How to make prickly pear juice, known in Mexico as agua de tuna. How to juice a prickly pear without getting the spines in your hand!
berries and fruits
Pickled Blueberries
Pickled blueberries – blueberries or huckleberries (or really any small berry) preserved in a semi-sweet vinegar. Use them alongside meat or poultry.
Harvesting the Red Huckleberry
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.
How to Eat Manzanita Berries
Manzanita berries are ripening all over California right now, but few know that they are not only edible, but are well worth your time to collect. The secret? Grind the dry, apple-like berries to make a sort of manzanita sugar.
Huckleberry Muffins
It’s huckleberry season here in the West. And while my favorite way to eat hucks is in a bowl with cream, I also love huckleberry muffins. My version has a bit of a tang to it from sour cream.
Blackberry Syrup
Blackberry syrup was my favorite at the International House of Pancakes when I was a kid. It’s still one of the few syrups I still make every year, mostly to mix with seltzer water (or vodka) for drinks. Here’s how to make it.
Duck Breast with Beer Sauce
Duck breast. Beer. Wild berries. What’s not to love? This is an original recipe very, very loosely inspired by an Icelandic dish that uses beer and malt (or beer) vinegar as the main component in the sauce. It’s one of the first times I’ve used beer this way, and it won’t be the last.
Paw Paw Ice Cream
Paw paws, the Hoosier banana, custard apple or Indiana banana. America’s largest native fruit, is indeed a little bit like a banana — and it makes a great ice cream.