Category Archives: vegetable

Stovetop Popcorn

28 January 2010 by local kitchen

Despite my other addictions, popcorn is my one true love, my desert island item, my No. 1 favorite food. (I’m so very sorry bacon… better luck next year). I make popcorn nearly every day, always on the stovetop, always with oil or butter (Fat is Food, people – don’t be a hater). It may actually approach the level of a physical addiction, if such a thing is possible. When I am Were I ever to stomp around the house crankily (not […]

Categories: 100% local, corn, grains & legumes, quick & easy • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Roasted Pepper, Onion & Sweet Corn Pizza

26 January 2010 by local kitchen

I know what you’re thinking: “Corn? On pizza? She’s crazy.” Crazy like a fox, I say. Or crazy like a person who enjoys crispy, chewy, sweet, spicy, savory, salivatingly (salivatingly? Oh, shut up I’m on a roll) good pizza. Corn is the key. Don’t get me wrong, roasted peppers & onions are lovely by themselves, but the corn! The corn added texture, a hint of smoky sweetness, a foil for the tomato sauce. Roasting brought out a flavor very much like grilled […]

Categories: cheese, corn, hot chile peppers, main course, pizza, roasting, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: cooking, local, pizza, recipes

Chickpea Stir-Fry

21 January 2010 by local kitchen

I must confess that it has never occured to me to stir-fry chickpeas (or any bean, for that matter). I had cooked chickpeas in the fridge, leftover from making hummus the other day and I was looking for something quick & easy, yet delicious, for dinner. I also had some romaine lettuce (clam-shell packed and shipped from California, which Mom left here at Christmastime) that needed using, but somehow I couldn’t work up any enthusiasm for month-old-California-lettuce-mid-winter salad. (Shocker, that.) Enter chickpea […]

Categories: beans, carrot, chickpeas, cilantro, garlic, grains & legumes, hot chile peppers, lettuce, main course, quick & easy, salad, stir-fry, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Dark Days: Venison Chile Verde

18 January 2010 by local kitchen

Friends of ours gifted us with some venison this week, received from friends of theirs who had shot and butchered a deer. I’m not exactly sure where the deer came from but I’m pretty confident that it was somewhere in the Northeast; our friends live in Connecticut, not far from Mystic, and the deer probably came from either New Hampshire or the Adirondacks in NY. It seemed a perfect candidate for this week’s Dark Days spotlight meal. I’m not a […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, Dark Days Local, hot chile peppers, main course, meat & dairy, tomatillos, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Calypso Bean Minestrone

7 January 2010 by local kitchen

Calypso beans are so gorgeous. They are one of those fantastic heirloom varieties that you only see when you start searching out such a thing; a bean so gorgeous, you want to wear it as jewelry, so tasty that the unique flavor and texture are impossible to describe, so miraculous that if you push it into the soil, in Spring a plant will emerge. (That simple fact never fails to thrill me). Calypso beans, also called orca beans because of […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, heirloom beans, kale & leafy greens, main course, soup, vegetarian, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, soup

Dark Days: Sausage & Pepper Pizza

28 December 2009 by local kitchen

Last night we had the happy coincidence of two friends traveling back home from Christmas celebrations, both of whom decided to stop and spend the night with us en route. We had a delicious, impromptu, and local dinner of sausage & pepper pizza, served up with Saranac ales, good conversation, and many laughs. Thanks, Frannie & Christina, for a great night! Happy holidays everyone! ————————————————————- Sausage & Pepper Pizza INGREDIENTS 1 recipe Quick(er) Whole Grain Pizza dough 1/2 lb smoked […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, cheese, Dark Days Local, main course, pizza, sausage, tomatoes, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pizza, recipes

Black Bean Veggie Chili

27 December 2009 by local kitchen

As a nice respite from all of the rich, heavy holiday food, as well as a warm bowl of comfort food against the chill and dreary 39-degree rainy day, yesterday I made a big pot of chili. Packed full of veggies and protein-laden black beans, this dish is winter locavore cooking at its best: peppers chopped and quick-frozen back in August only need pouring into a measuring cup; sweet corn, blanched and cut off the cob, frozen at the peak of […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, carrot, celery, cilantro, corn, garlic, hot chile peppers, main course, parsley, stew, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: black bean, cooking, food, local, recipes

Dark Days: Swiss Chard Quiche Minis

21 December 2009 by local kitchen

Undaunted by the blizzard, a few intrepid souls made it to our annual Christmas party on Saturday night. Luckily for them, there was no shortage of yummy food on hand. My kitchen counter was groaning under the weight of this sausage bread, made with linguica and local smoked mozzarella, Wild Hive rosemary bread crostini with olive oil, garlic and basil, a selection of local cheeses, curried apple chutney, sweet cherry chutney, cranberry apple butter and cranberry sauce, homemade stuffed grape leaves […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, breakfast, cheese, Dark Days Local, eggs, kale & leafy greens, main course, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Sunday Spring Cleaning: Curried Pumpkin & Kale Stew

6 December 2009 by local kitchen

I’ve long been of the belief that, if you add enough curry to something, it’s bound to be good. This stew upholds the belief: nothing spectacular, just good, tasty, warm and comforting stew for a snowy New York Sunday. The bonus is that this was a freezer-clearing special: I used some cooked cranberry beans that were hanging out in the fridge, frozen pumpkin cubes leftover from this soup, frozen kale put-up this summer, plum tomatoes that I stuck in the freezer, whole, […]

Categories: beans, fall, heirloom beans, kale & leafy greens, main course, quick & easy, stew, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, winter squash, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Easy Chicken Vindaloo

2 December 2009 by local kitchen

I love me a good vindaloo. Vindaloo is always spicy, but I like it really spicy: make me cry, but give me a flavor profile beyond just “hot,” and I’ll call it a success. I can rarely get vindaloo spicy enough in Indian restaurants (I suppose I can’t blame them when they look dubiously at my pale, freckled face and fuzzy red head, ordering my vindaloo “really spicy.” They just assume that I am not used to “Indian-spicy.” Little do they know!). But the […]

Categories: chicken, hot chile peppers, main course, potato, quick & easy, rice, stew, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, Indian, local, quick & easy, recipes, spicy

Fiery Habanero Mustard

28 November 2009 by local kitchen

At its simplest, prepared mustard is a basic mix of mustard seed and water, ground into a paste, and as such, could hardly be easier for the home cook. Mustard lovers may tell you, however, that the devil is in the details: which mustard seeds to use? which soaking liquid to use? Which vegetables, fruits, herbs or spices will flavor the mustard? This simple mustard gets its punch from fiery habanero chile peppers: yellow mustard seeds are soaked in habanero-infused […]

Categories: canning, condiments, hot chile peppers, mustard, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, recipes

Dark Days: Apple Cider Chicken with Sage Mashed Potatoes

21 November 2009 by local kitchen

About a week ago, I signed up for the Dark Days Challenge, hosted by food blogger (not so) Urban Hennery, in which locavores strive to keep in touch with their local foodshed throughout the long, cold, dark days of winter and to “cook one meal each week focused on SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients” and write about it on their blogs. Shouldn’t be such a challenge for a self-styled Local Kitchen blogger, no? Well, you might be surprised. Atlhough I have a chest freezer stocked full […]

Categories: 100% local, apples, chicken, Dark Days Local, fall, main course, sage, tomatoes, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Salt & Cocoa Pumpkin Seeds

13 November 2009 by local kitchen

Ah! Sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before; I love pumpkin seeds, and make them every time I crack open a pumpkin. I love chocolate. And everyone knows that I’m a certified saltaholic. But somehow it’s never before occured to me to combine my three loves into one gorgeous, salty-sweet snack. Maybe it’s because I am making my pumpkin & kale mole for dinner with Amy tonight and I […]

Categories: chocolate, fall, non-local luxuries, quick & easy, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, food

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage

8 November 2009 by local kitchen

I keep trying new pumpkin soup recipes, and I keep coming back to this one. Rich, hearty, creamy without a drop of cream, it derives it’s depth of flavor from the roasting of the vegetables, the interest of cardamom and cinnamon spice, and the lemony flavor and textural contrast of crispy sage leaf garnish. Delicious! Adapted (barely) from Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage Garnish in Homegrown: Pure and Simple by M. Nischan ————————————————————— Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Sage INGREDIENTS one […]

Categories: appetizer, fall, main course, sage, soup, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, local, pumpkin, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Winter Greens Risotto with Heirloom Pork Sausage

5 November 2009 by local kitchen

We had some friends over for dinner last weekend: cheeses from Plums Plums in Pound Ridge, bread from Wave Hill Bread in Wilton, curried apple chutney, roasted pumpkin soup, winter greens risotto and an apple tart. Phew! You can tell what kind of week I’ve had that I’ve only just managed to get one of these recipes up by Thursday night. Risotto is a wonderfully versatile dish and easy to make, despite its rather terrifying reputation. Yes, you have to stir […]

Categories: arugula, cheese, fall, grains & legumes, kale & leafy greens, main course, pork, rice, sausage, side dish, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, pork, recipes