Category Archives: wine, beer & liquor

Boozy Pear Sauce

1 October 2010 by local kitchen

The last recipe from my pear-picking adventure with Julia (in hot, hot summer sunshine that seems like ages away from today’s chilly, rainy damp) this sauce is about as easy as it gets. I took the last 6 and 1/2 pounds of teeny, tiny D’Anjou pears, simmered them in water to soften, pushed them through the food mill, and separated juice from pulp in a jelly bag. The juice became Pear Syrup with Fennel while the pulp? The pulp helped […]

Categories: canning, fall, pears, preserving, sauces, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Nectarine, Pear & Chile Jam

16 September 2010 by local kitchen

September already and three-quarters of the Can Jam entries tucked away in the pantry, dreaming of winter. Where did the year go? I have to admit that when Miss Kate over at Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking announced stone fruit as the September Can Jam fruit-of-focus, I’m sure I let out a huge groan. Having just preserved about a bizillion-and-one pounds of peaches, not to mention plums, apricots and nectarines, I thought that I was done with stone fruits for the season. […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, fall, hot chile peppers, jams, peaches, pears, preserving, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Pear Butter with White Wine & Fennel

7 September 2010 by local kitchen

A few weeks ago, when the weather was still hot & humid but the leaves were telling us that Fall was on the way, I went pear picking with Julia. She had connected with a lovely man who had three huge, old D’Anjou pear trees in his yard: more pears than any one family, no matter how pear-loving, could possibly go through in a season. He was nice enough to let us pick as many as we liked, hoping that […]

Categories: canning, fall, pears, preserving, spreads, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Pirate Peaches

17 August 2010 by local kitchen

An oldie but a goodie, I’ve made this peach rum sauce for three years running and it always disappears quickly. This is the first year, however, that I’ve used The Kraken rum, yet – how could I resist? Not only does it conjure up images of sandy beaches, swaying palms, and swoon-worthy pirates, it happens to be delicious. Added to peaches and three kinds of unrefined sugar? It’s delectable. Enjoy it on ice cream, over pound cake or cheesecake. Have […]

Categories: canning, dessert, peaches, preserving, sauces, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Seared Tomato Sauce

15 August 2010 by local kitchen

The third in my series of recipe reviews from The Lost Art of Real Cooking, by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger (A Perigee Book, published by the Penguin Group), this recipe, another sauce from Ken Albala, was intriguing from the get-go. The recipe, Fresh Tomato Sauce, in Chapter 2, Fresh Vegetables and Legumes, starts off with: “This sauce probably defies everything you have ever read about a good tomato sauce.” With the gauntlet thus thrown, I could hardly avoid taking up the challenge, […]

Categories: main course, quick & easy, rosemary, sauces, summer, tomatoes, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, tomatoes

Peach Chocolate Dessert Sauce

10 August 2010 by local kitchen

Peach chocolate sauce, the first of many peach preserves to come, rolled out of the canner this morning at far-too-early o’clock. In case you missed the discussion on Twitter, Tai, Alison & I went peach picking at Fishkill Farms on Sunday. It was hot & sunny, then it rained, then it was hot & sunny again. We picked, and picked, and then picked some more: 40 lbs of peaches later (and 2 quarts of nectarines, and 3 quarts of Italian plums, […]

Categories: canning, chocolate, dessert, peaches, preserving, sauces, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Cantaloupe & Blackberry Preserves with Chardonnay

17 July 2010 by local kitchen

CanJammin’ July: it’s the height of summer and Northeast locavore livin’ is easy, right? Well, yes, it is: the berries are rolling off the bushes and vines, stone fruits are bursting out of the trees, and we’re all just waiting for the King of Summertime, the Almighty Tomato. But Gloria comes along and says “Given that we jammed ‘erries last month, this month I’m thinking… cucurbits.” (Gesundheit). Cucurbits are plants in the family cucurbitaceae, or squashes, cucumbers and melons. Gloria ruled out […]

Categories: berries, Can Jam, canning, citrus, melon, preserves, preserving, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: berries, canning, cooking, dessert, food, local, preserving, recipes

Swazi Sauce

10 July 2010 by local kitchen

Like my fellow foodie bloggers, I was delighted to return from South Africa to an email in my in-box inviting me to review The Lost Art of Real Cooking: Rediscovering the Pleasures of Traditional Food One Recipe at a Time, by Ken Albala and Rosanna Nafziger (A Perigee Book, published by the Penguin Group). A full review will follow, but first, I felt that I couldn’t in good faith review a cookbook, even a memoir-type cookbook, without attempting at least some […]

Categories: chicken, grill, main course, sauces, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, grilling, local, recipes

Can Jam: Black Cherry, Rhubarb & Red Wine Preserves

24 June 2010 by local kitchen

You might think I’m stuck in a can-jammin’ rut: last month, strawberry, rhubarb & Amaretto sauce. This month, swap sweet black cherries for the strawberries, red wine for the Amaretto, and Bob’s your uncle, it’s practically the same recipe. Except it’s oh so not. When I think of preserves, this recipe is exactly what comes to mind: chunks of fruit, just barely broken down by a quick-as-you-can boil, suspended in a thick, syrupy glaze that is not stiff enough to […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, cherries, dessert, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, summer, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: canning, cooking, food, preserving, recipes

Orange Mousseline Buttercream

12 June 2010 by local kitchen

Because once you have filled your chocolate cake with Valencia Curd, you need something to frost it with – I give you Orange Mousseline Buttercream. Deliciously light and silky, flecked with orange zest and a gorgeous pale apricot color, this buttercream frosting is a show-stopper on any cake. Like many of Rose’s recipes, this particular frosting recipe is finicky: butter temperature is critical, the simple syrup must be added in just the right way, and the whole time you are holding […]

Categories: cake, citrus, dessert, eggs, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: baking, cake, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes

Chicken Braised in White Wine & Ramps

1 June 2010 by local kitchen

Three years later, this dish hasn’t changed: it’s still wonderful, and apparently still being made with chickens that needed using up yesterday. Luckily for us all, my photography has changed for the better. Yes, I know ramp season has officially passed us by, what with the overabundance of lush, leafy green that is dressing the Northeast woods right now. However, I still had an (albeit fairly limp) bunch of ramps in the fridge that were just begging to be used, […]

Categories: braising, chicken, leek, main course, spring, wild foods, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, main course, ramps, recipes, wild foods

Chicken Braised in Tomato & Garlic

22 May 2010 by local kitchen

I tried another recipe from The Pioneer Woman and another chicken recipe at that. The first, a cajun chicken pasta, I made a lot of changes to, and frankly, wasn’t overly thrilled by my version. This one, I made only a few minor changes and… I wasn’t overly thrilled. Sigh. It seemed so promising; chicken, browned in butter & olive oil then slowly braised in my home-canned heirloom tomatoes, a nice Pinot Noir, plenty of fresh, farmer’s market garlic, and […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, chicken, garlic, main course, tomatoes, wine, beer & liquor, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

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

Asparagus Risotto

25 April 2010 by local kitchen

It’s just barely asparagus season at home in New York, but down here in Asheville it is in full swing: I picked up a bunch of local asparagus at the West Village Market on Friday, then scored two more bunches at the Asheville City Market on Saturday. Can you tell I love the ‘sperge? There are a million lovely things to do with tender young asparagus, but, while at the West Village Market I also spied a ‘forest mix’ of […]

Categories: asparagus, main course, rice, spring, wild foods, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Boozy Baby Chocolate Cake

6 April 2010 by local kitchen

Because sometimes, summer is right around the corner, and you don’t want a whole cake sitting around the house for just the two of you. And because, the slices will be so virtuously small, you are perfectly justified in drowning them in booze. Happy Spring, everyone! Adapted from Whole Wheat Pastry Flour Chocolate Cake ————————————————————— Boozy Baby Chocolate Cake EQUIPMENT one 6-inch X 3-inch high cake pan (for the tall & small cake pictured here) OR one 8 or 9-inch cake pan (for a regular-sized […]

Categories: baking, cake, chocolate, dessert, eggs, spring, whole wheat flour, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, local, recipes