Stinging nettle risotto rocks. It is the essence of “green,” and is super healthy, too. What’s more, blanched nettles will keep their emerald loveliness even after a good 15 minutes of cooking, which makes a nettle risotto visually stunning. The dish itself is pretty simple: Risotto rice, cooked nettles, butter, shallot, garlic, a little pecorino
Edible Wild Plants
Recipes and harvesting guides for a variety of edible wild plants and mushrooms. You'll find step by step guides on how to gather edible wild plants safely, and then recipes on how to cook them once you've gathered them.
These are broken into sections covering edible wild greens, berries and other fruit, wild mushrooms, starches and nuts, as well as a selection of pickle recipes using wild plants.
Elderberry Liqueur
Instructions on how to make elderberry liqueur from fresh elderberries; this recipe keeps the berries whole, which makes a clean liqueur.
Roasted Mushrooms with Garlic
This is a simple roasted mushroom recipe that works with any meaty mushroom, from porcini to shiitake to regular button mushrooms.
Pheasant with Mushrooms and Cream
Pheasant with mushrooms is a perfect combination of fall flavors, is easy to make and comes together in less than an hour. This is a homey recipe that brings together the classic combination of mushrooms, brandy, cream and chicken — only I use pheasant breasts here. Grouse, quail, partridge, rabbit or chicken also work. I
Braised Pork with Purslane
Mexican pork with purslane, carne de puerco con verdolagas, is a common dish all over northern Mexico, and is a great way to eat this edible weed.
Elderberry Ice Cream
I love ice creams. They are my main weakness when it comes to sweets, and I specialize in weird ice creams — herbs like yerba buena and fruits like this elderberry ice cream. Elderberries live in most states, and are ripe from June to September, depending on where you live. Only use ripe berries, as
Spruce Tip Syrup
Ever eat a tree? I know, I sound like Euell Gibbons. But really, you can eat the fresh growing tips of spruce or fir trees in any number of ways. My favorite is a simple spruce tip syrup. Spruce tip syrup smells like a pine forest, tastes a little citrusy — moreso if you add
Blackberry Panna Cotta
Blackberry panna cotta is a joy of summer, and can be made in several different ways that I’ll go through here. A traditional blackberry panna cotta would actually be a vanilla panna cotta with blackberry syrup and fresh or macerated blackberries on top, as in the picture. I prefer to infuse the blackberries in the