| Local cooking and eating in New York's Hudson Valley.

Mini Linguiça Drop Muffins

27 January 2012 by local kitchen

We interrupt this citrus-filled January for a horse of a different color: mini linguiça drop muffins! I had a dream about these muffins last night: spicy, smoky linguiça, sharp cheddar cheese, tangy buttermilk, nutty whole wheat flour. I woke up with my stomach growling, a woman on a mission to recreate my dream. (On a side note, when I’m actually dreaming about processed pork products, I think it’s safe to say I might have overdosed, just a wee bit, on citrus. […]

Categories: appetizer, baking, breads, breakfast, cheese, holiday, oregano, pork, sausage, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, linguica, local, quick & easy, recipes, whole grain breads, winter

What To Do With Citrus Peel

23 January 2012 by local kitchen

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been building up quite a supply of grapefruit peels of late. Though I will buy lemons and limes throughout the year, for use in jams & preserves, savory dishes and cocktails, I wait for citrus season to roll around each winter to buy citrus for eating and preserving: grapefruits, oranges, exotic varieties. Typically, if I am using a lemon or a lime in a recipe, I’ll use both the zest and flesh or juice; […]

Categories: canning, citrus, drying, freezing, preserving, winter • Tags: canning, citrus, cooking, food, preserving, recipes, winter

Vin de Pamplemousse

20 January 2012 by local kitchen

Pamplemousse: on my list of the top 10 best words in any language (along with codswallop, yoboseyo and schnell!). Pamplemousse is “grapefruit” in French; sounds so much more exotic doesn’t it? (And incidentally, how did we ever end up with “grapefruit” in English? I mean, it is pomelo in Spanish, pompelmo in Italian, citrus paradisi in Latin. It doesn’t look or taste anything like a grape. But I guess it is better than “shattuck.”) But, enough etymology for today: let’s […]

Categories: citrus, wine, beer & liquor, winter • Tags: citrus, cooking, food, preserving, recipes, wine

Grapefruit Guajillo Marmalade

17 January 2012 by local kitchen

Once again, citrus season is upon us, and once again, I ordered a box of delicious Rio Red grapefruit from G & S Groves in McAllen, Texas. While I’ve been happily munching through some of my 12 pounds of pink-yellow-and-red glory, I had to save some for a batch (or two) of marmalade, lest my marm-lovin’ hubs revolt. Although the flavor of last year’s vanilla bean version was lovely, the set left much to be desired, and this year, I just […]

Categories: canning, citrus, hot chile peppers, preserving, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, grapefruit, local, marmalade, preserving, recipes

Potato Leek Gratin

14 January 2012 by local kitchen

My girlfriend Christina grew up in Schoharie County, NY: home of Howe Caverns, tragic flood damage, and the Fabulous Beekman Boys. While she was home for the holidays, she picked me up the Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook for Christmas. It’s chock full of seasonal recipes, using homegrown and local ingredients, handed down through the generations and adapted by the Beekman Boys, all on a farm only a couple of hours from here. Be still my local-girl heart. Coincidentally, I had recently read the […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, fall, leek, milk, potato, side dish, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, leeks, local, potatoes, recipes, vegetarian, winter

100% Local: Brazilian Feijoada

7 January 2012 by local kitchen

I am an ornery cuss. Not only do I give you a hearty, wintry, braise-all-day-long meat & bean stew on a 60-degree Saturday in January, but I got dozens of great black bean ideas from you folks following my call for inspiration on the Facebook page, yet I ignored them all to try feijoada. Like I said: ornery. (Which must always be pronounced “orn-ree” for maximum authenticity.) Feijoada is a traditional meat and bean stew: according to Hank Shaw, black beans […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, main course, pork, sausage, stew, winter, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, main course, pork, recipes, stew

My Favorite Posts of 2011

4 January 2012 by local kitchen

Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is treating you right so far. I should be taking down the Christmas tree and packing away all the holiday decorations for another year, but instead I’ve been fighting off a cold and working, working, working: crunching data, analyzing stats, writing up conclusions. Busy, busy, busy! I got some fun, kitchen-related Christmas gifts that I can’t wait to share with you, including a potato leek gratin recipe from a new Christmas-gift cookbook, as well […]

Categories: community • Tags: best of 2011, cooking, local, recipes

Your Favorite Posts of 2011

28 December 2011 by local kitchen

Ah, the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Designed for sleeping late, playing with new toys, eating leftovers, watching bad TV, and the occasional day at a nearly empty workplace. And, lest we forget: top ten lists. Books, movies, music, photographs, ‘fascinating’ people (Really, Barbara? Really?) but also science blog posts, weird life-forms and of course, the top ten weirdest top ten lists. Apparently, there is nothing that makes our hearts go pitter-pat at this festive time of year more than a nicely […]

Categories: community • Tags: best of 2011, cooking, food, local, recipes, round-up, year end

Mom’s Lemon Pound Cake

23 December 2011 by local kitchen

As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t learn to cook at my mother’s knee: my Mom, in fact, doesn’t really like to cook. It’s just not her thing; raising three children that were extremely picky eaters might have had something to do with that (there’s only so much excitement to be garnered from Shake ‘n Bake chicken legs and frozen corn niblets, after all). But what she may have lacked in the exciting-dinner department, she more than made up for in […]

Categories: baking, cake, citrus, dessert, holiday • Tags: baking, cake, cooking, dessert, food, holidays, local, quick & easy, recipes

Filbertines

15 December 2011 by local kitchen

Do you remember the Buck Pets? You might if you, like me, spent most of the late ’80’s and early ’90’s in tiny, beer-soaked music halls, clad in combat boots and excessive amounts of safety pins (including 7 in your left ear: never doubt that I am an overachiever in all walks of life), reveling in what was arguably some of the best music of the last two decades. What does this have to do with cookies, you ask? Well, not […]

Categories: baking, dessert, gifts, holiday, snack, year round • Tags: baking, cookies, cooking, food, holiday, local, recipes

Holiday Party Food

12 December 2011 by local kitchen

Happy December, all! It’s been awfully quiet around here of late: since I started the blog nearly three years ago, I don’t think I’ve ever gone for two weeks without posting. But a bum ankle is keeping me out of the kitchen and a string of lackluster recipe attempts (good, but not great, slow-roasted spareribs; not-quite-fluffy-enough cornmeal biscuits; baby-food-esque carrot soup) have not inspired me to share. It is also, of course, the Craziest Happiest Time of The Year, and I’ve […]

Categories: holiday, winter • Tags: cooking, food, holiday, local, party, recipes

Chicken Pot Pasties

27 November 2011 by local kitchen

We visited family in Maine for Thanksgiving and while I was happy to leave the task of roasting a 30-lb turkey to Tai’s Aunt Sue, I’m sort of bummed that I don’t have mountains of turkey leftovers to work my way through. Because this recipe was fantastic with cooked chicken but I’m sure would be equally wonderful with turkey: and with leftover Thanksgiving turkey gravy, some roasted carrots, creamed onions, maybe slivered green beans, you could create the entire filling from […]

Categories: 100% local, carrot, celery, cheese, chicken, fall, main course, pastry, pie, snack, thyme, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, food, hand pies, local, lunch, pasties, pastry, recipes, turkey

The Ones That Got Away

24 November 2011 by local kitchen

Happy Thanksgiving!

Categories: 100% local, holiday • Tags: local, thanksgiving

Use It or Lose It! Cranberry Marmalade Sauce

24 November 2011 by local kitchen

For a truly last-minute cranberry sauce: bag o’ cranberries + jar o’ marmalade + 20-minute simmer = Thanksgiving cranberry perfection! If you have a jar of marmalade that set like a rock (like mine of last year), check out my recipe below. If yours came out a bit loose, check out Shae’s version, a cranberry-marm-apple relish. Either way, you can’t go wrong; cranberries are always good. Enjoy the day, everyone! ———————————————————– Cranberry Marmalade Sauce INGREDIENTS 2 cups cranberries, fresh or […]

Categories: cranberries, fall, holiday, preserving, sauces, Use it or Lose it!, winter • Tags: berries, condiments, cooking, cranberries, fall, food, holiday, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, thanksgiving

Cranapple Chutney

22 November 2011 by local kitchen

I still have to tell you about the super-quick-and-tasty cranberry marmalade sauce I made last week, but first: cranapple chutney. Oh so good. Easy. Quick, as chutneys go, with all that pectin from apples & cranberries setting up the preserve in no time. Nicely spicy but not killer hot. Tangy, oniony, gingery: hits every note. Tai ate nearly an entire jar for dinner last night, with a bag of tortilla chips. That good. Toss all the ingredients together, simmer for […]

Categories: apples, canning, chutneys, condiments, cranberries, fall, preserving, winter, year round • Tags: berries, canning, condiments, cooking, fall, food, holiday, local, preserving, recipes, thanksgiving, winter