Tag: quick & easy

Cranberry Orange Rhubarb Popsicles

7 June 2011 by local kitchen

The weather forecast is calling for back-to-back 95+ degree days here in New York: a perfect time to use up my leftover rhubarb pulp to make a frosty treat. With some frozen Cape Cod cranberries, a bit of orange juice and sugar for sweetener and a touch of tequila (because, why not?) to keep everything toothsomely delicious, I have to say that these are pretty darn good. I don’t have popsicle molds, nor Dixie cups, nor a craft-cabinet stocked with […]

Categories: citrus, cranberries, rhubarb, snack, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, snacks, summer

Fresh Chive Pasta

19 May 2011 by local kitchen

Rain. Rain, rain, rain. There’s been a lot of it. We are lucky in the Northeast not to be dealing with the floods that have ravaged the middle of the country, but still: rain. It gets you down when days and days go by with no sight of the sun and the incessant drip, drip, drip of rain off the eaves threatens to drive you ’round the twist. I firmly believe, however, that every cloud has its silver lining: the […]

Categories: 100% local, chives, eggs, main course, pasta, quick & easy, side dish, spring, vegetarian, whole wheat flour • Tags: chives, cooking, food, local, pasta, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, whole grains

Creamy Goat’s Milk Spaghetti with Wild Garlic Chives

28 April 2011 by local kitchen

Pasta is one of those things: quick & easy “fast food” for a weeknight dinner, a great base for showcasing your summer preserving efforts, but, unless it’s homemade, I rarely consider it spectacular. Tasty, filling, comforting, yes; but impressive enough to convince dinner guests of my kitchen prowess (she says, oh-so modestly)? Not so much. Until now. Add to my list of picky-eaterisms cream sauces, or heavy cream in general, unless it is whipped, baked or frozen. I’m not a fan of cream-based […]

Categories: chives, citrus, garlic, grains & legumes, herbs, main course, milk, pasta, quick & easy, side dish, spinach, spring, vegetarian, wine, beer & liquor • Tags: cooking, food, garlic chives, local, pasta, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, wild foods

Coconut Granola Bars

13 April 2011 by local kitchen

I’ve had this granola bar recipe sitting in my post queue for months now, waiting for me to get it right. Sadly, I’m still waiting. I’ve made it a few times, and tinkered quite a bit: thick bars, thin bars, more sugar, less sugar, different fats, different amounts of fruit & nuts. Don’t get me wrong, these are tasty: a lot less dry and sawdusty than your typical grocery store “health” bar, and a lot less sweet than the candy […]

Categories: breakfast, grains & legumes, nuts, oats, snack, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, granola, granola bars, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian, whole grain

Flourless Chocolate Chipotle Cake

2 April 2011 by local kitchen

Have you noticed a lot of non-local ingredients cropping up on the blog of late? Citrus jam, orange chicken, honey roasted nuts? While I don’t make it a goal to eat 100% from my local foodshed (in part because I believe it is harshly restrictive for no good reason, but mostly, I suspect, because I don’t like rules) I do try to limit the non-local ingredients to occasional luxuries rather than every day ingredients. They’ve been showing up more often of […]

Categories: baking, cake, chocolate, dessert, hot chile peppers, year round • Tags: chiles, chocolate, cooking, dessert, food, gluten free, quick & easy, recipes

Maple Honey Roasted Nuts

31 March 2011 by local kitchen

I made a great salad last night: Spring farmer’s market greens, scallions and fresh parsley, crisp Mutsu apple, feta, and these nuts, all dressed with a simple vinaigrette. It was like the promise of Spring, which is a long time coming this year: we had a brief foray into temps in the 50’s yesterday (yippee!) but snow is back in the forecast for tomorrow. Oi. Of course, I did not manage to take a picture of said great salad, nor the […]

Categories: nuts, snack, year round • Tags: cooking, food, nuts, quick & easy, recipes, snacks

Use It or Lose It! Apple Walnut Parmesan Crumble

1 March 2011 by local kitchen

Sometimes I am lazy. Often, especially in late winter it seems, I just can’t work up the motivation to put together a fancy dessert, or even to roll out a pie crust (I blame the lack of Vitamin D). But, even in winter, friends come to visit, or Tai works a week of 15-hour days back-to-back and I can’t just crack open a box of Entenmann’s and say “Here you go, kids!” It’s just not my style. But I can do the next […]

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

Easy Cranberry Sauce

20 February 2011 by local kitchen

I know, I know – Thanksgiving was months ago. But I don’t need a holiday to enjoy cranberry sauce slathered on a turkey sandwich, dolloped onto mashed potatoes, or glazed over a roasted chicken. I also don’t need a holiday to enjoy this cranberry walnut galette, which I brought to a party a couple of weeks ago. What I do need, apparently, is a way to keep track of what is in my own fridge. Specifically – cranberries. Thawing. Waiting to be used in […]

Categories: condiments, cranberries, holiday, preserving, sauces, wine, beer & liquor, winter • Tags: condiments, cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes, winter

Homemade Hand Cream

15 February 2011 by local kitchen

I am a crocodile. Well, not literally, obviously (opposable thumbs being a great boon to typing ability) but my skin is so dry, especially in winter, that it feels more true than not. Given that both of my grandmothers were Irish and one grandfather was Scottish, 75% of my DNA is used to a moist, mild climate. Not the description I would use for this buried-in-snow, always-below-freezing New York winter. Just before Christmas, I stumbled upon this recipe for homemade […]

Categories: home goods • Tags: body lotion, frugal, hand cream, homemade, quick & easy, recipes, thrifty

Use It or Lose It! Marmalade Chicken Fingers

11 February 2011 by local kitchen

Once you’ve had your fill of spicy marmalade on toast, whip up these easy marmalade chicken ‘fingers’ for a quick weeknight meal. Empty a jar, do a little victory dance, and enjoy a delicious dinner. Leftovers are fabulous in a cold chicken sandwich (or straight from the fridge, washed down with OJ from the carton. Not that I would ever condone such a thing. Put it on a plate, son: you’ll enjoy it more.) Inspired by this great article in […]

Categories: chicken, main course, quick & easy, roasting, Use it or Lose it!, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, preserves, quick & easy, recipes

Roasted Flageolet Beans & Vegetables with Preserved Lemon

8 February 2011 by local kitchen

Update: The original was good, but as I suspected, additional vegetables and preserved lemon take this dish over the top. Updated to detail the most recent version, this one with carrots, parsnips, leek + scallions, preserved lemon, dried mint and yes, more free spice mixes from Penzeys, this one Turkish Spice. Enjoy! ———————————————————– After the excess of “man-food” over Superbowl weekend (Why is it that men lay claim to meat & grease why women get salads & ‘light’ pasta? Food/gender […]

Categories: beans, citrus, garlic, heirloom beans, quick & easy, roasting, side dish, vegetarian, winter, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, flageolet, food, heirloom beans, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

The Other Football

5 February 2011 by local kitchen

Haven’t decided yet what you’re cooking for the Superbowl? Just in case the other 7,000 “big game” round-ups out there haven’t inspired, here are a few ideas from my kitchen. Enjoy the game tomorrow tonight – and since I have lots of friends from Pennsylvania (and not so many in Wisconsin) – Go Steelers although I live in New York, I was born & raised in Boston: Go Pats! ———————————————————– Finger Food Nachos (wow ’em with homemade Refried Beans and homemade Corn Tortilla chips!) Crispy Baked […]

Categories: appetizer, dessert, holiday, main course, winter • Tags: appetizers, chili, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, superbowl

Eggless Oatmeal Cookies

18 January 2011 by local kitchen

Hey, guess what? The weather is nasty. Well, it is winter after all, and it is the Northeast. Snow, sleet and freezing rain are to be expected, but a steady pummeling of “wintry mix” (that most cruel of winter weather euphemisms), temperatures hovering in the mid 20’s, and ice slicking the already-two-feet-worth of snow on the ground is reason enough to make me want to curl up on the couch with a mug of tea and a good book (or, in real life, a […]

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

Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats

4 January 2011 by local kitchen

You know how I’ve been organizing? Well, I had half a bag of these gigundo marshmallows leftover from Tai’s birthday weekend: seriously, these things were huge, too big for roasting over a fire, really, as the middle did not get melty even when you burned the crap out of the outside (my preferred marshmallow ‘technique’ – set ’em fire, blow ’em out, enjoy). And since my organizing fever tackled the Dread Food Cabinet (no, not “dreaded;” “dread” as in Dread Pirate Roberts), […]

Categories: dessert, non-local luxuries, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, dessert, food, quick & easy, recipes, rice krispie treats

Dark Days: Green Salad with Jam & Buttermilk Dressing

31 December 2010 by local kitchen

And to ring in the New Year – salad! OK, I know it’s not very exciting. But in the midst of a busy holiday season filled with cookies and pie, pizza and peppermint bark, chocolate cake balls and artichoke dip, cranberry nut bread and eggnog, mac & cheese and yet more pie, well, the thought of a crisp green salad gets my mouth watering. So when I saw some heads of cold-frame lettuce at the last farmer’s market before the holidays, […]

Categories: 100% local, Dark Days Local, main course, quick & easy, salad, winter • Tags: cooking, dark days, food, local, quick & easy, salad, vegetarian