February03
I’ve always said that I’m not a baker, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love Joy the Baker(Joy the Baker)
In the recipe, the dumplings are actually pepper and chive biscuits, which are placed over a savory mix of veggies and baked to golden brown. I’ve made a similar dish in the past at the recommendation of Smitten Kitten(Chicken Stew with Biscuits)
Let’s get on with it then. Biscuits first.
My store was out of chives. Last week, they were out of fennel. I’m getting frustrated wit
January24
Yeah, I know, I’m nuts. Not only did I make homemade mozzarella(Mozzarella post)
And you know what? It wasn’t at all hard, and it was damn delicious.
I’ve made this sauce several times (I have a few bags full of it in the freezer right now!), and I’m always amazed at the great flavor you can achieve with so few and such simple ingredients. Five ingredients. Note: Get the good tomatoes, even though they cost more. It’s worth it.
As the garlic melds with the tomato paste, th
January18
It will come as a surprise to no one that my Christmas wish list is usually populated mainly with kitchen and cooking items. Well, that and snarky T-shirts and Blu-ray discs. This beginner’s cheese-making kit (from cheesemaking.com(Cheesemaking.com)
A gallon of milk? I can do a gallon of milk, and since I had a free afternoon, why not try to make some of my own mozzarella? People do that all the time with free afternoons, right? Right.
The box contains everything you need oth
December06
Yep, still alive over here at Local Dish, but perhaps just not too inspired toward new culinary creations. In fact, I’ve been working more on kitchen adornments lately. Let me present our new, reversible place mats made with some fabric I picked up on a recent weekend road trip. Purdy.
I also have two matching oven mitts/pot holders, so the kitchen at least feels refreshed. The menu, not so much. As I said, no new creations. There have been some excellent old favorites on the table, ho
November10
This is for the bacon and pork belly(Pork Belly from Seoul Tofu Grill)
This is for the rum cake and the baklava — butternut squash and white beans.
And for, well, nothing but only because I really like them — leeks.
It’s true. My normal eating habits have been thrown for a loop because I’m eating out several nights a week. Poor baby. I know. I’m not complaining. Not really. Instead, I’m craving. I’m eating lots of delicious food cooked by other people — no dishes to wa
November08
I was recently handed off gifted a mystery squash by my gardening, visiting step-step-grandfather (I love modern American families I don’t know what was so scary about it.
OK, so maybe it’s a little oddly shaped. And mottled. And warty. But we all need love people, and the best way to love this squash was to chop it up and make:
Winter Squash Risotto(Winter Squash Risotto recipe)
You have to give a recipe credit for listing butternut, hubbard, red kuri or kabocha squash. So pretty
November03
I’ve been pretty quiet on Local Dish lately, and it’s not all because of the new dining critic job at The Gazette(https://twitter.com/cospringseats):https://twitter.com/cospringseats. It’s also not all because of my farm share’s dreaded end a few weeks ago, though that does put a damper on some of my cooking enthusiasm. Surprisingly (perhaps to you), it’s also a technological issue. You see, my laptop died — and along with it, my copy of PhotoShop.
Post straight-from-camera images? Me? Obv
October18
One of the HUGE challenges of cooking from a farm share is maybe not what people suppose. (I’m a member of the Javernick Farms(Javernick Farms)
Last week(Second-to-last veggies post)
Brainstorm: Why can’t I stuff them?
Conundrum: It’s too much work to prepare the tiny amount of filling needed for only three small peppers. Most recipes call for at least 4 peppers, and are assuming those peppers are much bigger than these farm-grown suckers.
Answer: Stuffed peppers sound good, so
October13
The produce season seems to fly by so fast, partially because it does. Colorado has a shorter growing season than other climates, after all. We picked up our first CSA share the first week of June(First share post)
Time also seems to fly when you’re having fun, and this year’s CSA share with Javernick Farms(http://www.javernickfamilyfarms.com/)
Yesterday, Oct. 12, was the last day of the Colorado Farm and Art Market(http://www.farmandartmarket.com/)
So what does the (second to last) of
October11
Soup of the day is a godsend when you’re traveling, or at least, such was definitely the case for me on our recent trip to Ireland. Breakfast (a huge breakfast) is usually included with accommodations, and so a light lunch of soup is usually enough to tide you over and give you more time for sight seeing. Soup of the day in Ireland? The majority of the time, the answer was veg. What combination of veg always varied, but root vegetables were common, and this Creamy Delicata Squash Soup(Deli
October06
So I’ve been light on the posting, I know, but I have been busy. Being away for vacation might have been excuse enough for a week of posts of previously photoed recipes. (I did rather enjoy celebrating curry, one of my favorite genres.) Now I can tell one of the other reasons I’ve been so tied up: I’ve been chosen as the new restaurant critic at The Gazette(Gazette introduction)
And yeah, I also was a little busy this weekend canning tomatoes. You know, just a few of them.
My CSA has
October03
So every year, I have one canning project. In the past, I’ve tackled various jams and jellies as well as cucumber pickles. Remember this post(Pickled beets post)
……
Writing it down, it doesn’t sound like it’s oh-so difficult, and I don’t want anyone out there to think that it is. Pickling is a simple process. Canning is a simple process. Both are very rewarding. But six hours on a Saturday of canning, including:
October02
*It’s been a heck of a busy week for me, so forgive me for ending the week of curry with a re-post from April 2009
You know, for such punch-packing flavorful food, Indian is not much fun to look at or photograph. It’s all brown and earth-toned. It’s redeeming grace is that it makes the kitchen smell fantastic, but as you can’t smell through a monitor, you’ll have to forgive the food its unphotogenic nature.
This Chicken Tikka Masala recipe is one I’ve made several times to much applause,
September28
I fell in love with Korma when I was in Phoenix. I was lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with a lot of great ethnic food nearby. (I don’t say within walking distance, because for most of the year, it’s not a good idea to walk anywhere in Phoenix.) There was an Ethiopian restaurant I adored, excellent tacos and, yes, yummy Indian food. Which leads me to the next Week of Curry recipe:
Chicken Korma(Chicken Korma recipe)
Korma (vegetarian or chicken) became my go-to choice. I just couldn
September26
Welcome back to the world, Kate. You know, The Real World, from which you have escaped for the last two weeks on vacation. What a magical and wonderful vacation it was. I spent a fortnight in Ireland, enjoying its lush landscapes, grazing sheep, vast history, friendly people and excellent food.
Travel always presents great culinary opportunities. I loved the endless cups of milky, sweet Irish Afternoon Tea and all the draught Guinness, of course. (It does taste different, meaning better, ove
August24
Not every piece of produce that I collect from our CSA can be put to a new, novel use. It’s tempting to attempt, I can say from experience, to look up a brand-new recipe for radishes, a certain type of beans, heirloom tomatoes or whatever fun thing you find at the market. I have found, however, that approach is not always best for a few reasons. No. 1, new recipes can often be bad recipes. Bombs, non-tasty — and your pretty beans or tomatoes are wasted. No. 2, this is the summer of simplicity
August18
I picked up my farm veggies yesterday, sliced them and ate them.
Seriously. It was that easy to make this quick Summer Vegetable Caprese(Summer Vegetable Caprese recipe)
I seeded and sliced a cucumber, then sliced sweet summer squash and (brilliantly fresh, amazingly fresh) tomatoes. I had some fresh mozzarella on hand leftover from a dish I made this weekend, so I thought I could make a version of caprese. Typically made with only tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, my dad introduced
August15
When I think about farmers-market or CSA produce, what usually comes to mind are veggies like choi, chard, turnips and carrots, perhaps greens of various types. Over time, however, the veggie that I often look forward to getting fresh and local the most is the simple potato. Ah, the glorious, simple potato.
Of course, there’s actually nothing that simple about them. The potatoes at the grocery store? Yeah, those are simple. There are about four different kinds. They’re all about the same
August12
Ah, more zucchini. Thanks, Javernick Farms(Javernick Family Farms)
Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts(Shaved Zucchini Salad recipe)
OK, so this wasn’t as bad as the first installment of my Misadventures in Zucchini(Misadventures in Zucchini, Part 1)
With this shaved zucchini salad, however, the recipe will be in the archives(http://www.localdish.net/recipes/shaved_zucchini_salad_with_parmesan_pine_nuts)
Yes, I’ll make it again because…
August09
Zucchini, and the abundance thereof, is kind of a joke in the food community. Well, in all communities where it’s grown and then left on doorsteps in the dark of night in an attempt to pass it off. (Tag, you’re it!) The same is true in the CSA community. We’ve received armfuls of zucchini each week for the past several weeks, and I am trying to figure out ways to use it.
This was one of them, and lest you think food bloggers are immune from culinary failure, it was a bomb.
*Zucchini Panca
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