Sweet Things

Black Walnut Ice Cream

Black walnut season has started, and my favorite thing to do with these hard-to-crack nuts is make ice cream. My version gives you a double-dip of black walnut flavor.

Recipe

Grouse, Solitude and Solace

I hunted grouse in Minnesota last weekend, but did not shoot one. That's OK, because what I really needed in the Northwoods was quiet - and to escape the world within the comforts of cooking.

Recipe

Acorn Spätzle

It's fall, and that means acorns are dropping everywhere. If you are adventurous to make your own acorn flour, what then do you do with it? Lots of things, but my favorite use for acorn flour is this spaetzle recipe.

Recipe

New England Mushroom Bonanza

My family never hunted mushrooms when I grew up. But after an epic mushrooming trip on Cape Ann yesterday, they may well become mycophiles in a hurry.

How-To (DIY stuff)

Homemade Hot Sauce

I've been making my own hot sauces for years, but none have been as good as this sauce I made with wild chiltepin chiles from southern Arizona.

Berries and Fruits

How to Make Elderberry Syrup

It's elderberry season, and making elderberry syrup is the first thing I do once the berries turn ripe every year. After all these years running this blog, I thought I'd finally write down the recipe.

Recipe

How to Make Verjus

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.

Foraging

Cooking Blue Camas

Blue Camas, camassia quamash, has been a staple of the Northwest Indians for centuries, but few modern cooks have experimented with this edible bulb. Here are the results of my experiments.

Foraging

Blue Camas and Other Edible Bulbs

Last week I found lots of wild edible bulbs in the High Sierra, notably blue camas. But eating bulbs has twin problems: Poisonous look-alikes, and the fact that their flowers are achingly beautiful.

Foraging

Sea Beans, Salicornia, Samphire, Pickleweed

How to pick and cook salicornia, the plant of a thousand names: Saltwort, samphire, chicken feet, whatever -- no matter what you call it, this is one of the finest foraged foods around.

Venison

Mushroom Swiss Burger

Inspired by a beef-and-mushroom burger I made, this version, with venison and morel mushrooms, is even better! Venison and mushrooms are a natural combination.

Foraging

Bracken Fern: Food or Poison?

Bracken fern lives all over the world. And most every place it lives, people eat it. Yet it's recently been branded as a carcinogen. That seems to be true, but like all things, the poison's in the dose.