Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener

Hot. Muggy. Summer in Virginia. Finally. Sigh…
I can’t really complain, July having been relatively cool, but now it’s hot. It’s time for cold lemonade, lots of ice teas, dishes that do not heat up the kitchen (it’s being heated enough with canning)… like cold soups. You know, either the ones to which you never have [...]

Posted in Appetizer, Recipe, Soups, Vegetable recipe, herb recipe, locavore log Comments(6)

It’s funny how some posts draw comments… and what for…Like my post on spring salads prompted requests for the recipe of the potted meat I served with it!

Which, of course, one should rightly ask for the recipe, because it is simple, simply delicious, can be made well in advance, will keep in the fridge for [...]

Posted in Appetizer, Meat/poultry Recipe, Recipe, locavore log Comments(5)

There are indubitable signs of springs out there (besides the 2 minutes of additional daily daytime we are getting now).
For once, the snowdrops are nodding their tiny white bells in the still blustery gusts of wind and then, then!, yellow IS swelling the buds of the early daffodils. But for the ever hopeful kitchen gardener, [...]

Posted in Appetizer, Cookery, Garden, Kitchen Garden, Side Dish, Soups, Vegetable recipe, herb, herb recipe, locavore log, vegetable Comments(22)

Gala, Crispin (or Mutsu), Fuji, Honeycrisp, Rhode Island Greening, York, McIntosh, Jonathan & Jonagold, Stayman Winesap, even Golden Delicious (one of MY favorites), Red Delicious & Granny Smith: those are just a few of the cultivars of apples available for pick up at our local orchards. As the season continues, the late apples will come [...]

Posted in Appetizer, Cookery, Fruit recipe, Kitchen Garden, Soups, Vegetable recipe, fruit, locavore log Comments(3)

For the last few weeks, I have been making lots of Savory Oven Tomato Preserve (or is that Savory Oven-preserved Tomatoes?). After cooking for several hours in a very slow oven, the tomatoes acquire a very intense flavor that’s quite addictive. We’ve been eating them mostly on sandwiches and adding them to already cooked rice [...]

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Twice this past week-end, I prepared a simple dish combining a few very much local ingredients: easy, lots of flavors, nice colors, great smell, happy eaters… and no need to apply heat: as far as I am concerned, the perfect summer party dish. What was it? Melon & Virginia Country Ham Salad with Combava (Kaffir [...]

Posted in Appetizer, Cookery, Fruit recipe, Kitchen Garden, herb, herb recipe, locavore log Comments(4)