Wild Foods

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Crayfish with Asparagus and Morels

The flavors of spring are delicate. The first tender emerging shoots and mushrooms usually don’t have the robust flavors of summer’s produce and need careful handling to bring out their best qualities. There are exceptions, of course. The first ramps of the year are thought by many to be the most potent and pungent of the season. But many other wild spring foods – morel mushrooms, fiddlehead ferns, wild asparagus and the like – are best appreciated when lightly cooked …

Ramp Risotto with Blue Cheese II
Appetizers Cheese Rice Dishes Wild Foods

Ramp Risotto with Blue Cheese

Making risotto is a contemplative process. It’s not difficult; it just takes a certain amount of planning and time. Assemble your ingredients, heat the stock – then just stand at the stove and stir. The basic ingredients for risotto are simple. Rice and hot stock are essential; wine, butter and cheese are usually included too.  Other ingredients – seafood, vegetables, spices and so on – will vary according to the recipe. Of all these, the most critically important element is the rice. The …

Morel, Fiddlehead & Pancetta Tart, Just Out of the Oven
Appetizers Breads & Baked Goods Meat Mushrooms Wild Foods

Morel, Fiddlehead & Pancetta Tart

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 …

Appetizers Sauces & Condiments Vegetables Wild Foods

Steamed Artichokes with Ramp Aioli

For the uninitiated, cooking – and eating – an artichoke may seem like a daunting task. The prickly, tough-textured outside of the artichoke doesn’t seem particularly appetizing at first glance. After all, the artichoke is a close relative of the thistle and shares many of its characteristics. But beneath the leathery leaves of the artichoke lies a tender treasure – the sweet flesh that covers the base of each leaf and, best of all, the large meaty base or “heart” …

Ramp Vichyssoise with Crisp-fried Ramp Greens
Potatoes Soups & Stews Tips and Techniques Wild Foods

Ramp Vichysoisse with Crisp-fried Ramp Greens

Let’s just say straight off that this is not the classic version of Vichysoisse, the chilled potato-leek soup with its origins in the French cooking tradition. Instead, our version is a bit more of a backwoods country cousin, with its roots firmly planted in American soil. The origin of the soup known as Vichysoisse has been frequently debated. As the accepted story goes, it was created by French chef Louis Diat, at the Ritz-Carlton in New York in the summer …

Porcini-Onion Soup with Jarlsberg Croutons
Cheese Mushrooms Soups & Stews Wild Foods

Porcini-Onion Soup with Jarlsberg Croutons

One look will tell you that this soup is first cousin to the world famous classic, French onion soup. But look more closely (and take a whiff of the heady aroma), and some differences quickly become apparent. Most noticeable is the addition of dried porcini mushrooms, which contribute a profound depth of rich flavor to this soup. Fresh porcini mushrooms (Boletus edulis) have a wonderful savory flavor that becomes even more intense when dried. Little wonder that dried porcini are …

Soba Noodles with Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms
Asian Mushrooms Pasta Salads Sauces & Condiments Wild Foods

Soba Noodles with Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms

It’s already November, well into the fall season. Depending on where you live, fresh produce from your home garden may be done until next spring. Thankfully, there are a few hardy radishes and the last scallions to be harvested from our garden which add some crisp texture, fresh flavors and tangy “bite” to this preparation. With the addition of a few foraged wild mushrooms, it’s enough to make a wonderfully earthy dish, featuring hearty Japanese soba noodles. Soba noodles are made with buckwheat, a …

Wild Mushroom Polenta with Thyme Sprig
Appetizers Mushrooms Wild Foods

Wild Mushroom Polenta

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 …

Appetizers Asian Mushrooms Pasta Sauces & Condiments Soups & Stews Wild Foods

Wild Mushroom Wontons, Three Ways

Wontons are fun. They’re great party food, perfect as appetizers and for special occasions. But wontons are, at their heart, simple Asian comfort food. Wontons have been around in some form for literally thousands of years. Most basic wonton recipes are quite similar (after a thousand years or so, you should pretty much have the basic recipe perfected). Popular as street food in almost every Asian country, wontons have plenty of local variations. While fillings can vary, the basic technique remains …

Mushrooms Poultry Vegetables Wild Foods

Chicken Cacciatore with Porcini Mushrooms

Pollo alla Cacciatora, better known as “Chicken Cacciatore,” can be loosely translated as “Hunter’s Chicken.” It’s unclear where the name originated – perhaps pheasant or other wild game birds were replaced by domesticated fowl somewhere along the way. The classic rendition of this rustic dish is nothing like the version that comes covered in thick, tomatoey spaghetti sauce, as is all too frequently found in the United States. Done properly, it’s light, but satisfying, flavorful and subtly sweet with carrots, onion and celery …