Tag: cooking

Strawberry Rhubarb & Caramelized Onion Jam

16 March 2010 by local kitchen

allium canning too many good recipes strawberry rhubarb it is It’s a poetry jam, man. Today’s haiku is brought to you by the letter “A.” A is for allium and I can’t seem to stop Can Jammin’ the magical allium family: shallots, garlic and Cippolini onions (oh my!). I know Spring is not quite here yet, despite the post-Flood sunshine and 60 degree temps today, and it is cruel of me to tease you with thoughts of strawberry & rhubarb when […]

Categories: berries, breakfast, canning, citrus, jams, preserving, rhubarb, spring, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes, rhubarb, strawberries

Tuscan White Bean Bruschetta

15 March 2010 by local kitchen

An easy way to use up leftover cooked beans, yet a delicious appetizer that tastes celebratory and rustic at the same time. A win-win! It’s been all flageolet beans, all the time, around here lately, but that’s what happens when you cook up a pound at once and then keep finding new ways to enjoy their deliciousness. This recipe is quite simple, uses basic pantry staples, and is a great way to use the tag ends of frozen kale or other leafy […]

Categories: appetizer, kale & leafy greens, quick & easy, spinach, spring, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Dark Days: Crunchy Baked Chicken Strips

15 March 2010 by local kitchen

A little spice, a little crunch. A few minutes to put together and you have a simple lunch or dinner that even the kids might like. This was a very haphazard recipe; I had been planning on making spicy chicken strips, chicken breast fingers essentially braised in a hot sauce until cooked through. They are quite delicious and handy to have on hand for sandwiches, salads and snacking. Yet I felt the need for something crunchy. So I changed plans, […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, chicken, Dark Days Local, main course, quick & easy, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Roasted Garlic & Walnut Tagliatelle

14 March 2010 by local kitchen

The flavor of this earthy peasant pasta dish is belied by the simplicity of its preparation: it is rich yet sutble, with a layering of fruity olive oil, sweet roasted garlic and just slightly bitter toasted walnuts, all blending to create a taste that is more than the sum of its parts. Homemade pasta and slow-roasted garlic make this a pleasant (and aromatic) lazy Sunday project; but if you have roasted garlic on hand, leftover, perhaps, from another recipe, and some good storebought pasta, this satisfying […]

Categories: appetizer, garlic, main course, nuts, pasta, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Can Jam: Roasted Garlic & Lemon Mustard

12 March 2010 by local kitchen

I’ve had to hold myself back for this month’s Can Jam; clearly, I’ve never met an allium I didn’t like. I mean, come on: onions, scallions, leeks, chives, garlic, scapes, ramps, shallots – the list goes on and on and they are all delicious. Did you know that there are hundreds of varieties of wild alliums, and that nearly all are edible? According to Wildman Steve Brill, “anything that smells like garlic or onion won’t kill you.” This isn’t my first allium canning […]

Categories: Can Jam, canning, garlic, mustard, preserving, wine, beer & liquor, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Flageolet Fritters

10 March 2010 by local kitchen

Eminently adaptable, thoroughly delicious, fried bean goodness. I don’t do much frying; it’s not the healthiest way to cook, and although I have none of the modern-day fatophobia, I think my love of all things bacon keeps me quite well supplied. Also, it’s the parsimonious Yankee in me: I hate waste, of any kind, and using a couple of cups of oil once, then simply throwing it away – well, let’s just say that I’ll generally try to find a […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, beans, cilantro, citrus, heirloom beans, parsley, vegetarian, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Pink Pickled Shallots

9 March 2010 by local kitchen

Easiest. Canning. Ever. Really people, it doesn’t get much simpler than this. Shallots, vinegar, water, honey. A couple of herbs, you know, just ’cause we can. (Ha! Get it? We can! Ah, I slay me.) Pack it all in a jar, process for 10 minutes, and hey! presto! you’re a canner. Cross that off your life list. The devoted Local Kitchen reader (all 7 of you) may furrow your gentle brow, wondering why I would pickle shallots, knowing that I loathe all […]

Categories: 100% local, canning, condiments, preserving, quick & easy, thyme, year round • Tags: canning, condiments, cooking, food, local, pickles, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, shallots

Dark Days: Preppy Spring Salad

8 March 2010 by local kitchen

Ah, pink & green, every Prepsters stock wardrobe must, especially in Spring. While my days of popped Izod collars and matching Tretorn-stripe tennis shoes are long gone, I can still show my love the for Pink & Green – locavore style. Three days in a row of 50-degree temps, not to mention lots of fresh Spring vegetables at the farmer’s market this Saturday, inspired a crunchy, fresh and altogether delightful pink & green salad. The pink: crisp & crunchy radishes, […]

Categories: appetizer, citrus, Dark Days Local, parsley, quick & easy, radish, salad, scallions, spinach, spring • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Chile Verde Carnitas

8 March 2010 by local kitchen

Sad to say, this recipe was pretty disappointing, so if you are looking for a great, authentic Mexican carnitas recipe, stop reading now. The recipe does have it’s benefits: it was easy, if lengthy, to prepare; it was not the cholesterol-and-fat-laden traditional carnitas preparartion; and, you did not have to go out and buy 3 pounds of lard. However… next time, I will probably buy 3 lbs of lard. I’ve never attempted carnitas before, and hadn’t really thought about it; […]

Categories: 100% local, cilantro, main course, pork, summer, tomatillos, year round • Tags: carnitas, cooking, food, local, Mexican, pork, recipes, summer

Flageolet Beans with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

5 March 2010 by local kitchen

Flageolet beans are quite wonderful. They’re small and a beautiful mix of white and pale green when dried. Cooked, they hold their shape and color well and smell amazingly wonderful while simmering away on the stove. They have a slightly spicy, very distinctive, very hard-to-describe aroma and taste, that somehow reminds me of Spring. I was lucky enough to receive some Rancho Gordo flageolet beans for Christmas from my friend Christina (the gift that keeps on giving!) and they were […]

Categories: beans, heirloom beans, main course, quick & easy, side dish, spring, tomatoes, vegetarian, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Cilantro & Mint-Infused Wheat Bread

2 March 2010 by local kitchen

This herb-infused wheat bread is lovely; soft, flavorful, excellent with dinner, as toast with butter, or on its own. I made two loaves yesterday, as part of the birthday dinner menu for our friend Alison. While it can be a bit of a challenge to knead (mostly because I am always too lazy to chop the pine nuts and they come popping out of the dough while kneading), it is an easy bread dough to make and a forgiving one […]

Categories: baking, breads, cilantro, grains & legumes, mint, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, bread, cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

Dark Days: Roasted Leek Confit Pizza

28 February 2010 by local kitchen

This roasted leek confit was quite fabulous and formed the basis of an impromptu Saturday-night pizza dinner with friends, big and small. Handily for me, most of the elements of the pizza were also local, making it a perfect spotlight meal for this week’s Dark Days Challenge. I highly recommend it after a day of sledding and building snowwomen in the yard! ————————————————————- Roasted Leek Confit Pizza INGREDIENTS 1 recipe Quick(er) Whole Grain Pizza dough olive oil about 1 oz hard […]

Categories: 100% local, basil, Dark Days Local, leek, main course, pizza, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, vegetarian

Locavirgin: Roasted Leek Confit

28 February 2010 by local kitchen

Roasted leeks: who knew they could be so awesome? In doing some advance research on allium recipes for the March Can Jam, I came across this recipe in The Glass Pantry for leeks, slow-roasted in olive oil. Simplicity itself: leeks, oil, salt, pepper. The roasting and the fat combine to extend the (already pretty impressive) storage time of the leeks, and the flavor? Outrageous. This is an easy way to work local foods into your diet even if finding […]

Categories: 100% local, appetizer, condiments, fall, leek, Locavirgin, roasting, spreads, spring, vegetarian, winter • Tags: confit, cooking, food, leeks, local, preserving, recipes, vegetarian

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

26 February 2010 by local kitchen

Buttermilk + butter + extra butter = one delicious biscuit. These are a snap to make and truly delicious – cripsy, golden on the outside and moist & fluffy on the inside. The recipe is based on the James Beard cream biscuits, but since I did not have any cream in the house, I used buttermilk and added back some fat with melted butter in the dough. So easy, so good. The one change I would make is to omit […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breakfast, quick & easy, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Cajun Chicken Pasta

25 February 2010 by local kitchen

While I read The Pioneer Woman’s blog regularly, and truly enjoy her writing and photography, I think this is the first time I have attempted one of her recipes. Well, let’s face it: she lives on a cattle ranch – I don’t eat beef. She cooks for Marlboro Man, her 4 kids, and various and sundry cowpokes, relatives, Ranch visitors, etc. – I cook for me and Tai. Last, but hardly least, there is nothing particularly seasonal about her cooking, […]

Categories: chicken, corn, garlic, hot chile peppers, main course, parsley, stir-fry, tomatoes, wine, beer & liquor, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, dinner, food, local, main course, recipes