The Earthy Delights Recipe Blog
Celebrating wild harvested, traditional & artisanal foods
The best things in life are often the simplest. Bread pudding is one of those things. Bread pudding is something of a blank canvas for the creative cook. Made from a handful of ingredients that are found in almost every kitchen – milk, eggs, butter, sugar and leftover bread – bread pudding is one of the most basic comfort foods that there is. With the addition of a few spices and flavorings, the variations are infinite. Easier to make than …
Honey, that most natural of sweeteners, holds an important place in every culture of the world. Honeybees, so crucial to the development of flowering plants, thrive in temperate regions around the globe, busily spreading pollen and concentrating the sweet, energy-rich nectar of the flowers that they visit into that prized substance, honey. The flavor of honey varies tremendously, depending on the type of flowers visited by the bees who store the precious honey in the waxy combs of their hive. It seems only …
The most delicious hot chocolate in the world is not made with cocoa powder, but with chocolate liquor. No, not THAT kind of liquor. “Chocolate liquor” is the term used for the thick paste that results when whole cocoa beans are fermented, roasted, crushed into ‘nibs,’ and lastly, finely ground. All real chocolate begins with this raw ingredient. This chocolate liquor (also called chocolate mass or paste) consists of 100% cacao – both the cocoa solids and rich, oily cocoa …
With fresh American-grown chestnuts now widely available, more and more people are learning how to prepare and enjoy them. True American chestnuts, once common in North America, nearly disappeared following a devastating blight that swept across the eastern U.S. in the early 20th century. By 1940, nearly all American chestnuts were gone. Fortunately, due to the combined efforts of scientists, botanists, and growers, commercially cultivated chestnuts are back. That’s good news for all of us. Chestnuts, it turns out, are not …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …