Wild Game

Roast Woodcock: A Dream Fulfilled

I finally get a chance to cook woodcock, thanks to a friend who traded some to me recently. This is the most sought-after game bird in America - and for good reason.

French

French Consommé

Making your own wild game stock sets you on the path to mastering game cookery, but making wild game consomme puts you on the path to becoming a Jedi Master of wild game. This stuff is mind-blowing!

Pheasant, Grouse, Quail

Retro-Fabulous Saturday Pheasant

Saturday chicken was one of my favorite dinners growing up. I had no idea how my mum made it, and when I asked, I was appalled... yet strangely excited. I had to make it.

Recipe

How to Make Mustard

I've been making mustard at home for years, but until I had a conversation with another food blogger last week, I never realized that making mustard is a mystery to most. It shouldn't be.

Recipe

Hunting Sharptail Grouse

A year ago my friend Chris and I hunted ruffed grouse in Minnesota. Since then we've decided to chase every grouse species in North America -- this year's quarry? Sharptails in North Dakota.

Pasta, Risotto, Gnocchi

How to Make Pici Pasta

I had a few questions about the pici pasta with tomato-fennel sauce I made last week, so I thought I'd do step by step instructions on how to make pici by hand.

Pheasant, Grouse, Quail

Beer Can Pheasant

It's hot. I don't feel like cooking outside much. And I have lots of wild game in the freezer still. What to do? BBQ! Been meaning to try beer can pheasant for a while - and it works!

Foraging

Sassafras and Homemade Root Beer

On Independence Day, what better wild ingredient to feature than Sassafras? The aromatic bark, leaves and roots were the first plant exported from North America to Europe.

Recipe

Mulberry Sorbet

A chance encounter with a mulberry tree just a few hundred yards from my home sparked me to pick what, for me, had been an unloved fruit for many years. Now I am a changed man...

Foraging

Foraging Mallow – Hiding in Plain Sight

An offhanded remark leads me down the rabbit hole in search of the mysterious - yet ubiquitous - mallow plant. Who knew how important this weed was to the Eastern Mediterranean?

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.