Category Archives: vegetarian

Roasted Vegetable Stock

15 April 2009 by local kitchen

I picked up three(!) new cookbooks this weekend, while visiting Melissa & Erik down in PA. Yes, I probably need new cookbooks like I need new holes in my head, and I have no idea where I’m going to fit them (cookbook annex in the loft, perhaps?), but I couldn’t resist. They were all (all!) 50% off (such a sucker for a bargain); it was an independently-owned cooking store (the Cookery Ware Shop – why, oh why, don’t we have one […]

Categories: 100% local, celery, parsley, radish, roasting, soup, spring, stock, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

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Homemade Granola

7 April 2009 by local kitchen

Tai had this for breakfast this morning and hasn’t stopped talking about how wonderful it was. I don’t even like granola, and I never eat cereal, but on tasting this, I was tempted to have a bowl; it is that good. And really simple to make – I don’t know why I didn’t do this ages ago. I’m always trying to get Tai to cut down on the boxed cereal he loves, because it contains so much sugar (not to mention the […]

Categories: breakfast, cherries, cranberries, fruit, nuts, oats, raisins, vegetarian, year round • Tags: breakfast, cooking, food, granola, homemade, local, recipes, vegetarian

Goat Cheese Pizza with Garlicky Kale

4 April 2009 by local kitchen

Quick & easy, flavorful and healthy; perfect for weekend Pizza Night and a nice change from the tomato-sauce-and-mozzarella variety. Serve with a nice glass of wine and vintage Woody Allen – perfection! ————————————————————- Goat Cheese Pizza with Garlicky Kale INGREDIENTS 1 recipe Quick(er) Whole Grain Pizza Dough OR 12-Grain Pizza Dough about 1/4 cup olive oil 4-5 large kale leaves (5 oz), washed & coarsely chopped (with center stem) 1 stalk fresh/green garlic, well-washed and sliced fine, OR 4 large […]

Categories: cheese, fall, kale & leafy greens, pizza, spring, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, pizza, recipes

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

Quick(er) Whole Grain Pizza Dough

26 March 2009 by local kitchen

Even the most ardent defender of processed foods would have to admit that for all the reasons we eat food, whole grain flours are vastly superior to refined white flour: whole grain flour contains more protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber than refined white flour, is lower on the glycemic index, and avoids the bleach and other chemicals used in the refining process. Did you know that a cup of whole wheat flour, from say, 2 large pieces of pizza, contains […]

Categories: breads, grains & legumes, pizza, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: breads, cooking, food, local, pizza, recipes, whole grain

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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Rosemary Lemon Drop Biscuits

22 March 2009 by local kitchen

A truly quick-n-easy biscuit recipe that produces light and fluffy free-form biscuits that are crunchy on the outside, melting and tender on the inside. Fresh lemon zest and rosemary make them sing, especially in the heart of winter. In the snowy Northeast, rosemary over-winters quite well in a sunny window indoors. It doesn’t thrive, but holds a sort of status quo until you can put it back outside in the spring. Worth it to have access to fresh herbs at […]

Categories: baking, breads, citrus, rosemary, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

Winter Vegetable Soup

20 March 2009 by local kitchen

I know, I know – it’s supposed to be the first day of Spring, and I mention the “W” word. But while the calendar may be telling us that Spring is finally here, the snow flurries and mid-30 degree temps are agreeing with my anemic crisper drawer: we are still in the grips of winter for a few more weeks at least. While my brain and tastebuds are lusting after sugar snap peas, baby lettuce, asparagus and rhubarb, my larder is telling a […]

Categories: 100% local, herbs, kale & leafy greens, leek, main course, parsley, potato, scallions, soup, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

Raspberry Chiffon

16 March 2009 by local kitchen

What to do when your thawed red raspberries have turned to mush. This intensely flavored chiffon was paired with a deluxe pastry pie crust and glazed blackberry topping; the resulting pie earned rave reviews. Adapted from Strawberry Lover’s Chiffon Pie in The Pie & Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. ————————————————————– Raspberry Chiffon INGREDIENTS 1 lb frozen, unsweeted red raspberries 2 tsp lemon juice 3 tbsp filtered or spring water 2 tsp gelatin 1/2 cup heavy cream 6 tbsp sugar, divided 1 […]

Categories: baking, berries, pastry, pie, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

Heirloom Bean Mole with Pumpkin & Kale

13 March 2009 by local kitchen

I originally published this recipe way back in the beginning of the blog, when cooking with dried beans was still a novelty (and finding fresh pod beans virtually unheard of in my neck of the woods). I’m proud to say that cooking with dried heirloom beans has become old hat, and more & more frequently I see fresh beans, in the pod, at my local farmer’s markets in season. While I’d love to try this dish with fresh borlotti beans someday, it’s […]

Categories: beans, fall, heirloom beans, hot chile peppers, kale & leafy greens, main course, stew, tomatoes, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, Mexican, recipes, vegan, vegetarian

Glazed Blackberry Tart

11 March 2009 by local kitchen

It’s March and I’ve been cleaning out the freezer of last season’s bounty, preparing for the new season’s bounty that is right around the corner. One of the recipes I’ve been experimenting with is a glazed berry tart, using local berries from my freezer. The first version was a strawberry-black raspberry-wild blueberry pie with concentrated juices from each of these thawed berries; the berries were delicious, and the pastry stayed perfectly crisp, but the glaze was too thin (not enough cornstarch […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, berries, pastry, pie, spring, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

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Pink Grapefruit Curd (And Friends)

11 March 2009 by local kitchen

Firstly, let me start by saying that “curd” is a horrible word. Like “moist” and “slacks,” it makes me cringe just to think about it. It’s like someone combined “curse” and “turd” and decided that was a perfect name for a delectable dessert. For such a delicious concoction of eggs, butter, sugar and citrus, there should definitely be a better word: “deevine”, perhaps? (as opposed to “divine,” which might offend some). Pink grapefruit deevine? Sun custard, maybe? Or perhaps we […]

Categories: baking, citrus, dessert, eggs, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, dessert, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Simple Vinaigrette

10 March 2009 by local kitchen

My one my favorite little cookbooks is Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, a compendium of useful tips & techniques from one of my cooking heroes, Julia Childs. After all, once you’ve been cooking for a while, you basically know what your favorite flavors are and how they go together; we rely on recipes for inspiration or information on how to cook a new ingredient. But Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom contains all those little tidbits that we tend to forget if we didn’t go […]

Categories: herbs, parsley, spring, vegetarian, vinegar, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

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Lina Cisco’s Bean Spread

6 March 2009 by local kitchen

In light of the ongoing Great Dried Bean Challenge ’09, I’ve been searching on-line, and in my various cookbooks, for heirloom bean recipes. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are basically three beans in America: white, red, and black. The white beans are almost always Great Northern or cannellini, the red beans are kidney or pinto (a type of kidney bean) and the black beans just “black.” So imagine my surprise when, thinking I might try to grow & […]

Categories: heirloom beans, herbs, parsley, vegetarian, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

30-Minute Mozzarella

5 March 2009 by local kitchen

Here is another great recipe from Ricki Carroll’s Home Cheese Making. This recipe makes a delicious mozzarella that has all of the characteristics of the milk used to make it so can be endlessly varied. It really is a very quick recipe – it may not take you only 30 minutes on your first try, but once you get the hang of it, it will go very quickly. It’s faster for me to make this cheese than to go to […]

Categories: cheese, milk, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cheese, cooking, food, local, recipes