Category Archives: Food

August 26, 2012

Corn Cakes with Tomato and Avocado Relish

By Elizabeth Kilpatrick

Wow! It really has been a long time since I have posted! I have been away for the last four weeks; therefore, I have not been able to post. It’s been a crazy month. Music camp, music training, work, canning, the fair – you name it, I’ve probably done it!!

But, I happened to be home last Monday night, and I was able to try a new recipe that I have been wanting to try for a long time! It was so amazing that I immediately knew I had to share it with you all. I can’t take any credit for it though; all the credit has to go to Karly over at Bun’s in My Oven. I have found several recipes over there that are spectacular. You should definitely check her blog out!

My favorite thing about this recipe is the summer bonanza it uses! Fresh corn, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, avocado’s – yum!!!!!

 

Corn Cakes with Avocado Tomato Relish

Ingredients

For the corn cakes:
    • 3 large ears of corn, shucked
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • ½ cup cornmeal
    • ¼ cup red onion, finely diced, optional
    • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • salt and pepper, to taste
    • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
    • 2 tablespoons buttermilk
    • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
    • Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
For the relish:
  • 6-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 scallion, minced
  • 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1½ teaspoons olive oil
  • 1½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced

Instructions

  1. Cut the corn from the cob into a large bowl. Place 2 cups of the corn into the food processor and pulse until slightly pureed, but still somewhat chunky. Return to the bowl with the remaining corn.
  2. Add the flour, corn meal, onion, cilantro, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
  3. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and butter and stir until just combined.
  4. To make the relish, combine all of the ingredients into a small bowl, except for the avocado. Stir to combine everything. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Add the avocado just before serving, to prevent browning.
  5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and heat until it’s sizzling hot.
  6. Scoop tablespoons of batter into the hot pan, about 4 or 5 per batch. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined dish.
  7. Serve immediately with the relish. Ranch dressing is also yummy on these guys.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Food, Main Dishes, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Vegetarian

July 25, 2012

Fried Rice and Teriyaki Steak

By Anna Dagarin

 

For the past few weeks we have been getting a CSA farm share from Mountain View Farm in Easthampton, MA. Since I don’t live close enough to Kilpatrick Family Farm (KFF) to get their fresh, organic produce every week, I’ll be content with locally grown. Besides, that’s what it’s all about! Community Supported Agriculture! Just think, if everyone supported their local farms, it would remedy a lot of food concerns…. Aaaanyway, that’s a-whole-nother issue. :)

Mountain View Farm is just awesome. I’m consistently impressed by everything from their exquisite fields and structures, to their excellent, naturally grown produce.

This is what I made with some items from this week’s share. It was SO yummy! Everyone was raving….

 

Fried Rice

Ingredients

  • 1 C. carrots, chopped
  • 3 large radishes, chopped
  • 1/2 medium onion, or 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4-5 leaves kale, chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 T. soy sauce
  • 3 T. olive oil or as needed
  • 1 T. sesame oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 C. cold, cooked rice
  • 2 scallions, sliced

directions

  1. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 T. of olive oil and 1 T. sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, radishes, onion, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender. Add the kale and cook until it is wilted and tender. Remove from the pan.
  2. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper. Add to the pan 1 T. olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.
  3. Add remaining oil to the pan. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using a wooden spoon to break it apart. Stir in the soy sauce.
  4. When the rice is heated through, add the veggies and eggs back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the scallions. Serve hot, with steak or just on it’s own!

Here is the Teriyaki Marinade recipe if you want to serve steak with the fried rice. It is delicious!

 

 

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Beef, Food, Rice, Vegetarian

July 19, 2012

Spicy Tuna Salad

By Anna Dagarin

So this is what comes of being fed up (excuse the pun) with an old, exhausted tuna recipe, a summer day that thoroughly discourages turning on the oven, and a little creativity. It just so happens to be amazing! And the perfect thing to devour on a hot July day. It is the only way I’m going to make tuna from now on. That is, until I discover an even more creative way to mix it up….

Spicy Tuna Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 (6 oz.) can water-packed tuna, drained and flaked
  • 1/4 C. mayonaise
  • 2 T. dry roasted sliced almonds
  • 1/4 tsp. cumin
  • 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. paprika
  • 1/4 tsp. lime juice
  • salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together and serve it between two slices of crusty, fresh bread, or on a bed of baby greens!

1 comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Fish, Food, salads, Sandwiches, Uncategorized

June 23, 2012

Summertime!

By Elizabeth Kilpatrick

Hi ya’ll! I am back!! I have been unable to post for a while because I have been super busy getting ready for a solo recital.

But, I will be around for a while now and on top of that, it’s summertime! Which means time to get out the grill and use it!

It has been ridiculously hot the past week so we used the grill one night for dinner. This chicken marinade recipe came from friends of ours. It is probably one of the best marinades that I have ever had. Absolutely fabulous flavor!!

Chicken Marinade ~ The Shaw Family 

Chicken (however much you need!)

Oil

Apple Cider Vinegar

Parsley

Rosemary

Dill

Tarragon

Marjoram

Garlic

First coat the chicken pieces in oil. Then, in a separate bowl, combine herbs. Use your own judgement on amounts, but make sure you use equal amounts of each herb. Add the herbs to the chicken and mix well. Add garlic (use four-five cloves per number of chickens you cut up). Pour apple cider vinegar into your bowl of chicken until it has covered the chicken. The longer you allow the chicken to marinate, the better. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours is ideal. Enjoy!!!

 

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten Free, Main Dishes

June 8, 2012

Coconut Chicken Nuggets

By Anna Dagarin

Recently I’ve been looking for recipes that use coconut oil. I’m really eager to start cooking more with coconut oil. It is sooooo good for you! I’ve started to read up a little bit on coconut oil and the health solutions it promotes. It can assist you with maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, brain function, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, and high blood pressure. Who knows what more health benefits we might possibly acquire from it!

In my search for recipes that incorporated coconut oil, I came across this one for coconut chicken nuggets. I used the suggested ingredients but switched up the preparation a little bit to accommodate my fondness for ease and simplicity. It turned out incredibly good! The flavors, the textures – everything about these chicken nuggets is delicious. They are wonderfully different, and surprisingly addicting! It’s almost impossible to stop eating them. And as peculiar as this may sound being said about fried chicken nuggets, they are almost refreshing. You will understand what I mean once you’ve tried them. Oh, and in the highly unlikely event that there are any leftovers, I should tell you that they are also amazing cold, and sliced on a salad.

Here is my revised version of the recipe.

Coconut Chicken Nuggets

Coconut Chicken Nugets

Ingredients

  • 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into small nugget size pieces
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ½ cup coconut oil
  • salt & pepper

Directions

  1.  In a bowl combine flour, shredded coconut, salt & pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix to combine. In a seperate bowl beat the egg.
  2. In a sauté pan, melt coconut oil on medium heat. Take each piece of chicken, dip it in the egg, and then coat with the coconut and flour mixture.
  3. In small batches place nuggets into heated coconut oil and cook on each side for about 3 to 4 minutes.  Transfer chicken pieces to a parchment lined bake pan and place in a preheated oven for 4 to 5 minutes at 375 degrees to allow the chicken to cook through.

2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Chicken, Food, Main Dishes, salads, Uncategorized

June 2, 2012

Chicken Rub

By Elizabeth Kilpatrick

Hi all! It’s me! Elizabeth!! I am back for a week. Sarah is away, so I said I would put  up a post for her.

The other night I was experimenting with  new chicken recipe. I wanted to roast a chicken, but not just your traditional roasted chicken recipe. I wanted to try a brine, but at 3:30 in the afternoon, it was to late for that. So, I turned to the next best solution. A rub. Or at least that’s what I called it.

So here is what I did.

Get your chicken and put it in a roasting pan. Start with some Kosher salt, and rub it into the outside of the chicken. Take care to get in the leg creases, around the wings and both sides of the chicken. (Note: We alway’s take the wings off to save for chicken wing night, and beside’s it’s not worth roasting them cause there isn’t anything on them!) Use as much salt as you need. After you finish that, take about a cup of butter and melt it. Chop up some green garlic or regular garlic and slice some onion. About 1/2 to 1 cup of each. Add to the melted butter and stir. Then pour it over the chicken. Try to rub the butter over most of the chicken. As much as you are able. Take most of the garlic and onions and stuff them inside the cavity of the chicken. Sprinkle the remaining few on top. Then bake at 325 degrees until done. I baked it for the first 2 hours with the lid on. Then I took the lid of for the last 30-45 minutes. This gave the top of the chicken a kind of crust.

Cut and serve! Instead of gravy, we just dipped up some of the drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan and poured that over the chicken! Insanely good!!!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten Free, Main Dishes

March 31, 2012

Spring Stew

By Elizabeth Kilpatrick

In going through recipes today to find one to share with you all, my goal was to find a recipe that spoke of spring. Not finding one in our collection, I turned to the web. Here, after some searching, I found precisely what I was looking for. This “spring” stew looks positively promising. I can’t wait to try it! So here it is. Borrowed from http://www.rwood.com.

Spring Stew with Asparagus, Snow Pea & Baby Turnips - Rebecca Wood (www.rwood.com) 

2 cups snow peas
2 cups baby turnips
1 bunch small radishes (if large, cut in halves)
4 scallions, chopped
3 springs fresh tarragon or savory
1 teaspoon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons unrefined hazelnut or olive oil

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil; add a tablespoon of sea salt and, starting with the asparagus, separately blanch each vegetable type until just cooked. Cut into bite sized pieces.

Reserve 2 cups of blanching water or use a soup stock. In a wide skillet or wok, place two tarragon sprigs and the blanching water.  Add the vegetables and simmer until they’re warmed through. Add lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 1 minute. Mince the remaining tarragon.  Divide stew into bowls, garnish with minced tarragon and dress with hazelnut oil. Serve hot.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Food, Main Dishes, Soups, vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

March 28, 2012

Jelly Pancakes

By Sarah Stelzl

I was barely tall enough to see over the top of the counter when this recipe was first introduced to our family. The girl that babysat us was a barefoot, hard-working, country farm girl with more siblings than I cared to count. She was like a big sister to us! I remember so many evenings as a little girl, when my parents would go out on their weekly date… Christina would arrive with her big purple book bag and a collection of made up stories that kept us fascinated for hours. She made the most mundane tasks – folding laundry and cleaning up kitchen disasters – turn out to be a glorious party!

Growing up on a farm, there were plenty of fresh eggs all the time…and so naturally Christina and her sisters enjoyed cooking things from scratch and made use of all those eggs! They put their heads together to create this recipe, and she taught us one by one how to measure, mix, and make these delicious French pancakes – also known as Egg Pancakes, or in our case we call them Jelly Pancakes!

Today Christina is married (as of one year!) and her siblings have gradually left the farm to pursue other areas of interest. One thing lives on, and that is the memories she made with us growing up. Memories like… a particular sibling of mine, turning on the blender without first ensuring that the lid was on…

And now, more than 10 years later, we’re still making jelly pancakes! I fix them almost every Friday for my siblings when our parents go out on a date (with the exception that we are now on a four month Candida diet!).

Try them sometime and make a memory or two. Only… be sure you put the lid on the blender! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!!!

Jelly Pancakes

(We usually make a triple batch of the below recipe because we have quite a few hungry guys in our family.)

2 cups flour

4 eggs

1 pinch salt

1 1/3 cups water

1 1/3 cups milk

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until thoroughly combined. Pour into a mixing bowl.

Choose a pan the size you want your crepes/pancakes to be. Heat the pan over medium heat using butter. Cook the crepes by pouring a ladle full of batter into the pan and tilting the pan to spread the batter evenly over the bottom. Flip the crêpe when the bottom is light brown, or you are able to flip it. Cook the second side until light brown. You can cook them however you like, lighter or darker; soft or crunchy. We like them both ways!

You can serve them any way you like – with syrup, whipped cream, fresh fruit, or whatever else you prefer… We like them best with a little jelly spread in the center or even just plain! Roll the crêpe up and enjoy it!

One thing I love about Jelly Pancakes, is that they are not very greasy, contain no sugar, and can even be made with whole wheat flour – and still, they have a delicious addictive taste! That explains why the guys eat like 10 or 12 each!

5 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Breakfast, Food, guest posts

March 25, 2012

Peanut Butter Frosting

By Elizabeth Kilpatrick

Due to a busy weekend for me (Elizabeth), Hannah (see last week’s post) volunteered to help me out with a blog post this week. Thanks Hannah!! 

 

Did you know that the peanut is not really a nut? Comment on this post to see if you know what peanuts really are without looking it up! George Washington Carver came up with over 300 different uses of peanuts which included plastics, paints, cooking oil, and peanut butter. This Peanut Butter Frosting has been a family favorite for years. It is really simple to make and very delicious. (especially for peanut butter lovers)

Peanut Butter Frosting

2 cups confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons crisco

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup milk (approximately)

1. Combine above.

2. Beat until fluffy.

 

2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Cakes, Desserts, Food

March 18, 2012

Double Chocolate Cookies (with a secret ingredient)

By Elizabeth Kilpatrick

::I was having much trouble trying to write a blog post today, so my sister Hannah offered to do it this week. She wrote a guest post over at From Scratch Club this summer, and therefore is highly qualified. ::

A couple weeks ago, I entered the Saratoga Farmers Market Cookie Contest. I was super excited because my favorite thing to bake is cookies. The rules were that you had to use at least two market ingredients but could get more points for the more you used. I found a way to incorporate beets into one of my families favorite cookie recipes, used Battenkill Valley  Creamery cream to make my butter, used our eggs, and tada! I found a new favorite. I didn’t win the contest of around twenty entries, but it was still a fun experience.

I’ll give you the recipe with the beets and include the original beside any changes.

Double Chocolate Cookies (with a secret ingredient)

-Original recipe taken from No-Guesswork Cooking: Recipes You Can Trust, by Kim Cahill.

-1 1/4 cup butter softened

-1 1/3 cup white sugar

-1 1/4 cup brown sugar

Lightly cream in mixer with flat paddle.

-3 eggs

-2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-2/3 to 3/4 cup finely shredded beet (exclude to make original recipe)

Add. Mix till smooth

-3 3/4 cups flour

-1 cup cocoa powder (3/4 plus 2 tablespoons) if making without beets.

-3/4 teaspoon salt

-1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Combine in separate bowl.

-1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

-1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips

Add dry ingredients alternately with chocolate chips and white chocolate chips to butter/sugar mixture. Mix evenly until combined. Pinch off 1″ balls, round, and place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten to 1/2″ thickness. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes or until slightly firm. DON’T OVERBAKE!

ENJOY!!!

3 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Chocolate, Desserts, Food

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