Italian

Spaghetti with Crab Sauce

May 17th, 2012 | By | Category: Fish, Italian, Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi, Recipe

I first ate this astonishing spaghetti sauce in Massachusetts; my brother-in-law made it with lobster. This is my West Coast version, done with crab.



Wild Turkey Parmesan

May 15th, 2012 | By | Category: Italian, Recipe, Wild Game

Wild turkey parmesan? Oh hell, yeah! Not the fanciest dish I’ve ever made, but it sure is good. It’s a great way to introduce someone to wild turkey.



Wild Boar Bolognese Sauce

Apr 25th, 2012 | By | Category: Italian, Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi, Recipe, Wild Game

I make all sorts of Italian pasta sauces, but an authentic Bolognese sauce is something else entirely. It make look like any other meat sauce, but it isn’t.



Edible Amanitas: Vernicoccora

Apr 1st, 2012 | By | Category: Culinary Experiments, Foraging, Italian, Mushrooms, Recipe

Sacramento is a haven for amanita mushrooms. Many are deadly. But not all. One, the coccora, is among the finest-tasting mushrooms in the world. But be very careful.



Italian Marinated Mushrooms

Mar 17th, 2012 | By | Category: Foraging, Italian, Mushrooms, pickles, Recipe

Marinated mushrooms are a staple on any antipasti plate. They’re not pickled so much as they are preserved. Here’s how to do the technique the Italians call sott’olio.



Tuscan Hare Sauce and Pappardelle

Mar 11th, 2012 | By | Category: Italian, Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi, Recipe, Wild Game

What do you do with a jackrabbit? Go with a classic: A Tuscan pasta sauce with hare.



Nettle Pasta

Feb 6th, 2012 | By | Category: Foraging, Italian, Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi, Recipe

It’s nettle season here in Northern California, and as I am on a pasta jag lately, I thought I would make pasta dough with stinging nettles. Seemed like the right thing to do.



Crab Risotto

Jan 30th, 2012 | By | Category: Fish, Italian, Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi, Recipe

We’re in the thick of our Dungeness crab season here in California, and crab risotto is one of my favorite things to do with them.



A Teasing Taste

Jan 17th, 2012 | By | Category: Foraging, Italian, Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi, Recipe

Wapato, arrowhead, katniss, duck potato: Sagittaria is an aquatic tuber of American marshes said to be the equal of a potato. I have never found it. But a friend sent me some, so I got my first tantalizing taste.