Verjus, or verjuice, is the juice of unripe grapes. It is a classic French alternative to vinegar, and it is pretty easy to make. Here’s how.
Cooking Basics
What to Do with All that Zucchini
This is my favorite way to use a surfeit of zucchini: It’s an old Sicilian method where you dry the zukes and then saute them with oil, chile and mint.
Venison Chili
Venison chili. What’s not to love? Everyone has his own version, and I’m no exception. I’ll wager you’ve never seen a chile recipe quite like this one: It’s taken me many years to perfect it.
Why Salt Matters
I used to think that all that fancy French salt was bunk, that it was all a scam. Sodium chloride is sodium chloride, right? Wrong. I now know that all salts are not created equal.
French Consomme
Making your own wild game stock sets you on the path to mastering game cookery, but making wild game consomme puts you on the path to becoming a Jedi Master of wild game. This stuff is mind-blowing!
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.
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.
How to Cut Up a Rabbit
I get a surprisingly large amount of queries about how to cut up a whole rabbit or hare. So here you go: Step by step instructions, as well as a recipe for Buttermilk Fried Rabbit!