Wild Foods

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Ramps laying on a green platter
Sauces & Condiments Vegetables Wild Foods

Ramps: America’s Love Affair with the Smelly (But Addictively Delicious) Wild Leek

Over the years, many North Americans have come to know and love the lowly wild member of the onion family known as the “ramp” (Allium tricoccum). Why? Ramps possess an unmistakable flavor and powerful aroma that immediately announces their membership in the widespread onion family (Alliaceae), but which is, at the same time, absolutely unique. Ramps, or wild leeks, as they are commonly known in the northern part of their range, have earned their place in the lore of the …

Pan-Fried Bison Steak with Morel & Ramp Bordelaise Sauce
Meat Mushrooms Sauces & Condiments Wild Foods

Steak with Morel & Ramp Bordelaise Sauce

The quickest, easiest and – some would say – best way to cook a steak is to pan-fry it. Certainly, this is an attractive option in the depths of winter, but the results are exceptional enough to make it a preferred method year round. After a quick sear on both sides, the steak can be cooked to perfection in 10 minutes or less without all the fuss and mess of a broiler or grill. With the steak right there in …

Pasta with Porcini & Artichokes
Mushrooms Pasta Vegetables Wild Foods

Bucatini con Funghi e Carciofi (Pasta with Porcini and Artichokes)

The artichoke is technically a thistle, but its prickly exterior and leathery leaves aren’t enough to deter devoted fans. Underneath that tough exterior lies a tender, delicately flavored and meaty heart. Once the artichoke is cooked, whether by steaming, boiling or roasting, the outer leaves can be stripped away, one by one, and their succulent tips devoured, revealing the hidden prize inside. The artichoke lover’s dilemma: eat the heart now or save it for another use? It’s often too much …

Grilled pepper and wild chanterelle salad
Appetizers Mushrooms Salads Wild Foods

Grilled Pepper & Chanterelle Mushroom Salad

  This rather unusual salad is one of those dishes that comes together quite naturally in the early fall. The first frost has not yet arrived and while nights are cool, the days are still sunny and warm. Colder weather is just around the corner though. Days are growing shorter and backyard gardens are winding down, yielding the last few sweet, sun-ripened peppers of the season. But while tame, cultivated crops are ending, wild mushrooms are exuberantly bursting forth from …

Wild Mushroom and Fava Crostini
Appetizers Mushrooms Wild Foods

Wild Mushroom & Fava Bean Crostini

Wild mushrooms and fava beans are the perfect combination of forest and field, robustly earthy and delicately sweet at the same time. This dish offers some of the best that the late summer harvest has to offer, flavors so good and so satisfying that it’s worth a little extra effort. These elegant crostini are equally well-suited to a casual dinner party, a light lunch or a healthy between-meal snack. While there are several steps involved in making them, they’re not difficult to prepare, and to make …

Truffled Brie with fresh summer truffles
Appetizers Cheese Wild Foods

Truffled Brie

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 …

Maple-glazed Chanterelle & Arugula Salad with Grilled Apricots and Pecans
Mushrooms Salads Wild Foods

Maple-glazed Chanterelle & Arugula Salad with Grilled Apricots and Pecans

Among the most well-known and best-loved of wild mushrooms, chanterelles figure prominently in the wild mushroom seasonal cycle, usually starting up in late spring or early summer, just as the season for fresh morels begins to wind down. After that, chanterelles can be depended upon to be be growing in some part of the world for the next 6 to 8 months, and frequently longer. Their cheerful orange-yellow color and distinctive trumpet-like shape make chanterelles one of the most easily …

Chicken and chanterelle skewers on the grill
Mushrooms Poultry Wild Foods

Grilled Chicken & Chanterelle Skewers

Recipes like this one are made for easy, no-fuss meals. It only takes a few minutes of prep and a very short cooking time – and the results are nothing short of phenomenal. To transform simple grilled skewers of chicken into an elegant center of the plate showpiece, we alternated tender chunks of moist chicken thigh meat with firm, fresh whole “button” chanterelle mushrooms – then brushed the whole thing with a finger-licking sticky glaze. Fragrant thyme is frequently paired …

Ramp, Goat Cheese & Pine Nut Phyllo Rolls
Appetizers Breads & Baked Goods Cheese Wild Foods

Ramp, Goat Cheese & Pine Nut Phyllo Rolls

Ramp, Goat Cheese & Pine Nut Phyllo Rolls are inspired by the Greek classic, spanakopita, a layered “pie” which is typically made with spinach and feta cheese wrapped or layered in thin, crisp phyllo pastry. It’s not uncommon for regional variations to contain other wild greens or herbs in addition to or in place of the usual spinach. It’s the sort of hearty, rustic dish that lends itself to experimentation with whatever fresh, local ingredients are readily at hand. Our version uses fresh …

Classic Frankfurters with Grilled Ramp Relish
Sauces & Condiments Wild Foods

Grilled Ramp Relish

If you like grilling, bacon and ramps (not in any particular order), then this recipe is aimed squarely at you. This unusual relish was adapted from a recipe by famed New Orleans chef & showman, Emeril Lagasse. We’ve made a few changes to the original preparation, but let’s give credit where it’s due. Think what you like about Emeril (and his signature “bam!”), but the man has some serious chef chops and his dishes are not only imaginative, they’re also based on solid …