, salsa, winter • Tags: cooking, cranberries, fall, food, holiday, local, quick & easy, recipes, salsa, thanksgiving, vegetarian

Apple Jelly with Lemon & Lavender

18 November 2010 by local kitchen

Another jelly? Could it be that I’m becoming a jelly fiend like someone else we know? Not bloody likely, but, I do like how this one came out. With the extra acid from a full sliced lemon, it took a little less sugar than the apple quince jelly to yield a gel. The set is a little more firm, but still satisfyingly squishy, almost, but not quite, the set of a marmalade. Not surprising as the poached lemon peel in the […]

Categories: apples, breakfast, Can Jam, canning, citrus, fall, jellies, preserving • Tags: apples, canning, cooking, fall, food, jelly, local, preserves, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Apple Quince Jelly with Vanilla Bean

14 November 2010 by local kitchen

The last Tigress Can Jam of the year but one, and the lovely Cosmic Cowgirl comes to the rescue with the November choice of pomes: apples, pears and quince, oh my! And a rescue it was, indeed, as I still had 20 lbs of apples, leftover from my October picking excursion to Fishkill Farms with Julia, Kate and Liz, going soft in the garage. From that very same excursion, I had a couple of beautiful quince, and some of the most perfect […]

Categories: apples, Can Jam, canning, condiments, fall, jellies, preserving • Tags: apple, breakfast, canning, condiments, cooking, fall, food, jelly, local, preserving, quince, recipes, vegetarian

100% Local: Pumpkin Gnocchi

12 November 2010 by local kitchen

These, my friends, are good. I might go so far as to say damn good. I’ve made gnocchi in the past and it’s always been tasty, but it has been rare to achieve a perfect texture. These are not a traditional dense potato gnocchi, which I do enjoy (although I consider them more a vehicle for a fantastic, chunky sauce than a delight all by themselves); these are the fluffy little pillows that are the pinnacle of gnocchi love: a curious combination of al dente and airy that […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, cheese, fall, main course, pasta, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, local, pasta, pumpkin, recipes, vegetarian, whole grain, whole wheat

Habanero Lime Chipotle Mustard

11 November 2010 by local kitchen

It’s that time of year again: while preserving the bounty of Fall continues (apples, quince, and pumpkins galore), the urgency has ramped down a notch and I have time to focus on replenishing Tai’s mustard supply. This batch started out as my standard habanero recipe, except I swapped tequila for vodka. As I was reducing it in the saucepan, that tequila must have been on my mind, because at the last minue I tossed in some lime juice and a […]

Categories: canning, fall, hot chile peppers, mustard, vegetarian, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: canning, chipotle, condiments, cooking, food, food gifts, habanero, local, mustard, preserving, recipes, vegetarian

Smoky Black Bean Soup

8 November 2010 by local kitchen

We’re having truly New England weather today: daylight savings is barely 24 hours old, yet I woke up to dim, grey skies, a blustery Northeast wind (I keep expecting to see a witch fly by on a bicycle) and big, fat snowflakes. Followed rapidly by sleet. Or hail. Or freezing rain. Or all of the above (or my favorite weather euphemism “wintry mix.”). There is really only one thing to do when November is still in single digits, yet you […]

Categories: beans, carrot, fall, heirloom beans, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, tomatillos, vegetarian, winter • Tags: beans, black bean, cooking, fall, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Use it or Lose it! Roasted Turkey with Plum Preserves

4 November 2010 by local kitchen

Like many of my fellow canning bloggers, I’ve had a lot of requests for recipes that fall into the “What to do with all of that jam?!” category. For me, this is a bit of a conundrum, because I’m not really sure how I use it up: I don’t eat a whole lot of jam on toast (mostly preferring peanut butter); the obvious classics, like a jam tart or thumbprint cookies, aren’t things that I make often; and despite giving some of it away, […]

Categories: 100% local, fall, main course, plums, roasting, sage, turkey, Use it or Lose it!, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, fall, food, main course, plums, preserves, quick & easy, recipes, roasting, turkey, winter