Foraging
Many of the olives I cure each year are done in a brine. But year after year I've been curing more with lye. I know it sounds scary, but it's not - if you follow these simple instructions. The result is a buttery, firm olive that I actually prefer over the brine cured ones.
Italian
Peperonata is normally a side dish of sweet peppers, onions and tomato; it's like an Italian stir-fry. It is a perfect dish for late fall, when everyone's peppers come ripe. I boosted this recipe up to a main course by adding a little shredded poached pheasant breast. Clean, tasty and easy.
Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi
Taking a break from what has become the Summer of Salmon, this is my go-to summertime pasta sauce recipe. A mix of fresh or preserved tomatoes, lots of fresh fennel and a little bit of anise-flavored liqueur brighten up this sauce for warm days.
Charcuterie
This is one of the easiest charcuterie projects you can undertake, and it has been one of my more popular recipes. But I've learned a lot about making duck prosciutto since I first started doing it in 2007, and there is definitely a difference between good duck ham and great duck ham.
Mushrooms
I make a lot of risotto, but I love mushroom risotto most of all. This is what I do when life gives me a basket of pretty fresh morels, and life's been good to me this season.
Charcuterie
Bresaola, an Italian air-cured eye round or loin, is normally done with beef. But it works with any large animal, in this case a bison.
Recipe
When life blesses you with porcini mushrooms so beautiful you could just weep over them, the right thing to do is serve them simply. In this case, grilled with wild onions.
Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi
I first ate this astonishing spaghetti sauce in Massachusetts; my brother-in-law made it with lobster. This is my West Coast version, done with crab.
Italian
Wild turkey parmesan? Oh hell, yeah! Not the fanciest dish I've ever made, but it sure is good. It's a great way to introduce someone to wild turkey.
Italian
I make all sorts of Italian pasta sauces, but an authentic Bolognese sauce is something else entirely. It make look like any other meat sauce, but it isn't.
Recipe
Sacramento is a haven for amanita mushrooms. Many are deadly. But not all. One, the coccora, is among the finest-tasting mushrooms in the world. But be very careful.
Foraging
Marinated mushrooms are a staple on any antipasti plate. They're not pickled so much as they are preserved. Here's how to do the technique the Italians call sott'olio.
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