Foraging
Wild Rice with Mushrooms
Wild rice, wild mushrooms, caramelized onions. What's not to love? This is a perfect side dish for wild game like venison or duck or pheasant.
Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi
Chanterelle Risotto
A rich, Italian risotto made with chanterelle mushrooms and sweet corn. Simple, yet elegant.
Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi
Ricotta Gnudi
When I had Chef April Bloomfield's ricotta gnudi in New York at the James Beard Awards, and I had to recreate them, only with my own twist: A sauce of ramps and fresh porcini I found in the High Sierra.
Mushrooms
Wild Mushroom Bisque
A recipe for mushroom bisque using wild mushrooms. This is basically real, homemade cream of mushroom soup. You can use any sort of mushroom you like.
Mushrooms
Italian Marinated Mushrooms
Marinated mushrooms are a staple on any antipasti plate, and if you can get porcini, which are popping in the Rockies now, so much the better. Here's how to do the technique the Italians call sott'olio.
Mushrooms
Amanita Velosa, My Illicit Love
Every spring I have a brief fling with my illicit lover, Amanita velosa. She is the sweetest, most lovely mushroom I've ever eaten, and I spend long hours looking for her. Here's how to safely identify this mushroom, and how to cook it.
Featured
Hunt Gather Talk Podcast 4: Early Spring
Spring is here in NorCal. Normally I feel bad about it, almost ashamed. After all, so many of you are still locked in winter, and will be for months. But this is my reality. And I embrace it. In this episode I talk about early spring foraging, the end of hunting seasons and embracing transition in your life.
Featured
Hunt Gather Talk Podcast Episode 2
In this week's podcast, I'm talking mushrooms. Specifically, how to get into mushroom hunting - safely. I talk you through the basics, how to get started, what varieties you will want to look for first, and how not to poison yourself.
Wild Game
Salmis of Snipe
This is about as classic French as you get. Salmis (sal-mee) of snipe: Salmis is where you roast a bird, make a quick sauce from the bones, and serve it with mushrooms and maybe some toast. This is a fantastic snipe recipe.
Mushrooms
Fried Morel Mushrooms
Fried morels. Where have you been all my life? Seriously. I have eaten morels for decades, but only recently have I experenced the glory of the fried morel. I am not looking back.
Recipe
Rabbit with Morels and Gnocchi
Spring is in full swing here in California, and it's not far off in the rest of the country. This recipe brings together several of my favorite spring ingredients: Rabbit, morel mushrooms and nettles, all in a lovely, Italian-inspired dish.
Pheasant, Grouse, Quail
Braised Pheasant with Mushrooms
If you've never braised pheasant thighs, you're missing out. Unlike the drumsticks, which can be fiddly, the thighs on pheasants (and wild turkeys) are sublime when slow cooked. This recipe is based on a French one and uses lots of mushrooms.
