How-To (DIY stuff)

Drying Tomatoes Without an Oven

“Oh my Gawd, it’s like an oven out here!” This is a not-uncommon refrain heard in Sacramento in summer. Well,…

Charcuterie

How to Make Venison Ham

I present to you: mocetta. It was my first-ever dry-cured ham, and it does not come from a pig. This…

Salmon and Trout

Six Days of Salmon

Salmon, especially king salmon, are the pigs of the aquatic world. Large, fatty, with significant differences in flavor from cut…

Recipe

Pheasant Escabeche

I’ve made a lot of escabeche in my time, and read scores of recipes from all over the world. This…

Foraging

Harvesting Elderberries

Harvesting elderberries is a rite of summer or early autumn for people all over the United States, Canada and Europe.…

Charcuterie

Italian Head Cheese

Coppa di testa. In France it is Fromage de tete. In England, it’s called brawn. All decent enough names; but…

Fish

Boneless Tempura Shad

Unless you are an eater of American shad, that giant river-running herring anglers greet eagerly every spring, you might not fully…

Recipe

Elderflower Syrup and Cordial

May is a wonderful month. Flowers are everywhere, fishing is getting into gear and the summer garden is laden with…

How-To (DIY stuff)

Wild Salsify Lives Everywhere

I see salsify. It’s everywhere. And I didn’t know it was salsify. Until now. We have had wild salsify root…

How-To (DIY stuff)

How to Make Paprika at Home

Why bother making homemade paprika? Fair question. After all, the Spanish and Hungarians are better at it than we ever…

Wild Game

Tinkering with Sausages

I have been making a lot of sausages lately, and as each batch will typically give me some new insight into…