Tag: cooking

Chickpea & Spring Green Salad with Lemony Vinaigrette

15 April 2010 by local kitchen

Just the thing for Tax Day: a low-stress, quick & easy, protein, fiber and vitamin-packed, cheap one dish meal. Oh, yes, and it’s delicious too! I threw this quick & easy salad together the other night, thinking I was making enough for lunch leftovers, but it was so delicious that Tai & I polished off seconds and the whole bowl disappeared in no time. Even though I’ve been doing quite well on my resolution to use dried beans, I used canned […]

Categories: beans, chickpeas, citrus, quick & easy, radish, salad, spinach, spring, vegetarian, wild foods • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, quick & easy, recipes, salad, spinach, vegetarian, wild foods

Forsythia Syrup

13 April 2010 by local kitchen

When I was young, we had a huge lilac bush in the backyard, and nothing said “springtime” to me more than the heady scent of lilac drifting into newly opened windows. Here in the Hudson Valley, “spring” is all about forsythia, the yellow flowering shrub that seems to burst into color overnight, and nearly as quickly, loses its blooms and sprouts the first pale green leaves of the season. While researching recipes for this month’s Can Jam, the focus ingredient for […]

Categories: preserving, spring, wild foods • Tags: cooking, flower syrups, food, forsythia, local, preserving, recipes, wild foods

Sunday Spring Cleaning: Sweet & Soy Asian Grilled Chicken

11 April 2010 by local kitchen

Suppose you made some jam. And suppose that jam was way, way too sweet for you. But, it took three days to make, and used the Last Fall Pumpkin, and you’re a Yankee, so, you can’t just get rid of it. You can give some away; but since the jam is way (way) too sweet for you, and the people who like your jams mostly like the ones that you usually make (which are way, way less sweet), well… the […]

Categories: chicken, grill, sauces, summer • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Ramps!

8 April 2010 by local kitchen

You know it’s April in the Hudson Valley when you see ramps pop up, in the farmer’s market or in the woods. Ramps are wild leeks, an allium related to onions, shallots, garlic, and of course, leeks, and they create quite a sensation each spring when the broad, waxy green leaves start popping up in the woods. With good reason: although some think we should just shut up about ramps, there is a reason that foodniks go a little mad […]

Categories: 100% local, foraging, leek, preserving, spring, wild foods • Tags: cooking, food, foraging, local, preserving, ramps, recipes, spring, wild foods

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

Gingery Almond Biscotti

2 April 2010 by local kitchen

I made a batch of these the other day, to send off as gifts: one as part of a belated birthday present, and another as a thank-you present to our wonderful friend Stan, who does our taxes. Of course, along the way there were several that were ‘mishapen’ or ‘too short’ or ‘too ugly’ to go in the gift packs (yet clearly not too short, ugly or mishapen to be eaten). Now I wish I had made a double batch. […]

Categories: baking, breakfast, chocolate, citrus, dessert, nuts, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes

Dark Days: Christmas Limas with Caramelized Onions & Bacon

30 March 2010 by local kitchen

Something a little special for the last Dark Days Challenge of the season: local heirloom lima beans! “Local” because I smuggled them home in my luggage after my trip to San Francisco last spring. “Dark” because it’s been raining for three days straight and the sun is a distant, fond memory. “Challenge” because, well – they’re lima beans. Let’s face it, the lima bean gets no love. I’m not even sure why. I can’t remember a single time that I even tried a […]

Categories: beans, Dark Days Local, heirloom beans, main course, parsley, pork, side dish, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Chicken & Orzo Stew

29 March 2010 by local kitchen

As noted below, the original version of this recipe is what I call “restaurant fussy:” wherein almost every ingredient is cooked separately (using several pots & pans), then combined at the end. My tweaks made it not only easier to prepare, but tastier to boot: the orzo cooks in the chicken-wine broth, the chicken soaks up flavor from herbs & greens, the apple is added at the end for maximum crispness, and the whole thing comes together in a single […]

Categories: apples, chicken, herbs, kale & leafy greens, main course, pasta, spring, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, greens, kale, local, quick & easy, recipes

Food Revolution

27 March 2010 by local kitchen

I’ve just watched the first two episodes of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Hulu. I have to say I’m surprised by how moving it was: shocking, inspiring, emotional. I’m a bit blown away. Not to say that it is not a great idea – surely this country is sorely in need of a food revolution and what better place to start than with the next generation? I guess I am generally a bit suspicious of celebrity chefs, especially ones with […]

Categories: community • Tags: cooking, food, food activism

Christine Ferber’s Pumpkin Jam with Vanilla Bean

24 March 2010 by local kitchen

Sigh. I tried – I really tried. Following this conversation on Tigress’ blog, regarding my disappointment in the recent purchase of Mes Confitures, Christine Ferber’s famous jam & jelly cookbook, I decided that, in order to give the cookbook a fair shake, I would attempt one of the recipes, as is, without any tweaking from me (you have no idea how hard this is for me). Since I had lots & lots of pumpkin to use up, I decided to try […]

Categories: canning, citrus, fall, jams, preserving, winter, winter squash • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, local, recipes

Dark Days: Better late than never

23 March 2010 by local kitchen

It would seem that one of the hardest challeges of the Dark Days Challenge, for me, is actually getting my post up on time. It’s not that we are not eating locally; we are. In fact, it’s pretty hard not to eat locally when local food constitutes >90% of what you buy. It’s just that, as the days grow longer, paradoxically there seems to be more stuff to cram into them, and the week flies by until, ooops! it’s Tuesday […]

Categories: 100% local, Dark Days Local • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes

Pumpkin Cascabel Marmalade

22 March 2010 by local kitchen

Can you believe that I still have a pumpkin from last Fall? Well, had a pumpkin, I should say. The vernal equinox, not to mention the 70+ temps this weekend, convinced me that it was finally time to say goodbye to the Last Fall Pumpkin, which has been gracing our countertop, courtesy of Fishkill Farm, since late October. So in celebration of the first day of Spring, I took my biggest knife to this 14 lb sucker and hacked it’s […]

Categories: canning, citrus, condiments, fall, jams, preserving, winter, winter squash • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

The Myth of The “Perfect” Omelet

21 March 2010 by local kitchen

The omelet is one of those recipes: devastatingly simple, yet fraught with mystique and angst. There are hundreds of treatises out there, in various cookbooks and on the Web, discoursing on the One True Secret to the Perfect French Omelet. The advice is never-ending and largely contradictory: a large pan, a small pan, high heat, low heat (or broiler heat), cover, don’t cover, whisk eggs “barely” or for 80 strokes, whip in the pan with a fork, with chopstick, with […]

Categories: 100% local, breakfast, cheese, eggs, herbs, Locavirgin, quick & easy, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Heidi’s Peanut Butter Cookies

19 March 2010 by local kitchen

Quick & easy yet delicious and healthy peanut butter cookies. Twenty minutes from bowl to stomach – so you can get back outside and enjoy this amazing Spring weather! Happy weekend, everyone. Adapted from Peanut Butter Cookies by Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks ————————————————————– Heidi’s Peanut Butter Cookies INGREDIENTS 1 cup (4.5 oz) whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 3/8 tsp salt 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed 3/4 tsp vanilla 2 […]

Categories: baking, dessert, quick & easy, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

HVP products recalled due to salmonella

18 March 2010 by local kitchen

HVP is hydrolyzed vegetable protein and is used in numerous processed foods as a flavor and texture enhancer. Manufactuer Basic Food Flavors has recalled lots of HVP due to salmonella contamination; over 10,000 products are suspected to be impacted, including snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc.), soup base and mix, fresh and powdered dips, salad dressings, marinades and seasonings (including bouillon), and some frozen foods (taquitos and quesadillas). Check the FDA’s recall page here. Check HVP product list here or here or search […]

Categories: community • Tags: cooking, food