Category Archives: techniques

(Virtually) No Stir Apple Butter

14 November 2009 by local kitchen

As I mentioned in the previous apple butter post, I was looking to try a “no-stir” oven version of apple butter. I’ve heard good things about Crock Pot (sorry, “slow cooker” would be the PC terminology of the day, but I prefer the old-fashioned Crock Pot) apple butter, but as I do not own one, I had to try it out in the oven. There are a few recipes out there on the Interwebs for apple butter reduced in the oven; oven […]

Categories: apples, canning, fall, preserving, spreads, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Apple Parmesan Crumble

12 November 2009 by local kitchen

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! If that’s true, then Tai should be a very healthy boy. The apples are still flowing daily at our house; this recipe I’ve made three times now (in smaller, half-sized batches that I bake in a tart dish or small pie pan) and Tai is thoroughly enjoying it. This crumble is simple, relatively quick, and can be easily assembled while you are putting together dinner and popped into the oven in time for […]

Categories: apples, baking, dessert, fall, pie, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

No Peel ‘Em Apple Butter

10 November 2009 by local kitchen

I’ve made apple butter each autumn for three years in a row now. It’s truly a labor of love, as I don’t really like cooked apples (with one notable exception) of any variety. I make applesauce, for my friend Christina, for the many, many babies in my life, and for baking. I make apple pies for friends, holidays and for Tai. Apple butter is definitely the most labor-intensive of all of my apple-preserving tricks, due to the seemingly endless stirring, […]

Categories: apples, breakfast, canning, condiments, dessert, fall, preserving, spreads, winter • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, recipes

Canned Apple Pie Filling

6 November 2009 by local kitchen

Updated 08 October 2011. The original recipe was a modified version of the Ball Book apple pie filling; this version reflects more closely how I make a fresh apple pie, with some added apple cider and ClearJel canning starch to provide the necessary liquid for canning. There are 2 pounds of apples packed into each quart of pie filling in this version, making this a very apply, not overly sweet, and not overly goopy filling. If you like a sweeter […]

Categories: apples, canning, dessert, fall, pie, preserving • Tags: apples, canning, cooking, dessert, food, local, pie filling, preserving, recipes

Apple Ginger Jam

4 November 2009 by local kitchen

Tai and I managed to squeak in an afternoon of end-of-season apple picking last week at Fishkill Farms in Fishkill, NY. For the very end of October, they still had plenty of apples in the trees; Red Delicious, IdaRed, Rome, Macoun and Mutsu were all plentiful. With a little bit more effort, we collected a bushel of Stayman Winesap apples, even though the orchard said that they were “done.” It’s also a lovely orchard with organically grown apples at $20/half bushel […]

Categories: apples, canning, fall, jams, preserving, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Cherry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

26 October 2009 by local kitchen

We did a lot of driving on our honeymoon. 4300 kilometers to be exact (about 2700 miles). From Calgary down to Glacier National Park in Montana, back up again to Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, then west to Revelstoke, Whistler, Squamish & Vancouver. From Vancouver we went further west to Vancouver Island and all the way out to “the end of the road,” Tofino; then worked our way slowly back to Calgary and our flight home. As always when […]

Categories: baking, cherries, chocolate, dessert, fall, nuts, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

Lemon Yogurt Chicken Kebabs

6 October 2009 by local kitchen

Absolutely delicious. Really. Try this one. Adapted from Grilled Lamb Kebabs by Deb at Smitten Kitchen ————————————————————– Lemon Yogurt Chicken Kebabs INGREDIENTS Marinade 1 and 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breast 1 lb plain yogurt, preferably Greek style (I used Fage Total) 1/4 cup Kalamata extra virgin olive oil zest of 1 medium lemon juice of 2 medium lemons, about 1/4 cup 2 tbsp Greek seasoning (or 1 tbsp dried marjoram and 1 tbsp dried oregano) 1 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 […]

Categories: chicken, citrus, grill, herbs, meat & dairy, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, recipes

Chile Verde Base

29 September 2009 by local kitchen

Throughout the year, I make a kick-ass chile verde, a Mexican stew of roasted tomatillos, jalapeño peppers, cilantro, garlic and slow-cooked pork shoulder. My recipe is only slightly adapted from Elise’s version on Simply Recipes, courtesy of her friend Arturo Vargas, and it’s a staple over the long, cold months of winter. Tomatillos, however, the main ingredient in the vegetable base, have a short season here in the Northeast: they ripen at the tail end of tomato season and, if […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, fall, freezing, hot chile peppers, preserving, summer, tomatillos • Tags: cooking, food, local, Mexican, preserving, recipes, tomatillos

Dried Nectarines

23 September 2009 by local kitchen

I know, lame right? How many times can I tell you how to dry fruit? Yes, yes, Kaela, we get it; slice it and stick it in the dehydrator. Wait awhile. Eat. But if you were flying to Calgary in 3 days (3 days!!) to get married, and spend a month honeymooning in British Columbia, and subsequently had 7,000,000,000,000 things left to do before you left… you’d not find a lot of time for making nectarine chutney either. So, yes, this is […]

Categories: 100% local, drying, peaches, preserving, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Honey-Spiced Peaches

18 September 2009 by local kitchen

Even as orchards are filling up with early-season apples, peaches are still coming off the trees, and are in abundance at local farmer’s markets. Check out a local orchard this weekend, enjoy a peep at the early-season foliage, and stock up on some of the last of the year’s summer fruit. This is an easy way to preserve the bounty and enjoy the delicious flavor of peaches all year long. Not the peach recipe you’re looking for? Click here for more things to do with peaches. Adapted […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, fruit, peaches, preserving, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Peach Cascabel BBQ Sauce

11 September 2009 by local kitchen

Cascabel peppers, also known as chile bola or rattle chiles, because of the way the seeds rattle around inside the small round dried pepper, grow wild on the Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico. In this country, you generally only find the dried peppers, or sometimes the ground powder. Last winter I bought a bag from Penzey’s, intent on making some recipe or other, which I apparently never made, so I had a mostly full bag of these little […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, hot chile peppers, peaches, preserving, sauces, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Tomato Sauce with Fresh Basil

9 September 2009 by local kitchen

Tomatoes have been scarce this year in the Northeast, so cheap, local tomatoes have been a bit of a pipe dream. But after a long holiday weekend of climbing with friends at the Gunks, Tai & I moseyed our way home on backroads to beat the traffic. In addition to a much more pleasant ride home, we got to stop at Dressel Farms in New Paltz and pick up some of their tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, Bartlett pears, Honeycrisp apples, and […]

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

Pickled Peppers

4 September 2009 by local kitchen

Peppers seem to take forever to appear: like dreaming of strawberries in March, I start thinking of peppers when the first hot day comes around in June; then I wait, and wait and wait. My pepper plants were started way back in February. I’ve been harvesting jalapenos for a while now, but the red chile peppers are only just turning red, and the red bell peppers are still smaller than a tennis ball and dark green. All I can say […]

Categories: canning, condiments, hot chile peppers, preserving, summer • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Goat Cheese & Herb Gougeres

1 September 2009 by local kitchen

“Real” cooking: [reel kook-ing] adj., verb; techniques and skills used in preparing food that should have been learned, at culinary school, at your grandmother’s knee, from a dedicated chef-type friend or a really detailed cookbook, before you tried to wing it, in your usual slapdash fashion, without having a clue what you were doing. So, do you know what a gougere is? I didn’t. Not until some determined Googling informed me that a gougere is a savory puff pastry, made […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, baking, breads, cheese, parsley, pastry, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes

Preserving Herbs

30 August 2009 by local kitchen

Don’t let those overflowing garden herbs go to waste – with some easy preserving ideas, you can enjoy flavorful herbs all winter long. ————————————————————- Preserving Herbs FREEZE Basics: Follow the instructions for freezing vegetables, namely a quick blanche in boiling water followed by a ice-water bath. Dry thoroughly, then freeze, either on the stem, loose leaves, or chopped, spooned into ice cube trays, and covered with filtered water or olive oil. Also see a recipe for Chile Verde Base, which […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, drying, fall, freezing, herbs, preserving, summer • Tags: cooking, food, homesteading, local, preserving, recipes