Category Archives: hot chile peppers

Chile Blackberry Syrup (+ Bonus Spicy Booze!)

22 August 2011 by local kitchen

I’ve wanted to try this chile blackberry syrup from Heidi for ages: last year’s blackberry harvest was a bust, so I filed the recipe away in my bookmarks and waited, longingly, for August to roll around once more. The blink of an eye (and a whole lotta blog posts) later, August is here once again, and I’ve been up to Greig Farm in Red Hook twice, with Miss Julia, picking and picking and picking, determined to squirrel away as much […]

Categories: berries, canning, hot chile peppers, preserving, sauces • Tags: berries, canning, chiles, condiments, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

Strawberry Jam with Mint, Basil & Habanero

10 July 2011 by local kitchen

It’s cruel to do this to you, I know, since strawberries are long gone in most parts of America. But I still have some fresh, local strawberries in the fridge (albeit they are starting to look a little peaky), and they are just coming into full season for our friends in the North. If you are one of the lucky ones that still has fresh strawberries in your neighborhood, or one of the industrious ones who put-up a few pounds in […]

Categories: basil, berries, canning, hot chile peppers, jams, mint, preserving • Tags: berries, canning, chiles, food, local, preserving, recipes, strawberries

Chinese Noodles with Peanut Sauce

2 June 2011 by local kitchen

I’m going away for the weekend and have about 1,000,000,000 things to get done before I leave: so wouldn’t you know that we lost power for the entire afternoon? Ah, NYSEG. Frustrating New Yorkers since 1852. So, a quick one. It’s been hot: sticky hot, super humid, super hazy. Instant summer, coming on the heels of 50 degrees and raining. Down goes the space heater to the garage, up comes the fan. Exit braised meats and roasted root vegetables, enter crisp […]

Categories: Asian greens, cabbage, celery, cilantro, cucumber, hot chile peppers, main course, nuts, pasta, sauces, side dish, summer, vegetarian • Tags: chinese, cooking, food, local, noodles, peanuts, recipes, summer, vegetarian

Pumpkin Soup with Chocolate & Chipotle

13 May 2011 by local kitchen

Pumpkin soup in May. I know what you’re thinking: she’s finally lost that last (lonely) marble. But hear me out: I realized yesterday that June is nearly upon us; and with June comes the first onslaught of seasonal produce. My CSA will start, and with it kale, chard, cabbage and all those gorgeous Spring greens. Strawberries will show up in June as well, ripe for the picking. And then the summer squashes and cucumbers start coming, and cherries and raspberries, […]

Categories: chocolate, fall, hot chile peppers, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, food, local, main course, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Smoky, Spicy Sweet Corn Chowder

5 April 2011 by local kitchen

A few weeks ago, I shared this wonderful-sounding recipe for sweet corn chowder, created by Cheryl Paff at At the Farmer’s Market, on the Facebook page. I’ve made it a couple of times since then and not only to clear out the freezer in preparation for the impending harvest season. This chowder comes together easily, without an excessive amount of chopping or prep, making it a good choice for an easy weeknight dinner. With potatoes and corn, it is very […]

Categories: corn, hot chile peppers, main course, potato, soup, summer, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, soup, summer, vegetarian, winter

Flourless Chocolate Chipotle Cake

2 April 2011 by local kitchen

Have you noticed a lot of non-local ingredients cropping up on the blog of late? Citrus jam, orange chicken, honey roasted nuts? While I don’t make it a goal to eat 100% from my local foodshed (in part because I believe it is harshly restrictive for no good reason, but mostly, I suspect, because I don’t like rules) I do try to limit the non-local ingredients to occasional luxuries rather than every day ingredients. They’ve been showing up more often of […]

Categories: baking, cake, chocolate, dessert, hot chile peppers, year round • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, dessert, food, gluten free, quick & easy, recipes

Strawberry Chipotle Preserves

4 March 2011 by local kitchen

Can you believe that I don’t have a single jar of strawberry jam left in the garage pantry? I feel like I spent half of last summer preserving strawberries, but in reality, I guess not: there was this Ferberesque strawberry rhubarb jam, but I made it in San Francisco and left it with my friend Christina; there was this Can Jam strawberry rhubarb & caramelized onion jam, but I made that way back in March with frozen berries (sensing a trend, here?); there was a […]

Categories: berries, canning, dessert, hot chile peppers, preserves, preserving, spring • Tags: berries, canning, cooking, dessert, ferber, food, local, preserving, recipes, spring, strawberry

Cara Cara Chile Marmalada

9 February 2011 by local kitchen

After my last orange marmalade candy-in-a-jar experience, I did quite a bit of research before starting this one. I had some beautiful organic oranges from my local whole foods market and I knew which recipe I wanted to use as a base: an orange chile marmalade from the Ball book. That recipe, however, specifies nine (9!!) cups of sugar, which I knew was never going to work for me. So, I looked at traditional marmalade recipes in Gourmet Preserves, The Glass […]

Categories: canning, citrus, condiments, hot chile peppers, preserves, preserving, wine, beer & liquor, winter • Tags: canning, cara cara, chiles, condiments, cooking, food, local, marmalade, preserves, preserving, recipes

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

Dark Days: Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew

27 December 2010 by local kitchen

Snowpocalypse 2010 dumped about a foot and a half of snow on us, as we snuggled cozy and warm in our little cottage, snacking on popcorn and watching cheesy movies in day-after-Christmas bliss. Today, although the winds still howled, the sun appeared along with bright blue skies, and we forced our way out the door against 3-foot snow drifts in order to shovel out. A couple of hours later, with a clear deck, stairs and driveway, lunch was definitely in […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, Dark Days Local, hot chile peppers, kale & leafy greens, main course, potato, stew, tomatoes, winter • Tags: chicken, cooking, dark days, food, local, recipes, winter

Dark Days: Spicy Basil Roasted Chicken

15 December 2010 by local kitchen

Chicken is difficult. Not difficult in that it is tasteless, bland, rubbery, spongy or just plain boring: I never find those things to be true about organically-fed, pastured, humanely-raised chicken. Not difficult in that it’s too hard to cook: in fact, roasted chicken is one of the easiest dishes I make. Chicken, that most ubiquitous of American meat staples, is difficult because it is hard to find. My regular local chicken guy used to be Pat of New England Farms. Pat […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, chicken, Dark Days Local, hot chile peppers, main course, roasting, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, main course, recipes, roasting, winter

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

Jalapeno Cornbread

5 November 2010 by local kitchen

I was nearly out of whole wheat pastry flour and, with the holidays approaching, I knew I would need some more, sooner rather than later. I placed an order with Amy at Wild Hive Farm, my wonderful local flour producers, and asked Tai to pick it up on his way home from work. At the last minute, I tacked on a “grab some corn meal, too, OK?” request to my darling hubs, because the last time I made pizza, I realized I […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breads, corn, grains & legumes, hot chile peppers, side dish, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, bread, cast iron cooking, cooking, corn, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, tex mex, vegetarian, whole grain breads