Category Archives: summer

Preserving Strawberries

23 June 2009 by local kitchen

Twenty-five pounds of strawberries came and went pretty quickly; after tonight’s strawberry tart I’ve got less than a quart left. I think I might actually have to go picking again! Final totals: About 5 quarts frozen, 2 pints dried, 2 and 1/2 ice cube trays of purée, plus about 1 cup in the fridge, 3 and 1/2 pints of strawberry-rhubarb jam, one glazed strawberry tart and lots of random strawberry snacking – over ice cream, on granola, in salads, and out of the box. […]

Categories: 100% local, berries, canning, freezing, fruit, preserving, spring, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, strawberries

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, Two Ways

20 June 2009 by local kitchen

This year marks my third season of canning to preserve the harvest, but only my second year of making jam. Since I am no longer a jam-newbie, I decided that this summer I would experiment with trying to make some completely local jams & preserves, using no refined sugar or commercial pectin. Due to the metric ass-load of strawberries I picked on Wednesday, and getting some more rhubarb in our CSA, I had enough to make two batches of strawberry rhubarb jam, and […]

Categories: 100% local, berries, breakfast, canning, condiments, dessert, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, summer • Tags: berries, canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, rhubarb

Rose’s Strawberry Puree

19 June 2009 by local kitchen

Rose Levy Beranbaum developed a method for berry puree that involves extracting the juice, concentrating it down to one-fifth it’s original volume, pureeing the berry flesh and then adding back in the juice/syrup. This gives the puree maximum berry flavor without cooking the pulp, which tends to lead to a caramelized, sugary flavor rather than a pure berry flavor. While you could just puree fresh berries and call it a day, berries, and strawberries especially, contain so much water that the […]

Categories: 100% local, berries, canning, citrus, dessert, preserving, sauces, spring, summer, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, strawberries

Chock Full o’ Greens Soup

18 June 2009 by local kitchen

I made this soup on Tuesday night, in somewhat of a panic to think that the fridge was still stocked full of greens from last week’s CSA and I would be picking up another load of CSA veggies from the farm on Wednesday. I didn’t have a recipe in mind, so I just started pulling things out of the fridge and figured I would wing it. I rarely make up a recipe from scratch; I often have a base recipe that […]

Categories: Asian greens, basil, dill, grains & legumes, main course, pasta, quinoa, rice, soup, spring, summer, thyme, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Flageolet and Roasted Garlic Spread

16 June 2009 by local kitchen

More picnic fare that is easy to make, travels well, yet is impressively yummy and leaves friends wanting more. With the exception of olive oil and black pepper, this spread can be made entirely local with Navy beans from Cayuga Pure Organics; or you could do what I did and fly to San Francisco, visit friends, and hit up the Rancho Gordo booth at the Ferry Building! Adapted from Cannellini Bean Confetti Spread in Heirloom Beans, by Steve Sando […]

Categories: appetizer, beans, cheese, chives, fall, garlic, grains & legumes, heirloom beans, herbs, spring, summer • Tags: beans, cooking, food, garlic, local, recipes

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Whole Grain Blueberry Pancakes

12 June 2009 by local kitchen

I must confess: as someone who owns quite a few cookbooks (not exactly 101, but it’s getting there), and who actually does a lot of cooking, it seems odd that I don’t own the Joy of Cooking. I don’t own Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, I don’t own the Betty Crocker cookbook, I don’t even own Julia’s masterwork on French cooking. Considering that my cooking career began well before the Internet, it seems odd that I don’t have more of […]

Categories: 100% local, berries, breakfast, eggs, fruit, milk, summer, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: breakfast, cooking, food, recipes

Grilled Salsa Chicken & Fire-roasted Corn

16 April 2009 by local kitchen

Just in time for a gorgeous, sunny Spring weekend: quick & easy grilled marinated chicken and roasted corn – the flavors of summer (without the 98% humidity!). Given how simple this meal is, it’s unbelievable how flavorful it is. The corn is a revelation; pure summer, captured at it’s peak last August and roasted over smoky coals until the flavor makes you want to write an opera (Ode To Corn? A-Maizing Maize? Corn Cob Blues? OK, I’ll stop now). Seriously, […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, fall, grill, main course, peaches, quick & easy, roasting, salsa, spring, summer • Tags: cooking, food, grilling, local, recipes

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Sunday Spring Cleaning: Trifle

14 April 2009 by local kitchen

OK, so I know it’s Tuesday, not Sunday. But I was away visiting friends for the weekend, and anyway, last week was rough in my kitchen. No cooking other than lots and lots of cake… (Also, I apologize for the lack of pretty pictures, but I still don’t have my camera back from Kami’s birthday party). Trifle is another of those things for which about a billion recipes exist. There are many good things about trifle: it’s truly quick & […]

Categories: berries, citrus, dessert, fruit, jams, jellies, peaches, spring, summer, year round • Tags: cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

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Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

6 April 2009 by local kitchen

I’ve been testing out cake (and filling, and frosting) recipes for Kami’s birthday celebration this Thursday. Kami is turning five years old this Thursday – and while her parents are certainly dear friends of mine, Kami and I are fast friends in our own right. She has very discriminating taste for an almost-5-year-old, so I generally try to pull out all the stops for her birthday cake. Not as easy as it sounds, when you consider that most “pull out […]

Categories: baking, berries, cheese, dessert, sauces, spring, summer, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Herby Grilled Potatoes

1 April 2009 by local kitchen

A gorgeous, sunny spring day, a rock scramble/hike in the woods with your honey, top down on the convertible on the way home – what could be better? I’ll tell you what – the First Grill of the Season. These grilled potatoes are fluffy inside, like a french fry, but crisp and smoky on the outside from the grill. Serve with Flying Pigs Jamaican Jerk sausage, grilled bell pepper and ice cold Sam Adams. Spring is a wonderful thing. —————————————————————- […]

Categories: 100% local, chives, dill, fall, grill, parsley, potato, side dish, spring, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, grill, local, potato, recipes, vegetarian

Mini Zucchini Quick Breads

25 March 2009 by local kitchen

Ah, zucchini. The magical summer squash that proliferates in every amateur green thumb’s garden each August, resulting in gigundo green monsters, bigger than your head, and the inevitable question, “What the hell am I going to do with all this zucchini?” So why am I torturing you with thoughts of zucchini, when asparagus and sugar snap peas are still weeks away and summer squash is a mere pipe dream? Maybe I am just reminiscing on the long, lazy days of summer, […]

Categories: baking, breads, citrus, eggs, fall, summer, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

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Lemon Basil Pesto Pizza

24 March 2009 by local kitchen

Really, amazingly, deliciously, incredibly, mouth-wateringly good. Really. ————————————————————– Lemon Basil Pesto Pizza INGREDIENTS Pizza 1 recipe 12-grain pizza dough OR Quick(er) Whole Grain PIzza Dough 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp grated hard cheese, such as parmesean or Sprout Creek Barat or Ouray 4-6 tbsp lemon basil pesto (recipe follows) 4 oz mozzarella, homemade or purchased 1 head roasted garlic 4 oz cooked chicken breast, such as lemon chicken freshly ground black pepper 1/2 tsp dried lemon basil Lemon Basil Pesto […]

Categories: basil, cheese, chicken, herbs, pizza, summer, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pizza, recipes

Cilantro Pesto

18 February 2009 by local kitchen

Make this in late summer when cilantro is bursting out of the garden, and freeze in ice cube trays for serving-sized portions to use all winter long. Recipe adapted from Cilantro Pesto in The New Basics, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. ————————————————————- Cilantro Pesto INGREDIENTS 2 cups cilantro leaves, washed & spun dry 6 cloves garlic 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper METHODS Place the cilantro, garlic […]

Categories: cilantro, fall, preserving, sauces, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes