Category Archives: Cooking

Independence Food: The Contest

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Independence Food!The Fourth of July is approaching fast, and we know that our PitchKnives readers can do better than just a ho-hum Frankfurter on the grill. So send us your recipes for your favorite Independence Food and tell us why you think it’s patriotic. Is it red, white and blue? Is it a favorite dish of one of our forefathers? Does it remind you of amber waves of grain? Write to us at submissions@pitchknives.com and tell us all about it. And don’t forget the photos to document your genius!

We’ll feature some of our favorite submissions here next week, so prepare yourself for the tastiest Fourth of July yet.

Egg Quesadilla with Strawberry-Chipotle Sauce and Kale Salad

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Egg QuesadillaWe know you’ve all been waiting for our solution to last week’s three ingredient challenge. Here’s how we combined strawberries, garlic scapes and Russian kale into a tasty dinner for two. The sweet-spiciness of the sauce makes a great complement to the eggs, and the citrus dressing on the salad keeps the flavors bright.

In addition to the three central ingredients, you’ll need to pull together these items: eggs, cheddar cheese, flour tortillas, scallions, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, dried barley, limes, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and cumin. Continue reading →

Road Harvests and Vulpine Unmentionables

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foxNot long after I was writing on this blog about cavemen and stalking the wild tortilla chip, I had the chance to sit in on a primitive skills class. Since many people are gradually coming around to the idea that it might not be such a bad idea to have the knowledge to grow one’s own food, why not go one step further and learn how to really cook from scratch?

My teacher in this pursuit was Patrick, a representative of the Sequatchie Valley Institute. Patrick had long hair that looked not terribly unlike the brush he was using as kindling, and he wore a tank top that said “Extinction is Forever” tucked into a sort of hippie version of a fanny pack. His eyes were round with an earnest sweetness. Patrick was a believer.

Before we got around to the whole fire-starting thing, Patrick explained to us the fundamentals of “road harvesting.” All sorts of useful things, he assured us, could be found dead by the side of the highway. Continue reading →

Three Ingredient Challenge!

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We want you to put on your most creative apron and help us with a new little Pitchknives tradition called the three ingredient challenge. We’ll give you three seasonal delights and you tell us how you’d put them together in a dish or cohesive meal. (You can, of course, use other tasty items at your disposal to bring it all together). Ready? This week’s ingredients are (drum roll please….)

The kale, of course, has a long growing season, but this was some of the finest local kale we’ve seen so far this year. The scapes look a little like scallions, but are in fact the green shoots from a garlic bulb and have a more subtle taste than the more familiar clove. And who can resist a spring strawberry?

Share your recipe ideas with us at submissions@pitchknives.com. We’ll show you how we combined these ingredients at this time next week. Until then, happy cooking!

Our Newest Contributor Is…You!

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fifties cookSure, we love writing for the blog, but it’s not just about us, us, us. One of the reasons we started PitchKnives is so we could hear your stories about food and gardening. So in our second month, it’s time to make your voice heard. All you need to do is write to us at submissions@pitchknives.com

Here are some easy ways to get involved:

  • See one of Jason’s Concrete Jungle signs? Snap a picture or tell us about how you found it.
  • Have a great restaurant you’d put up a fight for? Tell us about it and you might just get picked for Grub Match. Next up are NYC brunch favorites, but other themes and cities are already in the works, so elect the place you love most.
  • Need a lunch date? Convince me that there’s a spot near your subway stop that I have to try, and you could be part of our Lunch at the End of the Line series.

But that’s not all. You (yes, YOU) possess the power to write an awesome food feature. Did you just make a rad new chimichurri sauce? Did you just discover the secret to growing the perfect carrot? Did you put together the perfect picnic? Send your ideas to submissions@pitchknives.com. We love photo galleries, too.

So, go on! Make our mouths water!
–The Editors

Name that Cooking Utensil

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I like gadgets as much as the next person, but I can honestly say that I don’t own a single one of the objects pictured below. Can you guess what each of these historic utensils was used for? (I am aware that a dog is not actually a utensil, but give yourself a bonus point if you can guess that one.)

The answers… Continue reading →

Breakfast on the Go

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New York, as the City of Immigrants, is the City of Coincidental Comestible Revelations.  And I’m not just talking about the Ethiopian restaurants or the kimchi tacos. I’m talking about Hispanic fare, the cousins of the common taco and burrito that everyone in the country has experienced.  The Mango-on-a-Stick, in which the fruit is carved into a petaled flower shape and rubbed in lime juice, salt, and hot sauce, was an early discovery in my life here.  Recently, I have discovered Mexican drinkable oatmeal. Continue reading →

A Date with Ginger Rogers

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Amongst the foods we can now enjoy (and pay for) in health-conscious, unprocessed, community-minded, brand-as-political-statement form is granola.  And folks charge an arm and a leg for it once it steps off the industrial-agriculture train.

But granola is easy, cheap, and quick to make at home. PitchKnives’s lowers cholesterol, contains lots of omegas and vitamins, and is a fiber powerhouse.  It contains significant protein, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

We’ve dubbed one of the versions I’ve developed A Date with Ginger Rogers.  It includes dates and ginger.  And it’s tasty as hell.  Ahh yes, we are clever. Continue reading →

The Tofu Conundrum

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greek salad with baked lemon dill tofu

I understand the shudder that goes down some people’s spines whenever the word tofu is mentioned. Despite the fact that I, long a convert to the way of the bean curd, will eat tofu in any form under the sun, I have been known to eschew many foods on the basis of texture, so I can understand why some might quail at the thought of a watery or slimy white block. But if you are one of the many tofu-haters out there, fear not; there may yet be a preparation of tofu you can fall in love with.

Marinated and baked tofu is delicious, with a firm but juicy texture that is a perfect complement to crisp salad greens. What’s more, it’s easy to make. Here’s my recipe for Lemon Dill Baked Tofu, which I love to serve with a giant Greek salad. Continue reading →