Food

Discover the best food, farms, and dining in the Hudson Valley, Berkshires, and Litchfield Hills. Rural Intelligence shares local restaurant reviews, seasonal recipes, and stories celebrating regional flavor.

Food

New Hudson Business Mixes Up A Better Brand Of Bitters

By Jamie Larson Above the Hudson Wine Merchants, co-owner Marianne Courville stands behind a heavy farmhouse table topped with an assortment of bottles and jars, a serious mortar and pestle beside her, and a container of juniper berries and vinegar. She pours a splash of recently brewed pear, honey and

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Food

Recipe: Breakfast Tata

Twice a month, Berkshire native Alana Chernila, mother of two, and author of the cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), contributes a thoughtful and heartfelt essay/recipe created exclusively for Rural Intelligence readers. Her first cookbook has achieved top-seller status, and

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Food

A Free Range of Egg Sandwiches

Recently, a friend was singing the praises about the latest neighborhood du jour (not in the Rural Intelligence region, but you can probably guess) who said the restaurants are fabulous…except you can’t get an egg sandwich. And what’s a town without a good egg sandwich? Fortunately, our

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Food

Dining: At Pizzeria Posto, The Pie's The Thing

By Alice McGowan It takes a certain amount of guts for a restaurant to offer a limited menu, even if it's a pizzeria. Especially when it’s a pizzeria located in a region that’s nothing if not rich with New York pizza experts hungry for a pie

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Food

Recipe: Puerco Pibil

This week's recipe is from Berkshire-based duo The Butcher & The Baker. The Butcher is Jake, a nose-to-tail butcher/artist, who loves to cook and grew up in the woody hills of Western Massachusetts where his passion for local, fresh food was first instilled in him. The Baker

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Food

Cheddar Making 101: Sharpen Your Artisanal Skills

By Betsy Miller Peter Kindel demonstrates cheese-making techniques in a class on Burratta cheese held earlier this year. Why, when every market, every artisanal shop and nearly every farm stand offers a variety of cheeses, would anyone want to make cheese from scratch? Nobody could argue with the fine cheeses

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Food

Recipe: Spicy Lentil Soup

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, mother of two, and author of the cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make the most of

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Food

Recipe: Lamb and Freekeh Stew

This week's recipe is from Berkshire-based duo The Butcher & The Baker. The Butcher is Jake, a nose-to-tail butcher/artist, who loves to cook and grew up in the woody hills of Western Massachusetts where his passion for local, fresh food was first instilled in him. The Baker

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Food

Shunpike Dairy: Milk So Fresh, You Pour It Yourself

By Don Rosendale Every day or so, Kelly Fierrevante drives to the Shunpike Dairy in Millbrook to fill a container of raw milk for her three sons. She says she makes the trip, and pays more than what she might for a quart of milk in the supermarket, not only

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Food

Recipe: Kohlrabi Fries

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, mother of two, and author of the cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make the most of

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Food

Homemade Peppermint-Stick Ice Cream

This week's recipe is from Berkshire-based duo The Butcher & The Baker. The Butcher is Jake, a nose-to-tail butcher/artist, who loves to cook and grew up in the woody hills of Western Massachusetts where his passion for local, fresh food was first instilled in him. The Baker

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Food

Vanilla Cardamom Baked Apples

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, mother of two, and author of the cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to help us make the most of

By Editor