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

Chicken & Wild Mushroom Pot Pie

4 February 2009 by local kitchen

As a kid, I loved chicken pot pie, rare for me as I was suspicious of any food that was “mixed together” and certainly anything in gravy. As an adult, I don’t like most chicken pot pies; the gravy often tastes of nothing so much as cream, flour and salt. This dish, however, is wonderfully savory, flavorful and satisfying. It is elegant enough for a fancy dinner party yet homey enough to serve to kids just home from an afternoon’s hard sledding. It elicits groans […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, fall, herbs, leek, parsley, pastry, stew, winter

Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

2 February 2009 by local kitchen

One of the nice things about being a locavore, or a mostly-locavore (mocavore?), like me, is that you did all sorts of prep work back at the harvest and now you get to reap the benefits. People tend to think that eating locally in the Northeast in winter is all about deprivation; this hearty pumpkin soup is anything but. I keep diced organic pumpkin, chopped local garlic and tablespoon-sized portions of tomato paste in the freezer; all I have to do is […]

Categories: 100% local, beans, chickpeas, fall, soup, vegetarian, winter, winter squash • Tags: cooking, fall, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, soup, vegetarian, winter

Whole Wheat Crackers

2 February 2009 by local kitchen

Somehow, I find, it’s always the simplest homemade foods that impress people the most: mustard, pasta, crackers. I’ve made these crackers many, many times over the years and people are always impressed: in fact, more than once I’ve heard, “It never occurred to me that you could make crackers!” But make crackers you can, and quite easily too. At their most basic, crackers are simply flour, water and a bit of fat, with a healthy dose of salt for flavor. […]

Categories: 100% local, snack, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

Local Salt!

30 January 2009 by local kitchen

Even my “100% local” meals are generally only 99.5% local as I refuse to cook without salt. And even though I live not far from the mighty Atlantic, and you would think that someone, somewhere in my general neighborhood would be producing Atlantic sea salt, I’ve been unable to find it. I bought some “Atlantic sea salt” only to find out that it was produced in Holland. I had heard of Maine Sea Salt Company, but at $10/lb plus shipping, it was a […]

Categories: 100% local

Rich Chicken Stock

30 January 2009 by local kitchen

I confess I often use canned chicken stock (well, “boxed” is more appropriate now, I guess) or bouillon-type base. Yes, I know, not very local of me (not to mention not very ‘chef-like’) but my efforts to eat lower on the food chain result in eating less meat in general and the need for soup stock definitely overwhelms the amount of stock bones that pile up in the freezer. Nevertheless, making your own stock is the way to go, whenever you […]

Categories: 100% local, chicken, soup, stock, year round

Pumpkin Walnut Bread

29 January 2009 by local kitchen

Sweet and savory, delicious and nutritious, a vegetable and a dessert: pumpkin bread is all things to all men. And women. And dogs, if they can get their paws on some. (Although I suspect cats would just bat it around for awhile before disdainfully leaving the room to find some furniture to ruin. But I digress). Pumpkin bread, like pumpkin itself, is a lovely thing. This one is nicely spiced, not too sweet, easy to make, and stores well. And? […]

Categories: baking, breads, breakfast, chocolate, dessert, fall, nuts, Use it or Lose it!, whole wheat flour, winter, winter squash • Tags: baking, cooking, fall, food, local, pumpkin, recipes, whole grain breads

Rose’s Deluxe Flaky Pie Crust

29 January 2009 by local kitchen

I cannot recommend enough The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. If you’ve never heard of Rose, you are either new to cooking, or simply are not a baker, because she is justifiably famous for her Cake Bible; the Pastry Bible and Christmas Cookie books are equally as wonderful. I’m sure the Bread Bible is as well, although I have yet to get my hands on a copy. Friends that I cook for often simply have to hear […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, dessert, pastry, pie, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, year round

Cranberry Habanero Mustard

28 January 2009 by local kitchen

Cranberries & habanero peppers: two of my favorite things. It’s so unfortunate that I really loathe mustard, because this condiment would be right up my alley: spicy, gingery, puckery, gorgeously pink-hued. Alas, the mustard and I, we just don’t get along. The husband, though, is a mustard-loving fool (hence the plethora of Evil Seed recipes herein), as are many other people: homemade mustard is a gift that never fails to impress, yet is simple & thrifty to make. As one […]

Categories: canning, condiments, cranberries, fall, hot chile peppers, mustard, preserving, year round • Tags: canning, chiles, condiments, cooking, cranberries, food, mustard, recipes

Local Cranberry Chutney

28 January 2009 by local kitchen

I love cranberries and I am always looking for new ways to preserve them for enjoyment all year round. This recipe is adapted from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and from Leda Meredith’s Basic Chutney recipe on Leda’s Urban Homestead. This chutney is spicy and flavorful; the habaneros deliver quite a kick that is balanced nicely with local honey. Serve on a sandwich with turkey & brie, put on a cheese platter with crackers or whole wheat focaccia, or make […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, chutneys, cranberries, fall, hot chile peppers, preserving • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Kaela’s Chicken Soup

28 January 2009 by local kitchen

Chicken soup is pure comfort food. Everyone has their favorite recipe and most have strong opinions; rice, pasta, or potatoes, peas or no peas, homemade stock or canned. I’ve made this recipe for years – the original was from a lovely little cookbook called For Goodness’ Sake by Terry Joyce Blonder (unfortunately, now out of print). My adaptation does change with the seasons and depending on what vegetables I have in the fridge. My fiance likes what he calls “chicken shtoup;” when […]

Categories: carrot, celery, chicken, herbs, main course, parsley, soup, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, soup