Category Archives: preserving

Can Jam: Strawberry Rhubarb Amaretto Sauce

20 May 2010 by local kitchen

I had all sorts of plans for this month’s Can Jam: rhubarb fig jam, a macerated, jewel-like rhubarb a la Mme. Ferber, rhubarb with local white wine, rhubarb with last summer’s frozen blackberries… the possibilities were nearly endless. And then: I got a huge assignment from a client, my computer promptly exploded and I spent most of a week either 1) on the phone with Dell, 2) at Best Buy purchasing new laptop, 3) on the phone with Best Buy/Geek […]

Categories: berries, Can Jam, canning, condiments, preserving, rhubarb, sauces, spring, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes, rhubarb, sauce, strawberries

Pickled Chard Stems

9 May 2010 by local kitchen

Yesterday I scored a ridiculous amount of Spring bounty at the farmer’s market: asparagus and rhubarb, yes, but also ramps & fiddleheads, rainbow chard & curly kale, scallions, parsley & cilantro, two kinds of radishes (and of course the usual potatoes, onions and carrots). In addition to all that, thanks to Madura Farms’ greenhouses, I picked up the first Kirby cucumbers of the year, not to mention eggs, bread, butter, pork shoulder and sausage. Phew! I could barely stuff it all into the […]

Categories: canning, condiments, fall, kale & leafy greens, pickles, preserving, quick & easy, spring • Tags: canning, chard, condiments, cooking, food, local, pickles, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

Preserving Rhubarb

29 April 2010 by local kitchen

From the archives, just in time for rhubarb season and the May Can Jam! Enjoy! . . . Today I started tackling the metric ton of rhubarb that I brought home from Maine. I started with about 4 lbs, washed everything well, trimmed off the fat stem end and a small slice off of the top (leaf) end, and started chopping. I picked out the prettiest, pinkest stalks to make Rhubarb Rosemary Jelly (courtesy of Gourmet via Garrett McCord of VanillaGarlic); I decided […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, preserving, rhubarb, spring, techniques • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, rhubarb, spring

Can Jam: Apple Cider Jelly with Rosemary & Peppercorn

22 April 2010 by local kitchen

I should have left well enough alone. After the glorious triumph of my Can Jam Lemon Lavender Marmalade, I should have known to just quit while I was ahead. Sadly, I so rarely take my own sage advice. There’s a reason why I never make jelly. Jelly is basically juice + sugar. Since there is no fruit pulp to round out the texture, a jelly really needs more sugar than a jam, or whole fruit preserve, in order to have any structure. There […]

Categories: apples, Can Jam, canning, fall, jellies, preserving, rosemary, spring, winter, year round • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Ramp & Cilantro Pesto

20 April 2010 by local kitchen

I’m down in a cold, misty, rainy Asheville this week, spending some time with Mom. On my list of things to do before I left for the week was to preserve anything in the fridge that Tai wouldn’t cook while I was gone (so, essentially, everything). After enjoying ramps in a lovely chickpea salad and a leeky-cheesey fritatta this week I still had a pile to use. Just a few days ago, I saw a recipe for Ramp and Parsley Pesto […]

Categories: cilantro, condiments, freezing, preserving, quick & easy, spring, wild foods • Tags: condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, wild foods

Can Jam: Lemon Lavender Marmalade

18 April 2010 by local kitchen

April’s Can Jam assignment was herbs, which are, according to the Tigress “generally considered the leafy green parts of a plant (flowers, too!) while spices are derived from other parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, berries, bark and roots.” It’s a lovely category; wide open with choices, and I’m excited to see what the variety & inventiveness of the Can Jammers can deliver. Problem is, here in New York, as Marisa reminds us, April really is the cruelest month: things have […]

Categories: breakfast, Can Jam, canning, citrus, herbs, jams, preserving, winter, year round • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, recipes

Forsythia Syrup

13 April 2010 by local kitchen

When I was young, we had a huge lilac bush in the backyard, and nothing said “springtime” to me more than the heady scent of lilac drifting into newly opened windows. Here in the Hudson Valley, “spring” is all about forsythia, the yellow flowering shrub that seems to burst into color overnight, and nearly as quickly, loses its blooms and sprouts the first pale green leaves of the season. While researching recipes for this month’s Can Jam, the focus ingredient for […]

Categories: preserving, spring, wild foods • Tags: cooking, flower syrups, food, forsythia, local, preserving, recipes, wild foods

Ramps!

8 April 2010 by local kitchen

You know it’s April in the Hudson Valley when you see ramps pop up, in the farmer’s market or in the woods. Ramps are wild leeks, an allium related to onions, shallots, garlic, and of course, leeks, and they create quite a sensation each spring when the broad, waxy green leaves start popping up in the woods. With good reason: although some think we should just shut up about ramps, there is a reason that foodniks go a little mad […]

Categories: 100% local, foraging, leek, preserving, spring, wild foods • Tags: cooking, food, foraging, local, preserving, ramps, recipes, spring, wild foods

Christine Ferber’s Pumpkin Jam with Vanilla Bean

24 March 2010 by local kitchen

Sigh. I tried – I really tried. Following this conversation on Tigress’ blog, regarding my disappointment in the recent purchase of Mes Confitures, Christine Ferber’s famous jam & jelly cookbook, I decided that, in order to give the cookbook a fair shake, I would attempt one of the recipes, as is, without any tweaking from me (you have no idea how hard this is for me). Since I had lots & lots of pumpkin to use up, I decided to try […]

Categories: canning, citrus, fall, jams, preserving, winter, winter squash • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, local, recipes

Pumpkin Cascabel Marmalade

22 March 2010 by local kitchen

Can you believe that I still have a pumpkin from last Fall? Well, had a pumpkin, I should say. The vernal equinox, not to mention the 70+ temps this weekend, convinced me that it was finally time to say goodbye to the Last Fall Pumpkin, which has been gracing our countertop, courtesy of Fishkill Farm, since late October. So in celebration of the first day of Spring, I took my biggest knife to this 14 lb sucker and hacked it’s […]

Categories: canning, citrus, condiments, fall, jams, preserving, winter, winter squash • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Strawberry Rhubarb & Caramelized Onion Jam

16 March 2010 by local kitchen

allium canning too many good recipes strawberry rhubarb it is It’s a poetry jam, man. Today’s haiku is brought to you by the letter “A.” A is for allium and I can’t seem to stop Can Jammin’ the magical allium family: shallots, garlic and Cippolini onions (oh my!). I know Spring is not quite here yet, despite the post-Flood sunshine and 60 degree temps today, and it is cruel of me to tease you with thoughts of strawberry & rhubarb when […]

Categories: berries, breakfast, canning, citrus, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, rhubarb, strawberries

Can Jam: Roasted Garlic & Lemon Mustard

12 March 2010 by local kitchen

I’ve had to hold myself back for this month’s Can Jam; clearly, I’ve never met an allium I didn’t like. I mean, come on: onions, scallions, leeks, chives, garlic, scapes, ramps, shallots – the list goes on and on and they are all delicious. Did you know that there are hundreds of varieties of wild alliums, and that nearly all are edible? According to Wildman Steve Brill, “anything that smells like garlic or onion won’t kill you.” This isn’t my first allium canning […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, garlic, mustard, preserving, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Pink Pickled Shallots

9 March 2010 by local kitchen

Easiest. Canning. Ever. Really people, it doesn’t get much simpler than this. Shallots, vinegar, water, honey. A couple of herbs, you know, just ’cause we can. (Ha! Get it? We can! Ah, I slay me.) Pack it all in a jar, process for 10 minutes, and hey! presto! you’re a canner. Cross that off your life list. The devoted Local Kitchen reader (all 7 of you) may furrow your gentle brow, wondering why I would pickle shallots, knowing that I loathe all […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, condiments, preserving, quick & easy, thyme, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, pickles, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, shallots

Can Jam: Apple Carrot Chile Chutney

17 February 2010 by local kitchen

Say that 10 times fast. I have to admit that when this month’s Can Jam ingredient was announced as carrots, I was a little… uninspired. While I applaud the choice as a “stretch” goal, I just wasn’t that excited about my BWB carrot canning possibilities. Not that I don’t like carrots, I do, but they are a low-acid food and we all know that I’m no friend of the pickle. There are some carrot marmalade and jam recipes out there, but […]

Categories: 100% local, apples, Can Jam, canning, carrot, chutneys, condiments, fall, preserving, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Blackberry Lime Jam

20 January 2010 by local kitchen

We all know I am pathological about wasting food, so I had to find a way to use the lime flesh leftover from the Can Jam Lime Curd recipe. I thought about simply juicing them and freezing the juice, but really, it seemed silly to use bottled juice in the curd and then freeze the fresh juice for something else. Call me wacky. Since I was kind of back in the swing of canning, I dug some blackberries out of […]

Categories: berries, canning, citrus, jams, preserving, summer, winter, year round • Tags: berries, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes