Wild Game
Behold the glory that is spickgans, a Pomeranian smoked goose breast that is at the pinnacle of German charcuterie. Goose, cured with juniper and black pepper and smoked over beech, oak or apple wood. The secret is in the shape, which makes it a delight to eat.
Sweet Things
Snowball cookies were my favorite Christmas cookie when I was growing up. My mum made them with regular walnuts, but my rendition of this classic cookie uses wild black walnuts, plus a little orange liqueur.
Preservation Recipes
We're heading into Tuber Time, and one of my favorites are jerusalem artichokes, which are native to North America. Although these tubers will keep for months in the fridge, the best way to preserve them long-term is to pickle them. I've been making this recipe for years, and I am pretty proud of it.
Foraging
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.
Wild Game
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.
Recipe
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.
Fish
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.
Recipe
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.
Appetizers and Snacks
My fig tree is exploding with fruit right now, so I decided to revise my recipe for an old favorite: Fig jam, spiked with ouzo, lemon and bay. I don't eat too much jam and jelly, but this one is absolutely worth your effort.
Mushrooms
It is chanterelle season in much of America right now, and I am even hearing a few isolated reports of chanties here in California. What to do when you want to extend your season? Pickle your chanterelles. They're awesome preserved this way.
Salmon and Trout
This has been a memorable year for salmon fishing in California. I've caught quite a few chinooks already so far, and the first thing I cook on each one is the collar - the part behind the gills and head. Grilled like Japanese hamachi kama, it is spectacular.
Charcuterie
This is one of the easiest charcuterie projects you can undertake, and it has been one of my more popular recipes. But I've learned a lot about making duck prosciutto since I first started doing it in 2007, and there is definitely a difference between good duck ham and great duck ham.
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