Foraging

Curing Olives: Don’t be Afraid to Lye

Most of the olives I cure each year are done in a brine. But this year I tried curing green olives with lye. I was scared at first, but after some experiments, I'm now a believer.

Recipe

How to Make Mustard

I've been making mustard at home for years, but until I had a conversation with another food blogger last week, I never realized that making mustard is a mystery to most. It shouldn't be.

Ducks and Geese

Cooking Goose Meat

Canada geese get a bad rap. Sky carp. Stinky, arrogant hissing birds. Yeah, Canadas can be nasty. But cooking a real, wild, Canada goose offers pleasures other waterfowl simply lack.

Recipe

Hunting Sharptail Grouse

A year ago my friend Chris and I hunted ruffed grouse in Minnesota. Since then we've decided to chase every grouse species in North America -- this year's quarry? Sharptails in North Dakota.

Foraging

Berries of the Coastal Range

I went to Marin County in search of huckleberries. I left with a full huckle bucket, but also something I'd never seen before: Salal berries. It pays to keep your eyes open.

Berries and Fruits

Berries of the Sierra Nevada

The high Sierra, or really any Western mountain range, is a treasure trove of summer berries. We recently found four different kinds on one trip.

How-To (DIY stuff)

Berries of the Central Valley

I've been on a wild berry rampage this month. This will be the first of three berry posts, starting with picking elderberries and blackberries here in the Central Valley.

How-To (DIY stuff)

Manzanita Cider

If you live on the West Coast, you've seen the stunning, red-barked shrub called manzanita. But I bet you did not know the berries make a delicious cider...

Charcuterie

Venison Charcuterie

For me, charcuterie is the endgame of every successful hunt, but each animal needs a different treatmeant: sausages, cured whole cuts, salami, etc. This is what I did with my deer from Catalina.

Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi

How to Make Pici Pasta

I had a few questions about the pici pasta with tomato-fennel sauce I made last week, so I thought I'd do step by step instructions on how to make pici by hand.

Foraging

Wild Fennel

Fennel, also known as anise, is one of my favorite vegetables. It also happens to grow wild around here. Summer's the time to collect wild fennel pollen as well as the plant's delicious green seeds.

Foraging

Harvesting and Cooking Wild Plums

June and July are when wild plums come ripe. Wild plums, you say? Where would I find them? Some are hidden in secret spots. Others are all around you...