Category Archives: Food Preparation

Lessons for the New Year

Posted on January 2, 2017 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

One of my goals for the coming months is to find lessons for skills I want to either learn or improve upon.  I had a head start a few weeks ago with a class offering by Whisk, a unique, local … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Preparation, Home Economics, Kaizen, Kitchen Implements, Knife Skills, Resources, Slow Food, Sustainable, Whisk | 1 Comment

Cooking Up A Hurricane – Mozzarella (Part 2)

Posted on October 10, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

As a cook (and human being) I am much more comfortable in the zone where I am critiquing past performance and looking for areas for improvement over standing on the precipice of something I have never tried.  To that end, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cheese Making, Food Preparation, Food Preservation, Kaizen, Mozzarella, Organic, Recipe, Resources, Slow Food, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Cooking Up A Hurricane – Applesauce (Part 1)

Posted on October 8, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in the Carolinas this morning, just north of Charleston, SC, and more than 5″ of rainfall is expected for the Raleigh region over the next 24 hours.  With the cool, windy and very wet weather keeping … Continue reading →

Posted in Apples, Community Supported Agriculture, Food Preparation, Kitchen Implements, Local Farms, NC 10% Campaign, Pressure Cooker, Sustainable, Technology | Leave a comment

Collards – From Garden to Table

Posted on October 4, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

This year I grew the heirloom collards called Georgia Southern Creole, a pre-1880 southern variety that has done quite well overall. Growing organically means that some of the leaves were ventilated by a mid-summer cross-striped cabbage worm invasion (treated with … Continue reading →

Posted in Backyard Gardening, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Collards, Food Preparation, Heirloom Varieties, Raised Bed Gardening, Recipe, Square Foot Gardening, Sustainable, Urban Farming | Leave a comment

Fall Harvest Asparagus

Posted on October 2, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

This post comes after more than a year of researching every way I can think of and completely failing to find anything related to the matter at hand.  The matter at hand is the second growth of asparagus spears in … Continue reading →

Posted in Asparagus, Backyard Gardening, Chef John, Cherry Tomatoes, Food Preparation, Jersey Knight Asparagus, Kale, Morel Mushrooms, Mushrooms, Non-GMO, Permaculture, Purple Passion Asparagus, Raised Bed Gardening, Recipe, Square Foot Gardening, Sustainable, Urban Farming | Leave a comment

Better With Basil – Pasta Maker

Posted on September 17, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Late blight is wrecking havoc on North Carolina tomatoes this year, particularly the heirloom varieties.  Last year I was pulling down green tomatoes in late November and this year they were pretty much done by late August.  C’est la vie. … Continue reading →

Posted in Anson Mills, Basil, Food Porn, Food Preparation, Herbs, Kitchen Implements, Organic, Pasta, Pasta Maker, Ramen, Recipe, Slow Food, Sustainable, Technology | Leave a comment

Easy Decision Dinner

Posted on September 3, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Egg scrambles for dinner with almost any leftover veggies in the fridge is a quick and easy decision for nights that lack a dinner plan. I had a small bunch of kale leftover after an Italian soup earlier in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Backyard Gardening, Food Porn, Food Preparation, French Tarragon, Kale, Morel Mushrooms, Mushrooms, Raised Bed Gardening, Roma Tomato, Slow Food, Square Foot Gardening, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Chef-Storian

Posted on September 1, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

History and the culinary arts have collided in these fantastic 18th Century Cooking videos from Jas. Townsend and Son. Half video recipe, half historical reenactment and with just a pinch of historical reproduction entrepreneurship thrown in for seasoning, I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Preparation, Historic Cooking, Historic Recipes, Jas. Towsend and Son, Resources, Slow Food | Leave a comment

Mangia – Seconda Parte

Posted on August 19, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Recently I wanted to find some great make-ahead recipes that I could prepare in batches and freeze for fast and easy, but still homemade meals that I would feel good about on those “I don’t feel like scratch cooking” nights.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Anson Mills, Basil, Dan Barber, Food Preparation, Kitchen Implements, Non-GMO, Organic, Pasta, Pasta Maker, Technology, The Third Plate | Leave a comment

Mulligan Fire Roasted Cherry Tomato Salsa

Posted on July 31, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

A few weeks ago I finally had enough cherry tomatoes to give the Fire Roasted Cherry Tomato Salsa recipe I wrote about in February a whirl.  The cherry tomatoes I had in abundance were two varieties of yellow tomatoes and … Continue reading →

Posted in Chef John, Cherry Tomatoes, Farmers' Market, Food Preparation, Salsa, Sustainable, Tomatoes | Leave a comment

Roma Wasn’t Built In a Day

Posted on July 9, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Roma math: A decent batch of homemade tomato sauce with enough to freeze or can for future use requires a minimum of 15-20 lbs of roma tomatoes. The average day on the urban farm (with 16 roma tomato plants in … Continue reading →

Posted in Backyard Gardening, Food Preparation, Food Preservation, Paste Tomato, Pro Tip, Raised Bed Gardening, Resources, Roma Tomato, Square Foot Gardening, Sustainable, Tomatoes, Urban Farming | Leave a comment

(Nearly) Nose to Tail Cooking

Posted on July 7, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Chef John from Food Wishes (on YouTube and BlogSpot) has become a permanent presence on my laptop and in my kitchen over the past 6 months.   In addition to being an award winning chef, he is a gifted educator and … Continue reading →

Posted in Broccoli, Chef John, Food Preparation, Paella, Pasta, Recipe, Resources, Seafood, Shrimp | Leave a comment

Eating Local Never Tasted So Good – Seafood

Posted on July 7, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

I grew up in America’s rural heartland calling catfish and crappie ‘seafood’, but in truth, it would be far more accurate to call it riverfood or lakefood.  Real seafood was reserved for restaurant dining and with cautions from in-the-know types … Continue reading →

Posted in Farmers' Market, Food Preparation, Seafood, Sustainable | Leave a comment

Precisely

Posted on June 4, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

Miniature cooking is a thing.

Posted in Food Preparation, Humor | 2 Comments

Getting More From Morels

Posted on May 15, 2016 by NearlyHomeGrown.com

In mid-April I had to concede defeat in my attempt to grow morel mushrooms and turned my attention to procuring dried morels instead.  After a lot of price shopping I decided to try LifeGourmetShop.com and while I waited for my … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Preparation, Morel Mushrooms, Mushrooms, Pro Tip, Thrift | 1 Comment