Tag: recipes

Leftover Love: Slow-Roasted Chipotle Beef

24 January 2014 by local kitchen

Next up in our week of Leftover Love, a meat component: a top round of beef, dry-rubbed with chipotle powder and an orange-rosemary salt, and slow-roasted on a bed of aromatic vegetables. When I pulled this top round steak out of the freezer in the morning to thaw, I had every intention of making beef tacos for dinner: I had cabbage, carrots and cilantro in the fridge, pickled chiles and salsa in the pantry, masa harina in the freezer, and […]

Categories: beef, roasting, winter • Tags: beef, cooking, food, leftovers, local, recipes

Leftover Love: Celeriac Soup

23 January 2014 by local kitchen

I will never in a 1,000,000 years understand the hate-on for leftovers. What could possibly be wrong with having delicious meals in the fridge that you don’t have to cook? How does this not make breakfast stress-free? Workday lunches more economical and nutritious? Busy weeknight dinners a breeze? Are we so entranced by the variety of options available to us in the modern age – Mexican on Tuesday, Thai on Wednesday, Italian on Thursday – that we find eating the same […]

Categories: celery, soup, vegetarian, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, soup, vegetarian

Candied Fennel Stalks + Fennel Frond Salt

17 January 2014 by local kitchen

I’ve been on a bit of a fennel kick lately: not that I would ever consider the dreaded “D” word, but it’s nice to have something crisp and fresh and sweet yet mildly grassy after the excesses of the holidays. Fennel is pretty amazing in that every part of the plant is edible: bulb, stalks, fronds, seeds and pollen; and while they all have that distinctive licorice-y flavor, each part of the plant tastes subtly different, and the overall flavor is […]

Categories: fennel, preserving, quick & easy, spring, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, preserving, quick & easy, recipes

Favorite Posts of 2013

2 January 2014 by local kitchen

Happy 2014! I know some of you are back at work today (and those of you in the Northeast are wondering if the year’s first #snowpocalypse will send you home early) while some of you may feel that vacation is just starting: no more parties, no more traveling, no more commitments, just you, the couch and a pile of movies to keep you company. So, whether you are bored at work, wishing you were home playing in the snow, or […]

Categories: holiday, year round • Tags: 2013, best of, cooking, food, local, recipes

Use It or Lose It! Finnish Jam Tarts

9 December 2013 by local kitchen

My great-grandfather emigrated from Finland. From which area of the country, I have no idea, since talking about our roots is not something that we really do in my family. Despite the fact that I remember him (although I thought, as a child of 3 or so, that he was my grandmother’s husband, not her father: there’s no difference between 60 and 80 years old when you are a kid, I guess), I know very little about him, save his […]

Categories: baking, dessert, holiday, Use it or Lose it!, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cookies, cooking, food, holiday, local, recipes

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

23 November 2013 by local kitchen

Have you heard the news? Nuts will save your life. Literally. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has analyzed nut consumption in nearly 175,000 health professionals over a span of 30 years. They found a 20% reduction in death from any cause in people who ate nuts every day. Twenty. percent. Let that sink in for a moment. Twenty percent lower incidence of heart disease. Of diabetes. Of cancer. Respiratory disease. Neurodegenerative disease. Stroke. Even infection. (How […]

Categories: appetizer, gifts, holiday, nuts, quick & easy, rosemary, snack, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, nibbles, nuts, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Roasted Fresh Ham with Red Currant Glaze

17 November 2013 by local kitchen

Did I mention that I’ve got a lot of pork? Yes, yes I do. And I’m trying to make some room in the very stuffed chest freezer for chicken stock, bell peppers, pumpkin purée; the last put-ups of the season, really, before the snow flies. One good way to clear out a chunk of freezer real estate is to cook a roast. “Fresh” ham is pork from the leg, but not cured or smoked (and hence not pink) like a […]

Categories: main course, pork, roasting, Use it or Lose it!, winter • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, pork, recipes

Adobo Pork Chops

10 November 2013 by local kitchen

This year I joined my first meat CSA: in the spring, I paid for a portion of a pastured, heritage breed pig from Millstone Farm in Wilton, CT. They raised up our pigs all summer, and in August (conveniently while I was still in California) Tai went to the farm and picked up lots and lots of pork. And by lots, I mean lots: shoulder and fresh ham and roast and cutlets and bacon and sausages galore. And, of course, […]

Categories: main course, pork, roasting, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, main course, pork, recipes

Use It or Lose It! Jam & Almond Crumb Bars

5 November 2013 by local kitchen

A few weeks ago, in the midst of birthday and anniversary celebrations, rock climbing, hiking and mountain biking excursions, and all around amazing-Fall-weather craziness, Tai & I went to a house party hosted by one of his colleagues and fellow rock climbing guides up in the Gunks. It was sort of a potluck, with friends requested to bring either a dessert or a side dish; Tai brags about my cooking to these guys all the time, so of course I […]

Categories: baking, breakfast, dessert, jams, nuts, snack, Use it or Lose it!, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, jam, local, quick & easy, recipes

Saffron & Meyer Lemon Roasted Chicken

23 October 2013 by local kitchen

I had every intention of sharing a different recipe with you this week: a jam & almond crumb bar that was a big hit at a party a few weeks ago, or a Thai green curry udon noodle dish that I keep meaning to make again. But some recipes are simply too good not to share right now: saffron & Meyer lemon roasted chicken is definitely on that list. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to roast […]

Categories: chicken, fall, main course, roasting, winter, year round • Tags: chicken, cooking, food, local, main course, recipes

Chuzos de Pollo

20 October 2013 by local kitchen

Most of the meals I had in Panama fell into one simple category: meat on a stick. While I can’t claim to be a big fan of Panamanian cuisine; it’s very meat & starch-centric, with lots of fried food and nary a vegetable in sight; I can say that when it comes to carne en palito, Panama knows its stuff. Incredibly tender and moist chunks of chicken or beef, marinated and flavorful and perfectly grilled over an open flame: it’s enough […]

Categories: chicken, citrus, grill, main course, parsley, year round • Tags: cooking, food, grilling, latin america, local, meat, recipes

Plum Jam with Preserved Lemon

6 October 2013 by local kitchen

Plums always remind me of my dad. He would eat them by bucketful in summer: if I think of him in summertime, I see a plum in his hand, one missing a great big Dad-sized bite. I sometimes wonder what he would think of this wacky preserving-canning creature I’ve become. He died many years ago, when I was just out of college and still finding my way in the world. I started cooking as a teenager, so I’m sure I […]

Categories: canning, fall, jams, plums, preserving, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Nectarine Meyer Lemon Butter

29 September 2013 by local kitchen

As promised, the nectarine Meyer lemon butter recipe. It’s a simple one: a nice pile of nectarines from the farmer’s market, a bit (a very little bit) of sugar, and two precious Meyer lemons, hoarded from my visit to Karen in August. This has become my preferred method for fruit butters: coarsely chop unpeeled fruit and soften at a low simmer until you can push it through a food mill; strain the juice from the pulp and reduce the juice […]

Categories: canning, citrus, fall, peaches, preserving, sauces, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, preserving, recipes

Minestrone

27 September 2013 by local kitchen

Well, the minestrones have it: so here you go! Minestrone: there are so many versions, so many seasonal options, that it should really just be called “soup.” Or, more accurately I suppose, “zuppe.” Because that’s the story: “minestrone” is basically a collective noun used to describe any number of thick soups based upon seasonal vegetables and some form of starch, be it beans, pasta, rice, or potato. Usually tomatoes and greens are involved, but there don’t seem to be any […]

Categories: 100% local, arugula, soup, tomatoes, year round • Tags: beans, cooking, food, greens, local, main course, recipes, soup

Plum Pie Filling

21 September 2013 by local kitchen

Pie filling: some of the easiest preserving you’ll do, and my go-to when I have a lot of fruit that I need to put up in a hurry. Pie fillings are great because you don’t have to achieve a gel, so there are no limits on how much (or little) sugar you can add, how long you cook it for, whether you want to toss in some booze or juice or a bit of fancy flavored vinegar. You can simply […]

Categories: canning, fall, plums, preserves, preserving, summer • Tags: canning, cooking, food, local, pie, preserving, recipes