Berries and Fruits
I have been inordinately obsessed with red huckleberries ever since I ate a handful at a friend's house years ago. This year is epic for them, and I finally managed to pick several pounds. Here's how to find, harvest, prep and eat your red hucks.
Mushrooms
Marinated mushrooms are a staple on any antipasti plate, and if you can get porcini, which are popping in the Rockies now, so much the better. Here's how to do the technique the Italians call sott'olio.
Featured
Mountain pennyroyal is a widespread mountain herb in the American West. Think of it as a combination of mint and marjoram. It is one of our most spectacular native wild herbs.
How-To (DIY stuff)
I recently did a survey on Facebook to see how many of you butcher your own game at home, and I was surprised how many of you do. That makes me really happy! So I thought I'd share my own set up and tools I use now that we're deep into deer season.
Foraging
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.
Recipe
Hooray! The first tomatoes of the season are here in NorCal! This, as usual, coincides with the Pacific rock cod opener, and as I got a gorgeous vermillion rock cod (commonly known as a red snapper here), I thought I'd celebrate the two with this dish.
Wild Game
Jerky seems so simple, but the difference between good jerky and great jerky is profound. At last, I think I've finally made a great jerky!
Fish
I never liked smoked mussels out of a can. So I thought I did not like them. But on a lark, I decided to make some myself. Holy crap they are good! Rarely have I encountered something so foul in a can that is so sublime when homemade.
Fish
Yep. You heard right. Crispy, light as air. Chicharrons, a/k/a pork rinds. Only these are made from fish skin. Once you learn how to make them, you will never throw away fish skin again. Ever.
How-To (DIY stuff)
I've made acorn flour for years, in several different methods, and I've settled on this particular method -- a cold process that takes a few days to leach out the bitter tannins in the acorns, but leaves them with more flavor and preserves some of the key starches in the nuts.
How-To (DIY stuff)
How to make green salt, salt from salicornia (sea beans, sea asparagus, pickleweed, saltwort) at home. It's easy with a dehydrator.
Preservation Recipes
This is my favorite way to eat zucchini: It's an old Sicilian method where you dry the zukes and then saute them with oil, chile and mint. I grow zucchini almost solely for this recipe.
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