The Earthy Delights Recipe Blog
Celebrating wild harvested, traditional & artisanal foods
It’s been said that “One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste.” Cherries are a summer fruit, a small red globe that tastes of sun and warm days. Adults frequently forget how to appreciate the goodness of simple things like long summer afternoons and berries picked from a tree and put straight into a red-stained mouth. Perhaps cherries taste so good because they remind us of carefree summers and drives in the country, stopping at a roadside …
You may be disappointed to learn that the whimsical name of this charmingly simple dessert has nothing to do with foolish persons. Instead, it comes from the French word foulé, meaning “to press,” a reference to the mashed fruit most often used to flavor it. The English claim the concoction as their own, although the French name implies that it may have started elsewhere. But the origin of the name is irrelevant; what’s important is the delightful combination of tangy fruit and …
Strawberry. Just the word itself conjures up visions of warm spring afternoons and the sweet fragrance of gleaming, sun-ripened berries. Strawberries are the most familiar and best loved of berries. Pop one into your mouth whole and taste the succulent juice as you bite in. Fresh strawberries, sliced and stacked in layers between buttery-rich shortcakes, are nothing short of miraculous in their simplicity and homespun goodness. There are a couple of simple tricks to making the best shortcake. Real butter, …
As wonderful as it is, this is probably not a dessert that you’ll want to eat every day. It’s simply too rich and too wonderful. But it is an ideal dessert for special occasions, especially if you’re sharing it with someone special. There are a few things that make this version of crème brûlée different from others. First, we used duck eggs for extra richness. Second, we used truffle honey for a touch of mysterious flavor and sweetness. Last of …
What’s in a name? In this case, an interesting (and amusing) story lies behind the name of this close cousin to the more familiar gnocchi. The Italian word malfatti literally means “badly made.” Whimsical names abound in Italian cookery, especially when it comes to pasta. For example, strozzapreti means “priest choker,” fazzoletti means “little handkerchiefs,” orechiette means “little ears,” and last but not least, farfalle meaning “butterflies.” In this country, malfatti have come to refer to something akin to a …