Be authentic Irish for this St. Patrick’s Day dinner: Potato and leek soup

If you are looking to have something that’s a traditional Irish food for your St. Patrick’s Day dinner, you probably do not want to serve corned beef. Corned beef is not something many folks in Ireland eat, and at St. Patrick’s Day tables in Ireland, you will find lamb and/or bacon, but not corned beef. Instead, corned beef is more a nod towards the immigrant history of Irish-Americans.

So, you can serve corned beef as a nod to your ancestors if you have Irish blood in you, but what if you want to serve something that Irish people eat? And what if you’re vegetarian?

Well, here’s a recipe that’s based on something Irish people actually enjoy. Potato and leek soup is a traditional Irish comfort food, enjoyed with brown soda bread. Plus, it’s colored green!

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Tags: recipe | potato | leek |

July 4th grill recipe combines everything good about baked potatoes and potato skins

I love baked potatoes. I love potato skins. I just don’t love the time it takes to make them when grilling. So my friends and I, while sitting around after a day of grilling, tried to come up with a recipe that would give us what we wanted without the hassle. I don’t drink and they do so as the beer flowed so did the ideas.

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Tags: recipe | potatoes | grilling |

Ebensburg and surrounding area’s growing local food scene

WPSU’s recent episode of “Our Town” featured a visit to Ebensburg. Part of the episode looked at the food scene and featured an interview with Penn State Altoona employee and part-time pastry chef Julie Fether. I recently chatted with Julie and learned more about a growing local food movement in Blair and Cambria Counties.

When Julie Fether moved back to her hometown of Ebensburg from Oregon, she wasn’t anticipating a thriving local food scene like she had in Oregon. But what she discovered was a growing local food community in her old stomping grounds.

Fether has become part of that local food scene herself. Along with her role as a project coordinator for the Center for Community-Based Studies at Penn State Altoona, she works part-time as a pastry chef at the Ebensburg destination restaurant, Amichi’s Ristorante. She notes that Amichi’s is not only a fantastic fine-dining experience but also a place to eat local. “They work very closely with couple of local farms,” Fether said. “They also buy from the Johnstown Farmers Market and the Ebensburg Farmers Market. The perk of working there is local farmers will come with produce and give out samples.”

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Tags: Ebensburg | Potatofest | Amichi's | EverydayGourmet |

Recipe: Potato salad raises home-building memories

When I was a young man I helped a friend build him and his wife a log cabin. It wasn’t one of the sprawling cabins you see on some of these new reality shows but it had three bedrooms, indoor plumbing, and electricity. I did most of the electrical work and a lot of heavy lifting moving the peeled timbers into place. Thank goodness we had chainsaws as I don’t see how those pilgrims ever got the work done using axes and hand adzes.

His wife brought us lunch every day and then stayed around and helped where she could. I look back fondly on that house, which is still standing in the San Bernardino Mountains, and the meals she prepared. One of the dishes she made was potato salad. I never was a huge fan of it, could take it or leave it, but when I tried hers I was hooked. She said to let them steam in the pot, which stopped the potato salad from being soggy and mushy. She gave me the recipe when I left and every time I make it I think of that log cabin and my friends.

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Tags: recipe | potatosalad |

Recipe: Sausage, carrots, and potatoes an easy comfort food solution for cold winter nights

With plenty of mornings with temperatures below the zero mark and plenty of snow and ice to go with it, the winter of 2013-2014 has been a fairly harsh one compared with recent years. Such weather calls for a hearty meal, and I have the perfect solution that I brought up to Central Pennsylvania from my childhood growing up in York, Pennsylvania. And it’s easy to prepare, too, and something the whole family will enjoy.

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Tags: recipe | carrots | sausage | potatoes | winter |

Pierogi memories, plus great potato and cheese pierogi recipe

When I was but a wee lad…okay, who am I kidding I was never a wee lad. How about…when I was a young child my grandmother used to make pierogi by the dozens. She would make potato and cheese, sauerkraut, ones stuffed with meat, and even dessert ones. Being the ever inquisitive child I was (okay, okay, being the pain in the neck, nosy, kid that I was) I always wanted to help.

Finally, when they thought I was old enough, they put me on filing duty. I was supposed to place one heaping spoon of filling in the middle of each pierogi shell. Well, after the initial “one spoon for the shell, one for me” method I actually managed to do about two dozen pierogi. With my ever expanding stomach and boredom, the filling wasn’t quite in the middle anymore but I was still working at it.

After another dozen, I came to realize this was more like work than play and didn’t want to do it anymore. My grandmother made me stay and finish the job. I got the lecture about not starting something unless I was willing to finish it. I still have lesson ingrained into me.

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Tags: recipe | pierogi | potato | cheese |

Hearty Chorizo, Kale and Potato Soup

It’s February. There’s nothing I can really say that’s redeeming about local eating in February in Pennsylvania except that we’re one month closer the return of good local veggies than we were in January. 

Okay, there’s one other thing I can say. It’s a good time for soup, and I love soup. Far and away my favorite soup of all time is a Portuguese chorizo, kale and potato soup. I don’t know where the recipe is from, unless “my mother” is a suitable answer. This soup is flavorful and hearty and a good way to use any potatoes you have put up from last year that are getting all wrinkly and soft. 

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Tags: recipe | soup | kale | chorizo | potato |

Recipes from Nate Bruny of Zola New World Bistro

Last week at the Learning Kitchen event, Nate Bruny, executive sous chef at Zola New World Bistro, demonstrated how to make dishes from market fresh vegetables.

Continue reading for the following recipes: Classic French Salad; Grilled Moroccan Beets with Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette; Salmon Niçoise with Red Pepper Mustard Vinaigrette.

Continue Reading: Recipes from Nate Bruny of Zola New World Bistro

Tags: event | recipe | summer | carrots | beets | potatoes | salmon |

Green Coconut Curry with Chick Peas

Curries fall into the category of totally flexible and easy and cheap weeknight meals. Lentils (or in this case, garbanzos) or Tofu are perfect for vegetarian options — but any kind of meat or seafood protein works equally well. Vegetables can be anything that you have on hand, provided that you have a nice amount of ginger and garlic. If you don’t have coconut milk and Thai curry paste (which take you in the Thai Curry direction), you can go the Indian Curry route and use a good quality Indian/Madras curry powder and garam masala with some broth or water. Serve it over rice if you like — or without rice and thick like a stew, or thinned out as a soup.

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Tags: recipe | spring | mushrooms | spinach | potatoes |

Roasted Potato Salad

Tomorrow is the last day to enter our potatoes recipe contest! How do you prepare Russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, and new potatoes? Share your recipe for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Nature’s Pantry.

Looking for inspiration? Continue reading for my favorite potato salad recipe.

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Tags: recipe | winter | potatoes |

Curried Chick Pea and Red Potato Hash

I love the challenge of taking very disparate items and somehow bringing them together into a coherent dish. Certainly some of the dishes turn out a lot better than others, but it is always a fun experiment. In this case, I had new potatoes, garlic scapes (the green flower shoot from the garlic), green onions, parsley, and lots of eggs. I settled on a “hash” sort of thing and I was not disappointed. I love putting a slight twist on a very traditional approach and it was a delicious vegetarian entree. I served it with sauteed snow peas and a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

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Tags: recipe | winter | potatoes |

Year Round Good Eating and Gratin Recipe

Our local food partners are the stars behind the scenes at Harrison’s Wine Grill – we purchase from more than 20 local businesses during the growing season. During the winter, we focus more on the year-round products, especially locally produced cheese like our Goot Essa cheddar and Three Belle goat cheese, both from Millheim, Pa. We are working to bring more Pennsylvania artisanal cheeses onto our menu this year because our menu items designed around Goot Essa Sharp Cheddar have been so popular, especially the gratin recipe featured below.

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Tags: recipe | winter | potatoes | squash |

Potatoes Recipe Contest

Russet potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Fingerling potatoes. New potatoes. How do you eat this starchy vegetable? Share your favorite recipe this month for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Nature’s Pantry in State College. Entries must be submitted by midnight on January 31st. See contest details. And good luck!

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Tags: recipecontest | potatoes |

Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

This thick and creamy soup is full of some of the season’s best flavors and would make any Thanksgiving table a more festive one.

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Tags: recipe | fall | apples | sweetpotatoes |

Change is in the Air and a Recipe for Vegetable Soup

The unusually wet and cool weather of mid-September must be a prelude to a fabulous Indian Summer coming our way. Nature has its signals in every season, and the fall is no exception. The dizzying activity of insects and migrating birds, the prolific blooming of goldenrod and asters, and the breathtaking color transformation of the native Sumac all confirm the change that is in the air. And even though the tomatoes are slowly slipping away, the abundant greens, hearty squashes, pears and more, are ready to make their debut and step in where the others are leaving off. Oh, how lucky we are!

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Tags: recipe | fall | soup | celery | onions | garlic | carrots | potatoes | greenbeans | tomatoes | corn |

Field Notes: Summer Garlic and a Recipe for Pepper Packets

It’s the middle of summer, and that means it’s time for garlic! From spring garlic to garlic scapes, and fresh garlic to stored bulbs… it’s one of our favorite year-round crops. And now is the time to hurry up and get it out of the ground and hang it to cure.

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Tags: recipe | summer | garlic | peppers | potatoes | fieldnotes |

Chicken Pot Pie with Root Vegetables

Spring arrives in less than three weeks, though March can still be a bitterly cold month. Keep warm during the final days of winter with this hearty and healthy comfort food dish that takes advantage of the final root vegetables of the season.

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Tags: recipe | winter | potatoes | parsnips | onions | carrots |

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Warm up this wintry weekend with a bowl of spicy Moroccan vegetable stew. It combines seasonal root vegetables with cinnamon, cumin, and paprika and a splash of sweet coconut milk at the end. The list of ingredients may seem long, but this soup couldn’t be simpler or more satisfying.

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Tags: recipe | fall | onions | butternutsquash | potatoes | carrots | celery |

Maple and Sage Roasted Root Vegetables

Here’s a versatile, sweet, and savory recipe to make use of your favorite winter vegetables. Try it as an accompaniment to chicken in puff pastry with apple butter and Fontina cheese or mustard-baked chicken with pretzel crust.

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Tags: recipe | fall | turnips | carrots | parsnips | potatoes | mushrooms |

Parsnips and Potatoes Bake

My grandmother makes homemade potatoes au gratin for every big family event. I love her recipe, and I wanted to experiment with locally grown parsnips before they disappear into winter. The outcome is a delicious twist on an old favorite.

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Tags: recipe | fall | parsnips | potatoes |

New Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

This quick recipe is a tangy, savory way to spice up roasted potatoes.

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Tags: recipe | summer | potatoes | garlic |

Simple Saturday Morning Frittata

Don’t you love Saturday mornings? When mugs of coffee and magazines replace alarm clocks and commutes.

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Tags: recipe | summer | breakfast | eggs | parsley | potatoes | peppers |

Braised Chicken with Spring Vegetables

Winters in central Pennsylvania can feel endless, especially those that bring several feet of snow. But fortunately we live in a state where temperatures and food choices change with the season.

And so we anxiously anticipate the first signs of spring: dogwood trees and flocks of robins and farmers markets.

Continue Reading: Braised Chicken with Spring Vegetables

Tags: recipe | spring | chicken | carrots | parsnips | radishes | potatoes | onions | peas | parsley | market |