Foraging

On a Ramp-age

After many years without them, I finally get my hands on some ramps - that wild onion everyone's talking about. Are they worth the hype?

Recipe

Beachcomber’s Risotto

Sometimes foraging, fishing and clamming at the seaside only results in a few of anything - clams, crabs, fish, etc. What to do? Make a mixed seafood meal.

Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi

Spaghetti alla Chitarra

Some men have cars as toys, others electronics. My toys are pasta-makling gadgets, and the Italian chitarra is one of my favorite - it lets you play your pasta like an instrument.

Wild Game

Sardinian Hare Stew

Hares and jackrabbits are almost always poor man's meat, and this Sardinian hare stew takes simple ingredients and makes them special. It's good cold weather food that can stretch a long way in tight times.

How-To (DIY stuff)

On Making Homemade Pasta

Making pasta at home is a soothing process I find utterly absorbing: knead, roll, cut, fill, shape. Pasta-making has become a journey for me, with endless combinations of flours and ingredients.

Foraging

Harvesting and Cooking Nettles

Stinging nettles are coming into season here in California, so it's time to play with the Weed That Bites. Nettle pasta, anyone? How about nettle pesto or nettle ravioli?

Italian

Duck Meatballs

How to make the quintessential Italian meatball, from any meat - including some wild ducks and geese not normally known for good eating. It's all in the method...

Recipe

The Mechanics of Eating Acorns

Everything you need to know using acorns for food. When to collect, what kind of oaks are best, how to leach out the bitter tannins, how to store the acorns, make acorn flour - and acorn flour pasta.

Foraging

Cooking Matsutake Mushrooms

After having never even knowing of their existence for the first 30 years of my life, I’ve recently been cooking…