Tag: local

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

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

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