Sweet Things
Snowball Cookies with Walnuts
Snowball cookies were my favorite Christmas cookie when I was growing up. My mom made them with regular walnuts, but my rendition of this classic cookie uses wild black walnuts.
Pheasant, Grouse, Quail
General Tso’s Pheasant
There are a few must-have dishes in Chinese-American cuisine. General Tso's chicken is one of them. Eating a plate of this is like eating crack: You will find yourself doing whatever it takes to eat more. You have been warned...
Recipe
Classic Hasenpfeffer with Semolina Dumplings
Hasenpfeffer. It is an iconic German dish that few have ever eaten in the traditional way. For to be a true hasenpfeffer, you need a "hase," or hare. And while it's still good with rabbit, don't skip the semolina dumplings or you'll be sad.
Featured
Hunting Ducks on Great Salt Lake
I tend to be a home body when it comes to hunting ducks. California's duck hunting is just so good, I rarely see a reason to leave. But when I got an invite to hunt the Great Salt Lake I had to take it -- and it did not disappoint.
Mushrooms
Foraging for Meadow Mushrooms, Agaricus campestris
The common meadow mushroom has not been so common for me; I'd searched in vain for years to find them. Until last week, when Holly came home with a bushel of the mushrooms we call "pinks." I cooked them up using a classic Escoffier recipe, and lemme tell ya: It was worth the wait.
Pheasant, Grouse, Quail
Smoked Pheasant
Done right, smoked pheasant can be the finest expression of this bird at the table. Smokey, juicy and a little sweet from a maple glaze, it's a lot like those smoked turkeys you can buy for the holidays -- only with fewer leftovers. Here's how to do it.
Recipe
Poached Turkey Breast with Gravy
If you're having a quiet Thanksgiving, maybe just the two of you, you don't need a whole turkey. Instead, gently poach the turkey breast and serve it with a rich gravy made from turkey wings. And while I used wild turkey, any ole' gobbler will work.
Preservation Recipes
Pickled Sunchokes
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.
Venison
Braised Venison Shanks with Garlic
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised at all to learn that the first thing I cooked from the yearling antelope I shot in Wyoming was the shanks. I love me some shank. Since the meat was so light and tender, I cooked the shanks "forty garlic clove" style, like the famous chicken dish.
Asian
Hmong Squirrel Stew
Few cultures love to eat squirrel more than the Hmong, a group of Southeast Asian immigrants who arrived here in the US after the Vietnam War. This is a pretty standard stew loaded with fresh, vibrant ingredients: Lemongrass, ginger, chiles and lots of herbs. It's like a squirrel pho.
Featured
Into the Squirrel Woods
Something about squirrel hunting touches me deeply. Moreso than anything else, hunting squirrels in the Eastern forests takes me back to childhood, to the woods that were my home when as a boy. I miss those days of exploration, but they all came flooding back recently in one epic day in Ohio.
Sweet Things
Wintergreen Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips
Wintergreen ice cream. Why not? I love regular mint ice cream, and after my friend Nate and I foraged for a bunch of wintergreen berries on Cape Ann in Massachusetts a couple weeks ago, I reckoned this would be a cool way to use them... no pun intended.
