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It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption. — Edward Bunyard

Posted on June 7th, 2010

Grilled Cheddar with Broccoli Rabe

This simple sandwich bites back, with its 3 get-up-and-go regional ingredients — aged cheddar, broccoli rabe and whole grain bread.

The cheddar came from my trip, mentioned in last week’s post, to the Grafton Village Cheese Factory.  I picked up the broccoli rabe at the Great Barrington Farmers Market, cooked it with pasta, [...]

Posted on May 12th, 2010

Spinach Salad Wrap with Shiitake Mushrooms

Joy. Our local farmers market finally opened last Saturday in the old train station in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. My first market lunch?  A classic spinach salad with a twist — roasted bacon, onions and shiitakes with a curry dressing in a wrap. The recipe’s from my  book, Wrap it Up. Makes 4 wraps.

Note: [...]

Posted on April 8th, 2010

Indian Pudding

Sweet, slow cooked and back-to-the-womb satisfying, Indian Pudding is a New England classic. This version is adapted from an old James Beard recipe, using maple syrup instead of molasses along with local milk and freshly ground local flint corn. I used dried corn kernels from my Pioneer Valley Heritage Grain CSA share, which was [...]

Posted on March 25th, 2010

Warm Maple Custard

A week in Oaxaca inspired me to mingle the maple season here with a classic Mexican dessert —  flan with a New England twist.

Fried from my trip but blog-faithful, I preheated the oven and laid out the ingredients. Then I remembered something — a fabulous custard recipe from Lindsey Shere’s Chez Panisse Desserts. [...]

Posted on March 2nd, 2010

Roasted Potato Wedges

My husband, Tommy, who at times I affectionately call “Mr Potato head,”kindled my passion for potatoes early in our 26 year marriage. Half Irish Catholic, half Irish Protestant, he grew up eating potatoes at every meal. These days, we often roast 5 pounds at a time for the two of us to keep [...]

Posted on February 19th, 2010

Spiced Butternut Cranberry Squares

Moist, sweet and laced with tart cranberries, these staved off my winter blues by perfuming the house with their spices. They’re a relative of pumpkin bread, but with the locavore edge — local butternut, eggs, butter, apple and regional cranberries — all widely available during the cold months. (I even threw in some [...]

Posted on February 11th, 2010

Oysters on the Half Shell with Apple Mignonnette

Pair oysters, long considered an aphrodisiac, with the sexy chocolate truffles on this blog for Valentine’s day. Or, for a playful winter feast, invite over a few fellow oyster lovers — only the most passionate. Shuck, giggle and slurp oysters from their shells, with your reserve nestled in bowl of snow. Long live live [...]

Posted on February 4th, 2010

Maple Milk

Back to basics this week: Two local ingredients in a mug — Warm Highlawn Farm milk with Ioka Valley Farm maple syrup to taste. Very soul satisfying.

Plenty of upcoming book events and signings, including one tonight (Friday) at the library in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts at 7 pm. If you come by, be sure [...]

Posted on January 26th, 2010

Winter Shiitake Stew with Polenta

Here in New England where it’s been gray or white, white white, my breezy old kitchen seems to shake in the winter wind, and the supply of local fare is dwindling. So it’s time to winter forage, throw a log on the fire, crank up the Billie Holiday, and cook up a warming mushroom [...]

Posted on January 17th, 2010

Roasted Chinese Chicken

You’re going to like this juicy bird, which will perfume your kitchen with ginger and anise and arrive well-browned with hoisin glaze. It was born of loss.

My neighbor, Ruth, has spoiled me for eggs. After lifting them, still warm from their nests, then poaching them ten minutes later, all other eggs pale. But [...]