Squash Soup with Bacon

There are a million recipes for pumpkin or squash soup on the Internet, but I'd like to think mine is a little different -- thanks to bacon and creme fraiche. You stew the squash with diced bacon, then puree everything. It's made of win.

Lake Erie Perch Chowder

There is no freshwater fish I'd rather eat than a yellow perch, and I recently got a chance to fish for them in Lake Erie, near Cleveland. It was a blast, and to celebrate the Rust Belt city's heritage, I made a Polish-style perch chowder with kielbasa, sour cream and dill.

Curing Olives with Lye

Many of the olives I cure each year are done in a brine. But year after year I've been curing more with lye. I know it sounds scary, but it's not - if you follow these simple instructions. The result is a buttery, firm olive that I actually prefer over the brine cured ones.

Peperonata with Pheasant

Peperonata is normally a side dish of sweet peppers, onions and tomato; it's like an Italian stir-fry. It is a perfect dish for late fall, when everyone's peppers come ripe. I boosted this recipe up to a main course by adding a little shredded poached pheasant breast. Clean, tasty and easy.

Grilled Salmon Salad

Salmon salad. Pretty ordinary, right? My version, as you might expect, comes with a twist: It's not made from salmon fillets. I make my salmon salad by grilling the bones after I've filleted the fish, then stripping the meat from the ribs for this salad. Thrifty, and awesome.

German Bacon

Germans eat a lot of smoked meats, including bacon. But I failed to find "authentic" German bacon recipes, so I made up my own. This bacon turned out so well it made me want to dance around in a dirndl. OK, maybe not. But it is damn good.

Pheasant Wings Buffalo Style

If you love buffalo wings made from chicken, all it takes to do this with pheasant wings is a little bath in some nice stock. This, my friends, is wild game football food.

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are one of those foods I have a hard time controlling myself with. I've been known to eat a dozen at a sitting, and even though I know I'll feel ill afterwards, I can't stop eating them. These deviled eggs, made with smoked salmon, are especially good.

German Rabbit Stew

No, this is not hasenpfeffer. This stew, which comes from Swabia in Southern Germany, is much lighter -- almost summery -- and is a great way to usher in cooler nights -- and rabbit season.

Grilled Octopus, Greek Style

As we close out summer, I refuse to give up the grill just yet. And while I did not actually catch these little octopi, I just had to share with you one of my favorite appetizers of all time: Grilled baby octopus, a Greek classic.

Salmon Tartare

I always order salmon at sushi restaurants, but I am no sushi master so at home I stick to easier preparations, like salmon tartare, which, if you've never heard of it, is chopped raw salmon. My version has a Northern European flair to it, with dill and a special pumpkinseed oil the Austrians use a lot.