The Earthy Delights Recipe Blog
Celebrating wild harvested, traditional & artisanal foods
Confit: Anyone who has the vaguest interest in food and cooking has probably heard this word used (and misused) more than a few times. Many people, even experienced cooks, may be a little hazy about the meaning of the term. Is it a dish or a cooking method? Is it French or, heaven forbid, “fancy?” Does it make you feel uncomfortable and ignorant when your food snob friends use it casually in conversation? Let’s see if we can clear up …
From now on, whenever we cook artichokes, we’ll be finishing them on the grill. A quick trip to the grill transforms the prickly domesticated relative of the thistle into something altogether more subtle and flavorful, with a deep smokey intensity that soars above the simple steamed version. Grilled artichokes are easier to eat, too. Once the artichoke has been steamed, it’s a simple matter to quarter it and pull out the fuzzy inedible “choke” and inner leaves. After grilling, just …
In Spain, appetizers are taken very seriously. Spanish tapas, the ubiquitous small plates found in every taverna and dining place, are numerous and varied. With literally hundreds of variations, Spanish tapas are colorful and robustly flavored, full of the bright and bold tastes of the sun-drenched countryside. Like most Spanish tapas recipes, Pan-Fried Bread & Sausage with Garlic uses just a handful of ingredients, each with a bold flavor that stands on its own, yet harmonizes perfectly with the others. This simple, …
There is nothing more elegant than a snowy-white wedge of creamy, savory Brie, the famed soft cheese named for the French region where it originated – unless it’s brie layered with paper-thin shavings of fresh truffles. Brie’s remarkable journey from milk to plate begins with a unique process, including an inoculation with a special cheese mold, a critical step in producing brie’s distinctive flavor and signature white “bloomy” rind. The rind (yes, it IS meant to be eaten) has a mild, faintly mushroom-like …
“Pig Fingers” is a deliciously old-fashioned dish that has been around in some form since forever, apparently. While you may find various other versions online, this one is an original, an old farmhouse classic, dating back to that long ago time before the internet was invented. The following recipe was faithfully copied from a yellowed, handwritten index card that has been carefully kept in an decoupaged wooden recipe box for over 30 years. It was given to us back in the 1970s by the daughter …
Black garlic. First things first – what is this mysterious stuff? Perhaps it’s easiest to begin by describing what black garlic is NOT. Black garlic is not a new strain of garlic; it’s not genetically modified, nor is it a recent invention by practitioners of modernist cuisine. Black garlic starts out as regular white garlic (some say that hardneck garlic varieties make the best black garlic), but ends up with a delicately sweet flavor, soft, jam-like texture and striking jet-black color. …
Fiddleheads taste like the woodlands in spring time – fresh, green and exuberantly wild. The flavor of fiddleheads is often compared to asparagus, artichokes or green beans, but such comparisons fall short. The truth is, fresh fiddleheads taste like nothing else. Only a few of the many species of ferns are considered to be edible and of those, only two or three are widely consumed. If the best known, and most eaten, is the Eastern fiddlehead, the Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia …
Ah, it’s that time of the year again. The holidays are past, winter is back with a vengeance and the Super Bowl is just around the corner. Sounds like the perfect time to whip up some hot, tasty party food! Over the past few years, we’ve noticed that Super Bowl snacks have gone far beyond the usual guacamole, chili and nachos. You’d almost think that the game was secondary to the increasingly elaborate edibles featured at Super Bowl parties with …
Once the symbol of opulence, caviars & roes are still among the ultimate delicacies, in a league shared only with truffles, champagne and saffron. Not so long ago, caviar could only mean ultra-expensive beluga caviar served with a mother-of-pearl spoon. Today, roe options from other types of fish can still offer an over-the-top experience at a much more affordable price. With excellent domestic farm-raised caviar readily available, we can enjoy a delicacy that was once reserved only for royalty and …
Polenta is one of those dishes that is far too underappreciated. It’s humble stuff, made from nothing more than coarse ground corn. The most basic of foods, it’s both thrifty and filling. It’s also quick and easy to make. If you can hold a spoon and stir, you can make polenta. Polenta is folk food. It fed both the Native Americans and early European pioneers (they called it corn meal mush or “coosh”), who often enjoyed it with a generous slosh …