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

Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder with Caramelized Onion Sauce

28 February 2009 by local kitchen

It’s not hard to get good flavor from a heritage pork shoulder, nicely browned on the outside then braised for hours in a low oven, until the meat is moist, juicy and falling-apart tender. Add some fresh-pressed apple cider to the mix, and a healthy dose of caramelized onion, and you’ve got a sweet-savory mix that is out of this world. This is one of Tai’s favorite dishes and the relative ease of preparation belies the moans & groans of […]

Categories: 100% local, apples, braising, pork, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, dinner, fall, food, local, main course, pork, recipes, winter

Curried Apple Chutney

27 February 2009 by local kitchen

Great on pork chops or pot roast, excellent with goat cheese on crackers, and a nice surprise on a turkey sandwich, this spicy, complex chutney is the first thing to disappear at parties. It even makes unique and flavorful mini-tarts, and when served with real vanilla ice cream, is an unforgettable dessert. I find endless uses for this chutney so I make several batches each Fall. Make up a batch or two now, while apples are still at the farmer’s markets, […]

Categories: apples, canning, chutneys, fall, preserving, vegetarian, winter • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, recipes

12-Grain Pizza Dough

24 February 2009 by local kitchen

Several times now friends have told me that this is the “best pizza crust ever.” Such superlatives have decreasing meaning in our superlative-rich culture, when “best laxative ever” can be tossed off without batting an eye, yet, for any cook who enjoys giving pleasure through the food that he or she prepares, they are wonderful words indeed. This dough is suitable for a thick or a thin crust pizza; either way it is chewy, with great crunch from the multi-grains […]

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

Applesauce

20 February 2009 by local kitchen

10 April 2013: Below is my classic applesauce recipe, the one that I put up specifically for chunky, cinnamon-rich applesauce. When I am feeling lazy, or have a basket of tiny & misshapen wild apples that resist peeling, I will often simply halve the apples, simmer, then run through a food mill and cook down to a saucy consistency. Also, over the course of the preserving season, I often find that I need the pectin boost of fresh apple juice […]

Categories: 100% local, apples, canning, fall, preserving, sauces, vegetarian, winter • Tags: apples, canning, cooking, fall, food, local, preserving, recipes

Cheddar Scallion Scones

19 February 2009 by local kitchen

These cheddar scallion scones serve as my basic savory scone recipe and I’ve made dozens of different versions over the years. I’ve since come to believe that the scones turn out even better with just a little butter in the dough (duh) and so have updated the recipe below to include a small amount (2 tbsp) of butter. I still call these my “cheater” scones, as I don’t work the butter into the flour, just toss in small chunks and let them […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breads, cheese, quick & easy, scallions, vegetarian, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, spring, vegetarian, whole grain breads

Red Chile Chicken & Cilantro Pesto Salad

18 February 2009 by local kitchen

I love when I can pull a bunch of stuff out of the pantry or the freezer and whip up a healthy, delicious meal in under 30 minutes. Of course, when that happens, usually some form of preparation has happened along the way; you can either buy prepared foods, thereby allowing a multi-national corporation into your kitchen, or you can do it yourself and know where your food came from, how it was prepared, and how it tasted at the peak […]

Categories: chicken, cilantro, hot chile peppers, main course, side dish, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Cilantro Pesto

18 February 2009 by local kitchen

Make this in late summer when cilantro is bursting out of the garden, and freeze in ice cube trays for serving-sized portions to use all winter long. Recipe adapted from Cilantro Pesto in The New Basics, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. ————————————————————- Cilantro Pesto INGREDIENTS 2 cups cilantro leaves, washed & spun dry 6 cloves garlic 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper METHODS Place the cilantro, garlic […]

Categories: cilantro, fall, preserving, sauces, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Dried Red Chile Sauce

18 February 2009 by local kitchen

As the end of February creeps closer, I’ve been poking through the pantry and the freezer thinking of ways to use up my winter stores: before we know it, the tender shoots of Spring will be appearing in the fields, yards, and farmer’s markets near me, and the dried & frozen fruits and vegetables that have been so wonderful all winter long will lose their appeal. I collect dried chiles like other people collect Fiestaware: for a chile-head like me, a new or intriguing variety is nearly […]

Categories: hot chile peppers, sauces, Use it or Lose it!, vegetarian, year round • Tags: condiments, cooking, food, local, Mexican, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Spicy Oven Fries

16 February 2009 by local kitchen

These smell so good when they are cooking, it actually hurts. Hurts so good. Adapted loosely from a recipe in Greatest Ever Potato, Papplewick Press, Nottingham, UK. ————————————————————– Spicy Oven Fries INGREDIENTS 2 lb mixed potatoes (purple, red, gold, Russet, sweet – whatever is on hand) 3 tbsp (1.5 oz) butter, melted, or olive oil, or local sunflower oil 1 tsp chile powder (ground from home-dried red chiles from Madura Farm) 1 and 1/2 tsp sea salt METHODS Scrub potatoes well […]

Categories: 100% local, fall, hot chile peppers, potato, side dish, snack, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, fries, local, potato, recipes, snacks

Chorizo & Heirloom Bean Soup

16 February 2009 by local kitchen

A spicy, hearty, sausage-stuffed soup, the beans almost hide in this one, making it a good option for people who aren’t quite sure that they like legumes. Yet, while spicy chorizo sausage flavors this soup, it’s also packed full of vegetables, good homemade stock and heirloom beans, stretching a single pound of meat to easily feed 10 people. The recipe below makes a big pot of soup, so it’s handy that the soup freezes well, because this is just the […]

Categories: 100% local, Asian greens, beans, heirloom beans, main course, pork, sausage, soup, tomatoes, winter • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, pork, recipes, soup, winter

Beanpot

15 February 2009 by local kitchen

Update, February 2013: It’s fun to go back in time and read some of these early posts on the blog. While I can think back to the time when I didn’t cook with dried beans, I had forgotten that I didn’t “cook with beans all that often.” It seems crazy to me now, when rarely a week goes by without a pot of beans simmering away on my stove, but I think that’s the beauty of learning to cook with […]

Categories: beans, heirloom beans, winter, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, techniques

Canning in a Boiling Water Bath

15 February 2009 by local kitchen

Almost every local eater in the Northeast is going to want to ‘preserve the harvest;’ pack away the bounty of the growing season at it’s peak of freshness and flavor, and store it against the coming winter. Even if you are lucky enough to have a convenient winter farmer’s market near you, homemade preserves break up the monotony of a winter diet and it’s also the most economical way to eat – strawberries, blueberries & tomatoes might be $2/pound in peak season, […]

Categories: canning, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local

234

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

14 February 2009 by local kitchen

Have you ever made gnocchi from scratch? Chances are, if you have, your first attempt was less than stellar: dense, miniature hockey pucks of gummy dough rather than light, airy pillows of flavor, beautifully grooved and dimpled to catch your favorite sauce. Gnocchi are not difficult, any more than homemade bread or scones are difficult, but it does take a bit of practice, as well as a bit of confidence in the kitchen, to get it right. Maybe that’s why […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, herbs, pasta, spinach, spring, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, Italian, local, pasta, recipes, whole grain flour

Whole Milk Ricotta

9 February 2009 by local kitchen

Ricotta cheese is typically made from the whey that is leftover from making ewe’s milk cheese. This whole milk version is similar in technique, yet you can make it from milk that you pick up at the market (or farm) and it has a much higher yield than whey ricotta. Homemade ricotta is ridiculously easy to make, tastes delicious, and you control the texture; rich & creamy or drier with a more intense cheese flavor. The ingredients are exactly as […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, meat & dairy, milk, preserving, quick & easy, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Cranberry-Orange Scones

6 February 2009 by local kitchen

It’s that time of year again: the dreaded Valentine’s Day looms, like a visit to the DMV or a root canal, just around the corner. It was quite ingenious, I will admit, to invent a holiday that irritates everyone: single, married, or dating, there is just no getting away from V-day. So, what’s a girl to do? I don’t really know, other than avoiding going out to dinner (it’s got to be the worst night of the year for a restaurant […]

Categories: baking, breads, breakfast, citrus, cranberries, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, berries, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, whole grain breads, winter