Buddha's Hand Citron
All Recipes Rubs and Marinades Sauces & Condiments

Buddha’s Hand Citron & Meyer Lemon Marmalade

It’s easy to see where the Buddha’s Hand Citron gets its name. This unusually shaped citron’s most obvious features are the long, slender “fingers” projecting from the vibrantly yellow body of the fruit. No wonder that it’s also known as fingered citron. The other obvious feature of the fruit is its delicious fragrance, which has been described as a cross between a lemon and rose. In Asia, the Buddha’s Hand is often used as a sort of natural air freshener, …

Meat Rubs and Marinades Sauces & Condiments

Brined Pork Chops with Maple-Vanilla Glaze

It might seem counter-intuitive, but brining any cut of meat can make it significantly juicer and more tender. How? The brine increases the amount of moisture in the meat, allowing more of it to remain in the pork as it cooks. While some cuts can benefit from long brining times (up to 24 hours or more), even an hour of brining can produce a markedly moister, more flavorful pork chop. Various seasonings can be added to the brining mixture to …

Homemade Vanilla Extract
Beverages Breads & Baked Goods Sauces & Condiments Tips and Techniques

Pure Vanilla! Make Your Own Homemade Vanilla Extract

  You may not have ever thought about making your own vanilla extract, but it’s incredibly easy to do. Why would you want to make your own vanilla extract? Well, it’s less expensive, for one thing.  For a modest investment, you can make enough high-quality vanilla extract to last you for years. For another, you’ll know that it’s 100% real vanilla extract – no artificial ingredients or flavorings. And you can make your own custom vanilla blends by varying or …

All Recipes Rice Dishes Wild Foods

Wild and “Tame” Rice with Chestnuts

Here’s an interesting and tasty recipe that combines two of our fall favorites: wild rice and chestnuts.  This satisfying dish is especially appropriate for festive holiday dinners, but it’s just as pleasing at any other time of the year. It’s inspired by a traditional Japanese rice dish, Kuri Gohan (literally, rice with chestnuts), but with a twist.  North American wild rice adds a wonderfully chewy texture and nutty-woodsy flavor that harmonizes with the sweet chestnuts and toasted sesame seeds. While it makes a great side dish for any …

Appetizers Cheese Mushrooms

Wild Mushroom Nachos

Is there any party food more perfect than nachos? First, nachos are meant to be shared with others.  Second, their spicy heat demands a cool, fire-quenching beverage – preferably beer! There are no hard & fast rules regarding ingredients when making nachos.  The only constants are tortilla chips, salsa and cheese – the rest is up to you. In the spirit of fun & experimentation, we used one of our favorite ingredients in all the world, dried morel mushrooms (but …

Roasted Matsutake Mushrooms
Appetizers Asian Mushrooms Sauces & Condiments Soups & Stews Wild Foods

Matsutake Magic in 3 Delicious Ways

It is no dream… Matsutake are growing On the belly of the mountain – Haiku by Shigetaka There is something marvelous about the famous “pine mushroom,” the matsutake. Their distinctive spicy aroma and flavor are absolutely unique in the mushroom world. The exotic allure of wild mushrooms has inspired many poets across the centuries. No surprise, then, that the matsutake, so highly regarded in Japan, has inspired volumes of haiku. Equally inspired, David Arora, author of “Mushrooms Demystified,” described the …

Appetizers Poultry Sauces & Condiments Seafood

Southeast Asian Spring Rolls

This “fresh” spring roll is a classic in both Vietnamese and Thai cuisines. Unlike other spring rolls, this light & lively version is not fried, but is wrapped in a thin, translucent sheet of rice paper. The herbaceaous filling, too, is very refreshing, yet hearty & satisfying. Our version is made with leftover grilled chicken and poached shrimp, but you can use virtually anything you want, including tofu or grilled veggies. Spring rolls are typically served with a sweet-savory-spicy dipping …

All Recipes Appetizers Poultry Rubs and Marinades Sauces & Condiments

Yuzu Pao Hot Wings

These Yuzu PAO Hot Wings will kick your Buffalo Wings’ butt! We’ve been on a quest for the best hot wings recipe in the world for the past several years. If this isn’t it, it’s pretty darn close. After tinkering with the recipe for the past few weeks (a rough job, but somebody has to do it), it’s finally just right. Hot, but not too hot, with a tangy citrus edge and just a hint of sweetness, these wings are …

All Recipes Appetizers Vegetables Wild Foods

Quick Pickled Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are one of our favorite wild spring foods.  They look cool, but taste even better. In case you’re unfamiliar with them, fiddleheads are the tightly coiled emerging shoots of certain edible ferns, the choicest of which are the ostrich fern (Matteucia struthiopteris), frequently referred to as the ‘Eastern Fiddlehead.’   While there are a number of other edible ferns, the Eastern fiddlehead is arguably the best tasting and probably the most widely available, growing wild across much of the …

Asian Desserts Rice Dishes

Bamboo Rice Coconut Pudding

  Rice pudding is the very definition of ‘comfort food.’ It really doesn’t get any more basic than this.  The pudding itself is made of only 5 ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your pantry. Our version was inspired by the Thai classic, Mango Sticky Rice, but rice pudding is a concept that is truly international and every culture has a version all its own. You don’t have to use bamboo rice, of course, but we really …