Mushrooms

Chanterelle Soup

If Porcini are the kings of the mushroom world, chanterelles are its queen. There are several varieties of chanterelle, ranging…

Asian

Japanese Seaweed Salad

I can’t remember exactly when I had my first Japanese seaweed salad, but I am pretty sure I ordered as…

Sweet Things

Elderberry Ice Cream

Elderberries are in season here in California, and one of my favorite ways to enjoy them during our hot summers is in ice cream. Here's how to make it.

Recipe

Pickled Walnuts

Pickled walnuts? Yep, you read right. Pickled unripe, green walnuts is a British thing that originated because in parts of Britain the climate's too harsh for walnuts to fully ripen. They take a while to make, but once you do, they are a great sweet-sour condiment to cheeses as well as cured and roasted meats.

Sweet Things

Anise Cookies

I don't eat a lot of sweet things, but I do have a soft spot for cookies. These I call "Bacchus Biscuits," and they're my take on a Greek fennel seed cookie. It's like a shortbread cookie, not too sweet, with toasted fennel seeds in it. They last a while and are great as a quick snack.

Mushrooms

The Spring Porcini Conundrum

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.

Foraging

Gifts of the Pine

“Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.”  That may be the most famous quote from the father of modern…

Foraging

How to Harvest Wild Onions

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

Feeling the Burn

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.

Preservation Recipes

Pickled Fiddleheads

Catching the ephemeral fiddlehead is a tricky business, and I find that pickling them is a great way of preserving this zephyr of spring. This is an old-style brine pickle, lacto-fermented with no vinegar.

Recipe

Wild Mushroom Pierogi

Who doesn't love pierogi? I mean really. Little pockets of goodness, boiled briefly then fried and served with caramelized onions, sour cream and dill? Heaven on a plate. I made these with wild mushrooms, but any mushroom will do.

Mushrooms

Sparassis, the Elusive Cauliflower Mushroom

One of the greatest prizes in all of mushrooming, the cauliflower mushroom is both elusive and mesmerizing. It is the ultimate soup mushroom. Here's how to find and eat it.