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

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

Space Solutions: Under-Cabinet Knife Rack

9 November 2010 by local kitchen

I may have mentioned that I live in a little cottage in the woods: 1000 square feet (a 900-sf footprint and a tiny, 100-sf loft with 30-inch ceilings) and basically one big room. The bathroom is the only room in the house that has a door (for which I am eternally grateful), so packed into the other 800-or-so square feet are kitchen, dining room/office, living room, entry hall and bedroom. It’s a beautiful space and one that I love: the original […]

Categories: Space Solutions • Tags: cooking, food, kitchen, knife rack, knife storage, knives, storage solutions

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

Use it or Lose it! Roasted Turkey with Plum Preserves

4 November 2010 by local kitchen

Like many of my fellow canning bloggers, I’ve had a lot of requests for recipes that fall into the “What to do with all of that jam?!” category. For me, this is a bit of a conundrum, because I’m not really sure how I use it up: I don’t eat a whole lot of jam on toast (mostly preferring peanut butter); the obvious classics, like a jam tart or thumbprint cookies, aren’t things that I make often; and despite giving some of it away, […]

Categories: 100% local, fall, main course, plums, roasting, sage, turkey, Use it or Lose it!, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, fall, food, main course, plums, preserves, quick & easy, recipes, roasting, turkey, winter

How to Make Pumpkin Purée

2 November 2010 by local kitchen

Now that Halloween is behind us, there will be a lot of pumpkins at the markets going for a song. The best pumpkins for eating are the small, 3 – 4 pound sugar or pie pumpkins. While the large, dark orange Jack o’ lanterns do not make for great eating (they are bred for size and skin color more than juicy, delicious flesh), you can often find larger-than-pie-pumpkin pumpkins and winter squash that are delicious and very economical. I cracked open […]

Categories: 100% local, fall, preserving, techniques, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, how to, local, preserving, pumpkin, recipes, techniques

Pumpkin Potato Pancakes

31 October 2010 by local kitchen

Update: I’ve made these in the past with pumpkin purée, which works fine, but I prefer them this way, with grated pumpkin flesh. The recipe is quite adaptable, so I highly recommend frying a test pancake first and making adjustments to egg, flour, and/or seasonings as you go. Enjoy! ~October 2013 . . . . . A spooky, spicy pumpkin-and-potato pancake for your Halloween pleasure! OK, so there’s nothing spooky about these pancakes (unless you’re harvesting pumpkins from a nuclear test […]

Categories: appetizer, fall, parsley, potato, snack, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, food, local, pumpkin, recipes, vegetarian

Oven-Braised Barbecue Chicken

28 October 2010 by local kitchen

This was my lunch on Tuesday, such a glorious, warm, sunny day that I was compelled, despite a crazy-busy week and a looming analysis deadline, to enjoy it out on the back deck. Because basking in the sun, watching the leaves drift down, and reveling in sticky, messy, moist & delicious, finger-looking good barbecue chicken is soon going away, not to be seen again around these parts for many moons. If I were a Brit, I’d call this recipe “cheap […]

Categories: 100% local, braising, chicken, fall, meat & dairy, sauces, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Informal Poll: Name that Blog!

26 October 2010 by local kitchen

So, I need to upgrade the blog soon, because I am running out of disk storage space (can you believe it? It feels like yesterday she was just a wee babe… <sniff>) and I decided it made sense to register my own domain name at the same time; easier than all that .wordpress.com jazz. Naturally, because this is the way that my life goes, http://www.localkitchen.com is taken. Not that it’s a website or anything; someone just has the domain name, […]

Categories: 100% local, community

Preserving Apples

26 October 2010 by local kitchen

I know you all thought that October’s Can Jam would be apples, which, of course, would have been wonderful, since I still have 20 lbs in the garage awaiting preservation. Some were thrilled with my pick of chiles (although none more than I!) while others, not so much. As a consolation prize of sorts, I’ve done my own round-up of apple preserving recipes, tips & techniques (just in time for apple season to be over here in the Northeast. Don’t […]

Categories: apples, canning, drying, fall, fermenting, freezing, preserving • Tags: apples, canning, cooking, food, jam, jelly, local, preserves, preserving, recipes

Grape Jelly with Balsamic & Black Pepper

24 October 2010 by local kitchen

With the last of my 13-pound haul of Concord grapes from Maine I decided to attempt a jelly (even though jelly and I are not best friends). Since I’d already made a sweet-tart jam and a maply graple syrup, I decided to hit a savory note with this one; I went with the classic addition of balsamic vinegar and black pepper. As usual with my jelly attempts, I’m not so sure about this one. It did set, at least, but […]

Categories: canning, fall, grapes, jellies, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Can Jam: Apple Jalapeno Preserves

21 October 2010 by local kitchen

You didn’t think I could stop at just one, did you? The current experiment in chile-lovin’ jams is a Ferber-style apple preserve with a healthy kick from spicy red jalapenos. As usual, I had to augment the liquid in order to compensate for the fact that I use much less sugar than a typical Ferber recipe; also I did not cook this one to the gel stage as I wanted a loose preserve, with a beautifully spicy syrup, suitable for pouring over […]

Categories: apples, Can Jam, canning, fall, hot chile peppers, preserves, preserving • Tags: apples, canning, cooking, food, jam, local, preserving, recipes

Gifts: New Baby

20 October 2010 by local kitchen

I give a lot of gifts. It’s hard to say that without sounding “Yay, me!” but, honestly, I enjoy it; I’m one of those people who never shows up at your house without something in hand, who (usually) remembers birthdays & anniversarys, and who lives for Christmas. Before my canning days (when I also had a steady income) my gifts were more traditional: wine, truffles or dessert as a hostess gift; adorable baby clothes for a new baby or a shower; […]

Categories: community, gifts, tools & gear • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local

Can Jam: Charred Chile Barbecue Sauce

18 October 2010 by local kitchen

October’s Can Jam is chiles! I’m so excited to see the fabulous recipes that y’all come up with. I know you’re expecting some wacky jam or a crazy-too-hot salsa, but for this one, I tested out a new recipe, from my brand spankin’ new copy of Put ’em Up! (a birthday gift from my sweet hubs). I snagged some of the last fresh tomatoes of the season, from Madura Farms at my local farmer’s market, and had a pile of fresh chiles from […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, condiments, hot chile peppers, preserving, sauces, summer, tomatoes • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, tomatoes

Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble

16 October 2010 by local kitchen

I know, I know: Local, Seasonal Girl makes out-of-season dessert! Film at 11. Actually, I’ve made this dessert several times since Heidi posted the original recipe back in May, but somehow, I never posted the recipe. Either we were starving and dived right in, or the light was gone, or we had friends over and I didn’t feel like embarrassing myself making them wait while I took 32 pictures of a fruit crumble for the blog. Whatever it was, I finally […]

Categories: 100% local

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