Mushrooms
For most of the world, porcini mushrooms are a feature of fall. But here in the West, we also get spring and even summer porcini. In fact, the biggest flush I deal with are right now, as spring fades into summer. To do justice to these mushrooms, we cannot look to Europe. We must develop our own porcini cuisine.
Recipe
Boudin, the ultimate Cajun comfort food. Not quite a sausage, boudin is more like jambalaya in a hog casing. You eat it on crackers or just by hand, right out of the casing. I learned how to make it at Legnon's in Lafayette, and here's my version.
Foraging
“Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” That may be the most famous quote from the father of modern…
Recipe
Sorrel sauce. It's so basic, yet so profoundly useful... and awesome. Sorrel tastes like lemonade in a leaf, and both wild and cultivated varieties grow like weeds in any garden. This rich, tart sauce is perfect with pasta, poached fish or poultry, or any other lightly cooked meat.
Fish
It's time to catch black cod, a/k/a sablefish or butterfish out here in the North Pacific. If you've ever eaten this fish, it's like eating silk -- mild, velvety and just a little oily. This means it's perfect for smoking.
Fish
I love fried clams. A lot. Maybe too much. My sisters will attest to this. Well, this is how they make fried clams in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where I've been eating giant baskets of them since at least 1974. This recipe is so good you'll want to head out to the clam flats ASAP.
Venison
Some of you know I started cooking professionally in an Ethiopian restaurant. Well, this was my absolute favorite thing to make when I worked there. It's a hybrid stew/stir-fry called tibs. I make it with venison now, but it was damn good with beef, lamb or goat, too.
Foraging
There's a lot of talk out there about people overharvesting ramps, the most dominant wild onion in the East. Some of that talk is true. Here's how to responsibly harvest wild onions of any sort, as well as how to prepare, store and preserve them.
Foraging
Morel hunting the way I do it is a lonely affair. Miles walked in a beaten, burned landscape. A morel here, a morel there. It's not the bonanza of a big burn, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.
Charcuterie
Exactly 20 years ago I found myself in South Africa, alone and afraid. An act of kindness and bravery helped me through that scary night, an act I repaid in the only way I knew how. By cooking.
Charcuterie
I'd heard about this for a few years: Salt curing egg yolks, then drying them and grating them over pasta. But I finally got around to it after reading a new charcuterie book. And lemme tell ya, if there's anything better than grated cheese over pasta, this is it.
Fish
When life gives you smallish bass -- whatever species they are -- ya just gotta cook them whole. And this Hmong style crispy fried fish is one of my favorite ways to do it. Lots of green onion, cilantro, lemon and garlic, all with a zippy dipping sauce. This dish rawx.
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